Garden of Eatin'

Pollen season stinks and needs to stop. Or else I need to move back to Puerto Rico.

I understand the need for the existance of pollen, I really do. I know it's not necessary for it to make life so miserable, though. After all, as I mentioned before, there's Puerto Rico--"La tierra de Borinquen ... es un jardín florido de mágico primor." I was never sick there with the horrid allergies. No, that only happens when I'm stateside.

And with my entire household suffering, a move almost seems like a good idea (until I think of logical things like how we'd have no jobs and how I'm the only one who speaks Spanish).

But then, the climate here does have so much to offer. After all, on that beautiful island, the food I could grow in my yard is primarily food my son cannot eat (pineapples, mangoes, guava, etc.) or that he won't eat even with major processing (cacao) and with the exception of very few the Husband won't even taste. Not very assistive.

Here? Here we can grow so much so easily.

I am a gardener of the Ronco variety (you know, "Set it and forget it.")



Our plants could all benefit from a little thinning and pruning and care to make our yard more asthetically pleasing. However they are healthy and lush and if someone knew how to do the prettying up part, I bet we could have what was a lovely English-style garden in the front with all the peony, hydrangea, lilac, allium, etc. I have going on. That's just not me. Spring is lovely, however, without all that work because the ginormous blooms hide the flaws. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Our backyard is where I've decided we'll grow food and this sort of 'function over form' gardening seems to be where I'm better suited. Yes, it's terribly overgrown and it looks like we have a weed problem (we don't. Thats my chicory, garlic, pumpkin...) but there's a method in my madness.

We have been pulling a pint of strawberries a day from our patch (that I planted in gravel; never water, fertilize, or treat for pests; and that the husband ran over with the lawnmower last year) for two weeks. I am giving away paper lunchsacks full, making strawberry icecream, freezing, and preparing to make jams and breads, making sure we make the most of this abundance. They are huge, beautiful, and have the most wonderfully powerful flavor.

I had to plant my herb garden twice (Kerrygirl got ill and self-medicated by eating the first into oblivion till I talked to her doctor), but the second one has taken off. Apparently our yard LOVES cilantro, Thai basil, peppermint, and oregano.

We shall have raspberries in a few weeks, despite my having only put in the very young plants last month. They bloomed within weeks and now I see the immature fruit ripening. The blackberries are also in bloom so I expect to see a few in the coming months from there as well. I didn't expect any product the first season, so I can only imagine what the future will bring.


The cherries and pears we're told have a few years before giving fruit. I'm wondering if we can expect our first cherries next summer.

Using Leftovers: Carrots and Celery or Any Other Produce Bought in Bulk

Now it's time for Recipe Swap 08!

For strictly leftover veggie use, our house favorite is my Stuffed Meatloaf. Normally, I use a combination of spinach, onion, and mushrooms, however any mix of veggies tastes delightful and adds more varied nutrition to the traditional staple that is meatloaf. The possibilities are endless...You could have Fajita meatloaf, Chinese stir-fry meatloaf, Eggplant Parm meatloaf.....

Our big bulk purchase of produce though tends to be APPLES! Every fall we go apple-picking with our friends and somehow don't ever realize how much we have actually accumulated till we get home--and realize several bushels of apples for just 2 (now 3) people is just too much. Some ingenuity is needed because just eating them straight gets old really fast.

So I have a soup, 2 types of pie, an ice cream, applesauce, a dog treat, and a meat dish.

Toddlers - What Do They Eat?! Turkey dinner

1/4 lb ground turkey
2 tbsp minced onion
2 cups grape tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup brown rice
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 cup boiling water

lightly brown turkey in pot, then add onionsand tomatoes. Quickly sautee.
Add water and rice and put to medium. Allow water to cook off, garnish with basil and then serve.

Our son LOVES this! It's a pretty simple dish, fairly healthy, and actually I don't mind the taste myself....if you add a little salt and pepper. This is a few servings, so I freeze them in baggies for use later.

But actually, he's a pretty good eater. A little particular on some things, but not too bad.

Breakfast is always more or less the same--oatmeal. He's liked oatmeal with fruit every morning for always. We just change up the fruit to add variety. He will refuse anything else first thing in the day, but I don't mind. Oatmeal is good for you.

Lunch, snack and dinner change up. Spaghetti is always popular--if terriblly messy. And any ground meat (he still only has 6 teeth so it's hard for him to do a lot of chewing) gets gobbled up--especially if served with any variety of fruit. And yogurt, toast, or cereal are much loved snacks.

Veggies are harder. We're learning there aren't too many he likes. Peas, greenbeans, squash, onions and both sweet and regular potatos are pretty much it right now. If I sneak other veggies--like say zucchini or bell pepper--into a marinara, he'll eat them. But otherwise, nothin' doin'.

And so I sneak.