Nik's Made Up Pizza

So I have come up with a yummy pizza that I have to share. Get some pizza dough (confession: this is store bought already made). Next, I took some radish leaf pesto that I had left from the last batch that I made.


Then I took sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and proscuitto (about 2 or 3 oz cut into strips) and layered it all on top of the radish leaf pesto.

Next, I put it in the oven until the cheese melted and the rest looked crispy.

Finally, I served it with baked Kale Chips (which were surprisingly yummy - except you have to be careful not to burn them. Once they start turning brown they taste gross).

That was it. Hope you try it. Comment if you do.

Ciao for now.

Sausage Soup Review

The sausage soup was a hit. Here's a picture of it. Substitute kale or spinach if you don't have escarole. BTW, escarole is very bitter if you eat it raw. I served it as a side salad with the soup and I didn't like it. But I loved it in the soup. Ok, now go make it. Ciao for now.

"Sausage" Soup On A Rainy Day

I have a million other things I want to post about but I need to actually spend some time doing it and I really only have a minute right now. So real quick.....my in-laws are coming over tonight for dinner and I have some remaining veggies left from last week's share. Here's what I've come up with for dinner tonight.

Sausage, Escarole and White Bean Soup - This calls for turkey sausage but I have pork and lamb sausages left in my meat share. This is what I'll use along with the escarole from the farm share and I'm adding the rest of my kale. I'll use garlic scapes instead of garlic cloves because I have them and they are SO awesome.

I'm serving crusty bread with Radish Leaf Pesto (yes you read that correctly and SERIOUSLY, you MUST try it...divine) and some of the small escarole leaves I'll use as a salad with radishes and Lemon Sage Vinegarette.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Strawberry, White Chocolate & Oatmeal Cookies

Oh yeah baby! These are a keeper. The sweetness of the strawberries and white chocolate chips is a winning combo. The oatmeal gives the cookie tons of texture. And they're fairly lo-cal...at least for a cookie.


Here's the link: White Chocolate, Strawberry & Oatmeal Cookies

Here's the batter
Here are the cookies

A few things to note, change or try next time:

• Cut the cooking time down a little bit, maybe 10 minutes (at least in my oven) - I like my cookies a little on the gooey side.
• Add more liquid - probably add some agave nectar (and cut out some of the brown sugar).
• I used freeze dried strawberries this time. They work but next time I will get the actual dried strawberries.
• Using regular chocolate chips would be yummy.
• Maybe add some almond meal to the mix for a litle added protein?

Feel free to comment if you make them!

Ciao for now.

Hunch & Stand By Me

I have just a few minutes so thought I'd knock one of the items of the "want to blog list."

Hunch - www.hunch.com
A friend of mine's husband works for this company part-time. The site has launched and was recently written up in some CNN online article. The site is a decision making tool that gets "smarter" the more you use it/answer questions. I'm still figuring it out but it is somewhat additive like Facebook. Actually, it reminds me of those "quizzes" and questionaires on Facebook but this has some purpose to it.

"Stand By Me"
Another friend of mine sent this video link. The video reminded me how powerful imagery and music can be. I was so moved by this that it brought me chills, goosebumps and tears to my eyes...but in a good way. Maybe it won't "speak" to you the way it did me...but then again, maybe it will. Either way it's worth spending 5 minutes of your day watching.

Things I Want to Blog About

So I don't forget....here's a list of things I want to blog about soon (no order of preference):

• Cookies I made today
• Those darn radishes
• Critique of a recipe or two
• Cleansing oil
• Trying out no 'poo for a week (nothing to do with the bowels)
• Food zen and two secrets
• Hunch

There. Have I intrigued you? Stay tuned.

Tortilla Stoup Nirvana

Ok, so you all know that I love food and I love to cook. I made the Chicken, Chorizo, Tortilla Stoup tonight and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD. I just had to blog about it. If you like mexican food and love an explosion of flavors in your mouth, you will love this. I am now calling it "Tortilla Stoup Nirvana." Bonus - super easy and quick.

SIDENOTE: The recipe calls for kidney beans - I used black beans instead and added a small can of corn kernels. IMHO, the three ingredients that make this recipe: the fire roasted tomatoes, red peppers and chorizo.

Anywho, thank you for letting me rave about it and please try this one. It was SOOOOO good.

Ho Hum Photo, Granola Love...Oh Yes, and the Menu for The Week

So I took this photograph when my good friend Lisa came to visit me a few weeks ago. We went into the city (Boston) and walked the Public Gardens. I had my wide-ish angled lens on and stopped to take a pic of the few flowers that were blooming. When I first took this shot, I thought, "Wow, I'm a super photographer!" But now, I'm kinda, "eh" about it. Maybe I'm not that impressed anymore because it looks like a Microsoft computer "wallpaper." Anywho....if you'd like to critique the photo, by all means.

Onto granola love.....I've been on a quest for make-your-own fiber/granola/snack/whateveryouwannacallthem bars. I'm tired of paying an arm and leg for packaged ones and only getting like five or six in a box. Plus the packaging is just ridiculous and the cardboard cuts on my fingers. Wah, wah, wah.

I digress.....so I found this recipe to try. I did do some modifications:

• Brown rice crispies instead of regular rice crispies
• Agave nectar instead of brown rice syrup
• I used dried blueberries as my dried fruit ingredient
• Used peanut butter as my nut butter
• Added mini chocolate chips - they melted so the chocolate was mixed into the whole thing.

Verdict: I tried the "batter" before it set and was a little hesitant. But then once they set (and I keep them in the fridge), I thought they were pretty tasty. My husband liked them, too. It was my first attempt. I'll make some changes next time or if you have some other wonderful recipe to share on making bars, please post!

And of course my menu for the week. I'm making lots of warm, comfy food this week because we're getting nothing but rain and cool weather.

Monday - I went to a board dinner so no cookin' for mama!

Tuesday - Working on it right now as I write this blog (and the aroma is AMAZING!!!). Chicken, Chorizo Tortilla Stoup (no I didn't miss-spell that, it's like a soup and a stew). And of course I'm modifying (this is becoming my new favorite word): used black beans instead of kidney and added corn...and there's no way in hell I'm "broiling" the cheese.

Wednesday - Totally cheating for dinner....Trader Joes bagged Penne Pepperonata and I'm adding farm Italian Sausage.

Thursday - Green & Red Pork Roast - I'm crockpottin' this one, baby!

Friday - I'm either going to make Grilled Peaches over Arugula with some marinated chicken or Arugula Pesto on pizza with tomatoes and fresh mozzarela.

Weekend - is always a crap shoot

Off to eat the Stoup. Ciao for now.

CSA Farm Season Has Begun!

It is official, the CSA farm season is upon us! I am so thrilled to have fresh veggies again. This week we receieved green lettuce, arugula, spinach, radishes, brocolli and bok choy. I'm getting my greens in that's for sure.

I also wanted to give an update on the garden. It is coming along....slowly. Here's a picture of it taken last week.

I realized that when we set up the garden bed the leaves on the surrounding trees hadn't fully come in. So my garden bed isn't in full sun all day now and the veggie growth seems slow. But that could be that veggie growing is slow. I don't really know since this is my first time doing it. So as suspected, I am learning a lot and taking notes to improve next year's garden.

Since my last garden blog I did plant tomatoes. They're planted in those white things (which are actually trash bins with drilled holes in the bottom - I know, I'm a genius) sitting next to the garden bed.

So that's the update. Ciao for now.