Saturday, August 23, 2008

My Produce

Per request I am listing all the produce I got in my pickup this past Thursday and what I have done or am planning on doing with it.
Just in case you happen to be reading this and are not yet aware I joined a local organic produce buying club earlier this year. Here is an idea of what we get (pickup is every two weeks) and how we consume it:

Romaine Lettuce - We eat in salad generally at every dinner meal. Other than the fruit this is one of the fastest things we go through (at least lately with my in-laws here and five of us eating dinner every night. When it is just me and Dave I usually don't have to buy more lettuce before next pickup)
Swiss Chard- I use like I would spinach: saute with garlic and olive oil, add into smoothies, add to sauce for sphagetti or lasagna, steam and then sneak into things like soup and casserole (I like to "hide" veggies in meals to get Dave and Luke to eat without complaint).
Zucchini- Dave's mom makes a yummy zucchini soup so we will use our zucc's for this (includes zucc's, potatoes, laughing cow cheese..), also a veggie I steam, puree, and add to sauce, or good sliced and sauteed in oil with some Italian herbs.
Carrots- Luke and I eat raw with hummus or Gerrie's dip recipe, also steam and serve, add to soups or casseroles, or another veggie I hide in my sauce.
Plum Tomatoes- Add to salads or eat with dip or hummus
Cremini Mushrooms- Dave loves these sauteed and many times we will prepare and serve over chicken or steak. I also add these to casseroles or chop and add to sauce. Also great in salad.
Alfalfa Sprouts- Used in salads and sandwiches
Celery- Yummy snack with omega peanut butter, in veggie dip, use in veggie based soups, saute or steam and add to casseroles, add into tuna or egg salad which we eat on sandwiches.
Green Beans- One of the few veggies Dave's mom will eat so I will save these for when they are here for dinner and steam with some butter and herbs to serve with dinner.
Sugar Peas- I eat these raw good with hummus! I might try something different and look up a recipe for them.
Cantaloupe- One of Luke's favorites this will go quickly
Oranges- I will either juice in the morning or eat whole as snack.
Plums- a yummy snack one of my favs
Bananas- These go super fast. Luke eats a banana a day plus I often make smoothies with these (see my favorite smoothie recipe below).

Starting next pickup we will also be having the option of purchasing things like eggs, olive oil, and free range beef. I am very excited about this because these are all organic products that we consume already (other than the beef which I would like to include but have a hard time finding sometimes). Even bigger bonus is that the eggs, for instance, are $.50 cheaper per dozen than what I pay now in the grocery store!

2 comments:

Denise Punger MD IBCLC said...

Thanks Jen. I like how you "color coded" your list.

Anonymous said...

Hiding vegies in meals...brilliant idea!