Nature's Garden

Gardening is one of my passions.  Whether it's the vegetable garden, flower garden or the herb garden, I love to watch plants mature from small babies and tiny seeds.  Try as I might, I have learned that I am not the one in charge of what these plants are going to do.  I am a minimalist when it comes to fertilizing and insect control.  I stick to organic components such as our compost for fertilizing when we first plant and later I use organic pest controls when necessary.  Once they are planted, they are on their own.

Volunteer pumpkin plant

As they grow and start producing what they feel like giving us I am always surprised and pleased when I get volunteer plants that come out of our compost.  I have several cantelope plants with five melons growing among the tomato plants this year.

Nature's bounty

I was also blessed with some beautiful pumpkin plants that came up from last year's halloween pumpkins I tossed out in the backyard.  I harvested four nice pumpkins this week.  From these I froze four quarts.  All I did was thin the plants as they grew and watered them.  No fertilizer necessary!



Some people are very talented with their gardens.  They know all the right fertilizers and secret tricks to make their plants grow big and produce massive amounts.  They are ardent weeders and feeders and dedicate many hours to nurture their plants.  These are the people you want to befriend because they just might share some of their abundance with you.  I, on the other hand, am a bit lazy and am content to enjoy what I get.  What I don't get out of the garden, I buy at our local farmer's markets. 


I am a suburban country lady, not an experienced farmer.  I know my limitations and accept them.  I am perfectly content to accept what nature's garden decides to give me.  You never know what surprise you will encounter each day as you walk in your garden.   All I know is I am not the one in charge and I love that fact.

SCL

"As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes."

Psalms 103:15

Recipe of the Week - Fresh Summer Squash Soup with Pistou

One of my favorite authors is Jan Karon.  She wrote a series of books called the Mitford Series with an Episcopalian priest named Father Tim as the main character.  The stories are set in a beautiful small town somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains intertwined with many colorful characters.  They are so eloquently written that you will be drawn into the drama and comedy of the townspeople.  You will experience a wide range of emotions in every book you read.

Homemade Relish I Canned

One of my favorite things about her books are the recipes.  Yes, food plays a very big part in the stories.  How can it not when there are wonderful folksy people and a church involved?   Some of the recipes I have copied and put into my cookbook scrapbook.  These include buttermilk biscuits, cole- slaw, pimiento cheese and many more.

 To experience these delicious recipes I suggest you march down to your local public library and start reading these fabulous stories.  There are nine Mitford stories.  Once you read the first one, you will be hooked.

This weeks recipe I created to use up some summer squash I bought at the farmer's market.  I made a large pot of it and froze the extra in jars.  This way I can enjoy some wonderful summer flavor on a cold blistery winter day and curl up with one of Jan Karon's delightful stories.

Fresh Summer Squash Soup

Ingredients:

4-6 yellow squash or zucchini  (I used both)
Onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable broth or water
Vegan pepper jack cheese or any cheese of your choice, shredded. You can use
parmesan, pepper jack or cheddar cheese.

Cut up the squash and put in a soup pot.  Cover with water or broth.  Add seasonings. 
Bring to a boil and cook until tender. 
Once it is done puree the soup in a food processor.  I used an immersion blender.
Blend until smooth.  Taste for any additional seasonings and add your cheese while it
is still hot.

This makes a nice creamy delicious soup.

Pistou

Pistou is a french pesto.  It is served with soups and fish dishes.

Ingredients:

2 cups of packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup of olive oil
Optional:  You can add 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
You may need to add more olive oil if the pistou is too stiff.

Blend in a food processor until it forms a paste.

Serve this separately and add a dollop to the bowl of soup.

Enjoy.


Have a wonderful weekend.

Cucumber Plants

"Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that

proceeds from the mouth of God."

Matthew 4:4

Comfort Food

Sometimes we all have down days.  Times when we feel blue.  Of course there are many kinds of  legitimate mental illnesses that, like any illness, needs to be treated by a professional.  The kind if blue funk I'm talking about are those that can pass within a few hours or a few days.

When I am in a blue funk everything is exaggerated.  Today while I was weeding in my herb garden I got stung by a little bee.  Yes, you heard me right, I was stung, again.  But because of my mood I exaggerated my reaction and I felt like everyone is against me, even the bees.  When I am in one of these moods nothing seems to go right.  I broke a light bulb while trying to clean up the cabinets in my laundry room and then after I swept up the broken glass I managed to drop it on the floor again.  What's a poor soul to do?  Eat of course.

