Veggie Punch

Veggie Punch for breakfast... So today we have a mixture of ...

1 - beet
6 - long kale leaves
2" ginger root
1 - 1/2 - green bell pepper
1 - cup OJ

Happy Juicing Everyone.

dreaming of lavender with love

(click photo to enlarge any image)

"Pour bien vivre, bien aimer et laisser dire."

"To live well, love well and let them talk."

I would love to share this on a wine label. I found this photo and this quote this morning so off to photoshop I went. We are in the 4th stage of our wine making experiment, just two more weeks before bottling and I am already in love with the process. 

As I have been getting the front ready for our lavender beds I can't help but daydream about the scent and color and feeling so I went online and found some inspiration. 

Just allowing these good feeling thoughts which are attracting objects of desire. Try it with something you love. You will have fun! 

Today's Juice

In this fancy wine glass we had a variety of veggie goodness.

4 - kale
6 - small carrots
2" - ginger
2 cups - spinach
4 - celery
1/2 - apple
1/2 cup - OJ

Perfect NYC Pizza

I used this recipe, no mixer, and tweak it a bit from use to use depending on how much time I have. It always comes out delicious.

Yields: 1 large or 2 small pizzas

Prep Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) instant dry active yeast
• 1 cup warm water (not hot!)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups bread flour, or as needed
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

1. Add the water, yeast, sugar, and a 1/2 cup of the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir well and let sit for 20 minutes. It will get bubbly.
2. Add olive oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour, and mix with a wooden spoon until it's together enough to turn out on to a lightly floured work surface to knead.
3. Knead for about 10 minutes, while adding more flour a little at a time, to produce a soft, elastic and slightly sticky dough. Do not add too much flour, just enough to keep it from sticking to the work surface as you knead.
4. Form the dough into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. Drizzle a few drops of oil and coat the top of dough to prevent the surface from becoming dry.
5. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
6. Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls and place in large zip lock plastic bags and refrigerate overnight.
7. When ready to use, remove from fridge, and let the dough come up to room temperature before using. 

It's the Juice baby!!!

This week is Juice Week (yea) 

I have been juicing for a number of years and it's something my mom started when we were young which I carried over. Well This week I felt the need to step it up a bit and see how far I get by Friday. Oh, I should mention that last week I started substituting a meal a day for my juicing but everything else in regards to what I ate stayed the same. i.e, we still enjoyed homemade pizza on Sunday :)

day one:
Early - 8oz water

Breakfast - coffee, granola

Lunch - cilantro, kale, celery, carrot, spinach juice

Dinner - Chicken salad with water

Snack - Amish Swiss cheese slices, grapes

day two: 
Early - 16oz water

Breakfast - carrot, kale, beet, orange, celery, grape juice

Lunch - cilantro, kale, spinach, carrot, ginger, apple, orange, tomato juice.

23.5 oz

Start planting seeds early indoors

I am feeling the spring coming and can't wait to build this years NEW garden at this beautiful home we moved into 6mo. ago. So, this year I've decided to get an early start indoors using the same lighting system and racks we used last year Last weekend I grabbed some photos to show you how things are coming along. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

Last years rosemary survived the move, fall, and winter

spring onions 

basil

new leaves on the lemon tree

purple basil 

spinach 

spinach 

....and look at the new varieties I've found growing around the property. 

Another added bonus :) 

The Right to Know - A Message From LabelGMOs.org

http://labelgmos.org - Label GMOs, Committee for the Right to Know, is a grassroots political action group that strives to bring awareness to the public regarding genetically modified (GMO) foods. There is an upcoming ballot initiative in California to require companies to label foods that contain GMO products.

Finally... Real Food - Veggie Pasta

Veggie Pasta 

This is one of my favorite dishes that I have been making for years because it's so easy it's also healthy and anyone can make it with whatever pasta you have (elbow, bow tie, mac, penne) and fresh produce in the house.

After not being able to eat for almost a week because of a little accident I had with my mouth (don't ask) I've been living on protein shakes, and soups thank AMY'S. Today I feel about 75% healed and NEED real food.


Todays pasta ingredients:

Elbows pasta cooked & seasoned
2 Tbsp olive oil
garlic
onion
olives
baby bella mushrooms
spinach
asparagus
tomato
basil

 Enjoy hot or cold, and if you like you could throw meat and cheese into it for a dinner.

bon appétit