Basil

When you have foods, you naturally need to find a way to use them. I had an odd selection of items that led to the creation of this recipe. Luckily, my husband was rather impressed with it, and we both enjoyed it. A warning: It was very filling, and for a light Sunday afternoon snack, we were happy eating just half for each of us.

Recipe for Spinach Pesto Quesadilla

• 2 Large Flour Tortillas
• 1/2 cup Spinach Basil Pesto
• 1/2 large tomato, sliced
• 5 black olives, sliced in thirds
• 1/4 shredded Parm/Reg or Jarlsberg Cheese

Warm a large skillet over medium heat. Place one flour tortilla on the skillet. Spread basil evenly to the edges of the tortilla. Top evenly with tomato slices and olives. Sprinkle cheese on top and cover with second tortilla. Warm until light brown and crisped on one side. Flip over
and cook on the other side. Slice with a pizza slicer (on a cutting board so you don't mess up your skillet).

My garden has not turned out as well as I had planned. But, I don't beat myself up. I'm new to this. It just kinda feels like a waste of money. I'm happy to hear advice if anyone wants to assist in my cluelessness.

First the positives: The basil is growing like crazy. The parsley is happy. I'm going to replace my depleted tea supply with mint very soon. I'm also imagining a mint chocolate chip shake or smoothie. And tonight we harvested our first tomato. (Not really. I noticed it was missing and made Paul dig in the midst of the basil for it cause I'm afraid to touch anything I can't see in my garden right now. It had ripened and fallen off, but it could stand another day or two on the counter.)

The bad things: Two weeks ago, I walked out to check on my budding green thumb and discovered my large carrot planter picked clean. I mean clean! Even the weed that I left hoping I'd get lucky, and it would magically turn into something edible was gone. The container was dry as the desert. I was heartbroken and even dreamed a couple nights later that I had giant, 5-inch in diameter carrots coming out of my planter at harvest time.

Two years ago, we had some leftover pomegranates and served this salad dressing with that fruit substituting the strawberries at Christmas. The rich color and flavor was fabulous. I remembered that recipe contained basil. When planning Dinner Club two weeks ago, I knew it would highlight our prolific basil. The dressing appeared to go over well. Fely even added it to her pasta. (I hope that didn't mean the pasta was bad.)

The light pink of the dressing was very feminine, and seemed more appropriate for a girl's luncheon, whereas the pomegranate was a rich red color that worked well at Christmas and for a mixed guest list. Also, the quality of the dressing depends highly on the quality of the strawberries. If the strawberries aren't tops, the dressing will not be as great a success. It was definitely easier to ensure a perfect flavor with the pomegranates.

With so much basil within our reach, it's such a great idea to have a homemade salad dressing to in which to use it. I'm just not sure this is the one.

We had a ton of eggs nearing their expiration date, and I happily decided it was time to make another frittata. I actually can't remember the last time I did so, even though we have a lot of vegetable scrambled eggs for breakfasts. I searched my cookbooks and found a simple recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It's called light because the recipe allows for egg whites instead of whole eggs. I used three or four whole eggs instead of the egg whites. I loved how the broccoli cooked just above the pool of egg so that it was crispy/crunchy. Bird's Eye Baby Broccoli Florets kept me from spending extra time cutting. The fresh basil from our herb garden also made the frittata a hit. My only complaint would be I had to use a burner on the stove and turn on the oven for the final baking.

Super fast and easy and super cheap, I'll happily make this again and expound on it based on what veggies are in the fridge.

Cost to Make Broccoli Fritatta

• Broccoli (Publix)
• $0.65 Eggs (Publix)
• $0.03 Garlic (Maitland Farmer's Market)
• $0.40 Onion (Publix)
• $0.04 Olive Oil (Publix)
• $1.00 Cheese (Publix)
• Free Basil (Our Herb Garden)
• $3.02 Total feeds 2

Cost Per Person $1.51

Our Dinner Club guests just walked out keeping to the strict guidelines regarding Nora's bedtime. Thank you Tony, Fely, Richard, and Starr for understanding!

