August Harvest

I just got back from Muriel's Garden...

Each time I revisit, I learn something new.  Upon entering the gate, I was taken with the sight of bean plants climbing up the tall cornstalks.  Now if this is not just the best example of sustainable gardening!

Muriel came around the back way and explained that the beans and corn are companion plantings.  The beans use the cornstalks for support, while the weight of the bean plants actually strengthens the corn stalks.  Everything with it's purpose... and a higher plan in action.

The garden represents what I find out more and more about life in general:

• Things have a way of working in unison.
• There is a higher plan of action than I will ever know completely.
• wonderful things happen for those of us that stick around long enough to observe.

Muriel and I struck an agreement as she embarked on the massive task of organic vegetable gardening some years ago.  She would share and I would trade for the food on my table with my own business services.  The barter has been appreciated both ways.

The garden has become a Taj Mahall of vegetables, at least in my own observation.  As Muriel learns and implements her research findings, the yield becomes more efficient with each coming season.

The growing, harvesting and using food that is "in season" is something that was taught to me as i was growing up in the Santa Clara valley of Northern California.  in those days, the "Bay Area" was mostly orchards; plums, cherries and various fruits and nuts.  My Dad would plant the vegetable garden and food was provided during the long California growing season.

"What's for dinner" was decided by what was growing and ripe, not by which restaurant you felt like trying...

It is so easy to put together a meal with what is available.  A little creativity and inspiration is that "love" that everyone refers to when a meal is planned with a little care and consideration.

If there is something I could pass on to my kids, it would be for them to know this and pass it on to their own kids....

One of my sons has a vegetable garden of his own this year.  The learn as you go process has it's frustrations, but the rewards are there for the taking.  You have to start somewhere!

Mealtimes will bring true meaning to the term "fast food".  What might be easier than slicing some tomatoes and cucumbers and placing them on a dinner plate for the side dish.

Now add my own special sauce + sesame seeds:
  2 teaspoonsbalsamic vinegar
  1/2 teaspoon sugar
  1 teaspoon olive oil
Shake in a jar and drizzle over the vegtables. Sprinkle with the seeds.

Tonight's "fast food' became the white corn I had in my fridge from the fruit stand combined with some of the vegetables I had picked:

I steamed my chosen ingredients, then used butter with a slotted spoon to melt over the this entire "medley of flavors" while still hot. 

Honestly, going "out" to eat would have taken more time....

My Morning Smoothie

Some years back, while doing some health research on the benefits of Zeaxanthin and Lutien, I was somewhat amused to find so many “cure-all” type advertisements for health supplements. Distracted by the many so-called “authorities” on health and nutrition, it seemed as if each promoter had the secret to optimum health… well, that is if you bought a bottle of their product to ingest each day. One thing they all seemed to have in common was that the health supplement was made out of a rare fruit (one I never heard of) that grew only in remote regions on our planet… and only when the sun shown on it a certain way… well, you get where I am coming from.

Deciding to take a more practical approach to my quest for keeping myself healthy as I skate through life, I started researching nutrients in foods and food preparation. It just seems that if one can incorporate good nutrition into a daily routine it would go a long way towards laying groundwork for a healthy life. Enough servings of fresh fruits and vegetables seem to be the thing my diet is lacking. I could bet that for most of us there is a lot of room for improvement in this department.

The introduction of my morning smoothie ritual became sort of a spiraling thought process, a means to incorporate more uncooked fruits and vegetables into my daily diet. My Smoothies became more of a practice than a recipe; always relying on whatever the fruit basket offered that needed using that particular day. Since fresh fruit is not always available, I came to rely on my freezer and I started what I now call a “smoothie bin.”

Green Smoothies have become ever so popular for concentrating the diet with nutrient rich super foods. Tasting my Brother’s own recipe (chock full of parsley, celery and tons of fresh ginger) left me not really wanting to start each day off in this manner, a little too much “kick” for my own gently waking from sleep hours. However, adding some spinach to my Berry Smoothie, I found there really was not difference to the taste!

 I quickly learned that fresh sliced carrots added to my smoothie bin would easily liquefy when previously frozen and that they actually add some sweetness to my recipe! Kale and Spinach and Beet Greens started finding their way into my smoothie bin… grapes and bits of oranges, etc… When I slice the cauliflower for grilling and bits of little flowerets fall off, you guessed it, into my smoothie bin they go.

The ingredients in my smoothies evolve along with the food choices that are stored in my smoothie bin. Every morning, into the blender goes fresh fruit that is sitting in my fruit basket, frozen ingredients from my smoothie bin, milk (almond milk is my fav!) and a little fruit juice or yogurt. I find no need to add sweeteners, using this method, but would recommend a teaspoon of pure Maple Syrup to those who do.

Exploring different methods and recipes brings so many more ideas to what I choose to eat and how my choices affect my health and daily performance. Please add your own ideas and recipes in the comments section of this post … it is a process, and a journey we are all on, despite our different demographics!

Ingredients from my frozen smoothie bin before blending