Comedy of Risotto

We made the risotto dish again last night since it is pretty easy.
I really wanted to go to the gym after work on Tuesday since I hadn't been in a while. As I was leaving work I texted Bert: "going to the gym. we need to defrost chicken." He knows that means I forgot to take some out that morning, and when he gets home he needs to start running the single breast under water (it takes about 30minutes and a lot of water to do it this way).  As I walked to the gym I remembered that we didn't have any starch for the meal, and we had leftover ingredients to make the risotto again. This time I called him, because I have a dumbphone and typing instructions into a text would take forever. I had to leave a message: "Hi hon, let's make the risotto again tonight. The kale is already washed and ready to use, and the tomato sauce is in a Tupperware container in the fridge. I hope to be home by 6, but if you can start that around 6, then we can eat around 7. Love you! "
After my work-out my sugar was low, so I couldn't race home. Instead I sat on a bench and drank Gatorade. I texted him again, "my sugar is low, need to wait before I walk home." When my sugar felt better I started to walk home. I decided I should probably text him again so he knows I didn't pass out in a ditch or something: "I am getting close" at 6:30.

I get home finally and the first thing he says to me is "I failed." And I know that means, he is just starting dinner.  Oh well. The onion was chopped and hitting the pan as I walked through the door. Oh well.

Where did the communication break down? Well, he defrosted the chicken without a problem. But the phone call did me in. For some reason that night he wasn't able to reach his VM. He thought the message might be from his mom and he would call her later when he got home. I was vaguely concerned that I didn't hear anything back from him through all of this, but not enough for me to panic. NBD. When he got the text that I was on my way home, he looked at his phone and realized the VM service was working and I had left a message.... with specific directions.

We ate a little later that night, but it was fine as I had time to freshen up before we sat down.

I have today off so I changed up my lunch. I had one tortilla wrap in the fridge, plenty of lentils, kale and cheese leftover. I made a quesadilla for lunch and cooked the rest of the kale, knowing we could eat it as a side later that night.

Sunday through Tuesday we should have served more veggies with the risotto to help use up the vegetables. Basically we didn't make a dent in the box those nights! Rookie mistake.

Stuffed peppers

Tonight we made stuffed peppers with the risotto from last night.
Bert actually did everything. He cut and cleaned the peppers, put the rice mix inside and popped it in the oven. The afterthought was maybe we should have precooked the peppers before stuffing them. I think they came out fine, he thought they were still too firm.
Steamed the last two ears of corn. (Yesterday's was so much better even if it was slightly under steamed.)
Stir fried the chicken with everyday seasoning, which does have 80mg of sodium per 1/4 teaspoon, in case you were wondering the sodium content. Trader Joes does have 21 Seasoning Salute which is without salt, but it is more fun to use the seasoning with the grinders.

For lunch I had some roasted beets, last week's leftover lettuce, pickles, Siggi's vanilla yogurt and peach. The Siggi's yogurt is really good! I think I'll buy it when it is on sale.

Eggplant and Cantaloupe!

I had to work today, so Bert picked up our box.

2 tomatoes
1 bunch kale
4 giant beets
2 Japanese eggplant
4 ears corn
3-4 cucumber
3-4 summer squash/ zucchini
1/2 pint blueberries
1 mini Cantaloupe
1 bag of green beans

For dinner we made Baked Risotto with Greens (Kale)
Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/
Although the recipe says "1 bunch of greens" my bunch was much bigger than the 4 cups suggested by the recipe. I realized that after I washed and chopped everything, so I put the rest of the kale in a plastic gallon bag for later. That will make prep easier next time!

Steamed corn for 2 minutes (maybe needed another minute.)

I also prepared roasted beets for my lunch. I made lentils with some kale pieces... and burned them.

The beets taste so good!

I think I'll bring the cucumbers to work. I certainly don't need any more pickles!

We finally tried the pickles tonight. They are okay. Kind of acidic. I think they would taste better with more sugar to balance the acid.

Too many cucumbers puts me in a pickle

On my day off Friday I made my first batch of refrigerator pickles. I used advice from two different recipes, one for bread/ butter pickles from Hannaford and one from chow.com.

