Fantastic Friday

A perfect Friday in the books! I had the best day with my boys!  Could not have asked for more. 

Started off the day with a little work and some leftover pancakes topped with a smear of nut butter, bananas, toasted almonds, chia seeds and maple syrup.  Good start.  No new plants. 

When the boys got up, Crappy Cuts opened the doors for business and Harry got a solid haircut after five months of growth! There was hair all over the backyard! 

For lunch, Chip made his specialty chopped cheese sandwich for his brother and it was a massive hit!  Harry said it was one of the best sandwiches he had ever had. Chip was thrilled!  I heated up the leftover jackfruit barbecue with the addition of a little Liquid Smoke.  It gave it a more barbequey (100% that is not a word) taste and I highly recommend. 

Then we went for a walk with the worst dog in the world.  It was a beautiful day. Just walking and talking and laughing and picking up poop.  Always with the picking up poop.  When we got back we sat out in the backyard to enjoy the weather.  While we were sitting there a massive Cooper's hawk landed on our tree.  Not ten feet from us!  It didn't stay for but just a second but what a thrill! 

Wrapped up the afternoon with a few games of Sequence.  Harry won three hands in a row and was unbearable. Always sneaking in with the diagonal!  

The boys went to their dad's house about five and I cut the grass, took another walk with Judy and the pups and the went to Judy's house to put together treats for the neighborhood kids.  It was a FANTASTIC FRIDAY!  Expecting more of the same this beautiful Saturday. 

No new plants on the list for Friday, but I have already added three more on Saturday morning!  More on that in tomorrow's post! 

Have a great day! 

Jackfruit

What a morning!  Both my boys are asleep in my house. I swear it is the best feeling in the world to wake up in the morning and remember your kids are in the house. The best! I have been smiling since my feet hit the floor.  

Last night, me and Chip were getting antsy waiting on Harry, so we went outside to wait for him.  We were walking up and down the sidewalk and were down at the corner when he pulled into the cul-de-sac.  He rolled his window down and said "What are you guys doing?"  We screamed "Waiting for you!"  He thought we were bonkers. It was a great reunion with lots of hugging and no personal space. I made Harry's favorite fried rice and he and Chip ate till they were stuffed!  There were lots of laughs as we caught up on all the things. I wish I could have taped Harry doing his "Intruder, Intruder" monologue.  We could hardly catch our breath! 

I am going to get some work done this morning, so by the time the boys get up I can hang out with them. Let's get a quick recap on the plant situation from yesterday.  I finally made the jackfruit!  

Breakfast was the most fantastic pancakes I have ever made.  I found this vegan pancake recipe from Tasty and although it isn't the healthiest version of a pancake recipe I have ever tried, it is hands down the best.  I usually hop around and make a different pancake recipe every time, but this one I have made probably six times in a row.  It is a keeper.  I simmered some frozen berries in a sauce pan with a little maple syrup as the liquid.  Topped it with toasted walnuts.  Added blackberries and blueberries to my plant list!  

For lunch I had a hankering for that portobello mushroom, but didn't want to have bread since I had pancakes for breakfast and was planning to have jackfruit bbq on a bun for dinner.  I ended up cooking the portobello mushroom exactly the same way and roasted up some mini cauliflower and carrots to go with it. Y'all.  Mini cauliflower from Trader Joes is great!  I seasoned it with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and a little garlic powder.  Threw it in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Crispy and so easy to eat.  I had the carrots on the same pan and I seasoned them a little bit differently with rosemary instead of paprika.  Roasted vegetables are like candy.  Eat them. I added cauliflower and carrots to the list!  

I finally opened a can of jackfruit and drained and rinsed it really good. I broke it into pieces and put it in a pan with some onions and jalapeños.  Drizzled the whole mess with some Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and let it cook for a while. I put it under the broiler for about five minutes to get some crispy bits. Put it on a whole wheat bun with some slaw and it was good.  It would never pass for pulled pork and don't let anyone tell you that it will, but it was a nice texture, a little hot and cool with the coleslaw was nice. And BBQ sauce....is just good on anything. 

I will definitely eat this again and try some other recipes with jackfruit.  

Back to the plant list....I added jackfruit and cabbage!  A total of six new plants added to the list today  I have 49 so far for this week! I really want to eat one more plant variety to get to 50 for the week!  Isn't it so exciting?? Still just me, huh? 

If you can think of a fruit or vegetable I maybe haven't tried, let me know! 

