My first EVER recipe post (and garden update-week 5)

SO, I have been DYING to use something from the garden, and since the vegetables aren't ready yet, I was left with the herbs. My basil plant has been growing like a weed, and my sister had told me about a pesto recipe she had tried, so I thought I would give it a try! And let me tell you....the whole batch is gone already! Yum yum!

The actual recipe can be found here. It's from a website called Our Best Bites. My sister introduced me to the site and if you haven't heard of it, you are totally missing out! A couple of their recipes have become regulars around our house!

You need:

2 1/2 – 3 C basil leaves, gently packed
3/4 C fresh Parmesan cheese (this is not the time for stuff in a plastic bottle)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 C pinenuts, toasted
1/2-3/4C extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
a few cracks pepper

To toast the pine nuts, just but the desired amount in a skillet over medium low heat. Shake the skillet frequently for about 10 minutes to avoid burning. (This technique can be found here.)

I used closer to 3 cups of basil because I love it!

Then you just chunk it all in the blender and voila!

The leftovers can be frozen in an ice cube tray so it's easy to thaw small portion of it for later use.

We used it the first time on pizza with mozzarella, sliced roma tomatoes and pepperoni. The second time was on turkey wraps with tomato tortillas, turkey, cheese, and homemade pico de gallo (using the cilantro from the garden, too!). All of it was so yummy! We loved it so much that this whole batch was gone in 3 days. So so good and super easy!

And here are some updated pictures from the garden (week 5, I believe). You can compare it to the last post here.

Roma tomato

Cherry tomatoes

Grape tomatoes

BIG slicing tomato

Squash

Jalapeños

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Gardening, in the beginning.....

A couple of weekends ago (I believe it was the weekend after Easter), I finally got around to purchasing and planting my vegetables and herbs. I have NEVER done this before, so I hope to blog about my successes (ha!) but more importantly and, I'm sure, much more frequently, my mistakes. A lot of my decisions were based on my brother-in-law's garden, since they did it for the first time last year and had a lot of success.

First M made me a raised box out of, who knows what kind of wood. I left that up to him. He did the research and all the labor on that part. Then we had a friend of ours go with M to pick up all of the dirt and bring it back to the house. We were so thankful for the help because they were going to charge up $60 to deliver $20 worth of dirt. I get they have to make money on deliveries, but it this case, it wasn't worth it. (Oh, and don't mind the crazy black liner that is all messed up - the box was made before the terrible storms hit the south a couple weeks ago).

Once, the box and dirt were complete, I was given the 'go ahead' to purchase whatever I wanted to plant. I designed our box to have 3 different sections - 2 small on either end, and a large section in the middle. Herbs were planted in the far small section, vegetables were planted in the middle large section, and onions in the near small section (side note: I learned from someone this week, that onions are actually supposed to be planed in the fall and grow throughout the winter and spring.....they should still grow, but won't be very big. Mistake #1 of 1,000).

These were planted a little over a week ago, so we are at Week #2 now. I will try and post a picture each week to show their growing progress. And let me tell you, these suckers grow fast! It's so fun to check on them each day. I didn't think I would like it, but so far, so FUN (I know, I'm a dork)! The kids absolutely LOVE getting their rainboots on each morning (well, in Eli's case, he's wearing his snow boots since we don't have any rain boots that fit him....SO CUTE!) and helping me water the herbs & vegetables. It's a fun morning ritual!

I hope everyone is have a fantastic week in this this amazing weather!!

Oh, and HAPPY BELATED MOTHER'S DAY to my Momma (and all the other awesome moms that have mothered me or I've gotten to witness their mothering)!!

Circa 1984