“oh we don’t know the roads that we’re heading down… we don’t know if we’re lost, that we’ll find a way… we don’t know if we leave, will we make it home… we don’t know, there’s hope, then we’ll be okay”
(the stumbellas)
the haze from the forest fires near Fort McMurray, Alberta finally lifted today… fires raging 600 km away but the haze blocks out the sun here and you can smell it… and only imagine what the fire fighters are battling…
these pink flowers were still in bloom through the haze… reminded me that life is constantly moving forward… always forward…
as I was outside in this haze, cultivating my yard in the dust and wind, something flew into my eye… I rubbed it, never wanting to quit a yard job… and I ended up having to go to the doctor to get it checked…
he had a big name for the blister that covered my eyeball and told me I would be fine… and I could still drive and cook… and sent me on my way to do both…
he also asked me if I knew I had a slightly lazy eye… and this is why I don’t go to health care practitioners… the last time I saw a chiropractor he pointed out that one of my legs was longer than the other… my dentist thought my over-bite was worsening… the lady that lasers hair off of me suggested botox… my hairstylist confirmed my grey hair increasing… my boys even made me change my clothes the other day because they thought I was ‘trying to hard’ with the outfit choice I had made… and they are not even qualified to have an opinion on the matter…
I need to spend less time getting critiqued and more time with the farmer who views me through rose coloured glasses (he looks so funny when he puts them on)
I turned 37 this week and was blessed with a giant blemish for my birthday… it made me think of the first zit I ever had… it was in grade 5… and it had a life of its own…
it grew on my face for a few weeks until I finally did what any girl in grade 5 who loved Cindy Crawford would do… I went to my mom’s makeup bag and got a black eyeliner and turned it into a beauty mark…
I still love Cindy Crawford and considered doing this little ‘beauty trick’ again but wondered if ladies in their late thirties would fall for it…
can you tell which eye is lazy? or which eye had the blister? remnants of the blemish on my chin? botox potential?
I hope not because I put a SnapChat filter on this picture to send to the farmer to show him the blister on my eye… (which had gone down by the time I got home and took this picture so he never really believed me as to the size it was to start with)
so this turned into another quick meal I had to get together and in times like this you need pre-made Costco salads kicking around…
if I learnt anything from the farmer’s mother it is that you can add items to a pre-made salad (her choice was coleslaw) and turn it into a very homemade tasting salad…
enhanced costco mediterranean pasta salad
Ingredients:
- 1 pre-made Costco Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- 1 can chickpeas, strained and rinsed
- 1 english cucumber, diced
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in four
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 3/4 cup Feta cheese, cut into chunks
Directions:
- in a large bowl, add the salad, chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and cheese
- pour dressing over and toss
- chill for 2 hours and serve
my hair dresser told me about lemon pepper last year… about her love affair with it… and it was life changing… I perhaps use the term ‘life changing’ too flippantly but I really enjoy the lemon pepper seasoning…
I don’t cook pork very often, but when I do, I use lemon pepper in my dredge…
pork chops with peppers and gravy
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp lemon pepper
- 2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 10 bone-in pork chops
- olive oil
- 3 yellow onions, sliced
- 2 green bell peppers. sliced
- 1 red bell pepper. sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp lemon pepper
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups tru-Roots Ancient Grain Blend
- 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Directions:
- whisk together flour, lemon pepper, salt, cumin and cayenne pepper
- pat the pork chops dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper generously
- dredge the pork chops in the flour mixture
- on medium-high heat, pour some olive oil in a pan and brown the pork chops two at a time
- when they are browned on both sides, place in a 9×13 casserole dish in a 350 degree oven
- continue this method until all the pork chops are cooked
- clean the pan and pour more olive oil into it
- saute the onions and peppers until soft
- place these in a 250 oven if you have two or place it along with the pork chops and turn the heat down
- in the same pan, add butter and melt
- add flour and whisk until it turns colour
- add salt. pepper and chicken broth
- whisk and add in cream
- transfer to a dish that you can pour it out of
- assemble the supper by starting with the Quinoa tru-Roots blend
- add the peppers and pork chop
- top with the gravy and serve
sugar cookie cream bars with strawberries
Ingredients:
- 1 cup salted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temp
- 1 (100 g) Lindt Swiss White Chocolate bar, melted
- 2 cups strawberries, cut in half
Directions:
- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- spray a 7×11 pan with cooking spray
- in a mixer, combine butter, sugar and vanilla
- add flour and press into the bottom of the pan
- bake for 30 minutes, until brown around the edges
- allow to cool completely
- beat cream cheese and melted white chocolate until well combined
- spread over the cooled cookie crust
- cut into squares and serve with strawberries
so as I age, I realize my body will slowly decline (it must be really hard for those that were excited with their bodies in their 20’s… I almost pity them)… but my mind and my soul are never more alive…
I have never felt so loved and cherished like I do now… at 37…
and in the haze these last few days and in the constant fight with the land to stop producing weeds and begin producing food, I know you can’t look back… you have to live out each day and then the next and then the next… and not be afraid of it…
“oh we don’t know the roads that we’re heading down… we don’t know if we’re lost, that we’ll find a way… we don’t know if we leave, will we make it home… we don’t know, there’s hope, then we’ll be okay”
(the stumbellas)
i feed a farmer 