What to do with Pineapple Guavas?

A rainy California day this holiday week... time to use some of the pineapple guavas I've been collecting.
Here is a recipe for banana bread- substitute the mashed banana for mashed pineapple guavas-- yummy!!
Banana Bread Recipe, from Food Network:

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.


Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.


In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.


Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.


Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

What to make with all this spinach...

Tonight I'll try a new spinach recipe, below.
Indian Spinach and potatoes

Dinner Meal Plan Dec. 5th- Dec 10th

Sunday: Vege meatballs in Marinara Sauce with pasta

Monday: Vege Stir Fry with brown rice

Tuesday: Salmon with Salsa Verde (using tomatillo and green tomatoes) with sweet potato fries (slice sweet potato into thin strips, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper on baking sheet, bake for 40 min at 350.)

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Risotto

Thursday: Leftover night

Friday: Pizza Night

Cilantro Mint Dipping Sauce with breaded halibut

A quick meal pre-Thanksgiving meal for the fam... I'm posting this because my kids actually ate it (only because they thought it was chicken- yeah!)

Cilantro Mint Dipping Sauce with breaded Halibut
2 cups cilantro leaves
12 large fresh mint leaves
1 jalepeno pepper or chili pepper
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt

Mix ingedients in a food processor. Add more tbsp water if needed. Set sauce aside.
Melt 2 tbsp butter. Dip halibut filets in butter, then coat with breadcrumbs/ Panko. Fry in canola oil until browned. Serve with dipping sauce.

Meal Plan Nov 14th- Nov 19

This afternoon I made some citrus smoothies- everyone is fighting sickness right now... I used fresh squeezed grapefruits, lemons, and oranges, bananas, tablespoon honey, about 1 cup yogurt, 2 handfuls of ice and about 2 tablespoons phyillium husks (which my daughter believes is a type of sugar).

I found a recipe for Thai curry that I can't wait to try, after being inspired by our date night this weekend. This paste can be mixed in with veges, shrimp, chicken or pork. Looks great! I think this will freeze well too if I add some olive or canola oil to the batch.
Curry Paste:
1 cup firmly packed Thai basil leaves
2 medium shallots, chopped
¼ cup firmly packed cilantro leaves
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp Thai green Chile paste
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp agave nectar
2 cloves garlic, peeled.

Here's what the week is looking like:
Sunday: Vegetarian Meatballs and Sauce with pasta

Monday: Thai Basil Eggplant with brown rice

Tuesday: Black bean tacos with the fixins (tomato, cilantro, onion, cheese) with homemade guacomole

Wednesday: Split pea soup - I cooked this on the weekend using leftover ham (I had baked a few weeks back), so tonight I just heat and serve. And, I don't mind the ham chunks because it really gives the soup the flavor (even though you can leave out).

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Homemade pizza

Dinner Meal Plan October 24th- October 28th

Today I did a lot of cooking/prepping for the week since I got lazy last week.
I made a batch of pesto pasta (see recipe in last few weeks). I also froze a batch for the winter months.
I also made Green Onion Soup and Roasted some potatos for the week.

Sunday: Italian pasta dinner with meatballs and sausage (Family recipe) and mixed greens salad

Monday: Vegetarian stuffed Pattypan Roasted Squash
Ingredients:

* 4 Pattypan Squash, washed
* 1 Onion (any type), chopped
* 4 Morning Star Sausage Patties
* 3/4 lb. Parsley, chopped
* 1 cup bitter greens
* 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
* 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut squash in half (horizonally) and hollow.
3. Chop onion finely.
4. Heat sausage patties in olive oil in a pan. Break up into small pieces
5. Remove sausage from pan and set aside.
6. Add onion to the pan with olive oil and cook about 2 minutes or until soft. Add greens and saute until wilted.
7. Mix together in a bowl the sausage, onion, parsley, pepper and 2 tablespoons water.
8. Divide mixture among squash halves.
9. Brush the tops of the stuffed squash with olive oil.
10. Place squash in single layer in baking dish just large enough to hold all of the squash.
11. Fill baking dish with 1/2 inch water.
12. Cover and bake 30 minutes.
13. Uncover and continue baking about 15 minutes or until stuffing is browned and squash tender.

