Celebrating Our First Harvest!

What's tiny, red and tastes a bit spicy?

Say hello to our first radish!

Ok, so it's not much, but I am SUPER excited to show off our first vegetable straight out of the hoop house.  Claire was so eager to pick something other than lettuce leaves (she's been munching on them for weeks whenever we would walk up to water) so I gave in and let her pick a radish from the pot.

These are the ones we planted back in December. They grew s-l-o-w-l-y in our unheated greenhouse, but grow they did. The January and February ones are just as far along. Claire described the flavor as being "like spicy pepper, but it was good too [at the start]."

The rule in our house is that you must try food. You may not like it, but give it a shot. Even parents have foods that they don't like (don't you try to sneak any olives onto my plate!), but we should always have a try to see if our tastes have changed. Claire could live on broccoli, kale and garlicky spinach and she loves (gasp!) brussel sprouts. Really, the only things she doesn't enjoy are mushrooms, olives and (lately) raw tomato. And bread...we almost never have sandwiches because she never eats the bread.

Claire has shown me that it is entirely possible to eat PB&J without the bread, it's just very, very messy.

Are you gardening with your little ones this year? 

Oh My Sweet Beets! We Love This Dip.

Beets were the one veggie that really thrived last year in my garden. Tucked under the soil, they were safe from the deer and Claire’s busy little fingers. My cherry tomatoes didn’t make it to the table with my daughter’s constant snacking and let’s not discuss my zucchini plants that didn’t produce ANY zucchinis.

This is three years in a row I’ve had zero luck with the most “prolific” of garden veggies. I was led to believe that zucchini were like the rabbits of the veggie kingdom. What on earth am I doing wrong?

When I saw this recipe for Beet and White Bean Hummus over at Weelicious, I knew I had to try it out. Given Claire’s adoration of hummus (remember the hummus costume?!)  and her love of beets, I predicted a winner.

Guess what? I was right. And I think I’ll be planting at least 3000 beets because I intend to eat this at least once a day year round.

An interesting "costume"

This is what happens when you don't give your three year old enough crackers for her hummus:

How to Make Homemade HEART Apple Chips

                     



 Yummy! A crunchy, sweet Valentine’s Day treat that won’t earn your kids a trip to the dentist – what a delicious, simple and healthy afternoon treat these were! Package ‘em up pretty and I think they’ll make a lovely gift for someone special. Apple chips are about a gazillion dollars per bag at my grocery store so this is a super frugal snack to boot!

GUILTY!

Two seconds! That’s all it took for nimble Miss Claire to raid the pot of pesto pasta (say that 3x fast) after lunch. This was minutes after she polished off two bowls! I couldn’t understand her since her mouth was full, but I’m pretty sure she was saying, “I LOVES ME SOME PESTO!”

Can I truly complain that Claire is stealing pesto pasta straight from the pot? Nah. She’s downing a bunch of leafy green veggies in a delicious sauce…nutritionally speaking pesto packs a punch, right?

This pesto had a bit of a twist too – it was made with spinach (what was growing in the garden) and sunflower seeds (hanging around in the pantry) along with the usual additives of olive oil and garlic. Quick, easy and delish! Just ask Claire – oh wait, she’s busy:

I'm off to pick a peck of pickled peppers...the letter of the day is obviously "P."

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Pantry Scavenged Pesto Perfection

• 8 oz (about 3 cups lightly packed) baby spinach
• Generous handful of sunflower seeds (traditional pesto is made with pine nuts and almonds would work well too I bet!)
• 1/4 C (at least) of cheese (Parmesan preferred but Romano is fine, albeit strongly flavored)
• 2-3 garlic cloves smashed and salted
  
• 2/3 C of olive oil

Mash all the above together saving the olive oil for last. Going oldschool with your mortar and pestle is totally an option, but I chucked everything in my food processor and pulsed for about 30 seconds. Sprinkle additional cheese on the pasta for extra oomph! Pesto freezes well and a little goes a loooong way.

Introducing my sous chef

I was going to write a nice long entry about Claire helping me out in the kitchen while making pizza dough, but she woke up ruining my plans. I'll just share the photos instead - her flour covered nose tells the story perfectly. Click on the slide show again for larger photos, you'll want to see these close up for sure!