Comfort food was my only cure for today's blues.  I decided to fry everything I picked today.  I fried eggplant, green tomatoes and okra.  I love crispy textures, especially when it can't get any fresher than today's pickings.  Sandwiches are another kind of my favorite comfort foods.  Since I became a vegetarian I have missed some of my old favorites like a good reuben made with tender brisket and tangy sauerkraut, a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich with fresh tomatoes, a club sandwich and of course the ever delicious hamburger with a variety of toppings.  So I decided to share some of my modified vegetarian and vegan sandwich recipes that help me chase the blues away.

Boca Burger with Portabello Mushroom

This is best cooked on the grill but it can be cooked on the stove. 

You will need one Boca Burger brand Vegan Patty, one large portabello mushroom, blue cheese or any crumbly cheese of your choice, whole wheat hamburger buns, vegan mayonnaise or regular mayonnaise, lettuce, purple onion and tomato.

Brush the mushroom with olive oil on both sides then season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder or any seasonings you like.

Place the frozen Boca Burger and the mushroom on a moderate heat grill until the burger is done and the mushroom is juicy.  This usually takes about ten minutes, if the burger is thawed is takes less time.  Put the crumbled cheese in the mushroom until it melts.

To assemble,  spread the mayo on the buns, add the burger, the mushroom, sliced onions, lettuce and tomatoes.  This is a double hand burger that is juicy and delicious.  I'm sure you will be hooked once you've tried it. 

Grilled "cheese" sandwich

The ingredients for this simple sandwich is whole wheat bread, vegan cheddar cheese, or any sliced cheese you like, and organic Smart Balance whipped butter spread.

Spread the butter on both sides of the bread, layer two to three slices of cheese on once slice and top it with the other slice.  Cook on a medium hot skillet until it is brown, crispy and gooey with melted cheese.   You can also add a tomato to this sandwich before cooking for a delicious flavor.

Eat and enjoy.

Bologna Sandwich

Yes I can have a bologna sandwich too and not feel guilty about what it is made of!  There is a large variety of  "mock" meats in the stores made from soy and gluten.  Many of these products are used as fillers in hamburger mixtures served in tacos and hamburger patties at fast food eateries.

My favorite mock meats are made by Light Life Smart Deli.  They make bologna, hot dogs, chicken patties, turkey meat and hamburger crumbles. 

I make my bologna sandwich on Pepperidge Farms whole wheat Deli Flats bread.  Spread the bread with vegan mayo, place bologna, sliced tomatoes and basil leaves.  Season with salt and pepper.  The basil adds a wonderful fresh taste to this healthy alternative to regular bologna.

You can get creative with your spreads.  With mayonnaise you can mix in some organic barbecue sauce, pickle relish, horseradish sauce, soy sauce, hot sauce or organic ketchup.  These will each bring your mayo to a new level of culinary experience.

You can also use any variety of mustards and any of the other spreads that are on the market.

I hope you will try my sandwich recipes the next time you need a boost in your gloomy mood.  Sandwiches  have a way of bringing us back to happy times and childhood memories of picnics in the park .

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will  worry about its own things.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Matthew 6:34

The Wonderful World of Nature

Nature is wonderful.  It is so big and varied, no one can experience it in its entirety in a lifetime.  Nature's bounty includes plant life, animal life, aquamarine life and, let's not forget earth's atmosphere, which is in itself another whole entity.  We refer to nature as Mother Nature.  Mother Nature is blamed for everything from a devastating hurricane to a woman's phases in life (which is not a bad comparison).

A feral cat nursing her babies.

The amount of animals on our fair planet is countless.  All we know about is what has been discovered.  Of course we have the common animals everyone knows about.  The animals we eat, the animals we keep in zoos, those we keep as pets and all the others.  The other animals are those in nature, the feral (wild) ones that we prefer to see at a distance and those creepy crawly ones that most of us prefer to completely avoid.

I met one of those creepy crawly ones yesterday morning while I was weeding the vegetable garden.  I met it, I did not see it.  My contact with it came in the form of a bite that felt like a needle stick.  Try as I might I could not get a visual on the sneaky little thing.  All I know is I was left with a slightly swollen hand that is just now going down.  When I am gardening I come up close and personal with a lot of Mother Nature's little blessings.  I've met squash bugs, all kinds of spiders, little black bugs, little red bugs, grasshoppers of all sizes, worms, caterpillars, bumblebees, butterflies, centipedes and wasps. 

