Eat your Greens

Life is better with Broccoli Soup

I love cream soups but don't usually get to enjoy them .... unless of course I am on Atkins.  I found one today (from Paula Deen - so you know it will taste like fried butter) and thought I would share it with you because it looks too darn simple to taste that good.  I will let you know after I try it!

Servings: 4 servings
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients Add to grocery list

2 cup chicken broth, or more for thinning

1 head broccoli, cut into florets and steamed

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Directions

Place steamed broccoli in a blender and blend until pureed. Transfer puree to a pot and add chicken broth and heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Paranormal Activity?

Ghosts?

Okay so I am a bit of a security freak, thus I have cameras everywhere and last night, pretty much all night I caught this very weird light activity.  I don't really believe in ghosts, although my family does and I suppose in the back of my mind I would not deny their existence.  Then again how do you explain this odd energy source bouncing around my den last night.  The room was dark but the camera (a little Foscam camera from foscam.us) has infrared.                                                                      

 I would love your comments on this.  I had the motion detector set off most of the night .  I left the room around 10:40 pm and as you can see from the timestamps of the emails it sent me there was some type of activity fairly often. 

Suffering with Atkins - NOT

Take a couple portabella mushrooms, chop some fresh basil (yeah it is in my garden), add some minced onion, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes then chop fresh tomato on top and season with salt and pepper! Scrumptious and filling!

Fun with Loofahs

Loofah growing Structure

This is the second year I have grown Loofahs.  This year I built a 'bean house' out of saplings.  Loofahs generally like to climb and hang.  Last year I had them next to my chicken coop with landscape timbers leaning up.  It worked but it was not the ideal situation.  I think they will really like this new bean house but as you can see I unfortunately crowded them.  I planted about 2 foot apart but they need 3-5 ft between plants.  This is not a great picture but I will post a better one later.  They grow crazy fast once the blooms come out.  You can see this one at just a couple of days old.  Once they are grown I will peel them, wash them and then have great loofah sponges for friends and family.  

Baby Loofah on the Vine

Garden Bounty

Fresh Tomatoes

Fresh Tomatoes on the window sill makes me happy!  They smell heavenly and my plants are loaded but this is the first good group to turn color all at once.  I think a nice salsa tonight is in order with Jalapenos from my garden (very hot) and tomatoes and sadly I will need to purchase onion and cilantro.

Multi-Purpose Fresh Salsa!

• Tomatoes - 2 Large - Diced
• Jalapenos - 2 Chopped Finely
• Cilantro - Chopped finely - 2 Tb
• Onions - Chopped - 1/2 Small
• Garlic - Minced - 1-2 cloves
• Olive Oil - 1Tsp
• Lime Juice - Freshly Squeezed - A couple of tablespoons>
• Black Pepper - Shake
• Salt -  - Tsp

Chill for a couple of hours before serving!

Atkins and the Battle of the Bulge

June 16th 

I have been doing the Atkins plan for about 8 weeks now.  I have lost 17 lbs and it is actually working for me.  Weight has been a battle for the last 20 years and it is a battle I plan on conquering this year.  It was troubling to give up pasta but as they say “nothing tastes as good as thin feels” so I have found other things to substitute.  And I can have green olives with no guilt!  Olives!  They are just so brilliant.  I love shopping on Saturdays when they have all of the samples and the veggies look so fresh and inviting.  I really enjoy shopping where they have a good olive bar.  

So yeah, dieting.  I hate dieting, probably because I am so very bad at it and every time that I make small progress I always like to reward with food - vicious vicious circle!  I have done weight watchers, richard simmons deal a meal, hcg diet (that was how I destroyed my thyroid), the zone, the cabbage diet, cooked with Suzanne Somers and almost every diet that Womans World has published.  But this is really it.  I think there is something to the low carb lifestyle and I am determined that this the the path I am staying on from here on out.  And like I said - 17 lbs in 8 weeks.  Slow loss but it has not been terribly difficult and it is consistent.  

So today I hav  e been gathering squash from the garden and plan on making a squash casserole later.  I went ahead and scooped up some cucumbers and a bell pepper too.  Squash is technically to be limited to a cup a day on the Atkins diet but I take some license with anything from my garden.  The casserole I make is pretty easy and would be a nice side although I treat a serving with a side salad as a meal.  

There are so many lovely recipes for squash.  I have tried several.  This is my current favorite (Atkins friendly).

Dice your squash (I use zuchini and crookneck) into bite sized pieces - you will need about 6 cups
Cook 3 slices of bacon (I do that in the microwave) 

Take about half a stick of butter and saute the squash along with about half a cup of celery and 1/4 cup of onion.  Just saute for a couple of minutes.  In a casserole dish add the squash mixture along with 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese (this is getting better all the time isn't it) and half a cup of sour cream and the crumbled bacon.  Cover with about a half cup of parmesan then bake at 350 for about half an hour.

Here is the list of ingredients:

3 thin slices bacon
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup sour cream
6 cups sliced squash
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese grated
4 tbsps butter
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion

The Battle of Life - to blog or just exist

I have been reading blogs for a long time; Techy blogs, sappy blogs, blogs about gardening, cooking and generally living life.    Peeking your head into someone else’s head can be rewarding because it makes you think about something remote from your life and offers you a brief departure from the very familiar.  The blogs I enjoy the most are well written with great pictures and are published regularly. 

This is the type of blog I shall write. 

That is right, a 'well written blog'.  Well I suppose that ‘well written’ while technically is not an ambiguous term still possesses an element of opinion that affects the definition.  “Poorly written” is never a vague descriptor.  We have all seen ‘poorly written’ and can easily recognize the type of writing described by this term immediately, but ‘well written’ is most definitely subject to opinion.    Actually it is this type of logic that has prevented my foray into the ‘blog world’.  I get tied up on a single sentence or term and then weave myself completely away from my original thought.  Let us suffice it to say that I will write what I enjoy reading, well written or not.