Week One - CSA Happiness

 

EEEEEE!!!!!  CSA has started again - look at all this yummy produce! Time to get back cooking!

 

CSA 2016 - Week One Plan and Shopping List

In less than a week, I get to pick up my first CSA box for the 2016 growing season. I am super excited to get back to the delicious fresh vegetables and fruit every week and I am excited to get back to really paying attention to my nutrition.

My *body* goal this summer - Be in the kind of shape where I feel like I could look good running in just a sports bra...not that I would. I also want to workout EVERY DAY - even if it is just a dog walk.

Now that that is out of the way, let us get to the list of goodies for week one. I'll post a picture of all the pretties on Saturday when I pick up the box!

The list:

• Avon Spinach
• Assorted Head Lettuce
• Surrey Arugula
• Asparagus
• Rhubarb
• Pak Choi
• German Butterball Potatoes
• Early Glow Strawberries
• Spring Onions
• French Breakfast Radishes

 The Plan:

Spinach

• Smoothies
• Baked Spinach and Asparagus Risotto

 Assorted Head Lettuce

• Salads

Surrey Arugula

•  Cous Cous Salad with Arugula, Radish and Feta 

Asparagus

• Risotto above
• Grilled (do a kabob with these, and the grilled potatoes with onions)

 Rhubarb

• Marmalade (see From Asparagus to Zucchini for recipe p.123)
• Cinnamon Crisp Rhubarb Muffins
  

Pak Choi

• Creamy Choi Soup (see Farmer John for recipe p. 81)

 Potatoes

• Grilled with onions

 Radishes

• With Salads
• Radish Leaf Pesto - Pasta with meatballs

 
Shopping List:

• Scallions (green onions) - 8
• Grated Parmesan cheese - 1 cup +
• Chicken stock - 1 cup
• Ranch Dressing
• capers
• lemon zest
• 1/4 pound feta
• kabob to grill
• buttermilk
• orange extract
• fresh ginger
• sour cream
• pine nuts
• meatballs
• 4 oranges
• 1 lemon

Week of April 16, 2016 - OMG am I busy....let's plan some meals!

Work has been unreal. Pretty much all year. Pretty much non-stop.

Because of that, I haven't been as good about my planning meals or eating in general. Time to "right this ship" and get back to it. Hopefully, other things, like my running mo-jo will return with a plan in place....

Saturday
Breakfast - Yogurt with granola
Morning Snack - Green smoothie
Lunch - Fish Filet and Sweet potato
PM Snack - Pineapple and cottage cheese
Dinner - Wedding food

Sunday
Breakfast - Pineapple and cottage cheese
Morning Snack - almonds and baby bell
Lunch - Cliff Bar (meeting out in home town)
Dinner - Butternut Squash Chili (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/37014028165924746/)

Monday 
Breakfast - Smoothie
Morning Snack - Apple
Lunch - Chili left overs, spinach salad
PM Snack - Almonds and baby bell
Dinner - Chili left overs, spinach salad

Tuesday
Breakfast - Smoothie
Lunch - Out with Mom
Dinner - Avocado Toast and Tomatoes

Wednesday 
Breakfast - Smoothie
Snack - Yogurt
Lunch - Chili Leftovers, Spinach Salad
Snack - Apple
Dinner - Sweet potato and green rice bowl (http://cookieandkate.com/2015/vegan-sweet-potato-green-rice-burrito-bowls/)

Thursday
Breakfast - Yogurt with granola
Snack - Melon and Cottage Cheese
Lunch - Bowl leftovers
Snack - Pretzels and PB
Dinner - Bowl left overs

Friday
Breakfast - smoothie
Snack - fruit and cottage cheese
lunch bowl left overs
Snack - Apple and pb
Dinner - OUT

Lazy Sunday - Jan. 17

Mmmmmm. My house smells divine with a warming soup in the crockpot. Best kitchen purchase ever??

Here are my meals today:

Breakfast - Eggs, Avocado, and Tomatoes (w/ coffee, obviously!)