Have a fantastic Friday!  

Portobello and Papaya - Put Them on the List

Happy Thursday, guys!  The best news ever....Harry is coming home for the weekend!  He should roll in late tonight and stay through Sunday afternoon.  YAY!!  I have not seen him since he headed back to Arlington the first week of May.  Chip and I are both excited!  

I will be cooking all of Harry's favorites this weekend, because he has missed his momma's cooking!  It will not be all plants, but as of yesterday I hit 40+ for the week so we are in good shape.  Let's recap yesterday. 

It was chilly yesterday morning and oatmeal sounded perfect for breakfast.  I loaded it up with 1/2 an apple, some cranberries, pecans, almonds, coconut, chia seeds and hemp hearts. Sprinkled it with cinnamon.  It was very filling and I added five plants to the list - bringing us to 40 or 41. Still not sure.

Lunch was awesome!  Chip was working on a sandwich that he wants to perfect for when he is on his own. Chip caramelized some onions, scrambled up some chopped sirloin, melted cheese on top, made a concoction of mayo/ketchup/sriracha for the spread, toasted his bun and topped it with some lettuce. His first try was pretty awesome and I did have a bite so I could confirm that it was as good as he thought it was.  Harry will be a another taste tester this weekend I am sure.

While Chip was busy with his sandwich, I was busy with mine. I marinated a big ol' portobello mushroom cap in a combination of soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, oregano, garlic and salt and pepper.  Let it soak in the marinade for a few minutes while I cooked some onions and jalapeños in a pan.  Then I sliced up the mushroom cap and tossed it in a screaming hot pan.  It took no time at all to caramelize and get glorious. I put the whole mushroom, onions and jalapeños on a little whole wheat slider bun and it was fantastic.  Really, really, really good.  Like, I want to eat it again right now. 

I added portobello mushroom to my plant list, even though I had white mushrooms earlier in the week.  They are different mushrooms and maybe have a slightly different nutritional profile.  But also, it is my list and I wanted to count it.  I am at 41ish.

Finally, to wrap up the day I tried a new fruit that I have not had before. Papaya!  My friend Cindy suggested papaya when we were brainstorming fruits and veggies I haven't had yet.  I put one on my grocery list...and in my mind, I thought papayas were like the size of mangos.  When I picked up my grocery order I was shocked when the papaya was bigger than my toaster. Ginormous.  

I watched a couple You Tube videos on how to cut it and eat it before I dove in.  Look at this beauty! 

As recommended by The You Tube, I squeezed lime juice and salt and pepper on it for optimal flavor. It was so interesting and yummy!  I think I might have lucked into a perfectly ripe papaya.  So easy to eat, firm yet soft.  The texture near the rind is somewhere close to a cantaloupe, but much softer toward the middle.  Look at the colors!  The taste is also somewhere around a cantaloupe, but also not really. You just have to get one and try it. I have no other comparisons to offer.  I do have a big Tupperware container in my fridge (Did you see the size of that thing??) and I will have no problem finishing it off over the next few days. I added papaya and lime to list and am up to 43 plants. 

After my papaya eating, I squeezed in a quick spin on the bike and a dog walk with Judy.  Just had some random mess for dinner...some nuts, part of an apple, a couple peanut butter pretzels.  No new plants! 

I am really jazzed to spend some quality time with my boys this weekend.  It is the best when we are all together.  

Hope you guys have a fantastic day! 

Hump Day

Happy Hump Day!  It's cold and rainy and suddenly feels very much like winter.  It is warm and toasty inside, so no complaints from me except my dog is never going to go outside today. He already thinks the back yard is lava, and prefers ANY other grass than what is available to him right out the kitchen door. 

It's fine.  Everything is fine.  It provides a little extra motivation to get out for a stroll most days to let him take care of his business. And look what you see on a quick walk?  Aren't these berries gorgeous?  Nature is the coolest. 

Let's see what was on the menu yesterday, shall we?  

Breakfast is my favorite meal. By a long shot. Chip takes after his mother in this area. Strong breakfast genes in the two of us. I had lawnmower scramble filled with all kinds of goodness, but all were repeat vegetables for the week, as were the raspberries.  I did add some arugula and tomatoes for a little breakfast salad and that is + 2 plants on the list for the week, bringing us to 29 (or 28, I am actually not sure!). We are in this general area!  Plant audit pending! 

