MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Auntie Melanie's Oatmeal with Strawberries--Make I...

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Auntie Melanie's Oatmeal with Strawberries--Make I...: Fresh strawberry, fresh oatmeal, fresh summer's day. Where's my spoon? You don't need a picnic basket for this--make your de...

Auntie Melanie's Oatmeal with Strawberries--Make It A Picnic Breakfast

Fresh strawberry, fresh oatmeal, fresh summer's day. Where's my spoon?

You don't need a picnic basket for this--make your delicious, nutritious oatmeal and step outside. In our part of the world, summer mornings are cool, today about 60 degrees F--until it gets to 100 degress F in the afternoon!

Auntie Melanie's Oatmeal

3/4 c old fashioned oats

3 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs butter
1/2 c milk

Quick way: I combine the ingredients in a microwave-proof bowl, and stir. I cook in the microwave at medium heat for 90 seconds. Stop and stir. Another 120 second should do it.

Then you can cut fresh strawberries on top--or other favorite fruits. Boy, are we blessed or what?

No big production, step outside to listen to the birdsong, feel the breeze, and absorb a little Vitamin D from the gentle morning sun. Enjoy your moments.

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Yummy Creation: Butterfly Tuna Salad

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Yummy Creation: Butterfly Tuna Salad: I was hankering for some tuna--so on a hot summer's day I concocted  some kind of cold almost-salad but not quite salad. Here's ...

Yummy Creation: Butterfly Tuna Salad

I was hankering for some tuna--so on a hot summer's day I concocted  some kind of cold almost-salad but not quite salad. Here's what happened. I decided to call it Butterfly Tuna Salad to honor my garden's maricopas. Plus, the pasta could be said to look like butterflies.

Butterfly Tuna Salad

1 lrg can (10 oz.) tuna
1 c bowtie (butterfly) pasta
1 small tomato
i small onion
1 sprig fresh parsley
2 tbs alfredo sauce
2 tsp raspberry dressing
1 tsp parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt

Boil pasta in water for about 12 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.  Pour the raspberry dressing over the pasta. Mix the tuna, tomato (chopped small), onion, alfredo sauce and salt in medium bowl.

Place the tuna mixture over the bowtie (butterfly) macaroni in your favorite bowl. Sprinkle shredded parsley and parmesan cheese over top.

This is very refreshing on a hot day--and full of protein and nutrients.

Garden Tip
Fresh is fun. How great to to have an excuse to go outside and pick your own food. Sunlight, breezes, scents from the garden--just what the doctor ordered.

The onions are so easy--though I have been having a battle with our huge local ravens over my tomatoes. I've brought them in to ripen early.

Now they're going into the Butterfly Tuna Salad.

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Meatless Monday: Black Beans and Rice

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Meatless Monday: Black Beans and Rice: We all probably have several days during the week that we go meatless. But it is a good thought to make it deliberate and specific. We sa...

Meatless Monday: Black Beans and Rice

We all probably have several days during the week that we go meatless. But it is a good thought to make it deliberate and specific. We save money going meatless, we give our digestive track a rest from the extra effort of processing meat, and we save the environment since there are maybe  fewer cows, pigs or poultry needed to feed us.

But do we lose anything doing that? Not really. For example, take today's recipe for meatless Monday: Black Beans and Rice.

Great taste and texture. Excellent protein and nutrients. Beautiful color, more deep purple than black. Smells inviting. Simple preparation and cleanup. Ingredients could not get easier to find. Saves well if there are leftovers. It even freezes. So, let's go!

This recipe is good for two adults.

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients

1 c black beans
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground chili pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 small onion
1 large clove garlic

Step 1: Boil black beans in 2 qt. saucepan with 1 1/2 qt. water until tender, about 1 hour.
Step 2: Add other ingredients, cook until well integrated into beans, about 20 minutes.

Prepare one cup rice according to instructions. (You can prepare rice while Step 2 of Black Beans is combining.)


Pour beans over rice. If you like, you can sprinkle cheese on top. We liked grated Medium Cheddar.

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Flower of the Week: Daylily 6/21/13

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Flower of the Week: Daylily 6/21/13: Daylily These are daylilies--I am so glad I planted the bulbs in the autumn. So simple but absolutely exquisite. They pose on tall stalk...