Pesto Pasta with Peas

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I enjoy Gweneth Paltrow's newsletter, Goop. Although I try to steer clear of celebrity news and gossip, her newsletter is more mom focused. In fact, I think she really does a great job of highlighting topics that most moms I know find interesting.

I have tried a few recipes and this simple pesto pasta with peas seems to be a hit in our house. Though Ozzie and I both leave too many peas on our plates after eating all the pasta. I've told you we both hate our vegetables- like mother like son!

The best part about cooking this in the summer is it only requires boiling the pasta so your house doesn't get hot from the oven on a hot summer evening. Also, I love the taste of fresh basil from my garden. It's so rewarding to use your own herbs and vegetables in your dishes.

Pesto Pasta with Peas from Goop
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup cooked peas (frozen ones are more than okay)
3 cups cooked brown rice pasta or whole wheat pasta

Pulse the pine nuts in a blender or food processor until minced. Add the garlic, basil and olive oil and pulse until the mixture is nicely pureed. Remove to a bowl and stir in the parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix as much of the pesto as you like with the peas and pasta.

Enjoy!

From The Garden

We managed to plant our second annual summer vegetable garden last weekend. We were a little late thanks to ongoing colds and Ozzie's surgery but I've already complained about that and will spare you a second pity party. Ozzie recovered perfectly and is a happy, better breathing little boy and that is all that matters.

This year I decided to do things a little different. In the ground I've planted three types of tomatoes (heirloom, cherry and stupice), romaine and green leaf lettuce, spinach and onions. In containers I have lemon verbena and mint that came back from last year (as a novice gardener I'm a little more happy about that than I should be) as well as marjoram, oregano, basil, rosemary, cilantro and flat leaf parsley. Also I am going to try strawberries for the first time this year and am pretty much in love with my apple green strawberry pot.

After our summer crop is harvested I am going to try squash and zucchini for this first time. Admittedly I am also a little more excited about the zucchini that one should be. Who would have thought gardening can be this much fun?

I am most excited to share this summer adventure with Ozzie. Hopefully helping Mommy plant and care for the garden will help to get him to actually eat a vegetable!

Speaking of my little gardener, here he is dumping my flat leaf parsley in the middle of the lawn.

My itty bitty spinach. Will she make it through all this Seattle rain?

Happy Earth Day!

Whether or not you agree with the global warming debate and its effects on the earth, protecting and preserving our planet should be a priority for all of us. If nothing else, I believe it is our obligation to leave behind an environment that is healthy and sustainable for our children and grand children.

In our home we have taken a few steps to help preserve our planet by:

• Switching to environmentally friendly cleaning products and toiletries. Luckily these types of products are becoming more and more available to the average consumer. I love the Ecos laundry detergent that is available in bulk at Costco now. Martha Stewart has also launched an eco-friendly line at Home Depot. I haven't tried it yet but it is on my list of items to buy when needed. Never doubt Ms. Martha.
• Buying local and organic produce, meat and eggs through farmers at Farmers Markets and in my very own city. To quote, Steve Hopp in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle "If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast."
• Growing my own organic herbs and vegetables in our backyard each Spring and Summer. My goal is to eventually add some Fall and Winter crops.
• No more plastic grocery bags!
• Switched to energy saving appliances and light bulbs.
• Recycle and compost as much as possible.

I know there is much more we can do but for now these are our contributions.

Today Ozzie and I celebrated Earth Day with a nature walk through the woods with my moms group. Here are a few pictures of my little tree hugger in his 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' t-shirt before we left for our walk.

I can't believe I got him to pose for a picture.

Most of my pictures turn out blurry- like this.

And this.

Bored.

Ready to go Mom!

How are you helping to preserve our planet?

Spring?

We have been extremely fortunate with a mild winter here in Seattle; or dare I say an early Spring? Now that I have said, err typed, that out loud it will probably snow buckets tomorrow. I am hoping not because I have so been enjoying the Spring weather.

