Fruit Cake and Lesson Learned

 Remember the family fruit cake recipe I shared awhile back? I finally opened it. A month after receiving it. It's still very juicy from brandy. So delicious.

And I learned that salads are not for playing around with. If you want to stay full for longer than an hour after eating a salad, then eat a bigger salad to begin with. Otherwise you'll find yourself eating a spoonful of peanut butter at 2 pm because your stomach is eating itself. I also added more peanuts; maybe the protein will keep me full longer?

Tweet

Lunch Salad

Mama Pea is featured in today's lunch again. Well not Mama Pea herself, but one of her salads: Bliss Salad.

I followed the recipe (almost!!) exactly, except:
1. I replaced the green onions with a homegrown leek that was still leftover from harvesting in Springfield.
2. I used about 10 baby carrots instead of 2 regular carrots.
3. Instead of one big bell pepper, Mom gave me some of these mini sweet peppers:

 
The dressing on this is fantastic!

I'm a little weird when I eat my salads. I know the greens are good for me. But I really like the toppings. I know if I eat the toppings as I go, then I'll end up with all these greens at the end with no toppings. So I force myself to eat the greens first so I have fun toppings to eat at the end. (This is also the way I eat tortellini from Pasta House; I eat the pasta first so I can enjoy the peas, proscuitto and mushrooms at the end!)

Tweet

Cuban black beans (or pinto beans)

A couple weeks ago I asked what else to do with ham hocks besides ham and beans and Mom gave me a recipe for Cuban Black Beans. The Hubs is not crazy about black beans, so I substituted pinto beans. This makes the soup more monotone, but still flavorful.

Jack's Cuban Black Beans (Mom- any idea who Jack is?)

2 c dried black or pinto beans, sorted and rinsed (I soaked mine overnight)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 bay leaves
14.5 oz can tomatoes (I used a pint of home-canned tomatoes from last summer)
4 c water (more if needed)
4 tsp cumin (yes you read that right, 4)
4 oz can chopped chiles
1 tsp salt
1 ham hock, most of the fat removed and diced
1 beef bouillon cube
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano

This recipe was meant for the crockpot, but I didn't realize that until I had already started throwing items into a stockpot. If made in a crockpot, fry the veggies and ham hock in a couple tablespoons of oil to soften and brown before putting in the crockpot. Then cook on high for 6 hours.

Here's my version:
Put the bell pepper, onion, garlic and celery in a stock pot with some oil and cook until tender.

 

Dice the ham.

 

 Check out all those spices! Add them with the ham, tomato, chiles, and water (everything else on the list).

 

Cover and simmer. I simmered for over and hour last night and the beans weren't done. Tonight, I put the soup back on for another hour or so.

Enjoying with a dollup of sour cream.

Next time:
1. Use black beans.
2. Not only soak the beans overnight, but cook them prior to making the soup.

Update from the garden today:
5.5 oz strawberries, bringing the total for the year to 32.5 oz.

I rode 3.5 miles today in 24 minutes. Hopefully this weekend I'll have the time/good weather to ride to work and then start riding to work a couple times a week. Sweetness!

What I ate for lunch today: salad of mixed greens/spinach from the garden with leftover stuffed mushrooms, olives, feta cheese, olive oil, salt & pepper and oregano. Amazing!

Tweet

Mmmm spinach and strawberries!

Today I rode 2.21 miles in 14.20 minutes. It seemed like a longer ride than the last one, but was shorter by 1/3 of a mile... Average was 9.26 mph. Next week is bike/bus/walk to work week here in Springfield and I was aiming for that to be my first week to ride to work. Next week is also when they start working on our parking garage and if I drive I have to walk farther...

I harvested another 3 oz. of strawberries today. That brings the strawberry total to 15 oz.

Dinner tonight has some ingredients from the garden (the spinach, mixed greens and strawberries). I also added leftover chicken breast and steamed broccoli, and feta cheese and dressed it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S&P and basil.

Tweet

Tracking veggies

I said awhile back that I wanted to track my vegetable harvest this year. I'm already behind... I don't remember what days I harvested, but I've had four spinach salads this size and I've snipped off several bunches of parsley. I weighed the spinach today and it was 2.5 oz. So the count so far for harvested vegetables is:

Spinach: 10 oz
Flat leaf parsley: 1/4 c.
Curly leaf parsley: 1/2 c.

What is that in the picture you ask? Spinach salad with flat leaf parsley, a big falafel patty (I buy a powdered mix from Mama Jeans) and sauteed cheese curds, with a sprinkle of parmesan, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I think this is how I've eaten all of the spinach so far from the garden, except in two instances I also had kalamata olives. But I ate them all, so I am without until my next Mama Jeans trip.

Tweet