I am OK with meeting these precious little gems until they want to meet me.  Like yesterday, I was just minding my garden and my business until that stealth critter made a rash judgement on me and attacked me.  Not nice.  I've had wasps come down on my neck and sting me, I've met little bees on my toes, a scorpion on my back and a jellyfish on my legs (in the ocean of course!).  I even met a stinging nettle on my backside while taking care of some, um, personal business in Mother Nature's out house once.  If it stings, I've found it. 

Then there are reptiles.  I like snakes.  Yes I do.  My husband does not like snakes which is why I am the one who goes into the storage shed in our backyeard when we need something out of it.  I know there are dangerous snakes out there, but they don't sneak up on you like the black ops insect that attacked me yesterday.  Snakes are afraid of us.  They don't want a big tall giant around them.  Think about it, they are down on the ground.  They have to look way up high to see us.  That is like when we are at the bottom of a tall building looking up.   Snakes much rather run away from you than attack you.

Buffalo in the Tall Grass Prairie Reserve

I like to see animals in the wild.  When my husband and I are camping or hiking we get to see a lot of wonderful creatures.  We've seen deer, racoons, squirrels, road runners, rabbits, turkeys, turtles, buffalo, and all kinds of birds. 




Yes, Mother Nature has given us a big wide world full of things to be discovered.  Whether you like the desert, mountains, forests or the oceans, it's out there for you to experience and enjoy.  Try to experience it in every season.  Nature is constantly changing and it's beauty is never ending.

Just remember to watch where you walk and where you stick your hands!


SCL
 

"Let the rivers clap their hands;

let the hills be joyful together before the Lord."

Psalm 98:8





Words

Words are cool. Where would we be without them?  They are what makes the world go 'round' and frankly I hate to think what our lives would be like without them.  Have you ever thought about that?  Words invoke emotions in us, they describe things, they tantalize our senses and they can make us who we are.

Some words are just downright funny.  Take the word "blog" for example.  I just want to say it over and over again.  It's like blab and blah.  You can say "I'm going to blab about how blah I feel on my blog".  Kind of fun, huh?  Or when I am passionately trying to express my feelings about something to my husband and all he hears is "blah, blah, blah"!

We have words that describe physical things like dynamite which can mean a big explosion or it can also mean something very good.  Like "he is just dynamite at blowing up that dynamite".  Then we have milkweed.  I like this word but it just doesn't seem to go with this plant.  You would think that you should be able to milk this weed.  Besides, this is not a weed, this is a wonderful flowering herb that has beneficial properties.  One person's weed is another person's medicine cabinet!

I digress.  I am getting just a tad off today's subject.  Aha!  Did you get that one?  Digress.  It means to veer away from the point of the story, but whether I used this correctly or not doesn't matter, I just like this word, too.

Two of my favorite words to use when I am not happy are aggravate like this computer is doing to me right now) and irritate.  Happy words like elated and ecstatic are fun words, too.  Productive words I like are multi-tasking and organizing and non-productive words are snoozing, schmoozing, and lazy.  Some days I don't feel very motivated and all I want to do is sit around and schmooze with other like minded people!

 I like precious.  It can describe anything as cute as a baby, a nice gesture by a child or a sarcastic term for something ridiculous.  For example "your idea of crossing that log over that muddy water in your Sunday best was just too precious.  Your mama's gonna kill you!"

Agape love.

The bible is full of interesting words.   I could write a book about them but two of my favorites are selah and agape.  It seems that no one knows what selah really means, but it appears in Psalms a lot at the end of a verse.  I think it means "right on, you rock God"!  Agape is a Christian love that represents unconditional love. It is pronounced agap-pa.  God has agape love for his us just as a parent has for her children.



Words are endless.  Our lives are intertwined with words and we couldn't function without them.  Let's just remember folks to use our words wisely and speak softly.   You never know whose life you might touch with your words.

SCL

"Since you were precious in My sight,

You have been honored,

And I have loved you."

Isaiah 43:4

National Recognize Something Day

We all know about the national holidays our country celebrates, but what about all those little things that are given special monthly and daily recognition?  I find it humorous that July is National Pickle Month which goes quite well with today being National Hot Dog Day, National Vanilla Ice Cream Day and Hot Enough For You? Day.  This just screams July!  Who doesn't like hot dogs with pickles and some nice cold ice cream to top it off during the hottest month of the summer?

Call

Who thinks this stuff up?  I want this job.  You don't need to pay me.  Just having the distinction of being the one in charge of declaring special days would be payment enough.  I have some ideas I would like to share with you.  If you like them, then you can start a petition to get me hired as the National Recognize Something Day spokesperson.  Just call your congressman or woman to get me nominated.

Let's start with the warm months of June, July and August.