Our plum trees bloomed in late February and Oscar caught a shot of a pretty little birdie sitting in one of our trees. He may just be staring right back at us.

Another sign that Spring has sprung in Seattle are the pussy willow branches that we picked up at the Farmer's Market last weekend. I am not sure what I will do with them yet but for now they are keeping another birdie company in the living room.

I can't tell you how happy these furry little buds make me.

Next up, planting Spring vegetables in our garden- I can't wait!

Lalalaurie

It has been awhile since I visited Laurie Cinotto's blog. Laurie was our wedding florist, I still day dream about my wedding flowers above. She is sooo talented. My wedding theme was organic lovely (I wanted everything to look gorgeous but not planned; as if it just grew from nature right at that spot) and Laurie totally delivered. Sigh.

During my interview with Laurie I discovered that all of my inspiration photos I saved from magazines and the web were actually Laurie's work! I knew immediately that I had to hire her. Of course, she did an amazing job with our wedding flowers. I always smile when I think of the boutonnieres below that fit so perfectly with our wedding location, The Willows Lodge. In fact, I loved Laurie so much I seriously considered starting an "I Love Laurie" fan club on The Knot but then I reeled myself in.

So it was not surprising to see that Martha Stewart called on Laurie for her summer issue of Martha Stewart Weddings. I am so proud of her. Check out her post about it here. And of course, Ms. Martha liked what she saw and invited Laurie back for more!

If you are in the market for a florist, please meet with Laurie. You will not be disappointed. And if you are looking for everyday floral and handmade inspiration, make sure to check out her blog.

Lemon Verbena Mint Tea

Oscar and I spent the weekend raking leaves and preparing my vegetable garden for the winter. I had not been back to the garden for a few weeks since I was avoiding my prep duties errr, I mean since I thought all the plants were dead. So you can imagine my surprise to find my lemon verbena and mint plants still alive! It must have been those unusually warm days in the beginning of October.

Knowing neither would last 5 more minutes now that the weather has truly changed to the drizzly Seattle weather we all know and love, I trimmed all the plants down and ran back inside to look up some lemon verbena and mint recipes faster than you can say avoidance! Of course I told Oscar that Ozzie was due for his afternoon nap and high tailed it outta there.

To my delight the first recipe that appeared was this lemon verbena mint tea from Simply Recipes. Perfect for the cold weather right now. I will try it the first chance I get.

Lemon Verbena Mint Tea

Ingredients
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves (not the stems, they're bitter), rinsed, lightly packed (about 20 leaves)
1/2 cup of fresh lemon verbena leaves, rinsed, lightly packed (about 10-15 leaves)
2 cups of water

Method
Bring a pot of fresh water almost, but not quite to a boil. Put the mint and verbena leaves in a teapot. Pour the hot water over the leaves. Let sit for 3-5 minutes. Strain into tea cups.

Makes 2 cups.

I am thinking of drying the rest of the lemon verbena for bath salts. If anyone has a great recipe for that, please pass it my way.

*photo courtesy Simply Recipes

From the Garden

Now that it is mid-October, it is time for me to prepare my vegetable and herb garden for the winter months. I had a wonderful time growing my owns vegetables and herbs this summer. I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would and am pretty proud of how everything turned out considering it was the first garden I have ever planted.


Here is a run down of some of my favorite dishes that I made using my own vegetables and herbs {patting myself on the back}:



1. Lemon Fusilli with tomatoes from my garden


2. Turkey spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce


3. Turkey burgers with cilantro and lettuce from my garden


4. Spinach sauteed with pine nuts


5. No Cook Pasta with tomatoes from my garden


6. Tortas with tomatoes from my garden


7. Recuerdos De Tucson with jalapenos and green, red and orange bell peppers from my garden


8. Posole with jalapenos from my garden


9. Endless salads with the lettuce and spinach from my garden. I also sent my parents home with lettuce every time they came to visit Ozzie, it was growing like a weed.


