Brooklyn Academy of Music.
September 20, 2014
Brooklyn Academy of Music.
September 19, 2014
Mmmmmmmmm….. fries.
Paleo Peach Crumble
I don’t go for desserts often, but I find myself lately with a glut of fresh almond meal that needs using (more on why later) – dessert seems like the logical outcome. Plus: peaches. Can we talk about peaches that have been graced with heat?
d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s
This recipe isn’t instant, but scales beautifully to serve more – these peaches would be absolutely fabulous with some of that coconut whipped cream I made for a party, or some of my favorite 1-ingredient ice cream.
Vegetarian, Vegan, gluten-free, paleo
Paleo Peach Crumble
2 peaches, halved and pitted
1/4 c. almond meal (either plain from the package, or leftover from making almond milk)
1-2 Tbsp. melted ghee
1 tsp. vanilla (optional – if you use plain flour, it would be a nice touch)
Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
Kosher salt
Preheat your oven to 375 fahrenheit. While your oven is coming up to temperature, either grab some oven-proof ramekins or line a cookie sheet with foil. I love the ramekin for baking this item because it looks pretty, feels fancy, and puts my ramekins to better use than being a handy cherry tomato-to-mouth conveyance method.
Place your halved peaches cut side up in/on your cooking vessel and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon and a pinch of kosher salt.
In a small bowl, combine the almond meal and ghee and work with your fingers until you have crumbly flour. Sprinkle over the peaches (you don’t want a whole heap here – go for a moderate amount and the crumble will toast more evenly).
Bake 25-30 minutes, or until the peaches offer no resistance to a fork and the topping is nice and browned.
If desired, drizzle with some honey or maple syrup and top with a dollop of coconut whipped cream or scoop of 1-ingredient paleo ice cream.
Serves 2-4, depending upon how heavy a dessert is warranted.
September 18, 2014
Sidewalk jacks.
September 17, 2014
I’ll be here sooner rather than later.
What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Paisley Farm Box 15
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.
Paisley Farm 2014 CSA Box 15
10 Heirloom Tomatoes
1 Pint of Sungold Tomatoes
1 Pint of Sungold Tomatoes
6 Japanese Eggplants
5 Bell Peppers
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bunch Curly Kale
3 Leeks
5 ears Corn
Leftover From Previous Weeks
1 bunch kale
Peaches
2 ears corn
Roasted tomatoes
Roasted eggplant
Frozen bell pepper
1 raw bell pepper
2 slicing cucumbers
3 yellow cucumbers
2 carrots
How I Used My Share
2 tomatoes were squashed in transport. My dog fell on 2 more and squashed them. 3 went bad before I could do anything about it. I ate the Sungolds out of hand as snacks.
I ate variations on tomatoes & peaches & chicken for lunch (one day with peppers, one day with carrot top pesto).
I made a shredded balsamic beef bowl with warm corn/pepper/leek/balsamic vinegar salad.
I made sandwich rollups with half of the head of chard in place of bread.
I served corn on the cob with hot dogs.
I made stuffed peppers out of two bell peppers + the rest of the roasted tomatoes + Italian sausage + a head of kale + a bunch of roasted eggplant.
I made a corn & goat cheese & pepper dish as a side for flank steak with the rest of the corn & peppers.
Waste: A bunch of tomatoes, 1/2 a head of chard.
My Favorite Dish From This Box
The stuffed peppers were great. Peach & tomato lunches are always fantastic, but I think the roasted tomatoes in the peppers was my favorite thing about this week’s dinners.
Next Week
Going into next week, I have: a couple small carrots, some peaches, roasted eggplant, bunches of frozen bell pepper, some Japanese eggplant, 1 smallish globe eggplant, 2 big slicing cucumbers, and 3 yellow cucumbers.
Guess which cucumbers are probably going to waste because I can’t bear facing them?
September 16, 2014
This part of town glows in the afternoon sun.
September 15, 2014
Still a big hole – now with a concrete porchy thing.
September 14, 2014
Huntress in Williamsburg.
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of September 15 – 19
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.
Menu for Last Week (Week of September 8 – 12)
The Plan vs. Reality
This week’s meal planning was decent – I got corn in my CSA box again and decided to use it instead of waste it, even though corn isn’t paleo.
Monday
- The Plan – Collard wraps with shredded balsamic beef, bell peppers and carrots
- Reality – This worked really well. I can’t wait to get more collards in the CSA box – this needs to be repeated!
Tuesday
- The Plan – Shredded balsamic beef with corn/green pepper/feta salad
- Reality – Yum. This was a great meal. I added jalapeno for some extra spice and roasted all the peppers on my gas range. Delicious.
Wednesday
- The Plan – Bunless burgers with corn on the cob and herbed butter
- Reality – I ditched the fancy butter and this meal was delicious.
Thursday
- The Plan – Stuffed peppers with kale and roasted tomatoes if I get enough peppers in the CSA box
- Reality – I ended up going another direction. Had leftover shredded balsamic beef with a warm corn/pepper/leek/balsamic vinegar salad instead.
Friday
- The Plan – Eat out.
- Reality – This happened.
Lunches
- The Plan – Leftovers.
- Reality – Had a bunch of leftovers + days of chicken with tomatoes and peaches.
Extras
- The Plan – Nothing planned but almond milk.
- Reality – The almond milk turned out awesome. More on that soon!
This Week: September 15 – 19
I have leftover CSA veggies this week and $75 to spend on groceries.
This Week’s Proposed Menu
- Monday: Steaks with corn on the cob
- Tuesday: Stuffed peppers with sausage, roasted tomatoes, eggplant & kale
- Wednesday: Corn and goat cheese stuffed peppers with ???
- Thursday: Eggplant fries with ???
- Friday: Meat with CSA veggie or dine out
- Lunch: Leftovers.
- Extras: None planned.
Shopping List & Cost Breakout
Grocery Store Key: TJ = Trader Joe’s, O = Optional if budget allows
Shopping List
Steaks (flank steak – $12.95 @ TJs)
2 other meats (chicken thighs – $7.29 @ TJs + uncured hot dogs – $4.99 @ TJs)
goat cheese ($2.49 @ TJs)
coffee ($4.99 @ TJs)
2 other meats (chicken thighs – $7.29 @ TJs + uncured hot dogs – $4.99 @ TJs)
goat cheese ($2.49 @ TJs)
coffee ($4.99 @ TJs)
Smoothie supplies
2 bags kale ($2.29 x 2 @ TJs)
1 bag spinach ($1.99 @ TJs)
4 apples ($3.16 @ TJs)
Limes (1 lb $1.69 @ TJs)
3 avocados ($4.17 @ TJs)
Coconut water ($3.69 @ TJs)
Ginger ($1.39 @ TJs)
Extras: peanut butter dog biscuits ($3.49 @ TJs), sauerkraut ($3.99 @ TJs), thai chile almonds ($5.99 @ TJs)
I also ran into a sale at Whole Foods on grass fed beef for $5 a pound – I picked up 4 lbs. and plan to break that out over the next few weeks. Win!
Total TJ: $67.16
Total WF: $20.31
Total For The Week: $75.00; $0.00 under budget. I *was* $8.84 under budget this week, but I’m going to count some of that beef surplus toward this week’s budget. I think I’m safely recuperated from the week I went over with party supplies last month; plugging the partial cost of the beef in this week will leave me a little wiggle room for later in the month. Plus, now I have extra ground beef + the Italian sausage I still haven’t used in my freezer store. Whoo hoo!
Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies, Italian sausage, ground beef.
Gastography 