Organic Vegetables

About a month ago we found this Organic Food Co-op that meets every week on Saturday in Redlands in front of The Farm restaurant. Today was our first time going there, picking up our pre-selected basket of organic fruits and vegetables, paying for the next time we come, and taking it all home for a way better price than at the grocery store. Each week someone collects all the money from everyone participating and then goes to local organic farmers and buys their produce at cost. They then devide all the produce evenly (depending on how many people decide to RSVP for that week) and distribute it on Saturday morning. We were really impressed with all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables we were able to get, and it's kind of fun to just let someone else pick out what's in season right now for you to eat. Our next pick up for us will be October 25th because we don't think we'll be done eating all our stuff by next week.
After we picked up our produce we took Jackson for a walk around downtown Redlands (does that alley look familar?). Then he was so tuckered out that he and Hermione took a nap together.

Huntington Beach Trip

One of  many beach trips over this summer. We went with our friends Trevor and Leah for a 1/2 day at the beach. After some taco bell, a wardrobe change, and some final yoga poses Trevor and I ventured out into the waves to do some surfing. Once again a beautiful day, but don't let the sunny day fool ya the water still needed a wetsuit. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday morning Jill and I and the pup drove up to Ventura, CA for 2 days and a one night stay for the weekend. When we got there it was raining, but by the time we had walked around Ventura Harbor the clouds broke and there was sun. We ate lunch at a nice little restaurant called the Cajun Kitchen Cafe where we shared some chicken gumbo, red beans and rice, corn bread, and a biscuit. We eventually checked into the luxurious Motel 6 before going out to dinner later that night at the Anacapa Brewing Co. We followed that up with going to see Indiana Jones at the downtown Cinema. Sunday morning we got up and went for a 3-4 mile run with our new Nike+ipods on the Ventura River Trail followed by Starbucks for breakfast. At the last minute we decided to drive up to Ojai for part of the day and managed to catch there farmer's market, but sadly no dog's were allowed. After walking around the art festival they had that day we went back to a little organic cafe inside of the local market and found stuff for lunch.








Sunday afternoon after eating lunch we drove home to beat the traffic and also to prepare for the 15 mile round trip hike that we were planning to do the next day to the top of one of the 9 San Grogronio Peaks. Oh by the way, Jill and I have decided to summit all 9 peaks of the San Grogronio Mountain Range before we leave S. Cal in 2 years. Our friends Trevor and Leah were up for it as well and so Monday morning at 8:30 we made our way up towards the mountains. We stopped at the Ranger Station to sign a hiking permit and then up to the Foresee Creek trailhead that lead to San Bernardino East Peak Summit. It started off cold and foggy but eventually with some altitude change we broke through the clouds. About 1:00 pm we stopped and ate lunch just off the trail, and then continued on. As we got towards 8,500- 9,000 ft. elevation we begin to walk over mounds of snow that covered the trail periodically. Once we reached 10,400 the trail was mostly gone and we had to rely on the GPS coordinates for the summit. But even more than the GPS we used the trees (thanks to Trevor for noticing) since someone had cut parts of the bark to mark where the trail continued on from tree to tree. At about 5:00-5:15 pm we summited San Bernardino East Peak at 10,691 ft., and what a view!
We took it all in as long as we could, but then the descent had to start sometime. Half way down we caught a beautiful sunset and then we made use of the headlamps we brought until we reached the truck at about 9:30 pm. (Oh the burn!)

What we've been up to...

We've been making dinners, we took advantage of the REI sale this month and bought sleeping bags (thank you uncle Sam and Jackson). About a week or so ago I pulled out my fly rod, got my license and headed up to the Santa Ana river and manage to pull some nice trout out of there. I caught about 9 trout total some brown some rainbow, but only about half of them were of any size for that river / creek. It was a good start to the season though. We decided to plant a garden this summer and since summer is almost here we did the quick planter box method of cement blocks with a layer of chicken wire underneath due to our resident gofers. Took a couple days of moving dirt but we finally finished it and put a nice layer of compost and Starbucks Pike Place coffee grounds on top. So far we have two Roma tomatoes plants, one Serrano Chile, and one crook neck squash, today is a cooler day so we'll have to take advantage and plant some more.

