Food!

I am completely enjoying this garden thing!  It is so fun to go outside and see what new things are ready to be harvested. 

 The carrots are growing great!  (Finally!)

This little concoction was a beet smoothie!  (I know, I know...you all want me to hurry with this post so you can rush to the kitchen to make your own!)  I have learned that the best way to skin a beet is to cook them first (either roasted or boiled) then to let them cool.  The skins come off much faster and easier that way.  This smoothie had some beet juice, several beets, a cuke (also from our garden), oranges, and a banana.  It was amazingly good.  I read somewhere that beets must be used sparingly, since they are a detoxing veggie and can cause nausea, so I used 1 part beet to 3 parts fruit/other veggies.  Adding the fruit also cut the sharp taste of the beets down quite a bit.  The kids loved this smoothie!

For my birthday I was given a copy of the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes.  (Thank you Gina and Andy!)  I'm hooked.  That's all I have to say about that!  The recipes in this book are so incredibly easy that baking bread is a cinch.  No kneading is involved, and the dough lasts 2 weeks!  All you have to do is make up a large batch and when you want fresh bread, pull out a hunk and bake it.  Easy!  This is a picture of my first attempt. 

 

It was John's birthday yesterday, and since he pulled off a lovely surprise birthday party for me, I tried to make his birthday dinner special.  I made a semolina pizza dough (recipe from my new book), topped with homemade pesto, peppers, tomatoes, and chicken.  I grilled both sides of the dough first, then put the toppings on.  This pizza was incredible!  I see more grilled pizzas in our future!

No birthday is complete without some sort of dessert.  We had had a lot of cake the last couple of weeks (my birthday and Abby's birthday) so I opted for grilled nectarines with a cinnamon-coconut sauce.  Oh, and ice cream on the side.  The sauce was SO wonderful, that I bought a pineapple this morning simply so we could have another go at it!  Take a can of coconut milk, put in a cup and a half of sugar (I know, I know!) and one teaspoon of cinnamon.  Dunk the fruit in, and grill.  Easy and oh-so-good!  

I don't have a picture of my latest creation, but it is another keeper!  The kids asked for chocolate milk this morning...so I gave in.  However I did pop a fresh (cooked) beet in it, whirled it in the VitaMix and voila!  Healthy chocolate milk! (And man, was it ever tasty!)

What about you?  Any fun, healthy recipes (or not!) that have been a hit?  I'd love to hear!