What Happened to Me?!

I sincerely apologize for my absence in blogging only 3 weeks after announcing the beginning of my food make-over. August got a little busy after my last post. If you didn't notice, I generally blog a summary of my week over the weekend as that is when I have the most time, and I was busy every single weekend in August. First, Donnie’s parents came in to town so we were busy showing them the best of Colorado’s front range. The next weekend I flew home for a spur-of-the-moment trip (no joke – I bought my airline ticket Monday and flew home that same Thursday evening). The next weekend I climbed the toughest 14-er in Colorado with my brother, David, and Donnie. The following weekend I went to Fort Collins to partake in Tour de Fat (a celebration of  local craft beer and alternative energy & transportation), and my best friend’s parents were in town, so I spent a lot of time with them. And this last weekend I was sick.  So that sums up my last few weekends and the reasons why I felt I didn’t have the energy to write a post.  Now, though, I’ll catch up on a few missed posts, and I’ll try to post about my other adventures soon too.

Back to food… I did capture some of the meals I had over the past few weeks, and I even have two “Ingredient of the Week” posts for you! Let’s get down to business.

This was my take home from the farmer’s market the week of August 5: cantaloupe, peaches, beefsteak tomatoes,  okra, mushrooms, green beans, corn on the cob and kettle corn (if you haven’t noticed, I get one of these almost every week for snacks and “desserts”).

One of the first meals I made for the week was one of my favorite dishes in the entire world – salmon with fruit salsa. YUM! With it I had steamed green beans & mushrooms, corn on the cob, and home-made garlic toast.

One of my other favorite dishes I made later in the week. This dish, a caprese salad, I enjoyed as a side dish with leftover salmon & fruit salsa.  My plate is not the prettiest presentation in the world; please forgive me. Also, this combination of flavors doesn’t necessarily go together super well; the salad may be better enjoyed as an appetizer prior to the meal. Me, though, I don’t mind the difference of flavors right next to each other at a meal because they are two of my favorites!

I didn’t take pictures of any other food for the week, but some meals I recall eating include: turkey enchiladas with home-made guacamole; egg whites, toast with jam, and fruit; grilled BBQ chicken, macaroni & cheese & salad (we went to a BBQ restaurant that served cage free chicken; I was so excited!); fruit smoothies; and my typical lunches of salads or dinner left overs.

The week of the 12^th I didn’t go to the farmer’s market because I knew I was only in town through Thursday afternoon and wouldn’t be back until the following Monday evening. Instead, I just went to the grocery store to pick up some essentials for the week and used left over farmer’s market goods.

I only took pictures of one meal from the week, but it is one of my favorite summer dishes because the flavors are just so, well, summery. It's pasta and veggies tossed in a homemade orange-cilantro pesto. Sooo good! I enjoyed this with some garlic toast and another caprese salad (Again, the flavors of the two dishes don’t marry well, but I didn’t want my tomatoes to go bad while I was gone, so I had it anyway.).

While I was home for a long weekend I enjoyed some delicious homemade meals, some fresh Midwest produce from my hometown’s farmer’s market, and also some meals out.  I also went to the State Fair, so admittedly I had a corn dog and some mini doughnuts. BUT, they are the only ones I will have all year, or maybe longer until I go to another fair.

Sadly, I didn’t record what I ate the rest of that week or the next three as they have been a total blur.  I’ll try to get back on track with the rest of this week and from now on though. I do have to say, I may not take a picture of every single thing I eat, but I will capture the pretty or out-of-the-ordinary meals for sharing and inspiration. I’ll leave you with this pretty meal, for example; shrimp salad with garlic toast and grapes.

Check back soon for Ingredient of the Week catch-up posts!