Morning Book Review

I just finished this book in about 2 weeks after it sat on my bookshelf for a couple years. It was a pretty easy read so I was able to read a chapter every morning. In this book he follows the Lord's prayer and devotes a chapter to each line relating it to our lives today. The premise is in the title, how we must "Travel Light" and let go of the baggage we carry around each day. The "suitcases and duffel bags of sorrow, disappointment, and guilt", whatever it is that a person holds with them. The idea was good but to me not one of Lucado's best. Insightful on occasion, but some of the "baggage" I had a hard time relating to. Easy read though, of course still has redeeming value but to me not one of his best.

~ N. Schmunk

The last winter dinner...

Last week Jill and made this dish after I snagged it out of a magazine at work. We weren't sure how it would end up using the chickpeas for a stew but were not disappointed. This recipe was delicious, I got two meals at work after the fact with the leftovers and it was still good every time. We of course substituted the sausage in the recipe with a breakfast chicken sausage from Trader Joe's that had a nice smoky flavor. For the bread we also got from a Trader Joe's a whole grain crusty bread (french would not work well) that was very good. Sourdough may work if that's all you have but a dense bread works well to soak up the broth of the stew without turning to mush.






Chickpea and Sausage Stew
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
12 ounces Italian sausage, thawed and casings removed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 10-ounce package frozen leaf spinach
Kosher salt and pepper
8 slices bread, toasted (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, crumbling it with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the parsley and cilantro and cook for 1 minute more. Add the broth and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Add the frozen spinach and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally with a fork to separate the leaves. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Divide the toasted bread, if using, among individual bowls and spoon the stew on top.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Last weekend Leanne / Mom came down to visit us and help us paint some of the rooms in the house (pictures to follow). Friday we went to the airport where Jill had to drive around in circles 4 times before Leanne and I got her bags, but then we enjoyed a nice quiet meal at a Korean restaurant before heading home. Saturday we went to Loma Linda University Church followed by a light lunch of blue cheese and steak spinach salad. That evening Leanne and I created our golfing characters on Tiger Woods 07' that she and Pat had brought us as a gift, we eventually tied after 9 holes. We couldn't help but go to sushi that night at SGC in Corona and Kay Kay decided to come with us. Sunday was pretty much a full day of painting but we did manage to barbeque some burgers after long needed showers that night. Monday we went to the Redlands Country Breakfast (that's just what we call it) and then it was off to the "links". A beautiful day and the most crowded I've ever seen it. The greens were as hard as concrete which made for an interesting game, but we all had a great time.

Tuesday Date Night

Last week for date night we decided to just stay at home and cook something ourselves. Jill had to study so we couldn't really go out anywhere, so we dreamed up a our own recipe with things we had left in the fridge. I will have to say it tasted pretty good, so try it yourself. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Grilled Chicken with Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
(Serves 2)

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers:
2 yellow peppers
¾ cup chopped pepper (or pepper tops)
½ cup diced onion
2 Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped (about ½ cup)
1 Tb oil
½ tsp salt or to taste
¼ tsp dried basil
1 pinch fresh ground pepper
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
1 ½ cup cooked quinoa
4 thin slices fresh mozzarella

Chicken:
2 Tb oil
1 packet Archer Farms taco seasoning mix (@ Target)
2 chicken breasts`(thawed)

Cook quinoa as desired. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the stems and top half inch off the bell peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Boil trimmed peppers for 5 minutes, then drain them upside down. Heat 1 Tb of oil in a nonstick skillet. Add onion, chopped yellow pepper, salt, dried basil, and fresh ground pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes. Using a spoon, scrape the quinoa into the skillet and toss with the vegetables. Stir in the crumbled goat cheese. Place peppers upright in the baking dish and fill them with quinoa mixture. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile combine 2 Tb oil and taco seasoning in small bowl and coat both sides of chicken breasts. Place chicken breasts on preheated grill and grill for 15 min. over medium heat turning every 5 min. Pull peppers out of oven. Place 2 slices of mozzarella on top of peppers and place under open broiler. Broil 5 min. or until cheese is melted. Garnish with remaining tomato if desired. Serve chicken and peppers immediately.

The HoneyMoon

The next day after staying at the Hotel Lucia ( www.hotellucia.com ) very cool, I surprised Jill with our honeymoon destination of Whistler, BC. We flew out Monday afternoon to Vancouver and then took a 2 hour shuttle to the Hilton hotel which was a ski in / ski out hotel in the main village. We enjoyed celebrating the new year on our balcony with fireworks shooting off of the mountain. The week was filled with lots of lounging around, warm fires, morning coffee, sampling as many restaurants as possible, snowboarding, and finally zip lining through an actual "rain forest". We had a great time and are already planning our return some day.