Monday, August 16, 2010

Dinners and progress picts

Happy Monday everyone!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Mine was pretty good! It was busy and HOT. I started the weekend by making a beautiful dinner.

Nemo is very curious of my garden and all the crazy things that come out of it!

Clearly not impressed!

This is a raw vodka sauce from Bonzai Aphrodite. A wicked new blog that I found on G Living.
Yummy Yummy!

My veggie pasta with zucch and carrots that I made using my potato peeler. Why haven't I done that before? Loved it!

The beautiful platter! the raw vodka veggie pasta, coconut oil roasted beets, my garden salad with miso ginger dressing!


After dinner I was asked to babysit my little godson and his brother! It was quite an easy time as they were both asleep by the time I got there:) Their dad was very excited to tell me about a new book that he had just read that has changed his viewpoint on buisness and he thought I should read it. The book is called The 4-hour workweek. Have you heard about it or read it? I only got to page 30 but I like what I've read. Once I'm finished I'll tell you guys more about it.


On Saturday we went to another wedding. This time it was my beautiful cousin who got hitched! The wedding took place at a resort near Cultus Lake. It was nice because we didn't have to drive anywhere as the ceremony and the reception were at the same place:) Everything was beautiful and the weather was simply over the top gorgeous! It was so, so hot though so everyone was seeking the shade and a cool brews!



I LOVED her dress!! Stunning!

We stayed overnight at the resort and then I was lucky enough to have aunt flo visit me and so I was down for the count! It sucked too because we could have stayed around and hung out by the pool. GRRR! After I recovered we headed over to a friend's house for an awesome dinner and good times out on the patio.


Now for some kitchie progress picts!

Okay, so this is a new project! I went and picked the last of the raspberries at the no spray u-pick by my house. Then I remembered about red raspberry leaf tea. So, I picked some of the newest leaves and thought I would give it a try drying them.

I washed them and placed some in the dehydrator (YAY!) and some outside in the sun.

They dried super fast and I have been drinking the leaves in cold and hot water. They are really good for pregnant women or for women wanting to get pregnant as it tones the uterus. It also contains many vitamins and minerals including vitamin C and calcium:)

Guess who else was thrown into the dehydrator! Buckwheaties!


My rejuvelec was ready too! I have never tried it before so I'm not really sure what it is supposed to taste like. This batch didn't taste like much at all. I may or may not have added in too much water..lol! I made a second bathc with the same grains and it was a bit stronger, although it didn't really taste like much either. Maybe that's what it's supposed to be? I plan on making a raw cheese with it...post more about that next time!

My Kraut was also ready! I totally can't remember how kraut tastes like so I can just describe mine as perfectly tangy? I have to figure out a way to make it without attracting a gazillion fruit flies. Seriously, they were loving it! I have been keeping my eyes out for a crock:)

My beautiful wheatgrass! This was easier than I thought! I used a mix or peat moss and organic seedling soil that I mixed up myself from work:)



Grow, grow, grow!

This is the first tray that I started and so I am getting excited to make some shots soon!!


And last but definitely not least, my scoby! Or make that plurel..scobies? I'm glad to see her working away on that sugar! I get anxious with new kitchen projects and so I check up on her a bunch of times in the day..lol!

When we got back from the wedding I found that brown goop in my mix. I panicked and thought I did something wrong and my scoby was ill. So, in this time of need I did a crazy google search and one site said that its some sort of yeast growth and its normal. Apparently you just filter it out. So, calling all bouch masters out there! Have you ever had this happen? I'm still a bit nervous about it!!

As you can see I like to totally bombard myself with kitchen fun..apparently I didn't learn the one-thing-at-a-time rule!!

Are you somebody who get's excited and takes on multiple projects at once or do you think it out and do one thing at a time?

Have a great rest of your day everyone!

12 comments:

Maggie said...

I totally bombard myself, but I try to get things done..unlike some people in my fam that have projects going on and on for years lol :D

Your weekend sounded lovely! Love the meal you made, i'm goin to check out the site you found for the raw vodka sauce!

And I love seeing how all your sprouting, gardening, dehydrating, soaking and canning is progressing! Awesome Melissa :)

xoxo
~Maggie

bitt said...

Nemo is so beautiful! I just saw a cute orange cat like him at a rescue center--he was rescued from a meth lab and part of his whiskers burned off. I hope they grow back so he can be as handsome as Nemo.

You have some amazing projects going on! I also have booch and kraut going, and some pickles. Not as much sprouting as you. I can't do it all. :-)

As for how the rejuvelac should taste, well a little sour I would say.

Melissa said...

Hey Maggie - I know EXACTLY who you are referring too with the yearly projects HAHA!! Totally check out bonzai aphrodite..such great stuff!
I'm glad you like my crazy kitchen adventures:) More to come lol!

