Love in the Kitchen - making fast, healthy, homegrown meals you'll enjoy

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Frozen and Delicious

We had our first frozen delight of the season over the weekend - mango frozen yogurt!

Frozen yogurt is quite simple to make.  Fruit, honey and yogurt.


Puree the fruit, add the yogurt and honey.  And a bit of vodka to keep it from getting too hard in the freezer.  Put it in the ice cream maker.


Get the ice cream maker started...


... and let it go until it is frozen, a bit like this.


Serve right away, or put in a freezer safe container and store until you are read to eat it.  It's pretty tasty - if you decide to store it in your freezer, don't tell anyone it's there.  You might not find it there when you need it. It's a good tip.


Here's the recipe.  I made a peach frozen yogurt with the same recipe (substituting peaches for the mango of course) and served them together with raspberry sauce for our Sunday Dinner dessert.  Yum!  Nothing much better than homemade ice cream... er... frozen yogurt... on a hot summer evening!

Mango Frozen Yogurt


yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups peeled, pitted, & chopped very ripe mango
  • 1 1/2 cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 Tbsp vodka, optional (this is used to keep the frozen yogurt a bit softer in the freezer)

Directions:

  1. Place the chopped mango into a food processor and puree until smooth. Add in the remaining ingredients and puree until well-mixed.
  2. Chill mixture in the refrigerator until cold.
  3. Freeze according to ice cream maker manufacturer’s instructions.
  4. Serve immediately as soft serve, or spoon into a freezer-safe container and place in freezer until “ripened” (hardened).



Zentmrs
Pin It

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Menu Planning

I can't wait to try some of these recipes!  I sure look forward to the long weekend where we've got a bit of extra time to cook.


Wednesday:  Spicy Shredded Beef Tacos
Thursday:  Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Friday:  Steak with Bobby Flay's Fra Diavlo BBQ Sauce and Cherry Peppers in Vinaigrette
Saturday:  Chipotle Mango BBQ Chicken
Sunday:  Grilled Chicken Sliders and Apricot Chutney Spread
Monday:  4th of July Fare - Hamburgers, Grilled Sweet Corn and Watermelon
Tuesday:  Embellished Pizza


Linked here:  Organizing Junkie

What's on your table this week?










Zentmrs
Pin It

Meeting One of Our Favorite Authors

Monday night The Mr and I had the opportunity to meet James Rollins, one of our favorite authors.  He's touring with his new book, The Devil Colony, and was speaking and signing books at a local bookstore.  We've read all of his books, and have been eagerly waiting for the latest one to be released (it was supposed to be released last summer, but didn't actually come out until last week).

Before the book signing, he gave a short talk and then answered some questions.  He's a pretty funny guy - I think it would be fun to have dinner with him!

We were there with quite a crowd.



But James took plenty of time with each person there.

And spent time talking to each of us, answering any questions that he hadn't addressed in his pre-signing talk.
And he posed for pictures too.


He signed as many books as folks brought to him (!) but we only brought the two latest.  The Doomsday Key...
... and The Devil Colony.

We haven't had time to start the latest book yet, but we're looking forward to some reading time this weekend.

We had quite a lot of fun - definitely worth the time we stood in line.  Have you ever gone to a book signing?
Zentmrs
Pin It

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Tuesday Garden Party - Plants Like Sun!

We are really starting to see things happen in the garden this week. This has been such a stark contrast to last year (no sun, cool weather, no produce) that it is as if we had never had a garden before!

Do you see this guy? He's an actual tomato!


A couple of Santa Fe Grande peppers are getting close to being ready.

And this (among the weeds) is a blossom on the watermelon plant!  We've got a few of them, though there are hard to spot with the all of the vines.
We've got at least 46 ears of corn growing right now.  Not bad for a crop we never really expected to grow.  I know I go on and on about the corn, but it is incredibly satisfying to watch!

The sweet peppers that had the slug infestation are finally beginning to thrive.
And the first of the pumpkins formed over the weekend!





I can't imagine what next week will bring.  Any ideas?  Check back next week to see - in the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.


Zentmrs
Pin It

Monday, June 27, 2011

Harvest Monday: June 27, 2011

What a fun week we had in the garden! Though we did have a number of strawberries, we love them! And...


... we also had a Chilean Sweet Pepper!

And a bunch of peas!

Total Harvest for the Week:  9.1 ounces
Total Harvest for the Year:  11 pounds, 4.8 ounces


We'll get the last of the radishes, some more strawberries, some more Chilean Sweet Peppers and more peas. Maybe even a few hot peppers!


