Gardening | First Fruits

Here's a garden update for you all:

Strawberries have arrived! Hooray! We don't have many but what we have are sooooo good. Mmmm...why do I buy strawberries in the winter?

Mixed salad greens and Russian kale are also up and being eaten. Very yummy. Both are heritage seed packs we got on Saltspring. The kale is smaller and leafier than the kale you buy at stores. Kind of close to arugula.

Tomatoes and squashes are coming along nicely, seeing little fruits growing.

Potatoes, corn, beans, carrots and Swiss chard are all sprouted and growing nicely.

Peppers are still little but seem happy.

Basil is sad, there was too much rain and cold weather. I'm hoping they bounce back as I had big plans for pesto this year. Ah well we shall see.

Well I'm off to Nelson today with Barb and Micah And hopefully she picks up some yummy strawberries on the way to get me. Mmmm, nothing beats living in fruit country for the summer!

Kitchen | Organizing

So we're in the kitchen this week for Flylady, And I've been on a cupboard reorganizing kick. My baking cupboard used to look like this:



And I was whining to my mom about how I need to organize but I don't want to use plastic because it will likely kill us all, and I can't afford glass containers right now. She pointed out that I can just use mason jars. Well.....yeah, forehead slap. So this is what it looks like now:



It makes me happy. I walk by and just open the cupboard and look at it. Um, I will however need to find more jars as I do intend to can this year...also...my mom might not keep sending me soup if I never return her jars...

Want to see another cupboard? Of course you do!



The metal canisters were my Gramma's before she moved into a seniors home. I love them.

In addition to the organizing (and there has been more, but I'll spare you photos of every single cupboard) I have been purging again. I whine that I don't have much storage here...but really, I have too much stuff. I can say I have less stuff than most people, which is true. But I still have more than I need. I want to only have things I need and love in my house, the rest is just baggage. I don't need 5 sets of chopsticks (sets, like 4 pairs in a set, not 5 pairs...I kept about 8 pairs)...I don't need 13 dinner plates...I now have 6. That kinda hurts. But you know, I don't have room to feed more than 6 people, and if I do I have more littler plates. And my cupboard is happier (wanna see? hahaha). Anyway...I've made three trips to my neighbourhood thrift store in the past month...and I think I'll still make a couple more.

Also. My house has been clean for a month. Self high five!

Gardening | Gardening, In-laws,and a birthday

So the garden is almost all planted, we have tomatoes and squash and salad mix and dill ...still to come is mint and basil and more tomatoes and peppers and flowers. Then later on we'll go for the corn and carrots and peas.

Goodness that's a lot of food, I can't wait to start eating it!



Having fun with Craig's parents. They're out doing a birding tour with him this morning. We've been to Castlegar and Nelson on Friday and hopefully will go to the hot springs tomorrow. We went to the wildlife centre (where Craig works) and we saw this moose:



And she was in the process of giving birth. To twins it turns out.

Insane!



And my mom had a birthday, I made her a chocolate turtle cheesecake (as requested). I've never made a baked cheesecake before and I really am going to need some practice as it was not up to my standards, very yummy though.



Yes that caramelly crumble was sposed to be a sauce, ah well.

Anyway, hopefully next week I will be getting some work done as I have a bunch of projects vying for my attention. Fingers crossed.

Gardening | Raspberries

So I'm very excited about gardening after being inspired by Animal Vegetable Miracle and Jamie Oliver's at Home Cookbook. Also because I love food. Tragically I avoided gardening at all cost when I was younger (why? meh?) so I'm rather ignorant on the subject. Happily I'm living on my parents farm this summer and will learn the gardening ways. And share with you. So far we have planted raspberries. This is excellent because I luuuuurve them. I will eat as many as possible.



Look! Baby raspberry plant! Also, baby cows.

Any of you guys gardening this summer? What's growing?

Recipe Index

Some of these are written by me, some are tested by me. All are yummy.

Breakfast

Breakfast Shake
Peaches and Cream Steel Cut Oats

Lunch

Warming Winter Vegetable Soup
Poached Egg Salad
Asparagus Soup

Dinner

Spring Greens with Brown Sushi Rice
Asparagus Fajitas
Cabbage & Sausage Stirfry
Tacos with Soft Corn Tortillas
Curried Chicken Crepes

Snacks

Crackers - Seedy and Cheesy versions

Baking

Coconuty Raised Doughnuts
Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Desserts

Huckleberry Chocolate Coffee Cake
Ginger Pear Crostatas
Chocolate Chip Cake

Appetizers

Artichoke Dip

Sides

Potato Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Sauces

Pasta/Pizza Sauce
Pesto

Hola!

I'm Hanna Sandvig. I'm 27, a Christian, married for 6 years, a lifeguard by day and graphic designer/illustrator by night. And I love food. A lot.

I've been cooking since I was a kid and was lucky enough to have parents who gardened, hunted and made their own bread (not both of them...but you know). I'm not a chef. I have no professional training in the kitchen. And that's kind of the point. I want to encourage people to cook good, healthy, seasonal food. From scratch (or from scratches as my cousin likes to say). Because it's easier than you think. And the rewards for your health, your family, your community and your planet are well worth it. I truly believe that caring about what you eat can make your life richer and the world a better place.

Contact Me

Feel free to contact me any time if you have questions or suggestions for my blog! Or just to say hi :)


Email: hannasandvig @ gmail.com (remove spaces)

MSN: flowirgirl@hotmail.com (don't send me emails to this one!)