CSA Week 9

Today was an awesome pickup. The weather was crisp but super sunny, and while on the way to the market I got a message that my sister was in labor. By the time we got home from picking up our basket, taking a quick stroll through the market, and getting a treat at Starbucks, I had a nephew!

Anyways, here's our haul for this week:

• 1 Giant Cauliflower
• 4 Green Bell Peppers
• 2 Rutabagas
• 7 Golden Delicious Apples
• 1 Bunch Parsley (I think?)
• 1 Giant Purple Broccoli
• 1 Butternut Squash
• 3 Onions
• 2 Giant Potatoes
• 2 Fat Carrots
• 8 Sweet Potatoes
• 1 Acorn Squash
• 13 Little Peppers, Red/Green/Yellow

CSA Week 8

Alright, finally we're caught up on CSA posting. I have quite a backlog of dinners to upload, but I'll try to work my way through them during the week.

Here's the breakdown of yesterday's haul:

• 1 Butternut Squash
• 1 Bag Spinach
• 1 Green Cabbage
• 7 Apples
• 6 Green Peppers
• 1 Acorn Squash
• 1 Head Broccoli
• 1 Head Cauliflower
• 1 Bunch Kale
• 7 Sweet Potatoes
• 6 White Potatoes

CSA Week 7

This week's haul was exciting because spaghetti squash finally made an appearance, and pears were back! Goose was excited because it included another giant pumpkin that he knew would be roasted for him.

Here's the breakdown:

• 1 Giant Pumpkin
• 1 Bag Spinach
• 1 Bunch Mustard Greens
• 2 Purple Eggplant
• 2 Acorn Squash
• 4 Sweet Peppers
• 2 Green Peppers
• 9 Red Hot Peppers
• 4 Golden Delicious Apples
• 6 Red Delicious Apples
• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• 4 Pears
• 5 White Potatoes

CSA Week 6

I had class this Saturday during Farmer's Market hours, so Chris was on pickup duty. As you can see, he decided to be a fancypants when he took the picture of this week's haul. In all fairness though, this was the most we've ever gotten, and the crate was overflowing.

Here's the breakdown:

• 2 Baking Pumpkins
• 1 Bunch Asian Greens
• 1 Bag Spinach
• 2 Butternut Squash
• 1 Acorn Squash
• 1 Head Broccoli
• 5 Beets
• 4 Apples
• 3 Green Peppers
• 6 Sweet Peppers
• 8 Hot Red Peppers
• 3 Red Potatoes
• 4 White Potatoes
• 6 White Sweet Potatoes
• 4 Rutabaga
• 1 Yellow Onion
• 1 Pint Brussel Sprouts
• 1 Bunch Kale
• 1 Bunch Zinnias

Pork Tenderloin with Rutabagas and Green Beans

We got some rutabagas in our CSA pickup last week, which was pretty exciting because neither Chris nor I had ever had them before, so it gave us something totally new to try. I did some quick reading about what to serve them with and overwhelming the recommendation seemed to be pork, so we picked up a garlic and black peppercorn tenderloin at Trader Joe's and grilled it up.

I found a recipe on Epicurious for Rutabagas with Caramelized Onions, and it was fantastic - and so easy! Caramelize some onions, boil some rutabagas, saute rutabagas, toss with onions and honey. Yum!

I can't wait to make these again! Recipe behind the cut...

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Quinoa with Veggies

Quinoa is one of my absolute favorite grains, although I'll completely admit that I'm not super adventurous with it. I tend it make it the same way every time - with pesto, balsamic vinegar, and sauteed veggies.

I don't have a real recipe for this one, which is good, because you can adapt it to include whatever veggies you have sitting around. This is definitely one of my go-to meals when I'm short on time, because you can have it on the table in about 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 Bell Pepper, thinly sliced and cut into 1" pieces
• 20 Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 Small Zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into small chunks
• 1/2 Medium Onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup Quinoa
• 1/3 cup Basil Pesto
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Unless you know you have prewashed quinoa, give it a good rinse before cooking.
2. Cut veggies (whichever you may be using) and saute in EVOO over medium low heat in a large skillet. Quinoa usually cooks for 15 minutes, and you want the veggies and quinoa to finish at approximately the same time.
3. Add quinoa to veggies, add pesto, and gently combine. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (start out small, and increase the amount depending on your taste).
4. Season with salt and pepper, and enjoy!

