Author Archives: Karin

Mar 21 2011

Bountiful Basket Week 4

Posted on by

There were a few things that went wrong for this week.  First off I got a little busy last Monday and totally forgot to put my order in until 4:30 pm.  When I did put my order in all the spots were taken for the site I usually pick up at.  So I had to pick up at a site that was across town.  It’s only about a 15 minute drive but when you’re used to going just a few blocks from your house it’s disappointing.  The other down side was the pick up time was 2 hours earlier.  It was at 7:45 am.  The one I normally go it is at 9:45 am.  On Thursday I started to come down with some kind of cold.  By Saturday I was in no mood to do anything.  Luckily I have a wonderful husband who volunteered to pick up the basket for me (no really he did).  He even took Levi with him and they made a daddy son time out of it.  I was a little disappointed with the basket turn out.  Here is what we got this week.

3 Mangos                          4 Tomatoes                   12 Tangerines

5 Apples                            1 Carton Blueberries       8 Bananas

1 Cantaloupe                    1lb Asparagus

1 Head of Cauliflower       1 Stalk of Celery                3 crowns of Broccoli

The reason for my disappointment is I felt there wasn’t very much this week.  Usually we end up with something exotic and new.  All of these fruits and veggies are things I’m familiar with.  Don’t get me wrong I still love what I got just not sure I got a great deal this week.  I took my list to the grocery store and priced everything out.  If I had bought all this at the store it would have cost me  $22.03 plus tax.  This is only about $5.50 savings.  Since we had to drive further to get all this I’m not sure it’s worth the money.  If I was consistently getting the same results I might not even bother with the basket, but in the previous weeks I have saved a considerable amount so I don’t think I’ll let one week sway me.  I did end up with some blueberries and more cantaloupe. I’m very excited about that.

Mar 18 2011

A little Detour

Posted on by

I’m taking a little detour from the basket for a moment.  This time I’m going to talk about that dirty little word sugar. As you see from the picture I’m about to eat my birthday cheesecake which happens to be loaded with sugar.  Sugar is a dirty word for me for different reasons than it is for most of you.  For most people sugar is about calories and diets.  For me sugar is about pain and nausea.  You see I’m sucrose intolerant.  Meaning my body lacks the enzyme sucrase to break down sucrose (table sugar).  When I was younger I used to get really sick whenever I ate even a little bit of sugar.  I still get sick just not as much as before.  I’m not going to go into detail about what happens to me believe me it’s not pleasant.

So why am I eating cheesecake?  Well just like a lot of you I have weaknesses.  Cheesecake is one of my weaknesses.  I don’t eat sugar all the time just occasionally and that is how it should be not just for me but for everyone.  I see immediate results when I eat sugar which makes it a little easier to avoid it.  However,  most won’t see the results in consuming sugar until much later when their body turns it into fat.  Our bodies do naturally need sugar to function but sugar in excess amounts can cause our bodies to store it.

So how should we avoid those constant sugar cravings?  My suggestion is to seek out those things that are naturally sweet.  Many of the fruits that I’ve been discussing in my recent posts are an excellent replacement for those sugar cravings.  I’m not saying we need to give up sugar altogether, it’s still okay to consume it occasionally, but there is always a healthier option that we should consider first. When the occasion does arise that you can consume some sugar, I say enjoy it while it last.

Mar 17 2011

Turnips

Posted on by

Potato turnip mash

Unfortunately sometimes experimenting with food doesn’t turn out so good.  I had read that cooking a turnip is a lot like a potato.  I also read a recipe for scalloped turnips.  So I thought I would make my scalloped potato and ham recipe but instead of using potatoes I would use turnips.  Never having cooked turnips I was surprised with the results.  Turnips cook quicker than potatoes.  They also absorb more water.  The end result was a little mushy and watery.  My family still ate it but we won’t be doing that again.  Something I did discover was that cooked turnips have a cauliflowery, cabbagey taste.  I had one more turnip that I needed to do something with.  A friend of mine gave me a recipe for a potato turnip mash.  It wasn’t bad it actually had a lot of flavor.  My mistake was serving it with some fried chicken.  The chicken over powered everything that was on the plate.  It had so much flavor that when you went to take a bite out of anything else they seemed to have no flavor.  My first bite was great but after eating the chicken the potato turnip mash just seemed like a watery mashed potato.  The good thing about experimenting is now I know a lot more about turnips than I did and maybe next time I’ll get it right.  I think the next time I end up with a turnip I will try it in a stew or soup like Aubrey suggested.  Turnips are  an excellent source of vitamin C.

