Enviable green living in Berea's Eco-Village; Meatless Monday Hold That Line Hummus

We interrupted these students' breakfast, but they couldn't have been more gracious and anxious to share their experiences of living in the Sens Demonstration House. The residents of the house meet weekly to discuss their power usage and other ways to stay green and sustainable. These young women were in agreement that living in Sens House didn't take much additional effort, but mentioned composting food waste specifically as one way their lives differ from that of most students.

Soo jealous of the young folks who live in Sens House at the Eco-Village. Four Berea College students live in this solar-powered residence. Other residents from the eco-village help to tend these garden beds and share in the produce year-round.

Aquaponics at Berea's Eco-Village.

Totally missed this pic when sharing my Berea funky finds yesterday. LOVE this window--captured in the Kentucky Artisan Center.

Of course, I couldn't post without including some FOOD. And, YES, I am totally ashamed to share this picture with its Styrofoam containers. I have yet to figure out how to stay A+ green when traveling and staying in a hotel. *sigh*

   We had such fun in Berea, Kentucky, but my fav place to sightsee was their Eco-Village. This place pretty much blew my socks off!


   So, that pretty much does it for the vacay pics. Back to normal and I didn't even forget to post about Meatless Monday this week. Actually made an Eggplant Parmigiana for lunch but since the pic didn't turn out, Loved the ranch-flavored Hold That Line Hummus I made a couple of days ago. What's on your table this Meatless Monday?

Chocolate chip cookies I can't eat; Buffalo Garbanzo Dip I can

Have to give up caffeine for awhile, so these Lazarus Chocolate Chip Cookies made with dark chocolate are off limits to me. No need for Hubby to suffer!

Cookie dough in the freezer now--yea!

Subbed out garbanzo beans for the chicken in my meatless version of Add A Pinch's recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip, which we both love. Thanks, Add A Pinch!

Aren't you proud of me? I finally found a way to disguise my last bag of those won't-buy-again mock "meat crumbles." They actually tasted good hidden under the Buffalo Garbanzo Dip on my taco. Honest! 

Hope everyone had a fabulous Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!!

Meatless Monday: Firecracker Corn, Southern Cafe Stewed Apples

Ken Hom's Firecracker Corn, only I added green pepper

Almost forgot it was "Meatless Monday"! So, I went with deviled eggs, canned pork-n-beans, Firecracker Corn and Southern Café Stewed Apples. This is my favorite cooked apple recipe. It's best with Granny Smith's, but these are galas.
   I accidentally bought some non-organic apples, and since apples top the list of foods--the Dirty Dozen--with the highest pesticide residue, I decided to peel and cook these instead of eating them raw as we usually would. Usually when I cook apples, I'll leave the peel on, but that was out this time.
   Anyway, the corn and beans from lunch found their way into my soup, which turned out might fine! Hubby ate leftover spaghetti with Italian sausage tonight. Clearly, I am going to have to work harder on preparing something much more spectacular for our meatless main meal, so Hubby will be less likely to resort to eating meat for his dinner.
   Ah, well, there's always next time!!

Southern Café Stewed Apples, from Two for the Road by Jane and Michael Stern

Leftover veggies from lunch made their way into my supper! (Btw, this is not my soup bowl...Love my tiny Crockpot!

   For curiosity's sake, care to tell me what you'd have done with leftover corn and baked beans?

Make over: Unwanted cereal to snack; On a roll with leftover pork

  Double click on the pic if you'd like to enlarge the recipe. Bake at 250F for 15-20 min.

Oh, yes, I did buy Cheerios in a humongous, bulk package. Oh, no, Hubby won't eat them, and now that I'm into breakfast smoothies, I won't either. Solution: make snack food of the cereal--now Hubby's eating it by the handfuls. Though better with oyster crackers, this recipe worked well with the cereal too.

