Join a CSA
For the past few years, Janice has been a member of the Farm Direct Coop CSA (community supported agriculture). We talked about CSAs this week on our podcast, Cooking with the Moms, and promised to provide information about joining one. But before we do that, for those of you who are not familiar with CSAs, they help to forge a relationship between consumers and local farms. When a consumer becomes a”member” or “shareholder” of a CSA, they pay an annual membership fee and in turn, receive a weekly basket of produce — whatever happens to be in season. There are many websites out there devoted to CSAs. A good place to start is http://www.localharvest.com/. If you’re a member of a CSA, tell us what you got this week and feel free to share any new or tried-and-true recipes.
I’ve been blogging about our first year CSA experience. It’s been a learning lesson for sure! I’m such a planner and getting a surprise every week has been a challenge. But on the plus side I’ve found many more things my family likes! Beets, zucchini to name a few.
Hi Michelle:
I agree. Some items I have received that I do not ordinarily buy include garlic scapes, salad turnips, and arugula. It does force you to experiment a bit. On a suggestion from my friend Anne, I sauteed my kale recently in garlic and olive oil and added dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. It was fabulous!
Please share any new and delicious ways you discover to prepare your CSA veggies.
This doesn’t have anything to do with CSA’s, but…
At our house, we have the one-bite rule, i.e. you must eat at least one bite of everything you are served. But what should we do about second helpings? For instance, tonight I served pork alfredo, egg noodles, and steamed carrots. My 4 yo daughter ate her one bite of pork and carrots, and then wanted at least 4 helpings of egg noodles. This is a very common occurrence, and I’m not quite sure if we’re handling it the right way, since the way our rule works now she just has incredibly unbalanced meals.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
That’s a great question too Heather. I often struggle with those situations.
I wanted to share that we are finally settled in our new home. So our first meal was the Sweet and Nutty Couscous. I was anxiously wanting to try it for awhile. It worked out good. Even for the husband. I did elininate the pecans though because of my kids and now sure how the pecans would work with eating nuts directly.
Hi Heather:
Yes, this is a very good question! What you might want to try is to limit the amount of the “less healthy” items at dinner. After taking their “no thank you bites” the kids can eat all their noodles or pasta and get another small helping. Then if they are still hungry the options are fruits, veggies, whole grains, or lowfat dairy. If the noodles, pasta, and breads you offer at dinner are whole grains you can feel better about them favoring those foods. It seems as if most kids are carb lovers so the best we can do is offer high-quality choices and round the meal out with the other food groups.
By the way, I got more kale from my CSA. I’m going to do what I did two weeks ago. Blanch the kale in salted water for about 5 minutes and drain well. Then saute a few minced garlic cloves (or ultra-convenient frozen garlic cubes at Trader Joe’s) in a couple tablespoons of olive oil for a minute, add the kale, and a third to a half cup each of dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about five minutes and it is delicious! Let us know if you try it.
Ann, I have not made the Couscous in awhile so I’ll add that to my menu for next week. Happy eating!
I’m part of an organic CSA farm near the Teton Mountains. This is our first year and I love it! We’ve eaten so many more veggies (especially green ones) and tried many new foods like garlic curls (scapes). I love to experiment with new recipes!
Here’s our list of last week’s crops:
Yukon Gold potatoes, mint, salad mix, zucchini and summer squash, anahiem peppers, eggplant, green and yellow beans,tomatoes, kale, and beautiful sunflowers.
Here’s my “recipe” for green beans:
1. Cut green beans into 1-2 inch lengths. Add a bit of water and cook in microwave for about 5 minutes.
2. In a small sauce pan, saute plenty of garlic in a little canola or olive oil. After the garlic is tender, add slivered almonds. Stir constantly until almonds are toasted.
3. Add cooked green beans and just a bit of chopped dried apricots. Mix well.
4. Serve sprinkled with feta cheese.
–Charity
Hi Charity:
This was a fabulous recipe- we even made it a new post on this blog! We loved it- thanks for sharing. The flavors from the apricots, feta, and garlic were great. We’re thinking this would be delicious with spinach or other greens as well.