true life: i am obsessed with tomatoes

so if you have been following me on instagram or twitter you may have learned about my obsession with tomatoes. it has been a little out of control this year but i cannot get over it. let me give you a little history on my love of tomatoes.

january 2013, i told myself that i have to learn how to like tomatoes. at this point in time i highly disliked tomatoes, would remove them off salads and sandwiches, and really thought they were gross. but i decided i had to learn to like them for two reasons. one, all of the foodies love them and rave about tomatoes. and myself being an emerging foodie i had to learn to like them. two, tomatoes are very very healthy for you. three, they are very easy to grow in a garden. 

so january started my journey of tomato love. i started not asking the sandwich shop to take them off my tomato and began "tricking" myself into liking them. as the year went on i learned to actually like them. 

then the summer hit, and my home grown tomatoes had come in so i thought i should try eating one plain. and oh my word, it changed my life. home grown tomatoes are the best tasting thing ever. i started eating tomatoes everyday and i never had any to share. friends starting giving us their tomatoes because i had eaten all of mine, and they kept on disappearing (into my tummy). 

fast forward today and i am now obsessed with tomatoes. i keep wanting to can them and have even gone to the farmers market to pick up additional tomatoes but i somehow find a new dish, flavor, or recipe that calls for tomatoes and i can't help and use these amazing, flavorful things. 

not that this tomato loving is a bad thing, but i cannot believe a year ago i didn't like tomatoes at all. and now i eat them daily. i think that by "forcing" ourselves to try new foods over and over again, we learn to enjoy the flavors and instead of being so dismissing of the food that we don't like, i think we need to keep trying them! you never know, the food you hate could be your next favorite food!

anyways, moving on from my tomato tale, tomatoes have incredible health benefits for people. one tomato is filled with vitamins A,C, K, foliate, and potassium. they are naturally low in sodium, saturated fat, and calories. they also have beta- carotene (also found in carrots and sweet potatoes) which helps protect your skin. tomatoes are delicious and a great way to get several essential vitamins.

so basically i think that everyone, if you are a tomato lover or not, should try and eat some of the in season tomatoes right now. 

some great recipes with home grown tomatoes:

heather's home made salsa:

6 tomatoes 

1 jalapeno

1/2 onion

3 cloves garlic

1 bunch cilantro

dash of cayenne pepper

juice from 1-3 limes

put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until desired consistency. tastes amazing! serve with tacos or chips, or anything really. tastes best immediately but will save up to a week in a mason jar.

kirsebom chili:

1 pound lean beef

1/2 a chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1tea spoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 can chili beans 

1 can dark kidney beans

1 can light kidney beans

1 can chopped tomatoes, or in the sumemer i take 3-5 tomatoes, and dice them all up

1 large can tomato sauce

brown beef and onion together on skillet. once the meat has browned, put all ingredients into a crock pot and simmer for two hours, preferably 4-6 hours. top with a little sour cream and cheddar cheese

heather's favorite quick tomato snack:

slice up a tomato and top with salt, basil, mozzarella cheese and a dash of olive oil. if you are in a real rush, skip the oil and the cheese and just have the tomato with basil and salt!

what is your opinion on tomatoes? you clearly know mine now ;)