cleanse day 1

Anders, my bestie, Kristina, and I are all doing a five day juice cleanse starting today. Wish us luck!

hatch

It's always a big deal when hatch chiles come into season. I wait for the big sign to appear outside of Whole Foods, and as soon as it does, I bring home a big load. If you find them in your area, I highly recommend them! A few tips: if you roast the chile, don't rinse them under water otherwise you'll wash away the flavor. Also, wear gloves when chopping! Oh, and unless you can handle heat, I would avoid the seeds. These babies are hot. True story...I accidentally ate a seed and spent the next few minutes with my tongue under the faucet. I'm also a wuss, so make your own choice.

Here is some inspiration to get you started!

I roasted mine and then served them with this dipping sauce

Hatch Chile and Corn Frittata

Grilled Pineapple and Hatch Chile Salsa

Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Hatch Chiles

Country Captain Chicken with  Hatch Chiles (slower cooker)

Hatch Green Chile and Bacon Pie

Can we get a Hey-YA for it being Friday!!

p-patch

Last night I met up with some of the other Pike Place Fish wives and their kids, and we had a lovely picnic in a p-patch. It was a warm and sunny night with good conversation and babies. I sure do love getting to hold (other peoples') babies.

I've never actually seen artichoke growing before. Pretty cool.

The p-patch!

This little guy doesn't belong to me, but I sure do love him.

He actually belongs to my friend, Dina.

And this sweet girl? 

She belongs to my friend, Meghan.

 And this handsome boy?

And this pretty girl?

They belong to my friend, Jennifer

My friends sure do have awesome kids!

It was a lot of fun ladies! Let's do it again soon!

how we spent earth day

(thanks, sister, for the fun pin!)

drinking vegetables

 So, December is happening this Saturday, and the holiday parties and events are already starting to fill the calendar. December is by far, in my opinion, the unhealthiest month. It's super hard to stay committed to healthy eating when your cube mate has brought in triple chocolate banana fudge bread topped with candy canes for the third day in a row. I have already been sick twice this fall, and I don’t want the holidays to take me down for a third time. I’m a little stressed out about it, so I decided to take some serious action. Enter our juice machine. I haven’t been much of a juicer unless there were extra carrots around our house that needed to be used up, but this week Anders and I specifically planned to start each morning with some sort of veggie juice concoction. I literally gagged on the beet, carrot, cucumber juice, but the carrot, ginger, apple is really good (I'm beginning to think all juices need one apple!). Next up, cabbage juice…although honestly, I’m really scared about that one. If anyone has a veggie juice that they can recommend, please send our way!
Merry Carrots! 

let's talk mushrooms

Anders went foraging for the first time this week. He was in search of matsutake, and I have to admit I was a wee bit jealous. Mushroom hunting has been on my adventure to-do list for awhile now, but, alas, I had to work. Anders only found one large matsutake, but he also found some chanterelles and had enough to make a big batch of mushroom rice. However, I think he needs to go back out and bring me along this time. I might have some secret mushroom hunting skills we don't know about. Plus, I have a list I'm trying to work through...

Stuffed Mushrooms

Mushroom Lentil Burgers

Mushroom and Spinach Enchiladas

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms

Chanterelle Soup
Pasta with Bacon and Mushrooms
Sliced Mushrooms with Mozzarella and Thyme

Also, we are thinking about training Maggie to be a truffle hunting dog.

not the world's largest, but close

In case you were wondering...this carrot is actually not the largest in the history of the world. That record is held by a 18.985 pound carrot from 1998. However it is the largest I have ever seen. And that's pretty cool too.

life in instagrams

Here are a few Instagrams from our life lately!

Things like this make me pure giddy.

 Still a cone head. Hoping to have it off soon.

 Hatch Chile Peppers have arrived! Do you know about them? Only limited quantities each year. 

Avocado, celery, kale, date, strawberry smoothie

Again...giddy. These veggies were roasted for tacos. 

 Shouldn't all bike racks be this festive? This one was outside a knitting shop.

Green tea lattes.

Anders whips up some fried rice (in costume, of course)

things that make me happy

 My fig tree that has quadrupled in size this season.

A pretty sunset taken from a friend's boat.

Our very first apple on the tree we planted.

Snuggle time with my husband and pup.

Snagging the very last bunch of garlic scapes from the market. They won't come around until next year.

Fruit parfaits!

To make your own:

Dice up seasonal fruit. I used raspberries, peaches, plums, kiwi and cherries. Add a heaping dollop of greek yogurt. Drizzle with honey and top with almond slivers (chopped walnuts taste great too!)

I just realized that over half of these things are about food. I swear there are things that make me happy other than eating although eating is pretty awesome-town.

in a pickle

Just another Monday night...making pickles...and pickled carrots...and pickled onions.

Which led us to wonder...why are pickled cucumbers called "pickles" but all other vegetables are simply just a pickled vegetable?

It's one of life's greatest mysteries.

detox

You know those articles you read about staying fit while on vacation? Um, yeah, I never pay any attention to those. I'm pretty healthy for most of the year just so I can avoid anything resembling broccoli while on vacation. Vacations are reserved for 8am cocktails, big bowls of white pasta and two, okay three, trips to the dessert table (during one meal). It has taken me a few days to get back into the swing of this thing called NOT-vacation, but my carb-filled, sugar-cracked-out body is asking for some health. So, here's to getting back on track...homemade smoothies for breakfast, these protein bars and big veggie salads.

Goodbye margaritas...hello ice water.

lunch

I love lunch.

And I'm going to tell you about mine. Roasted vegetables is my favorite lunch to make since it's easy and uses up a lot of bits and pieces from my kitchen. I believe this exact bowl included wrinkly mushrooms and bell peppers, a half used carrot, garlic that may or may not have started sprouting, a roma tomato, bits of red onion and leftover brussels sprouts. You can use anything you have, though! Most recipes will tell you to toss them in olive oil before roasting (25-35 minutes at 350 degrees), but I prefer to roast them plain since heating oil is never a good thing. Then, when they are done, I add a few teaspoons of olive oil to the roasted veggies and toss with salt, pepper, fennel seed and thyme. Awesome.

It's sad Anders is working. He totally missed out.

eat your vegetables

Is it weird to do a post about brussels sprouts? Anders and I sure do love these little cabbage-ish veggies. Our favorite way to eat them is to saute them in avocado oil with a bunch of sliced mushrooms. Once cooked (not for very long, we like them still slightly crunchy), we add salt, pepper, a splash of soy sauce and a hit of sriracha (as much as you can handle). Eating your veggies has never tasted so good!

P.S. Don't let the pooch's interest fool you...she snagged a runaway sprout and left it half eaten on the carpet.