Garden Update Oct 27th 2012

I planted my first plot in the community garden September 23rd, so its been a little over a month.

September 23rd 2012

Look at it today!

October 27th 2012

Everything is growing nicely! All the seeds I planted have sprouted.

This is a salad blend of lots of loose leaf lettuce varieties. By mid November they will be ready to harvest. I will have fresh salad for months. The blend consists of 20% each: Crimson Butter, Red salad Bowl, Iceberg, Bibb, and Lola Rossa.

My two kale plants have turned into giants. This means lot of kale salads too. I'm going to try making kale chips. Apparently they are delicious.

Another view of the plot. Its kind of hard to see everything. I faded out and back and whited the areas that are not my plots in photoshop. The plot behind mine is full of sweet potatoes. Anyways, in my plot 2 of the 3 peppers I transferred here are doing well. And guess what, the peppers produced are large this time. That was an issue I had when trying to grow them at my apartment. Peppers need lots of soil to grow a huge root system, or you will get small peppers.

As you can note the whole top of the soil is covered by the lettuce blend mentioned above. I used the lettuce as a live mulch. They grow very fast so they blocked out all the weeds from growing in the plot. Also, they have shallow root systems so they wont bother the bigger plants they are growing around. It looks crowded, but it doesn't have the negative effects of over crowding.

This is Nasturtium, a flower that is edible in salads, and it repels bugs. The seed I bought was Burpees Nasturtium Jewel Mix. I planted seeds in the holes of the blocks bordering my plot. The dirt in these holes is very sandy and compact. I didn't amend the soil because it was very hard to scoop out the dirt in the holes. So I didn't bother. The plant is doing great and the leaves are nice and big. This is compared to the same Nasturtiums I planted in my apartment garden one the same day, which are very small and look stunted in growth. The soil in my apartment pots is pure store bought organic compost. Some flowers, and practically all herbs hate rich soils. They actually do better in harsh sandy, dry, soils. And their taste is better too. Another example is the 3 freakin times I sowed cilantro seeds in the same store bought organic compost in my apartment garden. They sprouted and withered away. They didn't like the rich soil even when I avoided watering them much, since cilantro doesn't like lots of water either. The seeds I planted in sandy soil in the cement block holes are doing fantastic. I just hope the cold wont kill the cilantro before I can harvest it.

Also growing in the holes are white Lisbon bunching onions, German chamomile, Burpees marigold happy days mix, and fern leaf dill. All these flowers and herbs repel bugs. Bugs hate the smell and taste of them. So I hoped they would act as a natural pest repellant. So far so good.

Front left is Broccoli Packman hybrid. Ugh hybrids...Anyways its growing profusely. I cant wait to harvest it.

Back left is lavender, which isn't doing too good. Again, its a herb and doesn't like rich soil and lots of water. So I avoid watering it as much as everything else. Half of the stems died back. The other half seems to be stabilizing. Maybe it was just too hot? Now the weather has cooled down significantly.

Front right is Ruby Red cabbage which is also growing well.

Back right in the cage is a patio tomato. Not sure what variety. It has several tomatoes growing on it. So far no signs of blossom end rot like the tomatoes I planted at my apartment. Seriously, my potted apartment garden is not fit to grow serious vegetables. Every vegetable I planted there during the summer did horribly.  Everything growing in the community garden is doing great. My apartment garden is now only for growing flowers and herbs that I commonly cook with.

Introducing my 2nd plot which was planted October 21st 2012. There are morning glories and super sweet 100 tomatoes growing up the round wire trellis. I wonder how the tomatoes will do during the winter here.

Then in the middle section is blue lake #274 bush beans, Burpee's salad select spinach, and neon lights mixed swiss chard. I've never cooked with swiss chard. The neon lights swiss chard comes in so many colors from pink to yellow, so I grew it because its a beautiful vegetable. Then at the far left is some more broccoli packman hybrids and ruby red cabbage. Also, 2 seedlings of broccoli majors hybrid survived from some that I grew from seed. It will be interesting to compare the flavor and outcome of the different broccoli varieties. Then on either side of the plot is some Bibb or Limestone lettuce variety, and baby choi cabbage.

