Tag

vegetables

Thirsty Thursday: Flavored Waters

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Oh YEAH! Yesterday was deliciously warm, dare I say summer like. Instead of bundling up for soccer practice we  wore shorts and the kids were actually sweaty. It.Was.Awesome!
Now that we will be outside more and exercising more, we have all been drinking more water around here.

I have to be honest though, after my morning cup of tea and a few glasses of water, by lunch I’m adding lemon. Water all day just seems a little bland. The self proclaimed Queen of Thirsty Thursday needs a little more zing! You know?

Then, I was thinking to when my sister and I go for our yearly SISTER DAY at the spa and how much I love the SPA WATER there. It is just water infused with just a hint of fresh fruit, veggies, or herbs. I decided to make some flavors of my own, and let me tell you, this is almost as relaxing as a cocktail as it makes me feel like I am back at the spa. Also, there are the added bonuses of no hangover, it is healthy, and no one is judging me for drinking it before 5:00 p.m.

 

I made three flavors: Minty Cucumber Lemon, Citrus, and Mixed Berry Mint these waters are perfect for making ahead and having to grab out of the fridge all day to stay healthy and hydrated!

 

Minty Cucumber Lemon Flavored Water (Makes one water bottle worth)
4 or 5 slices of cucumber
4 slices of lemon
5 sprigs of fresh mint
cold water
ice (optional)

 

In a large water bottle or mason jar, add cucumber, lemon and mint and add just enough water to cover. (NOTE: This will help to infuse a small portion of the water and then topping off with more water later will help to dilute as there won’t be such a strong flavor, and will also taste fresher.) Store in the refrigerator. When ready to drink or take with you add ice and fill to the top with water.

 

Citrus Water
4 slices of lemon
4 slices of orange
3 slices of lime (optional)
cold water
ice (optional)

 

In a large water bottle or mason jar, add lemon, orange, and lime. Then, add just enough water to cover. (NOTE: This will help to infuse a small portion of the water and then topping off with more water later will help to dilute as there won’t be such a strong flavor, and will also taste fresher.) Store in the refrigerator. When ready to drink or take with you add ice and fill to the top with water.

 

Mixed Berry Mint Water
2 Strawberries cut in half
4 or 5 raspberries
4 or 5 blueberries
4 fresh mint springs
cold water
ice (optional)

 

In a large water bottle or mason jar, add berries and mint. Then, add just enough water to cover. (NOTE: This will help to infuse a small portion of the water and then topping off with more water later will help to dilute as there won’t be such a strong flavor, and will also taste fresher.) Store in the refrigerator. When ready to drink or take with you add ice and fill to the top with water.

 

What flavors of what do you think you could come up with?

 

If you love all things beverage related, check out the THIRSTY THURSDAY page for recipes for all kinds of drinks, cocktails, and all things drinkable!

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Commence My Yearly Organizational Freak Out Oh and I Made Mason Jar Salads

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If this post seems a bit spastic, I want to apologize. This is the time of year that I start organizing drawers, cabinets, and closets. I also try to purge what we are no longer using and start making list upon list of things that need to be bought and organized.
Why all the craziness? School is starting soon. I have always treated the beginning of the academic year as my own personal January 1st. I will sometimes still make New Year’s Resolutions in January, but I have always felt that September is a great time of year to start with new routines.
Last day of school last year.
Last year, I panicked a little bit about our entry storage. I knew that with kids starting school and sports they would be bringing home all kinds of things that would need to be storied. I did some major organization in our front hall with converting our closet to one with hooks and a bench and baskets for the kids to easily put away their things. I also created like a command center by using an old dresser.
This year, I started to panic about the kitchen.
I was filling out the calendar with some upcoming events and schedules, and I realized there are going to be a lot of nights that we will be eating dinner in a hurry. Then, I looked at the pick up schedule for the day, and I realized that there will be a lot of running around in the middle of the day too.
That is when I decided it was time I organize every kitchen cabinet, clean out the fridge and freezer and start some batch cooking.

 

I scoured the internet looking for lunch ideas and I of course found the crazy popular phenomenon of Mason Jar Salads.
They are EVERYWHERE, and now they are in my fridge too!
I decided to try my hand at these delicious looking and healthy lunches (and in a pinch dinner).
I was able to find Mason jars pretty easily. This is a great time to buy them as people are harvesting from their gardens and pickling all kinds of veggies. I got a box twelve 32oz jars at Target for ten bucks.
I washed them thoroughly and made sure they were COMPLETELY dry. Nothing wilts a salad faster than added moisture.
Next, I prepped all of my veggies. I wash, dried, sliced and chopped everything I would need.
Then, I poured about one or two tablespoons of my favorite dressings in the bottom of the jars.
Next, I started stacking. I hunted around the internet looking for the best way to stack, and here is what I found:
– Hearty veggies first. Carrots, cucumbers, unsliced grape tomatoes, or peppers. These veggies will hold up in the dressing, also will taste delicious as they have been marinating in it for awhile.
– Next comes proteins, grains or cheeses. These will help to create a barrier for the lettuce to keep it dry.
– Last is the lettuce or in my case spinach.
– Last put a tiny piece of paper towel on top of the lettuce and close up the jar. The paper towel will help to draw out any extra moisture, but don’t forget to remove it before you shake up your salad to eat it.
I made a few of my favorite salads for the week. I made Mexican quinoa salad, which didn’t really need to be stacked as it contains no lettuce and hearty veggies.
Then, I put together a basic garden salad with balsamic dressing.
Next, up was strawberry vinaigrette, chicken, goat cheese, cucumbers, whole strawberries and spinach.
Finally, I made a more elaborate Caprese salad with extra veggies and fresh mozzarella and mixed in some basil with the spinach.
Put the jars in your fridge. The next time you are hungry, grab a jar and a fork, shake up the salad with the dressing and have a delicious and healthy lunch.
This is a routine I can get used to!
Anyone else freaking out about the start of school?

