The Art and Life of Naomi Valdivia
Potato pancakes are kind of a big deal in many homes, and everyone has their own method. There’s a lot of speculation as to what goes into making a good pancake, and my guess is that’s because it’s easy to mess up such a seemingly simple dish. Too many eggs and your pancakes are rubbery; […]
I completely forgot my Friday post again but for good reason. We stayed up working on signs for the March Against Monsanto that happened worldwide on Saturday. So many people don’t know what corporations are doing to over 90% of the food we buy, and the worst types of GMO foods are being marketed and fed to our children! I’m not trying to guilt people for not eating organic 100% of the time, but I am trying to help educate people so that they can make an informed decision about what they eat and feed their families, instead of blind consumerism. Check out the pics from our march here in Ventura, CA!
I did it again! I forgot to post about food on Friday! Sorry guys! It was for a good cause though. Had a much deserved date night with the hubby and we decided to take advantage of the hot weather and high tail it to the beach. It was great! But now for the food. See that picture of me with a bowling ball? Well, it’s actually a GIANT organic cabbage I got from the local Farmer’s Market! I decided to make Galumpkis. Here’s the recipe I used: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/stuffed-cabbage-rolls-galumpkis-recipe.html
They came out pretty good, but I already know what I’m going to do to improve it to my tastes for next time. I didn’t take pictures of the finished product, I’m waiting to remake them. But everyone gobbled them down, so I guess they liked them!
So I wasn’t able to post a foodie Friday post last Friday, but it was my birthday and I was vacationing with the family. Much needed! Anyway, I’m posting today with my first potato harvest! The picture above was what I pulled out of the orange laundry basket I used to plant potatoes. Didn’t take too long, about 6 weeks and I had lots of little potatoes. The orange basket negated any gophers getting at my papas. I had planted about 3 small organic potatoes, and these are the ones that grew-and very quickly! I also threw in 3 non organic potatoes. Those did NOT grow at all. They just took up real estate and rotted. They smelled awful! Like chemical rot and bad breath. From now on I am sticking to organic. I learned my lesson! I put some of the stalks back in the basket with more soil because there were a lot of little mini potatoes just starting to grow, so I’m looking forward to harvesting more potatoes in a few weeks. Not bad for my first potato experiment!
With a picky toddler, a nine year old boy, and a teenage girl, I need snacks around the house that are both healthy, filling, and inexpensive to make. Even using organic ingredients, this recipe is still very budget friendly-and it makes a lot! About 4 dozen cookies depending on how big you make them! When my toddler refuses to eat anything else in the house, he will never refuse one of these nutritious cookies.
Prep time: 30-45 minutes
Cook time: 10-12 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use organic)
1 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup of flax meal
1/2 cup (or more if desired) chia seeds
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions;
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, oats, flaxseed, chia seeds, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
Beat butter and sugars in a separate bowl with a mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and beat well. Reduce mixing speed to low and add flour mixture gradually until just combined. Hand stir in chocolate chips. You may want to add nuts, too!
Drop heaping tablespoons full of the dough into your parchment lined cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool 3 minutes on cookie sheets and transfer to a rack or separate plate to allow to cool. Enjoy!
Creating your own marinara sauce is very easy and customizable. Just make sure you make this on a day where you will be home for the majority of the time. This is why this has become a Sunday tradition for us. We start the day with coffee, breakfast and slicing up raw tomatoes! We spend Sunday as a day to refresh, renew and prepare for the coming week and the smell of homemade marinara throughout the day is extremely comforting!
Here’s the basics of creating a good marinara sauce. Please edit to your likings and make this sauce your own!
1. Chop up 3-4 lbs of tomatoes. (We get them cheap at the farmers market by grabbing the super ripe tomatoes they want to get rid of) the riper the better!
2. Sautée 1 chopped onion and minced garlic (we use a lot but put in as much as you’re comfortable with) in extra virgin olive oil and a bit of butter until they are both soft.
3. Add any dried herbs you’d like such as rosemary, oregano, thyme. Add salt and pepper and stir everything together.
4. Deglaze the pan by adding either water, wine, chicken broth (we didnt have any of these so we used about half a can of Sapporo instead!)
5. Add the tomatoes to the pot.
6. Add more olive oil and herbs and stir it up!
7. Switch your heat to low ad cook it down for at least 4 hours, stirring throughout to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
That’s it! Enjoy!
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