eat local – Page 2

csa 2011: third share

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Tuesday was CSA day, so after I picked up the boys from camp we headed over to the farm to pick up our bi-weekly share.

I might have squealed a little when I saw that PYO flowers had started! Granted, this week it was just five stems, but it was enough to fill my little pitcher that sets on our kitchen island.

The vegetables were beautiful: two heads of lettuce (I picked one head of romaine and one head of red leaf), 1/3 lb. of spinach (the last until fall), a small head of broccoli, a head of cabbage, a bunch of scallions, a handful of basil, two garlic scapes, one zucchini (or you could have chosen one yellow squash), and a bunch of beets.

Being that neither Drew nor myself are huge beet fans, I am going to pickle this bunch and see how it goes. Otherwise, the veggies are pretty straightforward and easy to use up!

csa 2011: share 1

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer, they say. And when our CSA starts, you know that’s true! Oh, how I missed my bi-weekly bounty of fresh, local, organic vegetables last year. And this first share did not disappoint me.

Considering how wet the spring was, combined with the crazy heat of the last few days, I am really impressed with these greens. We got 2 heads of lettuce, 1 bok choy, 1 lb. spinach, 1 bunch of radishes, and 1 bunch of salad turnips. Instead of the turnips I could have chosen 1/2 lb. of mixed greens (arugula, tat soi, etc.), but I really enjoy those little turnips and between the lettuces and the spinach we have more than enough.

I’m already planning on making myself eggs Florentine tomorrow morning, perhaps with a little Swiss cheese. The bok choy? Sigh… I will dutifully search for some recipes and give it another try. There has got to be a way to prepare it that I will find enjoyable. If you have a favorite way to make it, I am all ears.

2011 goals: health & fitness

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

I’ll bet that losing weight and “getting healthy” are the most popular new year’s resolutions out there. Last year I actually met my goal weight (thanks to the discovery of my thyroid disease). Over the holidays a few pounds have found their way back onto my body (I blame the cookies), so I need to focus of getting back down to where I was just before Thanksgiving.

Here are some of the things I want to focus on, not just for me but for my whole family:

Eat more veggies. My two boys willingly try almost any vegetable and eat quite a variety (although Noah still runs in terror whenever I even suggest green beans). They both eat salad, which is great, but I want to expand their horizons when it comes to vegetables. The first thing I’m doing is going back to the farm share program we participated in a few years ago. I will be filling out the CSA application and sending in my check this week. Last summer we ate nowhere near as many fresh vegetables as the two years prior. I also am setting a goal of one meatless meal per week to start, with the hope of ramping it up to two or three as the spring and summer approach and the veggies become a lot more tempting.
Drink more water. During the summer months, this isn’t a problem for me. But when it’s 20 degrees outside, chugging cold water isn’t that appealing. Nevertheless, it’s something I need to do.
Exercise. I’m not sure if chasing my 19 month-old around counts as cardio (though I wish it did). Quite simply: I need to tone up after having lost weight. I have a copy of Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred. I just need to pop it in and start doing it. I also want to get back to a regular yoga program. I started doing yoga last February and loved it, but at some point my routine fell by the wayside. Even if I don’t do anything else, I want to start doing yoga again.

Pretty simple goals that I should be able to meet, right? Let’s hope so!

CSA Share, Week #17

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

Because I know my dad looks forward to seeing our weekly farm shares, I am not waiting to write this up in the morning, even though I’m tired. I’m such a good daughter 🙂 LOL! Clearly, this was a HUGE share this week. Maybe that is just because of the vegetables are giant, I don’t know. But it sure was heavy. I should have weighed my basket before I put everything away. Lots of good stuff this week, though. Let’s see here… 8 lbs. of tomatoes (no, that is not a typo — 8 lbs.), 3 lbs. Adirondack Blue potatoes, 4 red peppers, 3ish lbs. onions, 1 head lettuce, 1 head broccoli, 2 of the prettiest and biggest turnips I’ve ever seen, 1 bunch of radishes, swiss chard, zucchini, winter squash (one I know is sweet dumpling, the other I’m not sure), 2 fennel bulbs, dill, cilantro, scallions, flowers, garlic, arugula… oh and PYO tomatillos!!! I was super excited about that. They are so delicate and pretty in their natural wrappers.

I did skip on a couple things: the two heads of tat soi becacuse I’m not so crazy about it and seriously — I think I have enough to keep me busy. I also skipped PYO cherry tomatoes. Seriously folks — 8 lbs is enough, don’t you think?

You can’t see the zucchini in the photo but it’s HUGE, too. I think I’m just going to shred it up and freeze it for winter. We’ll probably eat the broccoli with tomorrow’s dinner. I might make an orange and fennel salad. The blue potatoes will be fun to play with, too. I may sautee the chard with some breadcrumbs to go with the pork on Friday. We’ll see. Also, big plans to make tomato powder this week since I have a crazy amount of them. Maybe start that tomorrow. I’m sure I will find uses for everything. And when it doubt — freeze it! If we do the CSA again next year I will have to get some canning supplies, I think. My freezer is just not big enough.