Author: cochrancj

I am an American expat who loves to explore the world through the plate and is always curious to learn more.

What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Paisley Farms Box 19

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This year’s CSA is from Paisley Farm, a 25-acre operation located in Tivoli, NY. Paisley Farm grows organically and plants with the chef in mind. The 22-week CSA runs from June – October and I purchased the standard vegetable share. This share includes 8-9 vegetables and herbs per week (8-12 pounds) – enough to provide a family of three with 3-4 dinners’ worth of veg. The price equals out to $25 per week, the cost of which will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.

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Paisley Farm 2014 CSA Box 19

1 butternut squash
1 head leaf lettuce
1 bunch baby fennel
1 bunch chard
1 bunch kale
1 small head cauliflower
1 Napa cabbage
5 white potatoes

 

Leftover From Previous Weeks

Frozen peppers
8 Japanese eggplant
1 pepper
1 delicata squash

 

How I Used My Share

I made a mash out of the cauliflower, which I served with pork chops & sauteed chard.

I broiled the delicata squash simply with some sesame oil and ate it for lunch in one sitting, it was so good.

I had raw bell pepper for lunch one day with some rotisserie chicken.

Waste: 8 eggplant, 1 head lettuce

My Favorite Dish From This Box

Mmmmmm… cauli mash. So silky, so delicious.

Next Week

Going into next week, I have: 2 butternut squash, 5 potatoes, 1 head curly kale, 1 Napa cabbage, 1 bunch baby fennel, 2 Japanese eggplant.

Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of October 13 – 17

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A number of people I know are completely flabbergasted when contemplating sticking to a budget while eating a primarily “paleo” diet. I’m hoping to shed a little light on that issue for those of you on the fence about eating healthfully in this manner – it *can* be done – and done well – without spending all the money. All it takes is a little planning. 

A little background: I live in Brooklyn, NY, and the grocery prices here are definitely not the same as what you will find in other areas of the country. If you live in say, Raleigh NC for example – you may very well be able to cut this grocery bill by a third, depending upon where you shop. For where I live, where I shop and what I buy, $100 a week is a doable budget without having to sacrifice the quality I want too much. My DH thinks $130 is probably more realistic with our morning smoothie supplies, but I want to shoot for $100. I aim to make 4-5 dinners for two and 5 lunches per week, plus two smoothies per day six days of the week with my budgetary allowance and update you all weekly on what’s going on. Let’s see if I can make it. 

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My CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares are going strong, so I will be doing things a little differently with the vegetable portion of my meal planning for the next few months (until October). My share averages out to $25 a week, which will come off the top of my budget allotment and will comprise the bulk of my non-smoothie-related vegetable purchases. If you’re curious to see how I use my CSA veggies up, check out my What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables posts.

Current Box of CSA Veggies

Menu for Last Week (Week of October 6 – 10)

The Plan vs. Reality

Ok guys, so I was incredibly slack this week in posting. I blame it on not going grocery shopping until Monday and having my week cut short by vacation!

Monday

  • The Plan – Delicata squash & fennel salad with miso & kale and duck
  • Reality – I did my salad, just with harissa and it was fantastic

Tuesday

  • The Plan – Cilantro cauli rice with peppers and spicy chicken
  • Reality – I actually did good here – made the rice, only with crackling chicken from Nom Nom Paleo instead of a spicy chicken because, as it turned out, I bought bone-in skin-on chicken thighs instead of my usual variety. A happy accident.

Wednesday

  • The Plan – A tomato sauce with eggplant & ground beef over squash mash
  • Reality – Forgot we had planned on meeting friends for dinner – which we did.

Thursday

  • The Plan – I’m on vacation!
  • Reality – My dinner was a quick salad from the airport + crapton of pre-packed plane snacks.

Friday

  • The Plan – Still on vacation!
  • Reality – And dinner was fantastic (pork chops + asparagus & mushrooms, if you must know)

Lunches

  • The Plan – Leftovers. Try to eat some veggies.
  • Reality – That happened. I had the last of the Napa cabbage with pulled pork and an egg, plus slipped things like half a bell pepper into other leftovers. Yum.

Extras

  • The Plan – Nothing planned.
  • Reality – And nothing happened.

 

This Week: October 13 – 17

I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries. I was out of town when I generally plan menus and I knew I didn’t want to bug the hubby to go shopping in my stead, so I didn’t really plan anything and went shopping on Monday.

This Week’s Proposed Menu

  • Monday vague plan: Eat out
  • Tuesday vague plan: I’d love pulled pork, but that probably isn’t happening
  • Wednesday vague plan: Vegan cheese intrigues me
  • Thursday vague plan: I’d like to waffle something
  • Friday: No plans.
  • Lunch: Leftovers.
  • Extras: Back on the almond milk train.

Shopping List & Cost Breakout

Grocery Store Key: WF = Whole Foods, TJ = Trader Joe’s

Shopping List

3 Meats
Other stuff we need that I think of last minute and can’t usually fit into the budget
Avoid the snack aisle
Olive oil ($5.99 @ TJs)
Chicken tenders ($4.34 @ TJs)
Pork chops ($7.55 @ TJs)
Flank steak ($18.79 @ TJs)
Ghee ($4.79 @ TJs)
 
Smoothie supplies
2 bags kale ($4.58 @ TJs)
1 bag spinach ($1.99 @ TJs)
5 apples (these were mistakenly rung up as bananas – $1.45 @ TJs)
Limes (1 lb bag – $1.99 @ TJs)
2 avocados ($2.78 @ TJs)
Coconut water ($3.69 @ TJs)

Extras: Skipjack tuna ($1.49) and Albacore tuna ($1.69) to build my emergency protein rations, 2 pears ($0.79 & $0.69) for snacks.

