Tag Archives: salmon

Recipe: Meyer Lemon Salsa

The holiday hoopla may be over, but there are still remnants all over my house. Bits of wrapping paper here, stray cookies there…and a dozen shiny yellow Meyer lemons.

I bought them to make a glaze for my gingerbread men, but, as usual, I bought too many…and I just can’t let these little lovelies wind up in the compost bin! Any other time, I would have used them to make a loaf of lemon pound cake (one of my favorite uses for Meyers) but not the week after Christmas – my sweet tooth is worn out!

The answer? A fresh, tangy salsa made with lemon supremes. The perfect way to cleanse your palate of all those holiday goodies and kick off the new year on a healthy note!

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Local, seasonal food hits the spot!

It’s been a rough week. The best medicine? Local, seasonal, freshly prepared food from Emma’s Food for Life in Selinsgrove!

You know the conversation…

“What do you want for dinner?”

“I don’t know…what do you want for dinner?”

“I don’t care. Whatever you want.”

and so on, and so on…

We were fully engaged in that back and forth last night when we drove by Emma’s and I remembered that I had seen Lemon Quinoa on their specials board outside. I figured it would feature peas and asparagus, because that is what’s in season here right now, and it did.

I just may turn into a pea with the way I’ve been eating lately, but I guess that’s what eating local, seasonal produce is all about, right? If peas are in season, you eat a lot of peas.

So Emma’s it was, and it did not disappoint.

She: Lemon Quinoa (a thick, warm, creamy quinoa in a lemony sauce that reminded me of risotto! Comfort food at its finest. It had lots of greens, peas and asparagus. Sadly, it promised to come with a side of cabbage and beet salad, which was nowhere to be found :( ) It did, however, come with a little green side salad. I chose the lemon tahini dressing (not my favorite, by far )  The husbo chose the cilantro lime dressing, so I stole that :twisted:

Accompanying my dinner is some organic Mother’s Milk tea from Traditional Medicinals…it tastes like strong anise, which I despise, but it came highly recommended and I need the help right now in strengthening my supply. It tasted just a little better in my new W mug (a gift from my thoughtful husband!)

I poached us each a piece of salmon for a little extra sumthin’, and it was pretty tasteless until we realized we could dip it in the dressing. Cilantro Lime Salmon, coming right up!

He: The hus chose the whole wheat fettucine with bacon, peas and asparagus. It was really good…I had a bite with bacon in it, and I wanted to eat the whole thing! I guess there’s just no denying the seductive qualities of bacon. The one bite was enough, though…I don’t plan on becoming a bacontarian.

BIG portion!

 

These dishes didn’t really lend themselves well to pretty pictures, but they were delicious! I inhaled mine. Just what we needed on a night when I was exhausted, still a little concerned about my health, and not wanting to settle for any kind of fast food. (Sadly, we were left with a mountain of styrofoam containers. I was surprised to see that from a restaurant like Emma’s. Surely they could find recycled cardboard…)

Our boy joined in the feast with his new favorite…avocado! I’ve given this to him a couple of times now, and he just devours it! I always seem to have just a little left over whenever I use one, so this will work out perfectly! This was the most perfect avocado I’ve ever cut into (like BUTTAH!) and he said, “Mmmmmm….” with each bite.

Mortared and pestled…

Next time, we combine the ‘cado with a nanner. 

Newsflash: I’ve decided to cave a little on my dairy weirdness and eat some yogurt. I need calories, protein and calcium right now more than ever, and you just can’t beat the nutritients in Greek yogurt, so I looked up my old friend Fage….

This sucker comes with a lot of honey! I amped it up with a little Granbiotics granola and some walnuts…

I had forgotten how good this stuff is…

I’d go so far as to call this the perfect bite!

I guess a little yogurt now and then won’t hurt anything. But no fruity-bottomed ones, and you won’t catch me with a glass of milk in this lifetime, either…

Now, off to get groceries and skedaddle home to my boys. Last time I was in the store, I heard Jive Talkin’! I hope there’s a fun playlist today…I love grocery shopping!

Have a great Sunday, all!

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What’s in season now where you live? Have you had your fill of it yet?

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Filed under Product & Restaurant Reviews, Recipes & Food, The Everyday

I Heart Tomatoes

What do you do when there is a luncheon at work, and nobody wants the leftover salsa? Why, you take it, of course. And then you EAT IT!

But when you have no chips, you’ve gotta get crafty….

I’m really digging this Food for Life bread. It has sprouted grains, you know.

Oh yeah, I have some of that Yucatan Avo-hummus in the fridge… Who knew I’d find so many ways to use that stuff? It’s so huggable!

This was such a good snack that I had 2 and it turned into lunch!

Later, I was feeling a bit poached-salmony, and I thought that would be good topped with fresh salsa. Turns out I was right. As usual, I had lots of garden spinach to use up, along with more local strawberries. I threw them together with an orange (see my first attempt at orange supremes below), a little feta, some walnuts and my fork! I was very smiley while eating this… :D

I hope Finn is smiley, too. They say the flavors of your food influence the flavor of your breastmilk, and that a varied diet can influence your child’s palate throughout life. Neat, eh?

Oh, and a little sidenote: Why haven’t I been making my own salad dressing? Duh. This one was lemon olive oil, rice wine vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard and oregano. A few good whisks, and it was better than any store-bought bottle. Hello!?

