Who wants to bake and get cozy?

book

candle

throw

knead

today dreams

Today I'd really like to be
reading this: sprouted kitchen cookbook
while wearing this: aubin & willis dress
and kicking up my feet in these: modern vice boot
and sipping on this: strawberry peanut butter milkshake from green kitchen stories

feeding myself

A couple thoughts here...

I saw this on facebook from Cookus Interruptus and I loved it. There is application to a lot of foods we eat and is one of my strong beliefs---eating REAL food. I'm not perfect at it all the time, but it's something I consider as I grocery shop, and when I'm picking a place to eat, or planning a meal. What am I eating? Is it processed? What is it made of? Where is it coming from?

Also from Cookus Interruptus is a book by Cynthia Lair that is coming out in a few weeks. I'd really like to read it and I love the topic. The author is a Health and Nutrition Counselor and Professor at Bastyr University. She wrote the cookbook "Feeding the Whole Family" which I have blogged about before and some favorite recipes are from that book.

I'm going to quote what she said about her new book....

"Practice is only part of a winning sports strategy. Whole foods have to be part of the playbook to increase energy, endurance, and focus, both on and off the field. What to eat and when to eat, pre-game, during and afterwards? How much fluid do you need to be hydrated? What to eat when you’re on the road? These are critical answers to have for young athletes, competing on a demanding schedule and eating on the run."

So cool right?! As I'm training for a marathon this fall I have nutrition on my mind and how to feed myself before and after runs. Even without the marathon training I never quite know if I am feeding myself the right way when it comes to being an athlete.

Is this a subject that interests you? How do you feed yourself when you are being active?

Guest Post: Gardening// Annie

I've asked a few gardeners to guest post about their experiences with gardening and what they've learned. Being interested and passionate about natural foods and self-sufficient living has me looking forward to a garden of my own someday. 

Guest: My sister Annie lives pretty close to me so I'm lucky enough to eat her meals often. She is so good at using her garden and trying new things. I love how she excites her kids with garden fresh food and they really appreciate the taste of something straight from the backyard. 

I love my garden. So far this year zucchini and rhubarb have been very successful. But one of the things I have been reminded of this year is that one family doesn't need much more than one zucchini plant. I have way too much but we do love to share.

This year I tried something new...and it really stinks. :) I added a lot of buffalo manure to my garden boxes besides my yearly fertilizer mix. I think it has actually worked. So far I am getting a much better crop.

To learn to garden I recommend taking a class or getting a book written by someone who gardens in your area. Your garden will be more successful if you are learning from someone who understands your soil and zone. If you are in Utah, I recommend this book by Gordon Wells. He is a successful Utah gardener with years of experience. You will learn everything from prepping soil, watering systems and how much to water, pest control and varieties of crops that do well in Utah.

This year my zucchini has been out of control. So we have honestly had zucchini in some form every single night that I have cooked. One common mistake is letting the zucchini grow too big. Just because they can become humongous, does not mean you should let it. It tastes much better if you pick them smaller. Unless you plan to shred it and then it is fine to let them get a little bigger. One of my favorite ways to eat zucchini is just sliced in long sticks (maybe 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick), toss with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and grill. I have basket that I use but you can just lay them right on the grill. They only need a few minutes.

Here are some links to a few of our favorite zucchini dishes.

Zucchini Fries - comes from the blog Our Best Bites. They are oven baked and easy. And we could eat a ton of them.

Lemon Herb Zucchini Fettucine (but I use whole wheat rotini)

And from Martha Stewart - Zucchini Quesadillas (I often add black beans, as well).

And we always have some zucchini bread and zucchini chocolate cake too. You really can't go wrong with zucchini. And if you have too much like I do or it grows to big, shred it and freeze it. It is great in soups, spaghetti sauce or breads in the winter.

To learn why you should eat zucchini - read this article here.

Another thing OUT OF CONTROL but so so easy to grow - Rhubarb. And once you plant it...you don't do anything. It just keeps coming back year after year. I got my rhubarb starts from my grandma and I will gladly pass on my starts. I like how it looks in my garden but it is even better in dessert. This week I have made rhubarb snacking cake from Smitten Kitchen and strawberry rhubarb pie. Yum. Don't be afraid of rhubarb because it looks like celery. It is delicious.

Rhubarb Recipes we LOVE

Rhubarb Snacking Cake

Rhubarb Crisp

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie 

Rhubarb hand pies

To learn why you should eat rhubarb - read this article here.  Although while it has nutritional value, it is only used at our house as dessert so beware. :)

Thanks Annie. I want to go through and try all these recipes. They look so good. You're really good at using your garden. (and thanks for the zucchini on Sunday)

Guest Post: Gardening// My mom

I've asked a few gardeners to guest post about their experiences with gardening and what they've learned. Being interested and passionate about natural foods and self-sufficient living has me looking forward to a garden of my own someday.

