CSA - Week 7

After a few hot and humid days, it was so nice to go out on my porch this morning to grab the CSA box and feel chilly! It was a nice start to a food-centered day. In between games of Uno Moo, Bingo, and soccer, I did my menu plan and shopping list for the week. I used to do all of that on the weekend, but if my produce is fresh on Thursday morning, I want to eat it ASAP, and don't know until Wednesday night what's in the box. The local grocery stores I have tried have a pretty sorry health food selection. Well, I shouldn't say that. Stop & Shop's is actually pretty good, but there a few key items that they're missing. My local health food store is overpriced, but can get away with it since they're the only one (that I know of) in the area.

Since my mom and I share the CSA and we needed to meet up today anyhow, I decided to go to Wegman's, which we do not have where I live. I was in heaven. I miss Wegman's. We also went to her local health food store where they had our favorite organic bread on sale for $2.99 instead of $4.79. We also got Apple/Beet/Carrot juice from the juice bar, and I was inspired to bring my juicer out of storage, which I'll do this weekend. I love my juicer, but go through phases with it, just because it's one more thing taking up counter space.

The only negative in an otherwise wonderful day (I even took a nap!) was that little dude got said beet juice on his favorite soccer ball shirt. Laundry results are pending.

So, what's in the box?

Zucchini - just over 2 1/2 pounds (6 of them)

Cucumbers - just over 2 1/2 pounds (3 of them)

Red Potatoes - about 2 pounds (6 of them)

Yellow Scallions - 6 ounces

Kale - 1 pound

Collard Greens - 1 pound

CSA - Week 6

I'm still here. A lot of fun happens in the summer and I have fallen behind. Since I will receive the Week 7 delivery tomorrow night, I guess this is my last chance to write about Week 6. Because of storms, they were unable to harvest kale last week, so we will receive a larger veggie share in this week's box.

Cabbage - 4 pounds

Yellow Scallions - just over 1/2 pound

Beets - approx. 3 pounds

Cucumbers - 2 1/2 pounds

Again, I forgot to take a picture. We went on an outing that day and left pretty early, so everything was a little off.

Last week, I had the entire cabbage for myself and I knew I wanted to make coleslaw. I decided on Bobby Flay's recipe, and it was really good. It was even better the second day, and my daughter ate it up! If you're looking for a good vegan coleslaw recipe, I recommend the recipe found in Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. The recipe can be found here, but I really recommend the book! Of course, if you're using fresh cabbage instead of coleslaw mix, you'll also need to add shredded carrots. You can even throw some radish in if you're feeling funky, or anything crunchy, really! I'd bet kohlrabi would be really good in there also.

Speaking of kohlrabi, here is what I did with this newfound love:

1. Cut off kohlrabi bulbs.

2. Peel bulbs with a knife. A peeler will most likely not do the job.

3. Slice, then cut into half-moons.

4. Toss around with a minced clove of garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

5. Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes, flip, bake another 5, top with Parmesan cheese, and bake another 5.

I really wish I didn't love cheese as much as I do.

Another option is to just do this:

(image courtesy of www.simplyrecipes.com)

CSA - Week 5

I love my CSA. Here we are at Week 5 of 26 and I feel like it's only getting better and more exciting. Even though I was really psyched to have beets for two weeks and snap peas for one, I'm okay with them being left out of this week's box. That's the whole point, after all. I'm trying new things and this week is no exception.

Yellow Scallions - 3/4 lb.

Baby Collard Greens - 3/4 lb.

Cabbage - 2 3/4 lb. (1 head)

Kohlrabi - over 2 1/2 lb.

Mizuna - under 1/2 lb.

I have been a vegetarian for about half of my life. I will be the first to admit that for the first couple years, i was doing it all wrong, as many do when they first start out. Here I am nearly 15 years later and I'm still discovering new vegetables. The first I heard of kohlrabi was last night, and then it showed up on my doorstep a few hours later. I feel like that must have some kind of significance, but since I can't play kohlrabi in the lottery, I'll just go ahead and hope that it's tasty.

