Simple Ways to Use Your CSA Produce

Our very first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription just ended last week.  We LOVED it.  As most of you know, we usually plant a large garden ourselves and therefore have no use for additional vegetables each week but this spring/summer proved different.  In January, we began caring for a special needs foster newborn and thus our garden meeting a month or so later consisted of us going online and signing up for a CSA instead of placing seed orders.  Our focus needed to be on our kids that the baby- not on our garden.  Thank you to all the CSA farmers out there who make this option possible!

I believe that because we have a lot of experience using garden produce (of our own) we found using up our CSA produce easy and fun.  Here are some tips to getting the most out of your CSA box should you ever choose to subscribe to one:

1) Anticipate the box's arrival and set aside some time to "process" it right away.  Put it on your calendar even. Our box arrived Wednesday afternoon/early evening.  It was always on my radar when it was coming so I mentally carved out some time that evening to go through it.

2) Deal with your produce ASAP.  Don't let the box languish on your counter for days on end- this will lead to spoilage and you'll end up with expensive compost. Set tomatoes on a plate on the counter to finish ripening.  Tear, wash, and spin lettuce and toss it in an open plastic bag in the fridge.  Place any veggies that should go in the fridge...in the fridge (reserving one of your fridge drawers at the bottom works well).  I kept a canning quart jar (without a lid) to toss garlic heads into for easy access. Storage produce like potatoes and winter squash should be transferred to their new home (cool, dark places indoors- the bottom of your pantry/closet works well).  Then, shake out the box and put it in your car or by the back door so it's ready to be returned or picked up the next week.

3) Make Salads.  There were only a few weeks mid-summer when we didn't get lettuces in our box.  With the other produce on hand, it was always easy to make a side salad or add some meat to a larger salad (taco salad, Caesar salad, etc.) to serve for lunch or dinner.  If you're not a salad person, shred it and heap it on to top of burritos and tacos.

4) Make salsa or bruchetta or both. Often. When the tomatoes start rolling in, likely the onions, garlic and peppers will, too.  Chop them all up for fresh salsa (picture below, scroll to bottom of link for recipe) or my friend's amazing bruchetta (although I fancy spreading goat cheese on the toasted bread before topping each piece with the tomato mixture).

4) Roast everything.  I had heard from some friends that they often googled new recipes for CSA produce they weren't used to using in their cooking.  I didn't really have time for that, so we roasted, roasted, roasted almost everything.  You can roast asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, peppers, corn, onions, garlic, beets, radishes, butternut squash...you name it.  And it's delicious.  Roasting brings out the sweetness in vegetables and is a nice change from boiling or steaming them.

I often chopped up a huge bowl of roastable veggies (all mixed together and in similar sized pieces), coated everything with oil and then sprinkled salt and pepper over it all.  Sometimes, I used a dried herb seasoning mix as well.  A drizzle of balsamic vinegar over top makes it divine.  I placed the veggies on greased cookie sheets and roasted them for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, tossing them and checking them for doneness once or twice.  Leftover roasted veggies can be stirred into soups, sprinkled on salads or added to casseroles.  Our kids like to dip them in ketchup.  So be it.

5) Make soup.  A few of our favorite soups are Peanut Butter-Vegetable Soup, Vegetable Chowder, Sweet Potato & Sausage Soup , Black Bean & Butternut Squash Chili (photo above over cornbread).  All of these call for veggies you'll often find in your CSA box.  Make a large batch of any of these and freeze the leftovers to eat when it's cold outside.

6) Do a little preserving.  Don't have time to use it all up before your next box arrives?  Lettuce isn't as forgiving but veggies like tomatoes, zucchini and peppers can be washed and chopped and frozen in storage bags for use in soups and casseroles during winter when those precious boxes full of veggies are no longer arriving.

What will we do next year?  Good question.  It was certainly strange not growing a big garden for once.  And yet having all those beautiful vegetables washed and arranged so gloriously each week? Well, that was just what we needed. Pin It

Life Flows On

Four out of the six colonies survived the winter which we find pretty miraculous.  We will harvest honey this year.  We've already lost (and captured!) a swarm- more on that to come.

Easter pies- sour cherry and blueberry 

swine decimation 

Two of the culprits.  The other two are no more.  Stay tuned for more on this- we made our own bacon.

