Gleanings of Wheat

Obviously tomatoes & bell peppers are on the list of things to be planted this year, and assuming my raspberry bush survives it's second winter I'll have that, so what else? Any suggestions from Chicagoland gardeners? What grows well for you? List of stuff I'd like to grow Strawberries Basil Oregano Cilantro Carrots Lavender Oranges - yes, I know that's a pipe dream J has requested pink roses this year, which if I plant them next to the yellow rose bush W got me for Mother's Day, could be very pretty.

I'm moments away from heading out to my church's annual Thanksgiving dinner. I look forward to this every year, there's always great food and plenty of fellowship to be had. This year, Lord willing, we will have plenty of visitors as well as new members that haven't been able to do this with us yet. I pray in the midst of all the fun and food we, as a body, would be mindful to give thanks for God's grace. I'm so glad God has brought me into this church family! *To see thankfulness posts from other people check out Rebecca's site.

Do you ever wish you had new sandwiches? Tired of the day in day out routine of PB&J or ham and cheese? Well then click here ! TONS of recipes for sandwiches.

This is a very insightful personality quiz that consists of only one question. I am sure that you will be as amazed as I was! In the middle of the table is a round food tray with five kinds of fruits on it. They are: A. Apple B. Banana C. Strawberry D. Peach E. Orange Which fruit will you choose? Please think VERY carefully and don't rush into it. Your choice reveals a lot about you! Test results: Please SCROLL DOWN If you chose: A. Apple: That means you are a person who loves to eat apples B. Banana: That means you are a person who loves to eat bananas C. Strawberry: That means you are a person who loves to eat strawberries D. Peach: That means you are a person who loves to eat peaches E. Orange: That means you are a person who loves to eat oranges I hope you find fulfillment in this new insight about yourself. May it bring you peace and understanding, tranquility and all that other profound stuff.

I found this today. Very interesting. I'm only letting you read 9 of them, if you want the rest you'll have to click the link! 1. Oats High in fiber and complex carbohydrates, oats have also been shown to lower cholesterol. And they sure are cheap—a dollar will buy you more than a week’s worth of hearty breakfasts. Serving suggestions: Sprinkle with nuts and fruit in the morning, make oatmeal cookies for dessert. 2. Eggs You can get about a half dozen of eggs for a dollar, making them one of the cheapest and most versatile sources of protein. They are also a good source of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, which may ward off age-related eye problems. Serving suggestions: Huevos rancheros for breakfast, egg salad sandwiches for lunch, and frittatas for dinner. 3. Kale This dark, leafy green is loaded with vitamin C, carotenoids, and calcium. Like most greens, it is usually a dollar a bunch. Serving suggestions: Chop up some kale and add to your favorite stir-fry; try Ger...

I didn't make this , and as much of a chocoholic I am I probably never will. BUT OH MY WORD. Love. (Photo from Supersizedmeals.com)

Now that I'm without cable it makes watching the Food Network impossible. I miss it. Today I found the next best thing! YouTube Delicious is a collection of recipes on YouTube. So excited.

Want a simple marinade with lots of flavor? Try extracting the juice from 3 or 4 limes and let your chicken breasts sit in that for a couple of hours. I then grilled the chicken with some tomatoes and served it along with the Rice & Cheese stuffed peppers and a nice spread of fresh fruit.

If you don't read Girl Talk and are of the female persuasion, you should probably start. Encouraging posts, fun stuff on Fridays, and the occasional recipe make it a great place to swing by. The girls rounded up some ideas for summer fun and some recipes, all which are available in one PDF file found here ! Enjoy!

Here is a quick and easy recipe if you don't want any meat involved. If you wanted to do a Mexican themed spin off you could use some sort of salsa with Mexican mix cheese on top, and if you really wanted to spice it up you could put some jalepanos in there somewhere. 4 large bell peppers 8 oz. tomato sauce 8 oz. shredded cheese box of rice Cook rice according to package directions. Cut off pepper tops, and remove the seeds. Fill peppers with rice. Top with tomato sauce and cheese. Place in a baking dish; cover with foil; and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

I found this and I'm going to make it at some point in the future. It just looks so yummy! 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, plus more for top of cake 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed 4 cups milk 2 boxes (3.4 ounces each) instant vanilla pudding 2 boxes (3.4 ounces each) instant chocolate pudding Chocolate, milk or dark to make chocolate shavings Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium-size bowl, mix flour, walnuts and butter. Pat into prepared dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool completely. In a bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. Prepare vanilla pudding using 2 cups of the milk. Spread over cream cheese layer. Prepare chocolate pudding with remaining 2 cups milk. Spread...

