CSA Week 4: What's in your basket this week?

What did you get this week, and what region are you in? I was just looking at a picture of a share in Alabama this week-- as you would expect, completely different veggies (tomatoes, peppers... a giant cantaloupe).

We did give away some beets to my dad last week. We are continuing to do well with using the full share-- I have had to put a few odd leaves of limp lettuce in the compost, but there hasn't been any major waste, so far.

Here's our share. I had to put it on the table this week and stand on a chair to take the picture.

Sam was once again exhausted from baby socialization at Music Time at Central St. Farmhouse, and was thus unable to play with the produce. He had a blast, though, showing off his forward scooch and making Ring Wraith noises with the other baby his age.

 I'm guessing a little for amounts this week because I don't have the newsletter right in front of me:

2 heads of lettuce
1 lb salad mix
1 bunch of Hakuri turnips
1 bunch of carrots
1 bunch of chard
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of scallions
1 bunch of garlic scapes
1 (enormous) head of pak choi

 Tentative Meal Plan

Big salad with cheese and 5-minute bread

At least three batches of Kale Chips. Maybe I will get to eat some this time!

Pasta with greens and ricotta, from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day (I'll use all chard)

Homemade pizza with garlic scape pesto (never made this last week)

I am torn between doing a basic stir fry and making spring rolls, which would make good use of some of the remaining veggies-- I've never made them before. Any tips? I was thinking the kids might enjoy rolling them/ customizing them (perhaps... even eating them).

Tomato soup, five minute bread, salad

Grill night-- hot dogs, trimmings. and, shockingly, salad.

Eight Months of Beautiful Baby

It's about 7:30 in the morning and I have done a load of laundry and hung it on the line-- so we are off to a better start today. An extremely early start, thank you all children working together in tandem. I weeded a little, too. The big kids have read another chapter of Harry Potter. We're going to have a "blitz clean" and then head out to pick some strawberries-- yum.

Last night's dinner was a hit and made good use of our CSA share: honey-balsamic chicken with roasted carrots and onion, salad with roasted beets and a dab of goat cheese, and 5-minute bread.

Today marks 8 months of being a family of five. Sam is in his glory-- he is round and happy and the most mellow little guy I have ever known.

He did a sort of creeping army crawl maneuver this morning and got himself about 4" forward.

backwards scooching, soon to be a thing of the past.

He doesn't much care for solid foods, but will eat a few bites before devoting himself to trying to get a hold of the spoon. He likes to gnaw on a big piece of whatever we are having.

 

He is a thoughtful little guy. He tries really hard to do some simple signs, like all done and more. He's not quite there yet.

He ran his first 10K.... well, actually that was me, he just watched.

Milestones omitted from baby book: first time upending cat's water dish over own head.

His favorite game: the big kids ask if he wants his foot kissed, and he holds it out and giggles. We have to make regular stops when we are out to kiss his feet. Not that we spoil our baby or anything.

He is basically the baby of awesome. Where did all that time go?

CSA Week 3: beets are a challenge for me.

 Sam is intrigued by the broccoli in our farm share this week-- some fell out when I was unpacking and he went to town.

What's in our share this week:

1/2 lb salad mix
1 bunch Hakuri turnips
1 bunch kale
1 bunch swiss chard
1 bunch garlic scapes
2 heads of lettuce
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch beets
2 lbs broccoli 

Tentative Meal Plan  (Plus: Kale Chips)

Roasted Shrimp with Broccoli, rice, fruit
Chicken with honey roasted carrots, roasted beets, 5 minute bread, Salad
Big salad with leftover chicken, roast veggies
Pasta with swiss chard and goat cheese
Homemade pizza with garlic scape pesto on the "adult" side, salad
Taco salad bar (black beans and fresh corn chips); Breakfast for dinner (hmmmm...) with salad.