Super Easy Ranch Roasted Cauliflower
Jun 8, 2012 Paid/Sponsored Post
[I wrote this post as part of my compensated ambassadorship with Hidden Valley Ranch’s Love Your Veggies program.]
I just made this for lunch:
If you like Hidden Valley Ranch on your salad, you’ll love the tangy flavor on roasted cauliflower!
To be honest, I hate cutting cauliflower as much as I love eating it. So to keep this recipe quick and easy, I cut the cauliflower as soon as I buy it. In fact, I’ve been working on this bag for almost two weeks, with not a brown spot in sight. The trick is, after I cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets and wash them, I let them drain as much as possible. Then I put them into a big zipper bag and stick a folded paper towel in there to absorb moisture. I push as much air out of the bag as I can, and – as my son Jake would say – wa-LA!
Tags: cooking, Food, Love Your Veggies
Congratulations to the “Love Your Veggies” winners!
Jun 24, 2011 Love Your Veggies
So our garden is coming along surprisingly well, after a few bumps in the road. The first bump was when I returned from a three-day trip to find one of my planters dug up and filled with several days of cat poop. After cleaning it up and throwing up in my mouth a few times I hit the internet and did some research and came away with some things to try. Then, I vented about it on twitter
and a follower, NorthWestMommy, came to my rescue:
So, first I watered all of the areas the cats could dig in, figuring that the chili powder would stick better. Then I sprinkled all of the chili powder I had in the house. I checked the next day, and no poop. No poop the next day either. I was convinced, so I ordered some giant jars of chili powder and have been using it since, and have had zero problem with anything digging anything up! I reapply after a very hard rain. The only lingering problem from the cats is that I think they might have dug up all of the hot pepper seeds, because I just realized this morning that I don’t really see any of those coming up, but I’m not completely sure. I guess time will tell.
The next bump was the fact that 48 hours after Fiona and I planted all of our carrots, there was a huge, all-night downpour. I was afraid that those little seeds, which were only 1/2 inch below the surface, were splashed right out of the container. But finally, earlier this week, I saw their tiny little leaves break through!
So we’ve got tomatoes (the big ones on the outside are beefsteak, the small ones in the middle are regular old small round ones (I forget the name)…
And zucchini (and possibly hot peppers, but thankfully no cat poop)..
And cauliflower and romanesco broccoli…
And itty bitty carrot plants…
And even watermelon!
I hope this inspires you to get your garden going. It’s not too late! Lots of the stuff I planted could have been planted in July. In fact, if it looks like I’ve got some extra space I might add some more in a few weeks.
And now for the two winners of my big Love Your Veggies giveaway: Amanda and Janice! They each get $500 worth of gardening and canning supplies, and I hope they’ll let us all know how it goes.
And a huge thank you to the fantastic folks at Hidden Valley for the excellent prizes and support!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 14. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: gardening, Love Your Veggies
Hidden Valley gets your garden started!
May 26, 2011 Love Your Veggies
My Garden
I’m writing this post under the best possible circumstances: in the early morning light, out in my newly-renovated back yard, gazing upon my new raised garden beds just waiting to be filled. (If any of my neighbors are looking my way, they’re not getting as good a deal – they’re gazing on me in my pajama pants and a ratty tank top.) In the two years since I started gardening very modestly with a Chia Herb Garden, I’ve come a long way. I’ve learned how to produce more tomatoes than I could ever eat in one container, and now I’m ready to graduate to the next step with lots more room for lots more veggies (and one fruit that Fiona begged for).
After consulting with the family, we decided on the following:
- Tomatoes. They will always be my first choice for planting because after eating home-grown tomatoes, anything else tastes like a plastic red nothing.
- Romanesco Broccoli. Because I’ve only seen it on TV and I really want to try it!
- Orange Cauliflower. Because I go through a couple heads a week, mashing it and mixing it with potatoes and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. So why not make it orange?
