Although I never seem to find the time to write regular blog posts and keep this blog up to date, I must admit that I really enjoyed eating local this summer.
Eating local has taught me to:
1. think about what's in season and appreciate what we are eating.
2. waste less food and food packaging.
3. learn how to preserve foods. Even for two vegetarians, the single farm share box at times contained more food than we could eat in a week, so we learned how to blanche the veggies and store them so we have food to enjoy even after our farm share is over.
4. try new foods (i.e. garlic scapes)
5. try new recipes and make up our own recipes
6. eat less processed foods. We have both lost weight and consider that to be a very positive side effect.
7. consider what is in the foods we are eating - especially when we buy form the grocery store
8. spend more time together as a couple since we have been preparing all the foods in our basket together
9. take the time to savour foods.
10. think from the ingredients perspective and make meals based on the ingredients we have on hand.
We are planning to eat local again starting next summer and hope to keep up many of these new habits throughout the coming winter months.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Last Farm Share Box 2010
Yesterday we picked up our final farm share box. It contained:
cabbage
lettuce
brussel sprouts
potatoes
squash
orange cauliflower
We roasted the brussel sprouts and made a topping for them with crushed mustard seeds and feta cheese. It was delicious, but the sauce was a bit too milky. I plan to try this again and use cream instead, but less of it. The strong flavours of the feta cheese really compliment the brussel sprouts quite nicely!
cabbage
lettuce
brussel sprouts
potatoes
squash
orange cauliflower
We roasted the brussel sprouts and made a topping for them with crushed mustard seeds and feta cheese. It was delicious, but the sauce was a bit too milky. I plan to try this again and use cream instead, but less of it. The strong flavours of the feta cheese really compliment the brussel sprouts quite nicely!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
What have we been getting lately in our Farm Share Basket?
The weeks sure fly by quickly! July was a great farm share month and every week now the harvest for our farm share basket seems to be more bountiful. Below is a list of some of the delicious items we have been receiving in our CSA basket:
- beets
- broccoli
- zucchini
- field cucumbers
- corn
- garlic
- cilantro
- cauliflower
- jalapeno peppers
- swiss chard
- red potatoes
- another kind of potatoes (sorry, I can't recall the name anymore)
- cantaloupe
We tried several recipes with cucumber, but probably the best was this appetizer:
Ingredients:
- 3 cucumbers (peeled and sliced)
- goat cheese (one large log)
- sundried tomatoes (one package in oils)
- fresh Ontario garlic minced (2 cloves)
Directions:
Mix the goat cheese garlic and sundried tomatoes together and then put it on top of the cucumber slices. This makes for a really delicious appetizer!
As well, we like to eat our corn with lime, cayenne pepper and salt. We use equal parts of cayenne and salt and then dip a lime slice in the spice mixture and spread the mixture onto the cooked corn. It is deliciously spicy and much more flavourful than butter. Yum!
By the way, if you have a chance to try fresh Ontario cantaloupe I would highly recommend it. The flavour is completely different from the store bought cantaloupes. I was never a huge fan of cantaloupe, but the cantaloupe we received in our farm share this past week sure changed my mind. I never realized that I could like cantaloupe so much!
- beets
- broccoli
- zucchini
- field cucumbers
- corn
- garlic
- cilantro
- cauliflower
- jalapeno peppers
- swiss chard
- red potatoes
- another kind of potatoes (sorry, I can't recall the name anymore)
- cantaloupe
We tried several recipes with cucumber, but probably the best was this appetizer:
Ingredients:
- 3 cucumbers (peeled and sliced)
- goat cheese (one large log)
- sundried tomatoes (one package in oils)
- fresh Ontario garlic minced (2 cloves)
Directions:
Mix the goat cheese garlic and sundried tomatoes together and then put it on top of the cucumber slices. This makes for a really delicious appetizer!