We're working backward in the posts about the dinner because we're actually starting with dessert, a healthy, if not odd, mixture of lime, sugar and basil. When I searched for basil dessert recipes, I was really surprised to find just this one or one with a lemon cake. I found the sorbet recipe on AllRecipes.com, and was encouraged by the positive reviews for such an odd mixture.

What I liked about this recipe: A great way to use up limes, which often go bad in my fridge. Few ingredients to bother with. A little bit goes a long way. So unusual. Tart like a sour apple Snowcone. (Loved that part, actually.) Presented well with strawberries.

Last week was a surprising challenge due to the fact that I had a slight relapse and wasn't feeling up to playing around in the kitchen as much as I had desired. Paul had pity on me more than one night by eating bagels with carrot sticks or other veggies a couple nights and taking me out to eat one night. That being said, I have a much fancier menu planned this week just to pay him back for my slacking week and to allow my creativity to be uncanned for a while.

In case you ever think I'm some kind of superwoman, think again. Looking around my disaster of a house and remembering the ironing board upstairs stacked with clothes makes me feel significantly like an unorganized maniac. However, I thank my friend, Lisa, for an amazing and encouraging pep-talk on Friday that really made my weekend. Also, Nora had her first play-date (er, rather, Mommy had her first play-date) with a lady and her daughter that live just one street away. Splashing in the kiddie pool and sitting in the sun of a glorious Spring afternoon also revived the tired, old mommy.

I stepped outside my back door on Friday and to my surprise, I see positive changes in my little plants in our container garden. I was so excited, I called my parents immediately. I'm so glad to know that growing our own items really isn't as hard as I expected. In fact, it's quite a lot of fun. And what a blessing to watch the plants grow and change. I've included just a few pictures so as not to bore you.

At the risk of sounding like I'm trying to convince myself, I repeat: I did not want to post my child all over my blog. However, it was evident today when it took me much longer to deal with the container garden than it should have that Nora will continue to be involved in every chore I do. And therefore will sneak into pictures here and there. I will just try to make sure they actually have a correlation to the story.

I won't bore you with the details about diaper changing and moving the carrier with me to every container so I could rock it with my foot. Instead, I will tell you how much fun I had planning my container garden, shopping, and even actually working in my garden. (By the way, thanks to Graycen Nudd for helping me plant the flower seeds this morning before she returned home with her parents.) If you have known me at all, you will likely believe I am an exceptionally girly-girl. This is true mostly. Just subtract my love for baseball, basketball, and especially hockey. Now, you can add "playing in the dirt" to the list of things I enjoy doing, especially in our fabulous spring weather. Don't get me wrong, I scrubbed my hands well and immediately applied lotion to them when I was done, but there is something so gratifying about working in the soil and seeing changes for the better and then excitedly awaiting the produce.

While Nora and I were outside enjoying the spring weather a couple days ago, I looked around sadly at our herb garden. I took a picture and decided I would share my desires and plans to improve our little urban garden. Mind you, this is not all of our garden, and I'm sorry to say, isn't the worst either. (The rocket is more depressing.) Fortunately, the rosemary on the front porch is considerably happier, which makes me not feel as bad.

We have some small pots and a bucket that someone gave me as a gift-basket. I'm going to fill each of them with dirt and plant some wild flower seeds that were sent to us as gifts. We're big on fresh flowers, and I think the extra color will make us very happy.

Next, I read somewhere that toddler swimming pools make great urban garden planters. I would love to fill one up with spinach and other greens. Seems like a good investment--this year a garden, next year fun for Nora. However, what would really make this work would be if I found a really cheap (a.k.a. free) pool. I would be extra happy to only have to invest in soil and seeds.