10. Fresh parsley added to every spaghetti dish made this summer


11. Fresh cilantro added to every Mexican dish made this summer


12. Fresh oregano added to every possible dish acceptable!


13. Homemade chicken stock with parsley from my garden


14. Mediterranean Chicken and Beans with tomatoes from my garden



15. Carmens's Chicken with Black Bean Enchiladas with the very last of my orange and red bell peppers (recipe coming soon- thanks Carm!).



16. A few caprese salads with tomatoes from my garden. Sadly my basil didn't make it. Our friendly neighborhood bunny got to both my plants before I could.


17. Salad onions added to our countless salads with our baby walla walla onions. This was a mistake, I planted them too close together so they only grew into salad onion size. They were still delicious though.

The only herb that I didn't cook with was the lemon verbena that Oscar's mom gave me. I love the smell of lemon verbena and wished I would have done a better job looking up recipes for it. I'm thinking about drying out what I have left and making bath salts for stocking stuffers.

I am already planning next year's garden and pretty much know what I want to add or omit. I definitely want to add some fallish vegetables, like zucchini. I also want to do some research on heirloom vegetables, specifically tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are another inspiration from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, she went on and on about them so now I must try them.

We truly enjoyed our summer's bounty and can't wait to try it again next year.

Mediterranean Chicken

Whenever I can I try to catch the Dr. Oz show in the afternoons. I've always enjoyed his groundbreaking and informative appearances on Oprah. So I am happy that he now has his own great show.



Watching his show reminded me about his book, You On A Diet, that I bought years ago and promptly did nothing with except let it collect dust in the cookbook cabinet.



A few weeks ago I decided it was time to try one of his heart healthy recipes. After dusting it off, I looked through it for something that I could pair with kale and the very last of my tomatoes from my garden. His Mediterranean Chicken with Beans sounded perfect.



Mediterranean Chicken with Beans from Dr. Oz:

Ingredients:

Chicken ingredients:2 bone-in chicken thighs without skin ( I actually used 2 half breasts)

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

8 pitted calamata olives, halved

1 tablespoon olive oil1 teaspoon wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 small bunch fresh basil, chopped

Beans:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (15 or 16 ounces) white beans, rinsed and drained

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh mixed herbs

your choice1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper (optional)

Directions:For chicken, heat oven to 375F. Place each chicken thigh on a large square of aluminum foil. Combine remaining chicken ingredients; spoon over chicken. Fold foil up and over chicken sealing edges forming a packet. Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, for beans, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; cook 5 minutes or until heated through. Carefully open chicken packets and transfer mixture to two serving plates; serve beans alongside chicken.

Like I said, I already had kale at home and sauteed it as usual.

Kale:

1 large bunch of kale, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 c chicken or vegetable broth

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft

Add kale and broth and simmer until kale is tender

It was a delicious and nutritious heart healthy recipe that will no longer collect dust!

Enjoy!

No Cook Pasta

On Saturday evenings Oscar and I try to listen to one of our favorite radio shows, In the Kitchen with Tom & Thierry, as often as we can. In the Kitchen is a great cooking show hosted by two famous Seattle chefs, Tom Douglas and Thierry Rautureau.

A few weekends ago Tom & Thierry paid tribute to the author of the Silver Palate cookbook, Shiela Lukin, after she passed away from brain cancer. Both Tom & Thierry talked about their appreciation for her cookbook since it is filled with many "go to" recipes. They also agreed that the book can truly help a new cook get acquainted with gourmet cooking.

Both Tom & Thierry, as well as several of their listeners, went on and on about her Summer Pasta recipe, also known as the No Cook Pasta recipe. Of course, after listening to all of them rave about this pasta, I had to try it for myself.

I was happy to use some of the last of my tomatoes from my own garden. I can see why it's called a summer pasta, this dish just would not be the same with out of season tomatoes and basil. It was really good and so so easy. A great recipe for a small dinner party because it allows you to spend time with your company instead of in the kitchen. My only suggestion is not to use a full cup of olive oil. It was pretty oily once the brie melted. I am thinking 3/4 of a cup would be just fine.

