Picking Asparagus

Tara mentioned in her Meatless Monday post that we had taken a trip to the U-pick-it Farm to cut fresh asparagus. This is actually a picture taken from our 1st year plantings in the garden the night after our little adventure, since I forgot to snag the camera before we headed out. But even without being able to take action pictures for the post, we all had a blast.

It might be hard to imagine describing such an outing as 'fun', and I will admit that it does sound a little weird saying it. While there are certain benefits apparent with picking your own asparagus, such as having access to fresh produce that hasn't been stored in a bin and poked and prodded by various shoppers and their children before you've purchased it, there are also those moments that can't be quite as easily described. Like watching your toddler step daintily between the rows in the field, stopping to point at a bunch of small green vegetables pointing their way up through the loose brown soil. Or seeing your son, who normally spends the majority of family outings with his head hidden behind his Nintendo DS screen, eagerly rushing from one grouping to the next in search of the perfect asparagus to cut.

Our oldest was stuck with me. We combed the rows in the field looking for pristine shoots that were around 6 inches in height, avoiding the ones that looked too fat or too skinny. It felt odd having so much control over the ones we picked, rather than rummaging through the pre-bundled bunches in the produce aisle. It was liberating and the fruits of our labor were delicious!

Roasted Veggies with Macaroni and Cheese

So even though we have been busy lately, we took some time and went and picked asparagus. We are lucky to have a U-pick-it farm close by, as Brady has mentioned before. The kids really enjoy picking the vegetables we get there, and this was no exception. When it was time to go home, we had a grocery bag full. So naturally, for dinner we had to include some. We chose to mix some with zucchini, crookneck squash, a red bell pepper, and some Italian salad dressing. We put that into a foil pan, covered with foil, and roasted it on the grill. Along with it, and also cooked on the grill, was macaroni and cheese from a recipe I had on hand. Of course, we had to experiment with the grill to make sure the bottom did not burn. If you try it, turn the burners low or off under the macaroni and use the radiant heat from the other burners.

1 lb. radiator or elbow macaroni
¼ c. flour

16 oz. extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)

3 ½ c. milk

½ tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. prepared mustard

1 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 350º. Grease a shallow 3 quart baking dish (13 x 9). Cook pasta in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water as package directs until firm-tender. Drain in a colander; rinse with cold water and let drain again. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add bread crumbs and cook over medium heat, stirring often, 3 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Scrap into a small bowl and stir in 2 Tbsp. each Cheddar and Parmesan cheese. Wipe saucepan clean and add milk, flour, and garlic; whisk until blended. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in remaining cheeses, mustard, and salt. Add pasta to baking dish. Stir in sauce. Sprinkle evenly with crumb mixture. Bake 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly around edges.

The asparagus was extra yummy being as fresh as it was. Hopefully we will be able to go pick some more soon.

Mother Earth News

I wrote a review for Mother Earth News back in August, 2008 and posted it to Triond, an online article publication site. You can read my original review here.

Since then, Tara and I stopped buying the odd magazine from the news stand and paid for a subscription. We look forward to each issue and have learned some valuable tips and tricks. Another amazing thing about this magazine is the vast online resources that are available for subscribers and non-subscribers alike on their website, www.MotherEarthNews.com. There are a few pop-up adds here and there asking you to subscribe, but it's not that bad for the gobs and gobs of otherwise free resources you can sift through.

Another neat thing was when I showed my mom one of our issues and she chimed in with, "Oh yes, I used to get this magazine when you were just little."

But there are some things that bother Tara and I when we read through the new issues. Sure, there are green articles, but seldom is it that you get good how-to advice. One recent dander-raiser was an article about a woman who went green by finding a co-worker who owned a farm and then spending a lot of time at her house. Sure, that's great if you just happen to have a co-worker who has worked to buy farmland and is nice enough to allow you to mooch off the fruits of their labor, but what about the rest of us? And then there are the articles about how some couple built their own home for under $30,000. Of course, the piece is mostly background information on the couple and doesn't include plans or how the building materials could be acquired by the average individual.

Maybe I should write a letter to the editor and request that we get more articles about the various new green home kits that are being produced. Or maybe a few about yurt living. The truth is, we don't subscribe to the magazine for feelgood articles, we thirst for knowledge.

We've loved the resources for propagating seeds from one season to start the next and it has helped to expand our sustainable living mindset. The article for cheese making got us both very excited, though we have yet to attempt to make our own cheese since things have been so busy, but I loved making mead from the instructions I found online. (I'll post about that soon!)

All in all, we enjoy receiving this magazine in the mail. We don't always agree with their opinions, but we do find information that has become very valuable to us and in the end that's what's important.

Spinach Artichoke French Bread Pizza

Alas, we were on a roll. Every Meatless Monday had, for the most part, been successful. I suppose it had to happen sometime that we'd run into a dud. I am surprised that this was not a hit though, since we really like spinach artichoke dip. My only thought is that is was a bit heavy on the spinach for us, and Brady is really more of a marinara guy more than a bechamel sauce type of fella when it comes to pizza. But without further ado, here is the recipe so that you can try it for yourself. And yes, I do know I have a colorful counter top in the background of the picture. It is left from our Easter egg coloring adventure, which I which write on soon.