I used my mandolin to slice 4 cucumbers. 1 small, 3 medium of different varieties. Sliced to 1/4 inch.
I used about 1 tablespoon of large granule sea salt and salted the cucumbers. Placed into the fridge for two hours.

Then I rinsed the cucumbers and placed them in Mason Jars. I found three jars with lids. The cucumbers more than filled the jars. I ate a bunch of salted ones plain, where were pretty good.

For the brine I first used 1 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon peppercorn and 1 tablespoon mustard seed. I toasted the seeds, then added the vinegar and sugar, boiled for a few minutes until sugar was dissolved. I then poured the brine over the cucumbers... and it wasn't enough! So I repeated the recipe, and poured again. Almost enough, so I settled for less than perfect.

Cooled them for about 1 hour, then put on the lids, shook them up and put them in the fridge for 24 hours. Now I just have to wait, taste, and perfect the recipe.

My mom offered to bring some pickles when she visits. No thank you!

Cucumbers to spare

This is the week of the cucumber. Maybe I will make some refrigerator pickles; however, Bert pointed out that the spices I need to buy are more expensive than a jar of pickles. I also don't know if I have many glass jars to put the pickles in. Maybe I'll throw out the old pickles in the fridge. I probably bought them for the 4th of July last year.

This week's box
2 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 bunch arugula
1 head of leaf lettuce
1 bunch of beets
1 bunch kale
1/2 pint of blueberries
3 ears of corn
5-6 cucumbers

We made corn the first night. It was so good. We boiled the water, added the corn and took the ears out when the water returned to a boil. The corn was perfect.

We ate summer squash two nights in a row and kale tonight.

I've been taking lettuce/arugula blend to work every day with roasted beets, cucumber, and lentils.

I finished the berries with breakfast.

I have one small zucchini left, some beet greens, and 4 cucumbers.

Kale chips

Tonight I finished the lentils, 1/2 of the beet greens, and the roasted beets. Bert tried to finish the Swiss Chard. He ate the leftover Greens Pizza from last night. Half way through the "slice" he told me that he doesn't think we should do this next year (the CSA) since he doesn't like Swiss Chard... or beets. I tried telling him that he should try something at least 15 times before making a decision, because that's about how many tries it takes to acquire the taste of a new food. He then told me that we have an agreement that he only has to try something 3times before making a decision. I vaguely remember this agreement, but am pretty sure it was strictly about texturized vegetable protein as a meat substitute. (He eats tofu fine).

He did offer to drive me to the Farmer's Market every Saturday to pick up fruits and vegetables instead of getting a box. I told him we won't make any decisions until next year since we never know what next summer is going to look like. For now, we have a commitment until fall.

I guess I'll be eating the vegetables myself, and possibly sharing with my co-worker's if I can't get through the veggies quick enough. I certainly can't eat squash and zucchini every day for an entire summer, which right now is about the only thing he eats consistently from the box (and he will eat kale),

I prepared kale chips tonight. Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/kale-crunch/
Washed the kale, but didn't dry it. Chopped it. I used my Misto spray with canola oil to spray the kale. The bunch formed about 3 layers on the sheet. If I was smart, I would have sprayed each layer separately. I then put in the oven for 10minutes or so, I didn't set a timer. The top was crunchy looking and browning when I took them out to add the Parmesan cheese (front the green shaker). I took them out of the oven after maybe 5mintues.  At this point I decided I should have tossed them around a little during the baking process. Oh well. I tossed them and put them back in a little longer, maybe another 5 minutes, but the oven was off (since I thought I was done), so I just put them in the warm oven a little longer. Finally, I took them out for real. They are so good for snacking!! Great use for extra kale. Not sure I would buy a bunch though just to make chips.

Green Pizza

For lunch I have been eating lettuce with cucumber, lentils, roasted beets, low fat feta cheese and low fat Caesar dressing. It is a very filling and tasty salad, but I still eat a peach and maybe some crackers with it.

