Strawberry Fields Forever

Easter Sunday dawned sunny and clear in my neck of the woods. Slightly cool by Los Angeles standards, which was perfect for what was planned. Adele, Ian, Eric, Gabby,Miles & I were going to visit
Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark for a day of picnicing, animals, rides, and strawberry picking.

Ready? Set? Definitely ready to go!

Are we here yet?

"Laura! We can't roll you. You weigh at least 300 pounds!" Not, kids. Not.

Tractor Pull

Soaking up the sun.

Strawberry Fields Forever.


Horsing around.

Gabby. A REAL Cabbage Patch Doll.

Free Strawberry Eating for everyone in the fields.

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Beware the Bracelet... a B-B-Q Warning

Given my dessert "transgression" on Saturday night, I felt it was imperative to eat healthy on Sunday evening. But Eric was coming over. That's always cause for a celebration. And so I decided to finally clean out my BBQ of the old ashes and make dinner outside.

First I grilled the vegetables. Fresh tomatoes from the farmers market, topped by salt & pepper, Italian Bread Crumbs, fresh grated parmesan cheese, and fresh chopped green onion.
I decided to make a five-color-vegetable side dish along with the tomatoes for health reasons, but also to add bulk to the meal. Red Peppers (red), corn (yellow), carrots (orange), purple onion (purple or dark), cauliflower (white), Bok Choy (green), and Asparagus (green) were marinated in Moondance Marinade, then cooked in my grill top wok.
Once the vegetables were complete, I took chicken breasts (skinless & boneless) which I had pounded flat earlier (best to do that between two sheets of either waxed paper or Saran Wrap) and marinated in a Citrus marinade. When you pound the breasts flat, they cook faster and more even. Also, they look like bigger portions and I, for one, am likely to eat less.
All of my dogs approved of me cooking chicken.
So did I. But the one thing that I did not approve of in the process, was burning myself. I recently - on doctor's orders - added a Medic Alert bracelet as standard dress. It hadn't occured to me that it would heat up and burn my wrist. It did. And the worst part was that it got so hot that I could not get the clasp undone to take it off. Days later, I am still suffering, even though Sandy & Christiane gave me ointment that does help.

No, in the "heat" of the moment, it did not occur to me to run inside and put the bracelet under a stream of cold water. Don't bother me with the obvious - lol.

What's for Dinner?

Last Wednesday night, I enjoyed Eric's company for dinner. As we usually do, we ate in at my home. That required some early preparation.

I started by cutting up a lot of different vegetables in my refrigerator. Sweet Potato, Red potato, Celery, Carrot, and Onion. Red Bell Peppers, Beets, and I forgot what else. I put them in a casserole dish with fresh herbs from my garden. Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary. I skipped the Thyme because that plant wasn't looking so good. It needed time to rest.

I did mix about 1 TB of Olive Oil pressed with Lemon into the mix. Just for the flavor. Over the large amount of vegetables, the calories were inconsequential. The next time, I would probably also squeeze a fresh lemon in.


Once the vegetables were in the casserole, it was time to defrost the Salmon. I used to buy fresh, but learned that "fresh" is a misstatement. Fish are caught on large boats far off shore. They are immediately frozen until the ship comes home. "Fresh" fish is then defrosted for market, and "frozen" fish is left in it's state from onboard.
Since frozen is much less expensive than fresh, that is the direction that I go. I favor Costco fish, not only for the price, but also because it comes in prepackaged portion sizes.
I put them in a baking dish and spread mustard on top.
I like Trader Joe's Hot and Sweet Mustard, but the original recipe called for Dijon. After the mustard, I put a layer of Italian Bread Crumbs.
To round out the dinner, I also prepared broccoli to steam.
Then it was time for the dogs dinners. Since I had run out of dog food and didn't have time to go to the market before Eric's arrival, they got to live good. I grilled up a chicken breast for each...
And added it to the sample Cat Food that I had snagged at Whole Foods. 100% of the dogs surveyed like Cat Food.
I baked the vegetable casserole in my oven at 350 degrees for a bit more than an hour. I added the salmon into the same oven for the last 20 minutes. The broccoli was steamed in Richard Simmons's steamer, along with apples for an apple sauce dessert.
The finished Salmon.

The finished casserole.
Broccoli.
And Eric, trying on the very wig that I wore in Party Off the Pounds! He is going to borrow it next weekend to wear to his daughter's Father-Daughter dance. The theme is 60's Feeling Groovy. I think he is connecting to his inner rock star.