Last Commented Food Blogs (314)

I have a mango tree in my back yard that is older than me.

Every year we get lots of tasty mangoes, so many that I have to give most away.
The tree was damaged when the last (big) hurricane came through around 10 years ago.
A section snapped off that I would estimate was 15% but that didn't affect the amount of mangoes we get, which is upwards of 350 every season.
This variety goes from green to yellow. If you eat one then, it has an apple-like flavor.
To get the fruit that early, we have a long aluminum pole with a looped wire on the end. One pull and the mango drops to the ground. When they change color to reddish orange the flavor completely changes and becomes sweet like honey.

This season beat all previous seasons and I'm not sure why. Perhaps we had more rain than normal, but estimates were over 500 mangoes this year!

When I get up in the morning, I go out with some grocery bags and usually fill 2 of them.
In the evening, we check again and often find enough to fill another bag.

I'm not sure why but my neighbors have mango trees but they aren't the same as mine. Different color and flavor, also their trees aren't as tall as mine.

The last of the mangoes fell a few weeks ago and it's the end of mango season at my place.


Thanks for reading my blog!

In case you forgot how to cook bacon, one brand offers instructions.

As temperatures soar here, I find myself diligently watering the front and back gardens morning and night. The one downfall of having all those huge shrubs removed - now I need to water my flowers and plants, and weed the garden.

The overgrown shrubs that were here never needed any such care, but then, they looked overgrown and uncared for, too. Even with majorly trimming them back last year, they couldn't be trimmed back far enough. So now I have lovely rose bushes and other flowers, that require watering, and the beds need to be weeded at least once a week.

While in the back garden, where I've planted a half-assed vegetable garden, I noted that one of the three zucchini plants Mom started for me has a small zucchini on it. W00t! I love zucchini and frequently use it in place of cucumber, as I'm not so fond of it. Also, zoodles are one of my favourite dishes.

I call it my half-assed garden as I got started really late, and only planted two tomato plants and 3 zucchini plants. I had thought of planting green beans (or maybe yellow, as I really love those), but as the bushes were pulled out late and the weather turned cold and wet, I didn't get around to it in time. And I just wasn't into it.

Next year, I'll start earlier, get a bunch of top soil, and plant some salad fixings. At my farm up north, I had a tremendous veggie garden, and despite the heat, grew amazing lettuce. It was awesome to go out and pick the lettuce, tomatoes, green onion, radishes, etc and be able to have a home-grown salad every day. Maybe next year I'll get my act together.

One of my tomato plants this year has a tomato that should be ready to pick tomorrow. I probably could have picked it today, but thought I'd give it one more day. Yay! My first homegrown tomato of the year. My mouth is already watering anticipating it's warm juiciness, fresh off the vine.

Tomorrow, very early, like maybe at 4:30am, I'm going out for my bike ride before it gets to darn hot. Today, the only time I went outside was to return library books and pick up some fresh fruit at the market. That's the only down-side of living here - all the wonderful fruit is ready at the same time. Blueberries, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots - all ripe and ready right now. I love all those fruits, but simply can't eat that much in a week.

Yellow beans are a favourite vegetable of mine, and I picked some up today and then was given some fresh beans from my neighbour's garden as he's grown too many. I absolutely love this friendly neighbourhood and great community. What a difference from my previous abode.

So now I have enough food to last me into next week and I just hope I can get motivated to cook it, as right now, with it being as hot as it is, I don't feel like eating, never mind cooking.

We all scream for ice cream. Remember that? I think it was a commercial, way back when. One of my favourite foods in the summer time is ice cream. In the winter it's too darn cold here so I stay away from it, but summer - all bets are off! I don't think I've ever had a flavour I didn't like, although there are some that I like more than others.

My favourites seem to fluctuate, and currently my favourite is mango ice cream. Mmm mmm! It's so refreshing, it's just finishes dinner off superbly. However, with my blood pressure being as high as it's been, I've been staying away from any foods that are high in sugar or salt. Darn, eh?

The good news? My blood pressure is down to normal the past few days, and was just slightly elevated last night, no doubt due to the heat. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's why it was so high when the doctor took it - it was the hottest day we've had so far this summer. I don't do well in the heat, and have a tendency to hide indoors when it gets really hot.