Total TJs: $62.70

Total For The Week: $62.70; $12.30 under budget. *happy dance* Whoo! Whoo! I love it when the grocery gods smile upon me.

Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies.

October 13, 2014

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Somebody’s happy mom is home (but really that she had rotisserie chicken for lunch).

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October 12, 2014

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Back to life, and away from a munchkiny favorite reader who is going to be very upset when he realizes what ‘leaving on an airplane and won’t be back for awhile’ means.

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October 11, 2014

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Starbucks

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Harissa Roasted Squash + Kale Salad

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Delicata squash is my new favorite thing. I’d forgotten how it basically tastes like fall candy. Y-tothe-U-tothe-M. This easy to slap together salad + squash combo makes a decadent dinner dish when paired with a quick pan seared duck breast. If your squash makes it that long – I had trouble getting the amount I did to the table and away from grazing hands.

As written, this recipe isn’t wholly paleo – if you want a paleo-friendly version, swap the olive oil you bake with out for coconut and omit the miso (or sub a little coconut aminos). 

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Harissa Roasted Squash + Kale Salad

For the Squash

1 delicata squash
1 Tbsp. harissa (my favorite brand is Mina)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 bunch baby fennel

For the Salad

1 bunch kale
1 Tbsp. harissa
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Ras el hanout (optional but tasty)
Kosher salt

Preheat your oven to 425 F. Line a cookie sheet with foil.

Slice the ends off your squash and push the seeds out with a spoon. Slice into 1/4-inch rounds. Clean and trim your fennel.

Toss the squash and fennel with 1 Tbsp. harissa and 1 Tbsp. olive oil and arrange in a single layer on your prepared sheet – making sure not to crowd, working the fennel around the squash.

Bake 20 minutes, flip, and bake another 20 minutes or until browned and nutty on both sides.

While the squash is doing it’s thing, make the salad.

Wash and cut your kale into bite-sized pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk the miso, harissa, olive oil & lemon juice.

Massage the dressing into the kale and sprinkle with salt and ras el hanout. Continue tossing and massaging and adding salt & spices until all your leaves are glistening and your spice/salt level is where you want it.

Serve.

Makes enough salad for 3-4 and enough squash for the same (if you don’t eat it all before it hits the table). 

October 9, 2014

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Bye, NYC

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October 8, 2014

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Yes they can

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What Do Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Paisley Farms Box 18

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This year’s CSA is from Paisley Farm, a 25-acre operation located in Tivoli, NY. Paisley Farm grows organically and plants with the chef in mind. The 22-week CSA runs from June – October and I purchased the standard vegetable share. This share includes 8-9 vegetables and herbs per week (8-12 pounds) – enough to provide a family of three with 3-4 dinners’ worth of veg. The price equals out to $25 per week, the cost of which will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.

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Paisley Farm 2014 CSA Box 18

2 eggplants
1 butternut squash
2 heads romaine lettuce
1 bunch baby fennel
3 bell peppers
1 bunch kale
1 small head cauliflower

 

Leftover From Previous Weeks

Roasted Eggplant
Frozen peppers
1 head curly kale
6 Japanese eggplant
1 pepper
1 bunch trevisio
Most of a head of Napa cabbage
1 head cauliflower
2 delicata squash

 

How I Used My Share

I made a mash out of the cauliflower, which I served simply with pulled pork.

I had pulled pork tacos in Napa cabbage wraps with an apple & bell pepper slaw for lunch.

On two separate days, I had bunches of Napa cabbage sauteed with some butter and caraway seed & topped with pulled pork and a fried egg for lunch.

I roasted half the delicata squash with baby fennel, harissa and olive oil and served that with a kale salad and duck breast for a decadent dinner.

I made a green cauli rice with bell pepper and cilantro for dinner and served with crispy chicken thighs.

And I had the other delicata squash for lunch – broiled with a little orange/miso/maple/sesame concoction. Delicata squash FTW

Waste: If I find that head of curly kale again, I’m tossing it – it’s a month old; it has to be dead, right? The trevisio is pretty much dead as well, and I know I’m not going to use the lettuce, so that should go too. And the jar of roasted eggplant – sadly, it has to go as well — mold is no bueno.

My Favorite Dish From This Box

I’m not saying pulled pork in cabbage wraps, though I do love that dish. I’m going for the delicata squash as my favorite for the week. I forgot how much I love the nuttiness and sweetness this squash brings to the dinner party. And the hubbs liked it, too, so score!

Next Week

Going into next week, I have: A bunch of frozen bell peppers, 3 fresh peppers, and 10 eggplant.

October 7, 2014

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Post dachshund-interrupted enhanced yoga selfie. This was the cuddle part of our practice – aka the second best part (right after downward dog belly rubs & raspberries).

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This dog is so damn cute I can hardly stand it.