Tag Archives: eat local

Adventures in CSA: Brinner Gone Wild

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I don’t know about anyone else, but there are some nights when the meal plan is just kinda filled with question marks. We had actually planned for tonight to be makeshift Chinese food (some frozen General Tso’s Chicken with rice on the side, plus some manner of veggie and maybe some egg rolls or other appetizer from the deep freeze). Still, the CSA veggies beckoned, and we decided to go for a “brinner” (breakfast as dinner) instead.

You see, there are few foods that make me come running nearly so fast as hash browns. No – not home fries…little chunks of potato with peppers are just kinda meh, in my opinion. But, you shred some potatoes, throw those suckers into a pan and turn ’em golden brown…well, that just makes a little pan of heaven. So, DH took our lovely little red potatoes from the CSA, shredded them in the food processor, and tossed ’em in a pan with some butter. They took longer than either of us were hoping for, but the end product was still crispy in spots and soft in others (perfect!) and delightfully yummy. We paired those with french toast and turkey sausage. But didn’t we still need a veggie? Why YES.

At this point, that’s when things get “wild”. Brinner went smorgasbord when we added kale chips to the mix, crisping up the CSA kale in the oven. The recipe couldn’t be simpler – just wash and dry kale leaves, then chop into small pieces. Toss the pieces in a bowl with a small amount of olive oil and spread them no more than one layer deep on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle some seasoned salt on top (we used Penzeys 4/S Special Seasoned Salt) and bake at 350F for about 10-13 minutes. Even the kids got behind the idea of kale chips!

As with last week, we’ve made a good dent in the CSA box. We haven’t yet tackled the butternut squash (it’s still got plenty of time), and we have both onions left to be used. I did try one of the Asian Pears today, but I’m pretty convinced it wasn’t 100% ripe yet, since its flavor was so subtle as to be non-existent. Ah well, it can’t always be a winning day.

On the plus side, tomorrow is Friday and that means it’s CSA pick-up day! I’m looking forward to see what’s in my third veggie box…

Adventures in CSA (week 2): Surprised yet again!

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OK, seriously, I wasn’t expecting to see savings 2 weeks in a row. Really. But, there it is:

Week 2 CSA

Weight
(lb)

Grocery Store Unit Price
(per lb)

 Grocery Store Total Item Cost
Red Potatoes 1.97 $1.29 $2.54
Butternut Squash 3.73 $0.99 $3.69
Yellow Onions 1.20 $1.49 $1.78
Macintosh Apples 0.64 $1.59 $1.02
Asian Pears* 4.00 $2.00 $8.00
Beets* 1.00 $1.99 $1.99
Scallions* 1.00 $0.99 $0.99
Garlic** 1.04 $2.99 $3.11
Kale 0.95 $1.29 $1.22
Romaine Lettuce 1.07 $1.49 $1.59
Grocery Store Total Cost $25.93
Week 2 Savings (Deficit) $5.93
Program-to-Date Savings (Deficit) $10.28
Notes:
* Items are priced by the unit or bunch; I checked for rough equivalency (and they were close enough).
** Garlic from CSA was on the stem and thus might have weighed slightly less from the store. Difference would’ve been negligible.

So, now the question is: how long will this be sustained? Of course, this is an odd smattering of things – I’ve never even HAD Asian Pears before, and I’ve never been a fan of beets. Still, it’s interesting to see how it’s going so far and I’m curious as to how it’ll continue over the remaining 6 weeks of the program. The kale chips still need to be made, and I have some ideas of what I’m going to do with the beets (they’re destined for the crock pot tomorrow, along with one of the onions & some beef). I’ll post the recipe if it’s edible, including suggested mods if it’s promising but not *quite* all there yet.

Adventures in CSA (week 2): Beets, huh?

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OK, I’ll admit it: I’ve never been a huge fan of beets. As root vegetables go, it’s not one that I routinely gravitated towards. Potatoes, yes. Sweet potatoes, OH MY YES. Beets…? Well, not so much. BUT since part of the point of doing this CSA was to get myself branched out on the fruits and veggies that I eat, now’s as good a time as any to give beets another shot. So, when beets appeared in the CSA box this week, I said, “OK, time to make something with beets! Woo hoo!”

 

CSA week 2 box

Onions and apples and beets, oh my!

 

This week’s box contents:

  • Red skin potatoes
  • Butternut squash
  • Yellow onions
  • Macintosh apples
  • Asian pears
  • Beets
  • Scallions
  • Garlic
  • Kale
  • Lettuce

I haven’t yet figured out everything we’re going to do this week; plus, not everything needs to be used this week (or is fully ripe enough to use just yet). The squash is more likely to get cooked next week, after it’s had a chance to finish ripening. The potatoes are likely to be turned into rosemary-garlic fries again, and the kale is destined to be our first batch of kale chips (thanks to Daily Cynema for the recipe and to My Kinda Rain for inspiring her!). Don’t be surprised if the beets end up in the crock pot. Pretty much everything gets a go in the crock pot in this house, eventually.

Price comparison for the week 2 box will go up sometime on Monday, after I’ve had the chance to go to the store. Sunday, our usual grocery shopping day, DH and I will be walking a marathon (YES YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY) to raise $$ for the Jimmy Fund. So, cooking’s not super high on the priority list this weekend. That’s okay – it just gives me fodder for talking about what it takes to train to walk a marathon, assuming I’m able to make my way across the finish line Sunday under my own power. Wish me luck!