For lunch, I roasted a kobucha squash from Trader Joes.  On one half I did traditional salt and pepper.  On the other half I did a jazzier version with cinnamon and cayenne pepper.  I ate the jazzy side for lunch, along with a piece of sourdough toast. Adding +1 to the list for trying a new variety of squash.  Sitting at 29 or 30 plants - we just don't know! 

For dinner, I started a big pot of chili. I mindlessly pulled some frozen "beef" from the freezer and thought I was using Beyond Meat. But once the meat hit the pan I knew something was amiss.  I actually had to go pull the wrapper out of the trash to confirm that it was real sirloin and not Beyond Meat.  

Quick pivot...making two pots of chili for dinner. One pot for Chip (who was already trying to talk me out of adding beans to the chili anyway) that would be made with ground beef, onions, garlic and spices.  Just the way he likes it.  

My chili was a pantry, fridge, freezer hodge podge of goodness!  It had it all!  Onions, garlic, jalapeños, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, edamame, green chilis, last lone Beyond bratwurst, canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, and the rest of the plain kobucha squash from lunch.  It was more like a bean soup than chili, but I was not complaining. Gobble it up and it hit the spot on a chilly night!  Added +5 veggies to the plant list and we are somewhere around 34 or 35!  

Today, I am thinking about trying Jackfruit "Pulled Pork" BBQ....a little wary, but how bad can it be???  

Stay tuned! 

New Week - New List

Happy Monday!  

I hope you enjoyed the weekend as much as I did!  Bonus Saturday was so good.  Bama won.  I got in my fourth 45 minute Peloton ride for the month and did a whole lot of nothing else.  I didn't add any new plants to my list on Saturday although I ate very well!  I had leftover Gobi Manchurian, Naan and Veggie Korma for lunch that I jazzed up with a ton of chopped arugula and parsley.  I am not a huge fan of leftovers, but this is an exception for sure.  Even better on day two.  It was a good size lunch pretty late in the afternoon so I didn't have dinner.  

Sunday, I roasted up some cherry tomatoes that were on their way out and added them to one of my toast pieces for breakfast.  Half of another PERFECT avocado went on the other side!  Again, no new plants.  Dang it. 

For lunch, I roasted some Delicata Squash and ate it with some Trader Joe's Zoug spicy sauce.  It was delicious.  Pretty much, roasted vegetables are like candy.  The more roasted they are, the more candy like they are. So good. 

In the afternoon, me and Judy went out to pick up trash in one of the parking lots on our walk route.  We did not take our dogs and that was for sure the right decision! We filled two giant trash bags in about 45 minutes.  Felt good to do a little outdoor work and pick up some litter!  Garbage Girls are on the case! 

The only other plant I added to the list on Sunday was a pomegranate.  I peeled and ate the whole thing.  I love pomegranates, but man are they a mess to eat!  So with only the squash and pomegranate added to the list I ended at 45 plants for the week.  Did not hit my 50 goal, but there is always this week! 

Started strong today! Breakfast was lawnmower eggs (potatoes, mushrooms, onions, jalapeños, spinach, parsley and mung beans).  Had those with some raspberries and the other half of that perfect avocado!  Nine plants for breakfast. 

Lunch was a smoothie with all kinds of good plants.  Peaches, mango, spinach (can't count again), walnuts, hemp hearts, flax seed, chia seeds, coconut, moringa powder, banana and some oat milk.  That is ten plants to the list for a total of 19! 

For dinner I tried a new recipe for Crispy Baked Orange Tofu from Nora Cooks.  I did make a few modifications to the recipe.  First, I cut it in half. Added asparagus. For the sauce, I used blood orange juice and a little grated orange zest.  Used garlic chili sauce instead of sirracha.  As my kids would say, the sauce was banging!  Sprinkled it with sesame seeds and green onion.  Served it over rice noodles.  

I do want to remember that I was worried the tofu was not going to be crispy so I cut it much smaller than Nora suggested.  They turned out a little too crispy - almost like roasted chick peas.  Next time, listen to Nora!  She knows what she is doing! 

I am counting blood orange, tofu, garlic, ginger, asparagus, green onion, sesame seeds and rice.  Eight more plants for dinner!  Rocketing into Monday with 27 plants in one day!  Woo Hoo! 

Well, I have 759 dishes to wash and a dog that needs walking, so I will sign off for Monday!  

Hope you count your plants this week and tell me what you are eating! 

Bonus Saturday

Saturday morning.  It is chilly outside. Coffee is hot. Wonderful, fabulous, college football Saturday.  Is there anything better? 