Ranch Cherrios

Hey, I didn't forget Meatless Monday yesterday. I had "Big Salad" for lunch. Really need to get on the ball and come up with some impressive vegetarian entrees though, if I intend for Hubby to embrace this Meatless Monday business. His salad had turkey on it. That's my favorite commercial salad dressing, btw. If I could make a Caesar dressing homemade that tasted as good, believe me I would!

   I am completely and utterly addicted to mellowcreme pumpkins. In fact, I consider it my great fortune that the only candies I crave are seasonal: these Brach's pumpkins, Brach's Christmas peppermint nougats, and Whoppers' Robin Eggs. Best thing about lovin' seasonal candies is that I get to buy 'em half price after the holidays!  

The sweetest little helper assisted me in making lunch this morn! Boy, do I LOVE using an infant front-pack carrier...and so does Grandbaby! We vacuumed this morn and then made lunch together. No worries, baby was sleeping when it came time for the frying!

Can't believe I ever used loads of paper towels to soak up grease, when newspaper topped with ONE paper towel turns the trick. LOVE spending less money on one-time-use products like paper towels.

I am the condiment queen. My Swiss chard/pork/carrot/onion egg rolls tasted so yummy with a mixture of hoisin and sweet chili sauces. These egg rolls transformed 1 1/2 leftover pork chops into our lunch today with enough leftovers for Hubby to have some tomorrow too. We are still getting Swiss chard and peppers from the garden. Yea! Oh, yeah, I ate the egg rolls even tho' it's not cheat day. Shamey Shamey! ;)

   Any leftover makeovers goin' down at your place tonight?

Ten on Ten: OH, October!

Thanks, A Bit of Sunshine, for this Ten on Ten Photo Project. This October 10, 2011, I hope to capture some element of our lives at the top of every hour. Might need to refresh the page if you visit again to see all ten photos.
 

Six O'Clock-ish: My breakfast smoothie misses its banana, but the immersion blender was dirty. Hubby brought me a perfectly ripe persimmon home from the farm. Yummy!

Seven O'Clock-ish: Resistance is futile! There's no real way to protect the precious pecans on this tree at the back of our yard from predatory squirrels, but Hubby hopes to slow them down by wrapping the trunk in aluminum and trapping them to release elsewhere. Sadly, nothing will stop them from jumping to the tree from atop the neighbor's fence or our compost bin. *sigh*  

Eight O'Clock-ish: Today's the day that Hubby will start our front door makeover. (Yea!) While he's at refinishing the door, I've convinced him to replace this hardware, because I find lever door handles soo much easier to open when my hands are full...say, with the Grandbaby!

Nine O'Clock-ish: Almost always change the bed linens on Mondays; helps me to remember when they were last changed. Chose Mondays as the designated day each week due to Laura Ingall's Ma! Y'know: "Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, Rest on Sunday."

Ten O'Clock-ish: Oh, yes, I DID just burn my finger while pulling these Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops out of the oven a few minutes ago. As they are from a recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours, I've a feeling they'll be worth it!

Eleven O'Clock-ish: I know, I know, it's not cheat day, but I just HAD to try these bad boys. Just ate a half but the other half is calling me still, because oh, my, YES, Dorie's Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops are as good as I thought they'd be! I balled the remaining cookie dough for the freezer, so I'll be enjoying some of these baked fresh on Saturday. Meanwhile, lucky Hubby!

Twelve O'Clock-ish: Made some more Black Bean Sweet Potato Soup on Saturday, added cashews again too. It's Meatless Monday, don'cha'know! Hubby's gone to town to get some plywood to cover our front entrance while he refinishes the door. (Won't that be attractive?!) Now that my belly is full, I'll be checking out some of the websites mentioned in a book I'm reading: EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want by Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet.

One O'Clock-ish: Hubby's back with the plywood, with BIL's fishing boat in tow. His brother's hauling his pop-up camper up to The Lakes to camp with his family for a few days. After SIL and our lovely niece return home, Hubby will join BIL for a couple of days of camping and fishing. The wood on the driveway and in the trailer is fencing from my folks' place. Hubby replaced their back fence with all new; he'll clean up and salvage the usable old slats to repair the fencing on each side of their yard.

