Labor Day

After doing NOTHING yesterday, just hanging out with M and watching TV, I fell asleep on the couch a little after 9, then woke up around 3 and moved to bed,  then slept past 8 this morning. Our friend M does a lot of sleeping so he must be contagious!

I worked on cleaning up the kitchen. Mick's helpers had arrived early to help with yard projects. I have black eye peas and we have a random flower in the flower garden.

random white flower

Black eye peas

Although I did some housework, I decided to continue my rest and watched Zombieland and the Star Trek marathon.

Bees and tacos

Doesn't my garden look tranquil? So beautiful.

The bees have arrived. We think (as happened at our previous house and recently at a neighbor's house) they are just passing through but it's hella freaky to see a swarm arrive and settle in.

Let's move away from there. Mick and the helpers are building a tiered flower garden.

In the farm, I got my first spaghetti squash of the season. I'll cook them this weekend.

Before heading home from work I stopped at Whole Foods. I found my Garden of Eatin taco shells and a cheaper WF version, 2 dressings I can have (no soybean oil and bonus: apple cider vinegar instead of any other), and overpriced honey mustard that I had to have because it is PaleoChef and super clean so I can have it. :)

I made tacos using the blue shells. I may have used too much guacamole. Nah, that's not possible. But you can't tell they aren't just guaco tacos! Yum. 

Weekend wrapup: Independence Day

I did a lot of nothing in between rounds of doing more strenuous somethings.

 

I'm starting to think that my sink will never be empty.

 

Our neighborhood has an annual progressive pool party so we attended, coming back to our house between to refill and let the dogs out.

 

I made strawberry simple syrup and had strawberry coconut margaritas. So yum. I can't find the recipe that said you MUST use 1800 coconut tequila but I did and you must.

Luci!

I probably should have used a smaller cup. I don't remember doing it, but I bruised my toe at the first or second house. And I got a "bar blister" on my elbow at the last one. I'm a mess!

 

I made bacon wrapped rosemary honey figs to take and they were a hit. The figs are from our tree so I think I'll be making a lot of these! Bonus: they are Paleo. :)

That's all that's left. Nope...gone.

We are also getting a lot of zucchini so I made teff pancakes and added shredded zucchini to the batter. Yum.

Day-after breakfast

PS. We bought 1800 blueberry margaritas at Total Wine. As you might guess (or you might not--these pre-mixed things are pretty popular) I thought it tasted kind of artificial. I liked my homemade margaritas much better.

 

Update: I'm not sure my body liked that blueberry margarita either. Something's not making me happy the next day...

 

Garden pasta

I'm getting stuff from the garden!

The harvest

The prep

The pasta dinner

Since I wasn't doing enough, I decided to thoroughly wear myself out and use the rest of the pork to make breakfast sausages from Food for Humans (nomnompaleo) and they were good.

Freeze and reheat!

Squash

I love that I'm getting some decent veggies from the garden.

squash and peppers sauteed with garlic and parsley

Salmon and black refried beans

Chili dog

I went to delux with a coworker. He seemed a little fascinated with my questions to the waitress and my order. He order gazpacho because I did but I'm not sure he liked it. Cold veggie soup isn't for everyone. But it is for me--I love it! Then a bunless burger makes it a complete lunch.

At home, for dinner I had some leftover chili so I made a chili dog. Those are roasted radishes next to the sauteed squash--all the veggies are from the garden.

Chili dog. Like totally.

Reasons I can't sleep--harvesting corn edition

Last year, we had a massive amount of corn and the majority was harvested while I was at work. And for that, I am truly grateful. I can not overstate how grateful. I'd rather clean raw chicken--one of those tasks I do because I like to eat, but seriously, it's so gross. I need a sous chef. 

 

I have to digress a moment here (like I wasn't already!) and say, why does my phone suggest chicken-easy when I swipe the word chicken? What is chicken-easy? Is it a late night club for chickens? Is the bloggess' metal chicken Beyonce there?

thebloggess via pinterest

Anyhoo...

 

Mick and his dad just picked the corn and Mick asked me to shuck it. I was kind of avoiding it because we had some issues with those green worm things last year but...

 

Our harvest was small. And the corn is small. And at least a third had the tale tell sign of worm damage. Some were dead--we did such a terrible job growing corn that we couldn't even keep the worms alive. The only live green worm I saw was buried in. (top cob in photo) And there was a giant mauve worm. (in between cobs in photo) And then smaller pink worms near the tops of some cobs. (bottom cob in photo)

 

Apparently my phone does not like the word worm. It keeps changing it or offering suggestions for anything else. I hear ya but that's what they are, okay?

 

I took a photo for your viewing pleasure. We can have insomnia together.

I did not keep these...

Garden Pasta

We have a little harvest from the garden. I used an eggplant, a yellow squash, a zucchini, a carrot, 2 small red peppers, some basil and parsley, and added some previously harvested and chopped onion. I cooked them on the griddle with some oil, salt and pepper while I made a ground turkey meat sauce with Classico organic marinara and some more basil and parsley. I combined everything with some Schar gluten-free pasta. Yum! Now I just need someone to do the dishes...

