CSA: Week #2 Pickup
Last night I picked up our second CSA basket. This time it included celery, kale, cabbage, and local honey. Like last week some of these veggies will require some new recipes.
When I got home with our new basket, I immediately took the picture attached to this post. Then I peeled away the outer leaves of the cabbage, rinsed it, and started chopping. I chopped about two cups worth of cabbage. I found a recipe for a low-carb, keto taco cabbage skillet. In a skillet with a lid, I fried up some organic hamburger over medium heat and added garlic powder, chili powder, and fajita seasoning. I didn’t have salsa so I added drained diced tomatoes, pickled jalapenos, hot sauce, frozen scallions (from last week’s basket), and a bit of frozen corn (not low-carb but tasty). I threw in the cabbage and brought the dish to a boil. I reduced the heat and let it simmer for about ten minutes. At the end I tossed in some grated sharp cheddar and mozzarella (it’s what I had!). Once plated, I added sour cream and chopped cilantro. It was delicious and easy!
I have no clue what I’ll do with the rest of my veggies, but I am considering a kale salad and/or saute, low-carb/keto eggroll in a bowl, and sesame ginger slaw. I will likely chop some of the celery and freeze it. The rest I will use for dipping in hummus or some kind of dip. Next week I will provide an update on what actually happens.
CSA: Week #1 Update
Our first CSA basket surpassed expectations. We managed to eat or freeze everything in our basket. We ate all the spinach, beet greens, and beets. We used some of the scallions on some baked chicken, and I chopped the rest and put them in the freezer for later use. Graham ate most of the small coconut pound cake, but I did eat the bran biscuits and one snickerdoodle cookie. Here is what we did with the beets, beet greens, and spinach:
Beets – Roasted Beets – I peeled and chopped the beets. Then I tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted them at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. I served them with a bit of cream cheese. We had enough for two nights. They were amazing and turned my beet-hating husband into a beet lover.
Beet Greens – I made two dishes with beet greens.
- Dish #1 – Beet Greens Pasta – I made spaghetti. I mixed in chopped beet greens that I wilted with pasta water and olive oil and then sauteed with more olive oil, garlic, butter, black truffle sea salt, and black pepper. I topped it with sliced almonds and shaved Parmesan. I caught a picture of this wonderfulness and used it for this post. This is the recipe I used as a guide: https://www.anediblemosaic.com/beet-greens-pasta/.
- Dish #2 – Beet Greens Saute – I fried two slices of chopped bacon in a skillet with olive oil. When the bacon was about half-cooked, I added chopped onions for a few minutes followed by chopped garlic. Next I added about 3 tablespoons of Fire Cider along with 3/4 cup of water (the recipe called for apple cider vinegar. I kicked it up a notch.). I tossed in chopped beet greens with stems and covered the skillet. As the beet greens cooked down, I added a bit of sugar and red pepper flakes and a bit of butter. This is the recipe I more or less followed: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beet_greens/.
Spinach – I made two dishes with spinach.
- Dish #1 – Salad – On multiple days, I made spinach salad with blue cheese dressing. On some days, I added hard-boiled eggs, bacon, and blue cheese crumbles.
- Dish #2 – Frittata – Today, I chopped the remainder of the spinach. I sauteed onions in olive oil, added chopped garlic, and then added spinach in a small skillet over medium heat. I whisked together six eggs, some half and half, Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset blend, salt, pepper, feta, and shredded provolone and mozzarella. After the spinach wilted, I poured in the egg blend. Once the frittata started to set up along the edges, I sprinkled shaved Parmesan on the top and popped the skillet in the oven under the broiler to finish it off.
Altogether our first CSA week has been a huge success! We look forward to our next basket on Tuesday.
CSA: Week #1 Pickup
Last night I picked up my first CSA half basket. This is a new adventure! When I arrived at the Paris-Bourbon County Farmers Market, I found my plastic bin filled with these goodies: beets, beet greens, spinach, large scallions, and baked goods from Trike Bake. The baked goods included a small coconut pound cake, two small snickerdoodle cookies, and two small bran biscuits (cookies).
My husband was excited about the baked goods, an unexpected delight, but he was not thrilled about the beets. He thinks they taste like dirt. I happen to love beets, so I immediately washed, peeled, and cut up three beets. I tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted them at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. I served them with a bit of cream cheese on top, and my husband declared that he enjoyed them prepared that way. It’s a miracle! We also ate some spinach with blue cheese dressing, and I chopped scallions on top of our chicken thighs before baking. Tonight, I’ll roast the rest of the beets and eat more spinach salad.
Today I’ll chop up and freeze the scallions. I call them scallions, and I’m guessing they fall under that classification, but they are quite large. They look like the large green onions that are roasted and served with tacos at some of our local Mexican restaurants. I will freeze the scallions in small Ziploc bags so that I can use them as I need them. I read online that they will stay fresh frozen for up to a year.
The beet greens are destined to be used in a pasta dish on Sunday night. My plan is to chop them up and saute them in olive oil with garlic and butter. I will mix in some spaghetti or angel hair pasta, Parmesan cheese, and walnuts or slivered almonds. I might add some bacon.
So far so good, my goal is to use or store everything by Tuesday.
