Check out this blog post from U of M Senior Gabriella Dugas

https://passthevegetables.blogspot.com/2020/10/7-things-to-teach-kids-about-nutrition.html

A New Recipe to Try!

Let's ignore the fact that it has been over two months since my last post, shall we? Ok. Great. Moving on.

Over the past few weeks Mr. Maestro and I have been stocking up on sweet potatoes! Not intentionally...we've just been getting a lot of them in our weekly CSA bag. I love sweet potatoes, but sometimes I have a lack of inspiration when it comes to their cullinary preparation. There was one expecially huge sweet potato that was taunting me to do something with it - so I did! And I want to share it with you!

This recipe was developed by a fellow registered dietitian who is also a TV Chef - Ellie Krieger. This soup is low calorie and is packed with tons of vitamins and minerals. The peanut butter adds a protein punch. Try it - you'll love it!

Nutty Sweet Potato Soup
Recipe Credit: Ellie Krieger (love her!)

Directions

1 tablespoon canola oil

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups) {I didn't have quite 2 cups, used about 1 cup}
• 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup) - {I used a green pepper, didn't have red}
• 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup) {I didn't have carrots - and my soup was great without them!}
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (2 cups) {Used my giant sweet potato - about 3 cups}
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth {I used about 7 cups homeade broth}
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no salt added diced tomatoes, with their juices
• 2/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 cup chopped scallion greens (about 3 scallions) {didn't have the scallions, so no garnish for me!}

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell pepper and carrots and cook, stirring until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add the cayenne, black pepper, garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the sweet potato, broth, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

*Puree the soup in the pot using an immersion blender or in a regular blender in 2 batches and return the soup to the pot {I used my food processor and it worked like a charm!}. Add the peanut butter and honey and stir, over low heat, until the peanut butter melts. Serve warm, garnished with the scallions.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

Per Serving:

Calories 290; Total Fat 18g (Sat Fat 3.5g, Mono Fat 9g, Poly Fat 5g); Protein 14g; Carb 23g; Fiber 5g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 260mg

My latest project...

Remember that little teaser I gave you back here? You know, the fabric swatches I showed at the bottom of the post? Well...I did something with them!  Wanna see??

It's called a quillow, and I learned how to make it from this excellent tutorial: Quillow

It's a gift for my first niece {yet to be born/named}.

It is aptly named a "quillow" as it is a quilt, that folds into a pillow! Genious!

The colors were chosen after Baby Girl's momma, D, asked me about acquiring some felt in a few particular colors: mustard yellow, light and dark aqua, red, chocolate brown, orange, light and dark gray, and white.  I decided to use this as my color inspiration, and I think it came together rather nicely!

I decided to hand tie the quilt (rather than machine quilt it) to preserve some of the fluffiness.  Unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture of the "hand ties."

The front of the quillow is light aqua with chocolate brown flecks, and is decorated with this little guy

as well as some hand stitched "swirls." Here is another view of the quilt portion.

And this is a view of the quilt top with the coordinating fleece backing. 

Elephants weren't in my original plan, but when I was looking for a cozy backing for the quilt, I stumbled across this fleece. It had EVERY SINGLE COLOR in it, and {i thought} coordinated perfectly!  Thus, the elephant theme was born. So cute! The quillow is for a little girl, and although elephants don't usually scream GIRL to me, there are some really pretty prints on some of the elephants {you can sort of see them in the picture} that I thought made it just feminine enough.

I traced the outline of one of these guys and used that pattern to make the elephant for the front of the quillow. Hope Baby Girl likes elephants!

Oh...and I couldn't resist stitching on one of my new labels! 

I had so much fun making this little gift for my first niece! I hope she knows how much she is already loved!

What do you think?

Sweet Tomato Pie: My own label!

Sweet Tomato Pie: My own label!: "As you all know, I am a bit of a crafter at heart. I make a lot of the gifts I give and wish that I had more of a way to 'mark' those gifts ..."

My own label!

As you all know, I am a bit of a crafter at heart. I make a lot of the gifts I give and wish that I had more of a way to "mark" those gifts with a personal touch ... enter my new "fashion" labels! I am so excited about these! Right now they are pretty generic, but as I am able to devote more time to my side "business," I see them with my own logo {yet to be developed} and with my brand name instead of my own.
These are great for now, though!

I got them from a little shop on Etsy called Mommie Made It.

I admit that my design is pretty plain jane, but I was overwhelmed with the options!

Like I mentioned previously, my goal is to have custom labels one day. For now, these will do just fine!

 Wanna see?  Ok!

I think they are pretty swell!

On another note, we got some lovely okra in our CSA bag today and my FAVORITE summertime treat: yellow cherry tomatoes! YUM! These things are like candy!  I think we're going to have a selection of veggies for dinner tonight - and there may or may not be fried okra involved...

