Happy Canada Day!

6:30am on Thursday.  When I have to be up early, I don't like it, but when I don't have to be up early, I love being up early.  It's a relaxing time of day.  The cat goes outside, I leisurely drink coffee and think of all the great things I could have for breakfast, then just have cereal because I love it.

Laundry is going, garden is waiting.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!

Yesterday's breakfast was Kashi Flax...I know I've said this before, but I can never remember the exact name of this cereal.  It was SO crunchy, it was uncomfortable to eat.

Looks like a Kashi-kind of day.

Cherries!  I still have another day or two worth in the fridge, but they are getting to the point where the need to be eaten.  Oh produce, why can't you last weeks and weeks so you never spoil?

Lunch was a great salad.  Mixed greens, spinach, carrots, fresh peas and leftover beets.  Goat cheese, pecans and balsamic vinegar.  Super.

Something I've been forgetting to post is the food I eat after work.  I ALWAYS have a snack.  Usually a bit of granola bar or trail mix, dried fruit, maybe a handful of cereal, but I always have something.  This week and last, I've been munching on this great fruit and nut mix.  The raisins are huge, the almonds are plenty, it wasn't a cheap bag, but worth the $.

Even when we only have soup for dinner, I know by about noon what we're having.  Today I forgot to plan dinner. ???  Quesadilla's to the rescue!  WW tortillas I found in the freezer, spinach, red pepper, hot peppers, turkey kielbasa my dad left here on the weekend and cheddar.  Pretty good spontaneous dinner.  I'm not a spontaneous cooker at all.

Then, I seriously enjoyed some of this ice cream.  It's like vanilla with a kick...and to top it off I added a hefty scoop of chocolate PB.  The best bowl I've had in a looooooong time.

Again, Happy Canada Day!  Enjoy your day off!

Jess

I Love Beets

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all getting ready for a long weekend of National Birthday's!  Ours is tomorrow, and I know the US's is Sunday.  I hope we all have a patriotic and celebratory weekend!
Random snack pictures from the last few days:

I really do love beets. Sometimes I forget how much.  I don't eat many of them through the winter, probably because in the summer we eat so many, we need a 6 month break!

Dinner 2 night ago was bbq steak, boiled new mini potatoes and steamed beets.  I know it looks boring, but often to me, straight up food is better than when I do something fancy to it.

Dinner last night was leftover steak, more potatoes and a beet/goat cheese salad.  It's simple.  Steam and cool the beets.  Peel beets.  Cut in to quarters.  Toast some pecans.  Add pecans to the beets and some dried oregano.  Then, goat cheese and a mix of balsamic vinegar and olive oil!  YUM!  Don't add the cheese and dressing until right before eating or the cheese will take on the colour of the vinegar and the beets!

Beets before being peeled:

Beets after being peeled:

There is no reason not to eat the skin/peel, except that they don't look as good.  I only peel the beets when I'm using them cold.

Here is the first raspberry!  (A little blurry, it was really windy) We aren't expecting many this year, but next year we should have a great harvest.  If we get a couple of pints total this summer, we'll be happy.  The Shepherd and I split it.  Yes, split one raspberry.  It was the most delicious berry I've had.  Food always tastes better when you grow it yourself.

Don't forget to fill out the SURVEY for a free break product from Silver Hills Sprouted Bakery!

Have an awesome day everyone!  It's my Friday again!

Jess

Silver Hills Bread - Coupon Freebee!

I am camera-less today, so no food posts, however, something just as exciting!

The kind people at Silver Hills Sprouted Bakery were kind enough to send me some coupons.  I have not yet tried the breads, but will be very soon!

In the meantime, they have been nice enough to offer ALL of my readers a coupon for 1 free bread product!  All you have to do is take part in this short survey and you will get a coupon!

Silver Hills Survey

Their products look really great.  Check out the website, fill out the survey, get your coupon!

I was thinking about this funny lamb pound cake the other day!  LOL!  It was so cute and so weird.

Have a great day!

Jess

I Love Produce

Another great weekend.  Aren't they all?  Really, how can days off from work be bad when you're outside the entire time.  At one point this weekend, I just sat in between my tomato rows for probably 30 min and watched the birds and bugs go by.  Peaceful and quiet. 
The market was good.  My mom was with me so it was really fun.  She's great at the market.  Likes to chat with people as much as I do, gets excited for fresh cherries from Niagara, thinks that it's fabulous our market has so much support from the community.

Here is the spread.  Big changes!  haha...we had peas this weekend!!!  A lot of peas, I think I sold almost 70 quarts.

