Best Wild Flower Hike Ever

We camped up at a spot called Wild Iris earlier this week.  The rest of the gang was rock climbing and Cache and I went for a hike.  The views were amazing and these pictures don't do the flowers justice, they were solid.  Plus, there were no mosquitoes.  I couldn't ask for more!

The sky really was that deep blue without a cloud in it and the long distance views across from this were amazing. 

Purple, pink, and yellow everywhere!

 

Cache - a.k.a. Best Dog Ever - a.k.a. One Tired Puppy. 

We are so lucky that Kirk let's us borrow him sometimes!

My Home Office

I started this to be a foodie blog, but sharing whatever is going on, not just food seems appropriate.  I finished my office yesterday.  I got all the stacks of paper that I brought home from my office at Western filed and pictures hung.  Who would have thought so much in the office would be mine!  So here are some pictures of the office.  I am excited and already love going in to turn my computer on, with my first cup of coffee.

This is taken from the doorway.

This is from the corner across from the door, a closet and the side wall.

More of the Bookshelf wall, with the door on one side and a picture given to me by the wonderful Evanston team from Western on the other side.

Friday Night Dinner for Two

Well last night was a lovely night for dinner on the deck.  My second day of working from home and I am enjoying it!  Grilled chicken, sauteed vegetables, and biscuits.  I cut up an organic chicken, they are small, and put some of Penzey's BBQ 3000 spice on it.  I'm using up the last of my frozen vegetables from last year, so I sauteed up some onion, green beans, and corn and threw in a large handful of fresh garden parsley at the end.  As a side note, I am very proud of how well I did preserving a whole freezer worth of fruits and vegetables and using it.  I only have a couple small bags of corn and green beans left and about 3 whole frozen tomatoes.

The final addition to round out the meal was a multigrain biscuit that we really enjoy.  It's a pre-made mix that I make and keep in the fridge and then I pull out just enough to make 4 small biscuits some nights.  To last nights biscuits I added chopped parsley and purple basil from the garden.

Homemade Multigrain Biscuit Mix

The New whole grains Cookbook by Robin Asbell (I love this little book!)

Note: This mix is really versatile, I substitute whatever flours I have and have used full whole wheat and oat for the second cup of flour.  I'm only used wheat germ so far, but will try the rolled quinoa for the added protein it will add, next time I get to a city with a store that would have rolled quinoa!

Biscuit Mix

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup kamut or spelt flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats, rolled rye, or rolled barley

1/2 cup rolled quinoa or wheat germ

1/2 cup nonfat powdered milk

2 T. baking powder

1/4 cup sugar or other sweetener

2 t. salt

1/2 cup cold butter or margarine

In a large bowl, mix the flours, cornmeal, rolled grains, milk powder, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  When well combined, use a grater to shred the cold butter or margarine into the bowl, tossing with the flour to coat.  Squeeze the mixture into handfuls to break up the butter or margarine into small pieces.  Store in zipper-top bags in the refrigerator or freezer.  If frozen, measure what you want to use and let it come to room temperature for an hour before proceeding.

For 4 Biscuits

1 cup biscuit mix

1/4 cup water

1 T. milk (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Measure 1 cup of the mix into a bowl.  Quickly stir in 1/4 cup water or enough just to moisten; don't overstir.  Flatten the dough into the bottom of the bowl and cut it into 4 wedges.  Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased baking pan (I like to use a pizza stone).  Brush the tops with milk (if desired), and bake for 10 minutes.  Serve hot.  They will be a little crumbly, but good. 

Wall Art

As you will hear about soon, I am in the midst of creating my dream office. I have 7 days left in my current position and I will be working out of my office - yes, on jobs I have already obtained! :) Today I spent the afternoon making an image of important words for my wall with a Cricut machine I borrowed from a friend. What a cool machine! The words Possibilities and Intention are a deep purple and the colors play off of the other things that will be in my office.  I love that Balance is a little off - since my version of Balance may not be everyone's idea of Balance! 

Cold Strawberry Pie

My husband loves cold Strawberry Pie and I've been dragging my feet this spring since Strawberries are on the dirty dozen list, foods highest in pesticides, but I guess one pie won't kill him. I used my go to recipe from Cooking Light April 2000.
I usually pile it higher with fresh strawberries, but I didn't save enough when I made the crushed strawberry sauce for the topping.

Falafel and Pitas

Lunch today was something that I myself will want to repeat often. I made pitas for the first time. They are easy! Of course I had to play wih the recipe so I could make it 100% whole wheat and because of our elevation, but they came out very well! The recipe is from King Arthur Flours Whole Grain Baking. I substituted Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for the bread flour and added 2 T. of gluten.



After making the Pitas, I put together the Open Faced Falafel Burgers from Cooking Light August 2006 and can be searched for at http://search.myrecipes.com/enhanced-search.html. Of course the chickpea patties are pan fried, not real fried! Yummy. This was a perfect lunch for me.

Greek Yogurt Wars: Yoplait vs Greek Gods

Finally, we are able to get Greek Yogurt in our little corner of the world. This was a long time coming and it's like just in the last few months all the stores have bought in! Today I bought two kinds of individual container nonfat plain Greek Yogurts. Tomorrow I will post the comparison results! But first, why Greek yogurt? For me it started with the attempt to keep sugar and sugar substitutes out of my diet and also the increased protein in the greek yogurt. Who really needs all the other stuff and additives put into yogurt or most store bought food?

Just the facts Ma'am:
Yoplait (6 oz) 100 calories, 90mg sodium, 9g sugars, 14g protein, 35% calcium
Greek Gods (6 oz) 60 calories, 105 mg sodium, 7g sugars, 6 g protein, 25% calcium
Yoplait is 40 more calories than the Greek Gods, but it does have more potassium, vitamin A, and Vitamin D.
My View:
Yoplait is much thicker than the Greek Gods, very much like sour cream. In fact, I use Greek Yogurt exclusively as a sour cream substitute now and this would work beautifully, on a baked potato or to top a Black Bean soup. But, if I'm looking for more of a yogurt to mix with fruit and cereal, I liked the Greek Gods for it's lighter consistency.

I'm off now to read the two new cookbooks the wonderful postwoman just left at my doorstop!