Serves 4


Tuesday: Vegetarian reubens

Wednesday: Baked Sockeye Salmon with roasted potatoes

Thursday: Pesto pasta

Dinner Meal Plan Oct 10- Oct 15, 2010

Some weeks I just want to give up all this food prep and cooking on the weekends, and go out to eat to avoid all the pots, pans and dirty dishes... and then I eat out and realize how much better it tastes when I (we) cook it at home... and how much healthier... so then I feel a little better about spending my weekends preparing for the week... just a little. My preference would be a personal chef (but something tells me that's not going to happen)!
So here I am... I've already cooked up a few things for the week, inlcuding:
-Sauteed squash, eggplant, onions in olive oil in a deep saucepan (salt and pepper to taste)
- Sauteed tomatoes in olive oil (salt, pepper and fresh basil)
- Roasted potatoes drizzled in olive oil (salt and pepper to taste)on 400.
- Spicy Leek and Potato Soup is cooking on the stove right now.
- Black beans soaking on the stove right now (soaking directions on bag)

All this food prep today, will make packing lunches (for my husband and myself, along with dinner, so much easier.

Sunday: Pasta with Tomato sauce (sauteed earlier today)and mixed greens salad.
Monday: Tacos with black beans (and the fixins)
Tuesday: Salmon with roasted potatoes and mixed greens salad
Wednesday: Potato soup
Thursday: Squash, Eggplant compode with side cous cous
Friday: Pizza night (homemade pizza) and lots of vino!

Dinner Meal Plan Sept 26- Oct 1

We have a couple weeks worth of potatoes from the farm that I haven't had time to do anything with, so today I'll roast them (cut in half with olive oil and salt, on 400 degrees, for about 30 min. We'll use them as a side dish with meals this week.

Salad returns to the weekly box: Lunches for the week

Sunday: Boca burgers with the fixins, and roasted potatoes.

Monday: Stewed Okra and Tomatoes (also throw the few squash that were included in the box) with brown rice.

Tuesday: Roasted potatoes and pan fried salmon (in olive oil)

Wednesday: Soft shell tacos with vege burgers (sauteed with chili spices) with the fixins. Canned pinto beans sauteed with onion.

Thursday: Pesto pasta (frozen pesto- see recipe in previous post-made and frozen last week)

Friday: Homemade pizza (dough from Fresh and Easy)

Weekly Meal Plan Sept 19- Sept 24

It's been a little while... with family in town, no time to meal plan... back to reality!

Sunday: I'll try a new recipe: French Onion Soup I'll probably use the vege broth that I made a few weeks back (in freezer, instead of chicken and beef broth). Also, tomato, cucumber, onion, and garlic salad with olive oil vinegrette.

Monday: Vegetable stir fry (greens, onions, garlic, carrots)

Tuesday: Giambotta (This is a really formal recipe, however, my family makes this with whatever we have in the fridge- it's always great tasting and easy)

Wednesday: Vege burgers and the fixins

Thursday: Pesto pasta with cannellini beans (for added protein)

Friday: Homemade pizza (dough from Fresh and Easy)

End of summer grill out

Using the CSA box this week we put together a great grill out, including; for starters, fresh guacomole and chips, a main course of potatoes with cilantro pesto (boil and cut potato into wedges, mix in cliantro pesto), tomato cucumber and basil salad, shrimp tomato and pepper kabobs on the grill, followed by melon for dessert. Yum!

Dinner Meal Plan Aug 22- Aug 27

Sunday: Dinner with family, contribution of a cucumber/tomato salad

Monday: From this month's issue of Sunset: Surf and garden quesadillas with avocado salad

Tuesday: Grilled Eggplant sandwiches

Wednesday: Vege Stir fry (carrots, onion, chard) and potatoes

Thursday: Halibit sauteed in Tomatillo Salsa Verde served with tortilla chips

Friday: Homemade pizza with leftover veges

Dinner Meal Plan Aug 15- Aug 20th

Great CSA box this week! Quick meal plan for the week after a busy weekend!

Sunday: Squash and tomatoe sauce (sauteed in olive oil)with cannellini beans over spaghetti, cucumber salad

Monday: Vege tacos (soy burgers with taco mix), with homemade quacomole, tomatoes, onions, cilantro

Tuesday: Vege Stir fry (carrots, greens, onions)

Wednesday: Tilapia with Salsa Verde (See salsa recipe in previous post), string beans

Thursday: Cilantro pesto or use a classic basil pesto recipe (substitute cilantro for basil) over pasta and tomato/cucumber salad

Friday: Pizza night (Homemade pizza with leftover veges from the week)!

