This Week's CSA and Assorted Other Deliciousness

CSA Share With Tons of Greens

Quiche Made With Chard,
Onions and Spinach

We got the first delivery of the CSA this week.  It included some of the biggest radishes I've ever seen.  In our share we got chard, several types of lettuce, spinach, onions, radishes and bok choy.  I made a quiche with the onions, spinach and chard.

I also made these homemade hamburger buns. They were super easy and, oh my goodness delicious. Right out of the oven, with farm fresh butter from Texas Daily Harvest? Boo-yah, THAT'S what I'm talking about.

Un-freaking-believable Homemade Rolls

For dinner, I filled the rolls with the crockpot Buffalo chicken and served it with a salad made from the fresh lettuce, radishes and onions from the CSA. It was ridiculously easy to make and so good.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and Salad

I might even make some spicy chicken salad with the leftovers or I could make some enchiladas.  Something to ponder.

Weekly Menu Planning

Another exciting menu plan for this week. Have you started noticing a pattern? Ha! The Texas Daily Harvest CSA starts this week. I'm not entirely sure what will be in it, but I do know it will be predominantly greens (spinach, chard, lettuce, etc.)  It gets delivered Tuesday, so I'm building that loosely into the menu plan.  I'm going to have to be flexible.

I'm also trying to use up some of the meat we have in the freezer.  I think we have too much in there, so I'm trying to remedy that situation.  Right now we've got 3 different kinds of fish (either 6 or 10 filets, I can't remember), 3 steaks, 2 pork chops, 1 ham hock, and some chicken breasts.

So, here we go:

• Taco night (requested by my son)
• Spaghetti (requested by the Hubs) with a salad (requested by my daughter) and garlic bread
• Fish, salad, rice or quinoa and a vegetable
• Steak, salad, frozen vegetable (likely corn since that is nearly the only vegetable my son will eat) 
• Quiche made with the CSA produce and fruit on the side

And my Pinterest Recipes of the Week are:

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and Homemade Ranch (the powdered variety).  I love Pinterest.

Also, as a side note, last week I bought the salmon and marinated it in olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.  I put it in a ziploc bag it in the refrigerator. Later that day I decided we needed to use other food first (before it went bad), so I took a chance and tossed the marinating salmon in the freezer.  I'm happy to say that after I thawed it out and baked it, it was delicious.  I will probably do that again since it was so easy.

Why Shopping Mid-Week is Dangerous

This weekend I forgot to buy dog food.  So, I popped into Whole Foods for dog food.

And came out with a loaf of bread, sliced ham, flour tortillas, french vanilla coffee creamer and a carton of chocolate chip cookies.

This is why I should never, ever forget something on my list.

Add $37.01 to the weekly total. About $17 was for dog food and $20 for the other stuff.

Menu Planning

When I make a menu plan, it's a fluid sort of thing.  I put together a list of meals, but know that I ned to be  flexible.  We cook what we feel like eating from the list, instead of saying, "Well, it's Tuesday. We must have what's written on the list for Tuesday."

I try to mix things up a bit, but we stick to a pretty simple formula: protein, fruit or vegetable, side item.  The side item might be rice or a second vegetable.  Or sometimes, we'll go rogue and not have a side item.

I keep finding all of these amazing recipes on Pinterest, so I'm going to try to make at least one new one each week.  This week's new Pinterest recipe is for Quinoa Jambalaya courtesy of Oxygen Magazine.

This Looks Delicious

• Quinoa jambalaya with shrimp and sausage 
• Homemade pizza and fruit
• Nachos with beef, refried beans, avocado and homemade salsa compliments of my brother
• Baked chicken, rice, strawberries and garlic bread (yes, double carbs)
• Salmon (marinated in soy sauce, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper then baked), corn, salad and fruit 
• Breakfast for dinner: bacon and eggs

Weekly Shopping Trip Report - April 8, 2012

My total this week was $154.80. My Texas Daily Harvest order will be delivered Tuesday and I made a trip to Sprouts.  They had a great sale on strawberries this week, so I stocked up.  They go bad really quickly, so we ate some fresh and the rest we sliced and froze for use in smoothies.  If I wasn't hindered by my back injury, I'd figure out how to make some homemade strawberry preserves.  Oh, well.  Another time.