 

The adoration goes both ways.

guarding his yard (from squirrels, that is)

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Cinnamon Non-Blondes

I did not set out to find a new favorite recipe.  There was an entirely utilitarian task laid before me.  My parents would be here for lunch and I wanted a bar or cookie to serve as dessert.  Cookies take too much time these days so I opted for an un-made recipe I had tucked into my recipe binder.

The recipe was scrawled on a page of a promotional tablet for a real estate agent from the Deep Creek Resort area in MD.  We have not been in that area since I was pregnant with Sadie.  Maybe? And she's ten now.  How it survived my frequent recipe binder purges, I do not know.  But I'm glad it did.

The original recipe that I copied down was called "Snickerdoodle Blondes" and came from Serving Up Southern.  Was it a magazine?  A cookbook?  It's a website now but I don't take my computer on vacations. As always, I changed a couple things (including using regular chocolate chips instead of cinnamon baking chips-which I didn't even know existed) and decided to rename these tasty bars.  You may call them what you like.

They are moist, dense, delicious bars with strong cinnamon flavor and I've always loved the combination of chocolate and cinnamon.  While the chocolate-lover in me is tempted to up the amount of chocolate chips in the recipe, holding back lets the cinnamon shine.  You'll likely fall in love with them just from the smell of them baking.  That's what happened to me anyway.

The whole experience was rather encouraging.  I haven't baked anything in months.  My kids have- as their sweet tooths have prompted them but I haven't.  It's nice to come back on such a sweet note.

Cinnamon Non-Blondes (adapted from some form of Serving Up Southern)
yields a 9 x 13-inch pan of bars

2 2/3 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips

2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon (cut it back to 1 tsp. if you don't love cinnamon as much as I do)

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat together 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar and softened butter.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.  The dough will be thick- like cookie dough batter.  Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.  Turn the dough into the pan and spread it out evenly.  In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely before cutting into bars. Pin It

A New Twist: Apple Crunch

Each fall we stock up on local (storage) apples, tucking them wherever we can find room- under the kitchen bench, in the pantry, in the fridge.  We use them for baking but mostly we eat them out of hand or sliced with peanut butter.

potatoes in the box on the left, apples on the right

We've found several varieties that we like for this- Pink Lady and Fugi are two.  They keep for a couple months before some starting to turn mushy.  At this point, I'm motivated to use the many that are still good before they get soft, too, incorporating them into salads, casseroles and (of course) desserts.

This fall, I discovered that I could use my mother-in-law's Rhubarb Crunch recipe by substituting apples.  I'd already learned that this recipe works beautifully with sour cherries, so why not try an apple version?

I did cut back on the sugar (apples don't need the extra sugar tart rhubarb or sour cherries do) and added some cinnamon to the filling. The result was a success and my family now says *this* is my best apple dessert recipe.

If you have my cookbook, this crunch recipe is on page 99.  If you want, you can simply add the changes you see below off to the side (like I did).

Apple Crunch 

1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup quick oats
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter
Combine these ingredients and mix well with a fork. Press half of the crumbs into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover the crumbs pressed into the pan with...

5 large apples, peeled and sliced

In a small sauce pan, combine
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cup water
Bring to a boil while stirring regularly with a whisk. Once it becomes thick and bubbly, pour it evenly over the fruit. Top with remaining crumbs and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 min. to 1 hour or until a knife glides into the apples easily.

Delicious served warm with homemade vanilla ice cream. Also good cold right out of the pan with a fork while standing at the counter ;-).

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{Swoon} Chocolate Pecan Pie {or Tarts}

I wasn't going to post again before Christmas...but then this happened.  I think you'll understand my urgent need to share.

A dear friend of mine brought four desserts to our Thanksgiving dinner.  Her dessert spread included a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. I'm not a huge fan of pecan pie (although I like it) but this pie was AMAZING. I mean, chocolate just makes everything better, right? I procured the recipe a day or two later and then made it within the week (omitting the bourbon).  That's how much I enjoyed it.

As I was thinking about Christmas cookies, it occurred to me that I could make a chocolate version of pecan tarts.  And so I did, using her recipe.  Below you will find both recipes- the one for the pie and, if you want a cookie version/love a bigger crust to filling ratio, the tart version.

