Hello! Tomorrow I will be picking up our 3rd CSA Box from Underwood Farms in Moorpark, California. So far we love it! It really is forcing my family to eat more produce and less processed stuff, and it's a fun way to try new recipes. Every Tuesday afternoon I pick up the box. That afternoon & evening I immediately tackle prepping the food. This includes washing the lettuce, cutting up fruit we will eat right away, and prepping veggies. With the veggies washed, cut & ready to go I am more likely to use them. My days & weeks are extremely busy. Luckily I've been able to fix the veggies as I go along throughout the week, but with not much time on my hands, I found myself at 5pm getting ready to fix dinner & thinking what am I going to do with this stuff?! Today I took the time to plan ahead and look up a recipe, with the eggplant being the focus for our meal tonight. Wow what a difference in the quality and tastiness of the dish when I take time to plan! I chose this quick and easy Rachael Ray recipe. My husband and I are not huge eggplant fans, so I thought this would be a great way to incorporate it without it being the dominating flavor. I modified the recipe slightly based on what I had on hand and also included a cherry pepper from the box to kick the flavor up a notch. As Rachael would say, Yummo!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/fettuccini-with-garden-vegetables-and-greens-recipe/index.html
This got me thinking, if I prepare for each week like this, I would lessen the stress I put on myself every night as dinnertime approaches, and we would have much tastier experiences. So, I am going to attempt to plan out my meals for the next week every Monday night. The veggies I am receiving in the box are posted and I am ready to dive in to a new week. Hopefully this will also help fellow Underwood CSA lovers plan their meals as well. I should also preface this meal planning by saying we are a family of four, including a 2.5 year old and a 10 month old infant. That does affect some of the planning as the baby is not eating everything yet (she doesn't have any teeth yet!) and my toddler can be picky. I like to fix easy to make meals, and love things my husband and I can also have the next day for lunch. I also hope to do some freezer meals in the future. At this point I am also just focusing on planning dinners. I know some meal plans go the whole 9 yards and include breakfast lunch & snacks. This simple mama is not ready for that yet! Baby Steps. Ok, so here we go!
Week of August 15th:
1 Yellow Sweet Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Purple Bell Pepper
1 Hungarian Bell Pepper
1 Black Beauty Bell Pepper
1 Red Leaf Lettuce
1 bunch Japanese Turnips
1 bunch Mizuna
1 bunch Bok Choy
1 Saticoy Melon
1 Galia Melon
1 Ambrosia Melon
1 Hass Avocado
1 bunch French Radish
1 Cherokee Heirloom Tomato
My immediate thoughts: Stuffed Peppers & what the heck is Mizuna?! We will eat the Melons as is, no recipe needed. When I prep a melon, I use a melon baller and scoop out the entire thing, storing the balls in a container in the fridge. My teething baby especially likes the cold melon on her gums. I use the most ripe melon first, and do not ball the others until ready to serve. I also do not need a recipe for the avocado - that will be gone the first day served with eggs for breakfast. The tomato will also be eaten right away either on sandwiches or as a snack. I will immediately wash & prep the Red Leaf Lettuce. Some I will keep whole for putting on sandwiches, and some I will cut up & put in a large salad bowl. I will also include some Mizuna in the salad. I will also cut up all of the radishes, placing some in the salad. Last week I had way too many radishes. I need to find something else to do with them. So, my recipes will need to focus on the peppers, turnips, mizuna, bok choy & radishes.
TUESDAY AUGUST 16th:
Green Beans (From last weeks box) tossed with soy sauce & sesame seeds
Chicken Breasts
Salad (I have some radishes & corn left from last week I will be tossing in this salad. Plus my toddler will eat a corn on the cob.)
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17th:
Braised Radishes
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/braised-radishes-recipe/index.html
Fish Sticks (Yes, we do occasionally eat more "convenient" foods that my toddler likes too!)
Salad
THURSDAY AUGUST 18th:
Slow Cook a Whole Chicken
Pasta tossed with Chicken, Mizuna, tomato, onion, & garlic (much like the Rachael Ray recipe mentioned in the beginning of this post.
FRIDAY AUGUST 19th:
Marinated Wild Alaskan Salmon (frozen - from Costco - so easy!)
Black Beans (Prepared ahead of time - I soaked & slow cooked a huge batch, placing some in the freezer to use later.)
Bok Choy - cooked with olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper
SATURDAY AUGUST 20th:
EAT OUT!!!
SUNDAY AUGUST 21st:
Sauteed Japanese Turnips
http://afridgefulloffood.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/05/millsap-farms-csa-sauteed-japanese-turnips.html
Chicken Alfredo & Pesto French Bread Pizza (using the Slow Cooker Chicken.)
http://family.go.com/food/recipe-876968-chicken-alfredo-and-pesto-french-bread-pizza-t/
MONDAY AUGUST 22nd:
*I try to make Mondays "Meatless Mondays."
Make a salad with any leftover veggies.
Morningstar Farms Veggie or Blackbean Burgers (We usually have both in the freezer.)
Sweet Potato Fries
So, I just finished all this planning & I forgot all about the BELL PEPPERS! We're getting 5 of them! It's 11:52pm & I'm tired! Guess we'll just cut some up for the salad, throw some in the pasta dish & use some for snacks. Goodnight & have a great week!
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