Our Meyer lemon tree in the backyard is starting to fall over because it has so many lemons all on one side. After harvesting a ton of them because I felt sorry for it, I decided I wanted to make lemon cupcakes. It turned out one of the hardest parts of making them was actually picking a recipe. I couldn’t decide between 5 recipes, and I ended up just picking the one that I already had all of the ingredients for. I do, however, have the other recipes bookmarked so I can find the best recipe. By the end of the summer I should have one I really like (I have decided I should wait at least a week before I make another batch).

Ingredients:

Another tool I really enjoy and use often is this lemon juicer. It seriously gets all of the juice out without pulp. I still like it, even after I shot lemon juice into my eye the last time I used it (I might as well have wrung out the lemon into my eye I got so much in there).

I couldn’t wait for them to be frosted, but they sure were delicious. I hope our new neighbors enjoyed them as much as I did.

As part of Michelle Obama’s strive to end obesity and help our nation get back on track with our diets and health, she partnered with the Department of Agriculture to create an alternative to the food pyramid, “My Plate.” My plate is an easier way for Americans to understand what they should be eating at every meal with a plate clearly divided into the important food groups: fruits, grains, vegetables, protein, and dairy.

This morning I found a video on GOOD’s 30 day vegetarian challenge and it got me thinking. I have been a vegetarian for about 5 years now, and maybe I should pledge to do something more for a month. Check out their video and see if it can inspire you to create a change in your next 30 days (or 27 : ) ) no matter how small.

I have recently started reading GOOD which is an interesting online format that “is the integrated media platform for people who want to live well and do good. We are a company and community for the people, business, and NGOs moving the world forward.” This morning I found a video on their 30 day vegetarian challenge.

The GOOD 30-Day Challenge: Go Vegetarian from GOOD.is on Vimeo.

What will you pledge for the rest of June? Comment below or let your world know through a Facebook status update what the rest of your June will look like.

First off, lets be clear: a cookie is a cookie. However, as far as ingredients go, these are healthier than many other options. These oatmeal cookies are made with whole wheat flour, oats, and dried fruit which not only taste great, but also add fiber. These cookies would also be hearty enough to do well with additions like flaxseed.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter (or substitute to make vegan)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated whole nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats (slow cook, not instant)
A 12 oz bag of chocolate chips (any kind you like. I used milk chocolate.)
1 cup dried fruit of your choice (if you want apricots or another larger fruit be sure to chop it into small pieces first.)

Makes 48 cookies

Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy

3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well
4. Add combined flour, backing soda, spices, and salt; mix well

6. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet

8. Let sit 1 minute on the cookie sheet; remove to wire rack
The cookies are really loose when you first take them off the sheet. Do not worry, you cooked them long enough. As they cool they bind together better and will no longer fall apart if you even look at them funny.

If you only want a few cookies, this recipe freezes really well. Just scoop out the dough into tablespoon size pieces before placing in a freezer safe container. I recommend layering the dough and using a piece of parchment or wax paper to keep them from sticking. The dough is also tasty straight out of the freezer : )

I am fascinated by the idea of making my own bread. To me it seems like the true self-sufficiency- creating such a true staple of my diet instead of buying it from some large company and wasting the packaging and all the other resources necessary to get it to me.

This weekend I decided to make asparagus soup. I chose the soup because I love when it is spring and asparagus is finally coming into season. Asparagus is also full of vital nutrients including folic acid, vitamin K, vitamin C, and many antioxidants. This low calorie superfood made a delicious soup.

Ingredients:

1 lb asparagus*

2 celery stalks, diced

2 tablespoons butter (optional)

2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks

1/4 cup onion, diced (about 1/2 of a medium sized onion)

5 cups vegetable broth

The beauty of this recipe is that at the end it is blended, so you do not have to worry too much about your knife skills.

This recipe was adapted by my mom and I to cut down on the pots used and the steps.

1. Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus (typically the bottom 3rd. To test where it is, simply hold the top portion and the bottom of the asparagus and bend until it snaps. Where it broke is the best place to cut the bunch.)

2. Add the bottoms of the asparagus to the 5 cups vegetable broth in a pot, simmer for 20 minutes

3. Remove asparagus with slotted spoon and compost. Add remaining ingredients to broth and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes longer, testing the tenderness of the vegetables a few times along the way.

4. Once asparagus and potato are tender (meaning the fork goes through them easily and the asparagus have lost nearly all of their crunch), turn off the heat, add butter (optional), and use a stick blender or a regular blender to puree the soup.

5. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

A little history is necessary before I can continue: one of the many reasons I resisted learning to cook for so long is that every time I tried in the past I would burn and/ or cut myself.

On cooking shows, or even when I just watch my mom, using a stick blender does not seem difficult… It was by far one of my most stressful cooking experiences so far. Boiling liquids and a tumultuou  stick blender that seems to have a mind of its own nearly led to the catastrophic burning of myself and my mom who was trying to teach me how to use it.

The blender glues itself to the bottom of pot and in order to get all of the chunks blended, my mom kept telling me to lift it off the bottom. However, I took this to mean picking it directly up off of the bottom and fighting the ridiculous amount of resistance that the blender created. When I would finally overpower the suction, I would inevitably yank it from the soup and spray boiling liquid everywhere as the blades spun out of the water. After nearly burning us three times my mom finally clarified that I just need to tilt the blender off the bottom. So much easier and less dangerous!

The soup itself was pretty good, especially when pared with the biscuits (recipe coming soon), but could use a bit more flavor. Next time I am going to try it with some herbs to spice things up a bit.

* Because asparagus can often be expensive, consider growing your own!

I have been saying for quite a while now that I was going to learn to cook in order to be in more independent next year when I live in an apartment with my own kitchen as well as to be more sustainable and cook healthy meals out of local ingredients. I finally started!

All in all these fries were a delicious snack, and they would have been even better if I had remembered to put in the chili powder : )

It’s no secret these days that animal products, including meat and dairy, have large carbon footprints in comparison to vegetables and other food products. However, what never ceases to amaze me is how much meat Americans consume. Americans have one of the highest rates of meat consumption in the world. It is not uncommon for many of us to eat meat with every meal.

This past week Santa Clara University’s dining commons, which are run by Bon Appetit Management Company, decided to do a low carbon diet day to help bring awareness to their future plans of decreasing meals with meat on Fridays. Oddly every single main dish or special had meat in it. What carbon calculator were they using?

Shockingly, if Americans went vegetarian for one day, the US would prevent 1.2 million tons of carbon emissions according the New York University Polytechnic Institute.

Decreasing our consumption of carbon heavy foods can massively affect our carbon emissions. Switching to a vegetarian diet can save more carbon emissions than driving a hybrid vehicle! A vegetarian diet saves 5040 pounds of CO2 per year and a hybrid saves 5000 pounds of CO2 per year according to PlanetGreen.com.

As Earth Day approaches I am not demanding all humans go vegan, or even vegetarian. Instead, I ask that we consider what we eat and take the challenge of reducing meat to one meal a day, meatless Mondays, meatless weekdays, meatless May, or meatless everyday.