Another scape adventure - scape pesto!

The summer we have been blessed with about a million scapes.
Okay maybe not a million, but way more than I can use to make hummus, no matter how much you love hummus when you are only using two per batch...so what to do with the other 900,000 scapes?

I wasn't in the mood to can so I didn't want to pickle them so pesto it is...

Pesto is actually pretty easy to do and there are about as may versions of how as there are stars in the sky (again probably a bit of a stretch). I based mine based on a few different recipes, and as per usual I don't really put too much effort into measuring.

Just in case you forgot what a scape look like still attached to the garlic plant.

Cut these bad boys off before they flower...then make stuff with them!

They can be pickled, sauteed, used like garlic in various cooked dishes, grilled, added to hummus like my previous post...you get the picture and I am starting to sound like Bubba Gump with scapes in place of shrimp.

This is what I used...
Chop up the scapes so they fit into your food processor (you could probably use a good blender as well and it might even come out smoother - but I went chunky in the cuisine art).

I added:
About 1/3 C of raw sunflower seeds.
Probably 15 scapes (some were pretty small).

About a cup of fresh basil.

Enough olive oil to blend.

About 1/2 C Parmesan and Romano cheeses.

Toss that stuff in the food processor and turn that bad boy on. Let it run for a few minutes and add additional olive oil if it is too paste like.

Occasionally open the top and scrape down the sides to get everything all blended and happy.

That's it. Done.

It does come out thick and I have been diluting it down with more olive oil to make it more manageable to use.
I will not be able to use it all before it gets weird so I plan on freezing it in ice cube trays for usable sizes for future yumminess.

So far I have tossed brussel sprouts in the pest and made a bizarre, but delicious mixture of cauliflower rice, sliced tomatoes, diluted pesto, and fresh sliced mozzarella cheese all melted up. It has also been added to spaghetti squash both with and without marinara.

How do you like to use either basil pesto or garlic scape pesto? I could use some new ideas!

Recycling cabinet doors.

I am the proud owner of two businesses.
To some on the outside they could not be more different.

One is a premium skincare business that I adore and that surrounds me with a team of amazing people that support, offer guidance, help train, and only want to see you succeed. This business allows me to help people find solutions and take care of themselves. It is empowering and beautiful. I love my 'job' with Rodan + Fields! If you would like to know more you can click here to visit my website. I would love to help you find your freedom too!

The second is our all natural personal care and home products business called bad hippies. This is a business born out of necessity and desire to be better steward to the earth.
We offer a few primary lines which include: solid lotion bars, lip balm, castile soap, laundry detergent, and we have recently added natural bug spray and beard oil. We have a few other options, but we are working on all natural soap world domination. Slowly.
If you would like to see what we have to offer you can click here to visit our website.

Yes, on the outside they seem to contradict each other, but those that know me also know I am an 80/20 hippie. I try to keep 80% of my life as clean and earth friendly as possible, but there are things that nature just can't do for me...like keep my roots from going grey and keep the wrinkles effectively at bay, so the other 20% I allow myself to not feel guilty and do what needs done.

Our bad hippies business is web based and we have a booth at markets around the Chicago area. We are new to the market business and our booth has been getting better with each outing. We were in desperate need of signage and didn't just want to go the normal course and get a banner from the local print shop...nope...we decided we were going to make our own using recycled materials. We went to our local ReStore - which is a store that contractors or home owners can donate used housing materials of all sorts and furniture and well most anything. These stores are operated by Habitat for Humanity and you can find some magical treasures AND support a wonderful organization. 
Anyway...we walked the store not knowing exactly what we wanted. We wandered. We schemed. We tried out a few options and ended up buying two used cabinet doors one to hang with our logo and a second to stand up and show our products. $9 later we were out the door.
We did stop at our local home improvement store and pick up some chalkboard paint and a sample size of plain old white to paint these blonde oak and white doors to make them what we wanted.

I forgot to snap before pics of both, but you know what an oak cabinet door looks like...

Here is the white one for the product list and pricing.

Here is the oak with a first layer of chalk spray paint.

