green with a side of bacon

Organic is always an easy choice for us to make, being green though, is a hard one. It's Earth Week! I indulged in Oprah's special featuring Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock while drinking an avocado milkshake. I have to improve on the recipe (basically ice, milk, and condensed milk) and add some tapioca balls but here is my wonderful o-avocado. The actual milkshake picture didn't turn out. Anyway, Sandra Bullock is my new HERO! I'm definitely going to give her restaurant in Austin a try, later on this fall. I'm glad I caught it and after seeing my new hero talk about biodegradable plates, spoons, forks, and cups, I invested $131.28 at this website. I am excited to get all of my bagasse products, I immediately felt guilty but, you don't understand, my husband (half of the blame falls on me also) goes through so many paper products bringing his lunch to work. To make myself feel better, these products are probably going to last us a year, $0.36 a day! A few months ago, I gave him a manly looking reusable lunch bag and it has cut down 9/10ths of the plastic bags we have been having to take home from grocery stores. When I usually pack it, I put his lunch in glass containers but, if he gets away with packing it it's tons of foil, paper plates, and resealable plastic bags. I am guilty of the paper product use as well, I probably go through 1 roll of paper towels every 2 days from all of my handwashing (it's the germophobe in me). In honor of Earth Day, I vowed to try to use less of them, and came home with some rags. I've been successful in the last 2 days and will keep my fingers crossed for the next 3 weeks (they say it takes that long to make it a habit). On my wishlist is a pretty cool composting bin, but the hubby isn't really digging the idea yet. Just between us, I'm going to tell him to bring home his bagasse products home from his lunch (the lie is so we can reuse them) but, I'm secretly going to compost them. Thank goodness he doesn't read this blog. He's an accept things by experience kind of guy, take the organic milk, for example.

Green is my favorite color, ever. I love green electronics, purses, and vegetables. That's right, vegetables. So, this is what I do when I'm in a pinch and need a side dish. I have to admit, I really never measure when I do this, so I apologize if you need to add a little here and a little there. I just made them though paying attention to my measurements and I served them with Panko Crusted Butterflied Pork Tenderloin (something I made after seeing it on Food Network, it's a definite keeper and will share with you next week) so I hope everything turns out okay. I imagine the sky's the limit when it comes to choosing a vegetable but peas and green beans are my favorite (soybeans, if you've got the patience and time to steam and peel, I'm guessing would be good). We usually do peas to side macaroni and cheese.

Slightly Smothered Green Veggies

Ingredients
· 3 slices center cut bacon, cut into 1 inch squares
· 1/4 medium sweet onion or 3-4 shallots, sliced
· I-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
· 1 lb french style green beans, ends trimmed or 16 oz frozen peas, defrosted in refrigerator
· ¼ -½ cup or so of water
· Salt & pepper to taste

1. In a large skillet on medium high heat, fry up bacon until crispy, drain on paper towels. Drain most of drippings if desired (I usually don’t).
2. Add onions to skillet and saute until almost carmelized, add garlic at this point, if you choose.
3. Add vegetables and 1/4 cup water, let water evaporate, approximately 5 minutes. If the beans aren't tender, add more water and repeat.
4. Return bacon to pan, season with salt and pepper. Toss and serve.