CSA Week 5

I don't have an actual list for our Week 5 haul thanks to arriving home Sunday night after a 7-hour roadtrip. I had enough energy to take a quick photo, wash/wipe the haul, and then collapse on the couch.

Here's my estimate:

• 3 Tomatoes
• 2 Purple Eggplants
• 1 White Eggplant
• 2 Rutabagas
• 1 Green Pepper
• Various Hot Peppers
• 6 Small Sweet Potatoes
• 6 Potatoes
• 2 Onions
• 1 Bunch of Kale
• 1 Large Bag of Spinach (see the salad spinner)
• 6 Apples
• 5 Pears
• 1 Bunch of Radishes
• 1 Acorn Squash
• 1 Bundle of Thanksgiving Decoration (or Popcorn, as Chris insists)

I'm sure I'm missing something, but this will do. I washed, chopped, and froze the spinach and kale for use later, since I didn't have it in me to make a meal plan for the week after our packed weekend. I'm sure it will get used, but now the pressure is off!

Baingan Bharta

Or Spicy Roasted Eggplant, whichever you prefer. Indian food is a somewhat new favorite of mine, particularly because its easy to find gluten-free options. This was our first attempt making something at home though, and it was definitely a dish that will be made again - it was delicious. The original recipe is from Bella Online and we followed it almost completely, except for leaving out the ginger and cilantro due to allergy/hatred. If you like Indian, I'd highly recommend trying this dish at home.

Recipe behind the cut...

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CSA Week 4

Here's our haul from yesterday's pickup:

• 1 Purple Eggplant
• 1 Giant Green Pepper
• 3 Tomatoes
• 4 Giant Green Apples
• 1 Broccoli Head
• 1 Acorn Squash
• 2 White Sweet Potatoes
• 8 Potatoes
• 6 Pears
• 3 Onions
• 1.5 Pints of Green Beans
• 15 Various Hot Peppers
• 1 Bunch Flat Kale

Plus we bought 2 parsnips and a giant bag of mixed mushrooms from another stand. I think the parsnips will go into mashed potatoes, but I have no plans yet for the mushrooms.

CSA Week 3

This week was a huge haul, here's what we got:

• 1 Acorn Squash
• 6 Pears
• 1 Purple Eggplant
• 1 White Eggplant
• 4 Graffiti Eggplants
• 6 Apples
• 2 Zucchini
• 4 Yellow Squash
• 4 Roma Tomatoes
• 4 Potatoes
• 2 Onions
• 2 Yellow Peppers
• 1 Orange Pepper
• 4 Green Peppers
• 1 Pint Green Beans
• 8 Baby Pears
• 1 Bunch of Kale
• 9 Jalapenos
• 12 Various Hot Peppers

We're doing pretty good at using everything during the week, the only things that we usually have leftovers of are the potatoes, which don't really go bad right away, and green beans, which I just don't use all that much.

Banana Raspberry Muffins

Or bread, take your pick because I have directions for both.

I made these muffins last week, and they came out so well--the texture was almost exactly that of a regular wheat-based muffin. As with pretty much all the gluten free baked goods I've made, I wrapped these in foil and froze them after they had cooled completely.

Recipe and details are behind the cut.

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The continuing saga of dietary unfunness

So the recipes here will now be gluten, soy, and dairy free, at least to the best of my ability. I'm on some pretty hardcore meds for my Crohn's Disease, and have been slightly discouraged that they haven't been working as well as I had hoped, so I decided to go get some food allergy testing done a couple weeks ago to see if per chance I was eating something that was continuing to make me sick. My skin tests came back highly positive for wheat, rye, barley, and soy, as well as mildly positive for almonds and egg whites.  Although my celiac biopsy was negative, I'm allergic to the gluten containing grains so the easiest fix for that is to just do a fully gluten free diet, and in terms of soy, I'm just going to have to cut it out. I've bought some rice milk and have been using that in cooking, which seems to be working out just fine. I've been learning how to read nutrition labels for the not-so-obvious bad ingredients, so I'm hoping I'll start to notice an improvement soon.

