veggie heaven

This week we got our first CSA box and I’m possibly a little over excited about it. The truth is I’m really awful at shopping for vegetables, and it’s rare that I buy fruit ever. So having someone else pick out some perfect organic fruits and veggies and deliver them to my door is the best. I feel like this is the impetus for my diet to be transformed from 90% carbs to maybe a little bit lower percentage. Granted, I am already dreaming of making cherry tarts and zucchini bread (I blame these ladies for posting zucchini bread instagrams for that) which isn’t quite the healthiest way to prepare these fruits and veggies, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Mostly I’m just happy to have really fresh and delicious foods. It’s easy to forget how good simple foods can taste when you’re used to drowning them in sauces and seasonings. Yet it’s entirely pleasing to just eat a peach or a cobb of roasted corn.

The other perk is getting creative with foods I wouldn’t normally buy. Celery for instance. While I’ll occasionally purchase celery for a recipe, it’s not on my usual slate of vegetables. Since we got some in this box, I was inspired to make some chickpea salad. It’s a recipe I make all the time, but leave out the celery. Who knew that the celery actually makes it taste way better. So here is to expanding my vegetable vocabulary. And to celebrate, here is my easy chickpea salad recipe.

Chickpea Salad

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1/4 cup vegenaise
1 Tbsp mustard
1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

In a food processor, mash the chickpeas until they are sort of mushy. Add the other ingredients and blend until combined. I like my chickpea salad on the smooth side, but you can go chunky too.

kitten fever

It’s possible that I’m well on my way to being a cat lady. I’ll keep you posted as the situation develops.

summertime

kitchen mini makeover

So I did a little bit of updating in our kitchen. Even though it is just some paint and new shelves it makes all the difference. Though I’ve always loved our kitchen, it felt a little dreary and cramped. A fresh coat of white paint and built in shelves changed everything. Here are some before and after shots.

New paint covers up the ugly spots where our drawers were repaired. We had that problem where many of the cabinets didn’t close all the way, and I fixed those as well.

The new shelves make all the appliances easily accessible. Before, everything felt like it was on top of something else.

So maybe the top shelf is a little too high, but it’s still a vast improvement.

Here is the one during shot I have, just to show the difference between the previous paint and the white.

I feel like there is so much more space, even though it’s the same room. I still need to hang a little bit of decor, the Clowns poster will probably go back up.

Hooray! Happy, pretty kitchen.

little quilt

This little quilt may be the nerdiest quilt I make. It is officially my movie theater quilt. I am always getting cold in theaters, particularly older ones with massive, unregulated air conditioners. This little quilt is just big enough to cover my legs and fight off chill but not so big that I seem like a crazy lady bringing a blanket into a theater with me. It’s cute and colorful and folds up really small so I can fit it in my bag. Perfect!

And Mochi likes it too.