Eating Well

Lately I have been eating so well with my trips to the Fresh Air Market every Saturday - tomatoes, beans, corn, green beans, lettuce (tried red lettuce for the first time), parsley, sweet and regular potatoes. I am even getting basil and now peas from my very own garden. Don't have any tomatoes yet, but I see the green ones coming in from the yellow flowers. How exciting! Since my husband is not a total vegan and does eat some dairy, we got some cheese and butter from the market from cows that were not given hormones or antibiotics. He says that the flavor is so delicious and knowing that it is from a local farm probably contributes to its perceived goodness. Last night I just had to cook for myself and what a feast I had. I had steamed some red potatoes, an ear of corn and green beans. I took the potatoes and fried them up in a pan with olive oil, herbs, orange pepper and onion. At the end I added some fresh basil from my garden. Everything tasted so fresh and delicious, I was so sorry when I ate the last bite. For dessert I took a couple of small slices of stretch bread that we bought at the market, covered it with Earth Balance spread, sugar and cinnamon and toasted it. Such a satisfying sweet end to my meal. Another meal I had in the week included contributions by my daughter and daugher-in-law. My daughter is a vegan and has made me banana muffin s with carob chips that is moist, healthy and tasty AND she has given me the recipe. So, I made up a dozen or so of those - perfect for dessert or snack. The other item was a new way to fix red kidney beans. When we recently visited our son and his wife, she made what she called a Mexican Pizza for us since I am a vegan. She was able to cover 3/4 of it with cheese and 1/4 with soy cheese. My favorite part of this pizza was the beans. Instead of using canned refried beans it calls for taking onions and sauteing them in olive oil for 10 minutes, then mixing in red kidney beans and little water and mashing them all together. This gives them a somewhat creamy texture and delicious taste. It also cuts down, if you rinse the beans well, on sodium which is actually quite high in canned refried beans. I make my beans for my mexican food items this way now. The great thing about all this is that both my daughter and daughter-in-law do not live close by and when I cook/bake the foods that they have shared with me, it makes me think of them and how lucky I am to have them in my life. I have also been thinking lately about how hopeful I am about the progress being made in people demanding better food in their diet both to get more satisfying tasting and healthier food. I see progress every day when I read the news or internet chatting, talking to people I know and hearing this issue on TV and radio. Well, that's it for now since it's time for lunch - what fantastic fresh food will I have?