Guest: My mom. Lives in Seattle, WA. I first blogged about my parent's beautiful garden HERE. Oooooh how I love that place.

There are a lot of poems about gardening.  There are two I think of--and both kind of have a morbid touch to them (Robert Frost’s “A Girl’s Garden” and this one below, lyrics from the musical “A Secret Garden”).  Here is a sample: 

A bit of earth,

She wants a little bit of earth,

She'll plant some seeds.

The seeds will grow,

The flowers bloom,

Their beauty just the thing she needs.

She'll grow to love the tender roses,

Lilies fair, the iris tall.

And then in fall, her bit of earth

Will freeze and kill them all.

Gardening is like that--there are delightful and delicious rewards, but there is also the cycle of life--things get hurt, get sick, and even die.  There are things out of our most diligent control. But next thing you know it is spring and stuff starts growing again.  So, it is worth it.

I grow a few flowers but I really focus on berries and vegetables--edible things.  That is because I like to eat more than I like to have a vase of flowers in my house.  I like the idea of being a bit more self-sufficient (there must be a better word) and I also like the idea of having really fresh vegetables and fruit.  I can go out in the yard at 5:30 and find something to make for dinner or breakfast from early May to mid-October.  Then I can go to my storage shelves or my freezer the rest of the year and get a bottle of tomatoes  (there is nothing canned that compares to the taste of home-bottled tomatoes) or zucchini relish, rhubarb for a crisp, or a bag of blueberries to smother my oatmeal.  It is a lot of work, but it is satisfying to me.

During my semi-Hippie days when I was 16 years old I began to long for a garden--to get back to nature. So when we bought our first home a few years later I planted a vegetable garden--that was in SLC which has great weather for gardening.  Then we moved to Seattle and gardening there is a different kind of thing altogether.  The sun is spotty,, the moss is pervasive, the slugs are ferocious eaters, and the nights are cold.  But I can usually get a really good crop of tomatoes and zucchini, some beets and carrots, early lettuce and peas, lately I’ve had great results with kale, and then there are the berries.   Berries love the Seattle climate and the acidic soil.  

Last night I made a delicious soup from a few zucchini and 2 bunches of kale.  Instead of the vermicelli it called for I used some angel hair spinach pasta.  I only used 3 cloves of garlic instead of 4 and was judicious with the red pepper flakes--but really, the flakes are an important part of the flavor of this soup so I was glad I added some.

Some of you readers probably haven’t gardened much yet, but I hope you won’t be afraid to try.  I was a city girl and had to learn through doing.  You can to--your plants might die, but next time they’ll grow and you’ll be so excited when you pluck a tomato off your very own vine!

Thanks for the post mom! I have so much to learn from you. Every single summer I am so sad I'm not in Seattle feasting on your garden.

marathon training

 

I am training for my first full marathon right now---St. George October 6th! I'm in my 8th week of training using Hal Higdon's training guide.  So far I've been really happy with the training and getting used to running so many miles at a time. I ran a half-marathon in 2008 which I loved, but I've never ran more than 13.1 miles at one time. I've enjoyed Ragnar and Dirty Dashes the past few years, but decided to just DO IT and signed up for St. George. I was thrilled I got in.  Riding on that high I also signed up for the Big Cottonwood half marathon in September (two weeks before my full). Pray my knees survive.

 With my long runs on Saturday's there a few things I am dependent on and couldn't run with out:

map my run app

kid clif bars

cetaphil spf face lotion

pandora

nike hand held water bottle

nike running socks

Are you a long distance runner? What are your tips and tools?

Bettlebung Farm ---aka dream life

 

Gabriela Herman's photographs of Bettlebung Farm had me going crazy yesterday. (via Miss Moss)

I want to eat a rustic dinner in a greenhouse. It's real magic right here. Fresh farm food on a farm table made from farm hands. It's beautiful. 

Father's Day//Gift Guide

 

Nova Granola is what my dad wants for Father's Day, but it'd be kinda cool to get him other fun stuff too.

 Here's some gifts for the man that deserves a lot of celebrating.

herschel weekend duffle

braun alarm clock

jeni's ice cream

man can candle

forage tie

book

dart board

my dad and me circa 1986 

 mother's day gift guide

zoku you do

On Tuesday night my friend Nate came over and I made him some popsicles and we sat on the stoop. Three cheers for warm Utah summer nights! (almost summer I should say)

+and we dressed like twins on accident. but cool right?
++also, Nate makes really good food. like one time he feed me and i blogged about it HERE

cheers

 

 image via reanna time

I have a Zoku and a Cuisinart ice cream maker. It's time for some cold treats.

