by kathilipp | Apr 16, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Now if you are not excited or motivated quite yet about growing a garden maybe these recipes will get your mouth watering.
Roger’s Salsa: Roger Lipp
Ingredients:
12 tomatoes (or two large cans of crushed tomatoes)
1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 bunch cilantro, chopped coarse down to the stemmy part
2 stems green onion, chopped medium
1 red onion, chopped medium (I use two slices from the center portion)
2 jalapenos, chopped fine (leave seeds in) — if you want mild salsa substitute Anaheim peppers; if
you want hot salsa substitute 4 habaneras.
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped fine
Directions:
Combine these ingredients in large glass bowl.
If tomatoes were room temp to start with, I add two ice cubes and mix in. The following seasonings are very approximate… I don’t measure.
Add the following seasonings to taste (measurements given are approximately what I use… ish)
2 T fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 T cumin powder
1 T coarse ground black pepper
1 T fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp marjoram
I have to admit I was pretty jealous of Roger and his world-famous (OK maybe more friend and family famous) salsa, but now I have bragging rights of my own – Bruschetta.
I spent weeks working on a recipe – finding what other people were doing – tweeking and tweeking until I got something that I loved. Now when I’m asked to bring something to a party, I make the bruschetta several hours ahead and let it set in the fridge and let all the flavors meld.
Bruschetta: Kathi Lipp
Ingredients:
1/3 c. olive oil
3Tp. balsamic vinegar
1/8 c. chopped fresh basil or 1/2 tsp. dried
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
4-5 medium, ripe tomatoes, (I prefer Roma, but any firm tomato will do) seeded and chopped. Drain in a strainer for 15 minutes. (You can use a paper or cloth towel to very gently press out the extra moisture)
2 baguettes, cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 cloves garlic, sliced in half
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Combine oil, vinegar, basil and pepper in a large bowl and whisk together. Add drained tomatoes to oil and vinegar and toss to coat. Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes, and up to 4 hours.
Toast bread slices on one side, flip and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on the other. Once toasted, rub the cut side of the garlic on the top of each slice.
Top each slice with the tomato mixture.
Serves 8 as an appetizer
Nothing makes me feel more “gardeny” than to go out to our back patio and harvest dinner. This is a pretty simple dish, but nothing will highlight your gardening prowess better than the recipe below.
Garden Pasta
8 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
½ c. butter, melted
¼ c. chopped fresh basil, or 1 T, dried
8 ounce dried angel hair pasta, cooked
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Combine tomatoes and garlic in a saucepan. Simmer for 15 minutes then set aside.
Toss pasta with butter and basil.
Stir in tomatoes and serve with Parmesan cheese grated on top.
Serves 6
If I could only have one item growing in my garden, it would be tomatoes. If I could only have two, the next item would be bushels and bushels of basil. Make this pesto one time and you will want to install an indoor hot house to grow basil year-round.
Garden Pesto
2 c. fresh basil leaves
4 tsp minced garlic
2 T pine nuts, roasted
1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 T fresh-grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chop the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil. Blend in the cheese, salt and pepper.
Do you have a favorite garden recipe? Mind sharing with us?
by kathilipp | Apr 10, 2012 | The Husband Project, Uncategorized |
Make your husband something special in the kitchen (reservations don’t count).
It’s an unfair fact of life – men like a woman who can cook.
Most of us didn’t grow up with a mom who passed down an exceptional culinary legacy. Many of our mothers were out there bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan (or nuking it in the microwave before she had to get a bunch of kidlets off to soccer practice).
My mom worked outside the home, and is a great cook. But, like her sewing skills, natural cooking abilities skipped a generation.
In my first tiny apartment living alone, I survived for a year on takeout food and ham sandwiches. I was deathly afraid of cooking anything as complicated as chicken, fearing that I would certainly poison any partakers with a lethal case of salmonella.
When I got married, however, I quickly realized that perhaps my groom would not be quite so satisfied with a steady diet of take-out sushi, yogurt smoothies and Diet Coke. It was time for me to spend some quality time with my soon-to-be new best friend, Betty Crocker.
I decided to dedicate myself to the task at hand and learn to cook. Diving into the culinary deep end, I tackled teriyaki chicken. While the first Your Results were a bit dry, they were not lethal. This gave me a great deal of confidence to try and jump a few more epicurean hurdles.
If you’re not a cook, but you know that your husband would like for you to be, here is a fail-safe recipe that I know you can do, and that your husband will love. How can I be sure? Both our teenage boys cook and eat this recipe. If they can cook it, you can cook it. If they will eat it, your husband will eat it.
