Flower and Recipes

This is a tulip poplar bloom.  I think it looks lovely beside my bathroom sink.  Don't you?

Anyway... here are some recipes for you to try.  The first one I got from my local paper and the nice thing about it is that you use lots of good veggies in the sauce and it makes a lot of sauce... so when I made it with the meatballs we had it with leftover brown rice.  Then I froze the extra sauce and another night I made whole wheat spaghetti and put the sauce over it for a meatless dinner. 

Turkey-feta meatballs in vegetable tomato sauce

For Meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 C diced red onion
1/3 C crumbled feta cheese (I used more cause I love the stuff)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or fresh basil (I used basil from my basil plant)

Vegetable Tomato Sauce

1/4 C olive oil
2 white onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 zucchini or yellow squash, grated (I used zucchini)
2 carrots, grated
1 butternut or acorn squash or sweet potato, peeled and chopped (I left this out because I didn't have those items)
2 T fresh or 2 tsp dried thyme (I used dried)
2 T fresh or 2 tsp dried oregano (I used dried)
4 (28 oz) cans chopped tomatoes, reduced sodium (I used only one and the sauce was thicker and tastier in my opinion)

1.  To prepare sauce, heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic; saute 5 min.  Add bell peppers and next 5 ingredients.  Cook 10 min.  Add tomatoes and simmer until butternut squash is tender.  about 20 minutes.  (I dumped it all in at once and because I didn't have the butternut squash or potato I didn't cook it that long)
2. Preheat oven to 350
3. Put all the stuff for the meatballs together and form into meatballs.  Put them on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes... or if you are running low on time you can broil them, but watch the time... only about 5 minutes per side.  Remember to stir them if you broil. 

Are you into cooking with whole foods?  Don't know what that is?  It's when you try to keep everything as natural as possible.  Ok, so I made this dessert to take to someone's house today.  I haven't tasted it yet, but it smells really nice.

Whole Wheat Brownie Pie

1/3 C oil
1/3 C sugar (I used sucanat)
1/3 C honey
2 tsp vanilla (my homemade)
2 eggs
1/3 C whole wheat flour
1/3 C toasted or raw wheat germ (I used toasted)
1/3 C carob or cocoa powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

1.  Beat oil, sugar, honey, and vanilla together.
2.  Add eggs one at a time.
3.  Add dry ingredients and stir until blended.
4.  Pour into a greased pie pan.
5.  Bake at 350 for 25 min.

I bought my first organic whole chicken today and a pound of grass fed ground beef.  I'm going to see if I think it is any different.  What items would you buy organically?