Too Busy to Shop?

Yes... I've been a bad, bad blogging foodie/mommy/wife/worker/student/cook/daughter-in-law/friend... it's been THREE MONTHS since my last post!

I am... ashamed.

But I'm back on the wagon!

Today, I was reading a blog entry by the insanely talented crab & bee on their CSA delivery. Ok, so it's more like a few words and a couple of pictures... but the produce in those pictures? Fan-tab-u-lous. My fingers started twitching as I imagined the fun I would have at looking up recipes to try out on my poor, unsuspecting family.

What is a CSA?
'CSA' stands for "Community Supported Agriculture", and is a way to not only provide a steady supply of  local, entirely seasonal produce to your family, but to support your local farmers.
Two Birds? Meet my friend, One Stone.

How do you get the goods?
In the case of the farm I'm buying through - Full Circle Farms (Carnation, WA) - you have the option of scheduling a weekly/biweekly home delivery, or picking up from a specified location near you. Typically, it costs a little less to go the pick-up route but, for convenience sake (HEY... I'm 7 months pregnant with Boy #2, okay??), I'm going with the home delivery.

What ARE the goods?
Depending on the farm, you can get a wide variety of seasonal produce (veggies, fruit, and herbs), as well as some 'extras'; things like eggs, milk, and (my husband's favorite) freshly slaughtered animal (meat, people). Need an example of what is available? Here you go...:

Basil

Beans (Dry)

Beans (Green)

Beets

Berries

Bok Choy

Braising Mix

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Carrots

Celery

Celeriac

Chards (Swiss)

Chicories  (Escarole and Frisee)

Collard Greens

Corn

Cucumbers

Dandelion Greens

Eggplant

Fennel

Greens  (Arugula and Mizuna)

Herbs

Kale

Leeks

Lettuce, Head

Lettuce, Baby Heads

Melons

Mustard Greens

Onions

Parsnips

Parsley

Peas

Peppers

Potatoes

Radicchio

Radish

Salad Mix

Scallions

Spinach

Summer Squash

Sunchoke

Tomatillos

Tomatoes

Purple-Top Turnips

Winter Squash

Not bad, huh?

Why go the CSA-route?
Ever since my husband and I participated in our first crop-share - Whistling Train Farms (Kent, WA) - this last September to December, I've been looking for more opportunities to cook for my family. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?
Monday: Dinner
Tuesday: Dinner
Wednesday: Dinner... you get the point.
The issue isn't what meal to make, but what ingredients to use. I am still determined to only use seasonal vegetables and fruits, unless they're frozen - some of the frozen produce out there has as many, if not MORE, nutrients in it than their fresh cousins in the produce aisle. In the two months since our winter farm share ended, I've found myself growing a taaaaaaad apathetic when it comes to our evening meal. By knowing that you've paid (or are currently paying) for produce for a set amount of time (average is about 10 weeks), it puts more pressure to actually USE what you're paying for. Not only that, but supporting the local farmers of your community seems like something that would earn you some pretty hefty karma points...

Late Summer Blueberry Crumble

What's better than gobbling down handful after handful of fresh blueberries? How about picking them yourself, sneaking a few (okay... a LOT from the bucket as you go), and watching your toddler do the same! 

My Grandpa BoBo (term of endearment, I swear) lives on a blueberry farm in Olympia, Washington. Every summer, as kids, we would drive down and spend a day... or two... picking as many blueberries as we could. Grandpa would then weight them - the bigger berries, the better, though! - and pay us for our labor. Of course... all of the smoked salmon, hot peppers, and various blueberry dishes were payment enough for me!


This summer, my husband and I took our 20 month-old son down to the farm with the rest of my family for a supremely glorious late-summer afternoon of berry picking. Not only did we find THE BEST blueberries ever, but we got to catch up with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, while sharing some of my past with our little guy. It was awesome. 


Here is a recipe - adapted as noted - that I found on AllRecipes.com, thanks to my iPhone's "AllRecipes Dinner Spinner" app. I made it last night, and it's already half-gone...

