Tuesday blues

Woke up again to the dull patter of rain against my window pane - what happened to my beloved summer weather???? It feels like fall will be upon us much sooner than i expected!!!

Although i love the change of seasons especially from late summer to early fall - i love September and October months im not quite ready to give up the beautiful weather and blooming flowers that i love most about summer.......

As fall is coming soon - what are your favorite things about the fall ?????? I love apple and pumpkin picking, pumpkin spice coffee, harvesting fresh sunflowers, the crisp morning air, comfy wool sweaters and wool socks, roasted butternut squash and sweet potatoes, fresh spinach and broccoli, sipping warm cinnamon tea, the smell of baked apples with cinnamon ....

As thing have been quite busy in my life my eats have been quite on the go - the other night i was craving pizza and roasted veggies - i was so hungry that i could not wait for my beloved whole wheat dough in the freezer to defrost and instead tried pita pizza - at first i was a bit hesistant to try it - would the pita stand up to the dough.....

Pre baking................

The final result.................

The verdict???? A winner!!! The pita was crisp - held the veggies and cheese nicely and was quite tasty in my book - a definate repeat when in a bind for a quick meal. To think that in the past i had deprived myself of pizza - why??? Why not i say!!! What are some things that you have recently added back into your diet that you are now in love with???

Another "random" snack that i made over the weekend - banana fig smoothie!!! My fig tree is bursting with fresh figs - i don't know what to do with all of them - i was craving a smoothie and had tons of frozen bananas so i took 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, 3/4 frozen banana, 2 fresh figs - tossed in the Vita-mix with a handful of ice -

all topped with a remnant of fig - perfectly sweet!!!!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week - enjoy the last few days of summer!!!!!!!!

xoxo aimee

Overabundance!!!

One of my most favorite things about summer is a nice super ripe red tomato. Nothing compares to fresh tomatoes during the summer. Growing up in a largely Italian household tomatoes were a staple at almost every meal - fresh tomatoes in our morning omelettes, plates of cut up thick tomato slices drizzled with olive oil sea salt, pepper and fresh basil and oregano with lunch and of course fresh tomato sauce with roasted garlic.

So far this summer i have already eaten my weight in fresh tomatoes. Between my brothers garden and many friends garden every day i have been given tomatoes and now have quite an overabundance!!!!!

Some fun facts about tomatoes:

1. Tomatoes are actually a fruit - more accurately part of the berry family and not a vegetable!!!

The Supreme Court in 1893 actually declared it a vegetable because it is typically eaten with lunch or dinner!!!

2.Tomatoes are actually the world's most popular fruit - the second is bananas followed by watermelons!!

3. Tomatoes are very high in lycopene - this is what gives them their bright red hue - its the lycopene that helps prevent many forms of cancer.

4. A horn worm can eat an entire tomato plant b

y itself in one day!!!!

5. Americans eat an average of 80 pounds of tomatoes each year!!

Sunday night i decided to make my favorite - fire roasted tomato and garlic sauce which i served over whole wheat linguine and fresh spinach topped with roasted asparagus - here's the recipe - simple and easy!!

Take super red, ripe tomatoes and chop into chunks - i like my sauce chunky - take tomatoes and place in aluminum tin and and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil, fresh ground sea salt, crushed red pepper flakes and sprinkle of sugar. Toss and place on barbecue and roast for 30 minutes - you could also do in oven - while tomatoes cook take fresh bulb of garlic and slice off thin layer of the top to expose garlic - next drizzle with olive oil = wrap in aluminum foil and roast till soft. Once tomatoes have cooked combine garlic with tomatoes and add lots of freshly chopped basil and oregano!!!! Serve over favorite pasta, grain or even pizza!!!

What are your most favorite ways to enjoy tomatoes????? Would love to hear all your ideas!!!

xoxo aimee

Holidays for Everything

Happy August - can't believe that the summer is quickly coming to a close - it feels like just yesterday it was Memorial Day Weekend.  Although i love the summertime i am looking forward to fall - one of my favorite times of the year.  As i was surfing the web early this morning i across a website that lists american food holidays for almost every single day of the year.  Since we just started a new month - i figured i would educate us all on foodie holidays for this month!!!

       First off August is National Peach Month!!!!  I love fresh peaches - especially white peaches.  have you ever had a white peach???  They actually have a smell quite similar to a rose.  Why??  Peaches are actually a member of the rose family!!!!!  Peaches are a great fruit - high in fiber, Vitamin A and other vitamins and have been found to have high levels of antioxidants - great for preventing many types of cancer.  Not only are they good for you but this time of year they are the sweetest!!!!!   How have i been enjoying these fruits???

