Another Meatless Monday Salad Day...

I visited a newly forming farmers Market last week and was pleased to see the people in attendance, the vendors being patronized, and the quality of the food. I purchased beets, Swiss Chard, and a summer squash.
When I got home, I immediately put the beets in to roast with rosemary and olive oil, and then tossed the chard into boiling water for that night's dinner. The beets I knew would take a lot longer, so when they were done (and forgotten for a few hours in the cooling oven!) I just put them in the fridge for the future.

So for Meatless Monday, I was able to pull them out, chop them into a mixed mesclun green salad, add in a tablespoon or so of feta cheese and a couple of tablespoons of chopped walnuts. A quick vinagrette later (did you realize you can get the last vestiges of mustard out of a container by adding a bit of vinegar (balsamic or white - choose whatever) and shaking it into the container? The mustard mixture forms a base for vinegrette that's got some substance to it - that is, as long as you don't use that yellow stuff! I added in some canola oil (the flavor of the mustard would overpower olive oil) and then some rosemary to continue the flavor I'd already used with the beets.

It was a delightful salad! With our weekend temperatures posting close to 102, a cool salad keeps me from heating up the kitchen and that agrees with me completely! Someone at work (who doesn't get - or agree with - the warming of the globe or the level of commitment it takes to be an evironmentalist) asked why my upstairs was hotter than down, "don't you have air conditioning?"

Yup...I do. I also push it way up when I'm not home, and it's pretty high (77) when I'm there.

So I don't make the heat pump work harder to cool the house by heating up the kitchen (well, not often anyway...)

I promise I bought this baked item! A lovely mini-loaf of banana bread I picked up at the farmer's market.

I didn't save any. It was good.

Obviously, I Can Do This...

I'm a sewist and Knitter (yes, with a capital K), who must have huge amounts of cotton fabric and yarn in my stashes, and I'm also an armchair environmentalist who can only step up and do what one aging Nana can do from her overwhelming sense of duty, but very limited available funds and energy, so I'm going to make some knitted dishcloths and small fabric handtowels for this project:

How can you even watch the news footage in the Gulf and not be moved to do something - at least for me, anything is better than sitting by and feeling so helpless. Finally, today? I found something that *fits* with who I am, and what I can offer!

Thank you, Green Phone Booth

Yoga Night and Meatless Monday!

I have no photo yet for Meatless Monday - I'm making my own stuffed portabella mushroom cap after yoga tonight, tho' so I'll post a photo (if I don't inhale it, first). (I'm planning on sauteeing red bell pepper, olive oil, leeks and Italian seasoning, stuffing the cap, and then tossing feta on top to broil...hope it turns out as well as I think it will!)

In the meantime - because I'm going straight from work to pick up my 92 year old friend to go to yoga class together - I made sure to have a snack that will keep me going till after class tonight: Kefir. I'm not in anyway affiliated with that site, but I love their low-fat version - in strawberry, tonight. I once picked up a 1 cup bottle of it at the co-op and have saved the bottle, dutifully refilling it from my much larger one for ease in carrying to work (I know, I should reuse a small glass jar and recycle the plastic, and I will, promise, as soon as I empty one!). A cup is only 3 points and with the extra calcium, my bones are really benefitting, too.

edited to add photo and comments!
Here it is...my own version of the quickie portabellas I've been picking up at the grocery store for "fast food"

It turned out well, but yes, it does take longer to fix - I did everything I said above, except that I used orange peppers (2 slices, chopped) about 1 tablespoon of chopped leeks (from the CSA share last fall that I froze), a large garlic clove, chopped (also from the CSA last fall), and oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste. Then about 2 tablespoons of feta - and I broiled it for probably 8 minutes in my toaster oven.

That's summer squash from the Farmer's market, and a serving (I slice those slices thinly to go farther!) of artisan olive bread with olive dipping oil (Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning flavors it). Dessert was fruit, but I ate a peach out of hand (I know it's not local, but oh it was good) with a few blueberries...and didn't get a photo of that.