Dinner Meal Plan Aug 8th- Aug 13th

Last week I made Green Salsa, Tomatillo Salsa Verde, which I intended to freeze, however, we wound up eating it all week- with eggs in the morning, as well as putting it over Halibut for dinner. I'm going to make more this week- delicous.

I made a batch of tomato and radish salad, with garlic and garbanzo beans, to bring for lunches this week.

Sunday: Pasta with homemade marinara sauce (from garden tomatoes and squash)with white beans

Monday: Vege Stir Fry (chard, carrots, onion, garlic) with brown rice

Tuesday: Salmon sauteed in Salsa Verde (made on Sunday) and cucumber and tomatoe salad

Wednesday: Vege burgers and Green bean salad

Thursday: Cilantro pesto (substitute cilantro for basil)

Friday: Homemade pizza (with leftover veges)

Back to Meal Planning after a little hiatus... Aug 1- Aug 6

Coming back home after a long Jersey vacation of eating nothing but carbs... it's those good bakeries I tell ya... thankfully, we have nothing like it out here in Temecula. So excited to get back to cooking after receiving a CSA box of goodies yesterday.
While we were away some creatures ate a lot of our own garden tomoatoes... but thankfully my sis had a bag of small romas waiting for me.
Started the morning off by making marinara sauce... boiled the tomatoes until they float and "cracked", strained into our hand-crank peeler and seeder... sauteed the end sauce with fresh basil and a little olive oil for later's pasta. Yum!

With a bag of tomatillos from our farm, today I will make a Tomatillo Salsa Verde for later use.

Sunday: Pasta with homemade marinara sauce, Mixed greens salad with tomatoes and cucumbers

Monday: Vegetable stir fry (chard, onions, carrots, garlic) sauteed in olive oil, with brown rice

Tuesday: Boca Burgers on roll with String bean salad (Steamed until tender, drizzled with olive oil, garlic and Balsamic vinegar)

Wednesday: and Summer squash, White bean and Pesto soup (Saute chopped onion and squash in olive oil with salt and pepper until tender. Add chicken or vege broth, drained and rinsed white beans, and chopped fresh oregano and parsley. Bring to a simmer. Top with a dollop of pesto.) Recipe from Sunset, Aug 2010.

Thursday: Wild Alaska Halibut sauted with lemon, garlic and butter Cherry tomatoe and Cucumber Salad with basil

Friday: Pizza Night (dough from Fresh and Easy with leftover veges), marinara sauce, basil and mozz cheese.

What to do with unused veges?

So it's been a busy few weeks and because I didn't meal plan, we had a lot of leftover veges. I recently saw a post from our farm, asking members what they did to prepare for the new box of produce... some members suggested making vegetable broth. I thought this was an excellent idea and tried it last weekend. To my surprise, it was so easy- I made a quick soup for the kids with some of it, and the rest I froze for a future soup base. I most likely will do that again this week. Fill a stock pot with water, throw all the veges you have into the pot, stems and leaves. Boil for about an hour. Strain out all the veges, and it's ready to go.

Weekly Meal Plan June 13th - June 18th

It's been a crazy few weeks with family visiting and other fun events. Now back to meal planning!
Lots of green onions in the CSA box this week so I'll make some Green Onion Soup on Sunday. I'll make a double batch and freeze some for the future. I'll also make some cilantro pesto for use in the future- very convenient on busy nights!

Sunday: Green Onion Soup

Monday: Vegetable Stir fry with brown rice (broccoli, carrots, onions, greens, garlic)

Tuesday: Green Onion Pancakes (Add chopped green onions to Trader Joes Pancake Mix)- serve with mixed greens salad

Wednesday: Veggie burgers and Carrot fries (cut carrots thin and coat in olive oil- bake in oven)

Thursday: Pasta with sauteed green garlic in olive oil

Friday: Homemade pizza with leftover veges

Dinner Meal Plan for May 22- May May 28th

What to bring to a friend's bbq when we have all these wonderful greens that I'd love to use...hmmm...
How about Pasta with Dandelion greens? Scroll down that webpage to find the pasta recipe. It's easy and colorful, but hopefully someone will not be afraid to try it out. I'll just tell them it's spinach! : )

Here's the mealplan for the rest of the week. A little different because my little sis is coming to town on Thurs night...

