Chilled Ginger Carrot Soup and Steak Pitas

A few months ago, we got a new juicer. It's something Mr. B has wanted for awhile so when I saw this beaut on sale at Costco, I brought it on home.The way it demolishes unsuspecting fruits and veggies into colorful, juicy deliciousness is pretty impressive. Aside from juice, you can also make dips and soups. I decided to make a chilled ginger carrot soup to pair with a steak pita sandwich. 

Fresh carroty goodness!

After juicing about 10 carrots and an inch or so of fresh ginger, I scooped in 3/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt and a little salt and whisked until completely incorporated. I also chopped fresh parsley from my garden to use as a garnish.

I covered the soup and popped it in the fridge to chill while I started on the pitas. I seared beef sirloins over high heat in a cast iron skillet to create a nice crust, then turned down the heat and finished them to medium. I sliced up the steak and then added some left over bbq'd potatoes from dinner the night before. The potatoes had sauteed onions cooked with them so I didn't need to add much else for flavor. 

 I topped the beef and potato mixture with feta cheese, chopped tomatoes and fresh spinach then laid them all in a toasty pita!

The finished product!

The soup was refreshing and light, perfect for the hot weather and the pita was savory and tangy. Try it out for a quick, week night meal idea!

New Camera!!!

Soooo excited! We finally got a new camera. No more blurry, half-focused shots! Mr. B splurged and got me the Canon Rebel T3i and I'm uber excited to get shooting! I will say that learning how to use a "real" camera, vs. the old point and click, has been an interesting challenge. I mean the thing comes with a small novel of a manual AND an instructional dvd but it's all worth it for you lovely people and your viewing pleasure! Here are a few pics I took around the house.

Yay for great pictures!

I hope you all will enjoy the blog a little more now that you can SEE what I'm blogging :)

Garden Watch 2012!

Even though we don't have much outdoor space in our lil slice o' heaven, I really wanted to have a garden this year.  To remedy this, and to stop my whining, Mr. B decided to build a garden box for me. We measured along our fence and plotted out a 10x5' area that would work. After a mostly productive trip to our local Home Depot, we returned with custom cut pine planks and corner posts. All the garden blogs I read recommended cedar but because we can never have it perfect in this city, cedar was nowhere to be found and pine was going to have to do. After Mr. B drilled and assembled the frame, I took some leftover weather proofing stain from the deck and coated it. Behold, my garden box!!!

I also started seeds a few weeks back. I planted corn, watermelon, chard, beans, lettuce, squash, herbs, peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, and radishes! 

What they don't tell you when you're gleefully filling your cart at the home improvement store is the INSANE amount of soil you're going to need to fill that little box. So far, I've packed over 400lbs, yes, you read that right, of soil into our back yard and and you know how much depth that gave me? Oh, about 4 inches! EEEKKKK!!! I originally wanted a solid 12" of topsoil but forget it, I'll add more later, lol.  

Here are the latest shots of my planted garden box!

'Maters!!! 

Strawberries

Corn

It just goes to show that you don't need a ton of room to grow your own garden! If you have even less space than me, try doing a potted garden. Lots of fruits and veggies flourish in pots, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, just to name a few. A bonus to potting, you can move your herbs inside during the winter with minimal hassle and year round flavor! I can't wait to start enjoying my garden. Grow, baby, grow!!!