Friday - Tacos, corn and chickpea salad, double chocolate zucchini cake
Saturday - leftover pizza from last week
Sunday - leftover pizza from last week
Monday - grilled chicken breasts, pasta salad
Tuesday - leftover pasta salad, leftover tacos
Wednesday - homemade barbecue chicken pizza
Thursday - pork stirfry
Friday, September 10, 2010
Random shopping lists
Okay, I'm getting really slack about saving my shopping lists. I have an excuse, though - it's September, so my sustainable "summer" is over :) Anyway, here's what I found on my desk and in the kitchen:
CSA Contents (approximate value $25):
1 lb organic grassfed ground beef
6 ears sweet corn
2 slicing cucumbers
1 pint mixed cherry and grape tomatoes
3 lb Yukon or red norland potatoes (a good third of which was one ginormous potato)
1 candy onion
1 red slicing tomato
1 bunch cilantro
1 medium seedless watermelon
Havarti cheese
Giant Eagle (total - $50.29):
Toilet paper - 8.59
Kleenex - 5.79
Dixie cup refills - 2.00
White vinegar - 3.29
peanut oil - 5.39
organic round crackers - 2.79
organic dark chocolate - 3.49
grassfed local baby swiss cheese - 5.03
local shredded mozzarella cheese - 3.99
organic milk - 3.79x2
Giant Eagle (total - $32.92):
Local beer - 8.99
Lemon juice - 1.29x3
Lime juice - 1.29
Organic dried beans - 1.00
Organic mushrooms - 2.49
Taco shells - 2.00
Annie's fruit snacks - 4.99
Local shredded cheese - 5.00
Organic tortilla chips - 2.50
Plus a whole bunch of stuff at the farmers' market and Fitch's, including about a half-peck of hot peppers and a bushel of tomatoes that I canned and froze and made into salsa.
CSA Contents (approximate value $25):
1 lb organic grassfed ground beef
6 ears sweet corn
2 slicing cucumbers
1 pint mixed cherry and grape tomatoes
3 lb Yukon or red norland potatoes (a good third of which was one ginormous potato)
1 candy onion
1 red slicing tomato
1 bunch cilantro
1 medium seedless watermelon
Havarti cheese
Giant Eagle (total - $50.29):
Toilet paper - 8.59
Kleenex - 5.79
Dixie cup refills - 2.00
White vinegar - 3.29
peanut oil - 5.39
organic round crackers - 2.79
organic dark chocolate - 3.49
grassfed local baby swiss cheese - 5.03
local shredded mozzarella cheese - 3.99
organic milk - 3.79x2
Giant Eagle (total - $32.92):
Local beer - 8.99
Lemon juice - 1.29x3
Lime juice - 1.29
Organic dried beans - 1.00
Organic mushrooms - 2.49
Taco shells - 2.00
Annie's fruit snacks - 4.99
Local shredded cheese - 5.00
Organic tortilla chips - 2.50
Plus a whole bunch of stuff at the farmers' market and Fitch's, including about a half-peck of hot peppers and a bushel of tomatoes that I canned and froze and made into salsa.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Last week's dinner menus
Friday - went to the carnival, ate "food" that tasted really good and had no nutritional value whatsoever.
Saturday - Tortilla pizzas made with leftover homemade pizza sauce from last week, heirloom tomato and pepper salad, sweet corn
Sunday - Chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup
Monday - Ohio City Pasta ravioli with homemade tomato sauce, German potato salad
Tuesday - Leftover roasted tomato soup, sweet corn, homemade bread with homemade jam
Wednesday - pizza from a local (non-chain) restaurant
Thursday - BLT's with homegrown tomato, CSA lettuce, organic mayo, homemade bread, local grass-fed organic bacon, local grass-fed organic cheese
Saturday - Tortilla pizzas made with leftover homemade pizza sauce from last week, heirloom tomato and pepper salad, sweet corn
Sunday - Chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup
Monday - Ohio City Pasta ravioli with homemade tomato sauce, German potato salad
Tuesday - Leftover roasted tomato soup, sweet corn, homemade bread with homemade jam
Wednesday - pizza from a local (non-chain) restaurant
Thursday - BLT's with homegrown tomato, CSA lettuce, organic mayo, homemade bread, local grass-fed organic bacon, local grass-fed organic cheese
Friday, August 27, 2010
Pizza sauce recipe
Here's my take on the pizza sauce recipe that came with last week's CSA basket, which turned out really, really well. This made enough for two pizzas, plus leftovers that are probably enough for at least one more pizza (or some really tasty dipping sauce)
5 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 T dried basil
large pinch of red pepper flakes
2+ pounds roma tomates, peeled and seeded
In a heavy bottom pan heat the olive oil over medium low. Add the onions, carrot, basil, garlic, and red pepper. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Lower the heat if vegetables are starting to color.
While the vegetables are softening, peel and seed the tomatoes. Stir them to into the vegetables in the sauce pan and raise the heat to medium. Cook the sauce at just under a boil - it is important to evaporate much of the moisture.
