Oops

After I'd already taken pictures of this almost all local appetizer, I realized I've blogged this before! Alas, you're just going to have to live through a repeat of these tasty photos.

Splurge of the week at the Farmer's Market: homemade herb-garlic baguette. Although white, it was yummy and tasted like pizza without anything added to it!

But add to it I did....local tomatoes (except not from Correll Farms, I really miss them at the SFM!), local basil, not so local garlic.

Thanks CNN

For yet again covering NC's finest.

(PS: What's up with all the ghost stories around here?)

Local creepy crawlies

So, first on Friday morning, YJDKIY got an email containing this language:

Extra precautionary measures were taken through the use of specially trained
canine units. A limited number of contaminated areas were discovered to have
a light infestation.

Of what you ask? Oh, just these little guys that seem to be all over the news lately. 

Then, last night, while peacefully drifting off to sleep, I was dive bombed by some kind of flying buzzer bug who remains to be located. I might have slept with the sheet tucked over my head...tightly.

And then finally, upon waking, I was greeted with this at the front door. 

A common garden, or writing, spider, who almost met her end thanks to some Saturday morning door knockers, but was thankfully spared at the last minute.
 

All the way from Allentown

You know YJDKIY adores Weggie's all natural crunchy peanut butter. Introducing the new nowhere else member:

 Wegmans Chunky Unsweetened Applesauce

One wouldn't think it would be that hard to find, but alas, there is chunky sweetened and smooth unsweetened. I think my next afternoon snack will involve the mixing of these too. Holy!

#25 Eat Your Colors

That's from Food Rules, of course.

More about Eating Well by Color and 7 Colors that Should be on Your Plate Every Day


RED Red foods, such as tomatoes and watermelon, contain lycopene, a phytochemical that may help protect against prostate and breast cancers.

ORANGE Alpha and beta carotene make foods like carrots and sweet potatoes so brilliantly orange. The body converts these compounds into the active form of vitamin A, which helps keep your eyes, bones and immune system healthy. These phytochemicals also operate as antioxidants, sweeping up disease-promoting free radicals.

YELLOW & GREEN, part 1 (leafy greens) Many yellow and green vegetables are good sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, phytochemicals that accumulate in the eyes and help prevent age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older people. Leafy greens are also rich in beta carotene.

GREEN, part 2 (cruciferous) Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and kale, provide compounds called indoles and isothiocyanates, which may help prevent cancer by amping up the production of enzymes that clear toxins from the body.

BLUE & PURPLE/DEEP RED BLUE, purple and deep-red fruits and vegetables are full of anthocyanins and proanthocyanins, antioxidants associated with keeping the heart healthy and the brain functioning optimally.

Local Puffy Heart

Arts, entertainment, culture, gossip, travel, food, gardening...all in one little free trip to the library.

Note: This audio book, while only on disc 2, is promising to shape up nicely. It's like David Sedaris meets Vogue meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And this has been everywhere lately even though it's three years old. Does this mean it is from my favorite (potato-kale enchilada) recipe site postpunkkitchen? And lastly, yeah Boston, finally!

Size is everything

YJDKIY used to mainly use small knives for dicing and chopping and cutting. I have short stubby fingers and it always seemed logical it would be easier to manage and control a similar style knife.

But then I started using this knife and life is so much better. Chopping an onion with something that large (and sharp!) is so easy. 

(remember the onion scene?)

More info than you could ever need on knives.

Ja-lah-pa-no

I can't say jalapeno the way you're supposed to. It just doesn't come out that way and it's more fun to say the j, there aren't a lot of j words, so why should it get robbed?

Start with all this. Dice the pepper, onion, and garlic and saute in EVOO.  Add a crumbled block of tofu and some cumin and cilantro. PAM the bottom of a casserole dish and add one flour tortilla.

Layer one: kidney and black beans

Layer two: Onion/pepper/tofu/garlic/spice mix

Layer three: grated cheddar, jalapenos (only on the right half!), olives, and either sliced scissored-up tomatoes (hello other cooker!) or salsa.

 
Repeat layers, finishing with a tortilla and cheese. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or so, finish with a broil, and serve with very ripe avocado!

What's in the bag?

YJDKIY loves small brown paper bags. Especially when they are a little worn and soft enough to roll over like this. I have no idea why.

I'm not really sure where these came from. They just appeared on the kitchen counter one day. Even if I don't particularly like tomatoes, they made for a good photo.

----

How to Ripen Tomatoes

Breakfasttime

YJDKIY tricked the other one into fixing breakfast this morning!

A yummy eggwhite omelet with broccoli, green pepper, onion and cheddar in a whole wheat flatbread. It was just peachy (tee hee)!

