Sautéed Zucchini and Mushrooms

Sizzling seasoned zucchini with delicious mushrooms sautéed with garlic and green onion tossed in olive oil and butter sauce topped with Parmesan shavings. Need I say more?

After much delay and wanting to lounge around the house we pulled ourselves together and got ready, there was going to be be some running around. Yesterday we took a drive to Idaho, partly to chase a dream and partly to get out of the house for a little drive; it was a win-win situation.  To me Idaho is a quiet and quaint town that seems to be in the middle of nowhere at least as far as my eyes could see, I know right about now you must be thinking about how you wish you could have tagged along right!  It was a good thing trust me those weeds aren’t going anywhere while we are away! 

The idea was mine actually, it has been mine for a little bit now.  I thought one day when we have no pressing certain-something or another going on, we are going to get a wild hair go down to Idaho and do you know what we will do, we will buy a lottery ticket!  It will be fun! 

We made it there checked out the different types of tickets, made a selection and bought our tickets and just like that we were done and made our way back.  The drive seemed to take up a good chunk of the day and it was time to start putting dinner together in my head.  The first thought that came to my mind was spaghetti.  So after a visit to my sisters and a visit to dad’s it was off to Smith’s for some grocery finds. 

The moment we walked into the store it was as if a force had taken a hold of us and pulled us towards the seafood display!

4 Steps To Spinach With Eggs

Now I want you to think outside the box for a moment.  Take a leap of faith and taste life on the wild side!  This is an introduction into spinach with eggs.  It is very simple, it only takes two ingredients, six if you want to count the oil sugar, salt and pepper.  Be brave it's good for you and all you can do is like it right! 

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Five Facts About Spinach

Click below for the recipe

Sustainable Garden Beginning with Tulips and Daffodils Update





All New Square Foot Gardening

Are we multi-taskers or what!  We are committed and so when we decide to start a project we dive right in!  And it is all slowly but surely paying off.  As a first time gardener, (by the way I am going to be adding that to my resume) beginning last fall and into this year I have been eager to get outside to plant something spectacular. 

5 Facts About Spinach,

I bet I am not alone when I say spinach has a more distinct taste this is especially true with my family.  To win them over it takes a little creativity on my part, I have to put together those certain recipes to counter the taste of this powerful vegetable.

Sealed With Goodness

Sealed With Goodness

Food that is conveniently packaged, carefully selected for freshness, and then sealed in with its nutrition and flavors all preserved and put into a can… GENIUS!  The ability to preserve foods at the peak of their ripeness and seal them tight to ensure the ultimate freshness, what an idea!  Sometimes I think we overlook a lot of what the can has to offer. 

I am a frequenter in the produce department of my local grocery store and markets.  I like the fruits and vegetables they offer in the produce section of the store, and I also take advantage of the canned section.  So like you when I buy a can whether they are lychee's, rambutans, tomatoes, carrots, mixed vegetables, soup or even meat like tuna or chicken I feel good knowing that the cans go through a thorough process to ensure the ultimate in freshness. 

Some of the canned food like your canned tomatoes and carrots actually carry more nutritional than the fresh vegetables you find in the produce section!  By cooking the food quickly at high temperatures and sealing them in sterilized steel cans, they maintain most of their nutritional value and prevent impurities from entering the cans.   

When I cook I try to ask myself about what am I making, what ingredients do I need, what does the recipe call for and what effect am I going for?  Sometimes it is that crisp crunch that adds to a meal, and sometimes something from a can is exactly what I need for my recipe. 

Cans make many foods you would otherwise not have here readily available to you.  You will find that much of your canned fruits and veggies are fat free with higher vitamin content and some even have stronger abilities to combat against cancers!  A lot of them have the convenient pull tab for opening making it simple to get into the can. The cans specifically made to be tamper free and environmentally friendly, like I said genius! And in today’s world you can buy most cans with salt and or sugar, reduced salt and or sugar or opt out of it all together and have it with no salt and or sugar.  It is all covered!   

