An Unexpected Bounty

   My neighbor called yesterday and asked if I could use some vegetables out of her garden, she wasn't going to be able to use them and didn't want them to go to waste.
   Figuring there was just going to be a little bit I said yes, even though I have my own garden, we don't grow a lot of the same stuff. We've "traded" before for veggies the other didn't grow.
   This morning she brought them over. You can't see everything in the picture but there was a huge bag of swiss chard and beet greens. Another bag of sweet potato greens which I had never had before, a very large bag of yard long green beans, an eggplant, a tomato and about 8 pickling cucumbers.  So, although I had a bunch of patterns and fabric to list in my shops, today was turned into a cooking day.

So here's the game plan, pesto with the greens because I love it and it freezes so well.

Washing Greens for Pesto

 Washed the greens and added a large handful of basil leaves from my garden. Yellow split pea and greens soup. I added some barley and yard long green beans and it's cooking in the crock pot as I type. I have a potluck Saturday so a pasta salad with veggies and greens. Freezer pickles for the cucumbers, I don't have time for canning right now. And when all else fails, just blanch and freeze.

Oh, as a side note, I scrambled some of the sweet potato greens up with my eggs this morning and I am a new believer! They're really good. I usually use kale, spinach or collards but I like the sweet potato greens better!

Monsanto Poster

A New Freezer!

OK it has nothing to do with crafting but it is a big step towards eating better and saving money. I've been following the program at SparkPeople.com and have already lost 20 pounds. My problem is that even the so called diet foods are still loaded with a lot of sodium and other yucky stuff.

So I decided to cook from scratch in large batches to save time and energy. I very quickly filled up the freezer on the top of my fridge. I went shopping for a freezer that would be big enough for my needs but use the least amount of energy and not cost too much.

I'm planning my first "oven full" of cooking. It's going to depend on available items and what's on sale. I'm also planning to use up the extra room in the oven while the turkey is cooking to make some things to also freeze.