Thoughts on a CSA box

It's CSA season again, and I could not be happier. Every Thursday, we are gifted with an amazing box jam-packed with fresh, beautiful vegetables from Driftless Organics. I was inspired to write about how I used this past week's box, because many people ask how we can go through a full-share every week without food going to waste. Why so inspired this week? I was able to plow through this box in just two days. We were headed out of town for two and a half days just 36 hours after picking up our box, so I immediately attacked that box. Here is a list of the vegetables, and how I used them.

Broccoli
Garlic Chives
Green Garlic
Pea Vine
Radishes
Red Butterhead Lettuce
Red Potatoes
Salad Mix
Spinach
Yukina Savoy

Thursday
We picked up our box when we are usually already eating supper. So, just as we arrived home, I quickly threw in an Amy's veggie burger for the boys to share and started a pot of water to blanch the broccoli. Then I made a salad using half the spinach and half the salad mix along with pear, walnuts, balsamic vinegar, sunflower oil (also by Driftless and AMAZING) and freshly ground salt and pepper. The boys ate toast, veggie burger, salad and mounds of broccoli. Then off Ethan went to put them to bed as I continued on my mission.

Just after I pulled the broccoli out of the boiling water I tossed in the rest of the spinach which quickly wilted. I then pureed it and voila! Baby food. (Yes, there were bits of broccoli...but Odin loves broccoli, too). Put it in ice cube trays, and we've got spinach for several days for our Odin.

Dumped that water and started the pot all over again for a pound of whole wheat spaghetti. As the water came to a boil, I created pesto out of two handfuls of walnuts, all the garlic chives, salt and pepper, drizzle of olive oil, the rest of the salad mix (yes, you can make pesto from salad mix...you can make it from any green you want), and a cup of the pasta's cooking water. The cooking water is an excellent way to stretch the pesto with using very little oil and smoothing it out for the little ones. After the boys were asleep, Ethan and I finished the salad and had pesto spaghetti.

Friday
I was inspired to have breakfast for dinner, because this week's newsletter mentioned that the amount of potatoes was perfect for one batch of hashbrowns. I sliced the potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds, place in a pot and covered with cold water. Bring to a boil and parboil. I did this a few hours before dinner while the kids were either napping or occupied. Placed them in the fridge until I was ready to brown them. Heat one to two tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Add parboiled potatoes. Cover. Just before they were finished (about 8 minutes) I threw in the green garlic (chopped) and yukina savoy (roughly chopped). Along with the potatoes, we had another salad exactly the same as the night before except butterhead lettuce was the green along with roughly chopped pea vine. If you don't have pear, just skip the fruit or add berries instead! And the main dish...waffles!!! Topped with greek yogurt and pure maple syrup. My vegan-altered Betty Crocker recipe follows. I simply loved this meal.

Yes, I didn't use the radish...but they are sturdy and last long in the crisper drawer with the carrots and apples. I'm thrilled to use them tonight.

Vegan Waffles
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas
2 1/2 cups of soy milk
3/4 cup sunflower oil

Combine dry ingredients. Mash bananas in mixer. Gradually add soy milk, oil and dry ingredients until all are combined. Cook/bake as directed for your waffle maker. Extra waffles can be frozen. I used the extras for breakfast-in-the-car the next morning. (I needed to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house in record time...I needed a break!).

What to do with way too much cream...

During my weekly mad-dash trip Mississippi Market, I accidentally grabbed a quart of cream thinking it was milk. Oops. I never use cream other than for my daily cup of coffee. This bottle would surely spoil, or I would have to increase my coffee intake expotentially. I couldn't let the mama cow down that worked so hard to make this cream! I cringe every time I see my own breastmilk go down the drain.

I had no idea what to do with so much cream, but I knew exactly who would. I called up my super duper mama friend Lauren. She suggested that I use it to make scones. Fantastic idea! So, I opted for this dreamy cream scone recipe from Smitten Kitchen. My only alterations were using Earth Balance rather than butter and chopped dried apple as the dried fruit.

I still had cream...so! I was inspired by a pancake post (also from Smitten Kitchen). I used the same amounts for the dry ingredients, but my wet ingredients were:

2 cups half and half
1 large banana (mash until creamy - I simply let the KitchenAid mixer pulverize it)
1 Tablespoon sunflower oil



My heart doesn't know what to do with all this high-fat intake...oh, well. Enjoy!