Sunday: Thanks, Victoria, for this recipe. I can't wait to eat it... smells great so far!! Farmer's Market Vegetable Soup FYI, I omitted the pasta and potato in the recipe, and added extra protein of cannellini beans.

Monday: Vegetable stir fry (broccoli, onion, carrots, greens) and rice

Tuesday: Taco Night (using vege burgers) and the fixins

Wednesday: Shrimp With Arugula Couscous

Thursday: Omlets using garlic, greens, onions, etc

Friday: BBQ with family and friends! My contribution will be a salad (of course), and probably pasta with greens (broccoli rape).

Dinner Meal Plan May 16- May 21

What do you do with beets? Ok, I am not a HUGE beet fan, but my husband really hates them... so I can't seem to find anything to do with them, except give them away... so I figured I'd try making beet chips. I hand cut them as thin as I could get them and coated them in olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I roasted them at 400 for about 15 minutes, and just kept checking on them to make sure not to burn them. Yum- not too bad!
A quick meal plan:

Sunday: Pasta with marinara sauce and salad

Monday: Stir fry with tofu, rice

Tuesday: Vegetarian Reubens with cannellini beans

Wenesday: Vege tacos (using Boca burgers and spices, tomatoe, lettuce, avocado, etc)

Thursday: Salmon with greens (sauteed in olive oil and garlic)

Friday: Pizza Night (Homemade pizzas)!

Dinner Meal Plan May 8th- May 13th

So what do you do with 5 ripe avocados? Make some quacamole of course! We are so lucky to live in Southern California, where the avocados are fresh and never frozen because they are so local!
This afternoon I made a batch using ingredients from the farm, including lots of chopped green onion, chopped cilantro, 1 small jalepeno pepper (chopped), Tbsp lime juice (fresh is best), and then sprinkle with chili powder and salt to taste (I'd also add tomatoe if I had one on hand).
For lunch I served a big scoopful with some cannelini beans (we always have a cooked batch of beans in the fridge to use in salads and meals during the week), and tortilla chips. That's my idea of a healthy lunch!

A quick meal plan this week, nothing crazy since after all, it's Mother's Day Weekend! : )

Sunday: Pasta with Broccoli rape. First boil the broccoli rape for about 25 min, scoop out then saute in approx 1/3 cup olive oil and 4 garlic cloves, with about 1/2 cup tomatoe sauce. Serve over pasta.

Monday: Vegetable stir fry

Tuesday: Vegetarian Reubens with Russian Dressing
with cannelli beans (one of our favorite meals since eating vegetarian)

Wednesday: Salmon and cous cous with sauteed greens

Thursday: Vege burgers and salad

Friday: Pizza night! (Homemade pizza with leftover veges)

Dinner Meal Plan May 2- May 7

A good Sunday to you! The kids had a great day on Saturday at the annual CSA Members BBQ. They were very excited to feed the chickens- such fun! I must say that the vege option at the BBQ (vege pizza made with whole wheat dough), from Pizza Fusion, was delicious! We also picked up our plant starts and were able to get our new organic garden on its way. The grapes are also coming along. We're very excited!

Sunday: Rosemary White Bean Soup

Monday: Vegetable Stir Fry with brown rice

Tuesday: Vegetarian Reubens! Yes, we repeat this recipe almost every week, but it's a great way to use fresh spinach- and easy to make! Last week we added canned cannelli beans for extra protein.

Wednesday: Baked Wild Alaska Halibut and cous cous with sauteed onions and greens.

Thursday: Pesto pasta- my favorite pesto recipe (substitute cilantro for basil in the recipe). A good way to use up lots of cilantro.

Friday: Pizza Night! Homemade pizza (dough from Fresh and Easy), topped with leftover veges from the farm.

Dinner Meal Plan April 25th - April 30th

I am excited to try out a new salad dressing today... inspired by a Sunset Magazine (surprise) recipe and a friend... while we were discussing salad dressings, and how we get sick of them so quickly...
Here is the recipe that I'll test out on my lunch salads this week. This would also make a great topping on tortilla sandwiches.
Creamy Cucumber-Avocado Salad Dressing
Have a great week, friends!

Sunday: Broccoli rape sauteed with garlic and olive oil, over linguine. Sprinkle with parm cheese to serve

Monday: Vegetable Stir fry with brown rice

Tuesday: Vegetarian Reubens with Russian Dressing
For added protein, throw a can of cannellini beans into the spinach mixture.