Lewis

National Brush your Dog Day, National Brush your Cat day, National Kiss your Dog Day, National Kiss your Cat Day.  National Picnic Day, National Campout Day, National Take a Hike Day, or National Family Reunion Day.

Now I'll suggest some days for the cooler months from September to March.



National Thank God it's Back to School Day, National Rake your Yard Day, National Wear the Ugliest Sweater you can Find Day, National Save a Turkey Day, National Wear Orange Day, or National Build a Snowman Day.

Now for April and May.  I saved the best for last.

National Play in the Rain Day, National Pick Spring Flowers for your Neighbor Day, National Plant a Victory Garden Day, National Kiss your Horse Day, National Jump Rope Day, National Play Hop Scotch Day and National Skip Day.  Spring just brings out the child in me.

Other ideas I have are National Kiss Your Husband/Wife Day, National Shake Hands with a Stranger Day, National Sing in an Elevator Day, and National Be A Vegetarian for the Day, Day!

Well, you get the idea.  I could go on and on.  This is a lot of fun.  Why don't you try it?  Make a list of days for recognizing special things that you like.  I guarantee it, you will find this as relaxing as a thirty minute yoga session.   Before you know it you may find yourself skipping down the hallway humming a lively little ditty that you won't be able to get out of your head for a very, very long time.  Then you can declare it National Get This Song Out of My Head Before I go Crazy Day!

SCL

"You are my hiding place,

you shall surround me with

songs of deliverance."

Psalms 32:7

Recipe of the Week - Crock Pot Beans

I love food and I like to cook.   I especially like to experiment with different recipes.  More on myself than on my husband.  There are three people living in our home and we all have different kinds of diets.  My mother likes foods that she grew up eating, I am a vegetarian and my husband, well, he likes to eat almost anything, especially if it mooed, oinked or cackled in its former life.

Cool snake.  I like snakes.

I'm sure I have gotten the attention of some vegetarians out there, but frankly, I love my husband more than life itself and I love cooking for him.  If he wants meat I will cook meat for him.  He has his own tastes when it comes to vegetables, though, he doesn't like any cooked greens or any kind of squash, but otherwise he is very easy to please.  He respects my choice of diet and I respect his.  I believe mutual respect in a marriage is the number one priority.

Today I am starting my Recipe of the Week posting.  I decided to do this every Friday.  The recipes will always be vegetarian or vegan and I guarantee they will be delicious.  One night a week I make a meatless meal for my husband, too.  One thing we both love is beans so making a meatless meal with beans is as easy as can be.

 
The following recipe can be cooked on the stove top or in a crock pot.  I do not presoak my beans.  They cook just fine without being presoaked, it just takes them a little longer.  You will also note that I do not always include measurements.  Your measurements will basically depend on how many people you are serving.  Just adjust the recipe accordingly.

Crock pot Beans

1 cup of washed dry beans (you can use pinto, navy, kidney, black beans, lima, or any beans of your choice).  You can also use more than one variety.
1 chopped onion
1 - 2 cloves chopped garlic
Seasonings to taste include salt, black and red pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder or paprika.  This is your call on what you want to season your beans with.
Water or vegetable broth - you want enough liquid to cover the beans by at least two inches.

Place all in the ingredients in a crock pot early in the morning and set it on high.

This method of cooking takes about 8 hours.  They will keep well on the warm setting until you are ready to serve.

If  you decide to cook this on the stove it takes only takes about four hours.  Just as good and declicious.

Garnish with chopped onions, shredded cheese, chopped hot or sweet peppers or sour cream for extra richness.

Serve with cornbread and fresh vegetables that are in season.

I will also share this easy cornbread recipe my mother has used for years.

Easy Cornbread

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  While it is heating up put 1/4 cup of canola oil in a cast iron skillet* and place it in the oven.

Mix together 1 cup flour, 1 cup cornmeal, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Once mixed add 2 eggs, 1 cup of milk and the hot oil from the skillet.

Stir until you do not see any dry particles in the batter.  Do not over mix.

Place the batter in the skillet and bake for about 25-30 minutes.

*I use an eight inch skillet.  If you do not have a cast iron skillet you can bake this in any oven proof dish.  By putting the oil in the dish first you do not have to pre-grease it.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do.  Let me know if you have any questions.  You will see by my recipes how easy it is to make vegetarian meals for you and your family.

Have a wonderful weekend.  I hope to see you back here on Monday.

SCL

"Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans,

 lentils, millet, and spelt;  put them into one vessel,

and make bread of them for yourself."

Ezekiel 4:9a