Smoothie Challenge.

Don't hate me. I have a vitamix. Yes, I know, a vitamix. And guess what, it didn't change my life. Everything is the same as it was before except now I have to store my blender on my counter cause there is no room for it in the cabinet. I actually used to drink smoothies a lot. Not crazy often but I would make concoctions with protein powders that were pretty good. But in December, I got the flu and after that, I don't know...I just lost my taste for smoothies. Blech. So, my vitamix has had about a 6 month break. Just sitting on my counter. It probably would have kept sitting there except then someone I follow on facebook started doing a 30 day smoothie challenge.  It got me thinking about doing one too. Now, I can't commit to 30 days, but I did a week. It was fine. I enjoyed my smoothies, but again, it didn't change my life. What it did so is give me another place to use my CSA vegetables, especially those vegetables such as beets and cucumbers that I am having a hard time using up. Beets and cucumbers!  Who knew?  I'm not even going to mention the fact that I've been putting chard and kale in there too. Those are easy but beets and cucumbers!  

For a beet smoothie combine 1 peeled beet, 2 oranges, some sort of raw greens, some mint, and water and blend. This one is good but add ice if you want it colder. 

For a cucumber smoothie add 1 peeled and seeded cucumber, frozen blueberries or pineapple, raw greens, mint and coconut water and blend until smooth. 

Cucumber avocado soup

Everyone has an opinion on cold soup. And they are entitled. I agree that most times it does not sound very appetizing but when you have like 3 pounds of cucumbers in your fridge it changes you. This soup uses two huge cucumbers at once and in my opinion is refreshing and satisfying. It's like eating guacamole with a spoon.  To all those haters out there, you don't know what you are missing. 

In a food processor combine two cucumbers peeled and seeded, a seeded jalapeño, one clove garlic, cilantro, the juice of one lime, and salt and pepper. As the ingredients are processing, stream in about 1/4 cup of cold water. Add more or less depending on the desired consistency. Serve immediately. 

Beet Hummus

I actually got a request for this recipe from one of the two readers of this blog. And this recipe was inspired by the other reader of this blog. I mean, I have all these beets and I've given up on feeding them to my family. What am I supposed to do?  Answer:  make hummus. I got this recipe from Minimalist Baker. First, I roasted one beet. Actually I roasted three but the other two beets will be used to make chocolate muffins. My kids figured out the zucchini bread but they haven't figured out the beet muffins yet. Hee her. At any rate, purree your beet and then to the food processor at your hummus ingredients. However you make it is fine. I used chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, slay, pepper and tahini. Process while streaming in olive oil. Ta da. Beet hummus. Now, my family still won't touch it but I tried!

Week 8. Good and bad

Another great haul this week. Again a little bit of everything, but nothing too overwhelming except those dang cucumbers. I did pretty good last week again except for cucumbers. Stay tuned!

Kale chopped salad

I just love this salad. It's from Oh She Glows and I've been making it for about a year now. Sometimes the kale can be a little chewy, but by chopping it to smaller pieces it allows it to get a little more tender. The leaves are dresses with a lemon vinaigrette and I always add a little bit of honey to mine. The salad is then topped with craisens and pecan parmesean. Filling but refreshing. 

Red cabbage with pasta

Mark loves red canbage. We actually had a choice between lettuce or red cabbage and I went the cabbage. He loves slaw!  One big issue, I hate slaw 😳. I feel like this recipe gives us a little of what we both like. You sauté the cabbage with onions until it gets soft and sweet, then combine with cooked pasta. Top with toasted pine nuts.  Love the texture. Just the right amount of crunch. Orinigal recipe is from Color Me Vegan 

Week 7 - no picture

We went camping this weekend so I am a little bit behind. I do need to say we ate everything from last week!  This week was similar in that we got:

Red cabbage 

Beets

Basil

Cilantro 

Carrots

Broccoli 

Kale

Zucchini 

And OMG cucumbers. 

This was the first week we got our fruit share and I got peaches and plums. 

