What to do with all of those vegetables and running update!

 

This is our second year with a summer share from a local farm.  I love committing to a share, but I have not been as crafty as I thought I would be about preserving and/or using everything this year as it has been a little busy with the newborn.  Our farm sends out a weekly electronic newsletter with tips and ideas to get the most of your share and the most recent one referenced ideas for those that might be feeling overwhelmed with how much is coming in the recent weekly baskets.  Phew- I'm not the only one! So, although it is still a work in progress, here are some of the tips that have worked for us:

Greens: In the beginning of the season, there were so many greens! Spinach, kale, lettuce, bok choy etc.  I think my husband would have thrown a salad at me if I made one more.  I used as many as possible in green smoothies with frozen and/or fresh fruit.  I found that spinach is perfect in green smoothies- I don't even taste it.  I can only taste the fruit.  Kale & lettuce flavors stood out more in my breakfast drink but it used the stuff up once the house was on a salad strike.

Beets: I am not a huge fan of beets.  I have tried pickling them in the past, which works to preserve them if you like beets.  In my case I just ended up with jars of beets sitting around the house for too long.  This year, I followed a simple recipe from the farm to make beet chips.  Thinly slice the beets, toss them in olive oil and salt and put them on a parchment lined baking sheet and in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  I learned a lesson the hard way to watch them carefully, especially if sliced by hand and not evenly sliced.  Some of mine burned really bad in one batch and were not tasty for eating!

Herbs: Pesto freezes really well.  I used up my basil by making up a batch of pesto and scooping it into ice cube trays, top each cube with some olive oil, freeze and then store in a freezer bag.  Other fresh herbs such as cilantro and parsley came with instructions from the farm that we could cut them up, wrap in foil and then place the foil packets in a freezer bag or container for use later on.  Done and Done!

Cucumbers: Holy cucumbers!  Those things must grow like weeds because we have a lot of them.  I do not have a pressure canner but I found a recipe that gave processing time for the pickle jars to be submerged in boiling water.  We had fresh dill and garlic from the farm, stuffed some into the bottom of the jar, sliced cucumbers on top and then poured a mixture of boiled water, pickling salt and vinegar on top before sealing.  We just opened our first jar this week and I have to admit that they taste pretty good. 

Zucchini and Squash:  These vegetables also come in an abundance.  We use as many as possible in stir fry dinners and they are also a perfect vegetable for roasting.  I also love zucchini and squash for baking.  It is easy to find zucchini bread recipes out there or you can try these Lemon Zest Zucchini Muffins and make an extra batch for the freezer.  Baking and freezing is great because the day will come when I don't want to bake something or don't have time and it's awesome to have something ready to go.  If you don't feel like baking right now, that's ok too.  I used a mini-chopper (a food processor would work great- I have not invested in one of those yet) to shred and my Vitamix to puree squash and zucchini for future baking.  I just put the puree or shredded vegetables into freezer bags and into the freezer.

Tomatoes: I found this recipe for quick marinara sauce using the Vitamix and it inspired me to make a quick tomato sauce with what I had on hand to go into the freezer.  The Vitamix seriously pulverized quartered tomatoes in seconds.  I modified the recipe by adding a bunch of basil leaves that I needed to use, red wine vinegar and probably way too much garlic, but it tastes great- I think!  I would recommend adding some tomato paste to the mixture to thicken the sauce once it is out of the blender and simmering on the stove.  I haven't found the perfect ratio of it just yet though.  One batch was too runny for my taste and another just tasted of too much tomato paste.  I am still working on it, but I now have sauce in freezer bags and in the freezer for later use.

Green Onions: I saw something on the internet about being able to keep your green onions growing in a sunny window sill for use in cooking....I was skeptical, but it works!  Mine are sitting in mason jar on the kitchen window sill and they keep growing.  I just keep a small amount of water in the bottom of the jar.  Need onions? Just grab the kitchen shears and snip some off to throw into anything!

Share: Last but not least, sharing is always fun! Bring some of those good veggies to family and friends.  Who doesn't love that?

Next year I hope to make even more out of the share!

On the running front, I am still hovering around 11 miles per week, which is ok.  I edged out my "long" run from 3 miles to 3.5 miles this week.  This week also included my first post partum run where I felt strong at the end! Woohoo.  I was a bit disappointed when I looked at my pace once I finished as it had felt faster, but that's ok.  Hills that were bringing me to a walk a few weeks ago are being conquered so there must be progress!

Any tips for using up the summer produce?  Do you ever have a run that feels awesome and then you learn it was slower than you thought?

Have a great week!

Veggie Stuffed Peppers

I stumbled across a beautiful picture on Pinterest of veggies, quinoa and feta stuffed peppers.  They looked delicious!  On a recent Sunday, I took advantage of extra time in the kitchen to whip up my own version based on ingredients I had on hand (which is never a match to any recipe I find!) and enjoyed a lunch in peace and quiet while my little one napped.  This recipe was easy and tailored for messy cooks such as myself :)  It is also a recipe where you don't have to worry about exact measurements.  Like garlic? Add more.  Hate cilantro? Don't use it.  Vegan?  Ditch the cheese.  Want meat? Add some! There are so many variations that could be delicious, but here is what worked for me:  

 

Veggie Stuffed Peppers

(makes 3 servings)

~1 chopped tomato

~1-2 generous handfuls of spinach

~1 cup of canned (rinsed) or cooked black beans

~1 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa or a combination of both

~1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

~1 clove of garlic or 1 tsp minced garlic (you can add more if you love your garlic)

~1 generous shake of dried cilantro flakes (hopefully fresh cilantro once this winter kicks it!)