Chocolate Pecan Pie (a friend's recipe, slightly adapted)

a 9-inch, deep crust pie crust in a pan, unbaked
1 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup butter
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Spread the chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie crust.  In a glass bowl, melt the butter and chocolate together until fully melted and combined.  Stir in the sugar, the eggs, and the remaining ingredients.  Pour over the pecans in the pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until set.

Chocolate Pecan Pie Tarts
Makes 48 tarts

To make the pastry dough:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter, cold and chopped
4 or 5 tbsp. ice water

Using your food processor or pastry cutter (I opt for my cutter all the time- less dishes to wash), combine the flour and salt.  Add butter pieces and combine/process.  Drizzle in the ice water and mix until it comes together nicely into a soft dough.  Don't over combine.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let chill in fridge for 1 hour.

To make the filling:

1 cup chopped roasted pecans
2 tbsp. butter
1 oz. baking chocolate (unsweetened)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten well
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

In a small glass bowl, melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave until fully melted and combined.  Stir in the sugar, beaten eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and salt.

To assemble:

Coat a mini muffin pan with cooking spray (mine makes 24 mini muffins).  Set aside.

Divide the pastry dough in half, returning one half to the fridge.  On a floured surface, roll out the other half to pie crust thickness (roll it thinner if you want the filling to shine, thicker if you love crust).  Use a cookie cutter shape or a glass with a 2 1/2 to 3-inch diameter to cut out the shapes/mini pie crusts.  Place them into the muffin tin, gently pressing to fit.  When the tin is full of mini pie crusts, place the pan in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes.

Now you have a choice:

If you like a nutty cookie and don't have a big sweet tooth, fill each mini crust with 1 tsp. of chopped pecans.  Over the top, measure in 1 tsp. of the filling over the pecans.

If you want less nuts and more sweet, place 1/2 tsp. of chopped pecans into each mini pie.  Over the top measure in 1 and 1/2 tsp. of filling- be careful not to overfill or it will bake over and make them hard to remove from the tin. Aim to fill them like the ones below.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Gently remove the tarts from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat the process with the remaining chilled dough or save/freeze it.  It will make one pie crust.

And now... I can leave you all in Christmas peace:-).

Blessings,

Jane

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{Still!} Our Favorite Christmas Treats

Originally posted November 20, 2013.

Just because we're waiting until the week before Christmas to bake, doesn't mean you are.  You all are much more disciplined about not sneaking them from the freezer or gobbling up half a dozen while they're still warm, right?  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  Of course.

In the event you're already baking or will be baking soon, I wanted to offer up our favorites.  If you've been around here for awhile, you'll see that our list hasn't changed much.  That's because these are the cream of the crop, in my opinion, and improving on the list would be tough.  That said, I'd love to hear what your favorite Christmas cookie is.  Would you tell me?  Please, please, please?

Almost all of these recipes below can also be found here.

First off- Lemon Bars. Oh, how I love them.  My infatuation began in our college cafeteria where I ate them for the first time.  Imagine how I now enjoy these in contrast with the albeit tasty cafeteria version (they actually baked them there, I believe).

Next, we have my mother-in-law's Caramel Popcorn.  Hers is the best I've ever had- well-coated, not grainy, just melt-in-your-mouth heavenly.

These Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies are my favorite cookie in the world and I'm not exaggerating.  I could eat them every day at every meal.  Boldly spiced and chocolaty, they are divine.

Ahhhh.  These are my mother's Chocolate Mint Brownies.  You can add green food coloring to the mint layer to make them more festive, but I like leaving them pure white so your unsuspecting company is wowed by the flavor punch.

Such a classic- Peanut Blossoms.  These were my favorite growing up.  I'd always eat the peanut butter cookie around the kiss, saving the chocolate for my last bite.  Hmm.  Come to think of it, that's exactly what I still do:-).

This Gingerbread Cookie recipe came from my mom.  She use to pipe white icing on her gingerbread men, giving them faces and little pants, shirts and shoes.  Several years ago, I decided to decorate them by dipping them in melted chocolate and then let the kids decorate with sprinkles.  As you may have noticed above, I love the chocolate-gingerbread combination, so these are my second favorite cookie.  And I can still give the illusion of little pants, shoes and hats.

