I have been trolling Pinterest for a while now for some new recipes to try this summer and this is the first one we had. I mentioned yesterday that I’ve started drawing up weekly meal plans in an effort to get us to eat healthier and have some dedicated time every day to spend together, and I think most of the recipes on this week’s (our weeks go Thursday – Wednesday because we get our farm boxes on Thursdays) menu came from Pinterest. (P.S. You can find my Pinterest boards here.)

Yesterday was the first really hot day of the year, so this cold pasta salad was the perfect antidote to that. Cool, creamy, with a slight tang from the lemon and pepper, this is the perfect summer dish. And the sauce takes all of three minutes and a spoon, knife, fork, and bowl to make — what could be easier? Double or triple the recipe and take it to a cookout, or serve it on your deck with some chilled wine and a spinach salad. Either way you’ll get a good boost in healthy fats from the avocado and some good grains from the pasta. Perfect.

Avocado-Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 2-4 depending on serving size.

INGREDIENTS
- 1.5-2 cups dry pasta of choice (short noodles such as penne, shells, elbows, etc. work best)
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1.5T lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon), seeds and pulp strained out
- 3T sour cream
- Garlic pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. In a small bowl with a fork, mash together avocado, lemon juice, sour cream, and garlic pepper until relatively smooth. Don’t worry about small lumps.
3. Drain and rinse pasta in cold water. Transfer to serving bowl. Coat pasta with avocado mixture.
4. Cover and let chill in fridge until cold.

It’s really that easy. And it’s really so good, you won’t believe how easy it was. Try it. You’ll see.

Last weekend we went and toured the farm where our CSA is coming from. It was so beautiful there, acres upon acres of gorgeous green fields and grass. The smell, the air, the golden sun streaming through the tree branches at 7pm, the sweat on my neck, the prickle of grass in my shoes…all of it reminded me of my grandma’s old house, of summers spent on her porch with cold drinks, of running barefoot through her giant yard, of playing under the maple trees…I felt content at that farm. I’m happiest when there is space around me and fresh air and green grass. I told Jason that someday I want to move out of the city and buy a house in the country. He said I had to mow the lawn, and I said fine. I dream of a big old house out in the country with a huge porch that I can hang flower baskets from and have a rocking chair to sit and read or craft, a wild little garden with azaleas and irises and roses and who knows what else all along the porch, and a bay window in the living room.

Someday.

For now, though, we are cleaning and unpacking and organizing in our current house. We want to move eventually…soon…but don’t have any immediate plans for it. We are just waiting for the perfect new place to come along, instead of rushing and moving into the least bad place we could find on Craigslist in a week. That’s what we did this time, and it has not turned out so well. But we are making the best of it and every time I think there’s no more space for anything, we find something that can be gotten rid of, or consolidated, or stacked just one inch higher, and we make it work.

The windows are all open, the air is fresh and warm, and the sun is out. It will be sunny and hot (90°!) until Wednesday. I plan on taking full advantage of it. Windows open all day every day, dresses, skirts, and lots of iced tea.

For dinner tonight we are having avocado-lemon pesto pasta salad with spinach salads on the side. I drew up a meal plan for this week and so far it’s going quite well. I’ve been feeling not so great physically lately and I realized it’s because I’ve been loading up on junk instead of eating well, plus Jason and I end up just coming home and plonking down in front of our computers and we don’t get that hour or so of quiet time just the two of us to catch up. I wanted all that to change, and so far I’m enjoying it.

This coming Thursday is when our CSA boxes start. I am beyond excited. The meal plans will continue as I’m sure we’ll need them in order to use up all of the veggies we get each week. There is just something so heartening about knowing that no more than a week ago, our food was still on the stem under the sun, and it was picked by kind, hardworking hands (the family who run the farm are such nice people).

I will post the recipe for that avocado pesto tomorrow. And I’m sure there will be many more recipes to come as I cook my way through our mysterious CSA boxes each week! I can’t wait!

Every summer I say I’m going to read more, and then every summer I don’t. It’s a well-known fact by those who know me that it is incredibly difficult for me to find a book I actually enjoy… That’s probably why I don’t read very much at all. I wish this wasn’t the case though. I’ve found a few books from link-of-links-of-links on various blogs/Amazon/etc. that look promising though.

First is Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. From the description I think I’m going to like this book a lot…Jenna was a web designer slaving at a desk job she found unfulfilling, and then she moved out to the country and started growing her own food, raising her own chickens, making her own clothes, and so on. I hope this book provides inspiration for my own life as I strive to become just a little bit more self-sufficient.

Next is A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. This book’s description resonates a lot with me, too — a girl who realizes halfway through her dissertation that her passion lies elsewhere — in the kitchen, with food. I am feeling a bit of that epiphany myself lately (though thankfully I am not quite as deep into my studies as she was!), and it is so inspiring to read about other women — real life women — who have made something of it.

Next is the ubiquitous In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Michael Pollan was just on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me recently and while I didn’t really get to listen attentively because I was at work and had to concentrate on other things, it made me curious to read this book. I’ve read on a few other blogs about people cutting processed food out of their lives and I have been inspired to start that process (pun?) too, as much as I can anyway. I think this book will be a good kick in the pants to get me started.

Last but not least on my ever-so-short reading list is, of course, the Lord of the Rings series. I read these once when I was really young, like, way before the movies even came out, and I don’t think I really understood them back then. I’m about 2/3 of the way through Fellowship right now and it’s ever-so-slow going, because I find that these books are hard to read a paragraph here, a page there when I have time — I really have to sit down and read a good chunk at once, or I lose the thread easily. I hope to have much more time to actually do that once school and my internship are done.

What are you reading right now? What’s on your list for this summer?

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these… I have just been so darn busy lately. And I just now figured out how to “schedule” posts in WordPress (can I get a giant “DUHH”? WordPress 101, I failed it) so I think blogging just got a whole lot easier — write a bunch of posts when I have the time/energy/brain power, and schedule them to go up throughout the week. We’ll see.

Annie Lennox — Into The West
I am just in love with this song. Annie Lennox is such a wonderful person, amazing artist, beautiful, and has a great voice to boot. This song gives me chills. I remember watching this performance live on TV when it happened (almost a decade ago, crazy!) and just being mesmerized.

Annie Lennox – Into the West by barbade

Eight years later and I am still utterly awestruck by these films. I cannot wait for The Hobbit!

What have you been listening to lately? Do tell!

I don’t know how long it’s been since I shared a recipe on here! I made these muffins for Easter with Jason’s family. Oddly enough no one ate them because we ate a huge dinner, but I had some for breakfast that day and the next and they are goooooooood.

I made a small batch first because I wasn’t sure of the recipe. I ended up liking them so much that I made a second batch right after, but I realized I was out of honey halfway through the recipe, so I had to improvise. I subbed sugar for the honey and added extra lemon juice, and OJ as needed to moisten it up. Both types were delicious.

The lemon in these is strong. Almost enough to make you pucker a little. If you aren’t a fan of that, cut down on the lemon zest. I also bet these would be good with fresh ginger added in… Mmm.

Honey-Lemon Muffins
Adapted from this recipe.
Makes about 10 muffins per batch.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup + 1T honey
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup butter, melted
Zest from 1/2 lemon

1. In large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In separate bowl, combine egg, honey, lemon juice, butter, and lemon peel. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Fill muffin tins 1/2-2/3 full with batter.
3. Bake at 375° for 13-18 minutes or until cake tester in center muffin comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan before moving to wire rack.