Because FB is ornery!

Shhhh

It's a little well known fact that YJDKIY is kind of a picky eater. I think that's why I like cooking so much, because I can put exactly what I like in the recipe, or maybe that just makes me a control freak!

Punch holes in your baking potato of choice and microwave for 5-10 minutes. Cut out the top and scoop out it's gullets with a spoon. Mix whatever you want in with the potato...the recipe called for swiss, bacon, and mushrooms. I used feta, spinach, Oikos, and red onion!

Shovel it all back into the skin and bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.

early

You may have noticed a lack of food-related posts of late, and what's this? The weekly menu two days early? YJDKIY is jampacked with well, stuff, and this is what happens!

SATURDAY - Vegetable plate (whatever looks tasty at the SFM, it's been weeks since I've been there and I miss fresh veggies!)

SUNDAY - on your own (YJDKIY will be serving up 1200 college freshmen)

MONDAY - Mexican casserole with tofu

TUESDAY - Taragon Tuna Toasties

WEDNESDAY - Tortellini with marinara, kale

THURSDAY - Salad with MSF

FRIDAY - the big event!

SATURDAY - stuffed (organic) chicken breasts, asparagus

MoNsTeR

YJDKIY was at Target yesterday perusing snack section since I knew dinner was going to be late. I HAD to get this one (although totally not recommended for healthy purposes!). The PB chips are to die for.

Why did I have to get this? Somehow over the years, my sweet well-behaved, often timid, Canine Component has come to be called Monster Dog (and Muenster Dog and Little Tinies and Wonkus and Mongerel and Puppy D and every variation of her actual name including CallieWagon, Callie O'Malley, Cattywompus, CallieLilly, Calliedid, Callie Doggie Wilder, Barack O'CallieBama and Callie-ope, it's a wonder she still responds!).

Local ahead of his time

Wills Combes stands on his toes to reach an ingredient in a cabinet while cooking in his family’s kitchen. Wills is just 11, but he knows his way around the kitchen. Winston-Salem Journal Photo by Lauren Carrol

 

 

Kid Chef: 11-year-old foodie had rather eat healthy fare - and prepare it, too

YJDKIY thought this was an interesting article in the paper today, until I got to this paragraph:

Wills doesn't eat much red meat. He will eat chicken occasionally. "He tried being vegetarian for a while, and he just about drove me crazy," Melissa Combes said. "Finally, his acupuncturist told him that as long as animals were treated humanely, it was OK to take them out of the life cycle."

An 11 year old has an acupuncturist? That poor child is never going to survive high school.

homestyle

YJDKIY is glad to be back in my very own fully stocked groceried-up kitchen again! In honor of home, dinner last night was a kinda...homestyle (not really sure why I say that, but something about making a casserole using cream of mushroom soup and stovetop screams homestyle...even if that isn't at ALL the kind of meal I ate at home! :P )

Saute organic cubed chicken in a little olive oil with celery seed, garlic powder and pepper

Use half of homegrown ginormousse zucchini (there might have been a scene where that thing was used as a baseball bat for the also homegrown tiny green pepper....) and green onions.

Saute for 5-10 minutes to get the juicy out

Combine chicken and greens with a can of HEALTHY cream of mushroom soup, a large spoonful of plain Oikos, 1/2 bag of StoveTop (can you believe I bought that?!) and some cheddar cheese. Spoon into casserole dish and top with a little more stuffing and cheese to get crispies.

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 375...nom!

Back to it

Sunday: Pesto with peas
Monday: Chicken-zucchini casserole and broccoli
Tuesday: Falafel with cucumbers and tzazki
Wednesday: Sauted tofu & peppers over soba noodles
Thursday: BYOD
Friday: Spinach stuffed baked potatoes

Last Day

Before setting off on a 915 mile trek, YJDKIY spent one last day jampacked with Cape activities.

A 14 mile bike ride over to Dennis.

Fun on the rail trail!

Followed by lunch at the Box Office Cafe. This place was a nice little surprise...when we walked out back after ordering our movie titled sammies (Soylent Green!),

 

YJDKIY discovered a little vegetable patch and gorge flowers.

Next came an afternoon of city shoes! Please note the empty coffee cans as seen here! If you aren't familiar with the urban version of horse shoes, read up on how to build your own here.

After a swim in Seymour Pond, the day finished up with some fish and chips at Land Ho! There were reasons behind this choice, so while not typical YJDKIY fare, it was a very beachy dinner!

At 5:30 am the next morning, it was time to head south and I said goodbye to one of the best parts of the little cape house...the outdoor shower!

Our 15 hour drive back to NC was mostly uneventful and I only snapped a few pictures of the Tappan Zee!

Homeward bound!