Linked up with Daphne's Dandelion's Harvest Monday... hop on over and see what else is being picked this week.




Zentmrs
Pin It

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday Snapshot - A Walk on the Beach

We had a quite enjoyable afternoon with The Boy today.

We headed over to Coronado beach for a walk.  Lots of rules at the beach here... can't even fly a kite?




Still, a nice day for a walk.  Besides, we didn't bring our kite, so no worries there.


Coronado has lovely beaches.  Lots of people thought so today.


Lots of seagulls think that too.


We stopped off briefly at the Hotel Del California.  Gorgeous hotel.


Among the many famous people who stayed there was Ronald Reagan.   He even held a state event there!


Nothing like the beach on a sunny Sunday afternoon.






Hope you enjoyed your Sunday afternoon as much as we did!



Sunday Snapshot




Zentmrs
Pin It

Saturday, June 25, 2011

What Men Do - Fishing and Fire!

The Girl is on a church trip this week, so we thought we would take The Boy and do some things that she would not like to do. Today we tried fishing, something that The Boy really wanted to do. At least at first.

We headed to Santee Lakes, a recreation area nearby.  We'd never been there before and it turned out to be a really nice place!  Though the Lakes weren't quite like those I grew up around in Minnesota, they are quite lovely.  And the bonus?  No mosquitoes!

Things started well.  The Mr and The Boy got the gear ready.

Then The BOy gets ready to bait the hook.  And here's where things started to turn around.


He simply couldn't do it.  Couldn't touch the worm.  A random kid who was wandering by tried to show him how to get the worm and put it on the hook, but to no avail.


He wasn't terribly happy about how it turned out.


But The Mr did some fishing... and even caught a bass!  OK, it was a little guy, but as the bass are all catch and release at Santee Lakes, a little one is just as good as a big one!


Beautiful view, wouldn't you say?!  (ignoring the people in the background that is)



Not to worry about The Boy though.  He redeemed himself at the grill.  On his first ever attempt at grilling, he did a top-notch job grilling tonight's dinner!  While he's got a ways to go on the "fishing" thing, he's got the "fire" down!



Zentmrs
Pin It

What's For Dinner - Grilled Greek Chicken

Looking for a twist for your grilled chicken? This recipe is easy and adds a different dimension to your chicken. The marinade keeps it super-moist, and the yogurt adds a tang and a bit of creaminess.  I served it with fresh peas (from the garden!) and Bulgar wheat.  Delicious!







Grilled Greek Chicken

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried.
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 2 tsp dried
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
  • Lemon slices, if desired
  • Parsley sprigs, if desired

Directions
  1. Mix all ingredients except chicken, lemon slices and parsley in a glass dish or heavy-duty resealable plastic bag. Add chicken, turning to coat with marinade. Cover dish or seal bag and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
  2. Brush grill rack with vegetable oil. Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Remove chicken from marinade; reserve marinade. Cover and grill chicken 4 to 5 inches from medium heat 15to 20 minutes, brushing occasionally with marinade and turning after 9 minutes, until juice is no longer pink when center of thickest piece is cut. Discard any remaining marinade. Remove chicken from grill.
  3. To serve, cut chicken diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley.




What's on your table this weekend?

Zentmrs
Pin It

Friday, June 24, 2011

Fruit Salsa With Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Looking for something light to end your meal?  Try this!




Fruit Salsa With Cinnamon Tortilla Chips
Ingredients
2 tbsp apple jelly
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup range juice
1 jalapeno chile (seeded and minced)
2 apples (peeled cored and finely chopped)
1 pt strawberry (hulled and finely chopped)
3 kiwi fruits (peeled and finely chopped)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
12 flour tortillas (6 inch)

Directions

  1. Whisk the jelly, sugar, orange juice, and jalepeno together in large bowl. Add apples, strawberries, and kiwis. Toss to coat.
  2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Lightly coat tortillas on both sides with cooking spray and cut into 6 wedges each. Arrange tortillas in a single layer on 2 baking sheets and sprinkle sugar mixture over top of tortillas. Bake until golden and crispy, about 10-15 minutes.
  3. Serve chips with salsa.

Tasty, and light... and a good way to use whatever leftover fruit you've got.

What's your favorite light and summery dessert?

Zentmrs
Pin It

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - Corny!





















Zentmrs

Pin It