Garlic Kale Eggdrop Soup with Lemon

We try to consume lots of greens.  Kale is the one we use the most (along with salad greens).  This recipe was refreshing and delicious and could be made with other greens should you desire.  

1 T. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bulb of garlic (yes, a whole bulb)
1 quart broth
Sprig of fresh oregano or 1/2 t. ground
Salt and pepper
1/4 c. fresh basil or 1 T. dried
1/4 c. lemon juice
5-6 cups kale
2 eggs, beaten

Sauté onion and garlic cloves in oil until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add broth, oregano, and salt/pepper.  Simmer for as long as you want (I left mine on for ~40 minutes just for that warm, garlic soup smell.

Blend broth mixture adding the basil, lemon juice, and as much kale as you desire. Taste test for flavor - more lemon/salt/pepper to taste.
  
Return to pot, bring to a simmer.  Slowly drizzle in eggs as you stir the soup.  Let cook a couple minutes and serve.  We added more kale, cherry tomatoes, and Parmesan to ours.  

Growing things

Our garden is doing better this summer, but still not as great as I would hope. We have sun screened the tomatoes since they were receiving too much heat off of the wall. The tomatoes taste good, at least the ones Eva lets me eat! The plants were a bit scorched looking, but are now starting to green up again.

We planted watermelon, cantaloupe, lemon and armenian cucumbers, yellow and zucchini squash, tomatoes (many types), sunflowers, peppers, eggplant, and lots of herbs. I have had an abundance of herbs and many of them volunteers from last year that seeded throughout the beds. We currently have one little watermelon started and have harvested several yellow squash and zucchini...hopefully more to come. Our cucumbers are fully flowered, but have yet to start any cucs. Overall, I am happy with this summers start, we have a bit more work to do to make all the beds productive. The kids are thrilled to watch bees pollinate, squash grow and tomatoes turn colors.

Zucchini Abundance

Even with only a couple of squash and zucchini plants the crop is almost too much to handle. On that note here are a few zucchini/squash uses we have done:

Chocolate chips, cranberries, walnuts and zucchini (of course!)

Zucchini cookies
Zucchini bread
Squash stuffed with grains or goat cheese/bread crumbs
Stuffed in manicotti
Shred into enchiladas
Mixed with seasonings and beans for tacos
Added to apple pancakes
Sauteed into omelets
Polenta squash towers...

Squash is fairly mild in flavor and can just be snuck into almost any recipe!

Use and Re-use

Reusing some items is easy to do and very cost effective. I am refining my kitchen re-useability. I have started composting again (having stopped when Elias was born) and instead of just throwing scraps and ends out I am saving them to juice with other veggie scraps. I combine the juice and the pulp, add seasonings, simmer and then strain off and freeze. This has cut down my broth cost and the leftover mash is perfect worm/compost food! My garden is producing lots of squash, so I think many pots of broth are in my near future!

Home for a Meal

Wow! What a summer it has been. We have been traveling nonstop the last two months...starting with two trips to Cottonwood at the beginning of June. Followed by over a week in Colorado and then a good 10 days in Cupertino. We have been eating out for most meals and were ready to come home and go nowhere!

Unfortunately, with a 10 day absence comes an empty refrigerator. I really didn't want to go to the store yesterday, so it was oatmeal (oats, almond milk, applesauce in cupboard) for breakfast. Craig picked up bread for lunch (grilled cheese with tomatoes). Dinner was going to be a challenge, but my garden came through with tons of squash, zucchini, tomatoes, bell pepper and gobs of parsley, basil and green onions. I made some 7 (ish) grain pilaf with lentils, added the sauteed veg and mixed in some leftover feta and herbs. Some fresh sliced Armenian cucumber and some fresh made chapatis rounded out the meal. It is good to be home!

Garden Abundance

Over the years we have put in small gardens. When Elias was born, the garden became even smaller with less attention put into it. In the past our winter garden has produced radishes, lettuces, beets, spinach and broccoli. The summer garden has never done well producing tomatoes and on occasion zucchini.

Elias loves to garden and as he is becoming more helpful and interested we have decided to scale up a bit. We built five more beds this summer and put in a late garden of tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, squash, eggplant, beans, cucumber and numerous herbs. Even with the late start and inattention due to my absence the last month and a half the garden is starting to flourish. We are working on watering issues (the beds are getting too much) and would like to add more plants.


Over all I doubt it is saving me much money (except in herbs!) It is still a small garden, but it gives the kids some experience with different types of plants and how they grow. We watch the critters that hang around, measure the veggies as they grow and the kids love to eat all the produce fresh picked!

Big Fat Juicy, Itty Bitty Teeny Worms!

What kind of pet do you have!? Worms? Okay, maybe they aren't pets, but they are awfully fun to watch. Elias loves to pick them up, feed them compostables, talk about the microbes they are eating, count babies, shred paper and in the future mix the worm castings into the garden soil.


We have been working on keeping a good moistness, enough food and a bug free environment for our worms. We are still in the learning phase and there have been many adjustments. It is too dry and hot for the worms outside and the bin is easily flooded. I think I am getting the hang of it and might even order a few more worms. I look forward to all the wonderful worm castings that will enrich our garden soil.