Do you make your own popsicles or ice cream? What are your favorite recipes?

coconut almond fudgsicles >>> the little red house
strawberry lime yogurt popsicles>>>elephantine
berry yogurt popsicles>>>skinny taste
raspberry ice cream sandwiches>>>good life eats
roasted strawberry coconut milk ice cream>>> sprouted kitchen

more recipes over HERE

kitchens from The Selby

I've been a big fan of Todd Selby for a few years now and some of my favorite shots are the ones from the kitchen or dining room. I love seeing the way people set up those spaces. It's such a gathering spot and a lot of good stuff happens in there. People and food...it's a good mix.

Guest Post: Food I Love//Kristine

During the month of February you'll see some guests on Nova Granola talking about a food they love.

Guest: Kristine (my twin!)

I love eggs. I'll take them any way too. Poached, scrambled, on toast, in a breakfast burrito, or hardboiled. Eggs, as you know, are easy to prepare and quick to cook. They're tasty alone or made into an omelette packed with veggies or poached and served over sauteed spinach.

How do you like your eggs?

poached

frittata

skinny omlette



>Thanks Kristine! I love eggs too! Go over to Kristine's party blog: Attend! She got talent.

Watch: Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Monday and it's been on my mind since (as good documentaries tend to do).

Could you go on a juice fast for 60 days? I don't know if I could even do 10!

Watch the trailer here.

And I really want a fancy juicer. Growing up my mom had the Juice Man and we'd have fresh carrot-apple juice at breakfast.

Do you have a juicer? What kind?

Listen: Poultry Slam

Have you listened to This American's Life Poultry Slam?
All the acts are interesting, but the one that gets me is Act Three: Latin Liver.
Listen to it! It's so interesting. I've never heard of foie gras before, but it's goose liver and apparently very delicious. The bummer is how they force feed the geese and their liver gets to a size of a football. Gnarly. Enter Eduardo and his exciting and almost unbelievable philosophy of how to make award winning foie gras without mistreating animals.
Think about it.

Check out//illustrated version of Food Rules

Remember when I blogged about Food Rules?
A new, updated version with illustrations by Maira Kalman came out!
Beautiful illustrations for Michael Pollan's rules.
I love his food philosophy. Real food, around a beautiful table, with people you love...less complicated, more enjoyable. It's the way to live.
And I'd like to have a blown up illustration of Maira Kalman's in my kitchen.

Kitchen art

Look at Marc John's culinary prints. Clever, Funny, and $20 a pop.
I can't decide which one I'd want.

via simple recipes

Watch: Forks over Knives + Lucy Chadwick

Forks Over Knives.
I watched it while I was on a break from school and immediately emailed my family telling them to watch it. It focuses on a plant-based diet and talks with a variety of people about how their health was changed for the better once following this lifestyle; off prescription medicine, weight-loss, and more energy! Really interesting film.



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



Also watch Lucy Chadwick of Zara by Todd Selby.

She lives a seemingly simple and beautiful life. I love that she escapes to the countryside to a simple cabin with an apple orchard and a table and a few chairs and has peace, fresh air, and the sun. That's joy. I'd like to live more beautifully.

Halloween Treats, that won't kill you

Happy Halloween!
Here are a list of treats that I've been wanting to try.
I especially like that they have some healthy advantages

Elana's Pantry: Healthier Halloween Candy
My New Roots: Raw Salted Caramel Apple Dip
Oh Happy Day: DIY Caramel Apple Kit
Whole Living: Healthy Snacks
Edible Perspective: Sweet and Salty Coconut Cinnamon Popcorn
Delightful Delicacies: Honey Nut Pretzel-wiches

A
B
C
D
E
F
G

Try: Roasted Veggie, Quinoa, Millet, Arugala Salad

My sister and I made So Good and Tasty's Roasted Veggie, Quinoa, Millet, Arugala Salad for dinner yesterday.
We followed the recipe, but added fresh tomatoes from my sister's garden, and steamed garden zucchini. We also added a little parro cheese.

On the side we had homemade artisan bread, roasted acorn squash, and strawberries.

You should try.

Todd Selby x Alice Waters

Edible Selby x Alice Waters to celebrate 40 years of Chez Panisse restaurant and raise money for Edible Schoolyard.

I blogged about Edible Schoolyard last week and just spotted Todd Selby's images and synopsis at NY Times. (Todd Selby is now doing Edible Selby with the NY Times. It's brilliant, he rules at photographing people in their places and has an eye for good food by inspiring people.)

I wanted to share some cool things that Alice Waters said.

"(edible schoolyard) is a way of bringing children into a new relationship to food...to an interactive experience in the garden, in the kitchen, and at the children."

"We discovered that when kids grow food and when they cook it themselves they eat it, and they love it, and they love to eat with their friends"

"We have to bring them into a positive relationship with food"

true words.