Herb-alicious

I really love fresh herbs and my favorite has got to be cilantro. But to my surprise it seems to be pretty divisive. It seems like people either love it or hate it, there isn't much in between. However I cannot seem to grow it for some reason. I have tried on multiple occasions, and it just does not love me as much as I love it!

I did see a really cool idea on pinterest this year, to use a shoe organizer to grow your herbs. I just had to try it, and it was beautiful at first. (my computer is broken, or I'd have more pix). Everything was growing nicely, even what I planted from seeds! And then... We went away for a long weekend... However it was over 85 degrees all 3 days we were gone. My poor little plants didn't stand a chance. I watered everything really well before we left, but they weren't able to hold much water and I just couldn't revive them. :( I was able to save (no, not my cilantro! Poo!) my basil. I have a beautiful display of regular and Thai basil on the back porch now. I also have some oregano left and I'm taking another stab at cilantro.

SO, learn from my TRIAL and error! I do love the idea of using the shoe bag for growing herbs, especially if you have limited space. The downside is that it's not able to retain much water (great for herbs in general as they hate wet feet), just be sure if you're going to be gone for more than a day or two that you have a friend give your babies a drink of water! Have a great day!

Avocado....oooh

Now, for all you avocado haters out there, I can empathize. I have tasted a bland avocado and eaten gross guacamole a time or two, so I can feel ya. But I implore you... Give it another chance! Here's my avocado love story:

Nate lived in California until he was about 8 years old, so he always loved avocado. I don't really remember much avocado in my life until we got married (me and Nate, not me and avocado:-P). I fell in love with its green, creamy goodness.

I LOVE avocado whether it is in guacamole form or just sliced fresh; whether it's mixed into a salad or topping a burger. It is just that good.

People love to dirty up their guac with tomatoes and onions and other embellishments, but I prefer mine au natural (although I won't object to cilantro in it - a la Chipotle restaurants) But here is my go-to guacamole recipe.

*1 Avocado
*Squirt of lime juice, maybe a Tbsp or so (lemon juice would work too)
*1 garlic clove (or garlic powder if you don't have fresh)
*Salt & Pepper

Here's a video of me slicing up an avocado one of the best ways I've found.

*Mash avocado with a fork. Add lime juice. Add garlic, salt & pepper. It may not taste seasoned enough if you just taste it on the fork, so I suggest using a tortilla chip. The flavor will be more accurate this way.

Recently I've stumbled on a whole new world of avocado recipes.

Avocado Pasta Salad
Avocado Chicken Salad
BLT with avocado
Avocado with black beans and corn

I made the Avocado Pasta Salad for our family reunion, here's a pic of that:

And a few I'm yet to try:

Pasta with Avocado Cream Sauce
Avocado Spring Rolls
Avocado Egg Salad

Using it in place of mayo in the pasta and chicken salad is really awesome and inventive and so worth trying. I hope you experiment and try some of these out!