Lastly there are some garlic bulbs I planted. I bought some organic garlic from the grocery store and planted them. The garlic sold from seed companies etc... are very expensive. You can grow garlic bought at your grocery store just make sure its organic. Garlic bulbs are usually sprayed with a chemical to inhibit growth. So I thought to try growing organic bulbs, because organic means they have no chemicals right? The organic bulbs all ready had shoots growing so that was a sign that they would grow in my garden. I separated the cloves and planted them 4 inches apart. I use garlic in everything I cook so I made sure to plant lots of it. I'm in zone 9 so it is recommended to plant garlic in warm climates starting late October through November.

Close up of broccolis and cabbages in plot #2. They are not doing too good. I got to water them every day until their roots take hold. They are stressed out but I think they will survive.

This is one of 3 morning glory Grandpa Ot variety growing up the trellis. Over the summer I tried growing morning glory in a hanging planter. It grew vines like crazy but never flowered. I was so disappointed. I've never had a garden without morning glories. When I was little we had sky blue morning glories growing on our porch, so its kind of nostalgic for me to have some. This one all ready bloomed! I was so surprised because the plant is only like 4 inches tall. At least I know I will be getting flowers this time.

This is a close up of the bush beans. As far as I know these are green bean type of beans. The blue lake variety is a really compact plant and a heavy producer. You grow them 6 inches apart so its perfect for small spaces. I think I have at least 15 of these growing which will provide tons of green beans. I expect to start harvesting around December 18th.

So thats it for now. I'm so happy I joined the community garden.

A kale salad everyone will like. So good it is my favorite salad of all time.

I'm not a big fan of salads. In my opinion they are flavorless and doused in tons of dressing that they aren't even healthy either.

I was inspired to like this particular kale salad recipe that I have concocted from a recipe that I learned in a cooking class at Truffles & Trifles in Orlando Florida.

It is the same kind of idea, I just change up the ingredients to follow what is currently seasonal. Now that it is fall time, kale is coming into season.

I think kale is a greatly misrepresented and underused green. It is extremely versatile and super healthy. You would use it just like you would spinach.

Kale is known to be slightly bitter. Which is why it is not really used in salads because people prefer to cook it down in a soup or something to mask the bitter taste. Its not that bitter people. It doesn't taste gross I promise. Especially when you pair it in a salad that is bursting with flavor and hits all flavor and texture  profiles from sweet and salty, to soft and crunchy.

Kale Salad with Fall Seasonal Toppings
Basic Salad Ingredients
Kale - washed, dried, and torn into small pieces. I wash all my produce in vinegar and water.
Fruity type of vinaigrette, I used raspberry vinaigrette.
Crumbled blue cheese- gives tons of flavor and the salty profile. I don't recommend using a different cheese.
Chopped nut of preference, I used chopped walnuts.

Take it to the next level by adding these toppings:
Chopped apples or pears (crunchy & sweet). You can toss the apples or pears with some lemon or lime juice so they don't turn brown.
Sliced mandarin oranges, or just regular oranges (sweet & citrus)
Grapes sliced in half (sweet & juicy)
Dried fruit pieces, like dried cranberries (sweet)
Pomegranate seeds (sweet, juicy, & crunchy)

I know this salad sounds weird. I thought the same thing when it was made in the cooking class. Except the cooking class used a bagged mixture of salad greens, not just kale. I almost didn't try it. But I'm so glad I did. I love how all the flavors combine and its a perfect fall time salad. This salad may sound fancy, but its so easy to make. Just chop everything into small pieces, even the kale, since most of the ingredients are very small. I eat this like every other day at least.

FREE 4x6 photos at Target & other deals

Some new coupons have appeared on Target's website. Remember, you can print 2 per computer.


There is a $5 off with the purchase of 50 4x6 coupon. 4x6 prints are normally 10 cents each. If so, then you get 50 4x6 prints for free.

Some other good coupons include:

Buy one get one free Stride gum single packs.

$1 off the purchase of 4 Market Pantry frozen vegetables. I frequently see them go on sale 2 for $1 etc...

$5 off select photo gift item. Could make for a nice Christmas present.

Click HERE to go to their coupon section.

Garden Status 9/28: I joined a community garden yay!