Silver Palate Summer "No Cook" Pasta

4 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 pound Brie cheese, rind removed, torn into irregular pieces

1 cup cleaned fresh basil leaves, cut into strips

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced

1 cup best quality olive oil

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds linguine

Directions

Combine tomatoes, brie, basil, garlic, 1 cup olive oil, salt and pepper in a large serving bowl.

Prepare at least 2 hours before serving and set aside, covered, at room temperature

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the linguine and boil until al dente, about 10 minutes.

Drain pasta and immediately toss with the tomato sauce. Serve immediately.

Another variation is marinate the tomatoes in lemon juice, sliced green onions, a dash of white wine and substitute fresh mozzarella for the brie. I definitely want to try this version but may have to wait a whole year from tomato season.

Perfect with a tall glass of white wine on a hot summer evening. I am glad I got it in on the last day of summer!

Chew On This

As I've mentioned before I decided to grow my own herbs and vegetables this summer after reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I have really enjoyed it and am already planning what will be in my garden next summer.

When I saw this chart from www.chewonthis.org ,which helps unseasoned {pun intended} cooks like me learn the best parts of the herb and how each herb can add life to food, I knew I had to have it. The reverse side also offers preservation and storage tips as well as a few recipes. I am going to pick one up to help me decide on new herbs to add to next year's garden. I think it's a must have for every household.

*photo courtesy www.chewonthis.com

From the Garden

Tonight's dinner was from my garden and I couldn't be happier about it!

Yesterday Oscar and I harvested more tomatoes from the garden. I can't believe how many tomatoes are ripening. Below is just half of what we harvested. I gave half to my Mom who came over to help me with Ozzie today since I am still recovering from surgery.




I decided to make my first homemade spaghetti sauce from the tomatoes. Since turkey spaghetti is a family staple, I always have the ingredients available and I don't have to be on my feet for a long time to make it.


First I pureed the tomatoes and some fresh basil. Sadly the basil was not from my garden. I tried to grow basil twice this summer and both times our friendly neighborhood rabbit ate it all before I could harvest it.





Next I sauteed thinly sliced onions and garlic in olive oil and browned ground turkey. When the turkey was cooked, I added the pureed tomatoes and basil, fresh oregano {also from my garden}, olives, artichoke hearts, sea salt and pepper. I let my sauce simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat. While waiting for my sauce to thicken, I cooked the whole wheat rotini. I topped each helping with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.


We had a fresh from the garden, healthy and delicious meal; all while I'm still recovering from surgery {patting myself on the back}!






Homemade spaghetti sauce doesn't have the same bright red color as the canned stuff but it tasted delicious even without red dye #5.

From the Garden

We harvested our first tomatoes from the garden today! I was pretty excited and anxious to try them since tomatoes were one of the main reasons behind starting my vegetable garden. As I've mentioned before I was inspired by Animal Vegetable Miracle to grow my own herbs and vegetables this summer.

In her book, Barbara Kingsolver goes on and on about the taste of fresh from the garden tomatoes compared to super market tomatoes. She spent so much time talking about it I was convinced I had to grow my own to just to taste what she was talking about.

The consensus is she's right! Fresh from the garden tomatoes are very juicy and sweet. I sliced them up thin added a little sea salt and had myself a great afternoon snack. Ozzie didn't particularly love the tomatoes but he's 1, it'll probably take him a few more tries.

The tomatoes were on the small side, I'm thinking the recent heat wave in Seattle ripened some of them a little early. My parents came over for a visit so I sent them home with some lettuce, parsley and tomatoes as well. My lettuce and parsley are growing like crazy and I try to send anyone who visits home with some.