LEARN FROM ME LESSON #1

I would have saved a ton of time and product if I had coated the panel with regular black spray paint instead of trying to cover it with the specialty spray paint.

Here is the same panel with more coats of chalk spray paint.
You get the picture. After I got the center panel the way I wanted it - mostly, I painted the outside 'frame' white with the sample size white paint. I also have no pictures of this because...well because.

The tall panel went through the same process. This panel was already white so it didn't require too much other than clean up from over spray.

Next came the art phase...

I am mostly happy with it, but the chalkboard pain does not act exactly like a chalkboard and erasing was a challenge for me.

It need more hippie stuff so I doodled. From even a short distance the lines and original lettering aren't that visible and I am probably the only one that notices. 

I started the big sign, but just wasn't happy with how it was turning out so back to the chalk/drawing board. I ran out of the spray paint so we went back to get more...
LEARN FROM ME LESSON #2

If I were to do this all over again I would have started with the chalkboard paint in a can. You get more, and there is less mess because it doesn't get all over everything.

The tall sign is still a work in progress, the painting is done I just need to figure out what to write on it. I should get on that since our next show is in two days....nah I got plenty of time.

Have you found a creative way to recycle something that would have just ended up in the trash? What was it and how did it turn out? 

It is scape season! Making garlic scape hummus

Since we moved to Chicago we have chosen to live in a rental property. There are several reasons for this, but one thing it limits us to is planting a garden. With the four billion other things that demand your time it isn't really a priority right now. 

With all of the being said, we still planted garlic. Lots of garlic. 
We were given several bulbs a few years back and have been cultivating and sharing this heirloom hardneck garlic with friends because two people have a hard time using a full 40+ bulbs in a year no matter how much you fear vampires.

You may have picked up on the fact that we (I) may have a small squirrel problem so I wanted to spread out the garlic love and plant them in a few locations. If you are curious...the furry little bastards did dig up several cloves and eat them or at least part of them.

For example:

In the flower beds in front of the house.

 In a pot by the garage...

 In pots on the patio...

 And in the grand mess that is the landscaped edges of my yard. Don't judge me.

The reason for so many locations other than squirrels is that you plant garlic in the fall and harvest in the beginning to mid summer depending on location and growing conditions. Oh and we weren't sure how long we would be in this house so I planted some in pots that we could take if we needed.

Growning tip: in my experience garlic is not nearly as fond of growing in pots as it is in the ground, but desperate conditions and all.

So right around this time the scapes need to be pruned.

What the hell is a scape you ask...
A scape is what would become the flower.

Why do you cut it off?
Well they are quite tasty, but the other more scientific-y  answer is when you take away the bloom, the plant will focus on developing the bulb. So the short answer is because you get better garlic bulbs.
So here is a the current scape situation (we have more, but they need a few more day and are much smaller because they are the garlics in the pots).

My first scape adventure has been scape hummus. Or maybe I should call it Scape Yummus!

If you have read previous cooking posts you may have discovered I do a lot of my cooking by the eyeball and taste method. So exact recipes are hard for me to determine, but I will do my best for you.

I am all for making hummus from dried beans. It is way easier than it sounds and if you lack prep time, but have an Instant Pot this isn't really an issue. If you don't have an Instant Pot, you should. You REALLY REALLY should.
All ya do is rinse the beans put them in the IP add enough water to significantly cover the beans shut the lid and push the bean button. It really is that easy.

Meanwhile I gather my other ingredients: lemon juice, tahini, salt, and in this case scapes.

After the beans are done do NOT just drain them....NO save that bean juice!!!

-Now toss about a cans worth of beans (15oz) into you food processor or blender (I use a Vitamix because I have never made smoother hummus in any other gadget - don't have a Vitamix or other good blender? You should. Just like the IP it makes life so much easier).
-Next pour in some of that saved goodness bean juice (probably a half of a cup to a cup you will need to vary to your prefer consitency) 
-Plop in about a T of tahini (I don't want the tahini flavor to overpower my hummus, but again use as much or as little as you fancy)
-Now add a few splashes of lemon juice (again in my case I like mine lemony so I might glub glub glub a few more time
-Grind in some salt to taste
-Scapes, I used two but again it is all personal preference and how strong your scapes are

Once it is smooth you are good to go...give it a taste and add what you want and boom. Hummus is a healthier alternative to many dips and is a great source of protein! It is vegan and crazy amazing. There are a million ways to dress up or flavor your hummus so go to town. Try new things. Live a little.

