What We Make, Part 1

Hello all!

Well, as most of you probably already know, we love to cook here at the Fleshman house. Joey and I are both fairly adventurous and always open to new tastes and dishes. But with all of the yummy summer produce we have right now, our new goal has been learning to include fruit and veggies in our meals regularly. While it wasn't necessarily a big priority before, we've noticed that our bodies just feel so much better and we're much happier when we incorporate produce into our daily diet. I've also been trying to find healthier ways to make things we already love (without compromising too much flavor, texture, appearance, etc.) and utilize everything and waste nothing as well.

So I thought to myself--Self, lets write a little post featuring some of the yummy dishes we've made recently in our effort to eat and feel better, and perhaps inspire someone else in the process!

a little note: most of the veggies we eat are cooked. While raw veggies and fruit contain more nutrients than cooked ones, we have learned that I get fairly sick when I eat raw veggies, which is why we usually cook them. 

Goat Cheese, Swiss, Mushroom, & Spinach Panino with Fresh Blackberries

One of our favorite sandwiches. We had gone to the Rockbridge Farmers Market that morning and picked up some fresh goat cheese and blackberries. The rest of the ingredients were left over from meals earlier that week and made for one fine Saturday lunch--plus we got to use our sweet panini press and grill that we got as a wedding gift (which we also use to grill vegetables like zucchini). 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Another recipe from my Aunt Jen. I'm sure you already know the miracle of crock pot cooking (you know, how you only have to throw in a little bit of a few things and then all of a sudden you can feed like...a bagillion people?) but boy we love crock pot soup. We used fresh corn we bought at the farmers market (which is delish by the way!), left over beans, chicken, salsa, etc that we already had. The only thing we really had to get specifically for this meal was some cumin and fresh cilantro--we even used left over corn tortillas from enchiladas to make our own chips. I also tossed in some brown rice and let that cook in the broth to bulk it up a bit. Later that night we packaged up the left overs and popped them in the freezer, which gave us another dinner a week or two later. That's my kind of meal!

Spice Rubbed Tilapia with Cilantro Rice + Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Put all of that extra corn, beans, and cilantro to good use! We made a salsa with black beans, corn, red onion, jalapeño, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro to top some tilapia and rice. I got the tilapia pretty much dirt cheap after finding a stellar sale at Kroger, and everything else was from previous meals. I like that its gluten free and low carb, which actually helps to improve mood.

Mini Blackberry Pies

Baking with fruit has been the biggest life saver. I hate throwing out food, but I'm always really paranoid about ripeness, freshness, and things just going bad in general--to the point that I can guarantee you that I've probably thrown away perfectly fine food because I get so nervous. Its a a bit of an issue, and fruit that seems a little over-ripe is no exception. My solution: make pies and muffins. Now baked goods aren't the healthiest option (unfortunately), but they're definitely better if you make them yourselves! I added just a touch of sugar (we like our fruit pastries a little more tart), and they're not filled with additives and yucky stuff like canned pie filling. I love making fresh pies and muffins to use fruit that I wasn't able to eat by myself in time.

Look for another post on What We Make and the ways that we incorporate produce into meals, find healthier and/or cheaper alternatives, and use every ounce of an ingredient!

Want recipes? Leave a comment and I will do a recipe post!

Have a great weekend!