Vegan French Toast

I've never had true success with vegan french toast. Every recipe I tried I had issues keeping whatever I used as the egg replacer on the bread or cooking well enough. It just came out sloppy and wet. As I was figuring out what I wanted to do for Father's Day, I came across an Overnight Maple French Toast recipe. I had never heard of overnight french toast, and I thought this would be my perfect solution! No frying in the pan and getting annoyed that the flaxseeds won't stick or cook. I "veganized" this recipe, and it actually turned out pretty great. Even made it for extended family this weekend, and it was eaten quite quickly.

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance
1 loaf of french bread, cut into 1-inch slices
3 Tablespoons of ground flaxseed
9 Tablespoons of water
1 1/2 cups plain, unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
fresh fruit, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
-Combine brown sugar, syrup and Earth Balance into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil for one minute. Pour into a greased (I just use more Earth Balance) 9x13 baking dish. Place bread slices into dish (I can fit most if not all).
-Combine ground flaxseeds and water and blend until thick and creamy. This can take up to one to two minutes. I use a hand blender in a plastic 16 oz cup (I got it with the blender), and it works SO much better than anything else I've tried.
-Stir the soy milk, applesauce, vanilla and salt into flaxseed mixture. Pour evenly over bread.
-Cover and refrigerate overnight.
-Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake uncovered at 400 F for thirty minutes.
-Garnish with fruit, if you wish and eat! We served with rosemary hashbrowns and Gimme Lean patties (two breakfast faves for the veggie papa).

Vanilla Crunch Granola

I have shared other favorite Cathe Olson recipes in the past, and alas I fell upon another on the internet I have come to love! Vanilla Crunch Granola is a great quick, crunchy (love the steel cut oats) breakfast that is slightly sweet but not filled with tons of sugar like many store-bought granolas. This is incredibly easy and fast to make. Everyone in our family loves it! I follow her directions exactly; however, I do use golden raisins and think about throwing in some chopped dried apple next time.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Pumpkin Pancakes

This seems a bit out of season, but I could no longer ignore the can of pureed pumpkin staring at me that I bought on sale this winter. We had to have pumpkin pancakes. I usually use a pureed squash for any pumpkin-flavored food - bread, pancakes, muffins - since Driftless Organics does a wonderful job of stocking us up on squash in the fall. If you've got that random can of pumpkin or frozen pureed squash here's the recipe for you! Or hold off until the fall for this awesome breakfast...or lunch or dinner.

This recipe is largely inspired by Robin Robertson's Pumpkin Pie Pancakes in Vegan Planet. I enjoy many of her pancake recipes; however, they are a bit too thick and heavy and don't yield enough for my family. Here's my version inspired by Robin.

DRY INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

WET INGREDIENTS:
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup water
1 scant cup pumpkin puree (half of a 15 oz can - use the other half for pumpkin bread or next week's pancakes!)
1/8 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water (gradually added at the end of mixing)

Gently combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. In a blender, combine soy milk, 1/2 cup water, pumpkin puree, and canola oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet mixture. Stir until just combined. Add additional water until you get your preferred pancake consistency. We like it to slowly yet easily fall off the spoon.

Start the heat under your griddle at medium heat. Brush a light amount of canola oil or Earth Balance over the griddle. Begin to ladle your cakes onto the griddle. Flip when batter begins to bubble. I let mine bubble a minute or so. I like slightly brown cakes. I make baby cakes that are roughly 2 1/2 inches in diameter and regular cakes that are roughly 4 inches in diameter. This yields about 10 regular cakes and five baby cakes. Just enough for this ravenous family of four.

To serve...spoon a layer of whole-milk yogurt or soy yogurt then a layer of applesauce. Top with another pancake and repeat until you've reached a tower of pancakes that can fit in your mouth. Drizzle the top with just a bit of pure maple syrup. Pure awesomeness.

For the kids...spoon yogurt and applesauce on their pancakes, too, or just spoon a dollop of each on their plate for dipping.

Iced Tea....Still Experimenting

'Tis the season for iced tea. I love coffee. I love cold press on these warm days, but I'm trying to focus on weaning myself from coffee...just a bit. I'm starting with a good two or three days a week without coffee.