The cabbage came at a good time because I can make a nice fresh coleslaw for the 4th of July since I already have organic carrots on hand. I also plan to do something different with mizuna since I've repeatedly made the same dish since discovering the green a few weeks ago. I have leftover spinach from the Italian Wedding Soup, so I'm thinking of making this, but with vegetable broth. My daughter picked out some organic whole wheat letter-shaped pasta and thinks "green sauce" is weirdly excellent, so I feel like that's a dinner waiting to happen.

Have a fun and safe holiday weekend! Yay America!

Garden Growth

I thinned out the cucumber plants because they were all growing like crazy and were going to kill each other. Now, one of the 4 I had left is injured and they also have some company. Squash Bugs. Sad Face. I was hoping that my organic garden would just avoid these types of problems all on their own, but I know that's not at all realistic. Bugs are just a part of the process, and I need to safely deal with it. I read that I could use organic pyrethrum, which is from chrysanthemums. I want to look into it more before going that route. Another option is making a soapy spray. Add 1 tablespoon of soap to a gallon of water and spray a fine mist on the leaves. The soap I use is all natural anyway, so I'm thinking that would be okay? Does anyone have experience with this? The bugs especially dislike peppermint, and I have organic tea tree and peppermint shampoo and wonder if that may also do the job. Aside from the research time, the major con of using the organic pyrethrum thus far would be the shipping time for it to get here.

Otherwise, though, the garden is looking great! One of the tomato plants is just a beast and I can't wait to make some pico! Canning is something else I plan to get into in the next year, but doubt I'll have the opportunity to preserve much this year. I don't expect the garden to produce much more than we can eat, but if it does, I have family members with whom I can share. The one exception may be basil, but that's so versatile that I doubt I'll have a problem with consumption.

Tomato Beast - 6/28/11 - Day 24 post-transplant - Day 53 from seed

Lettuce - 6/28/11 - Day 24

Basil - 6/28/11 - Day 24

I got to use my basil for the first time today! I met with some girlfriends for a vegan potluck and I made a vegan Italian wedding soup. Although the recipe didn't call for fresh basil, I felt the need to use it anyway, and it paid off.

Vegan Italian Wedding Soup

courtesy of Vegetarian Times

Serves 6

4 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 medium white or yellow onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.), plus 1 whole clove, peeled, divided
¾ cup diced carrot
¾ cup diced celery
1 Tbs. Simply Organic Oregano
1 Tbs. Simply Organic Basil Fresh basil from your amazing garden
1 Tbs. Simply Organic Parsley
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
¾ cup ditalini pasta
1 pkg. vegan meatballs, defrosted (I used Nate's brand Italian flavored. Many brands are not vegan, but these are)
1 5-oz. pkg. fresh spinach
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1. Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and minced garlic; sauté 5 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Stir in carrot and celery, and cook 5 minutes more, or until onion is soft and just beginning to brown. Add oregano, basil, and parsley, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat to medium, add ditalini, and cook at low boil 5 minutes, or half of cooking time stated in ditalini package directions. Add meatballs, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 Tbs. oil in skillet over medium heat. Add remaining garlic clove, and crush with wooden spoon in oil while heating. Add spinach; cook 3 to 5 minutes, turning constantly so spinach becomes evenly coated and wilted, but still bright green. After meatballs have simmered, add spinach and lemon juice to soup, and season with salt and pepper.

I am not a food blogger.

I know this because I rarely think to take pictures of my meals.

Today, I finally used the Swiss chard from last week. Ideally, I would have used it immediately when it was perfectly fresh, but I was out and about a lot over the past few days. I put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in my wok and tossed in some sliced garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I then cooked the Swiss chard, which had been cleaned and chopped into ~1 inch pieces. I had already discarded most of the stems. Cook for about 5 minutes, flip over, and cook for another 5 minutes or so. If you need to add moisture, just throw in some water during cooking. That's it! It was really good!

