This afternoon for lunch, I walked into the kitchen and had no idea what I was going to eat. I didn’t have too much to work with…but I did know that I wanted to eat some of my portabella mushrooms & fresh tomatoes. I dug through my pantry and fridge and found a few other ingredients and came up with a wonderfully delicious veggie pita sandwich thing.

Ingredients:

• Pita Bread (pocket works best here to hold all the goodness in!)
• 2-3 Portabella mushrooms, sliced to 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 Tomato, sliced into thick chunks
• 2 Tablespoons Balsalmic Vinegar
  
• 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano, crushed between hands onto pan
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• 1-2 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing, (I used Hidden Valley packet ranch mixed with Sour Cream, but pick your favorite Ranch)
• Camembert Cheese, 3 slices
• 1 pat butter & drizzle of olive oil
  

Photo Taken by Brittani O'Leary

Method:

• Melt the butter on small pan with medium heat, add the olive oil to the pan as well. Saute the mushrooms for 2 to 3 minutes until soft. Add the chunks of tomato to the pan and cook for another 3 minutes further to soften the tomatoes.
• Season with salt & pepper and add the balsalmic vinegar to the pan and stir well.
• Turn heat to medium-low and allow balsalmic to reduce down to thick sauce.
• Toast your pita either in toaster oven or plain toast is what I used.
• Cut pita open and spread some ranch onto the bread.
• Put the sauteed mushroom mixture into your pita pocket and top with cheese slices.

Photo Taken by Brittani O'Leary

Enjoy!

Yours Truly,

Brittani

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So I’ve recently begun reading a fabulous book! It’s called, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by award winning author, Barbara Kingsolver and I must say that it is by far one of the best books I’ve read in years! It is a wonderfully informative piece of work concerning today’s industrial agriculture as well as touching base on the benefits of organic farming.

This book has been such a powerful influence on my thoughts about food and industry today. I was so moved by this book, that I myself have made the decision to make a goal of my own. I am going to try and grow all the fruit & veggies that my family will be consuming. We have already decided prior to reading this book, that we would like to be buying our food from locally produced sources.

If you have any interest in food, gardening or cooking, I urge you to read this book. Heck, even if you don’t have any interest in any of those things I just listed, please read this book for you and your family’s benefit. This book will change your life I promise!

Barbara Kingsolver

Yours Truly,

Brittani

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Photo taken by Brittani O.

I love avocados, but hate the price we have to pay for them here in NZ. Most of the year they are really expensive and probably imported from the US, however right now they are in season around my area making them a lot cheaper than usual! I’ve decided to keep every avocado seed that I come across instead of just throwing it into the bin. There’s no point in throwing out these lovely seeds. Yes, they will take quite a long time to start producing edible avocados, however it will be a great investment! Even if you can’t dedicate to growing a new plant right now, toss that seed into the freezer in a baggie and take it out when your ready. Seeds keep so wonderfully in the freezer! Technically seeds are living, but are dormant until they are planted.

• Place 3 sewing pins in the seed.
• Fill cup of water to the top.
• Place seed on cup with 1/2 inch of water covering the seed.
• Place in a dark and warm place.
• May take up two to six weeks for seed to sprout through the bottom.
• Allow a few leaves to grow from the seed before transplanting into soil.

Yours Truly,

Brittani

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