Tip:

It’s a good idea to consider creating a section in your home for food storage.  As a part of the canning process they have already been cooked and need only be warmed. Cans are 100% secured and create a protection from the outside contaminants. With a shelf life of at least two years, I keep a food storage area in my pantry in the event of an emergency and I rotate the cans according to their expiration date.  I try to keep it in my thoughts that it’s not a matter of if but when, and so I try to stay as prepared as I can. 

Sautéed Potatoes with Red Onion

A wonderful and easy way to prepare potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 lb russet potatoes, washed skinned, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 red onion, large cut in 1 inch pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed and set aside for 10-20 minutes
• 1 tbsp salt
• 7 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp season salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp garlic salt

Directions

1. Fill a large stock pot at least half full with water and bring to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt.  Slowly add the potatoes, and give it a stir.  Allow the water to come to a boil again. Boil uncovered, for 10-15 minutes test with a fork for tender but firm.  Drain and set aside.
2. Pour 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a small pan on high heat, add pressed garlic.  Reduce heat and sauté for 30 seconds, remove from heat.
3. Add sautéed garlic, paprika, salt, black pepper, season salt, and garlic salt, oil, and butter into a large zip lock bag mix with a wisk for 30 seconds.
4. Add red onion to seasoning mixture, toss to coat thoroughly remove and set aside.  Add potatoes to seasoning mixture, toss to coat thoroughly remove and set aside separately.
5. Pour remaining seasoning mixture into a non-stick skillet on medium high heat.  Add red onion sauté for 3 minutes stirring occasionally.  Remove and set aside.
6. Place potatoes in a single layer in the skillet allow to cook turning the potatoes every 3-5 minutes on each side until all sides are brown and the outside is crisp.  Reduce heat to medium add red onions back in cook an additional 2 minutes and remove from heat.

Serve immediately

This is a dish inspired by my mom. I took the basic concept she gave me and enhanced the flavors with the garlic, seasonings and hint of subtle sweetness from the red onion.  This crispy slightly crunchy on the outside tender on the inside potato sautéed with red onion with just the right amount of seasnoning will add that certain something you are looking for.

Cilantro

I love the taste of cilantro, I try to use it when ever possible.  There is something about the distinctive unmistakable smell of cilantro that I love. The light and delicate leaf  with its pungent scent and wonderful flavor, I always have it on hand in my fridge.

Red Onion

A trick I use to add wonderful flavor to many of my favorite savory dishes is to simply add some onion.  This week’s ingredient is all about the red onion also known as the purple onion.  This is one of those vegetables that my kitchen seems incomplete without!  I love the flavor an onion can instantly give to a dish! To me the red onion has this mild hint of sweetness and good flavor that I love, the kids on the other hand… not so much.  But I want them to have it regardless, so to help everyone out when serving with kids I just finely chop them up and blend them in so they are not so obvious, wink wink!

Description

Red onions fall into the spring-summer variety category of the onion family.  They are firm with a mild scent with an even-color sealed in a thin, paper like skin that you remove completely before using. The red onion is a vegetable that comes from the ground like the white onions, spring onions and red spring onions. 


Uses


Red onions can be used in many ways from salads and sandwiches to hamburgers and shish-kebabs, in dips, stews, and even soups, as well as in many main dishes.  After you peel the thin skin the can be eaten raw or cooked.   Whether they are grilled, sautéed, baked, broiled or even micro waved we all should try to include red onions in our meals!

Benefit

When it comes to health benefit advantages in red onions, the things you should know are that they are low in saturated fat, have zero cholesterol and low sodium. They're a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, folate, potassium and manganese, not to mention an excellent source of vitamin C.

The sulfur compound that causes the tear jerker effect you have probably encountered from the red onion has been said to reduce the risk of heart disease and other cancers.  Red onions have flavonoids which are good to clean up oxidative damage that can lead to cancer heart disease and certain tumors.  And this may come as a surprise but red onions help to maintain healthy bones! 

What are you waiting for, try this crab dip with tang for a refreshing way to get red onions in your diet today!