Recipe Of The Month - Fresh Pico De Gallo

INGREDIENTS:

- 8-10 Roma tomatoes (seeded)

- 1/2 Red onion (to taste)

- 1 Jalapeno pepper (or more to taste)

- 2 Medium cloves garlic

- Juice of one lime

- 1 Tablespoon olive oil

- 4 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

- 1 Teaspoon coarse salt

- 1/2 Teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Seed and dice tomatoes. Chop onion, jalapeno and garlic to a fine consistency. To these ingredients, add the fresh cilantro, salt, pepper, olive oil and lime. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

Recipe Of The Month - Blueberry Jam

INGREDIENTS:

- 6 cups blueberries

- 7 cups sugar

- 2 (3 oz) packs of pectin

- 3/4 tsp unsalted butter

- 3 tbsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the blueberries, lemon juice and 3 and a half cups of sugar in a pan and let stand for 1 hour. After 1 hour, add the remaining sugar and place the pan over a medium-high heat; stir constantly until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mix to a boil for two minutes. Remove the pan from the flame and skim off any foam that accumulates. Place the pan over the heat again for 1 minute to boil. Again, remove and skim off the foam. Add the butter and bring the mixture to a boil again. Add the pectin and stir constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Skim off the foam. Allow the jam to cool for 7 minutes before adding it to canning jars. Close the jars and bath them in 250-degree water for 10 minutes to create a seal.

Recipe of the Month- Turkey Stuffed Peppers

 
 INGREDIENTS:
 - 1 lb. ground turkey
 - 1/2 c. instant rice
 - 1/2 c. grated carrot
 - 1/4 c. chopped onion
 - 3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
 - 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
 - 1 (12 oz.) can tomato sauce, divided
 - 4 sm. green peppers
 
 DIRECTIONS:
Combine turkey, rice, carrot, onion, parsley, garlic and 1 cup tomato sauce in medium bowl. Salt and pepper to taste; mix well. Cut tops off peppers. Discard seeds and membranes. Spoon turkey mixture into peppers. Arrange in baking dish 8x8x2; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at High (100% powder) 8-10 minutes, rotating after half the cooking time, until peppers and rice are tender. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over peppers. Microwave at High(100% power) 1 minute. Let stand covered 3 minutes.

Thank you!

What a huge success thinkGREEN 2009 was!

We want to give an especially big thank you to our title sponsor, Whole Foods! We are so happy that they were a part of the event! A huge thank you also goes out to CinWeekly for being our media sponsor. We couldn't have done it all without you both.

Check out the pictures from the event here.

Thank you to all our vendors & participants from our 2nd Annual thinkGREEN Earth Day Event! What an amazing day it was! Over 750 people showed up to meet with our vendors and learn more about how to live a greener life. We hope to see you all back next year.

Basilico Organic Restaurant
EcoDiscoveries
Endeavor Learning Center
Face Painting by Tuesday
Farm Fresh Delivery
Good Natured Baby
Granny’s Garden School
GreenBird
Green Irene
Healthy Indoor Services
Imago
Lucid Salon
Mantra Wellness Center
Millcreek Restoration
Natural Awakenings Magazine
Oxygenation Station
Pure Doggy Organic Bakery
Responsible Services
Rumpke
Sheri Garrett, Sibcy Cline Green Realtor
Sunrock Farm
The Pampered Chef
The Veg Head
Smart Car
Wild Ones

Recipe of the Month - Watermelon Sorbet

Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 4 T. lemon juice
- 3 T. grenadine
- 3 fresh mint leaves
- 1 (3lb) seedless watermelon

Directions:
In a small saucepan, bring sugar, syrup, lemon juice, grenadine & mint leaves to a boil dissolving the sugar granules. Let cool slightly. Cut the rind off the watermelon and cut into chunks. Puree half of the chopped watermelon in a blender. Strain into a large glass bowl. Repeat with remaining watermelon. Add slightly cooled syrup mixture and mix well to incorporate. Place sorbet into a 2-qt plastic container and freeze for 3-4 hours.

Recipe of the Month - Eggplant Tahini

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 T. coconut oil
- 1 large eggplant
- 4 C. water
- 5 T. lemon juice
- 1/4 C. tahini (sesame seed paste)
- 2 T. fresh garlic, peeled & finely chopped
- 4 T. olive oil
- 1/2 C. red bell peppers, sliced
- 1/2 C. yellow bell peppers, sliced
- 1 C. roma or plum tomatoes, diced
- Sea salt & black pepper
- 2 T. fresh dill, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375º. Grease a small to medium- sized baking dish with coconut oil. Use a fork to pierce the eggplant several times, then place it in the baking dish.Bake until tender, about 45-50 minutes. Allow cooked eggplant to cool enough for you to handle it; you can place it in a large bowl of cold water to cool quickly. Remove the peel once you are able to handle it. Drain in colander until eggplant cools completely. Squeeze pulp to eliminate bitter juices, then process until smooth in a food processor.

To the eggplant puree, add lemon juice, tahini, and garlic, and process again to bring all ingredients together. In a large bowl, combine pureed eggplant mixture, olive oil, red and yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, fresh dill, sea salt, and black pepper and toss. Serve on a bed of your favorite whole grain or with toasted pita chips!

I want HR 875 and S 425 withdrawn from the floors of Congress immediately.

Please tell everyone who wants organic foods.....

CALL THE CAPITOL SWITCH BOARD at 202 - 224 - 3121 and tell them:
"I want HR 875 and S 425 withdrawn from the floors of Congress immediately."

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-s-dream-bill-HR-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090309-337.html

and

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875


US House and Senate are about (in a week and a half) to vote on bill that will OUTLAW ORGANIC FARMING (bill HR 875). There is an enormous rush to get this into law within the next 2 weeks before people realize what is happening.

Main backer and lobbyist is Monsanto – chemical and genetic engineering giant corporation (and Cargill, ADM, and about 35 other related agri-giants). This bill will require organic farms to use specific fertilizers and poisonous insect sprays dictated by the newly formed agency to "make sure there is no danger to the public food supply". This will include backyard gardens that grow food only for a family and not for sales.

If this passes then NO more heirloom clean seeds but only Monsanto genetically altered seeds that are now showing up with unexpected diseases in humans.

There is a video on the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epXNJNjYBvw&feature=related

And another one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeWVkTU1s1E

The name on this outrageous food plan is:
Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (bill HR 875).

THIS IS REAL, FOLKS! PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL CONCERNED ON YOUR MAILING LISTS & CALL YOUR SENATE REPS TODAY!

Get on that phone and burn up the wires. Get anyone else you can to do the same thing. The House and Senate WILL pass this if they are not massively threatened with loss of their position...They only fear your voice and your vote.

The best thing to do is go to www.house.gov/writerep. All you have to do is put in your zip and it will give you your congressperson and how to get in touch with them. When you call their office someone will answer the phone, just tell them (politely) that you are calling to express your views on HR 875. Tell them your views, they'll take your name and address and pass your comments along to the congressperson.

The following link is a list of the U.S. senators and their contact info:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm