csa box:: week 13

week 13. in the box:: beets, sage, thyme, onion, garlic, purple potatotes, peppers, kale, and a mix of tomatoes!

extras:: beets, carrots, sage


orchard:: cider, and two new varieties - Viking, and Pink (is pink inside!)

pickled cabbage.

I love cabbage. During the summer I make slaws, and as the days get cooler we make sauerkraut and other pickled goodies. This is a very crunchy vinegar pickled cabbage - not sauerkraut (here is my purple kraut recipe ... yum). This is really great with anything salty and savory, or on a burger instead of lettuce and pickle. So crunchy! And the color is totally over the top.

::ingredients::

1 lb. chopped red cabbage

2 Tbsp sea salt

4 cups good white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp pickling spice



::directions::

Peel the cabbage in a large bowl and sprinkle each layer with salt.


Leave for 24 hours. Pour off liquid and stir a few times throughout. After 24 hours, drain off any liquid and rinse off any surplus salt. Drain the cabbage well.


Put the vinegar, sugar and pickling spices into a pan, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and allow to cool for at least 2 hours.


Strain the vinegar if you want, I like leaving in the spices.

Pack the cabbage loosely into jars and cover with the spiced vinegar.


Cover label and store in a cool place. Can begin to eat after 1 week.

Will begin to loose its crispness within 2 to 3 months. I keep it in the fridge and have a pint in the freezer!

granola bars!

I love finding recipes that my boys like (no surprise). We usually tweak recipes the boys want to try -- to get the right textures for my sensory boy who has a hard time chewing things with chunks or varying textures (chewy/crunchy at the same time). Once we hit the right combo we stick pretty close to our main recipe from there. This granola bar recipe originated from here...we have changed it a bit. Healthy, texture friendly, not too sweet, really really yummy. These are nice and chewy, which is a must for my boys. They don't like the rock hard crumbly things. These are perfect. My husband and I find ourselves nibbling away at them too, so there is an excuse to make more. And my 6 year old loves helping (who doesn't love squishing it all into the pan). And these are SO MUCH BETTER than any store bought granola bars.

::ingredients::

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sunflower seeds (roasted/salted OK too)
1 cup organic shredded coconut
1/2 cup golden flaxseed, freshly ground
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup raw honey (a little less if you use sweetened coconut)
1/2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
2-3 Tbsp organic unsweetened peanut butter or almond butter
3 Tbsp organic light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt

Up to 1 1/2 cups chopped dried fruit
(soft/chewy such as apricots, cranberries, raisins)
This time I used 1/2 cup finely chopped peaches we dehydrated

::directions::

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.
Wipe a little butter in a 9x13 baking dish and line it with parchment or foil.
Toss the oats, sunflower seeds and coconut together on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 or so minutes.
Stir it half way through.
Remove from the oven and pour into a big bowl.
Add the ground flax.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300ºF.
Heat the butter, honey, peanut butter, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil and remove from heat - stir.
Stir it into the dry mix - keep stirring until all fully coated.
Stir in the dried chopped fruit.

Spread it in the prepared baking dish, pushing down to make a nice compact even layer. Wet your fingers - it will be easier to push it down without getting all sticky.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes.
Cool for an hour more before gently flipping the slab out of the baking dish - peel off the foil/parchment.

Cut into squares.
Store in an air-tight container.

Eat!


Some good variations include cinnamon, almonds, or sunflower nut butter...find your favorite!

goodness:: You know granola bars...they are packed with vitamins and fiber and all kinds of good stuff. Sunflower seeds - packed with vitamin E, B1, manganese, magnesium, copper, selenium, phosphorus, vitamin B5 and folate. Blackstrap molasses - iron, calcium, copper, manganese, potassium and magnesium. And that is just two of the ingredients!

If you prefer to soak and dehydrate your oats before baking with them, here is how you can do it...

csa box:: week 12

This blog was acting up a bit, saying posts were published when they were not, so after messing around with the widgets, I am happy to say it is publishing again. I'm now playing catch up!