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LINKING UP AT SERENITY NOW FOR WEEKEND BLOG READING!!

It’s Getting Hot in Here: Spicy Vegetable Stir Fry

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In the past few weeks, I have been eating a lot more vegetables. Maybe it is because of the trips to the farmer’s market (popcorn and lemonade) or because my vegetable garden currently looks like this:

 

Crazy right?!

Other than salads, I am never really sure how to cook up vegetables where they will still be healthy and delicious. I walked down the aisles of the grocery store trying to think of something, and I saw dozens of different kinds of stir fry packets. Little pouches of different flavorings for stir fry. While I am no stranger to seasoning packets (check out this Indian Butter Chicken), I am sometimes leery of the ingredient list and am afraid of anything that says MAY CONTAIN NUTS on the package due to my kids.

That’s when I had a brilliant idea. I decided to recall everything I know about food (from my Mom, Grandma, and Food Network) and came up with a wonderful and TASTY Spicy Vegetable Stir Fry that contains only fresh ingredients and made a Spicy Vegetable Stir Fry.

Spicy Vegetable Stir Fry

1 medium sweet onion sliced
1 large or 2 medium bell peppers sliced into strips
3 or 4 large carrots cut into strips
1 bunch bok choy cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups snow peas
1 small bunch broccolini cut into small florets
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 inches of ginger minced
1 or 2 jalapeño peppers minced (I used two and it was REALLY spicy)
2 limes zested and cut into wedges
1 bunch of fresh cilantro chopped
1 Tbs vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup prepared rice

 

In a very large skillet on medium to medium high heat add vegetable oil. When the oil is rippling, add onions, peppers, carrots, and broccolini and sauté until just tender. This should take about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeño peppers, lime zest, and salt and pepper and cook for another 3 minutes. Finally, add bok choy and snow peas and continue to sauté stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.

 

Serve over prepared rice and garnish with lime juice and cilantro.

 

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No More Lunch Ruts: Hummus Veggie Wrap

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Lately, I have been in a lunch rut. I was getting sick of soup and salads and was looking for something healthy, easy to make, and something that could easily be altered. This is what I came up with.

 

Now let me start out by saying, I used to really hate hummus. I don’t know if it was a texture thing or just taste. It is super healthy, and I always wanted to like it. I even made my own a few times, and I didn’t even like that. I was at the super market this week, and I found Garlic, Tomato and Basil Hummus. Tomato basil anything is perfection in my book. Also, I totally fell victim to advertising. It was on sale, it looked delicious, it was on an end cap. So of course, even though I don’t like hummus, I decided to try it.

I brought it home and tried it on some red peppers, and loved it! Now that I knew I liked this particular kind of hummus, I was trying to think of all kinds of ways to use it. With that, It has become the perfect solution to my lunch rut.

I used some wraps that I always have on hand.

 

Layered up hummus, spinach, red peppers and mushrooms.
Rolled it up, and cut some apple slices. This is now my new favorite lunch.
Lunch has been saved!

 

Garden Harvest

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about our first ever vegetable garden here and here. Some people have been asking for updates, so I decided to show you the fruits…er vegetables of our labor.

 

We have had a really hot summer as well as very little rain. Also, I think some animals were eating some of my veggies, especially the corn. However, for our first attempt at this, I think we did pretty well. Here are some of the pretty vegetables we have harvested thus far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, my favorite has been the tomatoes. They are so sweet. The kids LOVED the peas, and Brian has liked the zucchini because it means two of his favorite things, zucchini bread and zucchini frittata.

I am definitely looking forward to next year!

Captain Vegetable Part Deux: Planting a Vegetable Garden

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As I said in this post, planning the vegetable garden took
a little bit of preparation. After building the raised beds, putting them in the
right part of the yard, and filling them with the right material (in our case peat moss and mushroom compost as suggested by the Home Depot gardening expert), it was time to plant.
This garden, I knew would be a trial and error process as I am not known for my green thumb. I looked around the internet, Pinterest, and talked to family and friends about what vegetables work well for them, and decided to do a large variety of vegetables. My thinking was that if I tried a little of everything, I would have a better idea of what works in our yard, and only plant the successful plants next year.
After doing more research, and talking to a few more people, I decided to buy my seeds on Amazon. I bought this seed kit. For $12.41 plus free
shipping, I couldn’t beat the price. These are all vegetables that we like, so if they were all successful, nothing would go to waste.
To plant the seeds, all I did was follow the directions on
the back of each seed packet. On the back it gives suggestions for when, where,
and how to plant the seeds. Once planted, this is how the garden progressed.
Planting Day!
 Week 1
Week 2

 

Week 3

 

Week 4
Week 5

 

Week 6
So far, I have been amazed at how it has been growing. My expectations weren’t too high, as I have killed many house plants in the past, and we have not had much rain here. Take it from me (former black thumb), with a lot planning, regular watering, and weeding, this isn’t impossible.
We have already been reaping the benefits of this garden with some salad and a few recipes that I will be sharing soon.