Yet Another

Try...

Saturday we planted some baby tomato plants.  

We're giving it another "go around".

I'm hoping I can make this

(with delicious fresh picked tomatoes).

Crab and Tomato Stack

via Southern Lady

Makes 8 servings

2 avocados, diced
1/4 cup finely chopped poblano pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 recipe Cumin Vinaigrette, divided (recipe follows)
1 (8-ounce) container crabmeat, picked for shells
2 small red tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 small orange tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 small yellow tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Garnish: fresh cilantro leaves


1. In a small bowl, combine avocados, poblano pepper, 1 tablespoon cilantro, red onion, salt, and 2 tablespoons Cumin Vinaigrette.
2. In a separate bowl, combine crabmeat, remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro, and 2 tablespoons Cumin Vinaigrette.
3. To assemble, layer red tomato slice, avocado mixture, orange tomato slice, crabmeat mixture, and yellow tomato slice. Top with about 1/2 tablespoon crabmeat mixture. Drizzle with additional Cumin Vinaigrette, and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, if desired.

I don't know...maybe I'll just get some tomatoes at the grocery store tomorrow.

Plan Your Garden Now

I'm still trying to learn "the how to's"of Houston Gardening.

I've always loved home grown tomatoes.

This year I'm going to try to grow tomatoes and a variety of peppers. Wish me luck!

Here's a little help I found from HGTV.

Gardening Resources:

Gardening Tips and Ideas

Growing Vegtables

Vegetable Gardening

The Helpful Gardener

e-how Gardening

Photos Courtesy of Apartment Therapy/Martha Stewart Living

More Resources:

Southern Living Salsa Gardening

A Way to Garden

Martha Stewarts Vegetable Garden Slide Show

i Village

Sunset

Another Brunch Recipe

I just came across this recipe and can't wait to try it. It's from the cookbook, The Christmas Table. I don't think I can wait until Christmas to make this one!

It is from the brunch selection but after looking at Kayley's post, I'm thinking it'd be great for dinner with a green salad.

Spinach, Cherry Tomato, and Feta Frittata

• 12 large eggs
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, halved lengthwise and cut into thin wedges
• 6 ounces baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (about 4 cups firmly packed)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, stemmed and halved
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup (about 3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
  

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and half-and-half until thoroughly combined. Whisk in the salt and pepper. Set aside. Position an oven rack about 3 inches below the heat source and preheat the broiler.
In a 12-inch ovenproof skillet, preferably nonstick, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Swirl to coat the pan, add the onion, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 2 minutes.
Add the spinach a handful at a time, and sauté just until wilted and bright green, about 3 minutes. As soon as the spinach is wilted, add the tomatoes and oregano and sauté, stirring constantly, until the tomatoes are heated through, about 1 minute.

Add the egg mixture to the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, without stirring, until the frittata is set on the bottom and around the edges, about 4 minutes. While the frittata is cooking, simultaneously lift one edge of the frittata with a spatula and tilt the pan a little so the uncooked egg flows under the set edge. Repeat this at regular intervals around the edge of the frittata.

When the eggs are mostly cooked, scatter the feta cheese over the top and place the frittata under the broiler. Broil until the top is golden brown and the eggs are set but still moist, about 3 minutes.

Allow the frittata to rest for 5 minutes, then slice it into wedges and serve immediately on warmed plates.

Recipe courtesy of The Christmas Table

Thanks Marci!

Marci called this morning and wanted to know if we would like some lasagna she made last night. Without hesitation I replied "Yes... Thanks!"! I love crossing things of my 'to do' list. That was easy... Make Dinner/ DONE. Well, we loved it! Mark told me, "you'll have to get this recipe". I was about to call Marci and I thought, I bet she has this on her Recipe Blog ....
Yep, she did!

Here it is:

Fast Easy Lasagna

Ingredients:

- 1 26 oz. jar pasta sauce (you may want more when serving)

- 1 30 oz. bag frozen large cheese ravioli, thawed- 1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

- 1 8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

(optional: I add 1/2 lb. ground beef...brown meat in saucepan and stir in sauce)

Directions:

- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 9x13 dish with spray and spoon in 1/3 of sauce.

-Arrange 12 ravioli on top and scatter spinach over them.

- Top with 1/2 mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.- Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.

- Uncover and bake 5-10 more minutes, or until bubbly.

I'm definitely going to make this sometime. I think I'll use my oh, so favorite, Bertolli Sauce when I make it.

A Tomato Prayer

We are still trying to figure out the whole "gardening in Texas" thing. Jacksonville was supposedly tough but I managed to do quite well. We had gorgeous tomatoes that we ended up sharing with all of our neighbors and friends. Over the years we've had some pretty amazing gardens, if I do say so myself. Syracuse, New York was awesome but the Chicago garden definitely topped it. As Marci has posted, we are feeling "garden challenged" in Texas. She did a post about her Texas garden expressing her frustration. I was jealous, at least she had a tomato. I, on the other hand, have been growing beautiful stems! FINALLY we started seeing little yellow flowers. Was there hope for a tomato......Yeah we have some baby tomatoes, not just 1 but 2~ whooohoooooo

My goal ......... could we just have enough tomatoes for a dinner salad for the fam??????

Take a look at the buff (as Scott would say) stems though....... they're out growing the Lagustrum!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Should I mention, my dream, is to have enough tomatoes to make my own tomato sauce. I know, stick with the dinner salad for a family meal. Okay then, I'll hope for that!

Tomato Sauce

Listed in Dr. Oz's "Food - Hall of Fame"

I don't really get to watch much TV at all...too busy. Every now and then I turn Oprah on while I'm folding clothes. I've seen her show a couple of times when she has had Dr. Oz as a guest.

Dr. Oz recommends eating 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce per week. "Inside the tomato is a chemical called lycopene," says Dr. Oz. "This chemical has a wonderful effect—it's an antioxidant." Dr. Oz says there are added benefits from eating tomato sauce or paste as opposed to plain tomatoes. "A raw tomato is fine, too, but if you get a little fat with it—either with some nuts or a little olive oil and dressing—then it's perfect," says Dr. Oz. "It helps you absorb it better into your intestinal system."

Ever since that episode, I've been trying to serve spaghetti a few times every month. I came across this sauce by Bertolli at Sam's Club one day and it is really good! I like the Olive Oil Basil and Garlic. If everyone's going to be home for dinner, I use 2 jars and add a can of tomatoe sauce. You can add hamburger, sausage, meatballs or whatever. It's quite tasty!
We had Kirsten here for dinner tonight and she thought it was better than, her favorite,Fazolis!

Dr. Roizen beams when he talks about one particular food: tomatoes. "They decrease cancer and they decrease arterial aging, heart disease, stroke, memory loss, impotence, wrinkling of the skin," he says. "In fact, Dr. Oz and I think a small town should be named after aspirin: it's that important. But a whole country should be named after tomatoes!" So should they be raw or cooked?

"It takes 165 raw tomatoes to equal 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce," Dr. Roizen says. "So it's much easier to have tomato sauce." Dr. Roizen adds that it doesn't matter what kind of tomato sauce you have, "as long as it's cooked, and you eat it with a little olive oil and a little healthy fat because it's much better absorbed with it."

Hmmmm...I think I'll start serving it a little more often!