On to the good stuff...pizza!

It's been a while since Chris & I have made pizza, it just didn't seem quite as exciting with our limitations, plus my crust never turns out quite as cooked as I'd like. I really had a craving for it last week though, so we decided to give it a shot after finding some shredded rice cheese at Wegmans.

Details after the cut.

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CSA Week 2

I'm a tad bit late, but we picked up our second tray of produce last week at the farmer's market and we had a few new treats. I can't find the slip of paper that I wrote the breakdown on, so I'm going by memory and the picture above.

Here's (most of) the haul from Week 2:

• 4 graffiti eggplant
• 1 purple eggplant
• 1 giant head of broccoli
• 3 green peppers
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• 8 potatoes
• 5 apples
• 4 white peaches
• 14 jalapenos
• 5 round red hot peppers
• 3 yellow onions
  

They're flying off the shelves like bagels!

That's a Heidi Klum quote from one of the Bravo Project Runway seasons, if you're wondering.

Continuing on the path of bread products that I love but have to find good recipes for, we have bagels. Even if it was nowhere near as convenient as stopping at a bagel place, the end result was worth it. They may not look like the bagels from the bagel shop, but think of them as artisan!

This delicious recipe comes from Living Without, a fantastic magazine for people with food allergies. I've bought my issues in the Nature's Market section of Wegmans, but I'm not sure where else its available. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you have food sensitivities or allergies, particularly if they're to more common things like gluten, dairy, soy etc.

As with most gluten free baked goods, I'd recommend individually wrapping the bagels in foil and freezing them if you're not going to use them all in one day. I sliced mine prior to freezing them so they were ready to go once defrosted. Enjoy!

Recipe and details behind the jump...

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Spinach & Eggplant Lasagna

Who doesn't love lasagna? It's one of my favorites, particularly because I can make it on the weekend and it covers at least a few lunches during the week. Although it may be semi-time consuming it's totally worth it for those extra days you don't have to worry about lunch.

Lasagna is somewhat of a challenge with our gluten-free and dairy-free diet, so I've been avoiding making it for quite a while. While I was searching for a new eggplant recipe to use up the eggplant from last week's CSA, I came across a recipe on Go Dairy Free that looked delicious, Eggplant & Spinach Lasagna, and decided to try it. I found a Basil Tofu Ricotta recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance and decided to try a melding of the two.

It turned out delicious! The only thing it was lacking was a bit of salt, which I think was just because I used no salt added tomato sauce along with the fake ricotta mixture.

NOTE: If you're a fancy pants and plan to use Herb Scissors, like I did, DO NOT run your fingers down the blades to try and get the basil that gets stuck in between the 3 blades. You will bleed. Not like I know from experience......

Recipe with my tweaks is behind the jump...

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Cinnamon Buns

The farmer's market that we go to has tons of stands - you can buy anything from crepes, to bison meat, to veggies, to bread. One of the first stands, and what I look forward to every weekend, is the bread stand, Gracie's Pastries. They have about 20 varieties of bread, but also some eat-right-now goodies like scones, cookies, and the-most-delicious-cinnamon-buns-everrrrr. They're seriously the best I've ever had in my life.

I've known I had a gluten sensitivity for almost 6 years, and I do try to limit myself, but sometimes exceptions have to be made. I never eat a whole one by myself though, Chris and I always split it. I've been pretty good the last month though, and have only had one, but it totally sucks to walk past the stand every week.

I did some searching last weekend and found a recipe for a gluten free cinnamon bun, and decided to give it a try after reading fabulous reviews. I found the recipe at Gluten Free Homemaker, who had tweaked Roben Ryberg's recipe so that included sorghum rather than just starch. They turned out super yummy, I just need to let them cool for about 15 minutes before pouring the icing next time, because it melted all over and made them kind of gooey.

