You Say Tomato-

I say-

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

and

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Last summer was our first attempt at a garden. It went so well we decided to upgrade this year and go bigger and plant more veggies!

We did several varieties of tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, several types of lettuce, radish, sweet onions, red & green peppers, banana peppers, pickling cukes, slicing cukes and lemon cucumbers along with a couple different herbs. Our bounty this year has been amazing!

All summer long we picked fresh lettuce for salads, snacked on fresh cukes, grilled zucchini and waited for the tomatoes to start turning red!

Over the last couple weeks we got what we wished for and then some...the tomato crop is BOOMING!
So many tomatoes it was time to get cooking.
I made 3 bean chili. I made homemade marinara. I made basic tomato base to freeze for future use.
Then I needed to get a little more creative.
Then it hit me-I'll make SALSA!! This was my first attempt at making salsa and I am glad I gave it a go.
So delish!! We tested it out with a small batch and liked it SOOO much, we decided to make a giant batch. And everything (except the limes) came directly from my back yard.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

3 cups chopped tomato
1 cup chopped onion (we used sweet onion)
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1-2 hot peppers* such as jalapeno, Serrano, habanero, banana peppers, etc. (we used banana peppers)
*the variety and amount of hot peppers you use depends on how hot you want it
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

combine your chopped veggies and cilantro.
Dissolve the salt, pepper and cumin into the lime juice.
Mix everything together and enjoy!
Store in the fridge.

This salsa is soo good topped on grilled chicken, over brown rice or even just by itself!
I cannot tell you how many blue corn chips we sacrificed to the salsa gods this weekend!!
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The second tomato preparation I tried was
Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Another first for me. I love roasting veggies--Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of any vegetable and it is a great way to bring variety to your regular rotation of veggies.
Not a fan of steamed asparagus? Try roasting it.
Sick of baked sweet potatoes? Chop some up and roast!
It really makes any old veggie taste completely different.

If you are a fan of sun dried tomatoes, you will certainly love this cost effective and easy alternative.

Preheat oven to 325*

All you need is a bunch of tomatoes, some olive oil, salt, pepper and maybe even some garlic cloves.

You can use any variety of tomato for roasting-
Cherry Tomato-cut in half
Roma Tomato-cut in half
Regular large Tomato-cut into quarters

Cut the tomatoes accordingly and toss with a generous amount of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. If using garlic, add a bunch of cloves to the mix.
Toss well so each tomato is coated in the oil and seasoning.

On a cookie sheet, place each tomato skin side down. You can use parchment paper or even foil to line the sheet if you desire.
Pop in the oven and roast for 2 1/2 hours.
They will shrink down in size and look a bit shriveled. The edges may brown and this is just fine.
Perfection!!

These are great in sandwiches, tossed with pasta or rice or just by themselves.

I'm strong to the finish-

-'cause I eat my spinach!

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!! (toot! toot!)

Spinach. So versatile and easy. And SO GOOD FOR YOU!

I have always liked spinach. Matter of fact, when I was in grade school, I would get the school's hot lunch. I would love it whenever we had spinach (or broccoli). I would trade my cake (or whatever other dessert there was that day) with other kids to get THEIR spinach! I recall kids just willing handing over their spinach (and broccoli) and I thought I was the lucky one~getting ALL this spinach!

Fast forward many (many) years and I still love it. These days I am enjoying this super veggie in a few more creative ways then the boiled mess they offered in school lunch.

Here are some of my favorite ways to eat spinach!

I love to start the day or wrap up a workout with a protein shake and my favorite has to be one I have named "The Green Monkey". This is not my original recipe, it was actually an adaption from Tammy's recipe for her spinach protein shake, so a big thank you to her for sharing her recipe with me!

THE GREEN MONKEY PROTEIN SHAKE

• 1 cup of Almond Milk (or your favorite milky liquid~coconut, rice, soy, cow, goat etc.)
• 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein isolate (or your favorite protein powder)
• a dash of stevia or your favorite sweetener (honey works well here too)
• a dash of vanilla extract
• 1 generous tablespoon of all natural peanut butter
• 1 frozen banana cut into chunks (you don't have to use frozen but it's really really good if you use a frozen banana)
• a couple ice cubes (more if you used a non-frozen banana)
• a BIG hand full of raw baby spinach

put all of the above in your blender in that order and WHIZ until smooth. Enjoy-you won't even know you are drinking spinach-I promise!

A couple weeks ago after running a race, I was craving pizza. Now I did not want to go out nor did I to consume 9,000 calories in a single sitting so I played around with what we had on hand and came up with a great solution~yummy melted cheese, mostly figure friendly and satisfied my craving. Now this is a quick and easy lunch~add a big salad and you've got a great dinner too!

Easy Spinach Quesadillas

• 2 whole wheat wraps (I really like Joseph's Oat & Flax wraps)
• 1/4 cup (or more!) of LF shredded cheddar cheese (like Cabot 50% reduced fat is awesome!)
• 2 tblsp cottage cheese (optional-I have made it with and without, both are good!)
• 1 big hand full of raw baby spinach-chopped

Spritz a skillet with olive oil or non-stick spray and place one wrap in the pan. Layer cheese, spinach, cottage cheese and then more cheddar cheese.

Top with the other wrap. Cook on med-med/high heat until the bottom wrap is toasty and golden. Flip onto a dinner plate and slide back into the skillet. Repeat to toasty golden perfection on the other side.
I make a yummy salsa dip for this that is also super easy!

DIP: equal parts of plain Greek yogurt and your favorite salsa (1/4 cup each is good). Top with chopped cilantro and green onion (optional) or make it spicy with some extra hot sauce!



I came up with this salad combo this summer after a visit to Longhorn Steakhouse and several trips to pick strawberries.

Spinach & Fruit Salad with Feta

• 4 cups of raw baby spinach leaves
• 1 cup of fresh strawberries, quartered
• 1 cup of green grapes, cut in half
• a couple rings of sliced red or sweet onion

Toss the above in a large salad bowl and top with crumbled feta cheese. You can also add some grilled chicken to this to make it a great lunch or meal. I even like it with some toasted nuts like pecans or almonds. As for dressing~something light and simple goes well with this salad. A raspberry/walnut vinaigrette or poppy seed dressing is really good!

What is YOUR favorite way to eat spinach??

What is YOUR favorite super veggie??