When in doubt, fritter

I've had kohlrabi before. I know I don't like it. There. I said it. One of those wierd CSA veggies that everyone gets to discover in their share and say how much they LOOOVE it. Nope. Not me. I've had it. It's not good. It's like a turnip. But weirder. Way weirder. But like a turnip it's got that spicy tangy taste, very firm texture and greens attached. Woo. Hoo. At any rate, I was less than thrilled to get it in this weeks share but hey, it's all about what you make of it. I saw a recipe out our csa facebook page for kohlrabi carrot fritters and what do you know, I got carrots this week too. So, that's what we did. Fritter the little suckers. 

I did follow a recipe, but basically I grated my one kohlrabi and a couple of carrots in my food processor. Then I wrapped in a towel to squeeze any moisture our. Combined in a bowl with one egg, some salt, some seasoned salt, and a handful of breadcrumbs. Formed little pancakes with my hands, again squeezing moisture out and placed in a HOT pan with HOT oil. Cooked about 5 minutes on each side. The end result was,well, still had that funky kohlrabi taste.  But really the more you ate it the less you noticed it. I topped mine with some blended avocado cream. End result. Ate it. But I'm not getting kohlrabi again. Also served it with roasted chickpeas and steamed broccoli from my share. 

Week 6. Back at it.

Great pick up today. A little bit of everything and nothing is overwhelming. I'm still recovering from being sick and honesty done want any of this, but I have my meal plan for the week and hope to get back on track. 

Beans in a crock pot

Since I am sitting on my butt all weekend I thought I would go ahead and post something. And yes, most people post things on blogs to share with other people but I have found that the posts I write are great reminders on how to do things. So, this post is mainly for me.

I bought some fancy smancy organic heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo. Truth be told, I can't taste a difference with these beans but they do have different varieties that I don't usually have access to.  Such as Yellow Eyes Beans. 

One of the cooking methods Rancho Gordo mentioned was to use a crock pot. Now, I have used the crock pot method before but honestly, I haven't had a whole lot of success with this method. The beans are hardly ever done. Rancho Gordos method was a bit different - not all that different - but I thought I would give it a try. So, I put the beans in my crock pot and covered with a bunch of water, I'd say about 5 inches above the beans. 

One of the major differences with the Rancho Gordo method is that they recommend NOT soaking the water. They say throwing it out is an old wives tale and you ended up losing nutrients and delcious flavor. And I have to say, the bean broth from this is awesome!  To the soaking water, I then added aromatic vegetables. In this case, that was one onion, celery, 2 bay leaves, a smashed garlic clove, and a whole jalapeño. The actual directions say to sauté these but I don't really have time for that, I just add them. 

I let it soak overnight like this and in the morning, flip the switch to high. Let cook all day until about 5 or 6 for donenest. 

The softness of the beans depends on the variety. These yellow eyes were falling apart. At this point I added 1/2 tablespoon of salt. It is very important to salt your beans. This amount with give them pretty good flavor but allow to to season them later if you like. I always like to add smoked salt at the table. 

This does end up being a great addition to a csa meal. I served with brown rice, corn bread, and kale chips. 

Enjoy!  Wish I could eat them now. Ugh!

Week 5: Sick leave

So, I was pretty sick on the day of pick up.  I was still planning on getting my share, but my throat was super super sore and I just couldn't imagine eating anything.  I ended up taking this week off.  A neighbor got to pick up and eat my share and allowed me to sit for 3 days on my coach.  Good times. We will pick up again next week.

Muffins or murder?

Desperate times call for desperate measures y'all. I had two baked beets in my fridge and a family of beet haters. Racking my brain for ideas and remembered a post about using beets to make chocolate cupcakes. Honestly, I don't need cupcakes but muffins are often part of our daily morning routine and I found my tweaking te recipe atMinimalist Baker, I ended up with a great breakfast item. 

I did nave many doubts through out this process. I kept reminding myself that this was no different than pumpkin muffins. But the the bright red color of the batter, I really wasn't sure if I could get my kids to eat them. 