Teriyaki Chicken
I make this marinade again and again – it is much better than any prepared marinade you can find in the store.
4 each Chicken legs and thighs (or use six chicken breasts)
½ cup Soy sauce
3 Tbsp Honey
1 tsp Grated, fresh ginger
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 Green onions, thinly sliced
1. Prepare: Place the chicken in a gallon plastic bag. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the chicken; fully coating each piece. Seal the bag.
2. Freeze: Place your bag in another gallon bag and lay flat in the freezer.
3. Serve: Defrost the chicken. Pour off marinade and bake chicken in a pan at 350° for 30- 40 minutes (or until no longer pink in the center).
Servings: 4
by kathilipp | Apr 2, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row.
You know what you want to grow so now is the how are you going to grow it?
There are gardening essentials everyone needs regardless of the plants they choose.
Tools like a shovel, gloves, knee board and or short bench if you will be working at ground level.
You will also need containers to start your seeds in and even larger ones if you choose to do a container garden.
Seeds of choice and some good plant food and soil, dirt and poop
I love what Jennifer Beauchamp of Tucson, Arizona does to celebrate the season. One of her friends will open up her house and throw a “Dirt Party”.
You see, Jennifer is from farm folk and has never met a bag of steer manure she didn’t like. But now that she lives is the very dry city that is Tucson, several of her friends (and their friends) are desperate for her country knowledge on how to keep their plants from dying.
Every guest brings a plant that needs to be re-potted. The men do the hauling (manure, potting soil, dirt,) and the women get their hands dirty re-potting the plants in Jennifer’s special mix:
1/3 local soil
1/3 potting soil
1/3 steer manure
Everyone swears by Jennifer’s not so secret formula, and all the plant owners go home with healthier plants.
If you know the person with the green thumb, you may want to throw your own “Dirt Party” and get your hands dirty in spring for salsa in the summer.
Start small and create a Kitchen Garden
I started to attempt to garden when I was homeschooling my kids back in the elementary grades. The house we owned had a small, plot of dirt in the corner of the yard, just large enough for a few small plants to get started.
We planted a few, small veggies. I have to say our first year was wildly unsuccessful. (Who knew that things like watering would be so essential?)
Fast forward several years. Roger and I decided to plant our own salsa garden in containers on our back patio, (we live in a townhouse, so my visions of sowing seed for crops and my own hen house have to be put on hold for a while.)
We kept it simple the first year – just a few tomato plants, a couple of peppers, cilantro, etc. But as our garden grew, so did our farmer-like confidence.
This year, we planted more than a dozen tomato plants of every variety and size you could imagine. Our herb garden is off the hook, and Roger has peppers a plenty to make all the mouth-burning recipes he can handle.
Here is what we have planted:
- a variety of Tomato Plants
- basil
- cilantro
- parsley
- a variety of hot and mild peppers
- green onions
- green garlic
- zucchini
- squash
We have learned a few things in the couple of years we have been playing around with amateur gardening:
- It is not necessary to purchase every tomato plant at Home Depot. Starting off with a half dozen plants is a great place to begin.
- Pick some early bloomers and some late bloomers. Otherwise, everything comes in at once and you go from famine to feast in a matter of days. (And, if you happen to be on vacation when all the tomatoes come in, it may be an indication to the worms of your neighborhood that you don’t want your tomatoes and that you were kind enough to plant a smorgasbord just for them.)
- Install a drip system. I am a stingy water-er. I always feel like I have better things to do (probably something involving a rerun of The Office) than stand in the back yard with a hose.
But, as soon as Roger installed our drip watering system, I was AMAZED at what a difference watering makes. (Yeah, I know. Duh.) For less than $60, our entire backyard bumper crop is downright lush because of the daily hit of water. If you are person who embraces routine and loves the meditative state of watering – great. Otherwise, get a drip-system and get it on a timer. When you are sitting down to enjoy the season’s first bruschetta with your home-grown tomatoes, you’ll thank me.
by kathilipp | Mar 26, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Every good idea needs a plan. Gardening may intimidate some but it is rather easy and you do not have to dig up your yard and plant a farm. It can be as simple or as difficult as you make it.
Keep it Really Simple. To start with, I suggest you start with a simple concept for the types of plants you purchase. For the past several years we have planted a low-maintenance “Salsa Garden” and have enjoyed the variety and simplicity of that assortment every time. Here is what goes in our salsa garden:
- A variety of tomatoes plants
- Peppers
- Cilantro
- Green Onions
Ask an Expert. Explain that you want to keep it simple and ask what you need. My own experience here is that it will do you no good to ask the 17 year-old at the giant Depot store what are the best tomatoes to grow for an early harvest in your area of the country. This is where the little mom and pop gardening store shines. Ask one of the employees (who probably is in the midst of growing her own garden at home) what you should get.
