Garden Update: Lemon Cucumber

Over the past month, our lemon cucumber plant has grown tremendously. I have been creepily intrigued by this plant because of how fast they mature. We originally planted in early May, and since then have developed and matured one lemon cucumber. The timing seemed just right since most lemon cucumbers take about 65 days for full maturity. These vegetables become almost exactly tennis-ball-size, and ripen to a yellow color.

Having never tasted these vegetable hybrids before, I was very curious. They taste a bit sweeter than a normal cucumber, and are absolutely perfect for summer salads (trust me - I tried it). They're a little smaller than a full-sized cucumber, so they're ideal for one or two people without having to store any leftovers. Although we only had just one cucumber ripen recently, we have a handful of new sprouts starting, and I cannot wait to taste test all summer long!

Balsamic Bruschetta

Because of the great weather we've been having, our herbs are growing so quick. My mom decided we should put our abundance of herbs to good use by whipping up some fresh bruschetta using the basil from our garden. We chose to use an easy, light recipe, which turned out awesome.

Ingredients:

• 8 roma tomatoes (diced)
• 1/3 cup fresh basil (chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (optional)
• French bread (toasted & sliced)

Directions:

• In a bowl, toss together the tomatoes, basil, and garlic. 
• Mix in the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. 
• Serve on toasted bread slices.
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of slices if desired.

These are the perfect summertime snack or appetizer because bruschetta is quick, easy and small portioned. The only thing I will change next time will be using fresh tomatoes from the garden (hopefully they will be ripe by then!)

Garden Update: Sunflowers!

I am sunflower crazy! A couple months ago I planted one single seed and now they consume my life. These little guys are so pretty, and watching them bloom is one of my favorite past times. Let me take you back to one of my first seeds...

I planted a single seed and within weeks this sprout formed.

After offering plenty of sunlight and never letting the soil dry, the flower bloomed. This, of course, took another couple weeks. I think these plants do best in direct sunlight (they are SUNflowers after all). I kept one outside in a sunny area and another on a sunny windowsill. The one outside grew faster and bigger than the flower inside. 

Healthy, colorful sunflower almost at full bloom.

On another sunflower note: My mom planted a few sunflowers last year and as the winter came, they dried out. She sprinkled around what was left of their seeds in hopes of new blooms this year. Just as I had planted my single seed, we noticed similar sprouts coming from the pot nearby.

Sunflower sprouts from last year's seeds.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that these blooms really spread.

More blooms than I can count!

Under each big bloom are several smaller blooms waiting to break through. I now have more sunflowers than I know what to do with and I couldn't be happier.

Garden Update: Lemon Cucumber

One of the plants from the garden set that I bought my mom was this lemon cucumber plant. I had heard her previously talk about these veggies due to their perfectly sized single-serving cucumbers and the fact that the plant itself can grow to a fairly decent size.

To begin with, we potted our small-sized starter plant with future plans of moving it over to our planter. Looking back, we should have just planted this little guy into the ground because it's growing so fast!

    This was from the first day we planted.

Worried that the lemon cucumber plant wouldn't survive after the planting and 100 degree heat that followed, we found it did the exact opposite. These plants love heat and direct sunlight; infact they need it. Once we realized this necessity, we moved it to a sunnier part of the backyard (the benefit to potting plants). The result was instant!

    Lemon cucumber plant just one week later!

You'll notice that we added a sturdy wire for support, and have actually changed it out to a full, round cage. These plants are very vine-like, which was evident when their tendril began grabbing onto the wired cage within the hour! I personally love the tendril; it solidifies just how very much alive these plants are. 

Today (about two weeks later), we have a small bloom. 

Gluten & Dairy-Free Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats

I'm not going to go into explaining why I bake/cook things gluten and dairy free, so you can just figure that out yourself. But this Memorial Day I decided to use everyone's day off to bake up a quick little dessert. These are perfect little finger treats, and honestly who can turn down a rice crispy treat infused with vanilla cake batter?!

I came across this recipe from a Martha Stewart post, and decided to give my own spin to it. I changed a few of the measurements due to using different ingredients, and felt it came out tasting great (according to my boyfriend).

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp Earth Balance Original Butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini marshmallows
• 6 cups crispy brown rice cereal 
• 1/2 cup gluten free vanilla cake mix (I used Bob's Red Mill)
• 1/2 cup sprinkles (any color - I used red, white, and blue)

 

Directions:

Spray a 11x7 baking pan with nonstick spray (I used baking Pam). Set aside.

In a very large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the marshmallows and stir constantly. Once the marshmallows are completely melted, stir in the dry cake mix. Remove pan from heat.

Stir in the cereal until it is completely coated with the marshmallow mixture. The result may be sticky, so prepare for a little extra arm work. Mix in half of the sprinkles. 

Press mixture into prepared baking pan and top with the remaining sprinkles. 

When I press the rice krispy treats into a pan, I use a spatula sprayed with nonstick spray, or I found that slightly wetting your hands also does the trick. Make sure not to press down and pack the mixture too tightly as it will harden as it cools. 

Let stand or chill for at least 30 minutes and cut into squares (coating the cutting knife with non-stick spray also). Store at room temperature.