Morning Snack - Plain Greek Yogurt with a dash of Honey, Frozen Cherries and Chia Seeds

Lunch: Lentil Sloppy Joes

Dinner: Pasta e Fagioli soup and salad

Plan for January 17-23, 2016

Last week wasn't too bad. I mostly followed my plan, but work did make it MUCH harder... Here is the plan for this week:

Sunday:

Breakfast: Avocado and Egg
Snack: Yogurt and chia seeds
Lunch: Left over sloppy joes
Snack: Apple and PB
Dinner: Salad and Pasta e fagioli soup (http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2013/04/slow-cooker-vegetarian-pasta-e-fagioli-soup.html)

Monday:
Breakfast: Clif Bar and fruit
Snack: Apple and pb
Lunch: Salad with left over sloppy joes
Snack: Almonds, cheese  and grapes
Dinner:Salad and soup

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Clif bar and apple
Snack: Fruit and yogurt
Lunch: Salad with soup
Snack: Veggies and Hummus
Dinner: Squash risotto and Salad (http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2011/12/farro-risotto-with-acorn-squash-and-kale.html

Wednesday:
Breakfast: PB Toast with Apple
Snack: Yogurt with Chia Seeds
Lunch: Salad with soup left over
Snack: Almonds, Cheese, and Grapes
Dinner: Salad and Risotto

Thursday:
Breakfast: Avocado toast
Snack: Pretzels apple and pb
Lunch: Salad with either soup or risotto
Snack: Veggies and Hummus
Dinner: Rice and Stir Fried veggies

Friday:
Breakfast: Boiled eggs and apple
Snack: Yogurt with chia seeds
Lunch: Left over rice and veggies
Snack: Almonds, Cheese and Grapes
Dinner: Clean the fridge or take out

Saturday:
Breakfast: Eggs and freezer tamales
Snack: sweet potatoes
Lunch: Remaining left overs from the week
Snack: Hummus and Veggies
Dinner: more cleaning of the fridge

Maybe a little late....but I'm here!

So, it is now 10 days in to the new year, and my meal planning hasn't yet started....oh the joy of working my tail off in 2016!

That said, here is a shot at this week:

Sunday:

Lunch: Left over Pasta
Snack: Apple and PB
Dinner: Vegetarian Squash Chili (http://cookieandkate.com/2012/butternut-squash-chipotle-chili-with-avocado/)

Monday:
Breakfast: PB Toast with Apple
Snack: Cuties
Lunch: Salad with left over Chili
Snack: Almonds, cheese  and grapes
Dinner:Salad and Chili

Tuesday:
Breakfast: PB Toast with Apple
Snack: Fruit and yogurt
Lunch: Salad with Chili
Snack: Veggies and Hummus
Dinner: Lentil Sloppy Joes and Salad (https://www.instacart.com/store/whole-foods/lists/eDsUEE/lentil-sloppy-joes)

Wednesday:
Breakfast: PB Toast with Apple
Snack: Yogurt with Chia Seeds
Lunch: Salad with Sloppy Joe Leftovers
Snack: Almonds, Cheese, and Grapes
Dinner: Salad and Sloppy Joes

Thursday:
Breakfast: PB Toast with apple
Snack: Pretzels and orange
Lunch: Salad with either Sloppy Joe or Chili (freeze any chili leftovers today)
Snack: Veggies and Hummus
Dinner: Rice and Stir Fried veggies

Friday:
Breakfast: Boiled eggs and apple
Snack: Yogurt with chia seeds
Lunch: Left over rice and veggies
Snack: Almonds, Cheese and Grapes
Dinner: Clean the fridge or take out

Saturday:
Breakfast: Eggs and freezer tamales
Snack: sweet potatoes
Lunch: Remaining left overs from the week
Snack: Hummus and Veggies
Dinner: more cleaning of the fridge

Alright....time to see how this goes! I am finalizing my "instacart" order right now...LAZY, I know. But it does seem to be a great way to limit impulse purchase and scope out the items that are on sale.

December Update and 2016 Reboot

So...I kind of stopped documenting my CSA successes. Part of it, the amount of veggies I was enjoying became OVERWHELMING. Now, this doesn't mean that I didn't love the experience. It also does not mean that this was a one year thing for me. I actually do plan to "renew" my CSA membership in the coming year. YAY!

What this does mean is that I need to recommit to planning my meals and making the most of the ingredients I have lying around.

This is where the idea for the 2016 reboot becomes important. Here are the "rules" of my new blogging goals:

• Blog at least two times per week. 
• Blog post number one will happen on (or about) Saturday.
• Blog post number one will contain my meal plan for the week. If it is a CSA week, that will include pictures of what is in my CSA box and what I plan to do with that ingredient. 
• Blog post number one will also schedule my meals for the week - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Hopefully this will allow me to truly make sure I make use of every ingredient AND also avoid eating out as much as possible. 
• Blog post number two will recap the successes and failures of each given week. I will also include all my pictures AND thoughts on how a given recipe or idea worked out. I will be working on this post on an ongoing basis, so hopefully it will be ready to run Friday/Saturday. 

I have one more CSA box for 2015, so I will give this idea a shot this coming week. I am also going to terse out a meal plan starting tonight. Basically, this way I can start to get into this habit before January one, making this new way of eating THAT MUCH MORE easy to do....Here we go!