Roasted Fennel & Mixed Veggies, New to You Vegetables, Handling Conflict and Holding Grudges

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Hi Friends!  How was your long weekend?  Or if it wasn’t a long weekend for you, hopefully it was still great.  On Monday, Skylar and I were able to spend a few hours with Scott since many of his clients weren’t working and his schedule was a little more relaxed than usual which was nice.

The first half of the weekend we has glorious weather.  I just love “fall” weather.  That time in SoCal when it’s mid 70s, low humidity, crystal blue skies with a light breeze.  Ahhh, that’s “fall” to me and my definition of perfect weather Growing up in the midwest, fall meant the leaves changing, having one week of nice “fall” weather, and then a blizzard coming.  Can’t tell you how many times over Halloween it was either snowed out or I had to wear a down coat over my costume as a kid.  Not so fun.  I much prefer California’s”fall” weather.

Speaking of fall weather and fall foods, over the weekend I saw fennel that caught my eye at the grocery store so I picked it up.

Fennel

I made Ginger Coconut Roasted Fennel & Mixed Veggies with it

Ginger Coconut Roasted Fennel & Mixed Veggies on foil lined baking sheet
Fennel with ginger, pepper, and EVOO and Coconut Oil
Close up of Ginger Coconut Roasted Fennel & Mixed Veggies
 
Coconut Oil Blobs
Coconut oil blobs on Ginger Coconut Roasted Fennel & Mixed Veggies

For those of you who have never worked with or eaten fennel, you can eat almost all parts of it from the stalks to the fronds to the bulb.  The only thing you don’t want to eat is the core inside the bulb.

Close up of Fennel Bulb
There’s about a 1 inch diameter core in the middle of the fennel bulb.  Don’t eat that but you can eat everything else.  Random fact: fennel is lactogenic so if you know any nursing mothers who are having trouble with their milk supply, tell them to eat fennel for a boost.   I say this with my Lactation Educator Counselor Hat On.  Jack of all trades, I tell ya.

I am a raw foodie because I like the way most food tastes raw better than cooked, but in the case of fennel, I prefer it cooked. 

I also hate licorice flavored anything.  And people who say that fennel (or anise as it’s sometimes called), tastes like licorice, well, I don’t think so because I hate licorice and I really enjoy fennel.  But everyone’s palate and preferences are so different.  Give it a whirl.  For a couple bucks to try it out, you may find a veggie you really love that’s new-to-you!

Close up of roasted fennel

 

Fennel With Potatoes & Carrots
Overhead of Fennel With Potatoes & CarrotsClose up of Fennel With Potatoes & Carrots

Also cooking it mellows the flavor and yes, it is more anise-flavored raw but if you cook it and season it up with ginger and oil, and allow it to carmelize, in my opinion, it’s nothing like licorice.  Which for me is a good thing!

Close up of Ginger Coconut Roasted Fennel & Mixed Veggies

If you like the looks of the Coconut Roasted Fennel, then you’ll probably like these too:
Coconut and Olive Oil Roasted Potato Sticks (Roasted “French Fries”) 

Close up of Coconut and Olive Oil Roasted Potato Sticks
Stacked Coconut and Olive Oil Roasted Potato Sticks in clear container
Overhead of stacked Coconut and Olive Oil Roasted Potato Sticks

From my last post about Recycled Clothing, and Recycling and Reusing in general, it’s nice to hear that everyone recycles as much as they can, uses reuseable water bottles, and that you have scored some nice second-hand deals at garage sales or thrift stores.  Cool!

Price tag on recycled clothing

Glad you liked my Vegan Haircare Product Review too

Botltle of Unite Smoothing Repair Treatment

And colors you look good in…many of you said that you hate the way pastels look on your and prefer blues, purple, or green.  Not too many orange or yellow fans, either.

Woman showing off new t-shirt

 
Dessert:
No Bake Vegan Mint Chocolate Coconut Snowballs 5 Minutes, 1 Bowl & Spoon.  The mint is especially perfect after the warm, roasted veggies.

No Bake Vegan Mint Chocolate Coconut Snowballs in bowl
Close up of No Bake Vegan Mint Chocolate Coconut Snowballs showing chocolate chips

Tip of the Day: Did you see Which Two People Won my Kroeger Herb Natural Supplements Give Away for 2 Winners?

Three Bottles of Kroeger Herb Natural Supplements
 
 
 
For Everyone: Receive 20% Off for your entire order at Hanna’s Herb Shop.  
Good through Sept. 7. Enter Code AQIBW

 

Click Here to See Who Won!

Questions
1.  Have you ever tried Fennel?  Do you like it?

2.  Are there any New to You Veggies or Fruits that you’ve recently tried, or want to try because you’ve seen them around?  What are they?

I need to try starfruit, cherimoya, tons of different heirloom varieties of squash, there are just so many things to try!  And durian.  No, not really, I don’t want to try it! 

By joining my CSA and living in California I am blessed with “exotic”, unique and also locally or regionally grown food such as loquats, kumquats, persimmon, red and rainbow chard, mustard and dandelion greens, baby boy choy, heirloom varieties of eggplant, you name it.  These were all types of produce that until I was in my early 20s and moved to California, I had never even tried but am glad I did!

3. Do you Hold Grudges?  Do you forgive and forget, or do you hang onto things?
I don’t hold grudges, life is way too short to waste my energy on “being  mad” at someone.  I let it go!  It feels better to me to let things go and no doubt, it feels better for the other person when you make peace with them.

I remember being a kid and there would be girls who “wouldn’t like” certain girls and it got to the point where no one could even remember why so-and-so wasn’t liked or what she did that caused such a stir.  Talk about holding onto things for no reason, but that’s what kids do, unfortunately.  As an adult, I try to live with an open heart and not hold onto things that don’t matter or are pretty petty or trivial.


4. How do you handle conflict?  Is it easy or more challenging for you to Move On and Let Go of stuff?
I always ask myself, will I even care or remember this situation in a week, a month, a year?  Probably not!  So no need to hold onto it.  I also wear my heart on my sleeve and like to talk things out, get it out into the open, work it out, then move on. 

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