~2 tsp cumin

~olive oil to grease a skillet

~3 bell peppers

 

Slice the tops off of the 3 bell peppers and remove the cores and seeds.  Set aside.  Generously coat a deep skillet or cast iron pan with olive oil and heat on medium heat.  Once heated, add the garlic.  Let the garlic simmer for 1-2 minutes and then add the chopped tomato and spinach.  Stir the vegetables so they evenly cook and get coated with the garlic and olive oil.  The tomatoes will soften and the spinach will significantly reduce in volume.  Add the black beans and stir.  Add the cilantro and cumin and stir some more (there will be a lot of stirring here!).  Add the cooked rice and/or quinoa and stir to mix completely with the vegetables.  Add 2/3 of the cheddar cheese and mix with the beans, rice/quinoa and vegetables.  Once completely mixed, remove from the heat. 

 

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spoon 1/3 of the rice/quinoa, beans and veggie mix into each of your 3 bell peppers.  Sprinkle the top of the mixture with the remaining 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese.  Lightly grease a shallow baking pan with olive oil.  Place the stuffed peppers into the pan and put the tops of the bell pepper back onto the pepper.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  Serve with some organic white or blue corn tortilla chips and enjoy!  Filling, tasty & healthy!   

 

Served with sour cream and chunks of avocado!

I love adding spinach to stir fry dishes.  First,  spinach can go bad pretty quickly in the fridge so it is a great way to make sure you use it every week without hitting salad overload.  Spinach also drastically reduces in volume when cooked so it is easy to sneak that veggie into a recipe for an additional nutrition boost! 

 

As for quinoa and brown rice, I usually use a combination of the two.  One tip I find super helpful is to cook a big pot of the quinoa/brown rice combo when I am home and store it in the fridge so that there are healthy grains ready to go all week!  I have seen this tip many times over at Fannetastic Food in her amazing recipes and it truly does work.  On a rushed evening, I can quickly stir fry veggies, chicken and spices (such as Curry- yummy!) and serve over the rice/quinoa.  On a rushed morning, I can throw some rice/quinoa on top of a salad or in a wheat wrap with some veggies and Voila! Lunch!  I love tips like that...the trick is just staying organized with them!  Sometimes, the organization can be a challenge!   

Have a great Easter weekend! Plenty of cooking, baking and gathering to be going on over here this weekend!

 

 

On Organization....Or Lack of it....

Local Triathlete Caught at Drive-Thru

True Story.  Well, mostly true.  In a quest for a healthy life, activity has to be part of the equation.  In my case, I have been lucky to find a sport that I love: triathlon.

So, onto my story.  It was about 9:30 pm on a Tuesday night and I was just driving home from work...we had a special event in the evening that extended my work day by about 4 hours.  I'm driving home and I'm hungry! I haven't had dinner yet, I'm tired and I realize that I left absolutely nothing out to defrost for when I got home...not that I was much in the mood to cook anyway.  What's a tired, hungry girl to do?  Well, I saw the golden arches.  My husband happened to be on his way home too.  I called him on the cell....and made him go through the drive thru to get me dinner.  So, no I didn't get caught at the drive thru but that's only because I made my husband do the dirty work.  Here I am talking about minimizing processed food consumption...as I lick the sweet and sour sauce of that last french fry. 

I want to be clear here- I firmly believe that life is too short to not indulge from time to time; however, I think there is a big difference between making a planned, proactive decision to enjoy a food that you truly think tastes great versus a tired, stressed reaction to just fill the hole in your stomach.  On that Tuesday night, I was totally reacting and it got me thinking.

Eating healthy requires organization.  When I'm on my game, it's great.  Food is planned.  Meals are ready to go.  Healthy snacks are within reach.  Unfortunately, every now and then there are those weeks where life takes over and the organization slips....you get tired....cranky....you missed grocery night....you forgot to leave that chicken out to defrost.  These days, people are leaving their houses early in the mornings and returning late in the evenings to a pile of chores to help get the family ready for the next day.  I firmly believe that proper fuel and nutrition are essential to keep the pace! So, when I am on my game, these are some of the things that have worked great for me. 

1) Frozen veggies- during my trips to Trader Joes, I stock up on frozen, organic veggies.  I throw them in the freezer and don't have to worry about them going off or being wasted.  They are like "on-call" nutrition, ready to go whenever you need them.  They have been particularly helpful for baby food over the last year. 

2) The whole chicken- Purchase an organic, free-range chicken for roasting.  I find that the chicken gives me healthy meals for 2-3 nights.  The first evening, we have roast chicken, potatoes and veggies.  For the next 1-2 evenings, there are a lot of different options such as healthy chicken soft tacos, stir fry curry chicken with brown rice and veggies and don't forget about sandwiches!

3) Bake a healthy dessert once a week-  if you are like me, you have a vicious sweet tooth.  There is nothing worse than a sweet tooth and not being prepared to handle it when it acts up!  Life is too short to not eat dessert.  When you have some time at the weekend, whip up a batch of healthy, protein packed brownies or chocolate chip cookies.  Keep them in the fridge and you will have portion controlled, sweet bliss at your fingertips for when that sweet tooth acts up...instead of running to the convenience store for a pint of ice cream.

4) Have a "No-Cook" night once a week- it seems that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we need to give ourselves a break sometimes.  So, once per week don't cook!  This could be an evening where you order in.  It could be an evening where you enjoy food such as salads, sandwiches or even sushi from the local market. 

My goal is to stay on my game as much as possible.  It's important for me and my family.  There will definitely be more on this issue to come....and I would LOVE to hear any ideas you have.  Got a recipe? Time saving tip? Let's hear it so we can make the healthiest food possible for our families!