So far this summer we have harvested all of the spinach, cilantro and snap peas. We're still happily eating the lettuce, parsley, oregano, mint, lemon verbena and we are still waiting for the onions, leeks, sweet peppers, jalapenos, celery, artichokes and the rest of the tomatoes.

If you knew me at all, you'd be as surprised as I am that I'm growing vegetables let alone eating them since one of the two times I was grounded in my youth was because I didn't eat my broccoli. Growing up I hated veggies, what kid didn't? As an adult I don't crave vegetables per say but I know I need them. Plus now that Ozzie is eating table food I have to set a good example. Luckily all of the veggies I've harvested this summer have been yummy {patting myself on the back} so I haven't really had to choke any of it down for Ozzie's sake.

Below is a picture of today's harvest. I can not wait for more tomatoes to ripen. I am going to attempt homemade tomato sauce and freeze it for the winter. Yum!

God Made Dirt...

...so dirt don't hurt. This is the mantra I repeated in my head about 100 times while scrapping the dirt out of Ozzie's mouth! He decided to help himself to the dirt in the veggie garden while I was snipping some parsley for dinner.

Some of these pictures are super fuzzy but I had to post all of them because as you can see he thought the whole thing was hilarious and got quite a kick out of himself. The more I told him to open his mouth to show Mommy the dirt, the more he laughed hysterically.

Here is where I remembered to turn off the flash on my camera.

This last one absolutely cracks me up. The shear joy on his face is too funny. It's so fuzzy because by now I was hysterically laughing right along with him. Thank Heaven for little boys!

Gargoyles Wanted

Did you know that "legends says gargoyles ward off evil spirits and protect your castle and loved ones?" Who doesn't want a little extra protection if the alarm system suddenly goes on the fritz?

Several years ago in my early twenties one of my roommates added a gargoyle to our yard to protect our house full of young ladies. Ever since then I've wanted a gargoyle of my own.

Now that I have my own house and my garden is finally a place I want to be this summer, I've been searching for the perfect gargoyle friend to welcome me and my guests.

How cute would Maxwell, the thinking gargoyle, from The Gargoyle Store look protecting my newly planted azaleas and hydrangeas?

Or contemplative Dedo? Coincidentally Dedo is the gargoyle who protected me and my friends many moons ago.

Or possibly sweet little Irving who looks lost and pouty?

I'd welcome any of these cute statues to my lovely new garden. Wouldn't you?

From the Garden

Yesterday for dinner I made an old staple in our house, turkey spaghetti. We always have frozen ground turkey, whole wheat spaghetti, onions, garlic and pasta sauce. It's my go to dinner when I'm not in the mood to cook and still want to get a decent meal in our tummies.

As I've said before, I started an organic herb and veggie garden this year and we had our first harvest last week of cilantro, parsley, oregano and spinach. So I decided to add some fresh herbs to my spaghetti sauce and made a side of spinach. Turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself. In fact, I was so pleased with myself I decided to share with a quick post.

Here is my turkey spaghetti {well fusilli} with fresh oregano & parsley.

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1/2 yellow onion- sliced thin

2 garlic cloves- minced

Sliced mushrooms

1 lb. lean ground turkey

Few sprigs of parsley chopped

Few sprigs of oregano chopped

Your favorite jar of tomato sauce

Whole wheat spaghetti, fusilli, penne, angel hair- you pick

Directions:

Saute onion in olive oil about 2 minutes until clear

Add garlic and saute a minute or two longer {careful not to burn garlic}

Add mushrooms and saute until soft

Add ground turkey and cook through

Add tomato sauce and herbs

Simmer about 10 to 15 minutes

Cook pasta as directed

Add drained pasta to sauce

Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you have it.

Spinach and garlic sauteed in chili pepper olive oil from Oil & Vinegar with toasted pine nuts. I really like toasted pine nuts so I definitely add more than your average cook.

