Baking Soda and Vinegar

Cleaning agent extraordinaire!! Life is smelling sweet again in the chicken coop.

FYI

The apartment still reeks of rotten melon, ugh. A late night at work and I am greeted by stench. I am going to ignore it tonight and go to bed. Tomorrow, busting out the baking soda and vinegar....I will prevail!

Hmm, did you know......?

So do you know what happens when an aunt, who is notorious for giving away produce that is nearly past it's prime, gives you a watermelon and you leave it on the counter for two days? Amazingly enough, it spontaneously combusted. Yep, sure enough. I was washing dishes last night and I hear a loud pop, then a cat goes flying across the room. I turn around to see the watermelon split in half, pieces every where and lots of watermelon juice all over. (Of course, my cell phone was sitting there, taking a swim in the juice.) I thought, hmm, that's weird...so I walk over to clean it up and the smell tells me why it blew up.....note to self....cut the watermelon up right away!! Yuck, yuck, yuck! To top it off, it was 10:30pm, so I just put it in the trash to deal with later, and by the time I got home from work today my entire apartment smelled of rotting melon...blagh..so a quick trip to the dumpster and lots of open windows.

Tomato Leaves

So recently a friend of mine mentioned that she had purchased a soy candle that was tomato leaf scent. I told her I don't think I had ever bothered to smell tomato leaves. So I recently decided to take a whiff...oh wonderful. I am reminded of the simple pleasures nature has to offer yet again. This is a photo of my slowly ripening hearty cherry tomato plant. I love the smell. To twist a common adage, take time to stop and smell the tomato leaves today...you won't be disappointed.

Beans and Eggs Recipe

Now, with permission from the lovely Mary, the beans and eggs recipe I showed before. (Here is another poor quality photo showcasing my friend, Rachel, enjoying her dish, darn flash on the fritz.)

Cook beans until crisp tender. (You may steam them, boil them, whatever you prefer, we used the leftover beans from the night before.)

Fry an egg (to your preference, I go over medium) for each serving of beans.

Place a piece of cheese on top of each egg (Mary suggested cheddar, I had provolone, so that is what I used. ) Place in oven for until cheese melts. (I went with 350 that seems the catchall temp.)

While this is baking, for each serving saute one TB of butter, three TB of red wine vinegar, and one TB of dijon mustard. Whisk until creamy. Spoon desired amount on each serving. We found making 3-6-3 version for 3 servings a bit too much, so you may not need exactly one per serving depending on how much sauce you like. Also, I used spicy brown mustard instead of dijon, because, well, that's what I had so that's what I used.

Another variation I am excited to try is to switch out the beans for asparagus, yummy.....actually, I haven't eaten dinner yet, I may have to make this...

A gift idea.

So I tried to paste a photo but I am unable to figure it out. I did send the info somehow, which explains the 2-tier post. I am interested in using less plastic, yet I pack my lunch nearly day, I have mostly plastic containers, but I found the website http://www.lifewithoutplastic.com/ and found the 2-tier tifin with plum brown carrier and sidekick for $34.95....hmmm, seems like a good birthday gift. It seems that someone's birthday is within three weeks....perhaps some family or friend type might be seeing this..makes you think huh... In all actuality the site has a plethora of neat products to check out if you are thinking about a life without plastic as well.

2-Tier Tiffin Combo Pack with Sidekick and Plum Brown Bag | Life Without Plastic Boutique

2-Tier Tiffin Combo Pack with Sidekick and Plum Brown Bag Life Without Plastic Boutique: "We want to make sure that you have all that you need to stay good to go. When you purchase this Combo Pack, you get a sidekick, a 2-Tier Stainless Steel Tiffin Set* and a bag to carry. A great way to have all that you need for wherever you're going and eating.

Dimensions: Assembled: 5 1/2' H x 6 1/2' D (14 cm H X 16.5 cm D) Top Unit height: 2 1/2' (6.4 cm) Bottom Unit height: 2 3/4' (7 cm) Liquid Measurements: 4 3/4 cups (1.1 L), each unit

Sidekick Dimensions: 2 1/4' H x 2 1/2' D (10.2 cm H x 6.4 D) Liquid Measurements: 1/2 Cup (118 ml)"

First Tomato

It may not look like much to seasoned gardeners, but this was my first tomato of the season. I snapped a quick photo, then washed it and ate it! No fancy schmanciness here - just a tasty, warm from the sun treat, ah, heaven. I may have to try to be more serious in my honing my gardening skills. At least I semi-weeded this year, progress is progress after all.

Cooking again.

Sorry for the poor quality photo. However, this was an exciting cooking foray for me. My friend, Mary, gave me a lovely (and easy) recipe. It is green beans, a fried egg, cheese, and a yummy sauce to coat the entire thing. It was yummy. I will check with Mary and if she agrees I will post this wonderful quick dinner.

Sunflowers

I had some beautiful, humongous sunflowers in my garden They were chock full of buds. I was hoping for several more weeks of beauty. Then I return from visiting a friend to find the towering plants all on the ground. There had been a sudden downpour, the second in a week, and apparently it was too much for the stalks and they broke. sigh. So I cut out the some of the blossoms and I have two vases in my house to at least extend the blossoms for a few days. I also saved the once that were fully seeded. I will try to save them for next year. I have decided to up the sunflower planting over all next year. I do love them.

Fresh Produce and Successful Cooking Adventures

I felt I needed to post some good things to counteract the bad bit of "healthy" tasting muffins. So here are some good healthy tasting meals from recent adventures in cooking. The produce in all of these are fresh from farmer's markets or my garden.(There are a few potential exceptions, read on, you'll understand.) The rice/bean mix in the first photo were courtesy of a friend who made too much and gifted me with leftovers. (I love when she does this.) The lettuce is mine, a spicy mesclun mix. The salsa is Newman's Own. Tomatoes are farmer's market. Tortilla (which I toasted) are a whole wheat/flax seed blend. The second meal consisted of more of my lettuce edible flowers from the farmer's market. (If you have not ventured into edible flowers, it is a fun trip.) The cucumbers in the salad and the water (did you catch that, yes, there is a cucumber in the water, try it before you knock it) is another farmer's market find. The strawberries are from my mom who doesn't garden so are either purchased roadside or supermarket (but let's not pass judgement) but yummy. The beets are farmer's market find that have been sauteed in organic olive oil. (Yum, I love beets, again, let's not pass judgement.) The apparent sausage patties are actually morning star fake sausage patties. Not my favorite but still edible. I am working on trying to purchase less prepackaged frozen foods, because they are not the most ecologically sound wise.

Perserve Toothbrushes

Just renewed my toothbrush subscription from www.recycline.com! Don't forget to consider it next time you need a new toothbrush.