Wenesday: Giada's Lentil Soup

Thursday: Leftover soup and salad

Friday: Pizza night!

Meal Plan April 18th- April 23rd

Sunday: Today will be a great day to make smoothies for the kids' afternoon snack. I've tried so many smoothie recipes and as long as there is a banana and some fresh squeezed orange juice, it's great. Delicious organic strawberries from the farm will add the perfect sweetness today. And, I always put a few tablespoons of flax seed meal, as well as a handful of any type of raw greens, to add some extra fiber. The kids gladly help putting these things into the blender, and surprisingly have no objections! That's amazing for my kids!

This dinner recipe that I'm trying out tonight was sent to me from a good friend, Deirdre. Thanks so much, I love this collaboration!! This recipe looks great! I am going to add potatoes to the recipe, since we received a batch from the farm this week. (I also added cooked spaghetti to the soup- it was delicious!)
Thai Coconut Soup

Monday: Mixed greens salad with cannellini beans, gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches

Tuesday: Vegetarian Reubens with Russian Dressing
with sweet potatoe fries (on baking sheet slice sweet potatoes, coat with olive oil drizzed on top, add sea salt and pepper, bake for at 400, for about 30-40 min)

Wednesday: BBQ with friends from out of town: Pasta with Cilantro Pesto, Grilled sausage and bbq chicken, Salad

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Pizza night! (Homemade pizza with leftover veges)

Meal Plan April 11- April 16

A week of holiday eating with family in town. Back to healthy eating this week, thank goodness!!
Keep in mind with my meal plan, that my husband and I eat salad for lunch about 3 days/week. We also don't count calories on salad dressing... we love the good stuff, and usually add dried cranberries, feta cheese and nuts as well.

Sunday: Spicy Greens and Red Lentil Soup and salad
This soup is delicious- give it a try! We also added cooked elbow pasta to the soup, to make a more hearty meal.

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup dried, red lentils
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
6 cups vegetable stock
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes
1/8 tsp salt
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 pounds spicy greens (I used a mix of arugula and spinach — if you can find some mustard greens, those would work great too)
1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 medium tomato, diced
lemon wedges

Sort the lentils — there may be tiny little non-lentils or pebbles in with the bunch. Place in a bowl and add cool water, stir with your fingers and pour out the starchy water. Repeat a few times.

Add the onions and carrots to a large stock pot with the olive oil. Sauté until soft and slightly golden in color.
Meanwhile, place drained lentils in another pan (I know — two pans — sorry!) and stir over medium heat until they are fairly dry. Sprinkle the cinnamon and cumin on the lentils and continue to roast for about five minutes. The lentils and spices will smell really good!

Carefully add water, garlic, chili flakes and salt to the carrots & onions, then add the roasted lentils and spices. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Wash greens and tear leaves into bite-sized pieces.

After the 20 minutes of simmering is up, stir in soy sauce, wine and tomato. Pile washed greens on top of soup and cover with a lid, cooking five more minutes. After cooking time stir wilted greens into soup and serve very hot with the lemon wedges.


Monday: Vegetable Stir Fry with Basmati rice or multi grain rice

Saute onion and garlic in 2 Tablespoons canola oil or sesame oil (or combination of the oils), first. Add other vegetables until cooked but still crisp. Last, add greens on top, and cover to wilt. Vegetable from this week's box incude, but not limited to:
Onion, Broccoli, Carrots, spinach leaves or other greens.
•1/2 cup of frozen edamame: peeled is easier
•Also add pinch of sea salt (optional)

Tuesday: Pasta with broccoli rape Boil brocccoli rape (cut into bitesize pieces prior to sauteing with olive oil and garlic. Put greens over pasta.

Wednesday: Grilled Asparagus and Salmon (Could also be baked/broiled)

Thursday: Leftover soup with salad

Friday: Pizza Night Homemade pizza with any leftover vegetables

March 28th- April 3

Sunday: Family Pasta and Pizza Dinner, salad

Monday: Mixed Greens Salad with leftover pizza

Tuesday: Greens and Cheese bake and grilled sockeye salmon with mustard sauce (whisk 1/2 cup dijon mustard, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 TBS dried dill, 1 handful chopped basil, juice from 1/2 lemon, in small bowl. After salmon grilled, spoon sauce over fish).

