Veggies and Flowers!!

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?  ~Author Unknown



My hubby and I are trying to get back into the veggie diet that has been successful for us in the past....eat veggies/pasta all week, no meat. Then on the weekend have something we have been craving, nothing crazy, but back to the veggies on Monday!! It has worked pretty well for us in the past, but we can't seem to maintain it for very long these days!.....anyway, I've been looking around for some recipes and ran across a couple that we really enjoyed....I found them online and adjusted them to our tastes.  I thought  you might enjoy them also!! I guess if I am going to post these, I ought to take pics...but I didn't think of that!!


Cheese Tortellini with Veggies


9 oz cheese tortellini (frozen or fresh)
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 sweet onion sliced paper thin
1 large red or green pepper
2 cups fresh broccoli flowers, chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs tarragon
3 Tbs Parmesan cheese, grated


Spray nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray, on Medium heat, saute onion and pepper ~10 minutes. Stir in chopped broccoli, pour in the lemon juice and wine, and add tarragon. cover and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes.  Prepare Tortellini according to package directions while veggies are cooking.  Stir in the olive oil and then fold in tortellini.


It's really good....and good for you!  I decided to have it again last week but didn't have all the ingredients so I tried with what I did have....this is great too...and much different....you would swear there was meat in it!!


9 ounces tortellini
1 cup baby bella mushrooms sliced thin
2 small zucchini squash, sliced in coins
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small sweet onion sliced thin
1/2 cup vegetable broth
3 Tbs. Parmesan cheese, grated
You would bet it had steak in it!! it's great!!




Another recipe I tried for Mother's Day dip!! My Mom loves Avocados and they were on sale, so I found this recipe on the internet....I have fixed it several times since and it's great on tortilla chips, veggies or pretzel rods....only trouble is it doesn't last very long!! 


Avocado and Roasted Garlic Dipping Sauce


2 Avocados
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 entire head of roasted garlic, squeezed from skin
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp coarse salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper


Roughly mash avocados, (texture should not be smooth)
Fold in remaining ingredients
Chill one hour to marry flavors


(If you don't have a garlic roaster: put cloves in a square of foil; drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil, and pinch of sea salt, seal foil. Bake at 450 F until garlic is very soft, about 20 minutes)


I just decided to share some of my favorite new recipes, I hope you try them, if you do, let me know what you think!!  


I took some new pics in the gardens today.....we've had light afternoon showers yesterday and it made my flowers very happy!!

The Orange lilies have gone crazy!!

They're early, but abundant!!

This Gladiola always blooms early...one stalk, then another at the end of the summer!! Very strange..but pretty!!

This guy (snapping turtle) came by for a visit, he obviously was in his camo disguise, he even had a long trail of moss!

He was a little shy, I was going to put my foot there to give you a size comparison, but changed my mind!! He's not really huge, but big enough to take off toes!!

That's all folks!! Just a hodge podge of stuff to report!!


::Hugs::