Use the Correct Container. Read those little tags carefully that tell you how big the pots you plant in should be. I was crowding my plants and not getting the results that I needed.
Figure out your watering system. For most gardeners I know their watering system is them. But since I travel a lot, it was important that I didn’t need to rely on teenagers to keep my basil alive. If you know that you are not going to want to rise at dawn every morning with a c. of coffee in one hand and a hose in the other, you may want to create a system for watering.
by kathilipp | Feb 22, 2012 | Home, The "What's for dinner?" Project, Uncategorized |
What type of person are you in the morning?
Do you hit snooze several times, jump out of bed in a rush grab your ball cap while you slip your jeans on?
Do you get up early but spend most of your morning looking at your closet telling yourself you have nothing to wear?
Or do you lay out your clothes at night complete with your shoes and accessories you will wear?
No matter what category you fall into I am sure we could all use some inspiration to help manage our mornings.
Here are a few simple and elementary tips. I am sure a lot of you might remember your parents telling you some of these.
- Prepare for your day at night. Make sure your purse, backpack, laptop bag are ready for you to just grab in the morning.
- Refer to Breakfast on the Run and Lunch to go so you do not have to fuss over your meals for the next day.
- Go to bed at a decent time. (Sleep is not just for princesses, our bodies need sleep time to grow and heal)
- Set an alarm clock. If are a serial snooze button hitter place your alarm clock on the other side of your bed; this will require you get up and get your day going.
- Open the blinds and curtains. Filling your room with daylight will help your body wake up. In just a few weeks we all will be setting our clocks ahead an hour and most of us will wake up to the sun.
- Eat that yummy breakfast you planned the night before.
- Do you know how long it takes you to get ready in the morning? If not, time yourself from the moment you get out of bed till you walk out the door. This will give you an idea of when you should wake up so you are not rushed.
- Stay consistent with your waking time each day. This will train your body to naturally wake up on time. Even on days you don’t have to get up early, do. This will give you a wonderful break from your morning routine. You can spend time in the Word, sip your coffee, watch the news or just enjoy the quietness of the house while the natives sleep.
So what have I missed that you may do that will help another girlfriend out? I want to hear it all. My mornings get by me way too fast!
Tell me in the comments below what your tried and true strategies are for getting up and out the door in a snap. What makes your mornings easier?
Anyone who leaves a comment will be entered to win a $25 Starbucks gift card.
One winner will be chosen from all comments posted for the entire week.
Please, be sure to link to your blog or provide an email address so we can get in touch with you!
by kathilipp | Jan 5, 2012 | Uncategorized |
No Deposit, No Return
Keeping Strong
Today: If you are feeling overwhelmed in even taking small steps to your goal, if may be that another area of your life is out of whack. Today, I want you to look at some of the strengthening areas of your life and check to make sure that you are taking good care of yourself.
Exercise and eating right are a key to a healthy life but being fit spiritually is the key to being successful.
Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Zig Zigler says it this way: “The story is told of a little guy valiantly but futilely trying to move a heavy log to clear a pathway to his favorite hideout. His dad stood nearby and finally asked him why he wasn’t using all his strength. The little guy assured his dad he was straining with all his might. His dad quietly told him he was not using all his strength, because he hadn’t asked him (his dad) to help.”
Is that how you are running through your day? Working and struggling, feeling like you are expending all of your energy but not making an inch’s worth of progress? I call those days “swimming through molasses”. When I get that feeling of just going backwards when all my energy is spent trying to move me forward, more often than not, those are the days that I have been “too busy to pray”.
You are doing something pretty extraordinary over the next couple of weeks – taking some steps to start living out a God-given dream. So let’s make sure the other areas of your life are in balance. One of the beautiful things about having a specific goal is that it can give you great direction in other areas of your life. If you are goalless, it is easy to get off path. But a good solid goal out in front of you is like having a finish line at the end of a race. While you’re focused on running toward that finish line, there are only a few things you have to be concerned about, (making sure you stay hydrated, making sure you are keeping up a doable pace,) and a million things you don’t have to worry about.
Tell us in the comment below one way you are going to make sure you carve out a quiet time in your daily routine.
Now if you are not excited or motivated quite yet about growing a garden maybe these recipes will get your mouth watering.