As well, we like to eat our corn with lime, cayenne pepper and salt. We use equal parts of cayenne and salt and then dip a lime slice in the spice mixture and spread the mixture onto the cooked corn. It is deliciously spicy and much more flavourful than butter. Yum!
By the way, if you have a chance to try fresh Ontario cantaloupe I would highly recommend it. The flavour is completely different from the store bought cantaloupes. I was never a huge fan of cantaloupe, but the cantaloupe we received in our farm share this past week sure changed my mind. I never realized that I could like cantaloupe so much!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Week 6
This week's farm share will include:- green onion- zucchini- broccoli- fresh garlic- oregano- corn (Speedy Sweet variety)It sounds like a good bundle! I better sign off for today and get to work planning what we should make this week.
My Thoughts After a Months Worth of CSA Farm Share
How will we ever go back to the grocery store? Seriously, the produce is so much tastier when we get it straight from the farm and it seems to last a lot longer in the fridge. Part of that is from me researching how to best store each and every vegetable/fruit as they are so delicious I wouldn't want to see even a bite go to waste.
I have been going to the grocery store only once a week now -- sometimes twice, but only to pick up the basic necessities like milk, paper towel, cooking oil, and other things I can't get from the farm. I really don't miss it and when I add up my grocery bill for the past month it seems to be less money than it had been in previous months. I must say, I really don't miss visiting the grocery store either.
We've both noticed that we've lost weight and we feel healthier too. We have now removed most of the processed foods from our diet. The only few processed foods that remain in our house are the cereal that is in our cupboard, ice cream, yogurt and lactose-free milk.
Another thing we have noticed is a serious reduction in the amount of garbage we produce each week. There are no more plastic produce bags from the grocery store, and many less cartons too. All the packaging we get from our farm share gets returned to the farm at the end of the week so that it can be reused. Definitely much better for the environment than recycling.
Week 3, 4 and 5
This month certainly has flown past quickly! Below is a list of some of the delicious items we have been receiving in our CSA basket:
Week 3
- lettuce (2 heads)
- spinach
- asparagus
- strawberries!!!
- garlic scapes
Week 4
- spinach
- garlic scapes
- romaine and red leaf lettuce
- sugar snap peas
- strawberries
- green onions
Week 5
- red leaf lettuce
- strawberries
- asparagus
- snow peas
- sugar snap peas
- Zucchini (yellow and green)
In addition to using these ingredients to make some of the recipes I've already posted, we made many delicious salads, zucchini soup and an Indian style zucchini curry (the curry was made with an onion, garlic scapes, 3 zucchinis, 1 tomato, cumin, garam masala, red chili flakes, coriander powder and salt).
Monday, June 14, 2010
Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
Tonight I made a strawberry rhubarb compote for dessert. I'd never eaten compote before, but it really is great. I think next time I'll make sure we have something to serve this with as it really is a bit too flavourful to be served on its own. I saw some great ideas to serve this with yogurt or even have some on your morning oatmeal for breakfast, so I might just splurge and have fruit compote on my oatmeal in the morning! Yum!
So, in case you are interested here is the recipe I used:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
Ingredients
1 part strawberries
2 parts rhubarb (cut in 1 cm pieces)
sugar or honey to taste
Sprinkle some sugar or honey overtop of the rhubarb. Cook the rhubarb in a covered pan for 25 minutes (no stirring required) or until softened. Then stir in the strawberries (larger strawberries should be halved) and cook for another 30 minutes or until it is all softened up and fully cooked.
So, in case you are interested here is the recipe I used:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
Ingredients
1 part strawberries
2 parts rhubarb (cut in 1 cm pieces)
sugar or honey to taste
Sprinkle some sugar or honey overtop of the rhubarb. Cook the rhubarb in a covered pan for 25 minutes (no stirring required) or until softened. Then stir in the strawberries (larger strawberries should be halved) and cook for another 30 minutes or until it is all softened up and fully cooked.
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