I got this from my latest blog find, Thrify Mommy. Great place for ideas on how to save money, get dents out of cars , and yes...even take the sting out of jellyfish stings WITHOUT peeing on yourself (or anyone else). 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract 1. Heat oven to 375 F degrees. 2. Combine butter and sugar, then add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly. 3. Load into cookie press. Place dough 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheet. 4. Bake 12 minutes or until edges are brown. 5. Decorate as desired.

The local grocery had 1.5 pounds of snow crab legs on sale recently for just under $10 so I picked up some and threw them in my freezer until I successfully located a recipe that seemed interesting. Crab is nice, but just having some lemon and butter gets a bit boring so I was looking for a twist. I found that twist over at AllRecipes . As excited as I was about this recipe it didn't turn out well. If I had thought about it ahead of time I would have removed the meat from the shells and just put it in the butter mixture that way. Sadly, I did not think ahead and the way the recipe calls for the legs to be cooked didn't allow the crab to absorb any of the flavor and made the shells incredibly difficult to remove. Obviously since the crab had already been cooked I just had to thaw it and then add it to the garlic mixture once the corn was cooked. 3 1/2 pounds Alaskan king crab legs with shell 6 ears fresh corn 1 1/2 cups butter 3 teaspoons minced garlic 1/8 teaspoon crushed red p...

I don't know about you, but I often find myself struggling to come up with combinations of food that will compliment and accentuate each other's flavors. Despair no more! FoodPairing.be is your new best friend. Simply click the thumbnail and the website will display other foods that work well with what you have chosen!

I found this one at Epicurious. I served this over steak that I had prepared with the salting method and some rosemary. See my notes at the bottom for my alterations. 1 pound mixed fresh white and exotic mushrooms such as cremini, oyster, or shiitake (discard shiitake stems) 4 large garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 onion, chopped fine 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1/2 cup dry red wine 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 cups cold water 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves Slice mushrooms. In a 10-inch heavy non-stick skillet cook garlic in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until pale golden. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened. Add mushrooms and soy sauce and sauté mixture over moderately high heat, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown. Add wine and vinegar and boil until liquid is evaporated. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to skillet ...

I like peppers. I have a lot of them. I have to be creative because even a food you love, if eaten every day in the same way for a month, can become boring. So I experimented. They turned out pretty well, though I think I'd like them better with some sort of seasoning in the beef. Bell peppers, tops sliced off 1 lb ground beef 1 box Rice A Roni Spanish Rice First, start the rice according to the package directions. Next, over medium-high heat brown the beef and drain. While those are cooking grab your bell peppers, slice the tops off them and remove the seeds. Preheat the oven to 350. Once the rice and the beef are finished cooking mix them together and scoop the mixture into the peppers. Place the tops back on the peppers and then put them in a baking pan in the oven for about 20 minutes. **Notes: You might want to try adding some seasoning to the beef, maybe some garlic, or even some taco seasoning. Also, when I made this the peppers ended up having a bit of liquid in them, I...

The past couple of days we have had temperatures in the low 30s, obviously this weather isn't condusive to growing a veggie garden so I'm currently in my "strip the vines of anything usable and either cook or freeze it" mode. I have literally dozens of green tomatoes and bell peppers to deal with. Guess it is a good thing I like fried green tomatoes!

I found a neat method for tenderizing cheap steaks, but I don't want to link to it because the post is pretty vulgar. If it weren't so bad I'd link to it because the author of the blog actually created neat little images to explain how the salt works on the meat. Too bad. Here's how it went down: 1 steak, 1 1/2 inches thick or more per person kosher salt (it has to be kosher salt b/c it has large grains) Place the steak on a plate and COAT in salt. Seriously, cover it completely in salt. Let it sit for an hour and then rinse off the salt and pat dry. Preheat the oven to 350 and place steaks in a baking pan and cook for 30 minutes to heat the steaks evenly, remove steaks from baking pan and place in preheated skillet to give the outside some nice color. **Notes** If you mix some seasonings with the salt the inside of the steak will get the flavor as the salt works its magic. I used garlic. Adjust baking time in accordance with how rare you like your steak.

Thomas Brady performing Sophia In Paris

This has absolutely nothing to do with food aside from the fact that I was grocery shopping, realized I forgot my list at home and couldn't remember what I was at the store for. And it was at that moment that this Pixies song popped in my head. Stop With your feet on the air and your head on the ground Try this trick and spin it, yeah Your head will collapse if there's nothing in it And you'll ask yourself Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Way out in the water, see it swimming I was swimming in the Caribbean Animals were hiding behind the rock Except for little fish When they told me east is west trying to talk to me, coy koi Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Way out in the water, see it swimming With your feet on the air and your head on the ground Try this trick and spin it, yeah Your head will collapse if there's nothing in it And you'll ask yourself Where is my mi...