The photo of the CSA goods for this week is not glamorous, but it’s a real-life depiction of a CSA share as you receive it.
I’m Back, and I Just Signed up for a CSA!
Well, it’s been over two years since my last post. A lot has happened in those two years, and in many ways, I feel like a different person. I could go on and on about my activism and organizing work throughout 2017 and 2018 (I have met so many wonderful people!). I could detail the work I did on three campaigns in 2018 (all campaigns lost – so depressing). I could tell the tales of our trip to Italy in May 2018 (which was awesome, BTW). Maybe one day I will distill those years into a few posts (or many), but right now, I just want to move forward in the present. Today, I signed up for the CSA at the Paris-Bourbon County Farmers Market.
You might be wondering what a CSA is. Well, CSA stands for “Community Supported Agriculture.” Basically, you pre-pay for a share of fruits and vegetables from local participating farmers. A full basket feeds four to six people while a half basket feeds two to three. Graham and I definitely fall into the half-basket category. Every Tuesday for ten weeks starting on May 7th, I get to pick up a half basket of fruits and vegetables between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. This timeframe works out great for me since I go to yoga class at 5:30 p.m. at the YMCA nearby. I can pop the half basket into my car before class.
I have never participated in a CSA before though I’ve always been curious. Graham and I are kind of terrible about eating enough fruits and vegetables. When we had our garden, a lot of produce went to waste, and I worry about that with the CSA. My hope is that with a half basket the amount of produce will be manageable, and we will make a concerted effort to eat everything each week. My Indian cookbooks should help (Indian food = world of great veggie recipes!). I also plan to post about our weekly half basket, so I will definitely want to make the most out of what we get.
If you’re interested in a CSA and live in or near Paris, Ky, check out the Paris-Bourbon County Farmers Market CSA. If you live in another county or state, check out your local offerings. CSAs come in all forms. Some only have organic produce. Others include meat and eggs. Some toss in canned goods. The best part is that a CSA helps you support local farmers without having to beat the rush on Farmers Market Saturdays, and anything that fosters my laziness on a Saturday morning gets extra points from me!
Farewell, My Love
My beautiful Rudyard Kipling passed away on Monday, September 5th at the age of 18 years and 5 months. Writing those words conjures a certain sense of finality, yet those words do not express the depth of my sadness and loss. I have put off writing this post for months, which means that I haven’t written any posts since his death.
My husband and I have never had an “us” without Kip. In fact my husband assisted during his birth and loved on him as a kitten. When I met my husband and then adopted Kip a few months later, that relationship continued. The three of us bonded together into an unbreakable family unit.
I have often said that no cat is luckier than the cat raised by a childfree couple. Kip received all our affection and attention. He slept in our bed as a true member of the family. I liked to joke that “he sleeps like a people” as he rested his head on the pillow with his body snug under the covers. I doubt Kip really ever thought of himself as a cat. His strong will and playful spirit could match any toddler, and his brilliant mind could challenge Einstein. I know it sounds like I’m embellishing, but until you’ve been around such a clever cat, you cannot know what I mean.
Kip survived Mandy, a tortoiseshell Manx, and his sister India, another Bengal. While he enjoyed companionship with his sister, he remained focused on his relationship with his humans. Kip preferred our company and took every opportunity to bond with us. We gave into his every whim, and he relished it. He challenged us almost daily with his territorial urges and tender manipulations, reminding us that he’s in control. Despite his headstrong nature, we loved him always and forever.
Though he lived a very long life, he spent half of those years battling IBD. Near the end we suspected he had a gastro-intestinal (alimentary) lymphoma, which is often a progression of IBD. Our vet respected our wishes to avoid invasive diagnostic procedures and maintain him on steroids. Over the period of three years, we watched Kip fade away into a shadow of himself. He was thin and frail but still determined. In the last weeks, he refused to sleep with us, choosing instead to sleep near food. We longed for him to sleep through the night, to play again, to be at peace. He walked into rooms and seemed to forget why he was there with his head scanning from side to side. I found myself hoping he would pass peacefully in his sleep on his favorite couch on the sun porch.
We delayed vacations and outings, worrying about Kip’s health. In August we went to Massachusetts to visit family. My parents cared for him while we were away, and while they reported that he required a round-the-clock care-taker, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We departed on the second leg of our journey home on Labor Day, and that’s when my Mom broke the news that Kip was dying. The day prior he had taken a turn for the worst but appeared to be peaceful, and my Mom decided to wait until the next day to tell us. Once we heard the news, we rushed home. We didn’t care about speeding tickets. A drive that would typically take 5.5 hours took 4.5 hours. We got home in time to be with him for four hours prior to his peaceful departure from this earth. He died on his favorite couch on the sun porch, just where I had hoped he would.
Kip died as he lived, on his own terms and in his own way. My heart still skips a beat when I see a cat-shaped lump under the covers. I find myself listening for him. I notice his traits in our other cats. Last night I felt melancholy thinking about our first Christmas without Kip when Sookie snuggled up next to me. Sookie and Kip had a special bond, a sort of February – December romance bound by mutual respect and affection between a kitten and an elderly cat. She purred, interlaced her warm body with my arm, and fell asleep. I am so grateful for the intimate love between humans and cats. I am blessed.
Farewell, my love, my Kip. I will see you again some day.