CSA - Week 2

Hmm. Still no pictures.  Some day, I promise!

This week's box included:
1 bunch kale
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch rainbow chard
1 bag salad mix
1 bunch bibb lettuce
1 bunch radishes
1 bunch salad turnips
1 bunch dill (which I switched out for more kale - who'd have thought I'd be doing that???)
1 bunch garlic whistles
1 pint (?) peas

We also picked up the following from the Bank Street Farmer's Market, where we pick up our box:
1 basket carrots
1 basket tomatoes
1 basket peas
1 bunch cilantro
3 zucchini
1 summer squash
1 loaf bread

And at Harding's we found fresh Otto's Chicken (you can buy it at the farmer's market frozen).

We still had the following left in the fridge:
Radishes
Eggs
Salad mix
Pac choi
Strawberries

We looked for local bbq sauce, but didn't find any.

So anyway, I can't remember this week as well, but here's a rough outline:

Saturday - Father's Day w/ the Davis family
Grilled Otto's Chicken thighs w/ yummy glaze
Salad w/ radishes, turnips, peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, & cheese (and maybe some parsnips?)
Homemade Chocolate Cake w/ homemade vanilla rum custard and strawberries
(Yummy corn & bean salad provided by Ashley).

Sunday was our anniversary, plus father's day.  We had eggs for breakfast (w/ kale, garlic whistles, cheddar & ham) and then went out to dinner for our anniversary.  We tried to go to Food Dance, but they close early on Sundays.  :(

Monday we had salads w/ peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, radishes, turnips, cheese, etc.  (more eggs for breakfast)
Tuesday we had spicy chard & potstickers (CSA recipe) & more eggs for breakfast
Wednesday (tonight) the plan is steak on the grill w/ creamed kale & radish salad (more eggs for breakfast - today I did them w/ feta instead of cheddar)
Thursday we have friends in town, so we'll be going out.
Friday we have lots of options - shells & cheese w/ greens; steak & veggie stir fry; pasta w/ peas, asparagus, lettuce & ham; chard quesodillas w/ homemade salsa & chips.

I'm planning on cutting up and freezing some stir fry bags this week, and maybe making more pesto w/ the garlic whistles, because that was delicious last week!

CSA - Week 1

I'm so geeked about our CSA that I wanted to do a food diary.  And what better place to do a food diary than on my blog that I never use, right?  ;)

So our CSA (community supported agriculture) is through Green Gardens in Battle Creek.  I chose them because they posted on the EatLocalSWMI yahoo group.  That simple.  Luckily, they're a great farm (certified naturally grown, which is just like organic w/o the organic label) and a great couple of people.  They're wonderful, young (my age!) and obviously in love and loving what they do.  Happy food from happy people to make people happy.

Each week we pick up our box at the Bank Street Farmer's Market.  Trent sends us an email beforehand that outlines what we should expect and gives us a link to their website, where they have posted recipes.  An online cookbook with my food - wonderful!

This week our box contained:
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch curly kale
1 bunch pac (bok) choi
1 bunch salad turnips
1 bunch radishes
1 bag salad greens
1 bunch garlic whistles (scape)
1 small bag snap peas
1 bunch cilantro

Doesn't that sound great?  Some day, maybe, I'll take pictures so you can drool over it all.  I wanted to this week, but we started cooking as soon as we got home.  Here's what we had:

Day 1 (Saturday):
Breakfast - Farmer's Market eggs scrambled w/ CSA kale & garlic whistles (sauteed in butter)
Lunch - Large salads w/ CSA greens, salad turnips, radishes, snap peas, Farmer's Market carrots, and meat (I think we had left-over steak)
Dinner - Stuffed peppers w/ Farmer's Market ground beef and garlic whistles

I grabbed my dehydrator which had been living in my in-laws' basement and dehydrated the cilantro since I had no plans for Mexican food this week.  It smells and looks gorgeous, though.

Day 2 (Sunday):
Breakfast - Farmer's Market egg omelette w/ CSA kale & garlic whistles (sauteed in butter) & local bread
Lunch - Large salads w/ CSA greens, salad turnips, radishes, snap peas, Farmer's Market carrots, and meat (either steak or pork tenderloin) & local bread
Dinner - Left-overs (I had a stuffed pepper)
Dessert - Plainwell ice cream & Thin Mints... yum!

Day 3 (Monday):

Breakfast - Farmer's Market egg omelette w/ CSA kale & garlic whistles (sauteed in butter) & local bread

Lunch - Large salads w/ CSA greens, salad turnips, radishes, snap peas, Farmer's Market carrots, and meat (either steak or pork tenderloin) & local bread

Dinner - My mom's lasagna w/ kale & garlic whistles, plus collard greens instead of noodles

I also ended up making veggie stock w/ left-over veggie pieces.  I just keep a gallon freezer bag in the freezer and add any odds & ends from cooking (onion pieces; carrot, turnip, radish tops; ends of asparagus, celery - anything I'd normally throw away).  Then I dump it all in a stock pot w/ 12 cups of water and some herbs and let it simmer for 2 hours.  Then I strain it w/ a cheese cloth (yes, I have cheese cloth in the house) and freeze it in 1-c containers. 

Day 4 (Tuesday):

Breakfast - Well, nothing local here.  Matt made apple & banana pancakes... but only because we only had 3 eggs and 1 garlic whistle left.  :(

Lunch - Large salads w/ CSA greens, salad turnips, radishes, snap peas, Farmer's Market carrots, and meat (pork tenderloin) & local bread

Dinner - Stir Fry w/ Farmers Market chicken (Otto's), carrots, and parsnips, & CSA kale, pac choi, peas, garlic whistle, and other veggies.

Dessert - Strawberry shortcake w/ Farmers Market strawberries

Today I also bought a TON more garlic whistles and strawberries at the Farmers Market.  The herb lady told me how to freeze dry the garlic whistles at home: cut them up, put them in a paper bag, put bag in freezer.  Shake every time I get into freezer.  Store in airtight container.  Reconstitute as needed.  So I did that today, plus we froze more strawberries AND I tried my hand at strawberry fruit leather using the dehydrator.  It's yummy, but we only have one fruit leather tray, and it takes so many strawberries... I'm not sure I'll be doing that again until the girls start asking for Fruit Roll-Ups in their lunches.  ;)

Tomorrow I'll stop by the Richland Farmers Market to buy more chicken, beef, and maybe pork.  Definitely need eggs and bread.  Hopefully our Meijer bill will drop, right? ;)  I need to sort through and organize our deep freezer, because it's been completely overrun by new stuff and there's no way to tell what's in there.  That's my job between the LLL meeting in the morning and Sophia's doctor appointment in the afternoon... right... ;)