You know how I promised the recipe for the Stuffed Mochi I made last week? Well, here it is...in watercolor form! :)

Simple Stuffed Mochi with Bitter Greens
(Adapted from Clean Start by Terry Walters)

Ingredients:
12 fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 leek, sliced widthwise
1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos
2 grated carrots
1 Tbsp mirin
1 large bunch lacinto kale, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1- 12.5 oz package mochi (any of the plain or savory flavors would probably work), cut into 12 squares

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut caps off of mushrooms and slice thinly. Set aside.

Saute leek in grapeseed oil until soft (about 3 minutes). Add mushrooms. Add water or liquid aminos 1 tablespoon at a time to deglaze pan. Continue sauteing until mushrooms carmelize. Add carrots and mirin and saute until carrots are soft. Add kale and saute until tender. Remove from heat, toss with sesame oil and set aside.

Place mochi squares on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until they puff. (Follow directions on back of package). Remove from oven.

Slice each puff open, stuff with sauteed vegetable mixture, and serve.

Makes 12 stuffed mochi squares.

Farm and Photo Fun

Oh wow. Where do I start? :) Just call me a bad blogger. Ummm....well, the weather got pretty crazy in the middle of the week last week. We had some crazy snow! I was so bummed that winter was back, but it didn't last long! On Saturday, I got to go to a really neat organic farm with a greenhouse and pick out some plants. I had a blast! I've never had a green thumb, but I'm pretty excited about my little babies, so I think I will do all right. I got thyme, about 6 different types of basil, lavender, 1 robust flavored cherry tomato, 1 mild cherry tomato, 1 robust flavored heirloom tomato, and 1 mild tomato. I see lots of canning in my future! ;) It was such a beautiful day out, it felt like spring! The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and I couldn't resist taking some pictures! (None of these have been edited, by the way.) There is just something about being out in nature that soothes and refreshes my soul. I hope to get outside a lot this spring and summer!

Playing around with settings on my camera.

My reward for getting lost. :)

Beautiful river

Ahhh...look at that sky! 

 Nothing but me and the open road....and look at those clouds!

Normal

Cool :)

This horse was such a good model...just stood patiently & let me take pictures of him! 

My house....I wish! ;) 

My other house. ;)

Also on Saturday, I found out that I got some scholarships (not much, but they're better than nothing and it's money I don't have to pay back, so woo-hoo!), so I had to celebrate by making my first dish out of my new books. I got Clean Food and Clean Start by Terry Walters last week...I HIGHLY recommend them! The food is so amazing that I had a hard time figuring out what to make first, but I finally settled on the Simple Stuffed Mochi with Bitter Greens out of the Clean Start book. I tell ya, it didn't disappoint!

The "stuffing" was kind of Asian-inspired, stir-fryish. I'll try to post the recipe soonish. Hope y'all have a good weekend! I have quite a few things I want to write about, but I have a test this week, so we'll see how this week goes. :)