Guys.  I LOVE my dehydrator.  I have so much fun making snacks in it.  I sneak extra nutrition into everything by dehydrating whatever leafy greens aren't eaten quickly (think: kohlrabi leaves, parsley stems, etc) and then processing them into a green powder.  It goes into ANYTHING.

But I digress.

Recently, I had a win and a loss.  Since I am soooo open and honest and real (haha!) I am going to share them.

First was the win.  Cinnamon Radish Chips.  They were pretty easy.  Just slice the radishes up, toss with a little sugar (I used coconut palm sugar because that is what we have), olive oil, honey, and a good amount of cinnamon, and dehydrate.  I let them go at 135* for... 8 hours-ish?  I kept tasting them until they were ready.  They are sweet, crunchy, and cinn-tastic.

Sliced

 

Flavored

Dehydrated.... and veeeeeery tiny.

See?  Tiny

I should've quit while I was ahead.  But, noooooo, I was feeling ambitious.  I wanted to make green bean "chips".  I was at the checkout line at the supermarket and saw a bag of them being sold.  With no idea how to make them, I just tossed some beans in olive oil and salt, and dehydrated them at the same time as the radish chips.

Ew.  The flavor was good, but they were un-chewable.  Completely hard-yet-too-chewey-to-eat.  I didn't even take an after picture.

Jemma, however, ate a handful,  They were super salty, so I think she choked them down just to get the salt off of them.  Kid loves salt.

Nice, happy, tasty green beans

Poor green beans about to meet their doom

 All in all I am calling this a win.  I mean, I made tasty radish chips and I didn't buy the expensive green bean chips.  That's a win, right?  Right??


What's your best food fail story?  Make me feel less alone!

This box was a doozy!  There was a huuuuuuuge watermelon hiding in the bottom.  Of course, it was filled with all types of delici-osity (Is that a realword?  It is now!).  If you missed our past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Peaches Sustainable
• Plums Sustainable
• Donut Peaches Sustainable
• Watermelon Sustainable
• Swiss Chard Sustainable
• Cubanelle and Bell Peppers Sustainable
• Summer Squash Sustainable
• Cucumbers Sustainable
• Beefsteak and Plum Tomatoes Sustainable
• Apples (Sansa/Red Free) Sustainable
• Beets Certified Organic
• Red Onions Sustainable
• Leeks Sustainable
• Kohlrabi Sustainable
• Beans Sustainable
• Sweet Corn Sustainable

I promised to share more of our easy veggie bowls... so here's another!

Oh how I love cooked onions.  I like them fried.  I like them caramelized.  I like them sauteed.  Oh, the sweet sweet yum!

Ahem... so I put them into a veggie bowl...

Am I the only one who gets all misty-eyed over veggies?  And not just because I was cutting onions?
Anyway.  Back to the bowl.  We had to blanch a few bags of green beans so as the onions cooked, Jemma and I snipped the ends (her term for cutting off the stems).

I really think she helps me cook just so she can sneak in extra tastes.

Once the were clean and snipped, I plunged them into boiling water until they were bright green, then put them in cold water.
I wanted to include a protein, so I grabbed a bag of beans I had pre-cooked and frozen from the freezer.  To defrost them, I just poured the boiling green bean water over the beans in the strainer.  Just as easy as canned, but cooked in bone broth!

I don't even know what greens we used.  Sorry.  But, I mixed them with the beans.

A week or so ago I posted about my love of bowls.  No, not the dish, the meal.  Although I do like a pretty bowl to eat a tasty bowl out of.

Anyway, this week I am sharing some bowls made recently.  The first is root-veggie heavy, as I was trying to use up the late spring veggies before the summer veggies started rolling in.

I really just make the veggie bowls to use up whatever I have lying around.  On this day, it was red onions, kohlrabi, and parsnips.
 I tossed them with olive oil and salt, then roasted them.
While they were roasting, I cleaned and cut up some collard greens.  I also cooked a few cups of pearl couscous in chicken broth to have for the week.  At the same time, this was going on behind me.

Yeah... I caught you!

Once I was done admiring the cuteness, I mixed the collards with the hot roasted veggies and hot couscous.  They wilted the collards nicely without rendering them mushy.
Tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette (I promise to share the recipe soon... I call it magic sauce because Jemma and Juliet (and John!) gobble up anything I put it on!), it was perfect.

See?  Easy.
John added in some leftover pork because he felt like having a heartier dish.  It was great both ways!

What do you like to include in your bowls?

Well, we picked up another CSA box this week.  If you missed our past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Peaches – Sustainable
• Nectarines – Sustainable
• Carrots – Sustainable
• Plums – Sustainable
• Cucumbers – Sustainable
• Pickling Cucumbers – Sustainable
• Beefsteak Tomatoes – Sustainable
• Cherry Tomatoes – Sustainable
• Plum Tomatoes – Sustainable
• Beets – Organic
• Beans – Organic
• Arugula – Organic
• Dill – Organic
• Swiss Chard – Sustainable
• Bell Peppers – Sustainable
• Red Leaf Lettuces – Organic
• Apricots – Sustainable
• Bonus: Peaches!

I decided to make pork chops the other day.  We had some carrots to use up, so I thought a carrot mash and a cabbage slaw would go well with it.

Well.  It was delicious.

And it was the least attractive thing I have ever made.

But, since I value yum over pretty, I am going to share it anyway.  It was super simple.

First, chop and boil carrots
Then, make some magic.  Saute lots of onions.  That's the secret, I think.