- Purple and Orange Carrots. Because my son loves carrots sautéed with dill, and the purple ones will freak him out, and Fiona and I dip these in Hidden Valley Ranch dressing for a quick, colorful snack.
- Zucchini. I go through these like crazy, sautéing them with dill for pasta, shredding them for zucchini pancakes, and making loaves of the most delicious zucchini bread ever.
- Jabanero Peppers. Because my husband likes things HOT!
- Watermelon. I have no idea if watermelon will grow in Brooklyn, but our backyard is super sunny, so it’s worth a try. This was Fiona’s first choice, so how could I say no?
- Herbs. I haven’t decided which ones yet, although parsley, chives and basil are the ones I use the most so that’s probably what I’ll grow.
I actually wanted to get started almost two weeks ago, but almost as soon as the backyard renovation was done I threw my back out. But now I’m feeling great and ready to go, just in time for the long weekend!
Because of our totally leaded soil here in Brooklyn we still have to grow our vegetables in containers (I prefer my children un-leaded). So I’ve got two big round containers, a long trough, and a giant bathtub, although now they’ll be buried and looking like they’re part of the raised beds.
The BIG Giveaway
I’m extraordinary lucky that I was able to have these planting beds built for me. But I’m even luckier that thanks to the wonderful people at Hidden Valley’s Love Your Veggies, as a mom panelist I get to help two of my readers start their own vegetable gardens in a very big way, and help them enjoy their veggies once they’re grown. Two winners will each get the following:
Frame It All Raised Vegetable Garden, 8’X8’X12”. This amazing raised bed system can be put together quickly with a hammer and screwdriver, and the shape can be adapted for your space. Don’t have grass or even a yard? Just take out the stakes on the bottom, set it up on a patio or on cement, fill with dirt, and you’re ready to garden!
Vertex 7-Piece Garden Tool Set with Folding Seat, because I’m one of those people who believes having the right tools makes any project more fun.
Magid Terra Women’s Gardening Gloves, so that you don’t have to get dirt under your nails (I hate that!).
Ball Home Canning Starter Kit, because trust me, you will grow more than you know what to do with.
Twelve Ball Jars with Canning Lids
$35 Gift Certificate to Home Depot, to pick up seeds, soil, Miracle Grow, whatever else you need to get your garden started.
And of course, products from Hidden Valley to eat your veggies with!
The total prize value for each winner is just a few cents short of $500!
To enter to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me about where you are with gardening. Are you a seasoned pro who’s constantly delivering extra veggies to grateful neighbors? Do you have a window box full of lush herbs? Or are you a beginner eager to get started?
For a second entry, you may tweet about this contest with a link back to this page. Or, you can copy and tweet the following:
Hidden Valley & @SelfishMom are giving away 2 gardening packages worth $500 each, everything you need! http://bit.ly/ke1jt0 #LoveYourVeggies
Make sure to leave a second comment with a link to your tweet, or it won’t count (instructions on how to find and post the url of your tweet can be found here).
So, that’s a maximum of two entries per household please! This contest will close at noon-ish on Monday, June 13th. The two winners will be chosen by random.org. You must be at least 18 years of age to enter. Prizes may be shipped within the continental United States and Canada only. See my complete Giveaway Rules page for more information.
Good luck! I am so excited to be holding this contest and want to give a BIG shout out to the folks at Love Your Veggies, who have been a dream to work with. Now let’s get gardening!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 9 & 14. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: backyard, gardening, Love Your Veggies
From junk heap to beautiful backyard
May 12, 2011 What's Going On
This is the story of how our backyard went from being a disaster to being a beautiful oasis of grass and bricks in just two short weeks. Five years and two weeks.
When we moved in to our brownstone the backyard was a complete mess. It had a hideous plastic and wood “shelter” built on to the back of the house that contained two hornets’ nests. There was a cracked and ugly cement patio, a mess of wires covering the back wall, and ugly weeds and bushes everywhere. The ground was littered with glass, metal and rocks, and it wasn’t just on the surface either: decades of abuse had filled the dirt with layers of garbage. It wasn’t just ugly, it was unusable. and dangerous.
