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?

We have two little berry fanatics on our hands.  We cannot keep enough berries in our house!  Luckily, we get quite a few from our CSA every week.  In addition, my parents have a raspberry patch in their backyard.  One HUNGRY little girl eats them all before we can take any home, but she enjoys them.  We planted a blackberry plant behind our house a few years ago, but the deer enjoyed it so much it was down to a stub.  We transplanted it to our garden, protected by the fence.  Last year it gave us a handful of berries, but this year it is dripping with 'em!  They will be ripe pretty soon, and we can't wait!

In the meantime, we have been picking some wild berries that grow in our neighborhood.

Wild Wineberries

We have a few patches on our property, and they are not hard to find elsewhere.  Every morning during the baby's nap Jemma and I have been going picking.


We received a new (to us) berry recently from our CSA, the red currant.  After John explained that it is a CURR-ent, not a curr-ONT like I've been saying it. Jemma and I plucked them from their stem.

Red Currants

They look like little rubies!!!  They were delish with granola and a little coconut.

Barley with berries and pecans

Couscous with strawberries and honey

What's your favorite berry?  Do you grow any?

This post was shared on Fat Tuesday!

John picked up another CSA box this week.  The girls and I were in Rhode Island, so there are no pictures of our haul.  We're just grateful he braved the traffic to pick it up after work for us!  If you missed the past pickups, you can read about them HERE.  This week we received:

• Plums Sustainable
• Blueberries Sustainable
• Peaches Sustainable
• Apricots Sustainable
• Scallions Sustainable
• Basil Sustainable
• Broccoli Sustainable
• Cauliflower Sustainable
• Collards Sustainable
• Carrots Sustainable
• Radishes Certified Organic
• Arugula Certified Organic
• Beans Sustainable
• Bell Peppers Sustainable
• Cucumbers Sustainable
• Tomatoes Sustainable
• Cabbage Sustainable
• Eggplants Sustainable
• Onions Sustainable 
• Garlic Sustainable

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

• Blueberries – Sustainable*
• Broccoli – Sustainable
• Lettuce – Sustainable
• Garlic – Sustainable
• Sweet Corn– Sustainable
• Lodi Apples– Sustainable
• Beets with Greens– Sustainable
• Raspberries – Sustainable
• Kale – Sustainable
• Collards – Sustainable
• Cucumbers– Sustainable
• Basil– Sustainable
• Green Beans – Sustainable
• Onions – Sustainable
• Yellow Squash – Sustainable

Well, we picked up another CSA box this week.  If you missed last week's pickup, you can read it HERE.  This week we received:

• Blueberries – Sustainable*
• Broccoli – Sustainable
• Lettuce – Sustainable
• Radishes – Sustainable
• Kohlrabi – Sustainable
• Turnips – Sustainable
• Currants – Sustainable
• Raspberries – Sustainable
• Kale – Sustainable
• Collards – Sustainable
• Cherries – Sustainable
• Cauliflower – Sustainable
• Green Beans – Sustainable
• Onions – Sustainable
• Yellow Squash – Sustainable
• Cabbage – Sustainable

I may have mentioned in the past that we get our produce through a CSA (Community Supported Agruculture) Box for a good portion of the year.  Our favorite is from Alstede Farms.  We have occasionally tried others, but we have found this farm to offer the best value.  The season is long (31 weeks!), the produce is varied, and the price is reasonable for the amount of produce included.  There are also occasional bonuses thrown in, like extra lettuce or jars of honey!

The only challenge in getting this huge variety of super fresh produce is finding a way to use it all!  With that in mind, I would like to share what we receive each week, and what I plan to do with it.  Hopefully this will keep me organized, and help inspire others in the same situation.  I didn't think to do this earlier, so I am starting with Week 10.


This week we received:

• Blueberries – Sustainable*
• Cauliflower – Sustainable
• Peas – Sustainable
• Green Beans – Sustainable
• Spinach – Certified Organic
• Lettuces – Sustainable
• Kale– Sustainable
• Collards – Sustainable
• Cherries – Sustainable
• Garlic Scapes – Sustainable
• Kohlrabi– Sustainable
• Cabbage – Sustainable
• Tomatoes– Sustainable
• Raspberries – Sustainable
• Squash – Sustainable
• Basil – Sustainable
• Dill - Sustainable

Do you participate in a CSA?  Any tips for using up the yummy produce or favorite recipes?

For more information on Alstede Farms, please visit alstedefarms.com
This post was shared at Real Food Forager's Fat Tuesday!