garden to table

I'd like to be one of those gardeners who takes the time to photograph the meals created using the ingredients grown in her own garden, but I'm not. I don't consistently document via camera what we eat. I actually don't enjoy taking pictures of food and think I'm better at taking pictures of the garden and our adventures anyway.

However, I did capture this side dish of potatoes, green beans and kale sauteed with onions in bacon grease. It's late September, but I'm still able to serve dishes with fresh ingredients from the garden. Although the temperatures have unfortunately risen reminiscent of Summer, I'm trying to look on the bright side. The warmer temps encourage continued growth. 

Since we've made it our standard to eat from home most of the time and since the preparation of those meals is mostly my responsibility, it is so, so lovely to be able to walk a few feet to get the fresh ingredients for the meal that day. Each time I cook with our own garden ingredients I think how frugal and healthy we're being and how tasty the food is too. 

I just realized I do have another meal picture. This is of shrimp fried rice. All the vegetables are from our garden and the shrimp is from a new local business called KC Shrimp that grows salt water shrimp on the outskirts of Kansas City. Truly, the best shrimp I've ever tasted.

Well, here's another picture ~ of pizza ~ always a winner around here. 

I'm still frequently roasting Roma tomatoes in the morning, using what is fresh and saving the leftover in the freezer. We are stocked for the winter which really makes me happy.

For the freezer, I roast the tomatoes, let them cool and then bag them for the freezer. If after roasting I use the tomatoes for a meal that day I put the cooled Romas in the blender and use the setting "chop" which makes the consistency more of a chunky (rather than smooth) puree. Just today I put together a spaghetti sauce for dinner. For this homemaker-ever-in-training, these fresh ingredients help me look like I know what I'm doing. Maybe I'm becoming like this Julia Child quotation!

You learn to cook 

so that you don't have to be a slave to recipes. 

You get what's in season 

and you know what to do with it. 

-Julia Child-