For the first couple of years we didn’t care much. We were only living in the top half of our house, so we never came into contact with the backyard, except out of the windows. As our renovation progressed more junk got put back there: wood, pipes, two big radiators that no longer worked, a bathtub, and other contractor junk.
Eventually my husband started tackling the backyard. He had a plan: he would dig down a couple of feet and “sift” the metal, glass and rocks out of the dirt using a big wood-and-chicken-wire contraption he built. Some weekends the kids would help him. I begged him to just hire someone and get it done quickly, but honestly I think he was enjoying taking things into his own hands.
He dug for two summers. As much time as he spent on it, he seemed to be making little progress. He did find some interesting things though: old bottles and coins, a pipe, and most impressively, an almost-intact toilet buried in the back next to a tree.
I’m not positive what pushed him over the edge this year, but I suspect it was visiting a friend’s renovated house. He decided to give up on his little project, and hired the same guys who had done his friend’s backyard. They got to work two weeks ago today.
The first step was to break apart the old cement patio. The crazy thing is, they found a layer of blue stone under it, which my next door neighbor’s husband happily took off our hands. After that mess was cleared out, the bricks and sand and cement mix started coming in.
And kept coming.
And kept coming.
The raised garden beds were the first to go in. We had them bury some containers in there so that we could grow vegetables without our dirt getting mixed in with the completely leaded Brooklyn dirt, and we’ll be putting in a bunch of flowers too.
Days of leveling and brick-laying followed.
Finally our lawn was pieced together. That was the day I almost cried. And in the three days that we’ve had grass I’ve turned into one of those lawn-obsessed people. Thank goodness it’s behind the house, so I only have to chase my own children off of it (I’m not being mean, we have to water it three times a day and treat it very gently for a few weeks, until the roots take hold in our dirt).
The very last thing left to do is to put a big awning on the back of the house over the patio (our backyard gets sun pretty much all day), and that should be done tomorrow, so basically it’s finished. I keep glancing out of the window expecting to see the hideous mess that I’d been looking at for so long, but instead I see a gorgeous space that I’ve been looking forward to for years.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 0. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: backyard, gardening, Love Your Veggies, renovation
Lunch with Angie Harmon – and more veggies!
Feb 17, 2011 Food, Posted From My Phone
To wind up this two-day kick-off of the Hidden Valley Ranch Love Your Veggies Mom Panel, we just finished a nice lunch at 5/9th with Priscilla Tuan from Hidden Valley, and Angie Harmon (picture 1), and a bunch of magazine editors. Fiona impressed everyone with her drawing of one of the veggie trays set out for us (picture 2). Of course, she wouldn’t let anyone eat anything off of it until she was done. And since she’s blond and cute, people obeyed.
For the second day in a row, all of the children behaved wonderfully (pictures 3 & 4). I’m not sure how that happened. Must have been all the veggies.
I’m really excited for the next few months. I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to get my backyard container garden going again!
Please note that the mom panelist positions are paid and Amy is under contract with Hidden Valley.
Originally posted on SelfishMom.com, from Amy’s cell phone (so please excuse any weird formatting). All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 14. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.
Tags: Angie Harmon, Love Your Veggies
Loving my veggies!
Feb 16, 2011 Food, Posted From My Phone
I’m so excited to finally announce that I’m a Hidden Valley Ranch Mom Panel member for their Love Your Veggies program! I’m at the kick-off event right now with the other panelists, waiting for our celebrity spokesmom, Angie Harmon.
We all started off the morning with breakfast and meeting each other (picture 1) at the W Hotel. Then it was off to the kick-off event, where Fiona immediately found the tallest chair (picture 2), and I watched the chefs getting ready for the cooking demo (picture 3).
I’m so thrilled that my friend Jennifer Perillo is here (picture 4)! And I can’t wait to try the new (to me anyway) veggies they’ve got for us: romanesco broccoli, watermelon radish, rainbow carrots, and confetti cauliflower. With ranch, of course (picture 5)!
Please note that the mom panelist positions are paid and Amy is under contract with Hidden Valley.
Originally posted on SelfishMom.com, from Amy’s cell phone (so please excuse any weird formatting). All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 14. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and Momtourage, and podcasts with The Blogging Angels.
Tags: Angie Harmon, Love Your Veggies
Yes, it’s another gardening post!
Jun 21, 2009 What's Going On
But I’ll keep it quick, because I really need a shower. The only part of me not dirty is my hands, because I was wearing gardening gloves that are so cute I was reluctant to get them dirty (but I did because I really hate cleaning dirt out from under my nails). I came home from the Love Your Veggies retreat with a bunch of gardening gifts, including a little shovel thing, a spiky soil mixing thing, a knee pad for in-the-ground gardening comfort, and the gloves. Even if nothing grows, at least I did it with cute equipment.
I set the pots up on bricks to help drainage through the bottom, and tried to move the first bag of soil a little closer. My husband had carried it out for me before I knew where I wanted it, and I couldn’t get it moving so I spent the next ten minutes shoveling dirt from the bag to the closest pot, until it was light enough to pick up and dump the rest in. Then I dragged a second bag out, checked my pulse, decided not to call an ambulance, and filled the second pot.
I constructed a little thing for the tomatoes to climb up, and planted the corn kernals in one pot and the tomatoes and cucumbers in the other. Everything is planted way closer than every single book, website, and friend says they should be, but I’ll prove them all wrong!
I gave them a very light water, since it’s definitely going to rain later. Since the seeds are close to the surface, I’m wondering if I should cover them with something when it rains? Just until they sprout and have roots to help them stay put. Hmmm, not sure.
Something should pop to the surface in a couple of weeks, I hope.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
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Tags: gardening, Love Your Veggies
What’s for dinner tonight?
May 7, 2009 What's Going On
I’m at my daughter’s dance class (well, in the waiting room anyway) with my son, and we were just talking about what to have for dinner tonight. The party I’m going to for Mom’s Nite Out starts at seven, and I most definitely won’t be there at seven. I’ll be leaving my house around then, when my husband gets home from work. But at this moment, I have no idea what I’m going to wear, I have not done my hair, and am not wearing any make-up. And I haven’t even looked up where it is or how to get there. So while I’m figuring all of that out, I also have to get the kids fed. I suggested a pizza (my default easy dinner suggestion), and Jake reminded me of the big box that arrived from Ragu a few days ago. I haven’t opened it yet, but they knew that I’d be going out tonight, and were nice enough to send dinner for the family! How great is that?
Now, the idea is that Daddy could easily prepare dinner for the kids in my absense. I mentioned this to a few friends, and they all got weird looks of mild disapproval on their faces. One said that her husband cooks better than she does anyway. Another said that the idea that the dad would be lost without dinner-in-a-box is outdated and sexist. I considered their comments for a few seconds, and then just had to laugh. I swear, we can turn any nice thing on its head if we try, can’t we? Anyway, Ragu knows that I’m married. To a man. For all I know they send different wording out to lesbian moms or single moms (if they don’t, they of course should!). And I’ll bet that even a dad who can cook would still appreciate some free food.
We have a different problem, though. My daughter goes to bed at 7:30, so I’ll still be responsible for getting the kids fed. So, depending on what’s in the box, I’m going to let the kids do as much of the work as I can while I get ready! Obviously I’m not going to leave them alone with a giant pot of boiling water (I’m assuming there’s some kind of pasta in the box), but I’m going to let them take control and do as much as they can. It fits in perfectly with what I learned last week in Chicago, at the “Love Your Veggies” retreat, that I should get them involved in the kitchen as much as possible.
So thanks Ragu, I can’t wait to see what’s in the box, and I appreciate you helping to make my evening a little easier!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