My adjustments were adding more flour to make twelve muffins (who makes 10?  That's ridiculous) and subbing 1/2 cup maple syrup for the sugar. Oh, and I added chocolate chips cause our usual chocolate muffin has chocolate chips and I'm trying to be sneaky. Results were delicious. Maybe borderline of not sweet enough but my kids ate them. They always had a slight slight slight reddish tint but again but kids at them. Here's is one I ate with almond butter YUM!

Week 4: OMG. More Greens.

I had to mentally prepare the entire day before picking up my share. They didn't send a list about what we would get but I was pretty sure it would be more of the same. I was right. Another two heads of lettuce, more arugula, kale, radishes and green onions. We did get some different types of beets, turnips (this may bey only week for turnips so don't blink. Nobody likes them), and cilantro. I was invited to a friends house for dinner and I told her that the only way I would come was if I could bring salad!

Goat Cheese and Beet Salad

Loved this salad. And this is a popular one to do with beets. I have seen many different recipes for the same basic salad. In this version, the beets were wrapped in foil and baked for an hour at 400 degrees. When they were cooked, I peeled the skin off and sliced. I had never made beets this way and I think my husband and kids were pleasantly surprised. My older son said it reminded him of a gummy! They only ate one each, but it's a start.  It was actually pretty simple to put it all together. The dressing was a red wine and shallot vinegrette. Tossed the lettuce with it and topped with the baked beets, goat cheese and toasted walnuts. I baked some potaoes along with the beets to make it a hardier meal and also served with homemade bread. It ended up being a feast!

Kale Chips and Radish Salad

This was my Mothers Day meal. Yes, I cooked it myself, thank you very much but since I had to cook, I took the opportunity to use up some more produce. The kale chips are and old standby. My older son and I love them. It's a good way to use some some greens in a different way. I tear into but size pieces, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Check half way and then frequenly and stir to prevent burning. I did forget my number one rule about greens (greens cool down!) so I ended up with leftover kale. I froze the whole leaves on a cookie sheet and then placed in a Baggie. I'll be able to use this kale either in smoothies or in soups in the  future. The radish salad was inspired by one I saw in The Kind Diet. Just flipping through it jumped out at me because radishes are just something that is hard to use up!  In this salad, I could use several all at once!  I made some Isreali Couscous and cooled. Added the sliced radishes, parsley, and green onions. Made a simple lemon vinegrette and combined. Turned out pretty well and leftovers were just as delicious the next day!

Arugula Pesto Pizza

I had arugula from this week AND arugula from last week. Time to do something with it and fast. Whenever you have a lot of something to use up it may not be possible to eat it all during normal family meal time. If that happens, it is time to find a way to process your vegetables for long term storage. The problem with the greens of spring is that they can only be used fresh. Luckily, arugula is one of those items that you can make pesto out of, and you can freeze pesto!  To make my pesto I used about four cups of fresh arugula. Add about 1/2 cup cheese, the juice of one lemon, one garlic clove, salt and pepper, if you have some, add some basil. And if your arugula is really bitter, I'd add a bit of honey. Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Once chopped finely, stream in olive oil until desired consistency.  You can use it on sandwiches, pasta, or pizza. I spread my pesto onto pizza dough and then add smashed potatoes. In this case, I also added some microgreens. In three weeks, this was my first time using these. Oops. I froze the leftover pesto in ice cube trays and will used them on future pizzas or maybe add to soups when an Italian flavor is needed. 

Unfortunately, after two huge double batches of pesto, I still had arugula left!  Argh!

Week 3 - "Lettuce" eat some salad

Oh my word. That's a lot of leaves, am I right. And in a normal week and I would be so excited to make a salad out of all of them. Two HUGE heads of lettuce. Arugula. Kale. More microgreens. (yay). Keep in mind that I still have from last well: a small head of lettuce, arugula, microgreens. I need to come up with a plan. And fast. And eat some salad!  Or something. 

(Help)

Roasting Radishes - what??

