Here's What *Could* Happen if You Grow Tomatoes

It's altogether possible (but I'm not making any guarantees) that your six-year old daughter might visit the plants every single day to check on the progress of said tomatoes...

It's also possible (but again no promises) that when the tomatoes ripen, the same six-year old girl (who doesn't really even like tomatoes -- that is unless they are grape tomatoes and she's staarrving) will lovingly pluck them off the vine, carefully rinse them off and pat them dry and then gingerly place them in a bowl on the windowsill.

And that same girl just might also declare one evening during dinner that she would like to have tomatoes for dessert.

For. Dessert.

"You know", she'll say... "just sliced up, with a little salt on top."

And then she might eat them all...every. single. slice., so that you and your husband literally have to distract her so you can get just a teeny tiny sliver of homegrown tomato for yourself.

And then you might faint. I'm just sayin. It could happen.

Sweet Paul + School Lunch Update

image via sweet paul magazine

Have you seen the new magazine from genius food blogger/ stylist sweet paul? It's completely inspiring and lovely and the recipes are seriously drool-worthy.

In (digitally) flipping through it, I was especially jazzed about the photo above, as it solved a vexing "snack" dilemma I've been wrestling with.

Tomorrow night, a group of other neighborhood moms are meeting at my house to talk "school lunch" and come up with some changes we'd like to see implemented at our elementary school. (I haven't talked about school lunch here in a while, but I'm pretty excited about the direction we're headed.)

Needless to say, I was a wee bit stressed about what kind of snack to serve a group of ladies while talking about putting healthier food in our kid's lunch rooms, so when I saw the picture above I had a sort of eureka moment... So easy, so pretty -- some pecans, some pears, a little cheese, some dried apricots, a few water crackers... Done and done.

I'm totally copying Paul. 100% copying... that exact snack box you see above. (except maybe on a tray and not a box, we'll see.)

Ok, back to school lunch. Several of these same ladies and I got together a few months ago to watch the excellent documentary 2 Angry Moms. (If you're at all interested in the school lunch issue, I would highly recommend buying this and hosting a screening for other moms, it's fantastic!) Since then, there have been several other group meet-ups, a meeting between one of the especially motivated moms and our district food service director (!), and I had a chance to chat with the head of the lunch program at Audrey's school. There's real traction and a strong sense in our community that folks are interested in making sure our schools serve healthy food, which is so incredibly encouraging, no?

The really exciting news though is that I think the stars are aligning and change is already happening...what seemed like an uphill battle just months ago now seems to be moving rapidly forward (maybe it's the changes to the Child Nutrition Act or the Jamie Oliver show and petition {have you signed the petition yet?} or public pressure...who knows, but something is going on.) For example, I got a sneak peek at the menu for next year and all white grains have been replaced with whole wheat, they're offering loads more fresh fruits and veggies (I was especially excited about the addition of snap peas), and they've eliminated pudding and processed branded meals (i.e. that Smucker's crustable pb&j currently on the menu.)

Progress friends, progress...

I'll keep you posted on how things shake out (both the meeting and that cheese box ;-)

Book Club Dinner (and "Easy" Beans)

We hosted our couple's book club on Saturday with a little Mexican meal. We've been doing this book club with three of our closet couple friends for the past five years, and the person that picks the book hosts the dinner and makes something that matches the "theme" of what we're reading. This time around, hubby picked God's Middle Finger, so we decided to make a little Mexican meal to accompany us on our literary journey into the "lawless heart of the Sierra Madre."

Bryan whipped up a big batch of homemade chips that we served with guacamole, followed by flank steak topped with "magic sauce" and pork tamales with tomatillo sauce + beautiful rice and super easy beans...

I love these beans, and surprisingly (they're pretty spicy and feel a little "grown-up") so does Audrey. But I have to admit they are a bit of a cheat (maybe I should call them "cheater beans" instead of "easy beans"), as I use canned pintos and pre-made pico de guillo as the base.

I know, I know...

Before I share the recipe, I have to say that Mexican food is my favorite cuisine to make in the spring and summer -- it's easy, incredibly yummy and, well...(for lack of a better adjective) fresh. + there are the margaritas, which honestly might be the real impetus for all of this. I'm just sayin.

Easy (cheater) Mexican Beans (serves 6):

• 3 pieces of bacon
• 1/2 container of pico de guillo
• 2 cans of organic pinto beans
• 1 can of light beer
• 1/2 cup organic chicken broth
• kosher salt + pepper to taste

fry the bacon, remove from pan and coarsely chop, reserve bacon grease and move pan off the heat.

Once the grease has cooled a bit, add the pico de guillo (be careful when adding as the grease will splatter) and return to medium high heat. Saute the pico until the onions are lightly browned.

Add the beans and the chopped bacon to the sauteed pico and stir together over medium high heat for a few more minutes.

Add the beer and the chicken broth to the bean mixture, turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil for about 7 minutes.

Turn heat to lowest setting, cover beans and let cook for about 30 minutes. Be sure to check beans frequently, and if the liquid gets too low add a little more chicken broth. You'll want the beans to be thick with a little liquid but not soupy.

Add kosher salt and pepper to taste (I also like to add just a bit of fajita seasoning.)

My New Favorite Food Blog

Is Dinner: A Love Story...

It's serioulsy fantastic. (via the always genius design mom)