what's cookin'?

south jersey was baking this weekend with temps reaching triple digits! john and i escaped the heat on saturday by traveling northwest to my uncle tommy's 50th birthday party in richboro, pa.

it was a lovely day of swimming, bullseye, volleyball, and polly pockets.=)

 alaina, my niece alaina, and cailyn

even mr. bear showed up! the little ones were excited, though alaina preferred playing with my camera (clearly a photographer in the making ;)

  gimme, aunt kelli!

singing happy birthday to the old fart=)

(foodie note: there was yummy yellow watermelon on that fruit tray! i'd never heard of one!)

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there's a strong memory that comes to mind each time i think of age: i ask my uncle tommy how old he is (i must be six or seven) and he tells me 27. i am totally blown away, like holy s***, uncle tommy is HOW MANY???

(i get the same reaction from the kids that i tutor when i tell them my age - 29 is a big number to little ones!)

when i turned 25, i began getting anxiety over aging. you know what calmed my mind? - thinking back to my uncle tommy at 27. he seemed SO YOUNG, so energetic and so much younger than my idea of the age 27. it was then i realized i'm as young as i choose to be - age really is just a number!

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you wear 50 well, uncle tommy! here's to many more years of happiness!=)

(uncle tommy is a blog reader of mine... how cool is that?!)

***

in the kitchen, i've been doing my best keeping up with our produce from the muth family farm organic csa. (no photo this week - johnny boy made the pick-up). i made a rather poor decision to turn edgar into baked vegan eggplant parmesan.

sorry, edgar!

bad choice, as it tasted awful, and i burnt my hand getting it out of the oven! (a small burn - just enough to remind me to eat more raw foods!)

remember the pad thai i shared with marlie at rawlicious in toronto? i made a deliciously close version using kelp noodles and shredded veggies. kelp noodles require no heat in preparing - just soaking for 30 minutes!

for those unfamiliar, kelp noodles are a wonderful wheat pasta alternative made from the sea vegetable, kelp. they're full of nutrients and void of allergens like wheat and gluten. they make a nice weight release food, at only 6 calories per ounce! ani phyo mentions in an article, "[kelp is] full of iodine to work with our thyroid to help regulate our metabolism... helping us lose weight, if needed."

i love kelp noodles for the texture - it's like an al dente sea spaghetti! bellissimo!=)

photo source

in toronto, i know you can purchase a package of kelp noodles at rawlicious, but i don't know where to get some in my area. if anyone can recommend a good online source for ordering kelp noodles, please do so in the comments... i'll love you forever!=)

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my always generous mother gave me some gorgous garden beans. i sauteed them with artichokes, chick peas and smoked paprika.

... served with massaged kale salad (a little like lauren's), a side of garden tomato bruschetta (with rice cakes), and sliced squash with leftover pad thai dipping sauce.

the electricity bill may be scary this month since the ac's been working overtime and the dehydrator has been on frequently. (would love a solar food dryer!). i dehydrated nelly's cheezy kale chips, herb pizza crusts, my new olive and thyme pizza crust, strawberry vanilla granola, buckwheat crunchies, and noritos!

strawberry buckwheat granola

photo courtesy of john

see the garden in the background? it's been growing like crazy! we went through a rough period where i thought i was going to lose a lot of plants, but now they're flourishing! i leave you with a photo of our chamomile and a promise to post a garden update soon!

=)