Spring is almost upon us…Hallelujah! I’m excited to get my hands in the dirt again and start gardening, though this year I’ll be doing my gardening at a new place. Which means my home is for sale, including my beloved raised bed gardens I’ve blabbed about here at Life in Green.

If you know anyone looking for a new home in “Is this heaven? No its Iowa” ..and fantastic garden, send them my way or share this link.

Btw I’m certain this is not the end of the blog road for me….new adventures on the horizon. 

I had absolutely no plan for dinner tonight.  Even when I was checking out at the grocery store, I still had no idea.  A little weeding in the garden was all it took for inspiration though….hence the beets.

Sidenote:  Do you like to weed?  Crazily I kind of do.  It’s very meditative for me, just quietly moving along from one weed to the next.  Of course when you stand up, it’s a whole other story (ouch low back).

Look at the color on these bad boys.  I’m not sure how you couldn’t love something as pretty as these beets.

Tonight’s dinner came in the form of a salad.  It was dang good…as in I talked to myself the whole time I was eating, about how much I liked it.  Yeah, I’m that girl.

After roasting, the beets stayed just as pretty but with a darker hue of purple.

Roasted Beet & Blueberry Salad with Blue Cheese

Fresh baby spinach leaves

Sliced roasted chicken breast (cook it this way)

Roasted beets (toss four peeled and sliced beets with olive oil and sprinkle with S&P; roast at 375 degrees for around 30 minutes)

Fresh blueberries

Blue cheese crumbles

Place a layer of spinach on your plate and then top with your desired amounts of chicken, beets, blueberries and cheese.  I’m not a big salad dressing gal, so a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar was perfect for me.

Favorite part of the salad?  The beets.  To me it was kind of like a roasted carrot, but with a little earthier flavor.  Nice and sweet though and awesome with the contrasting bites of blue cheese.

Growing beets this year?  Make sure you roast some.  Sooo good.

Look at how brown my poor Kentucky Bluegrass lawn is.

Thank heavens a storm is just miles away right now.  I’m putting in a request for a good inch of rainfall.

Are you experiencing crazy dry conditions?  How’s the garden faring?

Nothing crazy impressive, but a simple side of home-grown broccoli florets. Just this past weekend, they looked like this.  Small, but on a mission to bloom with this dry, warm weather.

I paired it up with some garlic including a garlic scape and this lovely lemon thyme…which btw I could sniff all dang night.

Quickly sautéed on the stove top with olive oil keeps it simple, which is exactly how you should be enjoying your florets from the garden.

And before you throw away those stems, make this!

I usually pick green whenever it’s an option for anything.  The radish in my garden this year are no exception.

These are Chinese Green Luobo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Green, spicy and kind of funky.  I picked these a couple of weeks ago…the dry and hot garden is no longer a good growing environment for the radish.  I do have some left to harvest – we’ll see what I get. 

I’d say these would be great on tacos…sliced up thin and used in place of crunchy lettuce.  And you can’t ever go wrong with a radish soaked in ice water and sprinkled with salt.

Any unusual green veggies growing in your garden this year?



Watering is the one garden chore that is not my forte.  And being forced to water daily as early as May does not help…at all.

Anyone have any tips to make me love watering?

Happy Gardening!

I have been gardening, though not as much as I’d hope to.  I’m definitely fitting in some good time outside this weekend, weatherman please be nice.

Enjoy the Mother’s Day weekend, and be sure to tell and give your mama something nice.

Peonies might do.  ;)

Seriously bad weather days are such lazy days with the exception of how well I can inhale food.  Not good.

The cheesecake is awesome (as usual).  Though I wouldn’t mind a slice of this chocolate mousse cake I recently made for my mom’s birthday.  Talk about stick your fork in the fridge every two seconds.  After awhile I was just got greedy and stuck my fork only in the mousse…over and over.

As this cake was originally served to the family including the young, old and in between, I made sure to use a recipe with no raw eggs.

Oh and since this is a lazy day, you really don’t think I’m going to type out these recipes do you?

I used the cake and assembly instructions from this recipe.  And I used this recipe for the egg-free chocolate mousse.

Looks super rich, but was pretty much just right.  And if you keep it at your house you might as well leave your fork out.

Left: Hillbilly, Top: Aunt Ginny's Purple, Right: Cherokee Green

When we plant a lovely little tomato transplant into our garden, we typically have expectations for it.  We expect it to grow, flower, produce fruit and provide us with a juicy slice or two for our beloved BLTs.

Sometimes these expectations are met, sometimes not.  The tomato plant might get eaten by a garden pest,  taken down by late blight, or just plain struggle in extreme weather conditions.

Ever been unhappy or upset that said tomato plant did not meet said expectations?  Yeah, me too.  Though maybe if expectations were not there, we would not be unhappy?

What if we planted the tomato, as a part of our love for gardening–but rather than expect specific outcomes, we just enjoy the moments to nurture it, to watch it grow,  or to taste it.  And if said tomato, crapped out on us…we’d enjoy the moments of visiting the local farmer’s market or our neighbor for that juicy slice on our BLTs.  Or heck maybe fresh tomato sauce instead.

Green-when-ripe heirloom named Cherokee Green

Finding Joy in Life’s Surprises – Releasing Your Expectations

Below article from http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2009/20282.html

As we endeavor to find personal fulfillment and realize our individual ideals, we naturally form emotional attachments to those outcomes we hope will come to pass. These expectations can serve as a source of stability, allowing us to draft plans based on our visions of the future, but they can also limit our potential for happiness by blinding us to equally satisfying yet unexpected outcomes. Instead of taking pleasure in the surprising circumstances unfolding around us, we mourn for the anticipation left unfulfilled. When we think of letting go of our expectations, we may find ourselves at the mercy of a small inner voice that admonishes us to strive for specific goals, even if they continually elude us. However, the opposite of expectation is not pessimism. We can retain our optimism and free ourselves from the need to focus on specific probabilities by opening our hearts and minds to a wide variety of possible outcomes.

When we expect a situation, event, or confrontation to unfold in a certain way, it becomes more difficult to enjoy the surprises that have the potential to become profound blessings. Likewise, we may feel that we failed to meet our inner objectives because we were unable to bring about the desired results through our choices and actions. Consider, though, that we are all at the mercy of the universal flow, and our best intentions are often thwarted by fate. As you grow increasingly open to unforeseen outcomes, you will be more apt to look for and recognize the positive elements of your new circumstances. This receptivity to the unexpected can serve you well when you are called upon to compromise with others, your life plans seem to go awry, or the world moves forward in an unanticipated manner by granting you the flexibility to see the positive aspects of almost any outcome.

The further you distance yourself from your expectations, the more exhilarating your life will become. Though a situation in which you find yourself may not correspond to your initial wants, needs, or goals, ask yourself how you can make the most of it and then do your best to adapt. Your life’s journey will likely take many unpredicted and astonishing twists because you are willing to release your expectations.

I also love layered dips.  It may be old school, but when can you ever turn down one of those mexican-layered dips.

How about a Mediterranean-layered dip?  Like a super easy, simple one.

Simple Mediterranean Layer Dip

use portion amounts to your preference

Hummus – I make this non-tahini version a lot

Roasted red peppers, chopped

Black or kalamata olives, sliced

Cucumber, chopped

Grape tomatoes, chopped

Feta cheese

Spread hummus evenly on plate or serving dish.  Then sprinkle on rest of ingredients ending with the feta cheese.

Serve with crackers or pita chips.  I served with Kashi’s TLC Pita Crisps, which I thought were pretty perfect for this dip.

Enjoy!