Late Summer Blueberry Crumble Bars

Late Summer Blueberry Crumble Bars Recipe
(Adapted from AllRecipes)
Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar (plus extra 1/2 cup for blueberries)
• I used 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup light brown for extra flavor (and 1/4 cup white, 1/4 cup brown for the blueberries)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (plus 1 tsp. for the blueberries)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 cups fresh blueberries (frozen is fine - it's what I used and prefer, as they hold their shape better)
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• Enough cinnamon sugar for dusting

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan (I used cooking spray - worked great!).
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder.  Use a  pastry cutter to blend in the butter, egg and vanilla. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan so that the entire bottom is covered and one, even layer.
In another bowl, stir together the sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer. Dust the crumble with cinnamon sugar.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Review:
This was my first ever Crumble! My mom made them every summer when we were kids, so I knew I loved them, but the thought that I could make one of my own never entered my head. This recipe fit in immensely well with my "Eat Seasonally" mantra, and it also was low-egg... something that I have to be careful of with my son's egg allergy. It stays moist, but has a flaky, crumbly top (go figure, right?), and would loan itself to many different fruits. I'm already contemplating a strawberry-chocolate version...

Hot Weather = Cool Food

Seattle's summer came late, as usual... arriving on July 5th. With it, a mini heat-wave has descended upon our green city, leading me to bring out any/all warm weather recipes for my family that I can find.

Your local supermarket can be pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to finding local and/or seasonal produce... heavy on the "miss" if you're completely honest. A lot of the stuff you'll find in there has been shipped across the country (or the world), frozen, or packed full of preservative and/or pesticides. Then there are those rare moments when... *insert choir of angels singing here*... you luck out.

Last night was my lucky night!

I stopped by Safeway on the way home, and they had the biggest, freshest, most AMAZING watermelons I have ever seen! Already wanting to try out a recipe for watermelon & cucumber salad, I was able to form an entire meal around this delectable treat... and my family LOVED it!

Last night's dinner:

 - Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia
 - Watermelon & Cucumber Salad
 - Corn on the Cob

1. Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia

5 frozen Tilapia loins, thawed
1 TS salt
1/4 c. Soyaki Sauce (Trader Joe's)

Preheat the oven to 400 (F). Spray a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray, and lay out the Tilapia. Sprinkle with salt, then pour the Soyaki marinade over the fish. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until the fish is nice and flaky.

... isn't that EASY?!

2. Watermelon & Cucumber Salad

1/2 c. white vinegar

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 TS red pepper flakes

Salt

8 cups seedless watermelon, cubed

4 English cucumbers, peeled and chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1/4 c. sweet chili sauce

Combine vinegar, sugar and pepper in saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil 1 minute, remove from heat and cool. Slice cucumbers and toss with 1 tsp of salt. Let sit in colander for 30 minutes. Pat dry. Just before serving toss watermelon with salt in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, red onions, celery, pepper syrup, and sweet chili sauce and toss. (recipe adapted from: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/327/WatermelonCucumber_Salad13199.shtml)

See you in the kitchen....!

- Krystal

The Changing of the (dietary) Seasons

The idea of "eating seasonally" is something my husband and I have thrown around for the last few years. We usually toss ideas around, debate a bit, and end up with these questions:

1. How do you find out what's in season?
2. Where would you find what you're looking for?
3. Isn't it expensive... all those fresh fruits and vegetables?
4. Do cattle, poultry, and fish have "seasons"? If so, when's the best time to get them?
5. Can you still eat seasonally by shopping at a major grocery chain?

After losing nearly 200 lbs through weight loss surgery, hard work, and diet changes back in 2006, having a rapidly growing toddler, an abundance of local farmer's markets in the Seattle area, and a nearly obsessive love of cooking for my family... I decided to take the plunge and just DO it already.

Pretty words, to be sure... but how the hell do I put it into action? I mean, really; look at the title of this blog - it is't "So Much Free Time, So Tasty!", is it?

As with any lifestyle change - and yes, that is DEFINITELY what it's going to take - it is important to break things down in to manageable pieces.
Do I want to serve all organic, non-GMO food at every meal? Yes.
Is that going to happen overnight (or any time in the near future)? Ha. Not likely.

My goal for this season (spring) is to only make dinners that contain items that are in-season, barring of course spices, stocks, pastas and (for now), grains. That means that any fruits, veggies, and meats that I buy must be in-season... and, even more, preferably in-season in my state. There are so many reasons to eat local; less cost, fresher/riper produce, promotes the local economy, and it just plain tastes better.

So, there you have it - one busy mom's goal for her family, and their very hungry bellies. I would seriously encourage you to give seasonal eating a try, and see how it might benefit you and your families!

Stay Tasty,
Krystal