Spicy corn salsa

First canning project of the season. Spicy corn salsa.

For the salsa:

- corn cut off six ears of fresh-from-the-farm sweet corn 

- about one cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

- about 1/4 cup mild green chili pepper

- about 1/4 cup medium jalapeño, chopped

For the sauce: 

- 1/2 cup lemon juice

- 1/2 tablespoon local raw honey

- 1/2 teaspoon each of ground pepper, cumin, chili powder and hot chili powder

- 3.5 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Mix everything together. Bring to a boil. Simmer, covered 10 minutes, ladle into jars.

Process in hot water bath 15 minutes.

Buffalo chicken orzo

My daughter and I went on a six mile bike  today. Man, I am out of shape. But I never was an athlete!

When we got home, the family whipped up a hot lunch of leftover orzo with chopped chicken.

My husband and daughter had theirs with sugar snap peas, lima beans, and brussel sprouts drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and topped with herbs and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

I had no lima beans and used Archer Farns buffalo sauce on mine.

Peanut butter protein snack

I started this morning with almost two cups of coffee, two blueberry pancakes and maple syrup. I cleaned the kitchen, fed and cleaned up after the cats, weeded the jungle... I mean garden... and then I carted clothes up and down from the attic.

I started to get shaky, even though I wasn't remotely hungry. I hopped in the shower while husband made huge salads of iceberg lettuce, shredded cabbage, carrots, a pinch of Parmesan cheese, sliced almonds, whole almonds, a couple of cranberries, and Annie's Goddess dressing. Beverage was a few ounces of Welch's white grape peach something 100% juice diluted with carbonated water  made in our SodaStream.

It was delicious.

But about 45 minutes later I didn't feel better. I needed more protein. I wanted to keep it healthy. So I asked husband to get a square of ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate, layer some commercial peanut butter on it, and then he sprinkled our thick and somewhat dry homemade peanut butter on it.

Scrumptious.

Special delivery pancakes

My mother-in-law called as I was drinking the first sip of my coffee. My father-in-law was going for gas so she made blueberry pancakes, put them in a thermal bag and had him drive them the 12 miles to our house.

She even included a bottle of real maple syrup.

Yes, they were still warm.

Last night we had dinner of chicken noodle soup at her house.

Pharmacy rewards at Target

Grocery shopping at Target, in my opinion, is not ideal. There is always some item they don't carry or they only carry certain brands or depending on the Target, the fresh produce is limited.

That said, when you know what you normally pay for certain products, Target offers some great deals and a lot of convenience when you need something more than just groceries. The everyday prices, even for food, are quite competitive.

Since I am a Target team member, I get ten percent off everything in the store. In addition, if I use my RedCard, I get another five percent. That's the same five percent anyone can get if they open a RedCard account-- available as a credit or debit card. I highly recommend these cards. They have other perks, too, such as free shipping on all items from Target.com.

Now, we don't use much medicine in this house, but about once a year we fill the five prescriptions necessary to earn Pharmacy Rewards. This is an additional five percent off everything in the store for an entire day.

When I get one of these, I stock up. Even if I have to borrow money from my kid. That was me yesterday. 

I spent about $300. Let me tell you some highlights. All prices are BEFORE the approximately 18% price reduction at the register.

Cat litter: Tidy Cat, 35 pounds, two containers at $12 each, plus free $5 gift card.

Welch's juice (no sugar added), on sale for $2 a bottle

Honest Kids organic juice boxes, $3 per 8 pack (Juicy Juice 100% juice juice boxes were $2.54, got some of them, too)

Chock Full of Nuts coffee, 28 ounces, on clearance for $7.64 (regular price 8.99)

Starbucks Dark Sumatra whole bean coffee, 12 ounces, on clearance for 6.78 (regularly $7.99)

Archer Farm Irish Cream coffee, 12 ounces, on clearance for $4.54 (regularly $6.49)

Celestial Seasonings orange tangerine tea, on clearance for $1.67 (regularly $2.39)

Tazo decaf chai tea bags, on clearance for $2.44 (regularly $3.49)

Stash herbal tea, peppermint, and Stash chai green tea, on clearance for $1.94 (regularly $2.29)

Archer Farms organic black tea, chai, on clearance for $2.08 (regularly $2.99)

Stash jasmine blossom green tea, on clearance for $1.60 (regularly $2.29)

Pop tarts (I have a craving, it's better than brownies, right?) on sale for $1.89

Fleischmann yeast, 4 ounces, on clearance for $1.98 (regularly $3.99)

Chobani Flipz, on sale $1 each

Noosa yogurt, $2.39 minus 35 cent manufacturer coupon

Cheesy spinach orzo

It's 95 degrees here and for some reason, I get the idea it would be *nice* to have baked mac and cheese for dinner. My mother gave me this really nice block of aged sharp provolone. She deemed it "too stinky" for her crew to eat.

But then I had no full sized pasta, just spaghetti or orzo. So I made orzo. A LOT of orzo.

Ingredients:

- about eight ounces aged extra sharp provolone

- about three ounces Monterey Jack

- about two ounces cheddar

- about 4 ounces grated Parmesan 

- 3 cups coconut milk

- 2 tablespoons flour

- 3 tablespoons butter

- 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground four color peppercorns

- 1 teaspoon garlic pepper

- 1 block frozen spinach, thawed and drained

Preheat oven to 375.

Prepare pasta as desired. Set aside.

Melt butter in pan, slowly mix in flour. When bubbly, slowly mix in coconut milk so flour-butter roux blends in nicely.

Add desired seasonings. 

When bubbly, add all cheese but Parmesan, in tiny chunks. Remove from heat. Stir. When melted, add spinach.

Mix sauce and pasta in oven safe dish. Top with Parmesan. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.

Mediterranean veggie burgers

In my quest to get myself moving more, we met our friend Ally at the park for a one mile plus walk. Since the walk occurred at one of our favorite local parks, child and I stopped at Wawa and bought apples with peanut butter and cut watermelon for a picnic breakfast.

Lunch today is Morningstar Mediterranean style veggie burger with lots of lettuce, salsa and Goddess dressing in a wrap. I also put srirancha sauce on mine. Washed down with home brewed unsweetened sun tea.