I had such a great Friday, that felt like a Saturday because I had some activities planned and didn't work at all. Didn't log on to my work computer even one time. Now, today feels like a bonus Saturday. A bonus Saturday is a rare treat that I am going to thoroughly enjoy! 

I already filled you in on the beginning of my day off yesterday that started with a lovely walk with Martha and a puff pastry breakfast.  I squeezed in a quick Peloton ride while Sheri ran out for an appointment and set a new 20 minute ride PR!  It was my first High Intensity Interval Training ride and it was hard.  Not sure I meant to bite off that much after already walking for an hour, but I was proud of hitting a new personal record! Look at the sweat! In 20 minutes!  

As planned, Sheri, Ashley and I headed over to Trader Joes for a little outing and it did not disappoint. There was quite a line outside as they controlled the number of folks in the store, but it did not take long before we had our carts and were headed in. Sheri was a speed shopper and done in about 12 minutes.  Ashley and I were wanderers and did not want to miss one single thing.  I don't know what it is that I love so much about Trader Joes, but there is something. I filled up my cart with a variety of treats and could not have been happier. When we finally checked out, it was POURING down rain. We were grateful that Sheri had already made it to the car and could pick us up at the door. 

I found some canned jackfruit and a couple new squash varieties that I am going to give a whirl! I will keep you posted. 

For lunch, I made us bratwurst that we topped with sauerkraut and zoug sauce from Trader Joes.  They were great and I added sauerkraut as plant 43 for the week! 

Sheri and I sat around the kitchen table and visited and let Cooper in and out 749 times. For some reason, Sheri thinks Cooper is a great dog and she can't love on him enough. She also shares her snacks with him with puts her WAY at the top of Cooper's list.  He is a big fan of people who share snacks. I was happy that Sheri could come and go and run her errands and go to appointments and Cooper was pretty relaxed every time she returned and minded his manners.  

For dinner, Ashley and Cindy joined us for our traditional Tejis and Yahtzee! We eat and drink the same thing every time and it is fantastic every single time. I make a batch of Whiskey Sour Slushes and we order Gobi Manturian, Navratan Korma and Naan bread from Tejis.  I can't believe I only recently started eating Indian food and now it is part of such a lovely tradition. Ashley brought a fabulous peach and berry cobbler for dessert which also seems to be a tradition. There is no shortage of great conversation as we get caught up with each other and our families. The Yahtzee wasn't great, but we honestly couldn't care less. It is like a group effort for every person's roll. We all chime in on what we think everyone should be rolling for and are happy or disappointed when the dice do or don't land where they should. I was the only who got a Yahtzee and I didn't even win!  Pitiful!  Cindy was the big winner for the night.  

We wrap up the festivities pretty early, because that is what I like and need.  This sign was a gift from Ashley and hangs in my dining room.  My friends know I love to see them...but I also like an end time. 

We ended up the night with a opossum on the back fence and Cooper loosing his mind!  It was a big one too!  The opossum was balanced precariously on top of the fence, frozen and afraid to move because Cooper was using his hardest, most frantic bark. I was hoping the opossum wouldn't play dead and fall off the fence into the yard. I was really expecting lights to start popping on in all the neighbors houses to see what in the heck was going on!  Finally, the opossum made his way down the fence and jumped over to Judy's yard. Whew!  I think Cooper could have easily jumped up and grabbed the opossum and I am so thankful he did not. What would happen? Would he kill it? Would he eat it? Ack!  I couldn't stand for either to happen! 

It was a great day all around and now I am going to settle into bonus Saturday like a boss!  Hope your day is wonderful! 

It's FriYAY!!

Good morning, good morning!  So dang happy that today is Friday.  I have been bumping up against the maximum comprehensive leave balance I can carry at work and I have a friend in town so I am taking today off of work!  I think we are going to make the trek over to Trader Joes today and see what kind of fruits and veggies we can find.  Wild times in Texas! 

Yesterday, was a busy work day and I was trying to wrap everything up since I was going to be off today. I didn't eat much and only added one plant to my list for the day!  Not very impressive, but you have to keep eating what you have to use it up!  It is a balance! 

Breakfast, was avocado toast, which is always one of my favorites.  The avocado was perfect! That just hardly ever happens! Sprinkled it liberally with Everything But the Bagel seasoning. Delicious!