I have heard of roasting radishes before, I just never tried it. That's a little surprising because roasting vegetables is one of the easiest, er, tastiest ways to prepare veggies. But radishes?  Not so sure. Radishes are a tough vegetable to use. You get a whole bunch, you use a few in a salad, you get more the next week, now what?  My CSA actually sent a link about roasting radishes and here I was, the night before my next share's pickup with a whole bunch of radishes to use up. So, I tried it. And, it wasn't too bad!  I ate all of mine and my kids at one each. My husband was honest. He ate a few but left most of his plate. Oh well. Easy to make though. I cut them in half, drizzled olive oil, salt and pepper, and baked at 400 for 12 minutes. It did go well with my bok choy stir fry. I may make it again if needed, but should try some other things first!

Spring Salad

The easiest thing to do with all the lettuce I have gotten is of course make a main dish salad. The problem with the main dish salad is how do I get my kids to eat it?  They actually might stuff a couple of leaves in their mouth by accident, but that won't be enough to keep them full until breakfast the next day. I made a salad based on a similar one from Iowa Girl Eats. For my kids and husband, I actually baked bonelss chicken thighs with salt pepper and a few spices. For me, I roasted chickpeas also with some spices. Everyone got a mound of lettuce on their plate, and at the table, I had the chicken, chickpeas, but also roasted cashews, mango, and the big kicker - fresh bread!  Usually I make my own in my bread machine, but due to time constraints I used french bread from the grocery store instead. The bread is my secret weapon. I always have it as a side when serving soups or salads for dinner. That way, I know there will be at least one thing that everyone likes!  I made a simple lime honey vinaigrette dressing and dinner was served. Everyone got to put exactly what they wanted on their salad and some (Andy) just ate bread. Oh Andy!

Week 2

Few different things this week like green onions, radishes, and Swiss chard but got more bok Choy, lettuce, and micro greens. You know, I didn't even use my micro greens from last week?  Totally fail. Wonder if I will get to them this week!

Sometimes simplest is the best! BEETS

Beets are one of those food that people either love or hate. They are also a usual part of most spring csa. Although I don't usually buy beets from the grocery store I don't mind getting them in my share. They are pretty easy to prepare and there are a lot of things you can do with them. Like the title says, sometimes the simplest preparations are the best and if I don't know what to do with beets, I can always make beet chips. I got this idea from my friend Shannon and you can use with any root vegetable such as turnips, carrots, or potatoes. Simple peel the beets and slice into 1/4 inch circles. Spread on to a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes for a crispy easy side dish that goes with any meal. 

One word of warning with the beets. They are pretty messy to prepare so choose your cutting board accordingly. Also, due to the high sugar content of the beets, you may see them again if you know what I beets. Just relax, you probably aren't bleeding!  😜

Bok Choy - stir fry

One major rule of greens is Greens Cook Down.  So when you started with a pretty large head of something, you end up with something that is more managable.  Bok Choy is a vegetable where you can use both the stems and the leaves a little differently.  The two main ways I have used bok choy is either in a stir fry or as a raw slaw.  This week I found this recipe from the New York Times that sounded delicious.  I don't usually cook meat at home, but did this time because of the expected heat from the hot pepper.  Ironically, instead of the pepper listed in the ingredients, I used a jalapeño frozen from last years CSA.  ;) By using a more mild pepper, I think you could leave out the meat and instead use grated tempeh or mushrooms for a vegetarian options.  This one was great.  I loved the chopped stems as a vegetable base and then finishing off with the leaves.  Great flavor in this stir fry.

Spring pick up #1 - Great Greens!

So my CSA has actually started.  I know, I wasn't ready for it either!  Spring crops are really great because you get a lot of typical stuff that you can always use (like lettuce for salads) and non typical stuff that I usually don't cook with like beets.  The biggest issue with spring crops is that they are all kind of the same...usually some sort of greens:  lettuce, beets with greens, asian greens, cabbage, etc. The other issue with many of these greens is that its tough to process them for long term storage.  You have to use them soon after harvesting.  I will go over some strategies in dealing with these over the next couple of weeks, but for now, here is what I got for my week #1:

Lettuce
Beets and greens
Bok Choy
Horseradish root
microgreens
a sunflower plant
honey

We did already get notice that due to cold temps and a cabbage worm, there wouldn't be any cabbages for now.  That is the CSA risk, but regardless, it was a pretty good first week!

