The rewards of growing grapes

Three out of four seasons of the year the couple of grape vines I have give me their gifts. In the spring when the young tender leaves are about the size of your hand they can be picked and made into delicious stuffed grape-leaves. Summer time provides sweet juicy grapes that are perfect for snacking or if you have more than you can eat they can be made into a special wine. Fall comes with the task of cutting down the vines but then they can be formed into wreaths or other shapes for beautiful door decorations and more.



I love growing an

assortment of plants but the grapes seem to provide me with most variety of gifts in return.

Roast Your Vegetables For Even More Sweetness

While in the midst of a bountiful harvest the choices are endless to make a hardy meal of roasted vegetables. Roasting them bring out all their natural sweetness that makes them irresistible. After you have your vegetables roasted there are a variety ways you can chose to serve them.

First start with I start with the root vegetables like onions, garlic, carrots and parsnips. Next I like to include tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, summer squash (green or yellow), and bell peppers, hot one if you like. Finally I add some fresh herbs, rosemary, thyme, and basil. Just include any vegetables and herbs that you and your family enjoy, maybe even an apple. Spread out on a baking pan and coat lightly with olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Bake uncovered for an hour at 350°.

Serve them as a side dish that will disappear instantly.

Blend in a blender until smooth for a sauce that can be served over rice or potatoes.

Serve over brown or black rice with the roasted vegetable sauce with some hearty bread as a main dish.

As a roasted vegetable soup blend until smooth adding some vegetable stock or water to thin to your desired thickness.

Enjoy the harvest
Enjoy your food
Enjoy your life

Kill the Weeds without chemicals

Do you have weeds that grow through the cracks in the sidewalk or driveway? How about in the walk ways or patio? I have found a great solution without using any chemicals. Boiling water! I just take a teapot of boiling water out to the weeds pour a little on and in a few days they are dead. What could be easier then that? My pets are safe the ground is safe and the weeds are gone. The only down side is that you can not use this method around your garden because it will kill all the plants it touches.

Be healthy and keep the earth healthy too!

Blueberries

The blueberries are just coming out now and are simply delicious. There are so many ways to enjoy blueberries your imagination is the limit. For example last night I took some basic butter cake that I had made in a tube pan, sliced it into one inch pieces. Then I layered cake, whipped cream, blueberries and repeated. I ended up with individual blueberries short cake! A great way to start the first day of summer vacation for my son.

Blueberries have so much more to offer then great taste. They are high in vitamin C, A, E, K, manganese, fiber, anti-oxidants, and phyto-chemical. Their benefits include helping remove harmful free radicals, and lowering blood sugar levels.

So see what you can dream up or stick to one the the many popular blueberry dishes you already are familiar with.

Book Signing

To celebrate the release of Trish's Dishes

, the Hatboro Union Library has invited the me to hold a book signing as part of Hatboro's First Friday festivities on June 3, from from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. Speaking with readers about Trish's Dishes, the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and the challenges she faced on her path to publication. Trish will be selling copies of her book and answering readers' questions. Her second book signing is scheduled for June 11 at Bunn’s Natural Foods in Southampton from 12:00pm to 3:00pm.

Just Released

It was spring three years-a-go when I decide to take the suggestions from clients, family, and friends to share my healthy recipes. Today I am happy to announce that I am doing that with my recently published cookbook, Trish's Dishes- Family Meals for a Healthy Lifestyle.

Trish’s Dishes is a collection of more then 100 whole food recipes that have been the basis for reversing the crippling effects of my childhood battle with osteoarthritis. Also, these are the meals that I raised my 3 wonderfully healthy children on, so they are "kid tested and approved."

Trish’s Dishes has something for everyone. From breakfast to dessert (and snacks too!), enjoy meatless alternatives to classic dishes paired with assorted whole grains and no refined sugars. You can try something new and learn about unfamiliar ingredients in a chapter I call "What is That Anyway???" Or find a way to make your favorite dish a little healthier.

To receive a copy of Trish's Dishes- Family Meals for a Healthy Lifestyle., you can click on the link, or if you are in the Philadelphia area contact me to find out where you can pick one up. It will soon be available at Amazon.com and Borders.com. It will be closer to six month before it will be available through Barns & Noble.

I know that you will enjoy these wonderful recipes as much as my family has!

Some benefits of Dirt

It is time to get out and start digging in the dirt again. After flooding rains yesterday and gusting winds today I will just have to wait. I have always started planting my vegetable garden in mid-March so I am really inching to get to work and prepare the soil for planting. The snow-peas, lettuce, carrots and beets are my first seeds to be introduced into the spring soil. But there is so much more to be gained from gardening then a harvest of delicious life-enhancing foods… harmony. After this very snowy, cold winter I could really use the reunion with the fertile mother earth and all her gifts.

There is just something about working in the soil of mother earth that can bring you into harmony with your world. Many gardens already know the stress reducing benefits of working with dirt and plants but it has gone farther then that. School principals stated that after a day where the students have been working on gardening projects that there are fewer disciplinarian problems. Students are observed working more cooperatively with others during and after these projects. Similarly convects given the opportunity to work in landscaping and gardening project also showed a decrease in hostile behavior.

It is really magical how the earth can give each different seed just what it needs to be a whole and complete food with its own special set of nutrients to give. Likewise the earth can give people the peace and harmony within so that they can be whole and complete with so much to give. So start making your plans to shed the winter stress by getting out in the dirt.