Life Lately...

In the past year or so, I’ve changed focus a bit…

I sometimes wish I was a food blogger full time, but admit it was very difficult at times. I am currently working two places locally as well as help market and design for the new SIU Cannabis Science Center. I am and always expanding my horizons for new marketing and photography opportunities, and hoe that I have grown into someone who others look to for inspiration. I am always trying to support our amazing local community. Hopefully a few new projects will help push me in the right direction.

I’ve been reaching heavily towards nature to help me hopefully find some answers as to which way the future may guide me.

Now that the Makanda Mushroom Festival was a success, I am SO excited about future opportunities. But I am still a bit unsure about what the future holds. Wish me luck!!

Flyway Family Mushroom Farm - Makanda, IL

I met Mike and Jess at the Carbondale Farmer’s Market years ago, and they are some of my favorite people to this day. They sell their incredible, gourmet mushrooms at the market every Saturday throughout the entire season from April - November. You can also find their mushrooms at various local restaurants, grocery stores like The Neighborhood Co-Op, and at the Urbana, IL Market.

Connect With Flyway Family Farm on Facebook and Instagram!

I recently had the honor of capturing some of their current offerings. They have a Chef’s Mix, which contained some of each. These pink oyster mushrooms were so incredible in a mixed veggie skillet we made recently while camping.

Last year, we also created a really incredible post for Martha Stewart, featuring several of the Flyway Family Farm mushrooms, which I also found at the Farmer’s Market.

Looking for a delicious marinated mushroom recipe? They can be made ahead of time, and enjoyed for up to five days.

TRY THESE RECIPES

Fresh Vegan Mushroom Tacos Recipe (Awesome in Cast Iron)

If you're looking for a new way to incorporate those fresh, local, Farmer's Market ingredients into a recipe, here's a good one! These Vegan Mushroom, Onion, and Pepper Tacos are super delicious and you definitely won't even miss the meat! 

Even more special, is the fact that we got to create this recipe for Martha Stewart Essentials available at Macy's. It's been SUCH an honor creating a set of four recipes for Martha! It's definitely a food blogger's dream :)

Keep reading to get the full details on this delicious, vegan recipe (but, feel free to add some cheese or sour cream if you like!!).

We found all of the fresh ingredients at our local Farmer's Market here in Carbondale, IL.

As soon as I learned about this amazing opportunity, I went searching through all of the items and decided upon four very delicious recipes, which I will link you to as soon as they are live! 

I was encouraged to use recipes right from MarthaStewart.com, so I used her basic recipes, then embellished and modernized them to make them extremely appealing for my Pinterest fans. Well, everyone has loved them so far, and now all of the cast iron skillets are SOLD OUT on the MAcy's website! Perhaps my recipes helped, but the fact that they were each around $15.00 might also be the reason these have all sold out. Nonetheless, find your favorite cast iron or other skillet, and let's get started!

Ingredients / Materials: 

- 1-2 lb. Fresh Mushrooms 

- 1 red onion

- 1 medium bell pepper (we used several small ones)

- 2 Tbsp. or more Mexican Seasoning

- 1/2 bunch of cilantro

- Small Flour Tortillas

- Martha Stewart Cast Iron Skillet 

Instructions:

1. Prepare and chop mushrooms, red onions, and bell peppers. 

2. Heat olive oil in a Cast Iron Skillet, add chopped onions, then belle peppers, then lastly, mushrooms.

3.) Season veggies generously with Mexican seasoning, a tiny bit of salt, and any other seasoning you would like. Also, add chopped cilantro at the end and stir everything one last time. 

4.) Warm tortillas, then add the veggie filling, and enjoy! They're so delicious, I hope you love them! 

FLYWAY FAMILY FARM MUSHROOMS (MAKANDA, IL)

As I mentioned, I got to use local ingredients from our Farmer's Market! We loved finally being able to utilize three different varieties of mushrooms from Flyway Family Farm. They have different mushrooms at the market almost every weekend!

Also, I used the red onions and colorful bell peppers from Country Sprout Organics, my other favorite booth at our local market! 

Hopefully, you have enjoyed this recipe! Stay tuned for several more recipes inspired by Martha Stewart!