Tonight I made the Green Pizza from a previous post. I cut up one small onion and 3 cloves of garlic. I used Swiss Chard. I trimmed the stalks from the leaves and sauteed the stalks with the onion and garlic first. After those were tender, I added the damp leaves and covered. I tossed once. I decided to not use the pie pan this time, too many dishes. I was able to put the pan I used for sauteeing into the oven after spreading pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese on top. While that finished off in the oven I prepared a chicken breast for stir fry.  By the time this was all done it was 7:30p. I probably started around 6:20pm.  Luckily I had a snack of melba toasts and hummus before I started!

I still have so many vegetables left!
1 large zucchini
1 small summer squash
1 large cucumber
1 bag green beans
1 bunch of kale
Enough lettuce and a small cucumber for lunch tomorrow
1/2 bag of beet greens
Leftover roasted beets (maybe 2-3 servings)
Leftover squash from Monday
Leftover pizza from tonight

I think I might try refrigerator pickles with the remaining cucumber. I will probably have to gift the squash and maybe the green beans to Bert's mom before I get a new box on Sunday!

The tomatoes and blueberries are coming!

To recap last week, by the time we picked up a new box we had 1 zucchini, 1 bunch beet greens, a small handful of arugula and 1 bunch radishes left. The radishes had gone soft, so I threw those out.

We picked up our box a day early since we were out of town on Sunday. This box
1 small head of leaf lettuce
2 zucchini
3 summer squash
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Kale
1 bag green beans
1 bunch beets (5 with greens)
3 cucumbers
2 small tomatoes
1 pint blueberries
1 sprig basil

I saw corn at the market which is super exciting! I would have totally bought some if I knew I was going to be able to eat it that day, but we were heading out, so saved my cash for next time.

We came home late Monday. Bert was ready to order Chef Chow's Chinese take-out, but I convinced him 1) we needed to eat the veggies 2) I could make something faster than delivery. I sauteed last week's zucchini and 1 summer squash. At the end added 1 can of diced tomatoes and some basil. Served over whole wheat pasta. Sauce could have been a little thicker. Probably should have used more oregano. I seasoned with Everyday seasoning and some salt when the squash was dry, before adding to the pan.

For lunch I had lettuce with cucumber and tomato. Had cottage cheese and hummus with Kashi vegetable crackers. Rounded out the meal with a peach. I ate lunch at 2pm and was still hungry by the time I got home for dinner.

Tonight I made a stir-fry with 1 zucchini, 1 squash and 1 block of firm tofu. Island Soyaki sauce from Trader Joe's provided some extra flavor. We served with Goya brown rice mix. Although it has a heart healthy stamp on it, it was very salty tasting. I prefer the plain Jane Uncle Ben's 10minute brown rice better.

To get ready for lunch tomorrow, I prepped lentils and roasted beets tonight. I burned the bottom lentils in the pot since I kind of forgot to check on them and did not set a timer. I remember checking on them and there was still a little bit of water left. I should have taken them off the heat at that point, but no, I thought I would keep them going to the end. I only thought to check on them when I smelled the hint of something burning. I was also multi-tasking, which is a challenge for me in the kitchen. I was busy carefully peeling the beets for roasting. I feel like Lady Macbeth. The beet juice is not washing from my hands very easily.

I hope I can get the burn marks out of my expensive stainless steel pot!

And Bert informed me that two of the peaches I bought at the store on Saturday are already showing mold spots! Such a bummer and a waste!

Mid-week cucumber and summer squash salad

Monday's work salad was dry without dressing, so for Tuesday's lunch I made an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing which paired well with the tomato, beets, lentils and lettuce. I can't tell if I am eating fewer calories with my homemade lunch or not. I know I have been starving after eating my salad and fruit, so started to eat pita chip crackers from Trader Joes.  I am certainly eating less added sugar by not eating the pineapple Chobani yogurt (the best flavor!), and yes, probably more controlled calories than the hot meals served in the cafeteria. I started eating more hot meals last August when the cafeteria rolled out the "green plate" entrées, which means they meet certain heart healthy guidelines for fat, salt and calorie content, although I am almost certain the portions used to make it a healthy plate are not the same portions served at the counter, but I digress.

Last night we made another salad. Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/fresh-summer-squash-cucumber-and-fennel-salad/
And I have a mandolin! This is the second time I have used the mandolin. The first time I made a breakfast casserole for my brother and sister-in-law and I sliced the potatoes with it.

