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CSA Week 2

Bi-weekly CSA Share

What we got:
Garlic Scapes
Scallions (on top of the garlic scapes)
Salad Mix
Spinach Mix
Lettuce
Beets
Summer Squash
Turnips
Cabbage
Kale
Swiss Chard (mixed in with the kale)



I have a big confession: I'm Polish and I hate beets! It's a bit sacreligious to be a Polish girl that hates beets; I think it has to do with being forced to eat them. I try really hard not to waste food so I'm going to try and love them.

Any suggestions on beet dishes that non-beet lovers can tolerate?

Linked to: FF

What's for dinner this Week

Lucy McGruff

This week is going to be a little crazy.....

Between taking our car into the shop, 3 dentist appointments, an all day doctor's appointment, replacing an appliance, passport photo's and our CSA pick up, I'm not sure what we will be eating this week.

Since we knew this week was coming we've padded our grocery budget this month to make things easier. I hate going out to eat- especially out of desperation because there is nothing to eat in the house!

I'm going to try and make some homemade sourdough bread and a roasted chicken but if I have to swing by the health food store to pick these things up I'm not going to worry about it. I'll be using canned beans instead of dried for taco salads and some frozen produce to round things out.  Not super frugal but more frugal than eating out!

With dentist appointments I'm not sure if anything other than soft food will be desired.  We have plenty of yogurt and frozen fruits available to make smoothies. I'll use the roasted chicken for soup in case the dental pain lasts.

This week, I'm definitely cutting corners when it comes to cooking. My general plan is this:

Breakfast:
Smoothies
Omelets
Hash browns
Fresh Fruit

Lunch:
Sandwiches
Salad
Soup
Taco's

Dinner with whatever veggies we get from the CSA as sides:
Freezer  Meal
Rotisserie Chicken
Soup
Salad
Grill
Pizza
Taco Salad

How do you handle crazy weeks?

Chicken with Caramelized Onions

My friend Felicia shared this recipe with me.  I used frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Which is a real time save on busy nights.

 My frozen chicken breast method produces, caramelized onions, on top of incredibly moist chicken in a scrumptious broth. I served this chicken whole with a side of veggies, and chopped up leftovers to put over salad.


I wouldn't use frozen chicken for frying or anything with a breaded coating. This method works great for BBQ chicken, Italian chicken and this recipe.

Chicken with kale and roasted veggies

Chicken with Caramelized Onions

You will need:
4-6 chicken breasts
1 large onion or 2 small onions
1t dried thyme
1/2 t red pepper flakes
2 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
2 T ketchup or tomato paste
3 T Worcestershire sauce
3T  olive oil
2- 3 T balsamic vinegar


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 pan, lightly. Mix thyme, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Pour some into bottom of pan. Place frozen chicken breasts in pan and try not to overlap any pieces.  Chop your onion into long thick strips. Top you chicken with onion strips and pour the rest of the marinade mixture over your chicken. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 45- 55minutes. Remove foil during last 15 minutes of cooking.

Place chicken breast of plate and spoon a teaspoon of broth mixture over chicken.

There will be plenty of broth left in the pan, turn this into gravy, use it as a soup base for another meal, or cook some rice or other veggies in the broth.

For Kale Chips: Wash kale and remove stems, tear into chip sized pieces. Add olive oil, salt, pepper and bake at 250 for 15-20 minutes until kale is crispy. 

Five Food Buys for Food Storage, Camping and More!

1. Go Picnic Meals: These are great for taking on road trips, keeping in your desk drawer or even taking on a picnic.  They have versions that are allergy and kid friendly.   My favorite is the turkey stick + crunch. It's gluten free, 330 calories, has 4g fiber, 9g protein and 50% of your daily Vitamin C. It doesn't contain MSG, HFCS, artificial colors or trans fats. Everything is separated out so you can eat the whole meal or save some for later. I buy them in a 6 pack on Amazon for 21.24 or $3.54 per meal. Use Swagbucks to earn Amazon gift cards and save even more!

2. Amy's Low Sodium Lentil Vegetable Soup: Almost any canned product you buy has a high sodium content. This soup cuts down on the sodium but still has great flavor and texture. The ingredients are: filtered Water, Organic Onions, Organic Lentils, Organic Carrots, Organic Celery, Organic Potatoes, Organic Tomatoes, Organic Spinach, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Garlic, Sea Salt, Organic Balsamic Vinegar, Spices 1 can = 2 servings, each serving has 150 calories, 6g fiber, and 7g protein. Amazon sells a 12 can case for $25.81 or $2.15 per can. The price on Amazon fluctuates a lot so sometimes I buy it on vitacost  or at my local store.

3. Amy's Vegetarian Chili with Vegetables: In contrast to the lentil soup this variety has a pretty high sodium content (590mg per serving). However, it still packs a nutritious punch.  It's 190 calories, has 8g fiber and 7g protein. Amazon sells this for between 25-35 per 12 can case. I've found that I can buy it cheaper on vitacost, especially with this $10off coupon.

 

4. Kitchens of India: Per serving, the sodium is off the charts (880mg) but I love to serve this over rice to stretch out the serving size. My favorites are vegetable korma and Paleek Paneer.




5. Larabars: These are great as an occasional meal replacement or snack. Most flavors come in at around 200 calories. Each flavor has less than 6 ingredients. My favorite flavors are pecan pie and ginger snap. Amazon sells them for 18.39 a case or $1.15 a bar.  Coupon are available on occasion and you may find a better deal at your local grocer.

Now I wouldn't recommend that you eat any canned or packaged food on a regular basis but I think all of these items are great to keep on hand. I like to keep some or all of these items on hand for emergency preparedness, busy times or if I'm on the run.  Some of these items are expensive; however, I think they tend to come out cheaper than a trip to a fast food joint.

I've done my best to offer up price info whenever possible. Affiliate links included, use at your own discretion. Thank you for supporting this site!

Linked to FF

What's for Dinner this Week

Last week my meal plan got a little of track. I didn't know what we would be getting in our CSA until the day before so I had to change things up to enjoy our produce. We had a lot of Kale chips and lots of salad. It was all REALLY good! We still have some salad greens to use up this week.

BBQ Chicken Sliders, Garlic Mash pots, and salad
BBQ Chicken Taco Salad
Sausage and Peppers, sweet potato fries, salad (we didn't enjoy this last week)
Garlic Broccoli w Pineapple Fried Rice
Pepperoni and Pineapple Pizza
Burrito Bar
Breakfast for Dinner (Hash browns, Apple Sausage, Eggs)

What's on your meal plan this week?

CSA Week 1

We decided to do a CSA this year.  The farmers market was too expensive and I wanted to challenge myself in the kitchen. We are doing a 1/2 share which is basically a full share, every other week. All this produce is organic.  Including gas costs, this costs us around $25 each time we pick up or $50 a month for a good portion of our produce.  I'll obviously need to supplement our produce but I think I can keep it under $75 a month for all my produce. 

What we got:

1 pint of Strawberries
Radishes
Turnips
Spinach
Salad Mix
Garlic Scapes
Broccoli
Kale
2 different types of lettuce

We picked up on Tuesday and have enjoyed the Kale, Garlic Scapes, Salad Mix, Radishes and Strawberries so far. 


Here is a picture of a meal I made this week (I went off my meal plan).....

Chicken with caramelized onions, Kale Chips, Roasted Radish/Carrot mix

I'll be sharing my chicken recipe next week.

Do you do a CSA? How much do you spend on produce?

Linked to Finer Things Friday