A great Meatless Monday!

I Could Not Say This Any Better...

So I'm going to LINK it, instead.

This has been a crazy week, so I haven't posted much, either here or on my knitting blog. Tomorrow is a family yard sale and I'm going to be sending out into the world many things I no longer need to new homes that hopefully can use them. I know I'll be repeating this event in the fall, too. My goal is to rid myself of much that is weighing down my thought processes and my living space.

But I hope I'll have a little time on Sunday to review the post above, and the links embeded there and come up with a compact list of not less than 10 things to begin doing myself. Because we do each need to make a commitment to changing our behavior if we want to see the change we'd like in the world.

If you decide to join in as a result of that post? Let me know, okay? I'll be very interested.
Happy Weekend.

Wow the Weeks Fly By - It's Meatless Monday Again!

Over the weekend, a friend and I made a roadtrip to a small town about 45 minutes away to celebrate World Wide Knit in Public Day with a few friends at a yarn shop there. The shop is next door to a farmer's market and you know I had to visit with an eye towards Meatless Mondays, right?

I picked up potatoes and green beans (oh they were beautiful) and whipped up another batch of a meal that makes me think of my Depression-era Mom and her sisters and the vegetarian dishes I grew up with:

(they usually added milk to this, but I don't. I rarely have milk in the house, for one thing, and when I do, I tend not to add it to foods)

I got fresh summer squash, too. There was a huge storm that knocked out my power so I couldn't enjoy this on Saturday night but I whipped it up for tonight's dinner and there are plenty of leftovers for Monday. What do I do? Simple - boiled potatoes and green beans with just a touch of butter, salt, and pepper. I steam the squash and season the same way.

Why mess with perfection?

I had more of the artisan olive bread and olive oil as a complement to this meal. If you're wondering, yes, my meals tend to be pretty simple; I save the fancy stuff for when I'm out to eat - let the pros mess up the kitchen, is my motto!

Which you can see here in my knitting blog post for the WWKIP day event. We stopped at a new restaurant that we've heard about and I have to say the bruschetta was fabulous - and totally veggie, tho' not vegan.

Meatless Monday on a Yoga Class Night!

You get another of those super fast, what can I pick up at the grocery store, meals tonight for Meatless Monday! Tonight is yoga class, so I can't eat before, and when I get home the meal has to be light - I don't want to eat much after class, and besides sleeping on a full stomach isn't my idea of a good night's sleep, either!

This is a salad from the so-called "olive" bar at my local Kroger:

Still, it's pretty wonderful...a curried couscous salad, with wheat berries and small white beans. A delightful, lightly spicy concoction that I tossed over salad greens and then added in slivered yellow peppers and halved grape tomatoes.

(If it weren't Meatless Monday, a salmon fillet would have made a nice main dish, with a smaller salad.)

I have no way of knowing how many Weight Watchers points are in this, but I tend to err on the higher side just in case.

Happy Monday!

What's Water Got To Do With It?

(to paraphrase - What's Love Got To Do With It?)

Do you ever think about all the plastic in our lives? Does something like what's happening in the Gulf ever make you think of plastic? Do you have any idea how much petroleum is in the plastics we use daily?

If you've ever drunk a pre-packaged bottle of water? Read this:
Responsible Plastic explains this more concisely than any other place I've seen. (And yes, I did read all the way through it. *wink*

If you don't have a refillable water bottle? It's time to buy one.

If you have a problem remembering the reuseable grocery sacks in your trunk? It's time to get one of those that stuffs into their own tiny selves and fits in your purse.

If you haven't had the nerve to ask the Chinese Take-out place to please put your to-go meal in your own carry-away To-Go Ware or other rewashable, reuseable container? Please find your backbone!

Wow. That's some impact on the environment! (And if we all do those 4 things? THAT's what love's got to do with it...

As we used to say in the 70s - Love Your Mother!
(Mother Earth)