How to CSA: 8/26/10 + Menu Planning

Better late than never, right?  I swear, I had every intention of posting this last Thursday night, but something or another distracted me.  Probably severe exhaustion (I'm pretty sure the baby had a growth spurt last week, causing me to eat everything in sight, feel constantly over tired, as well as overly stupid).

Delicious looking, no?

cauliflower

haruki turnips

lots of roma tomatoes (all of which, along with another entire case of romas, have already been processed into puree for freezing) and one yellow tomato (which has already been used in another round of Stuffed Bell Peppers, which I froze in preparation for new baby hell)

 

we filled 4 of these giant food service bowls with quartered romas

 

using the old Victorio to puree - LOVE this thing too!

stock pot full of puree (brought to a boil)

a white onion (little helper had to get his hands in at least one shot)

red bell peppers

 

kale

red creamers (and one lonely yukon gold)

cilantro

romano beans

Due to time constraints, this CSA's meal plan will come in 2 parts: one for this week and one for next.

Monday 8/30: Columbia “1905″ Salad, bread

Yeah, we didn't get around to making this last week.

Market ingredients: bread

Garden ingredients: tomato, oregano

Tuesday 8/31: Hot dogs, leftover corn on the cobb, cauliflower

Um, I need to grocery shop.

Cook's notes: Use first batch of homemade pickles?

CSA ingredients: onion, cauliflower

Market ingredients: corn

Wednesday 9/1: Farmer's casserole, romano beans

Cook's notes: Use leftover baked ham, add tomatoes, some kale, and red bell pepper.

CSA ingredients: red creamer potatoes, kale, red bell pepper, romano beans

Market ingredients: green onions

Garden ingredients: tomatoes

Thursday 9/2: Shake n Bake Style Chicken, yellow wax beans, wild rice

Market ingredients: chicken, yellow wax beans

Garden ingredients: herbs

Friday 9/3: Unknown

Possibly homemade hummus, salad, and the like... otherwise, it's Take Your Family Out For Tacos or Sushi Night.  The baby craves sushi.

How to CSA: Wrapping up Installment #1

Just in time (actually, making late) installment #2!

Monday 8/23: Fried Green Tomato Grilled Cheese, salad








On homemade wheat bread.  I finally started using my inherited bread machine, and I LOVE that freakin' thing.  Beyond easy, and voila!  Bread!  We used cheddar and muenster, because that's the way I roll.  Bryan did a cornmeal breading on the tomatoes.  And the sandwiches rocked.  Oliver suddenly discovered he loves salads (previously, he'd eat the raw veggies but wouldn't touch the lettuce), and ate three bowls.
CSA ingredients: radishes, tomatoes, kohlrabi
Market ingredients: cucumber
Garden ingredients: green tomato

Tuesday 8/24: Grilled Ground Lamb Kebabs with Fresh Hot-Pepper Paste, couscous with herbs and butter, white eggplant







We deviated from the recipe in order to accommodate Oliver, so it wasn't as spicy as the last time we made it.  I didn't like it as much - too lamb-y.
CSA ingredients: onion, garlic
Market ingredients: cilantro, white eggplant
Garden ingredients: herbs


Wednesday 8/25: Stuffed Peppers with Ground Pork and brown rice 
The original plan was to stuff tomatoes, but Bryan thought peppers would go better.  They were so very delicious, I forgot to take a picture.
CSA ingredients: onions, garlic
Market ingredients: green bell peppers
Garden ingredients: herbs, tomatoes

 


 


Thursday 8/26: Breakfast-for-Supper Tofu Burritos










I am not sure we stuck to the inspiration recipe at all.  We did use tofu, but we also used egg and cheese because, you know, it was a breakfast burrito.  The filling made great leftovers, too.
CSA ingredients: tomatoes, onions, summer squash
Market ingredients: bell peppers, cilantro
Garden ingredients: tomatoes