Another great thing happened this weekend, the first beets are ready!  I should have sold some, but mom was here Friday night, I wanted to get work done as fast as I could.  These will make for a tasty dinner tonight!  These are just what I picked for The Shepherd and I to eat in the next few days, there are so many beets ready just like these.  I love coloured beets, so pretty.

I also thinned some carrots, so the carrots you see are just baby baby thinnings that I munched while walking around the farm.

I love produce

Have a great Monday!

Jess

Mid Week Eats

A pretty regular day.

Breakfast was a mix of Kashi Go Lean and Kashi Go Lean Crunch.  I like both of these cereals.  I'm trying to use up a bunch of opened boxes.  I think I have about 6 open boxes of cereal right now.

Mid morning I had a banana, and an apple Larabar.

Lunch was another great salad, with the same sandwich - Black Russian bread, turkey and laughing cow cheese.  Tasty.

After work I picked peas.  A lot of peas.  Peas take a long time to pick like beans do.

Dinner was super as well.  BBQ pork tenderloin, new baby potatoes and steamed beet greens.  Simple, but The Shepherd told me I scored on this meal. :)

Later on, finally watching the last 30min of the Bachelorette, I had plain yogurt, a cereal mix and strawberries.  I can't get enough of fresh strawberries.  Blueberries are my favourite berry, but these are hands down better than any grocery store blueberry we have right now.

Have a lovely day everyone!
Jess

Ralph

Our puppies have been officially named for a few weeks.  Ralph and Potsy.  We had a few names we were throwing around, but in the end, this is what The Shepherd decided.  Ralph decided to follow us around for awhile last night, he's so sweet.  He loves The Shepherd so much.

Breakfast was good.  Take a guess!

In the morning were unpictured snacks while running around the office.  An apple and a PB Larabar.

Lunch was a super toasted 1/2 sandwich on Black Russian bread with Laughing Cow cheese and turkey.  Also a fresh salad with radishes and peas.   Peas are so sweet fresh from the garden, it's the only time I'll eat them.

No afternoon snack today.  Not necessary. 

It was pouring rain, so I thought I'd make something a little more exciting for dinner than we've been having lately.  Even The Shepherd commented that dinner has been a bit boring compared to our winter meals.  I decided on a beet green and chicken risotto.  I found the original recipe here: Risotto with Chicken and Beet Greens Stalker, but changed it up a bit to this.

Beet Green and Chicken Risotto

3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
Huge bunch of baby beets/beet greens
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic scapes, chopped
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
2 whole skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1 pound total), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/2 ounces)
freshly ground black pepper to taste


In a saucepan bring broth and water to a simmer and keep at a bare simmer.

Cut beets into 1/4-inch pieces and slice leaves thin. In a 4-quart heavy kettle cook onion and garlic scapes in 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat until stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook until opaque, about 2 minutes. Add remaining oil and saute over moderately high heat, stirring, until leaves are wilted and any liquid is evaporated.

Add rice to chicken mixture and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add wine and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Stir in about 1 cup broth and cook at a bare simmer, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Continue simmering and adding broth, about 1/3 cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting each addition be absorbed before adding next, until rice is tender and creamy looking but still al dente, 18 to 20 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in vinegar, grated Parmesan, black pepper, and salt to taste.

With the risotto was salad very similar to lunch time.  This was a beautiful meal.

Catching up on the Bachelorette, which I still keep falling asleep through (so is it really that good?), I had some plain yogurt, mixed up cereal and strawberries. 

If I'm lucky, I bought enough berries to last until this coming Saturday.

Just a few shots I took around the farm last night.  It was so nice out.

Jess

Garlic Scapes

I thought I'd show you garlic scapes.  Scapes are the seed head that a garlic plant puts out.  I think it is really rare to try and grow garlic from seed, but still, every plant produces seed.

Early summer, garlic puts out it's seed head.  It is a curly shoot out of the heart of the plant.

To harvest the scape, break it off close to the heart.

Most people that grow garlic will have scapes, but taking them to the market to sell is another thing.  They don't make a lot of $, so I think a lot of people don't bother.  They are great as fresh garlic, in salad dressing, soup, garlic pesto...etc.  You can treat them like any other garlic.  Ask at your market if the vendors have any.  I've not ever seen them in a grocery store.

My day off yesterday was great.  Some random food shots:

By far, the best bit of food yesterday was angel food cake, strawberries and whip cream.  I could eat this for dinner.

This is a good shot of the work Bethoney and I did on Saturday afternoon.  I like to lay straw down between my tomatoes.  Too many weeds in too big of an area.  This year, I have only about 200 tomatoes, so it wasn't AS important, but it still was a good thing to do.  Last year, with about 600, there was no choice.

Have a great day everyone!

Jess