Do you know about Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies?  Well, I am happy to introduce you.  The bark can totally stand alone as a treat (or sweet gift wrapped in a cellophane bag), but add them to chocolate cookies?  Be still my beating heart.

In the back of Beth Morre's Bible study book on Esther comes this recipe for Haman's Ears.  Soft, sweet cookie is wrapped around your choice of filling- we use apple butter and different flavors of jam.  Not only are they delicious, but they remind our family of the way God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Lastly, Homemade Marshmallows.  If you've never tried these, you really must.  They are surprising easy to make and taste so much better than the store bought variety.  And!  Your kids will love dropping one big giant marshmallow into their hot chocolate instead of those of itty-bitty ones.

Happy baking, loves!

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Thanksgiving at Home

We were unable to travel this year because of Jamey's work schedule.  While we did miss seeing extended family, we had a wonderful time with friends and my cousin's family.

I *love* hosting big meals. Yes, it's a lot of work BUT if you let your guests pitch in and bring some of the food and if you don't set your house cleaning standards too high, it can be totally manageable and enjoyable.

Another thing that simplified things immensely this year is that we roasted our turkey the day before. My mother-in-law gave me excellent instructions and even lent me her oven roaster (which is now on my wish list).  We roasted the turkey on Wednesday afternoon and Jamey carved it Wednesday evening.  He commented on how well it went.  We realized it went well for a few reasons. One, we let it sit for over an hour so it wasn't so very hot to handle.  Two, it was less stressful because there weren't a zillion things going on in the kitchen at the same time.  And, three, the kids were already in bed and there were no conversations/visiting that he was missing out on while he was carving.

He placed the carved turkey pieces right in the insert of the roaster and we filled it halfway with the juices from the bird (reserving the rest for gravy).  We roasted a 20 pound turkey and all but a small bowl of it fit inside the 6 quart roaster (there were two layers).  Once the turkey had cooled, we placed it in the fridge.

The next day, I set the insert back in the roaster (with the lid on) two hours before we were planning to eat and set the temperature for 250 degrees.  Once I could tell it was heated through, I turned it back a bit.  The turkey was so nice and moist.  We are definitely going to do it this way again.  A big bonus is that it frees up oven space on the big day as well...and boy did we use it!  Here's what we had (please remember this wasn't all me)!

turkey
gravy
stuffing
streuseled sweet potatoes (recipe to come)
baked corn
green bean casserole
mashed potatoes (made by my cousin's 12-year-old son- they were awesome!)
brie and cranberries with crackers
applesauce
cranberry sauce/salad
chocolate swirl cheesecake
apple pie
chocolate pecan pie (recipe to come)
pumpkin pie
vanilla ice cream
sugared cranberries (recipe to come)

While the food was wonderful, it truly is the relationships and the air of thankfulness that really makes this holiday special.

To God be the glory, great things He has done. Pin It

Quick and Easy Homemade Pasta Skillet

This here is my busy-time-of-year-all-in-one-skillet-last-minute-little-prep-kid-pleaser-gift-to-you dinner.  I've been making it about once a week.  In fact, it's what I'm making tonight! I look ahead and decide which evening needs the quickest and easiest prep.  Often it's an evening Jamey works and I don't want to field all the dinner complaints by myself.  This meal elicits no complaints. It comes together fast and reminds me of a homemade, healthier version of hamburger helper (especially when you use your own tomato sauce, onion and local meats and cheeses).  Pair it with some green beans, peas, or green salad and some applesauce and you're all set to go.

Homemade Pasta Skillet

serves 6

1 pound ground beef, turkey, venison or sausage
1 large onion, chopped small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound (1 regular box) pasta (small shells or elbows), UNcooked
3 cups tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups water
2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper
2-3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

In a large (12-inch) skillet with lid, saute the ground meat and onions until the meat is just cooked through and the onions are tender.  Add garlic and saute another minute or two.  Add the uncooked pasta, tomato sauce, water, salt and pepper.  Stir everything together gently.  Cover tightly with the lid and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn down to medium-high heat to maintain a hard simmer.  Let cook, covered, for 15 minutes, occasionally shaking the pan a bit to mix the contents.  Test a piece of pasta for doneness, adding a little more time (and a little water if needed) if not al dente.  Once pasta is done, remove the skillet from the heat and add the mozzarella cheese.  Stir to combine and let the cheese melt. Place the whole skillet on the table and serve.