Friday 8/27: Sweet n Sour Pork Balls, rice








Yummy, yummy, yummy.  The pork meat balls may be on the less gourmet side, but I'm trying to get us through the rest of our pig before the next one takes up residence in the freezer.  Still, very good.  And of course we used fresh pineapple, not canned.
CSA ingredients: garlic, onions, red bell pepper, romano beans
Market ingredients: bell pepper

Saturday 8/28: Fish with honey curry glaze, yellow rice, cauliflower








I didn't make the Indian inspired stuffed potatoes I had planned on doing, since I was doing a million other things that day and could find neither the time nor the energy (which is a shame, since those potatoes are scrumptious).
CSA ingredients: onion, red bell pepper, summer squash
Market ingredients: cauliflower

Sunday 8/29: Baked ham, romano beans, corn on the cobb, roast potatoes with garlic and rosemary







This was an unplanned meal.  Did I mention I wet cure hams?  I just did three, so we had one for dinner.
CSA ingredients: romano beans, potatoes
Market ingredients: corn
Garden ingredients: rosemary

How to CSA: The Weekend Report

So here is the first official How to CSA / Menu Planning Report.  We didn't stray too far from the plans; a few substitutions there, a few extra additions here.  What can I say, I get overly excited when I'm at the market and tend to get extras to toss in wherever I can.

Wednesday 8/18: Rotisserie Chicken, Mexican Quinoa Salad

The quinoa salad was a big hit with everyone.  We skipped the spinach; added onions, tomatoes, corn, bell pepper, zucchini.  It turns out there is no better way to cook a whole chicken than rotisserie on the grill - the entire bird was crazy tender and juicy.  And it cooked in no time flat.  WIN.
CSA ingredients: garlic, radishes
Market ingredients: corn, chicken, zucchini, bell pepper
Garden ingredients: tomatoes 

    






Saturday 8/21: Pork chops, Wheat Berries With Sesame, Soy Sauce and Scallions, summer squash




I marinated the pork chops in teryaki, then grilled them.  The mushroom guy at the market suckered us (very willingly) into purchasing oyster mushrooms, which Bryan sauteed with a little butter.  Even Oliver liked them.  The squash was so, so sweet.
CSA ingredients: onions, yellow squash
Market ingredients: oyster mushrooms, scallions

Sunday 8/22: Chicken fried steak with white pan gravy, roasted red potatoes with rosemary and garlic, corn on the cob, fried okra

The corn was so sweet and tender it was practically ridiculous.  Bryan made a fantastic meal, but the corn was pretty stand out (made me glad we just froze a dozen to store for winter!).  Oliver happily munched on the okra until he ate the coating off one and tried the okra plain.  Then it was, "Mom, what is that?!"  And not in a good way.
CSA ingredients: red potatoes, garlic
Market ingredients: okra, corn
Garden ingredients: rosemary

One more batch...

baby food: pears

pears in white grape juice

five 1/2 pints baby food plums; two 1/2 pints pickled orka (one spicy, one not), one pint pickled thai peppers, one pint pickled jalapenos

And with that, I'm done with fruit.  I swear.

The Myth of the Rabid Locavore

Kerry Trueman posted a really fantastic article on the Huffington Post about eating locally.  In it, she addresses an extremely mis-informative, short sighted, horribly sourced, and thoroughly inaccurate article Stephen Budiansky wrote for the New York Times.  In his article, Stephen explains why eating local is actually bad (huh, WHAT?). 

In her retort, Trueman points out some of the facts Budiansky managed to completed ignore:

"But energy efficiency is only one small part of the equation when you add up the reasons to buy local. Other factors include: flavor and nutrition; support for more ecological farming practices; reduction of excess packaging; avoidance of pesticides and other toxins; more humane treatment of livestock and workers; preservation of local farmland; spending one's dollars closer to home; the farmers' market as community center, and so on."

"Again with the energy usage! Geez. As if that were our big beef with fertilizers and chemicals. What about soil erosion, pollution, loss of biodiversity, the rise of superweeds and antibiotic-resistant infections, the dead zones in our oceans and rivers, exposure to contaminants, and all the other environmentally disastrous consequences of 'conventional' farming?"