A year ago, when Aksel was a mighty large baby still in my belly, I began drinking iced raspberry leaf tea. I kept reading in book after book how raspberry leaf tea has so many tremendous benefits throughout pregnancy and lactation.

Now, I am experimenting to make my favorite iced citrus green tea. A few weeks ago, I had such a thing at the Riverview Cafe and LOVED IT! I started with orange as my first citrus to infuse, which I enjoyed. But, I think it could be better. I plan to experiment with lemon and lime next, as well as a combination of all three.

INGREDIENTS:
4 green tea bags
2 quarts of water
citrus of your choice

Bring to a boil two quarts of water. Steep the tea bags as long as you desire - as little as 10 to 15 minutes or until the water cools to room temperature. When the water cools to room temperature transfer to a storage container and place in refrigerator. To serve, pour individual glasses and add a thick slice of citrus squeezing the juice as you drop it in. Serve over ice.

p.s. Lemon is AWESOME in iced raspberry leaf tea.

Cold Press!

My newest homemade vice is cold press. I am loving it so hard. I was determined to create a cold press that I would crave and could replace my yearning to walk to a coffee shop and treat myself to ice coffee. I searched for some concoctions around the blog world and found the one for me.

Using the grounds to cold water ratio I found on VillageCoffeeCafe I seemed to have found my match. To make life even simpler, I use my french press. Now I don't have to wash it every day, but I make a batch of cold press concentrate and it lasts me most of the week.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup coarsely ground french roast coffee beans (or other bean of your choice)
4 1/2 cups cold water

Step 1 - place beans and water in french press. Stir. Leave overnight. I throw this together after dinner, so I don't forget. I'm often in a dazed coma after the babes are sleeping.

Step 2 - press in the morning and pour into a storage container. I just use a good ol' Kerr canning jar.

Step 3 - drink it! What you've made is a concentrate. First, fill your glass with ice (coffee ice cubes if you're an over-achiever) then fill half way with soy milk, milk, or water. Then continue to fill your cup with cold press. I enjoy a drizzle of pure maple syrup to sweeten.

As I tell my nearly 3-year-old, "Coffee makes me a good mommy."

Enjoy!

Strawberry Maple Oatmeal

Well, my last post was about oatmeal...so, why not write about it again! We eat it every day for breakfast, so I would like to think we've got it figured out.

Spring has basically arrived, but the mornings are still chilly and warm breakfast is what seems right. I noticed about two weeks ago that strawberries were making a re-appearance at the co-op at a fair, in-season price. I felt odd grabbing a container, since I was still wearing socks. I felt like I was cheating and that it was still winter. Last weekend, I gave in. I bought some strawberries, and it has been a wonderful treat.

Here is our "it's not really winter, but not really summer" breakfast. Again, this feeds one hungry mama and one hungry toddler. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 and 3/4 cups liquid (I do have soy milk and half water)
1 (overflowing) cup rolled oats
4 strawberries, rinsed and sliced
pure maple syrup for drizzling

In a medium saucepan, bring liquid to a boil. Stir in oats (you can add less or more depending on how thick you like it.) Lower heat to a mild boil. Cook for five minutes.

Dish oatmeal into bowls. Add strawberries and a drizzle of pure maple syrup - I use about one teaspoon for myself and a half teaspoon for my son.

Apple Raisin Oatmeal

Ethan, my husband, taught me to start eating breakfast. Most days he is in charge of breakfast, because I still need to be dragged out of bed like a teenager. His ultimate standard is straight-up, plain oatmeal.

Since the birth of our second child, sleep deprivation has gotten pretty severe. Therefore, some mornings Ethan doesn't have time to cook oatmeal on top of getting ready for work and caring for both children, while I refuse to get out of bed. On these days (once I've re-entered the world) I still throw on a pot of oatmeal, but I like to dress it up a bit. This recipes feeds one hungry momma and one hungry toddler (with a little left over to add to tomorrow's plain oatmeal.)

INGREDIENTS:
1 and 3/4 cups liquid (I do half water and half plain, unsweetened soy milk)
1/4 cup raisins
1 (overflowing) cup rolled oats
1 apple, cored and chopped to bite-size pieces
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
ground flaxseeds, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, bring liquid and raisins to a boil (this will make the raisins nice and plump.) Stir in oats (you can add less or more depending on how thick you like it), apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Lower heat to a mild boil. Cook for five minutes. Garnish with ground flaxseeds before serving.