Last week, a reporter from iReport at CNN wrote with a "Weekend Assignment" story request for a video of a signature dish. Eggplant Bruschetta is one of my classic dishes, and today Paul and I visited the same stall at the Maitland Farmer's Market where we picked up our first eggplant. You can check out the video of making Baked Eggplant Bruschetta and learn the recipe at ireport.com.

Cost Per Person $3.12

Well, let's start by apologizing for a complete lack of tweeting this evening. My phone was dead when I awoke this morning. (The brain is forgetting to charge it at night.) And I appear to have lost my travel charger. I didn't get home until after dinner to get the phone charged.

We dined with our friends, Sarah and John at Harmoni Market and Bistro in Longwood this evening. We have eaten at the one in College Park nearly two years ago and thought it would be a nice opportunity for all four of us to try this new restaurant.

I didn't look at prices, but I will say the market part is kind of spiffy with its food selections. The pasta sauce available is one highly recommended by Smitten Kitchen. I think such things are good to note when you evaluate the estimated quality of food.

Cost Per Person $10.00

We first learned about Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes when we were doing our "Pasta Taste Test." I didn't have a coupon at the time and had no idea how much I would fall in love with them. I have since quit buying pasta sauce--even when it's available for a great price. I love making my own with these full-flavor tomatoes, a little onion, garlic, and basil from our herb garden. However, I have become a serious believer in couponing (Especially when it comes to stocking up on diapers!) and love finding links to print $1 coupons for 1 Muir Glen Product ($1/1). I can buy 8 oz. cans of Tomato Sauce at my local Publix for $0.89 a can. With the coupon, the tomatoes are free! If I get a can of diced tomatoes, I end up paying about $0.40. That's a great price for organic-anything! Below are a few links to $1/1 printable coupons. You can print two per computer. You can also find notes to get an additional coupon by becoming a fan on Facebook in the Recommended Links in the right hand column.

Here is the spinach pesto I made to serve on pizza with fresh tomatoes instead of a marinara sauce. The rosemary bread at $5 for two loaves from Costco makes the pizza easy and tasty because it adds lots of flavor leaving only a need for a little salt and pepper on the tomatoes.

You can find the recipe for my spinach pesto from my post last year. Plus, you can search for other recipes I use the spinach pesto with, like spaghetti squash or butternut squash lasagna, which will be made again this year. I will tell you I passed on the Parmesan and sprinkled a little olive oil in the food processor as I was stirring up and dishing out the pesto. Also, be careful with the garlic. All I had were large cloves left, and it was very potent for the amount I made! Unfortunately, my basil needs more care than I have been giving it; so, I didn't have as many leaves as I am used to or wish for. That's the beauty of the spinach in the pesto. It eliminates the need for so much basil, but still allows for fantastic and healthy flavor.

Paul wanted some corn bread, and I thought it would go great with the asparagus, but when I measured out the corn meal, I realized that I was very short the needed amount for the cornbread; so, I checked out the recipe for Corn Scones in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home and found it needed the 1 cup corn meal I had. The batter mixes up easily and is easy to cut into nice triangular shapes with a pizza cutter. Naturally, the corn scones don't get as fluffy and are a bit crunchier than regular corn bread, but it's a nice change or an easy way to get the same flavor when you are short on corn meal. By the way, the recipe calls for currents, which I intentionally left out.

After reading The Splendid Table's How to eat Supper, I decided to not take anyone's word for it, but to do a trial of pasta on my own.

I sat up in bed sometime in the middle of the night and realized yesterday had not gone smoothly enough for me to be near a computer other than at work. So, bright and early this morning, I am making up for my lack of desire to get out of a nice warm bed on one of the coldest nights of the year in Florida and share my thoughts.

This week, I will feature a series of posts, the inspirations of which came from the fascinating cookbook, The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper. It is more than just a list of recipes. The book also highlights little known facts, dispels myths, and makes specific grocery list recommendations. Perhaps after I highlight some fabulous experiences with the book, you will want to acquire one of your own.