Garden Update

We went to Baker Nursery over the weekend to get fruit trees and replacement roses and a few other odds and ends. We got peaches, plums, apples, a rose and 2 rose trees, some flowers for under the tree by my gardens, and some transplants for the veggie garden. We're not pulling everything out yet but the middle of the farm is being planted with corn, beans, and then squash and watermelon will be scattered throughout.

At Baker Nursery

Messy box

The other messy box

strawberry patch (with mustard greens and tomatoes)

Fig

Pomegranate tree (lettuce)

the farm (celery and tomatoes in front)

walnut tree

the farm (brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, broccoli romanesco)

How my broccoli goes

broccoli romanesco coming in (finally)

messy tomatoes

taxi tomatoes--I love the yellow!

Jalapenos turning red
(homemade sriracha--I'm coming for you!)

carrots, unthinned

pecan tree, I mean twig

Citrus trees

A giant green cauliflower

NEW peach tree

NEW rose tree

Whole30 Week 1

Each day I have started with hot water with lemon, then coffee. I started by trying bulletproof coffee using coconut oil only (it usually has coconut oil and ghee but I'm not too sure I can have ghee), then adding coconut milk, then adding cinnamon, then taking out the coconut oil. I just read that the coconut oil only version is better blended rather than using the little frother I have been using. I'm going to keep experimenting, I guess, but I miss using sweetener. I drink my normal amount of water and maybe some ice tea during the day.

Day 2 Breakfast
Part of sweet potato and Belly Dance Beets (from Well Fed 2)

Lunch
Leftovers: Jerk chicken

Dinner

I made meatballs--spicy buffalo ranch chicken meatballs with steamed broccoli (from my garden), tomatoes (from my garden) with avocado oil and salt and pepper. Mick didn't like the meatballs and I don't think he liked the sauce either. I might add some mashed cauliflower or sweet potato or squash next time around.

Cooking the meatballs.

Dinner is served!

Day 3

Lunch: leftover meatballs, broccoli, turnips, tomatoes and avocado

All kinds of leftovers!

Dinner: Taco Salad. (Mick had tacos.) Note I can't use my usual Organic Kirkland Salsa since it has sugar but I was able to use Drew's Organic. There is orange bell pepper, carrot, jalapeno, and cilantro from my garden in the meat, and the lettuce and radishes (golden and chiogga) are also from my garden. Holy hell, I don't see him in my blurry photo but I almost ate one of those damn green tomato worm caterpillar things. Those things are impossible to get rid of!

Day 4

Breakfast: I made sausage! They are pretty good, a little dry reheated but the flavor is good. Mick was actually going and grabbing them off the tray I was draining them on.

Those greens are mustard greens (from my garden) with pecans and unsweetened cherries (can't find unsweetened cranberries) using the collards recipe from Well Fed 2.

Day 5

Spaghetti squash with veggies from my garden including broccoli, peppers, eggplant. The zucchini is store bought though. I used the one kind of sausage I can get at Costco that happens to also not have sugar! My spicy Sprouts version does have sugar though. I used Classico marinara and Rao puttanesca mixed for the sauce. Note that Classico Organic has sugar.

Day 6

Fiona's Green Chicken from Food For Humans (nomnonpaleo). It's fantastic. Mick doesn't eat chicken on the bone so I get it all to myself. It's really, really good.

Day 7

Dinner is Crispy Chicken and Salsa Roja from Food For Humans (nomnompaleo) and collards (from my garden) from Well Fed 2. A sweet potato and guacamole round it out. The salsa is made with tomatoes and cilantro and jalapenos from my garden. Mick liked the chicken but didn't think the salsa went with it and he thought the chicken could use something more.

Observations: Don't eat lots of beets at once. I was really freaked out when my pee was blood red. It was pink first, which should have been my warning but I'm slow.

 It is a lot of work to "eat the rainbow" but it gives some very pretty plates.

I'm still hungry in the late afternoon (workdays) so I have been eating a Clif Kit's Organic Cashew bar, most like the Larabar the discussions say can be included as "emergency" food. I have to figure out something else maybe, but I can't do just 3 meals. I get hangry.*

People are discussing how hard it is, and it is hard, but I guess I'm not having as much of the withdrawal symptoms since I was most of the way there.

I'm used to a late snack (sweet) so I'm trying not to eat but when my stomach audibly rumbles, it's hard to ignore. I'm trying to use hot tea as a placebo.

I'm keeping track of my poo (poo issues) in a private journal because I'm pretty sure I'm NOT feeling any different yet.


*see next week...

It's cold!

We are making great progress on the yard. And by we, I mean my husband and his helpers. They are amazing; they just keep going, way past when I would be in excruciating pain for days. They are digging and moving rock that being delivered and even fenced in my tomatoes (against the dogs*) and covered a lot of plants for the freezing temps.


rock pile; covered trees



Moving rock

*The dogs, we presumed Cassi, have been grabbing a tomato or three off the plants. They don't even have to be ripe. The other day, I saw Teka in the grass with her nose to the ground. I went to check and she was eating a tomato. There were two more in the grass. Later, I saw Cassi in the same position so I called her, completely expecting her to ignore me. She came running, so excited, with a small round orange tomato showing, similar to those orange slice smiles we did when we were kids. It. Was. Hilarious. And cute. And I tried not to laugh since she was not supposed to have the tomato anyway. But it was adorable.

Cassi

Teka helping with the Christmas tree