What are your favorite versions of hummus?

Jicama salsa...who knew?

So on occasion we will host get togethers at the house. Sometimes they are elaborate and sometimes super casual. The one constant somehow I always always always make too much food.
Mark and I are making a valiant effort to make our food intake more whole and healthy and way less processed and junky. When I was looking for recipes to make for a mini shindig I went to a few of my FAVORITE cookbooks in the world...Thug Kitchen (want to know more click the link and check it out for yourself...you will not regret it). You may be asking yourself what is a Thug Kitchen? It is one of the most kick ass vegan cookbooks out there. Why so special? One, they cuss - all the fucking time - which aligns with my normal verbal outbursts. Two, the recipes are easy. They have easy ingredients and easy to follow directions. Three, the food is kick ass amazing. Even if you aren't vegan you need this. Seriously.

Okay a digress. 

So I wanted to make a few easy appetizers and I found a recipe for jicama corn salsa. Bam. Done.

If you have never had jicama you should. It is a root vegetable that originated in Mexico. You peel it. You chop it up. You eat. Yum.

This is jicama. My local supermarket carries it. Look for it.

First you peel this bad boy then chop it however the recipe calls for. For this recipe I diced up about half of this bad boy.
This is jicama peeled. This should be a band name...jicama peeled. Make it so.

This recipe was super simple and peeling the jicama is what took the most time.

Next I diced up some tomatoes...and before I go any further I would like to give mad props to anyone that can make dicing a tomato look easy. I always mangle those little bastards.

Next about half of a red onion...the sign said it was sweet, well sweet shouldn't make me cry. Stupid onion.

I did cheat a bit because the recipe called for fresh corn, but I had half a bag of roasted corn from Trader Joe's so I heated that up and used that instead of dealing with one of the ears of corn I had...I ain't got time for that.

The last ingredient was juice of a lime...like eye of a newt I neglected to get this so I used some good lemon juice I had on hand. That's it. Done. It is magical.

Jicama is sweet and crunchy and seriously delicious. I found myself munching on it all evening. It would make an amazing easy healthy snack and I think I will need to have this on hand more often.

The recipe is something like this:

2 cups diced jicama

1 cup diced tomato - I used more

About a half cup of diced red onion

1 cup-ish of sweet corn

the juice of a lime (or if you are like me lemon juice)

Combine and eat. Yum.

plant stand to farmer's market booth accessory

We all have that piece of furniture that we have no idea where it came from, but it serves a purpose. This is that piece of furniture for me.
No clue where it came from, but I do have quite a few plants and when they come in for the winter they have to go somewhere...

This piece is all function and is well not very visually appealing.

As some of you may know we operate a small LLC out of our house and sell at local craft/farmer's/flea markets around the Chicago area as well as an online website and all the fun social media site too.
We are always looking for ways to make our booth more user friendly and with a quick set-up and break-down factor as well. We have one folding table and we use a cute painted wooden step ladder as display space, but wanted more options. 
Since the weather has cooperated, the plants are now outside and this ugly little guy was just hanging out in the guest room...so SPRAY PAINT!!!!

I had a partial bottle of a candy pink and it was on...

I am pleased with how she turned out. The wood was dry so I didn't even get close to full coverage, but I like the shabby look.

Now we can use her to hold out new bad hippies sign I made out of an old cabinet door, some paint, and chalk, or to hold extra product if we hang our sign.

I love doing these quick little make overs and giving new life to existing items.

And here is an action shot from our last market...okay it is hard to see in the back, but it is holding the bad hippies sign.

I need to finish touching up the signs, but we are getting there.

What are some of your favorite little make overs?