Helpful items to have for your CSA

The CSA shares have been bought and its is almost time for the crops to start coming in.  Here is a list of helpful items to have to help you deal with your share:

1. A Storage Freezer - For full disclosure, I don't have one of these.  I wish I did but my husband says we don't have any where to put it.  Finding a place for his homebrew is easy, but somewhere to store healthy foods for the entire family?  Nope.  I make due with the freezer on my fridge and by the end of the summer it is packed full.  Freezing is the easiest and most convenient way to preserve fruits and vegetables and then you can enjoy them all year long.
2.  A Dehydrator - You can also use an oven set on a low temp, but a dehydrator again is an easy way to preserve many foods such as tomatoes, hot peppers, and herbs.  Plus, drying food just gives you a new way to prepare things, which is good if you are tired of eating the same thing over and over and over.
3. Canning supplies - I don't do a lot of canning, and it really isn't all that hard, but canning is a good way to store things especially if you don't have a freezer.  It is actually very easy to make your own pickles and tomato sauce to be used in the off season.  I only can highly acidic things.  There was a picture in my microbiology textbook of 7 coffins due to a bad batch of canned beans, but again, done safely, its a great way to preserve.
4. Compost bin - True, my last post pretty much ripped the idea of having a home garden to shreds, but even with a few pots it is nice to have compost.  In processing your CSA produce, you are going to have a lot of scraps that make great compost.  Why throw these into a landfill, when they can actually do some good?  Or you can put it in buckets and take it back to your CSA.  They will love it.  But the real reason its nice to compost, well, there will be vegetables that you don't like or vegetables that you don't get around to processing in time and go bad.  By throwing them into my compost bin to be used again, I feel less guilty about my failures as a CSA cook because I'm saving the earth.  Woohoo.
5.  Friends who like vegetables - There are going to be weeks where you don't get the changes to use one single item of your share.  Before your know it, its time for the next pick up and now you have two bags on your counter just rotting.  Share the love!  See, your friends are going to think that you are being nice, when in fact, they are helping you out.
6. Friends who will pick up your share for you - Usually the same people that are listed above.  If you go on vacation or just busy, have a friend pick up the share for you.  You can't either let them keep the whole thing if you need a break or pay them with their favorite item.

CSA vs. the Home Farm

Perhaps you are wondering about starting your own garden.  It would be cheaper then buying into a CSA and then you would have more control of what veggies you would get.  But a home garden isn't for everyone, especially not me  ;)  Here are a few easy questions to help you figure out what is best for you:

1.  Do you have copious amounts of free time to spend working on your garden, especially when getting things started in the spring and during the summer?
2. Do you have the space needed in order to grown all of the veggies that you want?
3.  Does you space have the correct amount of sunlight needed in order to grow crops?
4.  Do you have the knowledge on how to set up and run your garden?
5.  Are you able to deal with too much or too little rain?

If the answer to any or all of these questions is no, don't feel bad, get a CSA!

And you can still garden a few extra plants of your favorite things in addition to your CSA.  Gardening is fun and I've been told it isn't hard, but to really get enough to enjoy the produce does take a lot of work!

CSA vs Farmers Markets

Let's see.  You've read blogs, watched some documentaries and you have decided that you want to get involved with the local food movement.  Great!  I am a big believe in local food and supporting our local farmers.  I have enjoyed it, gotten to know some great people and have eaten some tasty and healthy fruits and vegetables in the process.  But a CSA is not the only way you can support local farmers and a CSA is not for everyone.  So, how can you figure out what is best for your family?  Joining a CSA or shopping at farmers markets?

