Eatin' good in the neighborhood

With all the food that's coming in from the backyard and the free time that I've been given, it's like Applebee's all up in here!  Over the last week or so I've done a bunch of cooking and every meal has incorporated something from the homestead.  Some of the deliciousness includes:

* Several batches of kale chips with a mix of sesame oil and olive oil (thanks April!)
* Vegetable stir fry with our cabbage, zucchini, peas, and carrots
* Salsa
* Apple crisp
* The most delicious marinara ever, with our tomatoes and onion
* and as usual, Eggs: egg salad sandwiches, french toast, purin, etc.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients
8-10 backyard apples (about 6 cups cubed)
1 tbs flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup water


Crisp ingredients
1 cup quick oats
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp each of baking powder and soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
dash of salt

Toss together the apples, flour, sugar, and cinnamon and pour into a 13x9 baking dish.  Sprinkle the water over the top of apples.  Set oven to 350.  Toss together the brown sugar, oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.  Cut the room temp butter in until incorporated.  Top the apples with an even layer of the crumble and bake for 40-45 minutes.  Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top.  YUM!

Spaghetti with the Best Marinara Ever (I got the basic recipe here and changed it up a bit.)

Ingredients
A dozen or so ripe garden tomatoes (or however many it takes to get about 4 cups of crushed tomatoes.)
1/2 small onion (chopped)
3 tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
Salt, pepper, sugar to taste
A couple tsp balsamic vinegar to taste
(You can add a bay leaf but I didn't have any and it still tasted delicious.)

First you need to peel the tomatoes by blanching them in boiling water.  Put them into the water and let them boil for about 45 seconds.  Take them out and put them immediately into an ice bath.  The skins will peel super easily.  Remove the seeds and chop them up into big pieces.  (I actually crushed them with my hands.  The preschooler inside of me was really excited about the sensory experience.)

Replace the boiling water in the pot with the olive oil and chopped onion.  Saute for about 5-10 minutes and add everything else.  Cover and let it simmer on low heat for a few hours.


Now taste it.  With a small spoon.  Then have someone waiting there to pull you away as you try to grab a larger spoon and eat the whole pot right there.  Seriously.  So good.

Luckily I had some self control today and it lasted long enough for me to add some vegan ground meat and put it on pasta.  Delicious.  I'm glad I waited.