Kale, Roses, and Pizza

WARNING *Long Post*

Our past week started with a Saturday morning trip to the farm.  It was lovely.  This was the first pick-up week of the season and it was nice to be back!  From the trip came an unlimited amount of greens- super-healthy kale in particular- here are a few ways we incorporated them into our dinners!

Homemade Macaroni and cheese with kale- sooo delicious.  I think Emily originated this last year during farm season.  I just chopped it up really fine (along with some mustard greens) and folded it in with the cheese sauce, and cooked pasta, then baked it.

Kale chips- also super delicious- so good, in fact that BOTH children actually eat them. Pretty amazing.  I found this recipe in the an issue of Vegetarian Times from over the winter.  In the comment section under the recipe there are a lot of interesting variations- sprinkling the kale with nutritional yeast instead of salt, tossing the raw kale in lemon along with the olive oil prior to baking- all delicious I'm sure. Basic idea is that you tear the kale into pieces, rinse, toss with olive oil, S&P, spread a on cookie sheet and roast at 375 or so- for about 20 min.

Lastly- kale juice (sorry- no pick)  sounds weird/gross right?  Well, it's quite the contrary.  It's REALLY good.  I found the recipe on Gweneth Paltrows GOOP site.  Its under a diet that she used before filming her last movie role.  It is a cleanse-like diet, this drink being a "snack" a couple times a day.  I drink it as a healthy and refreshing end to my day- GP describes it as "a grassy lemonade"- perfect description.  Give it a try- and let me know what you think.


Midweek- we took a trip down the street to see the roses- which are in full bloom.  Just beautiful- and the children had fun roaming and exploring the gardens. We were lucky to be joined with good friends Linnea and her little guy Jack.

All I can think is Peter Pan when I see the shot below...

You might notice Zella's unique outfit.  She is in full-on dress-myself mode right now.  So, the two different shoes ("both sparkly- they match!"), and the thick cotton tights, along with the bathing suit has become her new uniform.  She wore another bathing suit to bed last night.  We are rolling with- knowing that it's just a stage:), and it is wildly entertaining and adorable.

The week ended with a delicious pizza supper. I am the type of person that could have pizza every other night, and not get bored with it.  But this pizza recipe- I could eat it every night. Its just that good.  Em and I discovered it a while back in the May 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living- and have not been the same since!  It's all about the dough- original recipe by  Phoenix restaurant owner Chris Bianco- check out his interview with Food and Wine here.

The "dough dough baby" after 10 full minutes of kneading by me and Z.

 

The dough after rising all day and resting before the pizza-making begins.

A classic pie before and after- red sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil from the garden, crushed garlic, salt and pepper, a little olive oil- TO DIE FOR

Goofball D- and our friend Sean (and wife Claire not pictured) who joined us in our indulgent pizza feast.

The final pie- red sauce, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, basil, salt and pepper, a little olive oil.

Last but not least- I need to leave with a picture of goggle-boy... too cute!