Sheri dropped off her things at my house early in the afternoon and left me with a bag of Buccee's Sea Salted Caramel Beaver Nuggets.  OMG!  No plants in this bag unless you count sugar and whatever remnant of corn these nuggets are made out of.  Not much of a lunch in the plant game, but son of a gun, they were good and so addicting! 

For our dinner, I made Minimalist Baker's Vegan Eggplant Parmesan! Click the link for the recipe!  I made this a few weeks ago for me and Chip and we loved it.  I had never made Eggplant Parmesan, but was looking for a way to use an eggplant so I could add it to my plant list and came across this recipe.  Why didn't anyone tell me how good this was and how easy it was to make!  Chip loved it, too! 

There are a few steps to the process, but I did them incrementally through the day and it came together really quickly at the end.  Perks of working from home. Sliced, salted and sweated (is that a word?) the eggplant about 2:00 pm.  Strained it about 3:00 and rinsed it really good.  Laid the eggplant out on a cookie sheet lined with a kitchen towel and then put another towel on top of the eggplant to soak up any moisture.  On top of the towel I put another cookie sheet and my heavy containers of flour and sugar to really press out the moisture.  When we were ready to start dinner, I did an assembly line of flour, milk, panko breading and then fried them and finished them in the oven. I don't know if this is how everyone makes eggplant parmesan, but the coating was so delicious and so crispy it would be easy to just eat the eggplant without any pasta!  

Dinner was a big hit and I added eggplant to the plant list, bringing me to 42 plants this week.  

Otherwise, The Worst Dog in the World behaved himself reasonably well for having free roaming company in the house.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Way to go, Coop! 

Sheri and I had some beverages and a lovely visit and and went to bed just a little past 10 p.m.  That is my kind of company!  

I went on a long walk with Martha early this morning and it was a perfect way to kick off this Friday.  Came home and whipped together this asparagus, pepper, onion, tomato, sesame seeds, parsley puff pastry beauty for breakfast and am about to dig in.

No new plants to add to the list because I have already had all of these this week!  Come on Trader Joes - bring on the new plants! 

Hope your day is fantastic....even if you aren't taking a vacation day like me! 

I Got 40!

I have had a busy day of work, took a quick spin on the Peloton and then took another trash picking up walk with Judy!  It has been a full day! 

I still need to do the dishes tonight, so this is going to be quick update.  We left off yesterday at 33 different plants for the week.

For breakfast today I had one of those lawnmower breakfast tacos Bob couldn't look at before noon.  It had potatoes, onions, poblano peppers, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes scrambled up with some Just Egg (vegan egg replacement made of mung beans and some other mess). Several repeat vegetables, but I added potatoes, poblano peppers and mung beans as new plant varieties to my list for the week.  At 36 different plants after breakfast.    

For lunch I had a Beyond Meat Bratwurst that was great!  Big fan of the Beyond Meat products. I cooked up some onions and jalapeños to put on top of the Brat and then shaved some carrots bits to give it some added crunch!  A little bit of mustard and it was delightful.  Added Pea Protein and jalapeño to my list for the week...up to 38! 

I snacked on a banana at some point in the day.  That makes 39!  I also had half of a Reese Take Five candy bar. There were no plants to count in that candy bar, but plenty of calories.  But I am not counting calories, because I CAN'T DO EVERYTHING! 

Dinner was a pretty traditional veggie plate. It included arugula, tomatoes, red onion, avocado, sweet potato and asparagus.  It looked all pretty on the plate and then I smushed it all together and put some magical Mission Fig balsamic vinegar over it (Thanks Sandy!!!) and gobbled it up! 

Sweet potato and avocado are new for the week and I am 41 different plants!  Woo Hoo!  41 plants in three days!  I still have four more days to go on the plant list for this week so hoping I can get to fifty!  

Isn't this a fun little competition to have with yourself?  No.  Maybe I am just a weirdo, but I love it!  Really makes me think and try to get some variety in my life!  Variety is great for your gut biome and when your gut biome is good, lots of other things work better in your body!  Immune system.  Pooping is so great! Also, whatever I have been doing for the last several months has been great for inflammation and aches and pains.  I do still get sore when I go hard on the Peloton, but not the same aches and pains I was having just getting out of bed in the morning. That is nice. I have lost about six or seven pounds and got into some smaller pants and that feels nice. Otherwise, it just gives me a good disposition to be doing something so good for myself. 

Even if you don't feel inspired to get into the plant counting game with me, I hope you don't mind me blabbing on and on about it.  I am sure my fascination will die down at some point.  I will tell you that Lana is so dang happy to have something to read from me!  Not sure she is looking for Bratwurst stories, but it is what we have Mom. 

