Well, usually my goal is to get through one week's worth of food before the next week comes. That is not happening... Being away every weekend isn't helping. Now B is out of town for the next 2 weeks for work, so I have to battle the veggies on my own. I know I can do it. But in the past my posts were a little more focused. Now with the weeks running together, the blog posts will have to as well.
I recently started working with a personal trainer, making my weeks even busier. Hopefully this will help balance out all of the food I need/want to eat. I absolutely love, love, LOVE working with her, which is amazing because I hate working out. There are many reasons why I think this is working for me. She pushes me, I don't need to think about what I should do, and its somewhat social (which is nice after my long drives to/from work). Anyway, last night after I had to attempt to do push ups (quite a poor attempt, to say the least). It got me thinking...what is my push up equivalent with cooking. What is that thing that I struggle with most and maybe just some practice would make it better. I think I decided it would have to be more with baking than cooking since baking is so much more of a science. Cooking, though I am sure people would disagree with me, is quite simple if you know flavors that go together. Dishes like stir fries, homemade pizza, tacos, and pasta can be eaten weekly and taste completely different week-to-week. Plus, none of them really take any measurements. But that's a tangent....my push up for cooking is the cheesecake. I think more than anything, I am scared to make it. I made one a couple years ago and after all of the hard work, it flipped out of my fridge and on to the floor. Horrible. Especially because it was supposed to be the dessert for Thanksgiving at my in-law's house. Oh well! I think I need to get over my fear and try again. Just like I need to get over my fear of push ups. What is your dish or baked good that you are scared of?
This week I am going to start with last week's photo of the share since they all run together...
Week 14:
Chard, red potatoes, carrots, cilantro, red peppers, chives, cherry tomatoes and garlic. --overall, pretty normal things to use, so it shouldn't be too hard to get through.
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| Week 14! |
As always when I need to get through some veggies, I made a giant stir fry with a little jasmine rice. Look at how colorful it is! The best part is we have 4 different sauces in our fridge so we can switch it up when we want. I think this week I used a Thai Peanut Sauce and B used a Szechaun. With the wax beans, I also just ate them raw as a snack. They were good but not as sweet and flavorful as a green bean.
Cherry Tomatoes:
I am starting to really back up in cherry tomatoes. I love them but I am running out of ideas. I will need to do some research for the upcoming weeks. But last week I ate my standard lunch of tomatoes with balsamic and fresh mozzarella. I have also been trying to have salads everyday this week which of course they are included in.
Carrots:
So easy to use, it is not even worth getting too inventive. Well not until I get too many of them at least. First of all, I have to say I love big normal carrots. As a kid, that is all we ate. And then the baby carrot came about. Though convenient and still tasty, a real big carrot will always be superior. Always crunchy and always sweet. Besides just eating them raw as a snack, I have been adding them to my salads.
Cucumber:
I was hoping to make one last batch of my favorite salad. I got all of the ingredients out, pulled out the cucumber and realized it was quite small. Not really worth it. So, I have been enjoying the it in my lettuce salads instead. I like cutting it into big chunks so they are easy to pick up with my fork.
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| Salad for Lunch - Romanie, carrots, cucumber, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and chives
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I have never seen so many chives...ever. My grandpa used to have them in his garden. When I was little I used to eat a bunch of them until my breath would be all oniony and then breathe in people's faces. I know, I know...I was a great child. The good thing about chives is they can go in almost anything. This week I have been adding them to my salads and topping my baked potatoes. I am hoping they will keep a while in the fridge. I think this weekend I will add some chives to my scrambled eggs. Num!
Potatoes:
I was pretty pumped to get potatoes in our share this week. I don't usually buy potatoes much but I sure do love them. Also, since they are hearty, they should keep for a very long time. I used one this week for a simple baked potato. Since I am lazy, I just use the microwave to bake them. I have a few ideas for upcoming weeks for the potatoes though that may be more exciting like Buca's Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Crispy Smashed Potatoes. When I make them, I will add the recipes -- something to look forward to.
Swiss Chard:
I decided since we haven't gotten swiss chard in a while, I would go back a few weeks and repeat a recipe. And once again, it was delicious. I think the caramelized onion and garlic is what really makes this dish. Plus topping with salty fresh goat cheese.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sauteed-Swiss-Chard-with-Onions-240560
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| My dinner one night this week -- Swiss Chard and Baked Potato |
Corn:
We had quite a bit of corn to eat last week. Luckily some friends invited us over for dinner and that was our contribution. It was still quite sweet and crunchy. The down side was they all had some sort of worm in the top. The farm had warned us about this and said just to cut off the tops which worked out fine. But I think since we had the corn in our fridge for the week, the worms got pretty big. Well, the one we actually saw was big. It was wriggling around on the cutting board. Ick! I felt better about the corn once it was cooked in boiling water. That should kill off any bugs, right?
Beets:
So we meet again, Beets. I have tried beets at a restaurant recently thinking maybe if they were made by an expert I would love them. Nope! Still, I can tolerate them. Its strange but I think it is more the texture than anything else. Which is why the grilled beets worked for me again. They dry out on the grill becoming almost chip-like. This time I added some gorgonzola cheese with them instead of goat. Both ways were delicious.
Red Pepper, Cilantro, Tomato, Jalapeno:
We used all of these items as toppings on one of my favorite dishes my mom makes. Its called Tijiuana Torte. Basically it is glorified nachos. You start with a basis of tortilla chips. Smother them in a kind of sweet, chili meat sauce. And top it off with all of your favorite nacho/taco toppings. Salsa, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, peppers, etc. It is a great dish to make for company because it makes a ton. Or you can freeze leftovers. I think more than anything, it is the perfect dish if you are having people over to watch a football game. You can make it all ahead of time and then let it cook during the first half. Everyone gets to customize and it fits right in with all of the other snacks/treats you are having.
TIJUANA TORTE
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
3 (6-oz) can tomato paste
1 (16-oz) can tomato sauce
4 cups of water
Brown ground beef with onion. Drain. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for one hour. Serve over tortilla chips with toppings.
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| Toppings -- chopped up and ready to go |
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| Final dish before digging in |
Kale:
Dreaded kale....what to do with you this week? Well, since I was going for more of the nutrients and less for the taste, I added the kale to a fruit smoothie one more for breakfast. This smoothie had greek yogurt, a frozen banana, frozen berries and kale. It was really quite good and a great way to get some vitamins.
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| Kale and Berry Smoothie |
Week 15!
Well, I still have some food left over from the previous weeks but not too much. The shares are getting much smaller as you can see. I now have a TON of cilantro. That will be the biggest challenge in the next week. I have avocados all ready to make guacamole but that only takes a little bit of cilantro. I will probably make and freeze some chimmichuri again. Other than that, I will need to so some searching.
Cilantro, Cabbage, Kale, Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Garlic, Carrots, and Onions
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| Week 15 -- Adding on to the stuff I have in the fridge from the last two weeks |
Hope every enjoys the chilling Fall weekend! I think it is time to pick some apples, drink hot apple cider and sit by a fire!
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