Monthly Archives: October 2009

Our cousin Mandy has taken quite an interest in the info over at GreenSmoothieGirl.com (check it out!), so we decided to flick on the video camera while tackling our first green smoothie together this evening (because, yes, this is how we entertain ourselves on a Saturday night).

Guess we should’ve left the green smoothie making to the experts!!! It turned out NASTY due to a misunderstanding about how MUCH lime to include (how embarrassing)! Never mind that both of us were in freakishly giddy moods…so we couldn’t really focus on the task at hand and take it seriously…(and, no, we weren’t “on” anything…just high on life). Who says eating healthy can’t be FUN!?!??!
P.S. – We pre-chopped a bunch of stuff with the food processor b/c we weren’t sure that our cheap blender could handle some of these veggies. Now we know why GreenSmoothieGirl has that $400 blender or whatever. That thing is a MONSTER!!

As you may recall it was a snowy day last Saturday. Tomato Tomato, Omaha’s year-round, indoor farmers market, was having a harvest festival so we HAD to check it out (see, you can count on us!). We’d never been there before since it’s quite far from our home and we already have local sources for most everything we need. We spent some time browsing the place and taking mental notes of what they have available, and then we saw it! Ostrich meat! Huh!?!?! Ya, that’s what WE thought. Apparently, there’s a farm in Lincoln, NE (Cebergs Farm) that raises ostrich….or is it ostriches??? Well, point is that we were feeling adventurous, so we picked up a pound of ground ostrich (for around 8 bucks, I think…..yeow, right!!?!), but ya only live once! We inquired as to how it should be prepared and were informed that “it can be substituted for beef, but it’s leaner than chicken so you might need to use a little oil.” Alright, so here it is (in its full ostrich-decal glory!)….

Thought we’d better use it up right away….before it ends up in the back-of-the-freezer graveyard, which currently house some lamb kabobs and pheasant meat that we never decided upon recipes for

So we had burgers. The yellow stuff is homemade garlic mayo (YUM!), if you’re wondering….

Verdict: It wasn’t bad. Flavor wasn’t very strong. Like if you are turned off by the flavor of grass-fed beef, ostrich might be just what you need to use. As for us, it was interesting to try, but not something for which we’ll readily be offering a ten-dollar bill in exchange for 2 ones again anytime soon.

We had a few inches of snow yesterday, but we didn’t get out there until today to uncover our beds and harvest the rest of our crops.

Today was the last day scheduled for the farmers market downtown. Unfortunately, we woke up to a few inches of SNOW! Fortunately, these markets are like the postal service…rain, snow or shine! Usually vendors have to worry about keeping their greens cool enough in the summer heat. With temps in the 20s today, they had the opposite problem. Check out these taters….

Here’s Tim from Green Leaf Farms (GreenLeafFarms.biz) doing his best to stay warm. We took some carrots, green onions, mixed greens and arugula off of his hands today! Yum! They are also certified organic….for any of you looking for a source of certified garlic, produce, herbs, or fresh cut flowers…

Ahh….and some cheese samples (no problem keeping them chilled today!)

Well, looks like we officially kept our garden alive and hoppin’ until the first snow. Whoa!

Ever have this experience at your house…

It’s Friday night….and time for the whole, “what do you wanna do tonight?”

“I don’t know, what do you want to do tonight? Dinner out? A movie??”

“I don’t care, whatever you wanna do?”

“No, come on! I always decide! You think of something for a change….”

Ya….well, we don’t have this problem too often because there’s usually something to be done. And last night was no exception. On Thursday, we harvested a boatload of green peppers from the garden (b/c frost time is near) and they needed to be diced and frozen.

I can’t claim that I really helped that much. So awesome job, Chad! Thanks babe! (He did have his headphones on, so don’t feel tooooooo bad for him. LOL! Besides, it’s all about teamwork, isn’t it? He does the work, and I blog about it!)

If you live in Omaha, then you know we’ve been under the threat of frost this week. Chad and I have been busy snatching the last of our harvestables from the garden:

Frost time is coming. Surely there won't be many more harvests to come.

And, at night, covering up what’s left behind. Hmmmmm….not exactly the most glamorous looking garden at this point. Perhaps someone should invent garden coverings that have gardens painted on them. At least we could enjoy the illusion! Besides, it’d have to look better than this (our neighbors surely think we’re a little whacked out by now)….

Beautiful garden?????

And it might snow TONIGHT!?!?!?  Well, on the up side….I guess that means that our garden experiment for this year was a success. After all, we’ve kept it alive, green and producing until the first SNOW!!  Woo hooo!!

We tried out a new pie crust recipe last night and, well….here’s what happened. Yikes!

We were in Lincoln, NE yesterday and in need of somewhere to get dinner. Some friends of ours had recommended Pepe’s because they know we care about what we eat. Pepe runs a quaint vegetarian Mexican restaurant and sources as much of his food locally as he can…mostly from a farmers market that is walking distance from his place! I’m not sure if Pepe has a website, but you can check out the place (and become a fan) on Facebook by clicking here: Pepe’s Veggie Mix Bistro (on Facebook)

Here I am outside Pepe’s…

A view from inside…

Waiting to place our order…(FYI – in the background is the kitchen area, extending back to the windows and over to the right…just to that brick wall. And, believe me, Pepe was back there working his TAIL off as the only cook in the kitchen…even with a full house of customers…and the wait for our food was no longer than it’d be any place else. Amazing!)

Menu of the day….this changes every few days, depending on what’s available at the market. Pepe tells us that his winter menu will consist primarily of soups, and he’s busy freezing fresh, local veggies for his winter menus!

We tried the SWEET POTATO QUESADILLA. Amazing! I am sooooooo gonna make something like this at home. It’s definitely something I would’ve never thought to make, but it was delicious!!!

We also tried the ZUCCHINI-VIDALIA ENCHILADAS….also delicious!! I’m not sure what the little salad was comprised of but it was sweet (probably the apples?) and spicy! I could eat it everyday….if only I had the recipe (hint… hint, Pepe! LOL!)

As we sit there enjoying our dinner together (which was especially enjoyable because: A) we didn’t have to cook, B) we didn’t have to eat in fear of artificial garbage in our meal like MSG, etc.), I looked up and noticed this sign on the wall….

Enough said, don’t ya think?!