Food From My Garden: Pico de Gallo Edition!

My jalapeno plant has really started producing! I had 4 jalapenos ready to be picked, so I thought I'd make a batch of homemade Pico de Gallo with my home grown peppers.  No, sadly the cilantro and tomatoes I used are not from my garden!

Home Grown Jalapenos!

Vine Tomatoes

Limes

Cilantro

...I JUST realized I forgot to take an individual picture of the onion. OOPS!

This was my first attempt at making Pico de Gallo and in my opinion, it turned out great. I used both my Santoku Knife and my Tomato Knife from Pampered Chef and it made all the chopping go by so fast!  The recipe is not too hard to make though - so don't be afraid to give it a try!  

Pampered Chef Knives

I followed this recipe and will absolutely do so again in the future. Oh how I love her recipes!

A Look Back At...

...the Monster Tomato plant!

When I first got my tomato plant, I wasn't expecting much.  I was trying out the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter for the first time.  Yeah the commercials make it look amazing, but I'd heard that in reality it didn't really work that well.  Whoever said it didn't work that well was completely wrong!  Not only did I have an amazing tomato plant, I had the best tomato plant I'd ever seen! (I may be a little biased since it IS mine, but see for yourself how gigantic it is!)

May 30th

June 5th

June 12th

June 19th

June 26th

July 3rd

July 10th

July 17th

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again after this, but I cannot believe how well my tomato plant has done. Who knew you could be this successful growing tomatoes on an apartment balcony? 

Granted, it hasn't been a cake-walk caring for my monstrous tomato plant, but it's been well worth it! 

In the beginning - things were easy and the growth came fast. But sadly, about a month ago, I noticed that something else was very impressed with my tomato plant - a moth! Yup, a moth had found my plant so desirable that it laid eggs on it and soon enough I had little tomato worms! After trying to control the little suckers naturally, I caved in to save my precious monster plan and used Bt to kill 'em! So far, so good. I haven't found nibbled leaves or a single caterpillar since I sprayed. I'm crossing my fingers they don't return, but if they do I know how to handle them!

A Garden Update: 6 Weeks

Another week gone by and my garden keeps growing AND giving.  The jalapeno plant continues to surprise me every day. At last count I had between 10-15 peppers growing with a few ready to pick in the next few days!

There is some sad news though. Over the last few weeks I noticed my cilantro didn't look "normal". What's normal you say? I don't know exactly, but mine had very tall stems with very tiny leaves - not the normal cilantro looking leaves either. After researching online a little, I determined my cilantro is bolting. :(

So tall I can't even get it all in one shot!

Even with all the little issues I've run into since planting my garden, I'm very happy about it's progress and love caring for it!  

Sweet Basil

Flat Leaf Parsley

Upright Rosemary

Garlic Chives

Shallots

Garlic

Scallions

Attempt 2 is doing MUCH better than Attempt 1!

Lettuce

The over harvested head is still smaller than the other...

but it is growing and that's what matters!

Monster Tomato Plant

Strawberry Plant

Mint - becoming a monster too!

Birthday Party Food

My friend had a birthday party for her boyfriend today and it just happened to be downstairs so of course I went!  I couldn't show up empty handed though, so I decided to bring a couple goodies.

The first treat was so simple to make, I'm almost embarrassed to share!  I made store bought boxed Super Moist Yellow cake with store bought chocolate frosting. Oh so yummy and it reminds me of being young. When I was making the cake (Read: mixing the 4 ingredients in a bowl) the smell took me back to my childhood. 

I made the batter into 12 regular sized cupcakes and 20 mini cupcakes.  Yes, I really like mini things, especially when it comes to baking.

They're great like this!

But even better with piped chocolate frosting on top!

The second thing contained something I grew myself, so I was more exited to see what people would say.  I made a simple caprese salad with basil I'd grown on my balcony, vine ripe tomatoes (not grown by me - mine aren't big enough!), mozzarella, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. So simple, so tasty, so devoured!

People seemed to enjoy my contribution to the birthday celebration and I was glad to be a part!

Happy Birthday, Adam!!!

Red Deliciousness!

On Friday, I came home from work to find I not only had some more tomatoes ready to pick and devour...

but I also had one, two, THREEEEEE strawberries that were red, juicy and ready to enjoy!

(Note: The third strawberry is on the other side of the planter)

The first strawberries from my plant and I couldn't be more excited!  I've had this plant FOREVER - since I lived in my last apartment where my balcony didn't get much sun. The strawberry plant never flowered at that place, which is why it never produced any fruit. But now...it's a different story!

I'm really enjoying this eating thing I grow on my balcony thing!