Summer meals

Got a nice little package from Papa Spuds yesterday - filled with summer goodness.


Yellow beans
Grape tomatoes
Okra
Yellow squash
Pickling cucumbers
Yukon gold potatoes
Peaches
Mini peach poundcake

So last night's dinner was a little sampler - sauteed squash, homemade fried okra, corn off the cob and baked beans I had left over from the 4th of July.


And, of course, some peach poundcake with fresh raspberries for dessert.

I'm so excited about continuing to get these fresh veggies once baby arrives and starts on solid foods. I will definitely be making my own baby food and I hope my little one will be open to eating all sorts of different foods. Since Chad and I are adventurous eaters, I hope Jack takes after us! I refuse to be "that mom" that insists her child will only eat Tyson's chicken nuggets for dinner every night.

And... while we're on the topic... Chad set up baby Jack's keekaroo high chair that we were lucky to get from my in-laws at our baby shower last week. How cute is it?!

Yes, I'm still cooking

I realized I have not done a good job about blogging about my food adventures lately - even though I'm back to cooking most of our weeknight meals.

I'm continuing to l.o.v.e. our Papa Spuds weekly deliveries. The last couple of weeks have been even better since there is an abundance of delicious summer crops so I'm able to get a lot for my money. We've gotten tons of stuff - green cabbage, red potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, salad greens, collards, kale, basil, corn, raspberries, blueberries, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, fresh milk and even - this week - flounder fillets caught the day before from the Carolina coast.

All these crops have made for some delicious - and easy - dinners. Most nights we've paired whatever protein we feel like (chicken, pork, beef... and now fish!) with potatoes in some sort of fashion (potato salad, roasted potatoes, boiled potatoes, etc.), and two or three fresh veggies.

{my shipment for the week - minus the flounder: sweet corn, red potatoes, kale, basil and tomatoes}

Last night, I made PW's Spicy Pasta Salad with Smoked Gouda, Tomatoes and Basil... since I've always had luck with her pasta dishes. I added some roasted chicken --- since I need to get my protein --- and used cellentani instead of mostaccioli and it was a perfect dinner. My fresh Papa Spuds tomatoes and sweet basil were perfect in it!


Even Chad, who doesn't prefer thicker pasta (he's a spaghetti/angel hair kinda guy) loved it. The best part was I was able to do all the prep the night before (cook the pasta, chop my veggies and cheese, make the dressing) and quickly assemble it that evening so I could feed Chad before he had to run out the door to Bible study.

Tomorrow night we're going to be cooking the flounder - which I'm leaving up to Chad. Despite my comfort in cooking, I don't have lots of experience cooking fish so I'm passing the buck on this one to the mister. I'll be happy to do the accompaniments - roasted potatoes, corn, sliced tomatoes and sauteed kale! ;)

So I'm sorry for not keeping you update with my cooking, but fear not - I'm back in action.

My produce box: May 3

I got two boxes full of goodies last night. Here is the rundown...

For 21 credits, about $21, I received:



- Cabbage, Green (1 head)
- Sugar Snap Peas (~2/3 lb.)
- Cucumbers (2 ct.)
- Salad Mix (~1/3 lb.)
- Sweet Potatoes, Covington, (~2.0 lbs.)
- Baby Bok Choy (~1 lb.)
- Strawberries (~1 lb.)
- Sourdough, Old World (1 loaf)

You'll notice the salad mix, sweet potatoes and sourdough are repeats from last week. Why? They were all DELICIOUS.

And my resulting menu is:

Tuesday: Homemade grilled BBQ chicken, coleslaw and sour cream + dill cucumbers
Wednesday: Ginger and garlic stir-fried sugar snap peas and bok choy over white cheddar polenta
Thursday: Sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches (Chad made using Cabot white cheddar and our bread last week and it was ah-maz-ing) with garden salad (greens, sugar snap peas, cucumber) and homemade dijon+shallot vinaigrette

And of course, I'll be munching on my pound of strawberries for as long as I can stretch them.

Our menu from last week worked out great, and provided us with some flexibility. I was planning on just serving a big garden salad for dinner last Thursday, but we ended up having our friends David and Jamie come over... so I served a big salad along with cheese tortolleni that I added tomatoes, olive oil and wilted arugula too. And then on Sunday, we cooked for just the two of us at home using the remainder of our Papa Spuds items --- Chad grilled a couple beef filets (which I didn't eat... wasn't feeling the red meat) and then I made a salad with the rest of our pea shoots and salad mix (along with some shaved carrots and garbanzo beans), used the leftovers from our roasted sweet potatoes to turn them into a mash with a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, grilled squash and zucchini (which we had sitting in the fridge from the week prior) and used the rest of our sourdough to make fresh garlic bread.

So first week of Papa Spuds = success! Hope our items from this week are just as yummy!

My produce box - April 26

Yippee! Like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, I anxiously counted down the clock Tuesday afternoon and couldn't wait to rush home to see the goodies I selected for my first week's shipment from Papa Spuds.

For 20 credits (about $20), I received:



- Asparagus (~0.90 lbs.)
- Tatsoi (1 bunch)
- Arugula (1 bunch)
- Sourdough, Old World (1 loaf)
- Snow Pea Shoots/Tips (~1 lb.)
- Salad Mix (~1/3 lb.)
- Sweet Potatoes, Covington (~2.0 lbs.)

All local, and almost all organic + pesticide-free.

A couple of new-to-me items include tatsoi and snow pea shoots/tips - both of which are in the "greens" family which I'll be able to eat raw (a la salad-form) or sauteed.

And my menu for the week is as follows:
Monday (pre-Papa Spuds delivery): zucchini and tomato lasagna with a ricotta-lemon-basil white sauce
Tuesday: Tatsoi & pea shoot saute with grilled Asian-marinated ribeye on top, sourdough
Wednesday: Roasted sweet potatoes, asparagus and wilted arugula
Thursday: "Papa Spuds Salad" - all my leftover veggies + greens assembled into somewhat of a cold salad with homemade dijon-shallot vinagrette and toasted sourdough

I rarely make dinner plans for Friday thru Sunday, since we often end up making plans with family or friends and my meal prep goes out the window. That, and I deserve a couple days off from cooking!

But, all in all, a good first week!