What’s the use of talking about food if you’re not going to mention the best beverage on the planet

I mean that. Best. Drink. Ever. Period.

I want to work for Sweet Leaf. I wonder if they have a position, like, say…Tea Drinker?

Granny wisdom for today?

Yeah, I don’t know about that. I love shoes and expensive ingredients, and money sure can buy those!

My favorite Sweet Leaf Grannyism to date? Life is a Garden. Dig it.

Wait…where do you think you’re going? My salsa might be gone, but my tomato bender isn’t over quite yet. 

If I could actually be a tomato, this is the one I’d be. Isn’t it pretty? Forget the flowers…I want a bouquet of these!

Today we’re heading out to the annual Blues Fest at the Spyglass Ridge Winery!  This is one event that we really look forward to every year, I just hope it doesn’t rain too much. No wine for mama this time, but I’ll have a blast anyway, because this is the first year that WE are THREE!

Ta ta for now!

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I also like to stuff a baked potato with salsa. What do you do with salsa when you find yourself chip-less?

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Finally, a moment to sit…

Jeez…It feels like it’s been a week since my last post!

What a busy weekend. I still feel like I didn’t get anything done, but I always feel like that. I’m always thinking about what I didn’t do, instead of focusing on my accomplishments.

Maybe I should write it all down so I can see it on paper, because I know I did A LOT. Or maybe, I should blog about it…

I worked on Saturday from 5am until about noon, which makes for a pretty early morning with a 60-mile commute. I lucked out, though…it seems there were some white sweet potatoes, peaches and nectarines ripe for the taking, and nobody else wanted them. I took a bunch, and left a bunch behind in hopes that someone else in my office might take advantage of free produce!

Take a look at my booty (hee hee...)

Not a bad haul, eh? 

The little fam and I made a run to the local greenhouse and our favorite “Bent & Dent”, where we always find unexpected treasures. I picked up the first of my seasonal herb plants (cilantro and oregano) and stocked up on rolled oats, organic tea, breastmilk storage bags, and lots of other goodies for dirt cheap (mostly discontinued and close-coded items). It’s amazing how many organic products you can find at Bent & Dents and clearance aisles (although, I’m thinking that’s not a good thing, because it means nobody is buying them…)

I was feeling inspired by my sweet taters, so I threw them on the grill alongside some salmon (both in foil packets.)

I felt a salad coming on, so I started rummaging through the fridge to see what I had to use up. I sent the husbo to the garden to collect some greenage, and proceeded to build what shall hereby and forever be known as the Snowball Salad. 

It just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger

and it was OFF. THE. CHARTS.

DIY Snowball Salad

-Grilled lemon pepper salmon

-Grilled sweet potato chunks

-Garden greens (spizznach, beet greens, lettuce mix)

-Black beans

-Avocado

-One falafel ball

-Carrot

-Zucchini

-Mushrooms

-Oregano

-Italian vinaigrette

-Everything else in your fridge

One thing missing: Big spoonful of zingy salsa (I didn’t figure that out until I was done.)

No, I did not eat the whole thing. Yes, I came very close. I see more Snowball Salads in the near future!

And for dessert:

Any chocolate that comes in a black wrapper has to be good, right? Nope. It was very waxy, and very disappointing. Boo on that.

Big surprise of the day: Mommy and Daddy even had a few minutes at the end of the night to relax together, alone.  Mark that one in the record book! (and get your mind out of the gutter…)

Fast forward to Sunday morning:

Breakfast at Subway (See tomorrow’s post for more details…)

Grocery shopping

Home to clean like a hurricane, do 2 loads of laundry, and snack on this old friend from late last summer! It was still fantastic after a long sleep in the freezer. Don’t you love it when you do something great for yourself, and later you get to enjoy it and remember how cool you are? 

Pineapple Zuke Bread

 

…made a BIG FAT DELICIOUS CREAMSICLE!

This is one of my all-time favorite drinks. The Polar vanilla seltzer makes it smell just like a creamsicle, but it’s not nearly as sweet. I use about 1/4 calcium-fortified OJ to 3/4 seltzer. LOVE this

Made Finn’s dinner for tonight/lunch for tomorrow: funky white sweet potato puree.

This came out surprisingly smooth and creamy. I can’t wait to start making pureed everything.

Packed my lunch/breakfast/snack for tomorrow:

Has anyone out there tried these Evol Burritos? I’m very excited about it. That, and my tiny banana. I love that I can be excited about a bag lunch. (My kick-arse husbo bought me a new lidded oats mug!)

Then, finally, baby and I headed over to the ‘rents so Shane could paint at home in prep for the appraisal. No baby in the house with paint, No-VOC or not.

Upon our arrival, Mom was busy creating this lovely concoction:

Rhubarb and raisin chutney. Really nice with a grilled pork chop. Spinach and orange salad on the side. (Vitamin C + Iron = better absorption. Go Mom!)

Alright, so maybe I did get something done this weekend.  :)

It was a pretty good food weekend. Sometimes I feel like I’d have so much more time if I bought more prepared foods. Then, I tell myself to shut up.

Now, my sweet potato-filled boy is snuggled in his bed and I’m going to spend some time with my Mom. It’s Survivor finale night!

If Parvati wins, I’ll be so p’ed.

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Do you give yourself credit for what you get done, or do you tend to focus on the one thing you didn’t accomplish (like me)?

I didn’t get my run in this weekend. Something had to give. What did you NOT get done this weekend?


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