Update: We are all fine. The explosions happened after my brother had finished the marathon so we were on our way home at the time.
Today is a holiday in Massachusetts. Not many other states celebrate Patriot's Day. It is a commemoration of the the first day of the US revolutionary war. Arlington where I live always feels left out since the battles took place here too and no one really mentions us much. In fact the Jason Russel House still stands in the center of town. It is where the bloodiest battle of the day was fought. But then again we don't have the reenactments they do in Lexington and Concord. My celebration will be in a different area. The Boston Marathon is always run on Patriot's Day. My brother is in town to run it again. I'll be out cheering him on.
Anyway back to the main theme of the post - Harvest Monday. Sadly I do not have a harvest, but I'm sure I will next week. I've been trying to eat from my freezer as quickly as possible. I noticed that I had some frozen soups still downstairs, so this week I had some for lunch. Above is a cabbages and pork soup seasoned with ginger and soy sauce. It is certainly one of my favorite soups. But without beans I always feel hungry after a couple hours. Those beans soups fill me up much better.
My dinners were pretty standard this week. This one was chicken roasted with basil (frozen from the garden), whole wheat rosemary bread which we dip in olive oil (dried herbs from the garden), broccoli (garden), and roasted purple sweet potatoes (garden). If you look at last week's dinner you will see pretty much the same thing. Chicken with a side starch and two veggies, one green, one something else. I think it has become a very regular meal. That isn't to say we always eat like this. But my husband hates fancy food, and I tend to like my vegetables fairly plain. Sometimes I try to go out of his comfort zone a bit to see what he says and usually he doesn't like it. And he doesn't eat veggies, so mixing them into the meal doesn't work. Add in my nightshade sensitivities and I'm starting to feel in a bit of a rut.
Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.
I need to eat some of our soups from the freezer too. It needs to be cool for me to enjoy soup though, not hot like it has been. It sounds like the weather will be super for the runners today, maybe a little cool for the crowds though. I hope he has a great race!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had some soups in my freezer. I keep eating all mine and we haven't really started on the cool weather yet.
ReplyDeleteYour broccoli looks freshly harvest. What do you do to maintain that beautiful green color?
ReplyDeleteCould use a bowl of you yummy soup today. It is gray out and I am nursing a nasty cold.
Good luck to your brother.
Nothing really special. I blanch it for three minutes and the freeze and vacuum seal it. I hope you get better.
DeleteI want those sweet potatoes!!!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that patriots day was a holiday in some parts of our nation! Learn something new every day. :D
ReplyDeleteWe tend to eat very similar meals around here too and I am also getting a little bored with it, so lately I have been purposefully mixing in some other meal options to make things more interesting. Still have the meat, starch, veggies meals very regularly, but trying to intersperse other items (casseroles for instance) too.
Summer will be here before long and your options will open up some when the garden does. I tend to find myself doing the same and when I do I stick to fruits for a while. Then when I go back the veggies it feels right again. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI finally harvested some PSB this week. Hooray! It's too long since I had any significant harvests to report...
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious to me, fancy or not! We're also working through the freezer stores and are glad to have the few garden greens that we do to supplement.
ReplyDeleteI love chicken roasted with rosemary, which I first had at La Madeleine (a French-bistro type restaurant that is now a chain but started here in Dallas). But I've never tried it with basil. I'm going to have a chicken breast for lunch. No skin, no bone, just a filet, but I think I'll try the basil for a change. Do you also use garlic or any other seasoning, or just the basil?
ReplyDelete[capcha is driving me crazy, looks like this is going up as anonymous--it's me, pooks]
http://planetpooks.com/harvest-monday-4-15-13/
Our freezer is the size of a shoebox, so we can't store much food.
ReplyDeleteMaybe not a bad thing, since we still forget what's in there.
Your soup looks yummy. Sometimes simple dinners are the best dinners. Glad you're still able to eat from your frozen stashes. Good luck to your brother!
ReplyDeleteStill no linking for harvests, but I am still using produce from last year's garden. Our butternut squash is still hanging in there, but I did have to toss one yesterday (my biggest one, darn it). We had some for dinner last night, with 2012 garden green beans and grilled fish. Like you, I'm making simple dinners to use up the freezer items. It won't be long before the space will be needed again!
ReplyDeleteWe've been feasting on asparagus from the farmer's market lately, and I do generally prepare it the same way, grilled, that's my husband's favorite way to eat it and he pouts when I try to cook it a different way. But one night I stir fried it with chicken and a fermented black bean sauce and got rave reviews so I guess there are two ways I can prepare it now! It's so easy to get into food ruts...
ReplyDeleteHope your brother did well in the marathon.
Looks like a delicious dinner to me.. especially those sweet potatoes and broccoli. Simple food is usually best.. I get frustrated when I spend the time and effort to make something elaborate and it doesn't turn out very good. I think steamed veggies win every time!
ReplyDeleteYes, fun to recall Patriot's Day in Massachusetts. We were all hoping for spring by then but it was the forsythia only where we lived. Gardens are earlier these days I hear with the zone creep and "warming." Enjoy the day!
ReplyDeleteJust saw the explosions on TV, praying you and your brother are safe.
ReplyDeleteYes we are fine and home. We were on the subway under downtown Boston when it happened. We were very confused when they evacuated the subway. The only time that had happened to me before was when there was a fire somewhere on the tracks. No one said why when they were doing the evacuation. We found out because everyone was getting text messages asking if they were ok. They couldn't really call in because the phones were too overwhelmed, but text messages were going through albeit slowly.
DeleteThank heavens you weren't at that finish line. Now I can breathe easy, I was concerned for your safety.
DeleteI am watching the explosion news, too. Blessings on your family. Hope everyone is safe.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that your brother is okay. How sad that this has to happen. Being in a rut is not bad. Looks healthy to me. Enjoy! My husband eats a few veggies but likes just certain ones. Nancy
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are safe and well. My thoughts immediately turned to you and your family when I turned on the radio and heard the news.
ReplyDeleteGlad all are safe! Looks like some yummy fixings! The sweet potatoes look great!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to read that you and your brother are ok. What a horrible, horrible tragedy. Maine also celebrates Patriots Day and a lot of people from Maine were at the marathon today.
ReplyDeleteLast week was a good time for soups. It seemed so chilly.
Thanks for letting us know that you were in the area, but had left safely before the explosions. I'm glad that you and your family are OK.
ReplyDeleteThought of you immediately. Glad you're all right.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're ok. Thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteI just came back to your post because I remember you said your brother was running the marathon today. Glad to hear you and he are ok. How horrifying!!
ReplyDeleteGood to hear your brother is safe after hearing the disturbing news today.Simple meals really are the most enjoyable especially after a long day at work who wants the fuss! I really like the sound of the wholewheat bread with rosemary now that would be lovely with soup too.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I wanted to do this morning was check in here. I'm so glad everything is all right with you and yours. I knew 6 others that were there as well and they are all good, too. Praises be!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that everyone with you is ok!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that you and yours are all safe!
ReplyDelete