MMmmmmmmmmmm......................

Throw it all together in the carrot pot and cross your fingers.  Sprinkle it with salt for good luck.
I blended it with the immersion blender to make it easier.  Here's where it starts to look funky but taste... wow.  In a good way.
Plating it with some chopped up carrot greens helps.

Anyway, the pork was fantastic.  I used this recipe from The Kitchn.  It is fantastic, and the only way I make them.  The carrot mash?  It was as delicious as it was ugly.  And I'm okay with that.

I may have mentioned in the past that I am NOT a chef.  I have not trained in any way shape or form, aside from watching other home cooks and reading.  There are many many many things I have yet to learn, but there is one upside to my lack of training.  I don't get caught up in any "rules" or feel like I need to make something in a "traditional" way to be correct.

Case in point?  Green Bean Carbonar-ish.  It's a knock-off, makeshift carbonara and it is scrumptious.

I stumbled across this recipe while searching for a way to use up the green beans from our CSA.  Without bacon, and with a surplus of random leafy greens, I had to improvise.

First, I sauteed the onions in bacon grease.  How did I get bacon grease without bacon?  Easy.  It was in the jar in the fridge!  Whenever I make bacon, I save the leftover grease and refrigerate it.  That way it is always on hand to add a little bacon-y heaven.
While the onions and leafy greens were cooking, I boiled the water.  The rotini went in for a few minutes, and then I blanched the green beans at the same time.  While they were cooking, I prepped the "sauce."
2 eggs, a cup of shredded Parmesan, salt and pepper all beaten together.  That's it!  For the record, I was testing to see if Juliet and I could start having dairy without her being miserable for a few days.  We can't. Anyway, once the pasta and green beans were done, I mixed them together with the greens and onions.
Immediately, I poured the sauce on top and stirred it furiously.  The goal is to lightly cook the eggs in the residual heat without scrambling them.  The result?  Pure yum!
It was perfect.  Light, yet filling.  Just writing about it makes me want to make it again!

Another week, another box.  Now that summer is in full swing, I am having a ball with all of the yummy surprises.  Planning everything out like this helps ensure nothing is lost in the back of the fridge, but it isn't set in stone.  I change it up if the mood strikes!

If you missed the past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Peaches Sustainable
• Plums Sustainable
• Arugula Certified Organic
• Leeks Sustainable
• Parsley Sustainable
• Sweet Banana Peppers Sustainable
• Radishes Sustainable
• Eggplant Sustainable
• Bell Peppers Sustainable
• Cherry, Plum, and Beefsteak Tomatoes Sustainable
• Cucumbers  Sustainable
• Beans Certified Organic 
• Scallions Sustainable
• Carrots Sustainable
• Tomatillos Sustainable
• BONUS!! Extra Peaches!!

I was always a huge fan of salads.  One of the things my roommate in my college apartment said she missed when I moved out was the little containers of salad ingredients waiting the the fridge, ready to go.  (After we would go food shopping, I used to clean and slice up all the veggies so that we could make a salad quickly, any time we wanted).  As time has passed, though, the salads have evolved.

It started when I added grains in.  Leftover couscous?  Throw it in.  Extra quinoa?  Yes, please!  Then, when I started dating John, I would add in the leftover hummus or baba ganoush that was in the fridge.  Over time, it became more about the add-ins than the actual salad part.  When there were no leafy greens (the horror!), I would still make it, but I was at a loss as to what to call it.

Does a salad with no leafy greens qualify as a salad?  It's one of life's big questions, I know.

So, I called it a grain salad.  Except, sometimes there were no grains.  A veggie salad, then?  I guess, but that didn't really capture it either.  I started just calling them bowls.  It was easier.  I've tweaked them over time, but the premise is the same.  Take grains, veggies, and a protein, mix them together, and top them with a yummy sauce/dressing.

It gets crazier.  (Can bowls of food be crazy?)  I started having them for BREAKFAST.  Leftover grains, nuts, and fruit.  Usually topped with maple syrup because everything is better with maple syrup.

Turns out, I didn't invent these!   I know!  Crazy, right?  Apparently they are called "buddha bowls" or "glory bowls."  Somehow I have spent a decade living under a rock and never knew this.  I still just call them bowls, and they are delish.

Some recent bowls:
Root Veggie Bowl
Green Bean and Sauteed Onion Bowl


I'll be sharing some of my recent bowl recipes in the upcoming posts.  What are your favorite combos?

I HATE to waste food, especially due to spoilage.  I think it angers my organized, planner side.  You know, like I didn't plan out with enough consideration?  Anyway, after a BBQ recently, we had quite a few burger buns left over.  We had some in the morning with egg and cheese sandwiches, but there were still a few left the next day.  Since they had very simple ingredients, they weren't going to last much longer.  Jemma was requesting french toast, so I improvised.

I mixed up a custard of coconut milk (still keeping the baby and I off dairy in hopes of keeping her reflux at bay), eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Then, I saturated the buns and threw them on the griddle.  One flip later, they were ready to eat!

Custard...yum!!

Ready to flip

I usually have a little extra custard/egg batter left when we make french toast.  Instead of wasting it, I cook it alongside the toast and give it to the baby.  She loves it, and I like that she is getting the extra eggy goodness in!

I had mine into a little sandwich... yum!!  If I do this again, I think I'll have to do a maple butter spread of some sort to stick the strawberries to it.

What is your favorite way to use up leftovers?