THIS AND THAT

Nothing special to blog about today. I've made several meals during the week which I neglected to photograph or write down the recipes.

One night I sauteed some very thickly sliced mushrooms until they were still somewhat firm and let them cool down. Sauteed some cut up asparagus spears with a little garlic and ginger and let them cool down a little too. Fried up some turkey bacon nice and crispy. All this topped a bowl of crisp romaine lettuce with a little honey mustard dressing. YUM!

I just bought a little gizmo at Walmart. It's a microwave egg poacher. I've always wanted one to make my own Egg McMuffins. The ones you get at McDonald's aren't too bad for you, but they aren't as healthy as the ones you can make at home. I notice one day when the guy was putting my sandwich together that he squeezed something from a bottle onto the muffin. I asked what it was. It was butter! So now if I do indulge in an Egg McMuffin while I'm out, I ask for it with no butter. Anyway, all you do is crack an egg into each side, add a 1/2 t. water to each side, microwave for 1 minute 20 seconds and let it stand for a minute. I use whole wheat english muffins, nice lean canadian bacon, and low fat cheese slices. Easy to make and quick too!

I was thinking about my Soups Nights from last season, already planning next season. I tried to think of all the different kinds of soup I've made. I don't know if I've remembered all of them, but here are the ones I could remember:
Chicken Paprikash Soup, Mexican Caldillo, Chicken Noodle, Vegetable, Beef Vegetable, Shrimp and Corn Chowder, Chili Soup, Tuscano with Sausage and Kale, Swedish Meatball Soup, Italian Wedding Soup, Stuffed Pepper Soup,Patty Pan Squash Bisque with Crab and Curry, Cream of Potato, Seafood Paella Soup, Green Bean Soup. 15 kinds that I can remember and all of them were made from scratch.

Some recipes I want to try for next season: Mushroom with Barley or Cream of Wild Mushroom, Cauliflower Soup (one of Mom's recipes), Morrocan Soup with Lamb, Stuffed Cabbage Soup, Catfish Soup, Smoky Chicken with Cider Soup, and Chicken Cacciatori Soup, Savory Bean and Spinach, and maybe a Plantain Soup that looks really good. I also have a recipe for a Spicy Green Tomato Soup with Crunchy Pancetta. Another way to use of some of those green tomatoes at the end of next season! The more unusual ones will likely be the small pot, not the "main event".

I spent a good part of my Saturday in the greenhouse starting seeds. Two weeks ago I cleaned up the greenhouse and got all the seed pots ready. Nearly 200 seed pots later, I've got tomatoes, eggplant, two kinds of peas, green beans, 2 kinds of green peppers, jalapenos, poblano peppers, cucumbers, zuchinni, fennel and lima beans started. I still need to get some pole beans and a couple of melon plants started. I don't particularly like growing the melons. They are usually pretty small or end up wilting on the vine. But my husband does use up whatever turns into a nice little melon in smoothies for breakfast.

This afternoon, I hope to get outside and put some carrots, radishes and lettuce directly in the ground. I haven't told my husband yet but I don't want to plant any corn this year. We use a lot of space to grow the plants and get very little yield, and the ears are usually pretty inferior. They taste good, but they are often tiny and not formed well. I'd rather grow more peas and carrots and other veggies that I like to freeze for winter use. I've even thought maybe this year I would grow lots of extra herbs to dry, package and maybe give away and/or sell.

That's all for today. We're off to a Coastal Bays/Surfrider Foundation Event early this afternoon at Seacrets. For our $15 a piece, we'll get a meal and a good time. Then home to start more seeds!