My little apartment garden has not been doing very good. I did not plan it very well when deciding what to grow. Peppers, tomatoes, and watermelon need lots of space and deep ground to grow a large root system in order to produce lots of fruit. Thus why none of them have been doing very good in my small 11 gallon storage bin planters.


So when I got a call from Kay at the San Jacinto Community garden here in Galveston I jumped on it right away. I was VERY lucky that two plots were now available. I took both of them. It only cost me a $10 yearly membership to the San Jacinto neighborhood. This garden is only 12 minutes away form me and its on the way to drop my husband off at work, so it is very convenient. Now that I have a place to grow my veggies, I'm only going to grow herbs and flowers at my apartment.

San Jacinto Community Garden entrance. I like how it is gated and you need a key to get in. Therefore I feel safe if I'm all alone in there. Nice that it is private.

Established 1999.

Picnic tables shaded by different vines such as wisteria. I've never seen wisteria before so I was amazed.

I think this is 1 of 8 historic water fountains that are left out of the hundreds that were built way back when, here in Galveston.

Asparagus!!! I've never seen the asparagus plant before. There are several of these around the garden. They are huge. In the spring these plants send up asparagus shoots which are cut and ready to eat. It takes very mature plants to produce asparagus. Again, I was amazed.

Someone was growing corn in their plot. I didn't know corn could be grown in our hot, humid, zone.

Our personal garden shed. Its filled with every kind of garden tool you will need. Which was so awesome since I don't own any. Now I don't have to spend tons of money buying tools. There is also a compost bin (black box lower right corner), which everyone contributes and uses. I've never composted before so I'm definitely adding my part to it.

This is a sesame plant which produces sesame seeds! I've never seen this before. When those pods turn brown the seeds are ready to eat or cook with. This plant is about 3 foot tall and doesn't take up very much space. I took a pod so I could grow it in my apartment garden. Now I'm inspired to try and grow fennel and anise from the seeds I had to buy to make the sausage I posted about.

We also have several citrus trees like oranges and grapefruit, that we all share. This is grapefruit.

This one still needs to ripen a bit. I was taking a photo of it and it just fell off the tree...so I took it home. I'm embarrassed to say that I cant ever remember eating grapefruit before. I tend to stay away from sour tasting things. But now that I'm trying to eat healthier I'm going to give it a try.

My faithful garden companion, Mia the Yorkshire Terrier. We can bring dogs if they stay on a leash...We were alone and Mia is such a shy dog that she never goes too far from me. She is very quiet and tame, unlike my other dog Eli.

Last week I amended the soil and started planting my first plot. I transferred my peppers there but I threw out that straggly looking super sweet 100 tomato I had growing at my apartment, and the watermelon is not going there either because it has some kind of disease. I've gone so far as to spray the tomato and watermelon with commercial heavy duty antibacterial/fungicide/insect killer and none of it seems to work. I didn't want to bring diseased stuff into the community garden and spread it around.

My first plot. I love that whoever had it before me added the cement blocks. Helps keep things separated and added height so I could fill the plot with lots of compost and peat moss to help lighten the sandy soil we have here on the island. Also every plot has its own spigot and water hose.

There are 3 california giant sweet peppers, a patio tomato, lavender, ruby perfection red cabbage, and broccoli "packman" hybrid...urgh it was a hybrid, oh well. Along the right side I tried to make a straight row that has danviers half long and chantenay carrot varieties separated by a row of a mix of red and white onions. Then I sprinkled the entire plot with a loose leaf lettuce blend, which I hope will grow quickly and crowd out the weeds and act like a living mulch. The cinder block holes have been planted with different herb and flower seeds known to attract beneficial insects and keep the bad ones away.

Lavender and Patio Tomato. I've never had luck growing lavender. I definitely gave it good drainage this time. I also sprinkled the entire bed with an eggshell and used ground coffee mixture. The eggshells deter slugs and the strong smell of the coffee deters many types of bugs too.

I tried very hard not to disturb the roots of my sweet peppers when I took them out of the planter from my apartment and planted them here. As I lifted the whole thing out, it all fell apart....so they are in shock right now. Two of them look like they will recover, the other doesn't look so good. And they were all chock full of growing peppers...I hope I can still harvest them.