Two O'Clock-ish: Not really expecting this look to catch on! ;) Door's removed for refinishing; Hubby's taping all the little gaps now to keep any spiders and bugs OUT. This temporary fix wouldn't be much protection from people intruders, but Hubby will have our door refinished in no time.

Three O'Clock-ish: Time for my favorite bicep exercise: vigorously shaking a pan of popcorn on the cooktop!

Well, that's the roundup for October! Feel free to share a link to your "ten on ten" or to anything else that strikes your fancy!

Meatless Monday: Lucky in love AND eggplant; From Bermuda grass to backyard farm in just ten years!

Oh, YES, my hubby DID can this tomato relish yesterday. He washed and waxed my car today. Gotta love a man who's handy in both the kitchen AND the garage!! When MIL declared she'd not can again, Hubby couldn't bear the loss of her delicious tomato relish and began canning it himself. He doesn't follow any canning rules, but the stuff hasn't killed us yet. ;)

Someone gifted me with four medium eggplants, hence the Eggplant-o-Rama!! Aunt K's Eggplant Casserole just out of the oven here; Eggplant Parmesan ready to go in.

LOVE Julia Child's The Way to Cook," tho' she might not approve of the way I use it. I've a bad habit of taking the easy way out with her recipes as my guide. Used a jarred tomato sauce for my eggplant Parmesan. And because I didn't have another recipe in mind for any leftovers, I used WAY more sauce than Julia recommended. Guess what? Tasted great despite me! (If my brain were awake when I'd made this, I'd have frozen some extra sauce for future pizzas. *sigh*)

Eggplant Parmesan...even simpler but just as tasty as lasagna!

   Started this post yesterday when I came across this great video of a man brave enough to transform his quarter-acre backyard into an urban farm!!
   This video of Richard Heinberg, retired-professor-turned-urban-farmer, is worth a look around but also worth a listen if you're interested in sustainability and the "simple" life. Who knew simple could be so complex?! (Thanks, Unstuffed, for finding this great video!)
   After our first frost Sunday morning, here in western Kentucky we're having a return of mid to upper 70's temps for a few days. LOVIN' that!! Our tomatoes are dwindling but still hopeful about the bell peppers. Hubby just planted some kale. What's up in your neck of the woods?

Meatless Monday: leftover veggie soup, quick cobbler

Made a quick veggie soup Saturday with a can of Bush's Black Bean Fiesta, a pint of my homemade tomato juice, sweet potatoes, peas, sweet peppers and a bit o' this and that seasonings. I know, I know, that's not many veggies, but I was in a hurry! And these raw cashews were leftover from our camping rations, so I tossed them into my bowl. Guess what? YUM! (Who'd have thought?)

Quick Cherry-Pineapple Cobbler. (NOTE: I used 20 ounces crushed pineapple, half a cup of nuts.) Had some of this gooey/crunchy sweet stuff on cheat day before freezing some, but the rest Hubby will eventually devour. Remind me not to post dessert photos at night when I'm feeling a bit peckish and cheat day's way too far away!

It's been a looong day but a good one. Just now getting to sit down.
   Hubby's watching Terra Nova on the boob tube. I'm watching it with one eye...while complaining about it out of the side of my mouth. Why do writers still write damsel in distress roles for so many females? C'mon, she looked fierce enough with gun in hand just before she cowered while some guy shot the dinosaur that was eating on their compadre's leg. Aarrgh!
   In fairness to the show, maybe I missed all the strong female roles while writing this? Anyway, too late to be on the PC anyway. I've found I get to sleep faster if I turn it off an hour before bed. Yeah, never too old for beddy-bye rituals! ;)
   Anything new on TV this season that we should check out? We usually turn the thing on a couple of hours at night, especially in winter. And if I'm not getting too--*ahem*--personal, care to share any bedtime rituals that ease you into Shut Eye Town?

