Summer Garden

Sunday we planted our garden (as I'm sure you guessed, or heard by now). Our summer garden is one of my favorite things about living with MW and having a little patio. I cannot WAIT until I have a yard that will be full of tasty veggies.

Little baby onions! 

We have so many herbs. I can't wait to cook with them. 

We even planted a box with "drink herbs" including mint, lemonbalm,

and this little stevia plant. 

The lemonbalm leaves smell wonderful

We're even attempting a little string bean plant this year

In addition to the numerous patio and cherry tomatoes, 

we have a free-standing plant with larger toms

and of course, a pretty flower for my porch time. 

I'm so excited to watch the garden grow. We've planted so much this year and really maximized our space, and we still have some stuff to plant when it arrives (spinach and lettuce!). 

Monday was my last day of class for the Spring Semester. Now I have two full weeks before my next class starts. I was able to get back to the gym for the first time in a while tonight and enjoyed a nice cycle light class with my favorite instructor. 

After the gym I decided to try out a new snack: Chickpea poppers! Or, at least, that's what I call them. 

To make:

I drained, rinsed, strained, and dried a can of chickpeas

Then I spread them on a pan and baked for about 30-40 min on 450 degrees. 

Every 10 mins or so, I shook the pan to make sure they didn't stick.

I sampled a few to see when they were good and crunchy and then took them out. 

If you spritz them with a little baking spray and toss them in some seasoning, it sticks quite well.

I used garlic salt on one half and garlic salt + cayenne pepper on the other.

They aren't overwhelmingly flavorful but I really enjoy them. Plus they're easy to munch on with the added bonus of being a good source of protein. Yum! I plan to make a batch as a gift to MW's mom for mother's day. I can't wait to try out some different flavors, too.