I love fresh food and decided last year to begin growing my own produce.  Now, I do not have a green thumb and am sorry to admit that I have contributed to the demise of many beautiful flowers and plants.  In trying to figure out why, I read that it might not be me at all, it may be that my soil is not nutrient rich.  So, for the past year, I have thrown all my produce scraps, lawn clippings and stinky organic fertilizer on my soil plot to get the soil rich with nutrients and ready to plant seeds this fall.  I know, It is a very lazy way to manage a compost heap, since all I do at the end of each day is toss my produce scraps over the fence, hoping it hits the soil.  I also occasionally spread some putrid smelling organic fertilizer and my husband dumps all the lawn scraps on my pile.  Well, I am surprised and overjoyed to report to you that about two weeks ago my mom discovered that my soil plot/compost heap was already growing tomatoes, cantaloupes and butternut squash.  We could not stop laughing as I have not planted anything yet.  They are growing from my table scraps.  So, if this is something you have dreamt about — maybe try it yourself.  I call this method, “gardening for dummies.”  As a result of the many tomatoes that I pick from my garden every other day, we eat tomato and fresh mozzarella salad every day – I want to share the recipe with you.  Let me know what you think.

Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Salad Recipe

1 cup organic cherry or plum tomatoes cut in half

2 oz fresh mozzarella cut into cubes

1 tbsp fresh basil leaves chopped

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tbsp kosher salt

Tags: baby fat diet, compost, family health, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato salad, gardening, healthy eating, weight loss