When all of the ingredients have cooked and become very soft run the mixture through a food mill with the smallest screen in place, discarding any solids that remain in the mill. Return the sauce to the pan and place over low heat. Add a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat when desired consistency is reached.
5 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 T dried basil
large pinch of red pepper flakes
2+ pounds roma tomates, peeled and seeded
In a heavy bottom pan heat the olive oil over medium low. Add the onions, carrot, basil, garlic, and red pepper. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Lower the heat if vegetables are starting to color.
While the vegetables are softening, peel and seed the tomatoes. Stir them to into the vegetables in the sauce pan and raise the heat to medium. Cook the sauce at just under a boil - it is important to evaporate much of the moisture.
When all of the ingredients have cooked and become very soft run the mixture through a food mill with the smallest screen in place, discarding any solids that remain in the mill. Return the sauce to the pan and place over low heat. Add a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat when desired consistency is reached.
Last week's dinner menus
Friday - CSA homemade pizza - used the pizza dough from the CSA, made my own tomato sauce from scratch with the CSA tomatoes, topped it with onion and peppers and sausage from the CSA.
Saturday - Ohio City Pasta ravioli with frozen pasta sauce from earlier this summer
Sunday - Basil burgers made with local grass-fed beef, homemade pesto, local mozzarella, and tomatoes from our front yard, served on buns from Blackbird Baking Company.
Monday - Quiche from Gray House Pies
Tuesday - went out to Aladdin's, where we shared a soup and an entree
Wednesday - leftover crab soup from before the summer, homemade bread with homemade raspberry jam
Thursday - Cabbage and noodles with ham, made with all local ingredients (except the salt and pepper)
Saturday - Ohio City Pasta ravioli with frozen pasta sauce from earlier this summer
Sunday - Basil burgers made with local grass-fed beef, homemade pesto, local mozzarella, and tomatoes from our front yard, served on buns from Blackbird Baking Company.
Monday - Quiche from Gray House Pies
Tuesday - went out to Aladdin's, where we shared a soup and an entree
Wednesday - leftover crab soup from before the summer, homemade bread with homemade raspberry jam
Thursday - Cabbage and noodles with ham, made with all local ingredients (except the salt and pepper)
Last week's shopping
Total for the week - $191, including school lunch stuff and some extra stuff we canned and froze
Two things I'm proud of this week that help offset the ghastly amount we spent on prepared food like quiche - the grapes and the tomatoes. The grapes I found at a roadside stand a few doors down from Fitch's Farm Market, and the guy was selling two-pound bags for a dollar a piece. Whoa - you can't even beat that at the grocery store for stuff that was shipped halfway across the world! And the tomatoes came from Miss Dorothy, the retired lady who has a farm stand along a busy road near our neighborhood. Her prices on produce are a little high, but it's really convenient, and she reminds me of my grandmother, so we try to throw some business her way. She's got VERY reasonable prices on what she considers "seconds," fruit and veggies that aren't up to her very high standards. We bought two of those two-quart produce boxes heaped full of somewhat cracked and spotted tomatoes for $5, and I spent all day Sunday canning them for this winter. I need to get some extra jars so I can do that again before she runs out of squishy-but-cheap fruit!
Two things I'm proud of this week that help offset the ghastly amount we spent on prepared food like quiche - the grapes and the tomatoes. The grapes I found at a roadside stand a few doors down from Fitch's Farm Market, and the guy was selling two-pound bags for a dollar a piece. Whoa - you can't even beat that at the grocery store for stuff that was shipped halfway across the world! And the tomatoes came from Miss Dorothy, the retired lady who has a farm stand along a busy road near our neighborhood. Her prices on produce are a little high, but it's really convenient, and she reminds me of my grandmother, so we try to throw some business her way. She's got VERY reasonable prices on what she considers "seconds," fruit and veggies that aren't up to her very high standards. We bought two of those two-quart produce boxes heaped full of somewhat cracked and spotted tomatoes for $5, and I spent all day Sunday canning them for this winter. I need to get some extra jars so I can do that again before she runs out of squishy-but-cheap fruit!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Raspberries - the trilogy
In 2008, we taught our 3-year-old how to pick raspberries:
In 2009, our 4-year-old taught us how to pick raspberries:
In 2010, our 5-year-old decided taking pictures was more exciting that picking raspberries:
For three years in a row now we've gone to Rosby's to pick raspberries. Each year we've been lulled by the bucolic sounds of earthmoving equipment and freight trains - the farm is practically downtown:
View Larger Map
One of the reasons I like going there to pick (other than the excuse it gives me to make tons of raspberry jam) is that it's fun, even if you don't particularly want to pick. This year Liza gave up on picking after 10 minutes or so, and she was happy running around in the row, chasing bees and photographing wildflowers. There's a place for the kids to run off some energy in the shade:
And three of the sweetest Frisbee-fetchers in the county waiting for you to make your way past their yard on the way to pay for the berries:
And, oh yeah - fresh raspberries are one of nature's most perfect foods. Especially when you combine them with outrageous amounts of sugar and spread it onto homemade bread .... mmmmmmm. So get your butt in gear and find someplace near you to go pick some!
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