August 2012 Farm CSA Share and Recipes

Leftovers from July:
Week 3:

• around 1 lb young broccoli [most got eaten in lunches. A few got thrown out when they turned yellow and bitter]
• around 1 lb snow and sugar snap peas [eaten in various lunches and snacks]
• 1 green garlic [I used it somewhere... Not sure... Grater Tots maybe?]

Bonus Box:

• celery (minus one rib I ate in a lunch) [I ate a few more ribs before Hubby threw it out because they were "soft." Which I can still toss into a crockpot meal. Argh!]
• 1 bunch Red Kale [smoothies]
• 1 bunch radishes [Hubby threw them out. Argh!]
• 1 bunch yellow carrots [ate in lunches and random recipes and such]
• 1 cucumber [ate it with salt. Yum!]
• 1 avocado [Fed half to Baby. Z and I shared the other half with salt and garlic powder sprinkled on top! ]
• 1 apricot [ate it]
• 2 red plums [ate them]
• 0.5 lb Rainier cherries [used in Cherry-Pomegranate Limeaid freezer pops and Cherry-Baby Mash, Week 1]
• 1 mango [used in Raspberry Smoothies for Mama, Week 1]

Week 4

• roughly 0.5 lb Rainier cherries [used in Cherry-Pomegranate Limeaid freezer pops and Cherry-Baby Mash, Week 1]
• 1 lb Summer squash [made more Squished Squash for Baby, Week 2]
• 1 head cabbage (very small head of purple cabbage) [still working on it]
• 1 Walla Walla sweet onion [still have it]
• 1.25 lb broccoli (minus a few florets that went into a lunch) [went into Bacon Egg and Cheese Muffins]
• 1 head lettuce (a little over half left) [Ate in salads]
• 1 bunch Collard Greens [made Curried Collard Greens]
• 3 containers raspberries [made into Raspberry Smoothies for Mama, Week 1]

August

Week 1:

• 1 lb assorted squash [Failure Brownies, Week 2; more Squished Squash.]
• 1 lb green beans [Butter Beans and in lunches]
• 1 kohlrabi (freakishly huge) [Orange Mashed Potatoes, Week 3]
• .7 lb carrots [lunches and various things]
• 1 bunch scallions [gave to friend]
• 1 cabbage (wibbly leaves) [gave to friend]
• 1 head lettuce (romaine) [gave to friend]
• 1 bunch greens (kale) [smoothies]
• 2 containers raspberries [smooshed ones went into Raspberry Smoothies, rest into random lunches]
• 1 container blueberries [Blueberry Mash, Week 2]

Bought: 4 potatoes, 1 lime, 4 purple yams

Made: Purple Yam Sweet Potater Tots, Cherry-Baby Mash, Cherry-Pomegranate Limeaid Freezer Pops, Raspberry Smoothies for Mama, Butter Beans (I added a little bit of water to some cut green beans, covered in a microwave-safe dish, and nuked for 3 minutes. Added butter and salt.) 

Cherry-Baby Mash and Cherry-Pomegranate Limeaid Freezer Pops

For the Cherry-Pomegranate Limeaid freezer pops and Cherry-Baby Mash, I just pitted a little over a pound of Rainier cherries, microwaved them with 1/4 c water, covered, for 3 minutes. Then I pureed them up in my food processor, but a blender or immersion blender would work.

I spooned 3-4 spoonfuls into three of my rocket pop molds (I used regular drawer spoons. You don't have to be exact. I filled them roughly halfway.) I spooned the rest into my Baby Freezer Tray in three one-ounce holes and froze them to mix with other purees for added flavor.

I filled the rest of the rocket pop molds with Trader Joe's Pomegranate Limeaid Juice, and squirted a drop or two of lime juice in each one, then swirled it around with the stick from the tops of the molds, and froze them. Yum!

Raspberry Smoothies for Mama

(The Cherry-Baby Mash is in the little ice cube tray)

No real recipe. Just tossed in the rest of the unfrozen pureed kale and squash (maybe a cup, combined,) the rest of the still-frozen thrice-rejected Raspberry-Spinach baby cubes (6-8 ounces. I forgot to count,) all the leftover raspberries from the previous weeks plus smooshed ones from this week (somewhere around 3 cups, maybe,) the rest of my Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt (roughly a cup or so,) the leftover mango from the Bonus Box (Z had wanted to try some so Hubby chopped it up, then no one ate the rest,) and a splash of soy milk since I'm not getting enough protein lately. Oh, plus the juice from one lime, to cut the "greeny" flavor from all the greens.

Go ahead. Start singing "Raspberry Puree" to the tune of Prince's "Raspberry Beret." You know you want to. Go ahead. I'll wait.