Here's the link to her original post which has tons of pictures, and the recipe is after the jump.

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I could eat bread all day long, every day...

Which poses a problem for a person with a gluten sensitivity. I was biopsy-tested for Celiac Disease after having a positive blood test, but the results were negative. My doctor concluded that I just have a sensitivity to it, and I now know how much I can tolerate, and usually abide by those limits. Bread is my vice. There's nothing I love more than a toasted piece of sourdough with a little bit of Earth Balance, followed by the rest of the loaf.

I've gone on and off gluten free diets, and currently I'm mostly back on one. Sometimes I slip, like last week when I hadn't made any gluten free bread in a while, and was at Trader Joe's and saw a loaf of ciabatta, bought it, and ate a giant chunk.

I've made a few bread recipes lately, and here are two from Karina's Kitchen. The first was for English Muffins, which is one of my favorite breakfasts, and the second was a good old Sandwich Bread.

I followed her recipes to the tee, outside of not using a bread machine for the loaf and then altering the baking time slightly—my edits are in italic, but visit Karina's site for the full posts. Get the recipes after the jump.

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CSA Week 1

Chris and I have been looking at CSAs for over a year, not super seriously, but decided to take the leap and join the Fall CSA being offered by a farmer that has a stand at our local Farmer's Market.

For those of you that don't know, CSA stands for community supported agriculture, and when you participate you're essentially buying a share in the farm. It's like the stock market, it can be risky, because you pay upfront and always have the chance of the crops failing due to things like poor weather or insect infestation. We shop at our market almost every Saturday, and thought this would be a great chance for us to get creative with cooking because someone else is picking out your produce for the week. It should also open our eyes to things we might not use frequently, like kale or collard greens.

I'm going to document what we get each week at our pickup, and hopefully write a post at the end of each week that details what we used everything for.

Here's our Week 1 haul:

• 1 giant tomato
• 1 acorn squash
• 7 potatoes
• 3 onions
• 4 apples
• 3 nectarines
• 4 ears of corn
• 2 green peppers
• 1 red pepper
• 2 eggplants
• 12 jalapenos
• 1 bunch kale
• 3 handfuls green beans

I think we should be able to go through almost everything, the jalapenos may be tricky and in all likelihood may just get sliced and frozen for salsa useage later, but I'm trying to make a plan for everything else.

Grilled Portobellos

I love mushrooms, and portobellos are one of my favorite types. Chris on the other hand, does not love mushrooms, so it was a challenge for me to make these and actually get him to try it. He did however, and now I've made them at least 3 more times in the past few weeks, so try new things - you might be surprised!

I removed the stems from the mushrooms, gave them a good wipe with a wet paper towel and then put them in a ziploc freezer bag. I made a balsamic marinade with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic, and salt and pepper, then poured it in the freezer bag and tossed everything until fully coated. I let the mushrooms marinate for about 4 hours, gill side down, tossing things around about half way through.

When the grill was good and hot, we put the mushrooms gill side down for 5 minutes, flipped them, and topped with basil pesto, carmelized onions, baby spinach, and a roasted red pepper and let them cook for another 5 minutes until fully tender. We served with sweet potato fries and grilled corn and they were delicious!

I want to be a blogger.

I read blogs daily, and it's one of my favorite parts of the day (next to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, of course.) I love reading what others have to say, and looking at what others are cooking - I love trying new recipes, and then tweaking them to my liking when necessary.

I'm not sure how well I'll do in this venture, as I've tried several times before. The best I did was a class in college where had to design a blog, and then write a certain number of posts per week. I tend to do well at things when I'm being judged or graded. After that quarter was over though I think I may have updated it another 5 times in 5 months. I'll try harder, I promise.

I've been thinking of trying blogging again for a while, so I have a backlog of posts to write, which may actually help to make me more successful.

I guess I'll find out.