When so many fresh ingredients are at your fingertips (especially during the winter time) it makes so much since to create a fantastic sandwich that mixes them all together. I enjoyed this so much because it was a fast creation and the flavors were fantastic.

Paul declared this creation great. He especially liked the crust. I really enjoy the flatbread as well. I just happened upon some Naan hand-stretched flatbread at Costco. I love making sandwiches out of it or serving it instead of French bread alongside pasta. I think it looks and tastes fabulous.

On occasion, we find opportunity to eat at IKEA. Generally, a sale draws us in, and we arrange to have friends go with us. The activity is so much more fun with another couple. When IKEA Orlando opened, we were still newlyweds, and we took along fellow newlyweds, Tim and Magally Putt. We enjoyed a variety of vegetarian dishes. Magally, also enjoyed the Swedish meatballs, which are not vegetarian.

I made this appetizer twice last weekend. I have decided that spaghetti squash is best in October, because by November I was struggling to find good fall squash to purchase. The dish was a big hit at both events and the goods were all gone. There's no complement like the complement of disappearing food (as long as it isn't fed to the dog).

The first time I had a pomegranate salad dressing was in an underground restaurant in Budapest. I was disappointed, but still thought it was a good idea. Last week, we had a few pomegranates leftover from breakfast, and I decided to find a recipe to make a dressing for our parents as we had both sets over for lunch after church. The closest thing I found was a strawberry salad dressing in "Moosewood Restaurant New Classics." I substituted Pomegranates for the Strawberries but kept the rest of the recipe consistent. It was fabulous.

Previously, I have blogged about the wisdom of using food as a gift. We have taken our own advice and found ways to give food as gifts. We give lovely jars (RECYCLED) filled with dehydrated or fresh herbs depending on who will receive the gift and what we think they may like. We put a homemade label on the jar that connects back to EatLikeARabbit.net for recipes and other suggestions. Generally, herbs are useful to an individual. And even they may not be useful to the original recipient, they know someone who will be thrilled to get it. Therefore, we are sharing our love of the land with others and giving something that won't sit in a closet and collect dust until an appropriate time comes to regift it or take it Goodwill.

This meal was absolutely fun to make. I assure you, a solid vegetable meal like this can be cheap and fabulous. The asparagus and sweet potatoes came from Aldi, a rather unusual but wise grocery store, which is known for very reasonable prices on off-brand foods. A good number have recently opened up in Orlando. My experiences there in America and out of the country have been pleasant.

The following post is in reference to that little bowl filled with green at the top left hand corner.

A few situations happening in just a week's time started me thinking about this post. It started when I read one of the many magazines in our office (unfortunately I do not remember which one) that said basil was hard to acquire for a pesto sauce and recommended some alternatives.

I was so proud of this recipe. I thought I had found one in a cook book, but once I bought the spinach couldn't find it. So, I just took what we liked and put it all together to create the pictured item. Notice, I cubed the mozzarella like we had at Cafe Epicure in Sarasota. I also purchased mozzarella because that experience taught me that a soft cheese on top of pasta adds a whole new world to a meal.

Notice this sauce is a bit chunky. There are some creamy spots and some chunky spots. My mother says a bit of flour would help with that.

For an all-girls mini party, I needed a simple mid-afternoon snack to be more of the main dish for a small group. I already had some crackers made of a variety of seeds--flax, poppy, sesame,etc. The crackers have a great and unique flavor. I simply wanted something to add to them. I then selected a plain, but well seasoned hummus and a medium salsa as dips.

I love bruschetta. There are many varieties for creations from my "Moosewood Cooks at Home" cookbook. We had an excess of tomatoes this day, so I created my own. I wrapped the entire loaf in aluminum foil and placed it in the oven at 350 degrees to warm. If it were just the two of us, I would place a few slices in a regular toaster. Toasting to dark makes the bread crumble-y and not toasting enough makes the bread a bit tough so when you bite into it the toppings fall off. We regularly test slices of bread while heating to ensure it's the right texture.