Happy Tuesday all! I have another delicious Pesto & Pesto Potato Salad Recipe for you all today courtesy of one of my favorite Craving Ellie in My Belly Chefs, Liz of the Not So Skinny Kitchen. But, more on that in a few…It’s time for a few updates!
After one of my AWESOME readers ask how our garden grows, I realized it’s been a LONG time since I’ve given you all an update. I definitely do not have the green thumb of my mom or Master Gardener dad, but, we are not doing too bad. Some things are going great and others not so much.
I managed to kill our crook neck squash and zucchini before they ever got started so I decided to try something new…..
Here are the beginnings of Swiss Chard that I planted about a week ago 🙂
Our bell pepper plants are starting to get baby peppers on them….
I seriously get so freakin’ excited and call everyone over to check them out whenever I see a new one….yup, I am a total dork like that! 😀
Japanese cucumbers….
We have lots of flowers and little nubbies coming in.
This would be our second basil plant – the first I accidentally let go to seed, but, I am doing a little better with this one.
Rosemary!
The Lemon Basil Thyme hasn’t been doing so well since Mr Stripey seems to be growling like a big bully of a tomato plant.
Meet Mr. Stripey ~ The Husband’s HUGE tomato plant that is turning into a total plant bully.
Supposedly Mr. Bully Stripey grows HUGE 18 oz tomatoes, but, so far we just have a ton of yellow flowers like this.
Our cherry tomato & snap pea plants are still going slowly but we get lots of little bowls of tomatoes here and there so I am happy about that 🙂
Maybe I am better off sticking to the Farmer’s Markets, but, I am still learning and having fun at it. So far, I’ve managed to grow things a lot better than I ever have before…I guess my Green Acres Farm Days did help a little growing up 😉
Breakfast started off with a little Decaf French Vanilla!
Plus 1 svg of Honey Bunches of Oats with 1 cup of Blueberries & 1 c Fat Free Milk (5 points). I LOVE cereal but it usually never fills me up for long.
I managed to make it through to lunch without a mid morning snack, but, I am pretty sure it was the Farmer’s Market samples that got me through. The market was a total bust today…everything I wanted was out….I managed to score a few cookies, a little Bolani (but not the PUMPKIN I wanted), corn and tons of fruit.
However, all was made right in the world when I got to have another OctoberFeast BAVARIAN PRETZEL CROSSAINT with ham & cheese!!! <3 (9 points and worth every bite)….If you all live near Berkeley or go to the Napa or Davis Farmer’s Markets go check them out and get one of these!!! AMAZING is all I can say and I am not even a croissant person.
On the side, I had some leftover Fresh Tomato/Corn Salad over mixed greens.
Ahhh, I totally want to do this all over again….good thing I bought some of their Pumpkin Seed Bread to try tomorrow 😀
Sadly when we stopped to say hi to Annie The Baker she was sold out ~ seriously :(! But, not letting that be a clue that I probably didn’t need the calories, we headed into the OxBow Market to Ritual Coffee to score some of her cookies (they just started carrying them :D)
I shared with my co-worker and chalked up cookies for my afternoon snack (4 pts worth!)
I have to admit I was really excited to try out wee before last week’s CEiMB recipe, but, I never had time to make it until now. You can check out the full Ellie Krieger Pesto Potato Salad recipe over on Liz’s site.
I absolutely adore PESTO especially when nuts are involved and I get to use my cool steamer/noodle cooking pan.
I pretty much followed the recipe, but, subbed the pine nuts for roasted walnuts. I roasted them over medium heat for about 5 minutes until toasted.
You whip up your pesto in just a few simple steps using your food processor.
Whirl your walnuts until finely chopped.
Add your fresh basil, lemon juice, garlic and parmesan cheese.
Process until smooth.
Season to taste with Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
NOTE: I LOVED this pesto, however, I think next time I would blanch the basil and possibly add more lemon juice to make it creamier versus thick like I do in my Low-Fat Pesto or this pesto pizzettas Recipe. It is delicious though and you can totally taste the roasted walnuts.
Making the Pesto Pasta salad is even easier than the pesto.
Chop up a red & yellow bell pepper.
Add our red potatoes that you steamed for 20 minutes, then quartered.
Plus about 1/3-1/2 cup of pesto, sea salt, black pepper and a little crushed red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and chill 2 hours.
Super easy, super delicious and I LOVE the idea of having a non-traditional potato salad. We both LOVED it and will definitely have it again.
Alright all ~ that’s all I’ve got for now…I am off to start Twenties Girls or maybe catch up with The Next Food Network Star ON DEMAND 😀
See you all tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday!
Aww, thanks 🙂
I am so jealous of your garden!! Everything looks great!
Glad the potato salad was a hit! That was my first time making pesto so I was surprised how easy it was to put together and really liked the recipe. I bet it was really good with walnuts, too. I used up the rest of my pine nuts with this batch, so I’ll try that next time!
The only way cereal keeps me full for 5 hours is if I bulk it up with lots of fruits, yogurt and nut butter! 😉
That pretzel sandwich looks amazing! 🙂 What a great lunch.
And I am loving all these Ellie recipes. Keep them coming girl.
Gosh I want a garden so bad!! Take charge of that tomato plant girl! Ket him know whos boss!! My daddy used to have a tomato plant and it took over the entire box it was in, he had tot transplant everything else!
There is nothing as good as fresh basil from the garden! Homemade pesto is the perfect use for it too. 🙂
Your garden looks beautiful and so does that rainbow sprinkled cookie -LOL! I like to use walnuts in my pesto instead of pine nuts too. I find the pine nuts a little sweeter and the walnuts a little earthier:)!
Great things growing in your garden. I’d be excited as well. Good lookin’ pepper!
All that food that looks so scrumptious. Good thing it’s lunch time otherwise I’d be having a definite snack attack. …and….
The Ellie recipe was good one. Good potato salad with a unique twist.
Looks great and very healthy. Love all the produce!!
Thanks for the update! That tomato looks like it’s trying to take over the world!!! I hope it sets fruit for you soon.
And, if it makes you feel any better, this is the second year that I’ve managed to kill my zucchini plants. Oh well, at least the peppers are looking good.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Marie
you know, I just got really hungry while reading your post. The croissant looks really tasty. Actually, the whole meal looks really perfect for dinner! Thanks for sharing this one. I acknowledge this one. You made me really hungry! LOL