Garden Goodness: The 2013 Garden has started!

The 2013 Goel Garden is looking good this month.  So far we are harvesting lots of turnips, sweet potaotes, kolrabi, and lettuce.  We also have some english peas, snap peas and grape tomatoes.  This year I want to help Vineet more with improving the soil quality.  He likes to take shortcuts, like using Miracle-Gro fertilizers which basically deplete the nutrients from the soil, even though the nitrogen helps the plants to grow bigger faster.   

 

 

So this month he laid down Black Cow Manure and our garden compost and I plan to do a PH test on the soil to see what's happening in some of the beds that are not producing much.

 

This year the kids will also have their own separate garden where they can choose what they want to grow. 

 

Here are some photos of what's growing...

 

 

Cauliflower! 

 Turnips!

 

 

 Kolrabi!

 

 

 Baby Romaine!

Asian Squash "Tori"

Pumpkin Hummus

We have a few cans of pumpkin left over from the holidays and since I'm always looking for ways to change up the flavor of hummus I thought I'd give the pumpkin try. 

It's so tasty and a super easy way to increase the nutrition in your hummus.  It really doesn't taste very pumpkiny, it has a wonderfully mellow taste.   I modified the recipe from Dreena Burton's Plant Powered Kitchen, but I think I will make it with the white beans next time.  It was a little on the lumpy side, though it could be because the blade on my food processor is getting dull.

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup Organic pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix!)
1/8 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 medium-large clove garlic (adjust to taste, use smaller clove for kid-friendly)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 – 2 tbsp tahini (to taste)
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp (rounded) ground allspice
1/4 tsp maple syrup
1/ cup toasted pumpkin seeds (see note for toasting; reserve about 2-3 tbsp for garnish)

In a food processor add all ingredients except pumpkin seeds (and starting with 1 tbsp tahini). Puree until very smooth. Taste, and if you’d like to add addditional garlic or spices, add a little (and if you’d like a richer tahini flavor, add the other tablespoon of Tahini). Then, add most of the pumpkin seeds (reserving a couple of tbsps), and pulse through. Transfer mixture to a serving dish, and top with remaining pumpkin seeds. Serve with whole-grain pita breads, tortilla chips, warm whole-grain bread, etc.

 

Happy New Year from WAHFE!

I've been really quiet on the blog this month but I thought I'd post our family photo from our "Happy New Year" cards that went out to friends and family on Christmas Eve.  It's become a tradition that I send out Happy New Year cards after Christmas because...

1. I'm a procrastinator when it comes to getting a family photo done for the card and
2. My husband's side of the family doesn't celebrate Christmas because they are Hindu! 

So it gives me extra time to get a photo done and seems more appropriate and cost effective that we send out Happy New Year cards so I don't have to get two separate sets of cards done.

I hope that all of my blog followers had a mostly great 2012 and are ready for a fresh new year of great things in 2013!

Some of the highlights of 2012 for me personally and on the blog include:

• My attendance at the 2012 Food Blog Forum at Disney World where the chefs greeted me with wonderful vegan food and I got to reconnect with all of my Food Blog friends.
• A weekend of workshops at the first annual Florida Herbal Conference in Ocala, where I gained new knowledge about the use of herbs for health.
• My daughter's participation in the Portion Size Me Snack Wars Challenge
• A week long trip to Paris with my husband as an early celebration of my 40th birthday

 

• Joining the Raw Food Jump Start and Teacher Training at Eva Rawposa's Uncooking School.
• And lastly, my daughter Anika's successful first year of competitive gymnastics and participation in the USAG state tournament...all in good health and free of injuries

So many great things happened, I feel truly blessed and ready to take on 2013! 

 

Simple Collard Chips

Yes, you read that right!  Collard Chips.  Kale Chips are so last year.  And since I don't have a dehydrator, I like to cook them at a low temperature for up to 40 minutes so they still have a slight bit of "chewyness" to them.  I don't really have a recipe for this other than to say you need 2 heads of Organic collards and a bottle of Organic Low Sodium Tamari.  Then follow these directions....

Step 1: Tear 2 heads of unwashed collards off the thick stem in chip size pieces
Step 2: Soak in filtered water for 10-15 minutes and put through a salad spinner
Step 3: Hand toss/massage with 1 1/2 tbsp of Organic Low Sodium Tamari and let it sit for 10 minutes to absorb. Heat oven to 200F.
Step 4: Spread the collards out flat on several trays lined with parchment paper.  Do not spray with oil.  I use a Silpat silicon mat to keep the collards from sticking.
Step 5: Keep an eye on the chips after 25 minutes.  Some of them will dry out faster than others.  You can start removing the really dry ones so they don't become paper thin and fall apart when you pick them up :-)  Depending on your oven it could take up to 45 minutes to cook them all this way.
Step 6: These are not dippable chips, but you could lightly spoon some hummus on them if you wanted to.  Enjoy with your kids!  They will love them.  And the best thing ever is sending them to school in their lunch and hearing how everyone thought they looked disgusting but really wanted to try one.