 

Mar 15 2011

Spinach Manicotti

Posted on by

I used up the rest of my spinach by putting it in manicotti.  I like to put spinach in manicotti.  Usually we use frozen spinach.  Since I had the fresh spinach from the basket I just chopped the rest up (about 2 cups chopped) and put it in the stuffing mixture.  I wish I had taken a picture of the stuffing before I cooked the manicotti because these pictures don’t do it justice.  Everyone loved it.  This is a good way to disguise spinach if you don’t particularly care for it.  I’m a little sad because now all my spinach is all gone.  Spinach is one of those super veggies that is packed with all sorts of nutrients.  I can’t help but think that Popeye had it right.

Levi taking a big bite


The kids really did enjoy the Manicotti

 

Mar 14 2011

Steak, Pineapple, and Green beans

Posted on by

Steak, pineapple, and green beans

A few weeks ago my husband had to get new tires on his truck.  So obviously that means we get some free steak.  I know not really what you think you would get for getting tires.  Well I took the steaks out of the freezer and thawed them.  I was a little disappointed with the freshness of the steaks.  So I decided that I would have to do something to them to make them taste good.  It was about 50 degrees out (warm for this area).  I got the grill prepped and ready.  Corey normally does the grilling but he wasn’t feeling good so I got to take a shot at it.  I had sliced the pineapple a few days earlier for easy use and access.  So after putting the steaks onto grill I also put pineapple slices on the grill.  We love grilled pineapple.  It really brings out its natural sweetness.  After flipping the steaks and pineapple I basted them with our favorite teriyaki sauce.  I put some beans on to steam and while I was grilling they got a little too done.  They still tasted great but I like them to be a little brighter in color and more crisp tender.  Over all dinner was a success.  No complaints this time.  The pineapple turned out just right and we had to fight over who was going to get the last piece.  Pineapple is high in vitamin C.  The green beans, which also came from the basket, are a good source of fiber and vitamin C.

Mar 13 2011

Week 3 of the experiment

Posted on by

This week I didn’t order a basket.  I now wish I had.  It is hard to tell when you will run out of the veggies.  I still have 2 yellow squash (I forgot I had), 1 turnip, 4 apples, 2 cucumbers, and 2 oranges.  Last Monday when it was time to put in an order,  I had an abundance of veggies in the fridge and was afraid that if I ordered another basket for this week that I wouldn’t have room.  Now I’m afraid that I don’t have enough veggies to get through the week.  Sure, I still have the canned and frozen things that I canned last fall.  I’ve grown accustomed to having the fresh stuff on hand.  I heard that this week’s basket included some blackberries.  That would have been fun to have.  Oh, to have another cantaloupe (heard that was in there this week too).

This is what I’ve learned so far.  It is possible for our small family of 5 to go through a whole basket of food.  We have been eating more fruits and veggies.  This is making us think outside the box and be creative.

I still have some posts that I haven’t published yet.  I’ll keep telling you what we have done with what we got from last week’s basket.  Since I did not receive a basket this week,  I would like to know what you have done or plan to do.  That’ll give me some ideas for maybe next time.  In the meantime I’ll be putting my order in tomorrow.

Mar 11 2011

Spinach Salad

Posted on by

I absolutely love eating spinach this way.  Eating it raw is the best way to get all the nutrients that spinach has to offer.  Spinach is high in folate, iron, vitamins A & C.  It is also a good source of fiber and magnesium.