I got roughly 4 and a half cups of smoothie, so poured them into 12-ounce servings in my 16-ounce Ball Freezer Jam jars. I kept one in the fridge (for my road trip the next day to visit Candy Girl from BentOnBetterLunches!) and froze the others. I didn't figure Z would like them, since they were highly seedy (raspberry seeds have great nutrients, so I kept them in) and not especially sweet with almost as much veggies as fruit in there. So I didn't bother freezing any in Z-sized servings. 

Well, she showed me! 

Turns out she'd chosen one of my frozen jars for dessert with Daddy while I was away visiting, and chipped her way through half of it. Finished off the rest the next day for a cool-me-down afternoon snack!

Week 2:

• 2 lb summer squash [Grater Tots; Blue Smoothies, Week 3]
• 0.5 lb carrot [Orange Mashed Potatoes, Week 3; Failure Brownies]
• 0.5 lb green beans [lunches and Butter Beans]
• 1 kohlrabi [made Fennel-Carrot-Potato Baby Mash, Week 4]
• 1 bunch beets
• 1 bunch greens (kale) [gave to friend]
• 1 head lettuce [gave to Nana]
• 1 cabbage [gave to Nana]
• 2 c blueberries [made Blueberry Mash and Blue Smoothies]
• 0.5 lb cherries [ate some, more Cherry-Baby Mash with the rest]

Bought: Bing cherries

Made: Grater Tots, more Squished Squash, Butter Beans (green beans chopped and steamed in microwave, then drizzled with butter and salt!) Blueberry Mash, Curried Collard Greens. And Failure Brownies (shown in a lunch here. Will not be posting recipe, as the failure was in the end result, and not in my inept (and thus fun to read about) cooking.) [Update: I lied. Use this link to learn a lesson and try the really good recipe I flubbed up!]

Week 3:

• 1.5 lb summer squash (sliced some up on salads, still have some.)
• 0.5 lb green bean [gave to friend]
• 0.9 lb broccoli [kept some, gave the rest to friend]
• 1 head cabbage [gave to friend]
• 1 fennel [made Fennel-Carrot-Potato Baby Mash, Week 4]
• 1 tomato [ate half each in two different lunches]
• 1 head lettuce [gave to friend]
• 1 bunch greens (I chose kale, still have it)
• 2 containers blueberries (filled a 1-pound plastic berry clamshell) [mostly eaten]
• 3 shiro plums [Baby Chum, week 4]

Bought: A mini watermelon, a golden beet, Rosemary Bread, mini bananas, assorted "P is for Poopies" fruits (Plums, Pears, Peaches, [didn't get Prunes though,] and aPricots - Doctor's orders. Baby's having an... err.. "hard" time voiding.) 

Made: Orange Mashed Potatoes,  Blue Smoothies (see below,) more Cherry-Baby Mash, Bacon Egg and Cheese Muffins, Plum-Pear-Banana Baby Mash (just like it sounds - tossed a pear, two plums, and some mini bananas into my Boon Mush and whizzed it around until smooth enough!)

Blue Smoothies

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh blueberries, or 4 cups frozen
1 bunch purple kale
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used Chobani.)
juice from 1/2 lime or lemon (to cut the green flavor from the kale)
Any random fruit or veggie scraps you have lying around - I added some squash
Optional: honey or agave nectar

Directions:
In blender, food processor, or with immersion blender, blend all ingredients well! Add honey as needed to sweeten.

I was able to make four frozen ice-cream-cone shaped popsicles, three squeezy-tube ice pops, over half of an 8-ounce freezer jar to freeze for her to chip at with a spoon, and a mostly-filled re-used frosting tub for me to drink out of (couldn't find any lids for my 16-ounce freezer jars.)

Week 4: 

• 1.5 lb summer squash (still working on it)
• 0.5 lb green beans (still working on them)
• 0.5 lb broccoli (steamed and ate for dinner one night)
• 1 cucumber (Hubby stole ate it.)
• 2 walla walla onion (still have them)
• 1 kohlrabi (still have)
• 1 fennel  [made Fennel-Carrot-Potato Baby Mash]
• 1 lettuce (still working on it)
• 1 bunch greens (I chose Collard Greens, still have them)
• 0.6 lb tomatoes (ate one, still have the other)
• 1 container strawberries (Z ate them)
• 4 plums/pluots (P is for Poopies Baby Mash)
• BONUS: 1 container U-Pick cherry tomatoes for each share member (omnomnom)
• BONUS: 1 dozen bonus eggs for each share member, if you saw the email and brought your own carton. Scoooore!

Picked: a bunch of U-Pick Rainbow Chard, and Kale (free to all share members - shown top left)

Bought: Rosemary Bread, another pluot, some baking apples, (Early Golds, I think,) some potatoes (for the Fennel-etc Mash,) avocado, lime, and an apricot.

Made: Fennel-Carrot-Potato Baby Mash, Baby Chum (Rainbow Chard-Plum baby mash,) and Plum-aPricot-Pluot (or "P is for Poopies") Baby Mash (same as Week 3. Cut out the pits/seeds, and whizzed them into mash in my Boon Mush.)