Where has the summer gone? Remembering Papa...

Mr. Maestro went back to school this week. Where has this summer gone? It feels like just a couple of days ago we were getting ready to head to China - and now we're back and summer is nearly over! 

In theory, summer is supposed to be a time to sit back and relax for a while. That has not been the case for us this year! We returned from China on June 14th (Tuesday) and that weekend (after working Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) we went to my hometown to visit with my grandparents - and specifically to say "good bye" to my Papa who had been battling Parkinson's Disease for the past 16 years (he bore it with such grace - we never heard him complain although it was obviously frustrating for him as his body and then mind slowy began to fade away). Saturday night the family gathered around his bedside and sang old church songs - one of his favorite things to do. By this point he wasn't able to open his eyes or respond to us verbally, but we saw his lips move with ours as we sang those old familiar words and he squeezed our hands to let us know he was there. Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I have done - but I am so grateful that I was able to have that experience. As I left on Sunday afternoon to return back home I whispered in his ear one last time that I loved him dearly and that I expected him to save me a place at his workbench in his new barn up in Heaven.  I returned to work on Monday and Tuesday morning got the message that he was with Jesus. The visitation was on Wednesday June 22nd  and the funeral the next day. The service was very personal and sweet - as my Uncle was the minister who performed the ceremony. My brother and dad put together a slide show honoring Papa's life. Here is a link to the slide show, in case you'd like to see it: My Papa. In addition to being - quite literally - a rocket scientist, Papa was also an avid wood-worker {especially in his retirement years}. We gathered up examples of all the things he had made for us {children and grandchildren} and displayed those at the funeral and visitation - I wish I had a picture to show you of all of those things together, but I just wasn't thinking about taking pictures that whole weekend! The only downside to this display was the back-log of people it caused moving throught the visitation line - people just didn't want to stop looking at his creations! Sara {my sister-in-law} and I worked on a memory book for the guests at the visitation and funeral to sign. This way those in attendance could leave a fond memory or some kind words for the family instead of just signing their name. In the album, we also put a copy of the funeral sermon. Memi (my grandmother) was hesitant to include the slide show in the funeral or substitute a guest book with the memory album on account if things "not being done that way." But in the end she was thrilled with the result. The slideshow was poignant and sweet, and I personally witnessed Memi reading and re-reading the entire memory album every day after the funeral.

I have so many memories of spending time with Papa. My family lived on the same land as my grandparents growing up, and they had a hard time getting us to leave their house and barn!  Here are a couple of pictures of me and Papa that show what a patient guy he was:

 { As you can clearly see, I am posing with Papa AND an ear of corn.}

{there are no words to describe this shirt except the word that is embroidered on the front "COOL" }

I haven't really had to deal with death much in my lifetime, especially not the death of a family member that I was so close to, so this summer has been a bit tough. A friend recommended that I read the book "Heaven is for Real" - which I did. It's an easy read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I won't do a book review or anything, but I will say that it was a very healing book for me to read.

On a lighter note, we are headed with my fam to Savannah, GA tomorrow night for a long weekend-mini-vacay. I can NOT tell you how excited I am about this. It will be so nice to spend time {low-stress} together, eat amazing food, and enjoy a new vacation destination. And in true Clark family style, we will {of course} be taking a Segway tour of the city. Nice.

Back in the Saddle - with a new recipe to share!

Well, I've given up.

I've given up on my China Journal. I've decided that I never actually intended to finish writing and posting about our adventures in China - so if you're curious about the last half of our trip, just ask! Otherwise, I think it's time that we all move on.

I may be alone in this, but I have been seriously missing my usual creative outlets that I share with you on this Blog. I haven't really been trying many new recipes, and I haven't pulled out the ole' sewing machine since we left for China! That changes today!

I know I'm way behind on my CSA posts (on account of being out of town, laziness, etc), but I thought I'd pick right back up with week 8 followed by a recipe using some of those tasty ingredients.

Here is what we got in the bag this past week:

A delish assortment of nectarines, squash, onions, tomatoes, blueberries, homemade bread, and eggplants {check out the teeny-tiny heirloom varieties! What do you do with those guys?}

I love the food this time of year! Yummy fresh produce + cooking on the grill = one happy lady! One of our go to sides at this time of year is a Caprese salad. Sooo tasty with fresh mozzarella and ripe heirloom tomatoes. All you need is a high-quality olive oil and some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Perfection.

Remember that recipe I promised you? The one that uses fresh local produce? Well here it is!
This is courtesy of Jill Forrester @ Whitton Farms (where we get our CSA).

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

This past weekend we made the trip back to Alabama to vist my folks and for Mr. Maestro to do this:

Yes, they are standing in the street.

In the meantime, I'm working on a new project! YAY! I'm not saying what it is, but here is a little tease: