Homegrown Meals

I've said it before, but I will say it again: Homegrown, seasonal type cooking makes me so happy and satisfied its just unreal.  I never knew how much I could enjoy certain foods until I started eating them, more or less, only when in season.  Yay, eggplant season!  Yay, tomato season!  Yay, pepper season!  Yay, strawberry season!  Yay, zucchini season!  Yay, asparagus season!  Yay, grape season!  You get my point, I am sure.

It makes me savor the experience knowing it will be another year before it comes round again.

We very rarely make a meal solely from home produced goods--oil and salt being the notable sticking points that leap to mind.  But, every year we are getting more and more self-reliant and, we hope, continually conscious of where our food came from by tapping into our Montana-made producers.

And it makes me happy.  And hungry!

Breakfast Burrito:  Locally made tortilla with three types of homegrown potatoes, homegrown onion, and homegrown Red Mexican Beans topped with homemade hot sauce made with homegrown peppers and homegrown garlic.

Vegetable Hash: Homegrown onion, three varieties of homegrown summer squash, locally grown bell peppers, and store-bought beans.

Vegetable Soup:  Homegrown carrots, homegrown spinach, locally grown lentils, homegrown onion, homegrown potatoes, combined with homemade stock made with predominately homegrown veg scraps.  

Off The Grill:  Two varieties of homegrown summer squash, locally grown peppers, and store-bought tofu and mushrooms.

Fried Eggplant with Gnocchi and Red Sauce: Homegrown eggplant breaded with store-bought nooch and homegrown herbs, gnocchi made from locally grown potatoes, and served with tomato sauce from homegrown tomatoes and homegrown herbs.

Vegetable Hash: Homegrown peppers, homegrown onion, homegrown potatoes, homegrown eggplant, and homegrown summer squash.