Week 44 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 9     Compost - 1     Carry Over - 0

Although the outcome of the Super Bowl wasn't to the liking of most of my guests (my husband and his visiting family are all from Massachusetts), the food was great!  The box provided lots of great raw materials for our super bowl spread and - in spite of the game's outcome - at least every body who came to the party left with happy, full bellies.  The only downside of using almost the entire box for the party was the fact that there wasn't much left to use for the remainder of the week and that left me a bit unguided for the week's dinners.

• Our Super Bowl Sunday spread included cider and bacon baked beans (with apples, onions and marjoram), sweet and tangy coleslaw with fennel and orange, butternut squash muffins, and green salad with radishes.  We even used the fennel fronds as a garnish for the ribs!

Super bowl spread

The baked beans were hearty and delicious

Fennel added an interesting twist to cole slaw

Simple green salad

• I used up the spinach and onions in a simple saute with garlic and olive oil, and served that over rice with curried chicken and fresh radishes.

Week 44 - Super Bowl Sundae

Since we have a bunch of family members in town, we decided that we'd host a large group for the big game.  With our box pick up the day before the Super Bowl, I came up with the goal of trying to incorporate as many of the box's ingredients as possible into our meal plan for the party.  As always, it took a little bit of investigation to find appropriate recipes, but I think our super bowl party will potentially be one of the healthiest, and tastiest, in town. 

In the box this week

(top) lettuce, spinach, marjoram

(bottom) celery, green onions, radishes, oranges, butternut squash, apples, fennel

Recipes for our super bowl party

• Cider and bacon baked beans, with apples, onions and marjoram
• Sweet and tangy coleslaw with fennel and orange
• Butternut squash muffins
• Green salad with radishes

My husband will also be grilling up some pork ribs and beef brisket, lest anyone think that we're planning to go too healthy.  It's been really fun to plan a party around the box.  Can't wait to see how everything turns out!
This week's title is inspired by the song of the same name by Ozomatli.

Week 43 in Review

The Score

Eaters - 10     Carry Over - 0     Compost - 1

Combining at least two ingredients into each meal or recipe made it rather easy to get most of the box into our bodies this week.  For weeks when I'm short on cooking time, this is definitely the way to go!  I had a fun time making up my own recipe, and ended up taking a planned recipe and worked to make it simpler because I didn't have time to make the original.  Though some of the dill and the celery hit the compost at week's end, everything else was enjoyed.  Each week in this process gets easier and easier, and I feel more and more comfortable experimenting with ingredients that once seemed quite intimidating.

The Best

• Admittedly, the end result was a bit bizarre looking, but the rainbow potatoes with kale were very yummy.  I started with about 2 lbs. of multi-colored fingerling potatoes, which were cut in half, covered in water + 2", then boiled for five minutes.  I destemmed and coarsely chopped one bunch of kale while the potatoes were boiling.  After the five minutes had passed, I added the kale and boiled the entire pot for another 10 minutes.  Checking to be sure the potatoes were done, the water was drained out of the pot.  I mashed the potatoes together with the kale, then stirred in 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 cup of shredded white cheddar cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and you're done.

Fingerling potatoes in the pot

Coarsely chopped kale

Rainbow potatoes with kale

The Good

• I used up the rest of the fingerling potatoes that I had bought in this chunky potato soup recipe, which featured celery and dill from the box.  Though soups are always a bit of an unknown with the kids, they really liked this soup.  It went nicely with a lettuce and arugula salad from the box.

• Once I got ready to make the butternut squash, caramelized onion, and spinach lasagna, I realized that I did not have enough time to follow the recipe.  So, I got the onions caramelizing, and then shredded the butternut squash.  I sauteed the squash with garlic, eventually adding the spinach until I had a nicely cooked vegetable blend.  I layered the no cook lasagna noodles with a jar of homemade tomato sauce, the vegetable mix + caramelized onions, then shredded fontina (and repeated three times - in process view below).  It was light and yummy and well received by the entire family.

 

• We didn't end up making the planned scrambled egg recipe, but used up the remainder of the lettuce in a salad with avocados and a few other leftover veggies from the fridge.

Week 43 - It Takes Two

Although I have much less time to cook these days, I'm still committed to using up as much of the box as possible each week.  In the past, I've often looked at the ingredients individually, trying to find recipes for the ingredients one by one.  This week it's all about efficiency, with the goal of using up two or more ingredients at the same time.  In addition to what was found in this week's box, I bought a bunch of fingerling potatoes at from another vendor from the farmer's market where we pick up our box.  Although I have a bunch of produce that at first glance doesn't necessarily go together, hopefully it's true that 'it takes two to make it outta sight.' 

