beets – Chocolate 'N Children

July 16, 2015July 14, 2015

CSA – Week 9

Another delicious week of vegetables. There was a lot of variety this week!

Such a yummy CSA this week, starting with parsley. Because you can never have too much parsley. I love adding it to foods!

Peppers, red and yellow. My 2yr old insists on calling them apples. And he’s more than happy to just take a bite out of them!

These are called red torpedo onions and they look delicious! Every time I look at them I want to eat them.

Beets, I made another batch of pickled beets this week. My 6yr old likes them.

Green beens. You can have too many of these (if you’ve ever had too many bean plants you know what I’m talking about) but it’s really hard because they’re so delicious.

Kale – I love kale, but my family does not share my like 🙁

Celery. This organic, local celery is so flavorful. It has way more flavor than what you get at your grocery store. I’m just amazed.

July 9, 2015July 8, 2015

CSA – Week 8

Here’s my latest CSA haul.

I’m just loving this squash. It’s one of my favorite vegetables. And this squash is so tasty!

More celery, I still have half a head from last week so I need to find a recipe that uses lots of celery. I’m thinking I might make up a bunch of cream of celery soup and freeze it for later.

Green onions. I think I’ve gotten green onions every week so far. I’ve figured out how to add them to things without my husband and the kids discovering them so I’m always happy for more.

My 6yr old likes my pickled beets. I’m not a fan of beets but they’re ok pickled. So I’ll probably do that with these.

Basil, I’m loving having so much fresh basil. It’s so delicious and goes great in so many things!

Beans. I’m so excited to finally get some beans. I really love fresh beans, and these were delicious!

Greens, they didn’t tell me what kind and I just don’t know the difference between all of my greens. Unfortunately no one wants to eat them (except for me) so I’m going to have to get sneaky about it.

Tomatoes. I’m loving all these fresh tomatoes! So tasty.

July 3, 2015July 3, 2015

Food Friday – Crockpot Vegetable Soup

I’ve been on a soup/stew kick this past couple of weeks. Mainly because we’re super busy and it’s easy to toss everything in the crockpot before heading out the door for the day. And then supper is ready when I get home!

For this vegetable soup, you can toss in just about any vegetable if you don’t like the veggies I used.

Crockpot Vegetable Soup

2 Large Tomatoes – cut in chunks
Handfull Chopped Cauliflower
4 Sliced carrots
1 Beet peeled and grated
3 Radishes sliced (I’ve noticed the spicier the raw radish, the sweeter it is cooked)
1 Cup chopped greens (I used swiss chard)
2 Cups chicken broth or chicken soup base
1 Cup cooked meat (I had some leftover hamburger and pork chops that I cut up and put in)

Put all ingredients in the crockpot. Add extra water to full cover vegetables if needed. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours.

June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

CSA – Week 6

I’m having so much fun with these CSAs. Here’s what came in this week’s CSA.

More beets. This is not my favorite vegetable, but after having them for weeks, I’m staring to discover some ways to use them that me and the kids all like.

Green onions. I’ve started putting these in everything, and I’m finally using them up as I get them!

Swiss Chard. I didn’t think the kids would eat this, but I’ve been putting it in dishes and as long as it’s cut small enough the kids are eating it without a problem.

Parsley. No basil this week, but I have a bit left from last week, and now I have parsley as well.

Lettuce. It’s a good thing we like salads. I’ve gotten lettuce every week.

Tomatoes. I love these tomatoes. They’re so delicious!

Squash. This vegetable is a favorite at my house. And these look so delicious.

Celery. I tried one of these plain and it was so strong! I didn’t realize how much more flavor locally grown would have. I’m loving this in soups and it would be great with peanut butter as well.

June 18, 2015June 16, 2015

CSA – Week 5

My girls are so excited about these carrots. They love carrots, and had carrots a few weeks ago so this week they were asking for them again. They’re so happy to have more carrots.

I can’t say I’m happy to see more beets. I’ve already pickled two bunches. I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do with this bunch.

Swiss chard. I remember my mom making this accidentally once when I was a kid thinking it was kale. It’s not kale, and it didn’t taste good. So I’m a little afraid of it, but I’m sure I’ll find something I can make with it.

Basil, luckily I have ideas for using this since I’m just now finishing off my last batch. In fact, tomorrow I’ll have two recipes for you with basil.

More tomatoes. These are so yummy! And I’m eating through them so quickly, I’m always happy to have more tomatoes.

And lettuce, we love salads at my house, so that’s what this gets used for. There’s also a lovely red pepper I forgot to take a picture of – and since I ate it before I realized that I didn’t have a picture, there’s no picture. It was very tasty.

June 11, 2015June 9, 2015

CSA – Week 4

This week we have beets again. I made more pickled beets because I think the kids will like them. I’m just hoping I like them. I’m not a fan of beets.

Cauliflower. You can’t see this in the picture, but the undersides are purple. The girls were so excited about this! I’m not going to have any trouble getting them to eat it however I make it.

Radishes. Currently, I’m grating them into salads and everyone eats them this way. I even like them this way.

Green onions, four weeks in a row. I have got to come up with something other than slicing one in a salad!

Tomatoes. Last week’s were so delicious. I’m not having any trouble eating all of these.

Greens. It’s not broccolini, but something similar to kale. It’s a bit strong but I still like it.

Red lettuce. This stuff is so tasty. I love it in salads.

Kale. I still haven’t found a recipe for kale that the kids will eat. I’m going to try something new this week.

Come back tomorrow and see what I’ve been cooking!

June 5, 2015June 2, 2015

Food Friday – Beets and Tomatoes

I had 5 giant tomatoes in my CSA box. 5. I love tomatoes. But they’re giant. No one else likes tomatoes, so when I cut one up I have to eat it all somehow. They’re delicious tomatoes and I’ve enjoyed them.

Tomato Basil Salad

1 medium size tomato or 1/2 a large tomato
1/4 cup cubed cheese – I used baby swiss
4 sweet basil leaves – broken in pieces

Slice tomato in squares, toss tomato, cheese, and basil together. Add a little salt, oil, or vinegar if desired. Enjoy.

And I just had to show off a sliced tomato. Isn’t it delicious looking!

Beets was a real stumper. I haven’t made beets since, well, ever. I’m not really fond of the taste ether so I haven’t eaten them since I can’t remember when. But, they came in my CSA box and part of the reason for getting a CSA is to try new things. I only had enough beets for 1 jar so I didn’t want to bother with canning just one jar. I decided to go with the refrigerator version.

Refrigerator Pickled Beets

3 medium sized beets
1 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic – peeled and sliced
Beet juice as needed

Wash beets well and remove tops and stems. Place in a pan of water and boil until fork tender (about 25 minutes) Remove from water, peel, and slice into rounds. Place in Mason Jar.

While beets are cooking, heat sugar vinegar, water, and garlic on the stove. Simmer 5 minutes then set aside to cool.

Pour sauce over beets in mason jar. Top off with beet juice (leftover in pan from boiling the beets) as needed to fill the jar.

Put lid on the jar and refrigerate. The beets will be ready to eat in 1 week. They will keep in the fridge for 1 month or so.