Sunday, July 7, 2013

Random Thoughts With a Purpose.

Happy July!  Hope you enjoyed your 4th!  We had a wonderful time participating in our local parade with some of our farming friends and new acquaintances we met by joining a group to promote labeling of GMO's, watching a movie at the theatre in town, and working a bit around the farm. 

Since our move, we've been working on changing our diet a bit too.  As with anything, slow and sure wins the race, but the longer we're at it, the better creativity seems to flow through me.  Sure, some lifestyle changes are as easy as switching to your local dairy for raw milk or avoiding walking down the aisle of chips so you aren't tempted to purchase them.  Then there are the harder things...like the question that comes up every day, three times a day:  "What am I going to make for (insert breakkie, lunch, or dinner)?"

Maybe you can relate: once you find a tasty recipe, you tend to make it for a few months and then tire of it and move on to something else.  That has happened a lot with me this year, especially because my time I used to spend searching for recipes is now spent growing food. :)  So I fall quickly into a pattern of cooking by the seat of my pants:  smelling spices and throwing together a few that seem to work together, throwing in what ever veggies I have, and making twice as much as I need, in hopes of not having to think of what to cook another day.  Honestly, sometimes this works out, and other times...well, we have a crumby tasting meal a couple times that week.

Yesterday was a banner day though in the fine art of the throw together.  Can't go too wrong with burgers, although if there's a way, I'll be sure to find it. I wanted to share, not only in case you are on your journey to incorporate more spices and veg into your diet, but also to document it for my Swiss cheese brain.

I started off dicing half a small onion and a clove of garlic.  Then I used half a zucchini--slicing it lengthwise into as thin of strips I could make with a knife, then I diced those into small pieces.  I knew I didn't want to shred it with the box grater, because I was afraid it would be too slimy to incorporate into the burger with all the fat in it.  Added a teaspoon of sage, marjoram, and a little salt and pepper to taste.  Rosemary might have been really good in here too, now that I think of it.  Cooked those burgers up and added a little butter to the buns to toast them.  They were mighty tasty. 

But the biggest success of all:  my zucchini-despising family ate it joyfully, without a hint of concern for the little green things they saw in their burger.  Good guys win!

What are some creative ways you've found to incorporate your least favourite veg into your meals?