Ingredients:

Chili pepper olive oil

Handful of pine nuts

2 cloves garlic- minced

Spinach

Sea salt

Ground Pepper

Directions:

Saute pine nuts in olive oil

Add garlic saute about 2 minutes longer {careful not to burn nuts or garlic}

Add spinach and saute until soft

Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh pepper

Probably the easiest dinner to cook and I really didn't need to share the recipes but such a good family staple I figure why not?

Also, remember that hydrangea plant my hubby planted for me? Well a few blooms were ready to adorn our kitchen table. The only thing better than veggies from your garden is fresh cut flowers from your garden!

Dinner tasted great and I was so excited to use fresh herbs and vegetables from my own garden. Can't get more local than that!

Grow Garden Grow

As I've said before I was truly inspired after reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. So inspired that I decided to plant an organic herb and vegetable garden on Mother's Day. It was a small gift to myself in my quest to become a domestic goddess. I have never grown a garden before, don't have much of a green thumb as I've killed all my houseplants {God bless them} and I didn't do my usual preproject research {slight type A personality} so I have been really curious to see what would happen.

Drum roll please...

The garden freshly planted on Mother's Day

The garden today and this picture is after I harvested some spinach and removed bad leaves. My tomato plants, lettuce and spinach are basically taking over!

Remember my little heirloom lettuce I was so excited about?

She's not so little anymore! And strangely enough not so red though you can see a few read leaves in the middle.

Our 2nd harvest from our garden- spinach, cilantro and parsley. Cilantro was our 1st harvest last week. My husband is Hispanic- go figure our 1st harvest would be cilantro!

It's a pretty awesome feeling to cook vegetables grown from your own garden. I didn't know I would enjoy gardening so much. I already know what vegetables and herbs I want to add or omit next year. I can't wait until Ozzie gets old enough to play in the garden with me!

Home on the Range

This weekend was a "weekend warrior" kind of weekend. Yard work and house work was on the agenda. My dear sweet hubby worked H.A.R.D. on the landscaping in the front yard. Have you ever removed old bushes, mowed the lawn, trimmed the edges, pulled weeds, laid down fabric, planted new flowers and bark all in one day? It's a hard days work! I have a new appreciation for landscapers.

Anyway Oscar did such a great job. I only wish I would have taken before pictures so that you could see the difference. Gone are the ugly bushes of yesterday that hid my cozy front porch and suffocated my pretty Japanese Maple. Now lay my lovely azaleas, hydrangeas and lilacs enticing me for a nice rock in one of our chairs on the front porch.

We are almost done with the yard. We hired a landscaper to fix the debacle that was our backyard. That job required professionals. Of course, we forgot before and after shots for the backyard too.

Last week we planted our organic vegetable and herb garden. All that is left is a few yards of new sod, a little more weeding in the front and viola a whole new yard. There will be a celebration. I am so excited to enjoy our yard this summer!

Here are some pictures of Ozzie helping us pick out plants and flowers a few weekends ago at a local nursery and Home Depot. I'm pretty sure riding the carts was the highlight for him.

Who ever invented the car cart is a genius!

While Oscar worked in the yard, Ozzie and I stayed in and tried a new Rhubarb recipe for our pancakes. My gift to Oscar for his hard work was a yummy pancake breakfast. Pancakes are a favorite around these parts.

This was my first rhubarb recipe ever actually. Every Spring I see it at the market and think what do you do with that? Enter the blogosphere. I ran into rhubarb recipes all over the blogs. This one looks good but cobbler is not really my thing. Although I love me some Smitten Kitchen recipes so I'll probably still try it some day.

I decided to go with this one from Tea & Cookies which is actually a modified version of this one from Dana Treat. I'm really glad I did, it was a perfect pancake topping. The rhubarb was just a little tart so we didn't feel the sugar overload that can happen with blueberry or strawberry pancakes. And boy was this easy! When you are toting a 9 month old around on your hip {he's going through a slight separation anxiety phase} easy recipes are your favorite recipes. I will definitely try this again, I think I read somewhere that it's great over vanilla ice cream too. Yum.

Here's to home improvements and trying new foods!