You're very welcome.

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Brace Yourself: Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

I regularly try new recipes but most don't make it anywhere close to being blog-worthy. Sure, they provide us with calories, vitamins and fill our bellies.  Most aren't awful. They're really fine. They're just...lack-luster- not something I want to bring here.  To share with you.

So when a recipe breaks through, please know that I'm sharing it because I love it.  And I hope that you will love it, too.

Enter these Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars.  I'm not even going to re-post the recipe because I didn't make any changes.  I made them just like she said.

When I came to the salted caramel sauce recipe part, though, I was a bit apprehensive.  I hadn't made caramel sauce like this before.  There was threat of burning.  I decided to try it anyway but document the steps (in case I did it right) to show you.  I'm a visual person and would've appreciated more step by step photos so I thought you might, too.  That said, don't be afraid of this caramel sauce.  Instead, prepare your arm for a work-out by giving it a good rub down first.  Also, make the sauce while the bars are baking so you can smell the reason why you're making the sauce and bulking up only one side of your body.  Switch arms, people, switch arms!

Since I'm sharing these photos, I think you know how it turned out.  This sauce is amazing. AND. The recipe yields over a pint so you'll have plenty (tons, actually) left over to top vanilla ice cream, dip apple slices into, you. name. it.  In fact, you could always make the sauce and drizzle it across your favorite apple pie.  Because that would be amazing, too.

Bake on, my friend, bake on.

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Nesting Spurts of Semi-Ridiculousness

One day last week, mid morning, I followed a link on facebook.  It was about making 30 days of freezer crock pot meals for busy, back to school days.  Hmm.

I tend to avoid crock pot recipes in general because 1) most crock pot meals are meat-based and two out of the five of us don't like meat and 2) I don't want to spend time in the morning (or evening, for that matter) putting things into the crock pot because it's often hard for me to get going in the morning- I don't need one more thing to do.

But freezer crock pot meals...that would mean thawing them the night before and just dumping them in the crock pot in the morning.  They would provide occasional meat meals for those of us to like meat.  They would provide me with a sense of control over meal planning which makes our busy fall seem less daunting.

Sadie and I printed out about seven of the recipes, made a grocery list and we headed out to the store. We got home around noon.  I told the kids they were on their own for lunch (they loved the idea of multiple snacks instead of lunch) and I set up shop.

Side note:  Sometimes, I feel like I am incredibly lazy (and I am) but then other times, I have these crazy notions and launch into adrenaline-driven activity.  There's no rhyme or reason to it.  I just have to ride the wave.

I set up a raw meat station, a veggie chopping station, a cheese station, and a bagging station. I got out my sharpie for labeling, lined up my recipes, elicited some kid-chopping help, and jumped in. Six weary hours later (the adrenaline wore off after the one and a half), I left the kitchen with 15 dinners prepped and in the freezer.

Then, for fear that I would forget what I froze and had available, I made a list for the side of the fridge with a few side ideas and what, if anything, I needed to have available to go with particular meals.  Yes, most are chicken-based.  Yes, using gallon freezer bags to freeze meals takes up very little freezer space (much less than 8x8 or 9x13 pans which is usually how I do it).  No, I have no idea how anything will taste since I haven't tried any of these before.  I basically followed her recipes except that for the Chicken Curry, instead of adding peas to the freezer bags, I'm going to add our frozen chopped spinach at the end of the cooking time.  Also, I'm going to add some frozen broccoli to the end of the Chicken Curry cooking time.

Some of the meals are contained in that box with some rolls and tortillas (to go with the meals) on top.  

Part of this has to do with the nesting phase I'm currently in.  Moving from summer life to homeschooling life is a pretty drastic change for me.  Instead of birthing a baby soon, I'm going to be birthing a school that needs to run semi-smoothly for all our sakes.

And so, I've been squirreling away food, purging and donating unwanted items, repainting rooms (notice the kitchen color change?), rearranging bedroom furniture, vaccuuming curtains (yes, it's a thing) and pulling our books together.

My prayer is that when it comes time to switch gears next week, I can quiet my mind and body and focus on the glorious task at hand- learning with my children.

Does anyone else nest when there isn't a baby involved?

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