First things first, let me tell you my super secret rule about CSA's.  A lot of people join CSA's to eat vegetables in the summer.  But that is NOT the purpose of the CSA.  If you go into your CSA thinking that, you may not enjoy the experience.  The purpose of the CSA is to enjoy the season's harvest.  What does that mean?  That means that you are not going to eat everything you get the week you get it and the super secret way to use up your produce is to preserve it to enjoy at off peak times. In a CSA you will be spending a lot of time preparing food that you may not even get to eat until months later.  If you like the idea of that, of spreading out your harvest through out the year, a CSA might be for you.  If you don't want to be spending extra time in the kitchen for something you aren't even going to get to eat soon, a farmer's market might be the way to go.

Second of all, a CSA is a CHALLENGE.  Like Christmas morning, you really never know what you are going to get until you open your box.  The best way to deal with a CSA is to see what comes that week, and then make a meal plan and shop for the rest of your ingredients.  This is a fun way to find and try out new recipes, but your life does start revolving around your share.  If you are the kind of person that likes to pick recipes and then shop for ingredients, you might have more luck with farmer markets.

Also, ahem, CSA's are not cheap.  You may not be able to pay these cost upfront like many CSA's require you to do.  Although the cost over time should balance out, that isn't realistic for many people.  In order to be in control of your money with less risk, stick with the farmers market.

Both options are great ones and I have used both in the past, but me, I like the challenge and I like opening up my freezer in February and finding tomatoes from August, so this year, I choose the CSA.

If you have any questions about whether it is better to do a CSA or a famers market, leave a comment.

So you want to join a CSA....

Hey everyone!  My name is Kerri and this summer is my 5th year being involved with a CSA.  If you aren't familiar with the concept, a CSA (stands for Community Supported Agriculture) gives an ordinary person an opportunity to be financially involved with a farm during the main growing seasons.  Generally, "shares" of the farm are sold and then produce that is grown is then given to those who bought into the process.  This set up can be both good and bad to both farmer and shareholder.  Because the farmer gets the money in advance, they are better able to use that money to invest their crops.  However, the share holder does take on some of the risk; if there is a drought or an insect issue, the share holder may not get a good return on their investment.

Because of these reasons, and because you are really picking someone that are you going to be involved with  for many weeks, it is important that you pick out a CSA that fits your needs.  The best listing of the major CSA's in your area can be found on Local Harvest.  You can search for CSA's (and farmer markets) in your area and hopefully find one that is taking new members.  When picking out a CSA, it is important to keep the following things in mind:

1. What produce can you expect from the CSA?  Some farms grow the traditional summer crops such as tomatoes, squash, peppers, etc while others will have vegetables that you may have never heard of.  Also, the farm might specialize in turnips or another crop you have no intention of eating.
2. When and where is the CSA pickup?  Farmers have their own lives and commitments and usually have to set the CSA pick up time accordingly.  However, if you work a full time job with kids and sports and the CSA pick up time only goes until 5:30 on the same day your kids have swim team, that probably isn't going to work.
3. Can you do a half share?  The first year of any CSA is usually overwhelming but the good news is that many CSA's allow half shares, meaning, you only get half as many tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc.  If you aren't sure what you are going to do with a full share, or if you know you will be traveling a lot or having a baby, a half share is a great option.
4. Does your CSA have eggs?  I love it when they do, but it isn't always an option.
5. Does the CSA also participate in a farmer's market?  This one can be tricky.  See, the farmer already has your money.  You are a sure thing.  There is nothing worst then picking up yet another 4 pounds of kale and seeing beautiful green beans out for purchase.  Some CSA's can do both effortlessly, but it is always a good question to ask.
6. Does your CSA have a work requirement?  I have actually never seen this in my area, but it is something I have heard about.  For me, its not really a deal breaker, but again, if you are working a full time job and the kids are in swim team, you may not have the time to put into farm work.
7. Is the farm certified organic?  This is one of those personal questions that means something different to any one who might ask it.  It just depends on what is your goal and what is important do you.  The main thing is to talk to the farmer and ask them what method they use.  Just because a farm is not certified organic does not mean that they don't use organic practices on their crops.
8. What season does the CSA cover and when do you need to sign up?  Usually sign ups are held in the winter and many CSAs sell out of their shares many weeks before the first pick up date.

If you have any other questions about finding a CSA, just leave a comment.  I am looking forward to another great season!