I used a large squash and large cucumber. I had to dirty two bowls, because the first one I used just wasn't big enough for "folding." I also didn't have time to let the salad marinate since as usual, I came home from the gym, curled up on the floor with a low blood sugar, then decided to take a shower before starting dinner, by that time I was starving, so wasn't going to wait 30minutes. We also didn't make anything else but chicken with everyday seasoning. The salad was very lemony. I am not a big fan of raw summer squash, but it tasted okay with the lemon and mint. Not sure I would make it again. I am going to try it again Thursday for lunch, maybe marinating the salad will help balance the flavors.

Tonight I ate lunch for dinner. For lunch I went with two friends to Legal Crossing in Downtown. That meal (Garlic shrimp over homemade pasta) and drink was exceptionally good. Because I was drunk from the "cold tea" which was Allagash White mixed with some hard liquor, I craved ice cream for dessert. Bert was available, so we stopped by Ben and Jerry's. I had Gilly's SNL ice cream which was delicious.

I don't know if we are going to make it through this box! Still remaining:
Radishes
2 zucchini
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch beet greens
1 bunch kale
Few leaves of lettuce

I am still making my way through the beets. Two cooked ones left.

Week #3

I find myself eagerly awaiting 3:30pm on Sunday so we can head over to pick up our goodies and then make a menu for the week!
This week's box:
1 bunch of radishes with greens
1 bunch of arugula
1 head of red leaf lettuce
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 bunch kale
1 bunch beets with greens
2 summer squash
2 zucchini
2 small and 1 large cucumber
1 bag of green beans
1 fennel bulb

Plus we still have one zucchini from last week.

After shopping, I started by prepping the beets. I will eat those on my salad this week. I boiled them since I like them that way better than roasted, plus we were using the oven to make veggie pizza. Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/kale-pizza-and-other-thoughts/

We really liked it. I think next time I would render some bacon or Pancetta first, then cook the onions, garlic and greens. Tonight we ate it with pork with applewood rub. Not a great flavor combination, but at least it wasn't chicken with everyday seasoning! There were no real carbohydrates with this meal. I considered making some pasta crust, but I didn't have any milk to keep the pasta together We were also running out of burners.

I spent the remainder of evening making lentils to add some oomph to my salad and washing the lettuce. I used the beet water to make the lentils. Thought I would save some energy by using water that was already heated.

Fixing the kale

Last night we sauteed the kale. I washed and cut the leaves, first in half along the stem, then into 1inch strips. Added some oil to the pan, then the greens, then 1/2 cup of water. Bert kept an eye on it, sort of. Some of the leaves started to burn to the bottom, but he saved them. We could probably use a little more water next time. We sprinkled with lemon juice. We had leftover rice and stir-fry chicken.

For lunch today, I had more salad. Hahaha. I laugh because I am eating a lot of homemade salads these days and expect this will be the trend for the summer. Bert picked up frozen cooked shrimp, so I defrosted that for protein on the salad. We shelled the peas and boiled them for about 10minutes. I cooled them off a little and put them on my salad along with 1/2 of summer squash. Bert ate the peas with a little butter and his grocery store sandwich. I don't know why he eats those things.  Originally I asked him what he was having for lunch since I was having a salad. He didn't know, but was going to Walgreens for a Gatorade and was thinking about picking up some fruit there. Yes, Walgreens has fruit, some fresh, some pre-sliced melons in the grab-n-go section. I said, "why don't you just walk the two blocks to the grocery store and pick up real fruit?" Then I proceeded to make a list of things for him to pick up. I even said, "you could get one of those deli sandwiches even." A few moments later I had the idea of putting shrimp on the salad, so I added shrimp to the list. Unfortunately, I didn't specify that we would both have salad and shrimp and to cancel the sub. Oh well.

For supper tonight we sauteed one zucchini. I boiled the rest of the beet greens in water. Those two things didn't take long at all. While those were steaming I prepared the 10-minute brown rice. Bert fixed the chicken with salt and the everyday seasoning. Since my mom likes vinegar on her beets and boiled greens, I put a little red wine vinegar on our greens. I was able to mix some of the beet water with the rice, but it wasn't that noticeable, maybe I'll add more next time. Bert didn't like the greens with vinegar. I thought the meal was pretty good. The zucchini was perfect. How many more days can I eat chicken stir fry with everyday seasoning??