We have entered the time of year when we still have more tomatoes in the box than anything else, so I am caught up fully in the kitchen and dipping into the storage for meals. I can't wait to move on past tomatoes and get into the fall goodies!

week 12!
in the box (above) :: a variety of tomatoes including cherry, slicing and paste, onion, brussel sprout greens (my rabbit loved these), carrots, cabbage, cilantro and peppers


extras:: carrots, beets, cilantro, dill


And this week marked the opening of apple season. We don't pick this early usually, but we do visit the orchard which we pass on our way home from the CSA each week to try different varieties and see what our favorites are. We probably still have a few weeks before our favorite applesauce apples are ready, but we are trying new types of general eating apples, and this week we picked up an heirloom crabapple (whitney) - and made a batch of crab apple compote. Yum! We usually select apples for many specific uses - juicing, eating fresh, baking, sauces, drying, and then shelf life for storage! We also get freshly pressed cider all fall, to make boiled cider, sauces, and of course for drinking and freezing.

To see what was in the box this week in previous years click::
| 2007 | 2008 | hurt my back sept '09 didn't post | 2010 |

What is in your box/in season where you live?

csa box:: week 11

in the box:: a variety of cherry, slicing and paste tomatoes, peppers, pears, dill, zucchini, beets, an onion, a watermelon, lettuce, and a head of garlic.


extras:: carrots, parsley, thyme, dill, chives


And of course, more tomatoes for sauce!

To see what was in the box this week in previous years click::
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |

What is in your box/in season where you live?

cinnamon sugar roasted almonds.

After weeks of non-stop tomato sauce and pickle making I was ready for something...different. NOT tomatoes! A favorite winter treat of mine is roasted nuts. I like them savory, sweet, spicy. All so good. I decided to make a batch of cinnamon sugar roasted almonds. Great for quick snacks and so delicious without being too sweet.

Many recipes call for using pre-roasted almonds, but I prefer to soak them first to get the best digestibility - so I start with raw almonds. It is really easy to do and doesn't take more work, just planning ahead. I like how the flavor of the almonds comes through more when using the soaked raw almonds.

::soaking::

4 cups raw almonds + 1 Tbsp sea salt for soaking

Soak 4 cups of raw almonds in filtered water (fill with enough water to cover) with sea salt overnight.
Drain and rinse the next morning and let air dry for a few hours (you could also pop them in the dehydrator if you have one, on low)

::roasting::

1 egg white
1/2 tsp. blackstrap molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup organic light brown sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
a few grates of fresh nutmeg (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 250ºF

Lightly oil a cookie sheet (or cover with parchment)

In a bowl combine the cinnamon, sugar, salt and nutmeg - mix.

In another bowl whip the egg white, molasses and vanilla until it is foamy but loose, NOT peaks.

Toss the almonds in the egg white mixture and stir gently to coat.

Add the dry mix to the bowl with almonds, stirring as you do so all of the almonds are evenly coated with the mixture.

Spread the almonds in a thin layer on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until dry, stirring every 15 minutes.

It make take a little longer if you left the almonds soaking longer or they are still pretty wet. Just keep stirring/checking until the coating is nice and dry on the outside.

Remove from oven, allow to cool completely and then eat! Store in an airtight container.

did you know:: (Unless dry roasting is specified the commercial roasting process of nuts is a form of deep-frying, usually in coconut oil and palm kernel oil. By using raw almonds, soaking them and then roasting them yourself in the oven on low heat, you end up with more nut flavor and natural oils from the almonds.

good stuff:: Almonds are a fantastic source of vitamin E and manganese, and a good source of magnesium, riboflavin (B2), phosphorus, and copper.

csa box:: week 10

We are at week 10, almost September! That of course means tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. The garden is peaking with tomatoes, the CSA box has tomatoes, and of course I need even more tomatoes. There is always a pot on the stove with some tomato recipe simmering away this time of year, and the shelves and freezer are filling up nicely.

:: in the box:: carrots, 2 kinds of peppers, a variety of paste/slicing/cherry tomatoes, lettuce, sweet corn, zucchini, garlic, dill, peppermint, onions


::extras:: thyme, sage, oregano, carrots, beets

aaaaaaaand,

more tomatoes! Our CSA farmer April passed along a crate of tomatoes - splits/seconds. I brought them home and immediately cleaned/chopped/processed them all out on the deck. I have some for eating (the Aunt Ruby's variety is awesome!) and the rest went in for another batch of sauce!

To see what was in the box this week in previous years click::
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |

What is in your box/in season where you live?