Have a great night!  

Garbage Girls

Day three.  I think we have a little something going here. Let's not jinx it.

Before I jump straight into eating all the plants, let me tell you about our dog walk adventure last night.  As I mentioned recently, most evenings me and my neighbor Judy walk our dogs around the hood. Our neighborhood is close to a medical complex and tons of medical buildings, retirement homes, etc.  We generally walk over that way, because there is less traffic, bigger sidewalks and no cats.  No cats is important because Cooper feels inclined to chase cats.  No idea what would happen if he ever caught one, but I don't want to find out. I can barely hold on to his 100 pound self when he sees a cat. Lord help me, if he sees them before me because I do not get a chance to brace myself. Anyway, enough about the cats already....where I am going with this story is that on our walks through the medical areas we see lots of litter.  Lots of medical masks, gloves, bottles, just garbage left behind by people. We often say out loud, we should bring something to pick up litter as we walk. 

Last night was the night.  Judy brought her grabber and a plastic bag and we were on the hunt for trash. You have never seen two adult women laugh harder or have more damn fun picking up litter. It was great! Here are a couple pictures of the best litter picker upper in the world. 

In this picture she has Blue's retractable leash between her legs and the bag is through her belt at her waist.  Her grabber was so long and she was fighting with the bag to get it open while not losing the leash between her legs while her dog was walking away.  I was howling with laughter.  I couldn't hardly take the picture.  

In this picture, you can see that Blue is interested in moving along on the walk and Judy just wants to reach one more piece of trash. She is persistent. We finally worked out a better system and I held the bag and she held the grabber.  The poor dogs were very confused the whole night, but we had a blast. Our little bag was overflowing with trash in no time. 

Successful night and we felt great about it!  We talked about some nights not taking the dogs and just picking up litter.  The Garbage Girls. Might be our new thing! 

Enough about garbage...let's get to the food!  Yesterday, we left off with 18 plant varieties on my list for the week. This morning I made a bowl of oatmeal and topped it with all kinds of goodness. Toasted coconut, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and chia seeds.  I also sprinkled in some cinnamon - but in all transparency, I first accidentally added chili powder!  I thought I had the cinnamon bottle in my hand, but while I was shaking it out I smelled chili powder and said "oooopps".  I just added a bigger dash of cinnamon on top of the chili powder and everything was fine.  If I count the oats and all the toppings, that is 9 more plants!  Good breakfast.  I love the crispy nuts and coconut with the creamy oatmeal.  Filling and yummy!

For lunch, I had leftover soup from last night.  I topped it with a ton of fresh parsley and a squeeze of lime and it was even better on day two. Because I had already eaten all of these plants I didn't get to add anything to the plant list for my lunch meal.

Dinner was a big old salad with all kinds of mess.  I roasted a can of chick peas using my niece Megan's method.  Drain the chick peas - dry them - toss in oil, salt, pepper and whatever seasoning you want.  I wanted curry, cayenne pepper and garlic powder.  Roasted those babies on 425 for about 20ish minutes.  I also threw some cauliflower on the cookie sheet to roast at the same time.  Same spices.  This may not look like much...but flavor galore!  Those crispy bits and almost burnt parts are magic. 

My salad was made with a base of romaine lettuce, arugula, spinach and parsley.  See what I did there....four different green things instead of just plain romaine or arugula or spinach. Mix it up so you can get some variety in your life. I topped it with red bell pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes, the roasted chick peas and cauliflower and sprinkled on some sunflower seeds. It was a thing of beauty.  I made a quick little dressing out of oil, vinegar, dash of balsamic, chopped fresh garlic, salt and pepper. I already had several of these plants earlier, but I did get to add 6 more plants to the list from this meal! 

In summary, I had 18 plants yesterday....today I had 15, already up to 33 plants for the week.  It isn't that hard!  The tricky part is eating the plants you have on hand before they start getting yucky - but adding in some varieties so you can up your plant count.  No idea what I will be eating tomorrow, but hope to add at least seven new plants so I can get to 40 plants in just three days!  

Let's wrap this post up with a picture Harry sent me from his "office".  He was up on the catwalk yesterday and took this amazing picture.  Of course, I texted him right back and said "GET DOWN FROM THERE!"  World Series starts tonight!  Both teams seem to have some young, fun players!  I think the series ought to be a good one! 

Have a great evening!