Tomatillo Salsa

In our most recent Bountiful Basket, I added on a Mexican vegetable pack. In that pack came tomatillos. Having never cooked with tomatillos before, I turned to good ole Google for a way to cook them and came up with this.

Tomatillo Salsa (aka Salsa Verde)
*Adapted from Allrecipes.com*

1 lb tomatillos, husked and halved
1/2 c chopped onion
1 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalepeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 tbls fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 c water

Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer on med-low heat for 15-20 minutes or until tomatillos are soft.

Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.













Stay tuned for recipes using Tomatillo Salsa!

Blueberry Pancakes

Remember those blueberries I spent time getting in the freezer? They didn't stay in there for long! The next day, Lydia and I enjoyed a breakfast of homemade, healthy, blueberry pancakes before church. Let me be clear that while I am a lover of the blueberry, Lydia is not. She's not a picky kid, but it's generally a bit of work to get her to eat them. This recipe did not suddenly change that, but she did eat half a pancake without much whining.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes
(Recipe adapted from In the Little Red House)

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/8 cup quick oats

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cups milk + 2 scant tablespoons vinegar (or 1 3/4 c buttermilk)

3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus more for griddle

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 cups (1 pint) blueberries

Pure maple syrup, for serving

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.

In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together all wet ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring just enough until the batter is combined.

Fold in blueberries or sprinkle on each pancake separately as they are cooking.

Add approximately 1/3 cup batter to a hot griddle for each pancake.

Sprinkle blueberries immediately on top if you did not add them to the batter. *Enlist your little ones for this job!*

Turn pancakes after 3-4 minutes or when edges appear set and bubbles are surfacing throughout the pancake.

Cook on the other side 2-3 minutes or until done.

Transfer to oven set to 200* to keep warm when cooked through.

Serve with butter and maple syrup. Enjoy!

Bountiful Baskets

Not long before I decided to hop on the real food train, I came across Bountiful Baskets. It's a volunteer run, food co-op that provides fresh fruits and vegetables, breads, tortillas, and even granola at a fraction of the price. I'm constantly amazed at how much I spend at the grocery store. I'm not the only one who occasionally walks away with two measely bags of groceries for $50, right?!

Well look what my $50 bought me today:

5 loaves organic, whole wheat bread

13 6-oz clamshells of blueberries

4 limes

9 tomatillos

3 avacado

4 jalepeno

5 anaheim peppers

3 yellow onion

1 head garlic

2 grey squash

2 bunches green onion

1 bunch cilantro

4 tomatos

5 mangoes

1 lb cherries

7 nectarines

1 catelope

1 bunch celery

1 head romaine lettuce

5 lb potatoes

9 bananas

Wow! It's so exciting to see all this healthy produce in my fridge and fruit bowl just waiting to be devoured. I spent some time preparing some of it, and I've got lots of recipes to share coming soon!

I love blueberry muffins, pancakes, desserts, you name it, but they are generally so expensive! These worked out to about $1.20 per package - SCORE! We'll have plenty for all the blueberry dishes my little heart could dream of. The first order of business was to get most of the blueberries in the freezer.

First, wash all your berries and let them dry thouroughly. I dumped them into a colander in batches and rinsed them well, then laid them on a towel to dry.

Leave the berries to dry for 30-60 minutes, then roll around and leave for another 30 minutes to make sure they are dry all around. Transfer dry berries to a cookie sheet and spread out in one layer.

(Don't stress if they aren't pefectly in one layer either. You can see here I had a few too many on this sheet. It's not a big deal as long as the berries are dry.)

Pop the cookie sheet into the freezer until the berries are solid, about 60-90 minutes. Then pour into a ziplock bag and enjoy! They make a great treat frozen plain, are ready for a smoothie, and perfect for any baking! I don't mind them thawed in cereal or oatmeal either.

Stay tuned for recipes using those blueberries. First up - Blueberry Pancakes!

Simple Roasted Cauliflower

Growing up, cauliflower was not a vegetable we ate often. On the rare occasion we had it, it was drowned in a cheese sauce, probably Velveeta. Since I didn't really like it, once I had my own household, I never purchased it. It just wasn't a vegetable I ate.
Then I started getting Bountiful Baskets. Of course when I opened my first basket, there was a head of cauliflower staring back at me. Ugh! As much as I didn't like cauliflower, I like wasting money even less! So, I determined to find a healthy way to fix it that I could tolerate.
And I did!

Simple Roasted Cauliflower

1 head Cauliflower
1 tbsp Oil (Olive or Grapeseed are my preference)
1-2 tbsp Herbs de Provence
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400*.
2. Cut cauliflower florets off of stem. Toss with oil and Herb Mix.
3. Spread cauliflower in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Roast for 20-30 minutes, turning 1-2 times. Cauliflower is ready when fork tender and browning on the edges.