Yes, I know I could opt for frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, but there's still a lot of sugar in any frozen dessert. Then I remembered I have an ice cream maker that I purchased a few years ago and how delicious the ice cream was, using erythritol instead of sugar. I've retrieved the ice cream maker from the nether regions of my cupboard and have decided to make lemon ice cream as my first dip back into making it.

The base is freezing as we speak, and I figure by the time I return home from yet another bike ride, it'll be ready for me to add the ingredients. Along with some fresh blueberries, lemon ice cream sounds pretty enticing. But then, I think any ice cream would.

Lemon may be my new favourite ice cream, unless I make some mango ice cream of my own. But then again, there's chocolate, mocha almond fudge, and on and on. Decisions, decisions.

The United States Department of Agriculture is the agency who inspects meat processing plants and sees to it they maintain health standards.
Every week, we get mailed advertisements/flyers from local markets and usually, that's the first thing to make it to the recycle bin.
We did try one market and I noticed the meat didn't have the USDA stamp. It was marked from a country in Central America. The price was much less that meats found in the larger market chains like Wal-Mart or Publix.
The shape of the chicken looked mutated and out of proportion to what I'm accustomed to buying. I suggested trying it out to see if it was acceptable. Different flavor. Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather not take a risk to save a few dollars a week on meat coming from an unknown source.

Last night we shopped at Aldi and it was different. USDA stamps on the meats they display. The chicken looked like chicken.

I'll know tonight about the flavor.

For me it's peanuts. I like them but they don't like me.
I don't recall any peanut allergy as a kid, but in the last 20 years or so, I break out in hives after eating something made with peanut oil or has peanuts in the ingredients.

We have a manufacturer's rep who visits us weekly and he often brings 2 dozen gourmet doughnuts from a local bakery. This art work more than food but most of them have peanut butter icing.

Some of the Asian all-you-can-eat buffets cook with peanut oil and I'll know a day later what the food was cooked in when I have bumps on my skin.

I'm a picky eater. I know what I like and I know what I dislike.
If I had to make a list, Tofu would be near the top of the list of foods to avoid.
It's made from bean curd. I have no problem with that but it looks like Plaster of Paris.
I've never eaten plaster but I'd wager plaster and Tofu have a similar taste.


I took a lesson from someone who cooks Tofu very often and I'm getting it a few times a week now.

First things first: Tofu is spongy and packed in water. Rinse it several times and squeeze out the excess water.

Pan fry it with something else, meat or fish preferred and it will absorb the flavor of whatever it's cooked with!

Take fresh ginger and slice it in 1/8" (3mm) strips. Fry that with the Tofu and meat. It adds an amazing flavor to the meal.

I normally try to eat healthy. It has been feeling good lately to save all my veggie matter to take to the community garden, then it dawned on me to use some of it in my own yard around veggies I'm trying to grow. Makes great compost.

Well this morning after running around doing my chores I stopped at a First Watch restaurant (noted for healthy menus) Bear in mind healthy does not mean low calorie so I have to watch that. I ordered a chia power bowl. I did not know that there was something called Chia Pudding made from chia seeds but that is what I had mixed with granola and fruit. Oh my goodness it was to die for. I came home to immediately google Chia Pudding Recipes and you can just blow me out of the water. Chia, coconut milk, vanilla, honey, soak overnight and in the morning you have Chia pudding. Many other recipes but I got so damn wet I had to come here and shout it out.

Eating Chia and flax seeds I've done for years but I didn't know Chia seeds swelled up sort of like tapioca. OMG I love it. My brother gave up sweets almost a year ago for diabetes, I will make this for him and use stevia instead of honey and he will be able to indulge without guilt or sugar. I'm so happy

And folks being happy is where it is at, I tell you.

Of course watch me make this recipe and it bombs, ha ha.

Summer is here and it's watermelon season. If you like watermelon but you have trouble cutting it into pieces, an way to easily do this is to try my curved watermelon knife.
I have 2 of them. One curved for left-handed and one curved for right-handed.

What foods do you mix together that you love but other people think it's terrible? For me it's chicken and chocolate pudding. It happened about a month ago when I was eating a TV dinner and my piece of chicken fell off my fork into the pudding dessert. I said oh well and ate it. It was great!