Texas Daily Harvest, $40.47

• 2 dozen eggs ($10.00)
• 1 pound beef breakfast sausage ($6.99)
• 1 pound ground beef ($6.49)
• 1 pound of bacon ($9.99)
• Local honey, 16 oz. ($6.00)
• Delivery Fee ($1.00)

Sprouts, $114.33

• Bakery, $7.37  (wheat bread, french bread, pizza crust)
• Bulk, $5.98  (almond toffee granola, brown rice, pretzels)
• Dairy, $21.86 (yogurt, cottage cheese, butter, soy milk, cows milk, orange juice)
• Deli, $9.23  (shredded mozzarella, pepperoni, sliced turkey)
• Meat, $22.56  (shrimp, salmon, chicken, pork sausage)
• Frozen, $5.98 (ice cream, frozen corn)
• Grocery, $20.24  (crackers, canned beans, pasta sauce, tortilla chips, italian soda)
• Produce, $20.74 (strawberries, clementines, cucumber, tomatoes, bell peppers, avocados, spring mix, bananas, grapes)

Other Stuff

I'm not sure when the CSA delivery will start (in a few weeks, I hope), but we had to pay a $25 planting fee, plus the last two weeks $68, in advance. I'm not including this $93 in my total for this week.

I also got a notice that there was a Whole Foods gift card on Plastic Jungle available.  I bought a $500 gift card at a 3% discount, so for $485.  I haven't received this in the mail yet and will be using it to pay for my groceries over the next month or so.  These don't come available very often, so I jumped at the chance.  $15 is $15, right?

The Final Countdown

A few weeks ago I turned 39.  I didn't like it.  Because that means next birthday I'll be 40.

40.

Forty.

Blech.

I don't want to be overweight and unhealthy when I turn 40.  I want to be in kick-ass shape and be accused of being a MILF when I'm 40. I want to embrace 40.

Yes, yes I do.

I have 11 months.

So, the CSA and the organic food is only part of it.  The other part is getting a handle on how much food I'm consuming and exercise (which right now doesn't happen at all).

Stephen and I talked about it and decided to make an investment in us.  We joined a very nice athletic club about a two minute drive from our house.  We could walk there if we were so inclined.

As part of joining, we each get a session with a nutritionist and three sessions with a personal trainer.  The first session will be an assessment as to where we are. (This scares me.)  The other two sessions will be to show us the exercise program they've put together for each of us.

I'm excited and hopeful.  I can't wait to meet with the nutritionist and learn about food and what we should be feeding our bodies.  It's going to be a great opportunity to teach our kids.  Our kids are very healthy, slim and active in sports. We need to match our children!

I'll take a before picture and track my progress.  I want a strong, healthy body.  Think Jennifer Garner in Alias.  That's what I'm after.

It's going to be a lot of hard work, but I'm ready.

Easy, Healthy Lunch

Fresh. Easy. Delicious.

Because I'm trying to recover from a back injury, I'm spending my time not sitting upright.  I am not supposed to be lifting things or moving around a lot and that means meals need to be super easy to prepare.

This one fits the bill.  It took me exactly two seconds to put together and it was fabulous.

I sliced a tomato, part of a cucumber, then added greek peppers and olives from the olive bar at Whole Foods.  I added some feta cheese, greek seasoning, the juice of half a lemon and a tiny bit of olive oil.

I can see this becoming a go-to lunch option.

TDH CSA

The farm (Texas Daily Harvest) from which we buy our organic dairy, grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and eggs is going to have a CSA this spring and summer.  I'm really excited.

For $34 per week, we'll get a large share of seasonal, organic, local produce.  They've promised 20 weeks worth of produce (although they may not be consecutive weeks depending on production.)

For those who have been reading my blog, we previously got an every-other-week share from Urban Acres.  We loved it, but it was every two weeks and super heavy on the greens and not as much fruit.  I'm hoping the CSA will be a little more balanced.

I might only have to go the grocery store once every couple of weeks this spring and summer. We should be able to get our dairy, eggs, meat and produce from TDH.  The only thing we'll need to get from the grocery store will be bread, snacks, grains, flour, sugar, spices, fish, nut butter and deli meat. I should be able to do that every two weeks.

Most everything I need on a weekly basis can be purchased from Texas Daily Harvest, including organic coffee and local honey.  Plus, I like knowing we are supporting local farmers.

I can't wait to see what we get in the CSA share!