Woohoo - Farmers Market Saturday!

The Farmers Market was lovely today - more musicians than usual, lower prices than during the summer, and a perfect blend of summer and autumn produce! There were lots of berries and lots of pumpkins! I spent all of the $21 I had on me, and came away with a big bag of yummies :)

Here's one of the vendors where I had planned to get chard, but they were out of it by the time I came back. The only downside to walking through the whole market before buying anything!

Roasting peppers!

I bought a few heirloom tomatoes and some corn here

So pretty!

You know it's organic when you find critters!

I bought some chanterelles and nettles here

Hahaha!

Here's the goods!
1 giant zucchini
4 heirloom tomatoes
4 multicolored beets
2 ears of corn
1 lb. of seedless grapes
3 bell peppers
1/6 lb. of chanterelles
a big bag of nettles
1 loaf of Dave's Killer Bread - Nuts and Grains
1 chocolate panini

Cookie just had to investigate - kittens are so curious!

This loot is officially Cookie approved!

P.S. I've never even tasted let alone cooked with nettles... it was a total impulse buy! There's a recipe for nettle potato soup with the bag, but do any of you have favorite recipes or ways to prepare them? Thanks!!!

I think fall has arrived...

Zoey and Cookie watch the rain pour

I'm not sure if I'm ready for fall. I still feel like I was cheated out of part of summer with the cruddy August weather, I guess. School starts this week, there are pumpkins at the farmers market, the stores have aisles of Halloween stuff... and now it actually looks like fall outside. I wore jeans and socks this weekend. I didn't see any sun today. Oh, woe is me! I do get to wear my new Vegan Earth mary janes, though... so I guess it's not all bad! :)

I'm eating odds and ends for dinner tonight - pita and hummus, an apple, tortillas and soy cheese with salsa, and some hazelnuts (so far!). I did make some yummy enchiladas earlier in the week, though. They're cheater-style (with store bought enchilada sauce), but they were damn tasty!

Before sauce, filled with tofu, black beans, corn, zucchini, bell pepper,
jalapeno, cilantro, onion, and green onions

After sauce, ready for the oven!

Ready for my belly - enchiladas y guacamole!

Ok, just one more kitty picture! Cookie is loving the box my shoes were shipped in (and by the way, Ebay is a great place to buy brand new Vegan Earth shoes for cheap! Mine were $30 + shipping for shoes that retail at $129! I've bought 4 pairs over the last year or two - I can't help myself!).

Cookie happily resting in her box














Bath time for Cookie girl!

Have a great week everybody!

Farmers Market goods and two yummy meals!

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well :) Sorry that I've been MIA the last week or so; it's inservice time at work, and while there are no children around and it seems like a bit of a break, I am keeping busy with meetings, workshops, family visits, and setting up the classroom environment. It probably hasn't helped that I've become accustomed to getting to work whenever I want... (thank goodness I don't normally have a flexible schedule! It's bad news for me!). Anyway, I went to the Farmers Market this weekend super late, but miraculously there was still tons of stuff left! I spent $19.20 and had a heavy bag of stuff to carry home:



a bag of creamer potatoes, 3 multicolored bell peppers, 6 heirloom tomatoes, 4 ears of corn, 2 gravenstein apples, a chocolate panini, a bunch of rainbow chard, 3 anaheim peppers, and a bag of green beans - woohoo!






So what did I cook up with all that loot? Some tasty eats, baby! Here goes:

Spicy tomato black beans, quinoa, and sauteed chard, peppers, and onion
(served with corn tortillas, as most things I eat are!)

Sloppy lentil Joe's, corn on the cob, and pretty bell pepper for garnish :)

I've you've never made sloppy Joe's with lentils - do it! Even my skeptical husband loved 'em! I cooked 1 cup of lentils (3 cups water), then added a can of tomato sauce, a bell pepper, an anaheim pepper, half an onion, 2 T. or so of molasses, a T. of cumin, and a T. of chili powder. It made enough for each of us to bring leftovers for lunch the next day - pretty impressive!

Oh, and I can't end a post without some cute kittie porn! Oh wait, that sounds wrong! How about, "cute kittie uber cutieness?"

Here's crazy Zoey with her new toy, a locally handmade cat body pillow filled with catnip!

Cookie didn't get what everyone was so excited about... she's a very mature 4 month old!

I think this one is begging for a LOLcat caption... any ideas???

Panang curry is goooooooood!

For dinner last night, I finally cracked open the jar of Thai and True panang curry paste that has been sitting in the cupboard for a few months. Thai and True products are made locally in Lake Oswego, and sold at the Farmer's Market as well as Food Fight. In my opinion, they are FAR superior to other curry pastes (like Thai Kitchen brand). I mixed 1/2 a jar with a can of coconut milk, and cooked on low until I put the veggies in. At the same time I sauteed some tofu. I wasn't very authentic about the veggies, and just threw in what I had: potatoes, carrots, and onion, which is better suited for mussaman curry, but whatever! It was still tasty! After tossing in the veggies and tofu, I turned up the heat to medium and covered the pot, letting it cook for about 30 minutes. It will cook down a lot, so make sure and add about 1 or 2 cups water and turn down the heat to low while your rice is cooking. And don't pull a Chelsea! Actually turn on your rice cooker instead of leaving it on warm for 30 minutes while complaining about how long it's taking! :) Waiting again was pure torture!






Plated panang curry with brown rice










Yesterday, Tiny Kitteh was sleeping innocently in Zoey's favorite cat bed (an empty water bottle flat that she won't let me recycle!) when Zoey decided to come join her.







Tiny Kitteh didn't quite fit anymore...















...but she tried to make it work!















Until she saw Zoey's tail...















...and she just couldn't help but attack it!

Crazy kittehs!!!