Bounty from Dad's garden!

We were out at my Dad's the other night and we scored fresh from the garden yummies!

Just look at this bountiful garden!

He's got swiss chard, lettuces, pumpkins, zucchinis, eggplants, tomatoes and beans, all growing in abundance.

Shea and I love trying to catch the grasshoppers that make their home in there.

We were lucky enough to go home with a box full of great fresh vegetables. Its too bad Shea's hating eggplant because we got a bunch of them! And I am loving them!

My Dad was probably right...I should have married a farmer. I just LOVE all this super fresh, home grown (very local) produce.



Hmmm, now what should I cook up?

What's a girl to do?

I love flowers, all sorts but especially wild flowers.
I love the gardens that are over-grown with them, in a wild sort of chaos.

But alas, my back patio is much to shady to grow anything. It's a great spot to retreat from the blazing heat, but not so garden friendly.

So what's a girl to do?....but borrow a few from the folks who so generously let their front lawns over flow with them!!

I've attempted to grow some tomatoes this season, we've got them stashed at the side of our neighbors house. Six plants, a couple of sweet green tomatoes on each...I'm happy. Crossing my fingers that we get to them before the raccoons do! Ah, city livin'
Here's my favorite go to, quick and easy Tomato Salad recipe....ENJOY!!

These beautiful cherry tomatoes are heirlooms, a mix of reds, orange and yellow...from the Riverdale market...not my garden.


So easy...
Slice tomatoes in half or quarters
Chop fresh basil
Crumple goat feta
Drizzle of balsamic vineger and a couple of glugs of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste


Toss her up....taste...adjust flavourings....toss...taste and DEVOUR!!

The Long Awaited Recipe...

So the goal was to make a snack that was chalk full of iron, that I could just grab and go. The end product was a success, mind you with some tweeking. I got my idea from a Martha Stewart recipe and switched a whole lotta stuff and ended up with a quite tasty treat if I don't say so myself.

THE RECIPE-Quinoa, Apricot and Nut Clusters
2 cups quinoa - cooked (I made extra the night before)
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 raw cashews
1 1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 molasses
1/4 cup honey
2 TBSP coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs and 1 egg white

First I chopped the cashews and apricots, then tossed all dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a seperate bowl, I whisked together all the wet ingredients.
Added the wet to the dry and mixed.
The mixture was really wet, wetter then I intended so I just lined a baking sheet with parchement paper and dumped the whole bowl on the baking sheet. Spread it out and baked about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.


Cut them into to squares and VOILA! The perfect iron rich go to snack! Next time I make these I'll leave out and eggs and use a mashed up banana instead.

But I'm a Nutritionist!!

I must admit friends that I felt like a bit of a failure when I got the news the other day that my iron was low.
It makes sense though. Recently I have been feeling super exhausted and I've been getting headaches. All which I had attributed to being really busy and on the go all the time. When the real truth is I haven't been paying much attention to my diet. Tsk, tsk, naughty girl!
Iron found in foods comes in two forms, heme and non-heme. Heme iron, found in meat, poultry and fish is easier absorbed by the body where on the other hand non-heme iron can be a little tricker. Which might explain the advice from the nurse "just have a steak!". Funny how iron is associated with red meat. So, how do I plan on attacking this issue without changing my vegetarian ways...Quinoa, Apricot and Nut Clusters...it's a start :)
The photo is just a teaser...I'll post the recipe later tonight.

Just Because it Feels like SPRING!!

....and my pink Hyacinthus bloomed today!

This post is bananas....b*a*n*a*n*a*s

Today I'm back with an awesome tip. You may have heard it before but do you actually do it?
It took me a while to actually get the nerve to try. I'm talking about freezing your very ripe bananas.
Don't they go brown you say...yes, they do, a little. But that's okay! They are still delicious and oh so creamy in a smoothie or made into ice cream. So don't be shy! Go ahead a freeze those babies! I now buy extra with this purpose in mind.
First, I let the bananas get really ripe then peel them and seal them up in a plastic bag (this keeps them air tight and free from freezer burn).
Side note: I'm trying desperately to avoid plastic so if you have any better ideas on what to freeze them in please share.
Some good things about bananas:
-High in Potassium (a dietary mineral), which keeps the heart and nervous system in good shape and can help pervent or treat
high blood pressure
-One average size banana contains about 4g of daily fiber and is a good source of Vitamin B6.
-Bananas have a natural antacid effect and can be used to treat heartburn.

And here's another tip: to ripen faster, put banana in a paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight. That should do the trick!

Juice Recipe

Today I thought I would share with you a juice recipe in which I use black radish.
I had this one this morning. If you're unaccustomed to the "green" flavour add an additional lemon.
It'll taste like lemonade!

7 or so kale leaves
2 apples (I used Ambrosia)
1/4 chunk black radish
1 whole lemon

Enjoy!!