In the box this week

(top) lettuce, dill, arugula, kale, spinach

(bottom) celery, bunching onions, apples, butternut squash, avocados, oranges

Meals/recipes for the week

• Chunky potato soup with dill and celery
• Rainbow potatoes with kale (my own creation, will report back next week)
• Butternut squash, caramelized onion, and spinach lasagna
• Scrambled eggs with avocado, onions and cheddar cheese

Speaking of potatoes, poke me with a fork, because I'm done (figuratively, and literally).  
This week's title is inspired by the song Two by Ryan Adams.

Week 42 - Give It Away Now

Between my work travels to the other coast, my husband's now common long work hours, and our resulting plan to send the kids away to spend a week with their grandparents, I ended up with a box that I was afraid would go to waste.  So, we sent the fruit off with the kids, gave all the greens to friends who were watching our dog, and saved the avocados, peppers, tomatillos, and onions for the next week.  This week, using the box meant giving it away, alas I have almost nothing report back.  My husband did use the peppers and onions in a chicken pimenton recipe (something along these lines) and we ate up the avocados, but that's all folks.

Since I haven't a clue

of other uses of our box

there will not be any review

for week 42

In the box this week

(top) lettuce, spinach, arugula

(bottom) bunching onions, green peppers, avocados, tomatillos, strawberries, oranges, apples

This week's title is inspired by the similarly named song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

Week 41 in Review

The Score
Eaters - 10     Compost - 1     Carry Over - 0

This week was an ambitious week, but it helped that I was able to come home from the farmer's market and throw several ingredients straight into the oven.  The workload of my 'real job' is getting more and more outrageous, leaving not enough time to prepare dinner these days, much less document it.  So, loading activities onto the weekend is becoming a better and better plan.  I really have been enjoying my adventures into the world of canning, though sadly the end products just aren't lasting long enough to fully merit the process.  The learning continues! 

The Best

• We all loved the roasted tomatillo and poblano salsa.  I took 2 lbs. of tomatillos, a handful of bunching onions, three poblanos, and a jalapeno that I had sitting around, and put them under the broiler.  About 5 minutes in, I added 6-7 cloves of garlic, flipped over the peppers, stirred up the onions, then continued to broil another 10 minutes.  When everything was nice and roasted, it went into the blender - juices and all - with about 2 cups of cilantro.  Blended until it was nice and smooth, and done!

In process shot

The finished product

The Good

• A closer runner up this week was the arugula salad with sugar snap peas.   It is one of the best salads that I've ever tasted, between the arugula, peas and sauteed mushrooms; my family almost didn't get any.

• My husband made the black bread, which was a delicious, wintry treat that incorporated some carrots from the box.  It reminded me of the year that I spent in Prague after college.  With that in mind, I tried it with some butter and homemade pickled radishes.  Yum!

• The spinach lasagna was simple and good.  My husband didn't like that it didn't include ricotta and my kids also complained that it wasn't cheesy enough.  But, for a quick evening meal, it did the trick.

• The strawberry tangerine marmalade is a tasty change of pace from the strawberry jam that we've been eating since May.  It's tangy flavor goes great on crepes and waffles.

Week 41 - Somebody that I Used to Know

Sometimes, when I look back over the course of the last year, I wonder what and how we ate before we began this 'year in a box' adventure.  I 'cooked' a few times a week, but it was more frequently food preparation than cooking.  I would throw together partially-prepared ingredients from the grocery store, with a rotation of five or six meals that got made repeatedly over the course of the month.  After looking what we've been eating over the past ten months, I feel like that person is someone that I used to know.  There are some weeks that I feel like cooking more than others, but I can't really imagine not eating based on what's seasonally available.  Dollar for dollar, buying the bulk of our produce through our CSA at the farmer's market is a way better deal than trying to buy organic produce at the grocery store.  It's amazingly fresh, it lasts a long time, and I am motivated to waste as little as possible.  While it's not over yet, it is safe to say that this experiment of ours has been a life changing one. 

(top) lettuce, spinach, arugula, cilantro

(bottom) bunching onions, sugar snap peas, tomatillos, poblano peppers, apples, tangerines, strawberries

 Meals/recipes for the week

• Arugula salad with Sugar Snap Peas and ginger thyme vinaigrette
• Black bread (featuring the rest of last week's Carrots)
• Roasted Tomatillo salsa, featuring Bunching Onions and Poblano Peppers (recipe of my own creation, to be shared in next weeks 'In Review')
• Spinach lasagna
• Strawberry Tangerine marmelade

This doesn't feel like a very challenging week, but I suppose that is because so many of the ingredients go together so well.  Or, maybe it's just because this whole process is getting easier.
This week's title is inspired by the song of the same name by Gotye.