For Five on Fridays I thought I would share some things from last weekend. Some of you will know it was a Bank Holiday in the U.K, which means a long weekend. We had no plans to go anywhere this time and were hoping for good weather. Every Brit knows, come Bank holiday weekend and usually it pelts down with rain, but not this time. The weather was truly glorious, blazing sunshine and warmth all three days and we took advantage of it.
Other than doing some grocery shopping on Saturday at a local supermarket, we popped into a Emporium of eclectic old and new furniture, gifts, even a life size gorilla, spider man and superman. D was taken by this rusty metal work bird and we brought the scrawny thing back home with us.
After our little impulsive shopping spree, we got back home. I had invited my nephews over to help us with the gardening on Sunday. I had bribed them with a promise to feed them and D was going to give them some money as a Thank you, not that they knew that or expected it.
I made them a rather big vegan Chocolate Banana Bundt cake. Only thing was, when it came time to eating it, they both said they were too full for a slice. So other than taking a quarter for ourselves. I divided the cake in two and packed it for them both to take home and share with their families.
They did love these homemade vegan Red Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Chilli Burgers. I could only manage one, but the boys including my husband scoffed down two, along with a packet of crisps and cola. I don't do fizz much, but when I eat junk food, I will take a small l glass.
I did not know how long the nephews were going to be with us on Sunday, so I also made a Big Batch of Red Pepper and Black Bean Chilli if they stayed with us until the evening, but they left at around 5.00, so this chilli was good for a few days for our working week as well. Here it is served with cornbread.
One of the jobs I really wanted doing in the garden was putting up some chicken wire against the neighbours fence as their dog was coming into our garden and crapping, too often now. I really do like my neighbours but they don't seem to control their dog and teach it its boundaries. So I was really pleased this was achieved. I feel better that I can grow some vegetable and herbs in my garden without someones dog crapping in it.
One of the jobs, D really wanted doing was clearing in between the slabs in the patio area, there was so much weed and he managed to accomplish that too with the help of the nephews. Look, no weeds! Its amazing how much we got done with two pairs of extra hands. I am sorry I don't have an up-to date picture of the garden, as my mitts were really grubby by then and I was too tired by then. Maybe next week I will show you some further progress and maybe some colour. Hopefully some of those roses will have bloomed. I am sharing this blog post with the lovely Amy who hosts Five on Fridays over at Love Made My Home.
There's not much in my kitchen at the moment to share, but here are a handful of things.
I went to Bristol VegFest last month. I have to be honest, I ate a lot, but I did not bring back much home with me, but what little I did I like especially this Lemon Verbena herb pot on the left). The last time I grew Lemon Verbena was when I lived in Scotland. I haven't seen it at any of the garden centres in this part of Wales, so was excited to stumble upon some. It looks a bit scrawny here next to the basil, but it will perk up once I've potted it up properly. Lemon verbena has the most enchanting smell, even more wonderful than lemon balm.
May's edition of Eat Your Greens attracted 7 fabulous vegetarian and vegan recipes, please read on - lots of originality here.
First we have Helen who blogs over at Roast chicken and a Country Walk . Helen shared with us her 5 minute Asparagus, Spinach and Sheep's Cheese Gnocchi. This is the perfect after work supper when you are tired and hungry and want something easy and quick to put on the table, or your lap! Helen writes 'this is a light, fresh spring dish which is packed full of flavour '. I love how Helen has made the most of seasonal greens like asparagus and spinach, though she has has also suggested using garden peas, from your freezer of course.
Next we have Janet from The Taste Space. Janet shares with us her Cold Sesame Cucumber Noodles. This would be fabulous to take into work for lunch or even a picnic, if your dab handy with chopsticks. Cleverly to compliment the soba noodles, Janet has with the help of her spiralizer made some cucumber noodles, but also kept some back for crunch and bite. This noodle dish is dressed in a sesame ginger dressing and surrounded by generous chunks of avocado wedges.
The Green Gourmet Giraffe aka Johanna shares with us a curiously named salad - Only Kale Can Save Us Now! Check it out, but what I will say - If your a serious food blogger and you have never heard or massaged a kale, where have your been?! But seriously, you have to check out this blog post where Johanna also reminds us that almost 10 years ago, the green curly vegetable kale was little known to us all. Johanna's salad is lovingly dressed in maple, tahini and soy sauce, she exclaims that the addition of maple syrup elevated this salad to 'wondrous'! and she even licked her fingers after massaging the dressing into the kale - what will she do next?!
Vicky from Gluten Free SCD and Veggie shares with us a very original recipe and take on Hasselback Potatoes, behold her Hasselback Courgettes with Basil Oil. Now that just brilliant, you have to agree with me. These would truly amaze your dinner guests too; and be something different to serve up at a Veggie BBQ too. I love how Vicky has injected flavours into what I consider to be a very bland vegetable and made it appealing.
Now get your mouth around these savoury morsels. Corina from Searching For Spice presents to us some Mini Frittatas. These little frittata's are just dainty and perfect for the picnic basket or even for your little lunch box. These Mini Frittata's are made with herbs, mushrooms and spears of asparagus that just look stunning studding the golden tops.
My co-host The VegHog brings to the table a Mexican Black Bean and Kale Tacos. Yum. The VegHog fills soft taco shells with her smoked chilli beans and kale and baked in the oven. Like the VegHog - I could eat Mexican style Chilli every day, its so versatile.
Finally, my own recipe which is Taste of The Sea Seaweed Spaghetti. This dish is made with sea vegetables, sea spaghetti and sea flakes.
I hope you will join in this months #EatYourGreens challenge hosted by The Veg Hog, Follow this link on how to participate and then just leave a comment with a link to your blog post either here or on The VegHog's #EatYourGreens hosting page.