This salad has spinach, lettuce and broccoli (what was left over from last weeks basket), red pepper, orange slices, and is topped off with honey sesame almonds.  The dressing is a creamy poppy seed.  Again my family wasn’t too keen on this, but they ate it without complaining too much.  I made a pretty big salad so there is a lot left over.  I can’t wait to have some for lunch today.  The almonds come from a store called Trader Joe’s.  We don’t have one in our area but Corey’s aunt and uncle live in Vancouver  WA where they do.  They will often send us a package with all the yummy stuff that we like to get from there.  I just chopped them up and sprinkled them on top of the salad.  My grandma would’ve made her own candied pecans and put those on.  It adds a different texture to the salad and makes a big difference.

Mar 10 2011

Acorn Squash Soup

Posted on by

I have had this huge acorn squash sitting on my counter, staring at me, for a few days now.  So I decided to make some soup with it.  There is a recipe, from a friends blog, that I’ve been wanting to try.  So I sliced the acorn in half.  I scooped out it’s guts and popped it in the oven to roast.  It roasted for about an hour.  I separated the flesh from the skin and discarded the skin.  There was so much squash that I had to divide it (So I still have half a squash in my fridge).  I took  2 carrots, half an onion, and  1/2 inch ginger root and sauted them in a large sauce pan.  Then I added 3 cups of chicken stock brought it up to a boil.  Then I brought down the temp to a simmer.  I simmered it for about 30 minutes and added the squash and simmered for another 30 minutes.  I used a stick blender to blend it into a smooth texture.  Then I add a 1/2 cup of cream.

I really enjoyed this soup. I also really love squash.  My family, on the other hand, could have done without.  Levi took one bite and you would have thought I was trying to poison him.  I had only gave them a little so after they ate what they had I peeled and chopped two cucumbers.  They devoured the cucumbers in no time.  Corey impressed me.  He ate the soup and didn’t complain one bit.  After dinner I asked what he thought and he said that he doesn’t like squash.

Thanks KellyAnne for the recipe.  I really enjoyed this soup.  It’s really too bad I probably won’t get another chance to eat it again.  Meanwhile I still have half of a squash that, apparently, I have to eat all by myself.  Acorn Squash is a good source of Vitamin C.

Mar 9 2011

Tomato and Spinach Pizza

Posted on by

Yummy Pizza

This is one of my favorite things to do with spinach and tomatoes.  I used to like pizza a lot. When you have children who want to eat it all the time pizza doesn’t sound so good anymore.  This puts a healthy twist on the pizza.  During the summer we like to grill this type of pizza and it is so yummy.  Since it is still too cold to grill outside we made due with the oven.  Instead of a tomato sauce we use a mixture of garlic and olive oil.  then we layer a little mozzarella , chopped fresh spinach, and sliced tomatoes.  We top all of that off with a little more cheese.  Put it in a 500 degree oven and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes.  We have to make a separate pizza for the kids (normal pepperoni and cheese), but Corey and I really enjoy eating this one.  I need to make it clear that I didn’t use tomatoes mentioned in the previous post for this meal.  I actually used the tomatoes from last week.  Tomatoes are high in Vitamins A and C.  They are also a good source of potassium.  Spinach is high in fiber, Vitamins A and C, iron, and folate.  It is also a good source of magnesium.  Your body needs iron for healthy blood and normal cell functioning.  Magnesium is necessary for healthy bones.

Mar 8 2011

Disappointing Tomatoes

Posted on by

what's that fuzz on the tomato? Eww yuck!

This weeks basket doesn’t seem as fresh as last.  I’ve had some disappointing things happen with this one. First it was the over ripe mango.  Then last night while preparing dinner I noticed that 3 of this weeks tomatoes had mold growing on them.  I picked them up and they were soft and mushy.  I still had 2 tomatoes left from last week and they are still good.  That doesn’t seem right.  Last week I didn’t have anything go bad.  This week I’ve had 4 things go bad already.  I hope that this isn’t a trend.  I thought I needed to share both the good and bad that can happen with these baskets.  I still think that the basket is worth my money even with the mango and tomatoes going bad.