Wednesday: Chickpea, Radish and Pesto Salad. Combine the 8 radishes (quartered), 1 can chickpeas (rinsed), scallions, 1/4 cup pesto, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
*See pesto recipe on this site

Thursday: Big Family BBQ with grandparents from NJ (I'll contribute a few salads, I'm sure)

Friday: Hmmmmmm....

Dinner Meal Plan March 22 - March 27

Sunday: Chickpea, Radish and Pesto Salad. Combine the 8 radishes (quartered), 1 can chickpeas (rinsed), scallions, 1/4 cup pesto, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Monday: Vegetable soup (onion soup base, pureed- frozen from a few months ago), carrots, garlic, broccoli rape, kolrabi, sage

Tuesday: pesto pasta (frozen pesto from a few months ago) See pesto recipe

Wednesday: Steamed broccoli with couscous

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Pizza night (Homemade pizza with leftover veges)

Dinner Meal Plan for March 14- 19

Sunday: Spaghetti dinner with family

Monday: Chicken and vegetable soup

Tuesday: Salad with nuts, cranberries, feta cheese and leftover soup

Wednesday: Pasta with cilantro pesto Cilantro pesto with pasta (frozen pesto from last week's cilantro batch)

Thursday: Egg burrito with spinich and onions

Friday: Pizza night

Dinner Meal Plan March 7 - March 12

Sunday: Butternut Squash Ravioli
A great rainy-day activity we did with the kids. So much fun! Filling made from frozen roasted butternut squash (from a few weeks ago).

Monday: Leek and Spinach Ravioli

Tuesday: Shrimp Pad Thai

Wednesday: Vege Reubens

Thursday: Black bean tacos (with leftover veges from the farm, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and canned black beans).

Friday: Pizza Night!

Dinner Meal Plan for Feb 28- March 5

Sunday: Lentil Soup using recipe on bag of dry lentils; adding vegetable broth, celery, carrots, onion.

Monday: Slow Cooker Bean and Barley Soup

Tuesday: Stir fry

Wednesday: Nachos with Smart Ground (Veggie protein), black beans and cheddar cheese (microvave cheese and beans on chips) cold fixins on afterwards (sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, cilantro and sour cream, salsa)

Thursday: Butternut squash with orzo (precooked roasted squash), saute with olive oil, onions, white wine. Pour mixture over cooked orzo. Serve with salad

Friday: Pizza Night

The CSA Experience and Feb. 21st Week of Dinners

We've been members of our local Community Supported Agriculture for almost three years now. We love it for so many reasons, and have learned so much about heathy cooking, preparation and storage of vegetables. Many friends always ask about my experience with the weekly produce. It's not easy and not for everyone. Both my husband and myself spend many hours prepping vegetables, as well as searching for and trialing recipes. We now eat primarily vegetarian, and mostly organic- and we mostly eat at home. However, we are not food snobs, and would never turn down a home-cooked meal of any kind, or a nice night out at a restaurant (very rare with our kiddies).

We plan our meals weekly (each weekend), after we receive our box of produce from the farms. Because we both work full-time, we wash (necessary, and you may even encounter a big bug or two), chop, and full prep. Anything that needs baking (squash), we will bake at this time. We also prepare a large salad to eat all week long for lunches and dinners. Please note that our kids, ages 2 and 4, do not eat much of what we cook for dinner. We try to incorporate healthy choices and even manage to sneak some in where we can... but I'm hopeful that the day will come when the kids will actually eat what we cook. And, I do believe that seeing their parents eat healthy is very important (let's hope).

Below is a list of daily dinners for this week, created from our utilizing our CSA produce (Inland Empire CSA).

Sunday: Butternut Squash Risotto We slice the squash in half before baking on 400 degrees, for 1 hour. Scoop out squash and use in recipe, instead of frozen squash.

Monday: Vege Stir Fry (we use a variety of recipes and vegetables: bok choy, carrots, onions, garlic, any leafy green)

Tuesday: Vegetarian Reubens with Russian Dressing

Wednesday: Lentil Soup (I usually use the recipe on the side of the bag of lentils (vege broth, not water), and throw in some onion, garlic, and anything else that seems like it would be good).

Thursday: Vege cheeseburgers with salads

Friday: Pizza night! Ready-made pizza dough (from T.J.s or Fresh and Easy), canned tomatoe sauce, or leftover tomatoe sauce from the week, bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. My huband and I will also include any vegetables we have leftover from the week on our pizza.

Saturday: Hopefully not cooking!