KALE!!!! So healthy and so much I can do with it. I bought two of these for $2 each from the 70% off sale at the Houston Garden Centers. They were in 9 inch pots and ready to start harvesting the lower leaves. You must harvest frequently to promote new leave growth. Also, the baby leaves taste better than the larger ones. This was like instant gratification because I can harvest something while I wait for everything else to grow.

This is my second plot. I need to weed it and amend the soil before I grow anything. I'm taking my time with it though. Everything I want to plant here is currently growing in seed trays and wont be ready for at least a month or so. I plan on planting zucchini, super sweet 100 tomatoes, spinach, swiss chard, baby bok choi, butternut squash, and various lettuces to name a few. They have some huge metal towers that I can use to grow the tomatoes and squash up on and save garden space.

 Also seen in the background of the photo above, is a chicken coop. Fresh eggs are laid every morning which we can harvest. I have not don't this yet because I'm not sure of the procedure.

As you can tell I was very happy to see lots of vegetables and fruit plants that I've never seen before. This stressed to me the big disconnect people have to where their food comes from. I'm so glad for the opportunity to grow fresh, natural, and organic produce.

Here on Galveston we don't have many options when it comes to organic foods. The nearest Whole Foods and Trader Joes is over 1 hour away. Also, the local grocery stores seem to be overpriced in my opinion. Anyways, its so much fun to grow your own produce and then get to eat it.

Differences in saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats in various oils

My friend shared this chart with me that I find rather nifty when deciding what kind of oils to use in your cooking and diet.

Saturated fats are BAD

Monounsaturated fats are OK

Polyunsaturated fats are GREAT

Also trans fats are horribly bad for your body. This chart doesn't show trans fat on it, but you can read that on any label on your food products. 

The difference between them is how they are structured chemically. Saturated are harder to break down by the body than the other two options.

By all means share your health findings with me. I love to learn new stuff. Comment or send me a message any time.

Quinoa Waffles & How to Make Breakfast Healthier

I fell into this by accident. I was trying to buy the grain version of quinoa on vitacost.com, because its way cheaper buying it online than in my local stores. But somehow, I didnt pay attention to what I was buying.

Finally my package arrived, and I excitedly opened it. I was planning on making quinoa stir fry later that day. Then to my horror I noticed I bought qunioa flour, not the grain....

I had no clue what to do with it. Searching online for recipes yielded nothing interesting. Plus, many people commentated that this type of flour has a bitter taste to it if you don't use it carefully. Great.

Anyways, I'm not one to let things go to waste so I decided to try this quinoa waffle recipe I found on www.food.com. It came from a book called "Recipes for Food Allergies" by Marilyn Gioannini.

 Quinoa is a great grain and flour substitute because it is gluten free. This is important for people with diabetes. For me its important because it means I wont have a sugar rush and then an energy crash an hour later. Why this happens is explained at the bottom of this post.

Follow this recipe EXACTLY. I thought it was weird adding shredded apples and fruit juice to my waffle batter, but this is important to mask that bitter taste quinoa can have.

Ingredients

3/4 cup quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 dash salt
1/2 cup apple juice or 1/2 cup prune juice or 1/2 cup non-dairy milk substitute
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1 small apple, grated (about 3/4 cup)
1 egg (optional)

This recipe makes about 2 large waffles on a standard waffle maker.

Directions

Mix the quinoa flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to incorporate it all together.

Mix the fruit juice of your choice, vegetable oil, and honey together and microwave for 30 seconds so everything mixes well. I used coconut oil instead which is a healthier type of oil.

Now add the fruit juice mixture and the grated apple to the quinoa flour mixture. Mix very well. Then add the fruit juice, oil, and honey mixture.

Cook them in a waffle iron.

I served my waffles with some eggs and my homemade sausage I made yesterday. This combination yields a gluten free waffle with some good protein.

The only issue I had was what to top my waffles with. Syrup is full of sugar, and I wanted to keep my breakfast gluten free...I was not prepared. Unfortunately, I topped it off with a caramelized brown sugar, syrup, and banana mixture. Just add some brown sugar and syrup into a small sauce pan and heat it up on low. Add in sliced bananas and cook slowly until everything is smooth and caramelized. Sorry I didn't measure things, but its so easy to make.