Hey Aimee - Okay you seriously made me tear up with that poor meth lab kitty! I am so glad that he got rescued and I know he will heal and be just as proud as Nemo lol! Thanks for the sweet comments about him...he truly appreciates it:) PICKLES?? Oh please share with us your end products..would love to see! Thanks for the rejulvelec tip..hope it works okay for the cheese!

kelli said...

fun fun fun!!! i am like you sometimes, but don't think i've had that much excitement going on at once!

i'd like to make rejuvelac and sprout wheatgrass. are you growing it for cutie pie nemo or will you juice it?

sorry flo crashed your weekend - she can be so inconsiderate!=)

kelli said...

oh, i went to make the enchiladas and found that my tortillas i just bought had tiny spots of my mold! instead we had a mixture of veggies and black beans inspired by the recipe... it was very yummy and i didn't have to turn the oven on!=)

ac said...

Holy guacamole!! You make the BEST kitchen experiments EVARRRR. EVARRRRRR. Raspberry leaf tea??! Kraut?! Raw cheese?! Wheatgrass?!?! SCOBY!???!!? You're a reeeeeal homemaker, that's what you are, my dear lady. :-) If I had half the home-making courage that you had, my house would be...well...ahahaha, my parents would think I've turned their house into a nut-house! :-P All's well that ends well though. Who could turn down sprouted buckwheaties, hmmm? Or a sip of divine sparkling kombucha, huh? Exactly! No one! Haha.

xoxo Aletheia

shesarunner said...

I am so impressed with your kitchen experiments! You are definitely inspiring me to give some new things a try. I read the how-to for rejuvelac in Ani's book but I was way too intimidated to even consider it...but now I figure that if you can be brave, I guess I should woman up,haha.

I am an extremist so I tend to either totally overwhelm myself with kitchen experiments or stick to my usual groove. Once I get in the mood, I'll take on ten things at once, kind of like you!

The raw vodka meal looks so yum! I think that veggie pasta made with a veggie peeler looks so pretty, and the sauce looks amazing.

It sounds like it was a beautiful wedding until you got interrupted. Hope you still had some time to enjoy yourself!

Nelly said...

i love to take on projects...just like you...but lately i haven't really been doing much, you make me miss it!!!

i LOVE nemo...he is so amazingly adorable and cute!!!

love your eats too...checked out the blog it looks amazing!!!

<3

have a beautiful week my friend.

HiHoRosie said...

You keep reminding me about GLiving. I keep forgetting that I'm a member and should check it out more often. Probably because my updates go to another email address. Soon I'll be by. Anyway, love all the action going on! And Nemo, he steals my heart everytime I visit. He's gotta love the wheatgrass! :) I think we've had our scobies look like that too but I never worry about it and it's come out fine. Raspberry tea is so wonderful! Esp when ms auntie flo stops by for a visit! (grr!)

evergreen said...

Oh my goodness, you are so ambitious! Everything looks awesome. I have made rejuvelac, and it tastes a little lemony to me. It does make a great nut cheese:)

Congrats to your cousin, that is an incredible dress!

p.s. Nemo is one cool cat!

Melissa said...

Hey Kelli - Okay I didn't know nemo would love it..but yesterday he couldn't get his cute little head out of it..hopefully I will have some left today to juice LOL! Flo is definitely inconsiderate!!! We need to have a heart to heart LOL! That's a bummer about those wraps..geesh! But you made a raw option which is even better:)

Hey Aletheia - HAHA I'm going to tell the hubby you said I'm a homemaker..he'll laugh because I said I never wanted to be one of those..never say never, right? Thanks for stopping by girl..miss ya:(

Hey Lauren - I'm totally with you on the extremist thing..have been like that all my life lol!
Thanks for the sweetness about the raw vodka sauce and veggie pasta:)I had a small window of enjoyment lol! better than none at all!

Hey Nelly - I miss your projects too:(
Nemo is blushing from your sweet comment:)Glad you liked the blog, she has some great things on there!

Hey Heidi - Can't wait to see you on Gliving..and yes, two emails is too much LOL! AWE..thanks for the Nemo love..he always loves to rub his whiskers or lay on my computer and so I think he feels all the love coming out to him..or he likes the heat LOL..I'll go with the first option:) PS he just discovered the wheatgrass so I may not have any when I get home LOL!
Thanks for easing my scoby fears:)
Yes...anything to keep the wrath of aunt flo at bay is my hero:)

Hi Angela - I'm ambitious...that's a HUGE compliment coming from the amazing raw foods creator you are..thanks hun!

Laury @The FitnessDish said...

NEMO!!! YES!!! I ADORE Nemo pics!!!! They make me smile :-)



Your wheat grass IS beautiful!! I killed mine a long time ago :-( Please tell me your secrets, my thumb is faaaaaar from green!!!!!