Today was an absolutely beautiful day in good ole Fort Wayne, so my mom and I took advantage of it by going for a nice walk with my mom’s new dog, Gypsy.  There is a little loop through our neighborhood that my mom had been walking the pup on and she wasn’t exactly sure of the mileage, so I strapped on my Garmin so that we could map the route.

My mom really wanted the route to be 4 miles, so we had to do a couple of additional twists and turns in order to get the mileage right, but we got it!

After the walk I showered and got ready for the day, and the next thing I knew it was time for lunch.  Whenever I am home, I completely take advantage of raiding my parent’s pantry, so I made sure to load my plate up with plenty of veggies and some tuna for a nice and filling salad.

Shortly after that it was time for me to hit the road and head back to Indy.  I wanted to be back in town by at least 5pm because I had my 5th Body Pump team teaching session at 6pm.  I am honestly loving the team teaching aspect of Body Pump and I think I am going to be lonely when I don’t have anyone up on the stage with me to interact with.

When I got home it was 7:30pm and I was hungry.  7:30pm is pretty late for me to have dinner, and I just completed a workout, so I wanted to make something fast.

The meal was kind of a spontaneous decision, but turned out delicious.

Veggie Marinara Mix-Up

I simply steamed 1 cup of cauliflower for the base.

I then sauteed some red onion and yellow bell pepper until they were tender.  Once the veggies were tender I added 1/2 cup of marinara sauce and 1/4 block of tofu.  I allowed the entire mixture to heat through.

Once the cauliflower was steamed, I placed it on a plate and topped it with 1/4 cup of cottage cheese.  I know that may sound a little strange, but in my family we put cottage cheese in our lasagna, so I thought it would add a nice creaminess to the sauce as well as a little extra protein.

I then topped the cauliflower and cottage cheese with the veggie, sauce, and tofu mixture.

It was delicious and quick.  I will definitely be making this dish again 😉

How Does Your Garden Grow?

As Mom was finishing up the gardening yesterday, she realized that she had some leftover starter plants for cucumbers and tomatoes.  I absolutely LOVE fresh tomatoes and cukes from the garden during the summer, however, growing them myself is another situation completely.  But my mom potted up a couple of starters for me so that I could take the plants to Indy and attempt to take care of them myself.

Wish me luck, because I honestly have trouble keeping anything alive that lives in a pot.

I mentioned yesterday that every year on Mother’s Day my mom plants flowers for the yard and gets her garden ready for the summer, but my mom doesn’t grow her garden the old fashion way.  She uses something called and Earth Box.

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These Earth Boxes are essentially a portable controlled planting environment.  There is no weeding involved, it is impossible to overwater the plants, and the planters last forever.  I think my mom has had hers for 10 years now.

She was first introduced to these planters by my grandparents who are constantly moving and don’t usually live in an environment that is ideal for a garden.  They used their Earth Boxes to plant a garden when they had a cabin in Alaska, when they lived on the sand in Florida, and in the dry heat of Arizona.  They were able to tote their boxes around and have delicious, home grown, fresh tasting vegetables in all climates.

Because of the scientific creation of these boxes, they are basically fool proof as long as you water them daily!  Although I have never planted in the Earth Boxes and taken care of the Earth Boxes on my own, I have eaten their produce and I highly recommend it.  According to my mom, they are easy to take care of, and one of the best things about them is that there are no weeds.

You can plant a wide variety of plants in the boxes, too.  We have planted cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, flowers, chives, green peppers, jalapenos, wild flowers, green onions, and many other things that I can’t even remember!  Everything tastes great 🙂

Now, my plants will not be growing the the controlled environment of the Earth Box, but hopefully I am as successful as my mom is with her garden.

Question of the Evening:

• Do you grow a garden in the summer months?
• Have you ever used an Earth Box?