1 loaf of french bread, quartered
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 pinch nutmeg
2 (10 oz.) boxes of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cans artichoke hearts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet. In a medium skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk and season with nutmeg. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pull the spinach apart, then add to the sauce. Fold in the artichokes and cook until heated through. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, season with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat. Spread the spinach and artichoke mixture on the bread and top with the mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 to 12 minutes. Top with the thyme.

Turning Off the Television

It's been several months now since we canceled Direct TV and said goodbye to paid programming and we haven't looked back. With the new Federal regulations, however, we did get the voucher for a digital antenna in order to pick up the local channels. Even so, we only ever turn on the television on Mondays to watch Heroes as a family.

We still watch movies and play console games and the children play free educational games on the internet and borrow software from the local library, so there is plenty of entertainment to be found in our household. What we've cut out, though, is a large portion of commercial advertising. This doesn't sound like much, but seeing things that you "must buy" every 10 to 15 minutes does it's part to turn us all into what I like to call Unconscious Consumers.

We all have to buy some things some time, it's true. Even the best of us living in suburbia can't produce everything we'll ever need. But by avoiding commercials and routine stops to the store without a specific grocery list in hand, we create a mindset of buying local, buying green, and buying fresh rather than a mindset of simple convenience.

Furthermore, with more and more commercials geared towards kids (either talking directly to children and inferring that they should take care of their parents, or by using child spokesmodels) what is the television teaching our children behind our backs, or in some cases, right under our noses?

As part of the Television Babysitter generation, I can personally attest to the struggles I had as I first entered 'real life' and how hard it was to curb the idea of casual spending. I think I did better than some, for sure, but it took a few years before we settled into a concrete spending system. Direct TV was costing us upwards of 60 dollars a month, but we found that as we grew more and more aware of our values, the less we ended up watching. We found ourselves spending more time outside in the backyard, working on the garden, and pursuing other forms of entertainment.

Another pleasant side effect of turning off the TV was that the rude and ignorant sayings our children were picking up from their programs stopped. That and I no longer had to filter out which of their kid's shows they could and could not watch as a result of those comments. Now we can enjoy an evening on the Wii Fit or playing Mario Cart instead. And if a commercial comes on while we're watching Heroes that has an obvious marketing ploy that catches the little ones in the snare, we explain it to them.

Lemon Veggie Stir-Fry

This recipe was one that I got from a Pampered Chef party many years ago. I have changed it a bit over the years, and this week skipped adding chicken to it so that it was a vegetarian meal. It is a meal that I really like making in Spring.

1 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
2-3 carrots, skinned and cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1 yellow summer squash
3/4 pound bow tie pasta
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup water
1 package of Garlic and Herb dressing mix
1 Tbsp. oil
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

Start large pot of water for pasta. Add pasta when water reaches a boil and cook until done. While pasta is cooking, work on the vegetables. Heat oil in a large pan. Saute all vegetables until they are cooked as you desire. In a small bowl, mix water, dressing mix, and lemon juice and stir until combined. Add lemon juice mix to the vegetables. Drain pasta and add to the vegetables. Mix until everything is well combined. Serve with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

You could always add other vegetables to this depending on what you had on hand. The lemon and dressing sauce adds nice flavor to everything. I did not get any final pictures taken, but Brady thankfully took a nice picture of my work area. What a sweetie!

Black Bean Burgers

This week we tried Black Bean Burgers from Paula Deen's Quick and Easy Meals May 2009 issue. This is where I got last week's recipe also, so it seems to be a really nice magazine. This meal spurred the most unease amongst the hubbie and kids when I told them what we would be eating. However, it turned out to be, I believe, the biggest success. I added avocados to the original recipe since we had some that we received from our food co-op, and served it with some Spanish rice.

Black Bean Burgers
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
1 4 oz. can of green chilies, drained
1/4 cup minced green onion
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil. divided
5 corn tortillas
Corn salsa (recipe follows)
Garnishes: Sour cream, cilantro, avocado

In a food processor, combine black beans, breadcrumbs, chilies, green onion, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Process until mixture is smooth. Shape black bean mixture into 5 patties. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add black bean patties and cook, in batches if necessary, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until heated through. Set patties aside and keep warm. In the same skillet (or in another if you wish to do this at the same time as cooking the patties as I did) heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat. Cook tortillas, 1 at a time, for 1 minute per side or until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels. Place 1 black bean patty on each corn tortilla. Top each with desired amount of Corn Salsa. Garnish with desired toppings. Serve immediately.

Corn Salsa
1 can niblet corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies (I just chopped up 1 tomato and used that)
2 Tbsp. minced green onion
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp. salt

In a medium bowl, combine corn, tomatoes, green onion, lime juice, cilantro, and salt. Cover and chill.

Spanish Rice
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 onion, chopped
1 cup uncooked short grain rice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 3/4 cups uncooked short-grain rice
1 tsp. chili powder
1 can tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat he oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onions and translucent. Stir chili powder and cumin and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the rice, broth, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Transfer to a 1 quart casserole dish and cover with foil or a lid. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Let rest for 3 to 5 minutes before serving.