I was given more produce by someone who is going on vacation, so I am excited to cook up a storm in the next few days. I have a lot of lime. Besides buying a case of Corona, what should I do with a bunch of limes?

CSA - Week 4

This week's CSA box made me really happy. We got more beets, which I will touch on shortly, and the sugar snap peas and Swiss chard made their debut! Here is the rundown:

Swiss Chard - nearly 4 1/2 lbs.

Sugar Snap Peas - nearly 2 lbs.

Beets - 6 1/2 lbs.

Yellow Scallions - over 1/4 lb.

Mizuna - 3/4 lb.

I teased you with talk of pink pancakes last week when we first got beets. I made them this week, and they were a huge success. In fact, I need to double the recipe in the future. It's a good thing I now have frozen beet puree at the ready!

Pink Pancakes

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup beet puree (see below)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup pancake mix

1/4 cup grated apple

nonstick cooking spray

*1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

pure maple syrup or fruit, for serving

1. In a blender or food procesor, combine the water, ricotta cheese, beet puree, vanilla, and cinnamon and blend. Dump the mixture into a medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix - the batter will be a little lumpy.

2. Coat a griddle or large nonstick killet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil*. Spoon the batter onto the griddle or skillet, using about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook the pancakes until bubbles form on top and the batter i set, 1 to 2 minutes. Then flip the pancakes with a spatula and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm, with syrup or fruit.

Mine were slightly undercooked, but since there was no egg, I wasn't concerned. First my griddle wasn't hot enough, and then it got too hot. We'll get it just right tomorrow...I mean, um, next time I make them whenever that might be.

*I did not use oil

Courtesy of Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

How to make perfect beet puree:

1. cut the greens off of the beet leaving about 1 inch.

2. wrap in foil.

3. roast in a 400 degree oven for about an hour.

4. refrigerate just long enough that you luckily remember to puree them before they go bad.

5. remove from fridge.

6. peel skin off and cube.

7. frantically search for blender lid so you don't end up with a pink kitchen.

8. blend, taking a break every 5 seconds to stir beet mixture and dream about this.

I scrambled up a couple of eggs and we were all happy. My son would eat anything, as long as it looked like a pancake. As I said, I'm not generally a fan of hiding fruits and veggies just to get your child to eat them. However, since my kids are luckily pretty good about it, I don't see the harm in making recipes like this to give them even more. Plus, since they are always helping me in the kitchen, they know exactly what they're eating. Well, they sort of know. Z calls beets "boots," so he may be chewing on his shoes a little more tomorrow. We'll play that by ear.

It's Just Toilet Paper

My desire to have my own vegetable garden is what started me on this road. Interestingly enough, it now seems like that's the least productive aspect of what I'm doing. I know that I planted late, so I can't expect overnight results, and I'm okay with that. I'm annoyed that my peas were looking so great for a week or two and then just died one day, seemingly out of nowhere. I haven't been using anything on my plants except for water, and I now realize that's not enough. Through research, I'm realizing that I need some organic fertilizer to feed them, and I'm making that my mission for this week. I have a compost bin, but nothing's ready to go yet, so I can't use that to feed my soil at the moment.

I tasted a tiny piece of lettuce and it was good! The basil smells like basil and the cilantro smells like cilantro. I love to rub a leaf of the tomato plant between my fingers and smell the tomato scent. Soon enough, I'll be making my own tomato sauce and pico de gallo, and it will have all been worth it.

I plan to weed tomorrow, though the weeds are all outside of the bags anyway. I guess it's pretty funny that I'm concerned about the weeds making my garden area look ugly, but meanwhile my garden is a bunch of bags on the ground.

I never did update you on the Seventh Generation toilet paper and that's because there's not really much to say. It's just toilet paper. But I think considering how much better it is for our environment, it's a smarter choice for my family. I'm also very pleased with their powder laundry detergent, and I only use the cold cycle. I have had zero problems in that department and hope to try my hand at making my own detergent soon.