She also points out that some of Budiansky's "reasons" apply to everyone, regardless of who or where you buy your food from - "the miles we drive to do our grocery shopping and the energy it takes to run our fridges, dishwashers, stoves, etc." ; the amount of edible food discarded by people within the U.S.

I strongly urge you to read both articles.  The pull to "eat local" is rooted in a deep care for the environment, the local economy, and personal health.  These things are no longer a joke, but necessary input when deciding what to buy and who to buy it from.  Do the research, get the facts, and revolt.

Vote your fork.  Your future depends on it.

How to CSA / Menu Planning: 8/12/10

Here I am falling down on the job already, as usual.  My plan to publish a post with each use of our CSA items is not totally happening.  But perhaps I'll just post the interesting ones?

We ate the broccoli with homemade sausage pizza (both the sausage and the pizza being homemade), and used a tomato, some yellow squash, and an onion in veggie quesadillas (along with a green bell pepper and some pumpkin leaves we picked up at the Tosa Farmer's Market).  We can all make pizza and quesadillas, no need for photos, right??

To help with this whole concept, I have decided to post my upcoming menus here, similar to the menu widget on my blog.  Whether I will maintain a widget here as well or manage this just via tags and posts remains to be seen (give feedback on that!).

Our upcoming plans include:

Monday 8/16: White-Bean-and-Pancetta Pizza 
Cook's notes: Homemade crust; use bacon instead of pancetta, add mushrooms
CSA ingredients: garlic
Market ingredients: mushrooms
Garden ingredients: rosemary






Wednesday 8/18: Rotisserie Chicken, Mexican Quinoa Salad
Cook's notes: Use other green
CSA ingredients: garlic
Market ingredients: corn, cilantro, chicken 

Thursday 8/19: Hamburgers with smoked cheddar, corn on the cob
Market ingredients: corn

Friday 8/20: Columbia “1905″ Salad
Garden ingredients: tomato, oregano

Saturday 8/21: Pork chops, Wheat Berries With Sesame, Soy Sauce and Scallions, purple beans
Cook's notes: Use JenEhr onions instead of scallions; marinate chops - teryaki?
CSA ingredients: onions
Market ingredients: purple beans

Sunday 8/22: Chicken fried steak, roasted red potatoes
CSA ingredients: red potatoes

Monday 8/23: Fried Green Tomato Grilled Cheese, salad
CSA ingredients: radishes, tomatoes
Garden ingredients: green tomato

Tuesday 8/24: Grilled Ground Lamb Kebabs with Fresh Hot-Pepper Paste, couscous with herbs and butter, summer squash
Cook's notes: Make 1 non-spicy kebab for Ollie
CSA ingredients: summer squash, onion, garlic
Market ingredients: cilantro
Garden ingredients: herbs

Wednesday 8/25: Stuffed Tomatoes with Ground Pork and rice 
Cook's notes: Use summer squash, greens, fresh herbs
CSA ingredients: onions, garlic
Garden ingredients: herbs, tomatoes

Thursday 8/26: Breakfast-for-Supper Tofu Burritos
Cook's notes: Add extra veggies, make homemade salsa
CSA ingredients: garlic, tomatoes, onions, summer squash
Market ingredients: bell peppers, cilantro
Garden ingredients: hot peppers, tomatoes

Friday 8/27: Sweet n Sour Pork Balls, rice
CSA ingredients: garlic, onions
Market ingredients: bell peppers
Garden ingredients: tomatoes

Saturday 8/28: Fish with honey curry glaze, Cheese Stuffed Potatoes with Yogurt Spice Paste and Sesame Seed Crust
Cook's notes: Make a not spicy potato for Oliver
CSA ingredients: onion
Market ingredients: bell peppers, cilantro
Garden ingredients: serrano chile

The interesting part with come if when I post pictures, seeing how the menu has changed...

Last night's take:
- one 1/2 pint salsa
- two pints + one 1/2 pint cinnamon applesauce
- three 1/2 pints ginger pickled radishes
- two 1/2 pints pickled radishes
- one 1/2 pint sweet mustard pickled radish