      Some of my favorites include:  greek yogurt topped with fresh peach slices, green smoothie made with fresh berries, peaches and frozen bananas, Kashi Cinnamon Harvest topped with fresh peaches and vanilla almond milk, peach preserves on top of freshly made waffles (check out Jessica's recipe at Healthy Exposures for the world's greatest waffle recipe!!!!!) or even better - just straight up cold from the refrigerator!!!!

                                                             

                                                              

                                                     

                                                 

    The other day when i went to my mailbox i was so excited to see a package from the lovely company Larabar!!!!  I had contacted them a while back because i had really wanted to try the new carrot cake flavor as well as any of the minis that i had seen - i think the minis are perfect for a quick snack when you just want a little something - i had searched all over and could not find them anywhere - well they were nice enough to send me 2 cherry pie, 2 carrot cake and 2 coconut creme minis - can't wait to try them all.  What are your favorite bars and if you like Larabars which flavors are your favorite????  What's great about Larabars is that they are all natural - made from fruit and nuts and provide healthy fats - which is what im really trying to incorporate more of in my diet these days.  These healty fats will not only provide us with energy but give us great looking skin, hair and nails !!!!

Well  i hope you all had a relaxing and fun - filled weekend and hope you have a wonderful week!!!!!!   xoxo aimee 

                                                                                           

Ten Little Facts

             Sitting down after a long day - physically and mentally exhausted I turned to my laptop to catch up on my favorite blogs - quickly my mood became lightened as i read many of yours - they always bring a smile to my face.  I can't believe how many different types of people i have met, from all over - we each have a unique story that we unfold to each other sometimes each and every day - our deepest emotions shared - our ups and downs, good times and bad, recipes, loves, hates, struggles.  Yet although we may seem different - our love for blogging ties us together.

This week i received an award from the lovely Mel at neon flamingos and white peacocks  - if you haven't checked out her blog I highly recommend it!!! It's filled with lovely re

cipes as well as great fashion finds and amazing pictures - 

      Well here goes - 10 little facts:

1.  Yes I am obsessed with SUNFLOWERS - always have been.  They truly are my favorite flower - nothing brings a smile to my face quicker than seeing these majestic beauties blooming in late summer and early fall.  

2. I currently live in a condo on a golf course and do not know the first thing about playing golf!!   However i do get a kick out of sitting on my porch with my morning coffee and watch the daily golfers hit many of the golf balls directly into the pond in front of my terrace!!!

3. I have an intense fear of getting stuck in an elevator ever since I got trapped in one about 5 years ago.   It was 2 o'clock in the morning and I was at work in the hospital - i got into the elevator and then it just stopped between floors - i panicked, had to pick up the bright red emergency phone and be rescued by hospital security!!!

4. I've never had my hair longer than my shoulders.  For as long as i can remember i've had my hair cut very short.  I love it - its easy and fun!!!  Although there are times when i wish i had long hair (like for my sisters wedding) and have contemplated "extensions" but i love my hair!!

Every time i try and grow it out - i get frustrated and end up cutting it!!

5.  My dad breeds and races homing pigeons.  Yes - ever since i was little my dad has had these birds - currently he has about 100 of these amazing birds.  What is amazing is that they will fly distances up to 500 miles away and return to their birthplace in the same day.  Amazing right??

6.  To date i have probably delivered over 400 babies.  

Still to this day the birth of a child is truly an amazing thing.  Although stressful i still cannot believe what an experience this truly is.

7. I love FRUIT!!!!   Eat it with almost every meal -you will always find my fridge stocked with fresh berries and the like as well as see my counter stocked with a fresh bowel of fruit.

P.S. How cute are these bananas - they actually are mini-ones - hard to tell from the picture

8. My favorite colors are Yellow  and Green

9.  I must admit - i love wearing my Teva flip-flops in the summer and i love warm cozy wool sweaters in the wintertime!!!

10. Nothing beats a relaxing morning with a warm mug of coffee watching the sunrise!!!

Hope you enjoyed these 10 random facts!!!!!!   There are so many people i would like to pass this award to - i think many of you have already told us your random facts - here goes:

       Emma from Love from Emma 

       Maggie from My Breakfast Blog 

       Eleanor from Pieces of Her

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and Happy first day of August - the summer is flying by!

                                                               xoxo aimee