Meatless Monday: Bittman on good reasons to eat LESS meat

Hubby's gone to the farm for the day, so guess what I'm doing? Watching TED Talks and cooking, that's what. Something really hopeful about watching bright people from across the globe share BIG IDEAS. See for yourself, maybe your favorite subject is covered on TED Talks' tag page.
   Just finished watching a talk titled "Dan Buettner: How to live to be 100+," in which he relates what National Geographic and the National Institute on Aging discovered when they studied the longest-lived peoples. Guess what those 100+ folks had in common? A largely plant-based diet--a diet that slanted more towards veggies and fruits than meats.
   Not sure I want to live to be 100, but I'll eat a plant-based diet today for sure. After all, it is Meatless Monday. I'll be eating leftover cannelini/garbanzo/tomato salad for lunch and some leftover veggie soup for supper. With some air-popped popcorn and dates along the way!
   What's on the table for you today? Do you want to live to be 100?

Eating meatless but looking at pics of meat from the Ohio State Fair

Lunch was Kung Pao Veggies featuring green and YELLOW zucchinis, plus yellow summer squash.

It's not cheating to just look, is it? If so, then I shouldn't be sitting here on Meatless Monday looking at pics of some of the MANY meats we saw at the Ohio State Fair.

Never had seen yellow zucchini before we bought some from an Amish man at a farmer's market at Kentucky's Blue Licks Battlefield State Park on the way home from Ohio. The Amish farmer had traveled from Mays Lick, Kentucky. Though the market didn't open 'til 3, he'd been dropped off at 1, so his friends could ride on down the road to another market in another town. Originally from Pennsylvania, he said the Mays Lick Amish community consists of 35 families. His comment that he loves living in Kentucky set well with me of course. Said he wished he'd moved here years ago, "It's a great place to raise kids."

Supper tonight was a Crustless Swish Chard Quiche I'd made on Saturday...this little mish mash turned out so fine!

Hubby and I split this bad boy at the fair on Thursday....boy, don't I love tzatziki sauce! This Greek Gyro was yummy, and it was kinda nice knowing we were helping to support the Ohio Lamb Producers as well.

Wish we'd had some room in our tummies when we got to this Amish booth, though I can't quite see me eating the "Amish favorite: Noodles over Mashed Potatoes"!

No room for Meatless Monday at this barbecue booth!

   Yeah, kinda rude to ask while you're looking at these meats, but did anyone else go meatless today?? Hope to share the pics of the cakes I took at the Ohio State Fair mañana. Oh, how I love a state fair!!
   (P.S. August is National Happiness Month...let's make this August our best one yet!!)

First official Meatless Monday debuted with Greek Mac and Cheese

I know, I know, when it comes to "eating the rainbow,"
my meal could use more green. I forgot the cukes and onions!

Greek Mac and Cheese, modified to suit ingredients on hand. 

Okay, I managed my first purposeful Meatless Monday. I personally did not eat any meat today, and though I fed cheese sandwiches to the visiting grandgirls for lunch, the DD and Hubby did eat some meat. Hey, gotta change me first, then the world, right? ;)
   For dinner (or supper as we southerners say), we had corn from the garden, deviled eggs (sprinkled with cumin instead of paprika), a fruit salad of cantaloupe, watermelon and nectarine, and my version of a Greek Mac and Cheese I found over on Saveur.com.
     Turned out great...despite all my substitutions/deletions! I sautéed Swiss chard, onions, garbanzos, added 4 ounces of cooked shell pasta and mozzarella, tossed it all in a cinnamon/nutmeg/dill spiced Béchamel sauce, then added a topping of Panko crumbs and feta cheese. The garbanzos let me use less pasta, and we're not big on a lot of cheese, so I reduced the cheeses A LOT, as compared to the recipe.
   The fruit salad was marinated in a somewhat reduced mixture of 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
   The cantaloupe in the fruit salad was left on our porch by a kind neighbor. Gotta love that! Found any nice surprises at your doorstep lately? Hope so!!

When I was driving to town yesterday afternoon, I happened upon this dune buggy...been ages since I'd seen one. I always thought they'd be great fun! Anybody know if that's true?