The receiving end

You know how in the spring when you start planning your garden and you plant seeds in little cups and place them in a sunny window and wait for them to sprout. Then you tend to them lovingly until they are big enough to transplant to your precious piece of earth in your back yard that you have made into your garden. Then there is the work, the sweat, the bugs and the dirt you have to suffer with to make sure you get a wonderful harvest!! And then the fruits of your labors start to ripen and you are so delighted! They taste so wonderful!! And it's even more wonderful to you because you worked so long and hard for them. And you eat them everyday- sometimes twice a day! And you start to realize that maybe, just maybe, you planted more delicious vegetables than you and your family could eat! So you start offering them to your extended family and neighbors and even giving them away in cute gift baskets because you don't want them to go to waste...

Well..... I actually have no idea how that feels... But I do know how it feels to be the neighbor on the receiving end of my friends surplus- And it feels awesome!!

As you saw in my last post we have been enjoying yummy zucchini muffins courtesy of Cassi. And I have been supplied with many juicy tomatoes from Natalie!! Thank you so much!

Last night I made a really yummy dinner with Natalie's tomatoes and I just wanted to share it in case any of you out there have the same yummy situation-

I call it Bacon, Tomato and Chicken Pasta! All I did was make some pasta with Alfredo sauce and then I had some little serving bowls full of crisp bacon crumbled, chopped garden tomatoes, and sliced grilled chicken! (If I wasn't cooking for my kids I would probably mix it all together before I served it!) Then I let the kids top their pasta however they wanted and, of course, a sprinkle of Parmesan on top- and presto- A yummy dinner that was different from our usual spaghetti and tacos!!

Then today I heated up some of the leftover pasta with sauce and then added some cool garden tomatoes sprinkled with basil and a little salt and Ta dah!!! A simple fresh and yummy lunch!

Bon Appetite!