Hey, this is still healthier than traditional waffles! Plus I had to make this taste so yummy that my husband would eat it. Now that I think of it, I probably could have used honey instead of the syrup. Duh! Or maybe I could have just used honey and bananas alone. Anyways, I was trying to make it sweet so my husband would like it. He is not a fan of healthy eating, but he says if it tastes good he will eat anything.

I loved the waffles. Tasted great to me. My husband however is quite another story. He has very particular tastes buds. He said it didn't taste like waffles...ok. Waffles to me don't really have a taste besides being starchy. The texture was fine. They weren't extremely light and fluffy, but they were not densely gross either. 

I thought they made a great substitute for traditional waffles. Or maybe my taste buds have been burned off due to how much coffee and hot tea I drink every day. So for those of you who are not so picky, I'm sure you will love this recipe too. I know I will be making them again, even if its just for myself.

The original website I got the recipe from can be found HERE. 

Why sugary and high glycemic type carbs during breakfast, gives you an afternoon energy slump: 

I hate eating sugary and carbohydrate full breakfasts. Most traditional breakfast items like cereals, instant oatmeals, breads, muffins, pancakes, waffles, etc...are overloaded with this stuff and overly processed. These types of carbs have what is called a high glycemic index. This means they promote a rapid increase of sugar into your blood stream. Your body reacts by releasing insulin like crazy to bring your blood sugar levels back to normal. This entire process takes a lot of energy and your left feeling tired shortly after. I used to get an afternoon slump everyday, now I don't and I have constant energy levels.

Oh, and why gluten free? Gluten eventually gets processed down in your body to a form of sugar which is a high glycemic type of carb. Thus why a healthy diabetic diet avoids gluten. I'm not diabetic, but I am trying to cut as much sugar from my diet as possible. Plus research came out that showed too much sugar is akin to a poison in your body. It causes tons of diseases so its best to avoid it. That is hard for me because I have a huge sweet tooth, so I'm learning ways to substitute it for healthier options.

For example, I got rid of sugar in my coffee too by using stevia extract. The cheapest place to buy it is from www.vitacost.com. I bought the VitaCost brand stevia extract for $11. Stevia is super sweet. A few drops are just as sweet as an entire spoonful of sugar. Plus, since its not sugar, it doesn't affect your blood sugar levels.

Why cereal and instant oatmeals are bad for you:

Yes they are very convenient and quick breakfast items buts they are so processed and devoid of naturally occurring vitamins, fiber, minerals etc...Instant oatmeals are made instant by removing the harder outer layers of the oat berry/bran (whatever its called), so that it will cook faster. By doing this, everything that is nutritious about the oatmeal has been removed. And they add tons of sugar and artificial ingredients to make it tasty.

I'm not saying all are bad. I buy Mom's Best Naturals brand cereal because it is all natural, low in sugars, retained its fiber content, and has no more than 10 ingredients all of which I can pronounce and know that they are natural. Plus this brand is one of the cheapest healthy cereals you can get. I know a 24 oz box of the frosted wheats is like $2.58 at Walmart.There are tons of other cereals out there. Just read the labels and pick out something that is more natural and less processed.

I love oatmeal too. But I make it myself and I only use steel cut oats because the outer layers have not been stripped off. It takes a long time to cook steal cut oats. The best way to cook them is overnight in a crock pot. Add cinnamon, stevia granules or extract for sweetness, and diced fruit such as apples, and you have a very nutritious breakfast option ready for you when you wake up. I make tons of this stuff and freeze them in individual sized containers. Heat them up in your microwave for a healthier instant breakfast option.

This is the recipe I use for overnight steel cut oats, except now I use the stevia extract instead of brown sugar. Click HERE.

$2 off Johnsonville Sausage Coupon = Great Deal

Ok, ok, my previous post explained how to make homemade sausage and that I will never buy store bought again...

Its true, but I cant pass up a good deal either....

Get the $2 off Johnsonville Sausage coupon by clicking HERE. Remember you can print 2 coupons per computer. Just hit the refresh button and print again.

This is a very high value coupon that does not come around often, so stock up!

I think these run for around $3.99 or more depending if there is a sale.