Taste of Summer

As the summer comes to an end...A look at some of the summer meals I prepared using seasonal produce. I was fortunate to be the receiver of plenty of cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash from my Mama's Garden.

Garden Fresh Salad with tomatoes and cucumbers from Mama's Garden on a bed of romaine lettuce. Made from scratch Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. Sometimes a girl just has to have Ranch. Ya know?

Asian Cucumber Salad: Mama's Garden has kept me in cucumbers and tomatoes this season. I've been putting them to good use.

Taste of Summer--Strawberry Spinach Salad

Taste of Summer -- Chopped Santa Fe Salad with a from scratch avocado dressing. Boasting freshness with the use of garden goods: Tomatoes, jalapeños, sweet summer corn, black beans, red onion, cilantro on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce drowsed in freshly squeezed lime juice.

Taste of Summer-- Salad Nicoise a French Inspired delight.Traditionally, it's served with Tuna, but I go with Salmon.

 
Stuffed Squash -- Squash and zucchini are abundant in most home gardens this time of year. My clients were looking for an OUTSIDE of the Box way to make good use of theirs. Here's the results.

  

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches topped with Cilantro Lime Slaw

 Grilled Vegetable Kebabs -- A great, tasty way to get your veggies in.

Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken Kebabs

  



Blueberry Crumble -- Summertime is berrytime. Blueberries happen to be my favorite in all their berry splendor. I like to eat this crumble as is or served with a dollop of Mascarpone.

Mixed Berry Compote --  Since I had a medley of berries that were subject to go bad if I didn't eat them right away. I decided to make a Mixed Berry Compote of them. A delightful, lightly sweet way to top most anything you desire. Served here with plain Greek yogurt. The possibilities, however, are endless.

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Where to start...

…I feel like I should bring y’all up to speed on my progress thus far but I won’t bother. Let’s just recap the last couple of weeks and from here on out I promise to update y’all a few times a week. Fair enough? Good.

I just recently completed a 10-day Herbal Cleanse which meant: No bread, pasta, corn or white starches, dairy, alcohol, coffee, or soda. The first and second day went smoothly, but by day three I was having some serious bread withdrawals. I looked like a heroin junkie. I was balled up in the corner scratching and sweating. No seriously, it did become a little tricky and I was starting to doubt I could make it through all ten days. Of course, I prevailed. And, when it was all said and done, to my surprise, the peanut butter toast (on whole wheat bread) I was craving was not all that. I was also longing for Greek yogurt, but once I was able to eat it - I wasn’t really moved by it either. It’s funny how we can make adjustments when we put our minds to it.

The Herbal Cleanse was a jump start to me slowly shifting my diet and when I say diet I just mean I’m modifying my eating habits. Currently, I’m on a strict protein and carbs from vegetables only diet. I’m detoxing myself from white flour, sugar, and dairy products. Why? It’s simple. White flour and sugar have no dietary value. Our bodies are not designed to process the crap. I probably will need to revisit this topic later and dedicate a whole section to it – it’s pretty deep. No dairy? You ask. Well, it’s full of hormones, antibiotics, and the list goes on. So basically, I’m loosely following a Paleolithic diet or the Caveman diet, which consists of eating animal protein and plant carbs. I don’t want to go off on Caveman diet tangent quite yet. I’ll save that for another blog. I know, I know. I’m such a tease.

Until next time…