We made good progress today. Almost done with the vegetables. We have 1/2 summer squash, 1 zucchini, a few strawberries and enough lettuce for one to two more salads. I think we'll be done by the next pick-up Sunday!

Mid-week #2

Tonight I prepared the Swiss chard. I pulled it out of the fridge. The leaves were exceptionally soft and wilted. I wasn't sure if I could revive them, or if they were even edible. I had read somewhere that you can freshen your greens by bathing in ice water with some vinegar, so I did that. I chopped some onion and garlic and sauteed with the Swiss Chard stems. I read somewhere that the stems are tougher so need to be cooked longer than the greens. I was working solo with limited space so everything was cooking while I remembered I needed to start the rice and slice the Swiss chard leaves. The onion and stems were starting to burn just as Bert came home and the first thing I said to him was "I need some help here!" I didn't even give him a chance to tell me how hot it was outside. With the spare hand, I was able to slice the chard and put that with the stems. He finished stirring that while I prepared the chicken and turned off the rice before it burned in the pot.  Not easy!

I tasted the chard and it tasted too much like burned garlic. I sprinkled some lemon juice on it to see if that would help.

Bert said the garlic was a bit much, but overall the chard was not bad.
I added some fennel greens to my rice, which didn't really add much flavor, so maybe I should have cooked it with the rice the last few minutes of cooking (if I catch the rice in that time frame).

We finished the chard with better success than last time. Tomorrow the kale or the zucchini!

Second week

We left my parents place early on Sunday so we could get back in time to pick up my box of vegetables. We made it back with time to spare! The good thing to know is that if we miss a pick-up the food goes to Rosie's place, or a food shelter, or back to the farm for the pigs. (I can also request a change in day/location for pick-up, but the alternatives are not as convenient.)

The box
1 small bunch kale
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 bunch beets
1 head fennel
1 small bunch arugula
1 pint strawberries
1 bag of shell peas
2 zucchini
2 summer squash
1 head of green lettuce (not sure of the variety)

Bert went to the store and picked up butter and cottage cheese. I need the cottage cheese for my lunch and he needed the butter for our scallops.

Sunday night we had roasted beets and fennel per the recipe suggestion on the flyer.
Recipe here: https://stillmansfarm.wordpress.com/2013/06/29/roasted-beets-and-fennel/
This time I trimmed all of the beet greens off and washed/ rubbed the dirt from the beets. I cut them in quarters and started them in the oven at 400degrees. I then prepped the fennel. Cut off the stalks, then sliced the bulb. I still don't think I sliced the bulb right. I put the pieces in the oven after 10minutes lead time. I also added red potatoes we had on hand. They took the same amount of time (maybe quicker) than the beets. I roasted everything for another 30minutes. Maybe the beets were a little underdone. Bert fixed the scallops. The meal was okay. I think it needed some greens (of which I had plenty, but didn't use!) to round it out. The scallops were perfect and tasty! The more I talk to other people, the more I think I should have peeled the beets before I roasted them, oh well!

For lunch Monday I ate the leftovers from Friday (that we didn't eat Sunday as planned). We ate dinner out since we went to the Sox game.

The farm also recommended roasted beets on green salad, so I brought the leftovers to work today. Sprinkled olive oil and red wine vinegar on the greens, beets and fennel. That was very good. Ate the Kashi crackers with cottage cheese and the tomatoes with the cottage cheese. Yummy!

For dinner tonight, Tuesday: I forgot to defrost some chicken, but luckily Bert wasn't coming home for dinner, so I could keep things easy. I washed the arugula. Cut up the strawberries (they expire so quickly!), tossed the rest of roasted beet/fennel on the greens and sprinkled the leftover goat cheese on top. I made a fried egg for some extra protein. Dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Maybe the meal was a little short on the carbohydrates, but everything else was tasty!

Still in the fridge: lettuce, squash, peas, Swiss chard and kale. Tomorrow I think I will fix the kale or chard. The squash lasts a little longer, so I have been saving those for the end of the week.

Need to remember to defrost some chicken for tomorrow!