Farmer’s Market Bliss

One of my favorite things to do in the summertime is to go to a Farmer’s Market!  I love knowing that all of the veggies and fruits were just picked that morning (well that’s what they say at least)!  Everything is so fresh and delicious.

I’m down in Laguna Niguel, California, right now visiting my sister and her family.  Yesterday we went to a cute little Farmer’s Market in San  Juan Capistrano.  It was small but really nice.  We got beautiful strawberries, tomatoes, all kinds of squash, green beans, fresh humus, sun dried tomato dip and tabouli.

In fact, this morning, I made myself a breakfast of egg whites, zucchini, red onions, parmesan and toast!  It was so filling and delicious.  I just cut the fresh, firm zucchini into small 1/2 rounds and sautéed it with the onion in Pam spray and then added a little water.  Once the water was gone and the zucchini was soft, I added 1/2 cup of egg whites and cooked it all together.  Then I added a little parmesan cheese and toast…yum!  Such a delicious breakfast.  Made me full but was low in cholesterol and fat.  The perfect solution to hunger whilst trying to eat healthy and loose weight.

We also paid a visit to my favorite store…Trader Joes!  I love that they have good food at a good price with no bad additives..no partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, no high fructose corn syrup and no words that I can’t pronounce.  Oh and they sell fresh basil plants in the summer.  You can either keep it on the counter in your kitchen, or plant it in your garden.  It’s perfect because it doesn’t go bad or turn brown like the kind you keep in the frig.  Well, that is if you actually water it!  Plus it’s about the same price as the kind in the plastic container…so why not get the live one?

Basil can be used for so many things…pasta dishes, pesto sauce, soups, spaghetti sauce…you name it!  You can even freeze it to use in the winter.  One way is to just chop it up, put into ice-cube trays and cover with olive oil (to preserve the basil).  Then pop out a cube and add to your favorite recipes all winter long!  Here are a couple of links to sites that tell you even more about freezing basil:

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2006/06/how-to-freeze-fresh-basil-weekend-herb.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Store-Fresh-Basil

I love fresh foods…they make me so happy.  By the way, my sister took this photo of our produce.  She’s a really great photographer!