Weekly Local Booty - 7/13-19/08

As I'm sure any regular readers are aware, I post pictures of our weekly CSA and farmer's market booty on the Garden Update. Well, as the season has progressed, the garden updates have gotten quite long, since so much is going on. And this week, we got our first load of booty from our own gardens, and our CSA is getting to the point where we are starting to have to preserve some of what we get, we just can't eat it all before it will spoil. So I decided to have a separate update for the local produce and any food preservation we do. Otherwise the garden update would be a novel.

So, here it is, the first weekly local booty update.

Check out all the goodies we got from our container and community garden plot this week:















It's all so pretty, I still can't believe some of this stuff started from seed! Starting from the lower right we've got: a red serrano pepper (my favorite kind!), 2 hot banana peppers, 6 ripe long red cayenne peppers (another one has ripened and been picked since), zucchini (this was the baby zucchini in last week's garden update), 2 roma tomatoes, 6 hot Hungarian wax peppers, and a yellow straighneck squash.















Here is this week's CSA. We got: fresh mint, beets, a huge tomato, a green bell pepper, an onion, tons of green beans, one of those weird looking cucumbers that are the tastiest cukes I've ever had, a summer squash, a zucchini, and some fresh thyme, I believe. Not bad for $5-6.















Here is this week's farmer's market booty. We spent $26 this week. We've got: a dozen local, "free range" eggs for Brett (the little boys who sell these at the market are the nicest, sweetest little boys I've ever met, and they always make sure to say "we appreciate your business", you don't often see that anymore), strawberries (!), peaches (!!), 12 ears of organic sweet corn ($4!), roma tomatoes, garlic (German Extra Hardy), 2 small red onions, 2 small yellow onions, 2 small white onions, and two purple bell peppers. Just a tip, 3 of those little onions in a large batch of refried beans is perfect.

This week's food preservation activities included:

• drying the thyme and mint
• freezing the green beans
• freezing the sweet corn
• freezing the hot Hungarian wax peppers
• sun-drying the cayenne peppers

The thyme and mint are fairly easy to handle. They need to be hung up in a cool, dry place. In our apartment, that is our hall closet (where we also store all our beans). I bundled them together with a twist-tie (left over from a bulk purchase), and hung them upside down in the closet. In a couple of weeks, they should be dry enough to crush up and put in a jar for later use.

The green beans are fairly easy as well. First, obviously, I washed the green beans very well. I started a large pot of water boiling. Next, I picked through them and took out any damaged beans, you only want the freshest beans, any "questionable" beans, keep out and use in the next few days. After I picked through the beans, I snapped off the ends, and broke them into manageable sized pieces. Once the water came to a rolling boil, I added the beans, and blanched them for 3 minutes. While they were boiling, I filled a bowl up with ice water. When the beans were done boiling I placed them in the ice water. Once they were cooled, I drained the beans completely. I even patted them dry with a towel to make sure I got all the moisture off. There are two options you can use to freeze the beans, the dry or tray pack. You can choose whatever method works best for you, we used the dry pack method. The beans should keep in the freezer for about a year.

Next was the sweet corn. First, Brett spent a little while shuckin' the corn :-). I brought a pot of water to a boil. Then, I rinsed the corn off, and got off any stray strands of silk. I cut off each end of cob. You don't always have to do this, but organic corn often has some "imperfections" on the tips, so you usually have to cut them off. We had smaller ears of corn, so we boiled them, 4 ears at a time for 7 minutes. While they were boiling, I got another bowl of ice water ready. Once they had finished boiling, I removed them with tongs and placed them in the ice water. I repeated this process with all the corn, and let the ears cool in the ice water for about 15-20 minutes. I drained them and patted them dry. Then I cut the corn off the cob and packed them freezer bags and removed all the air. Then I just popped 'em in the freezer. They should keep for about a year, but they won't last even close to that long around here, we eat a lot of corn.

Since the veggies we were preserving were local and organic, we saved the water that the corn and beans had been boiled in, as well as the ice water they cooled in, and used that to water our plants. It seemed like a great way to reduce water waste. Does anyone know if that is a bad thing to do for any reason?

Peppers are one of my favorite things, period. They are pretty, fun to grow, spicy - which I love, and they are also very simple to freeze. All I did with the hot Hungarian wax peppers was rise them off, pat them dry, cut off their stems, pack them in a freezer bag, remove the air, and pop 'em in the freezer. You don't have to cook peppers before freezing them. They should keep for about 8 months in the freezer.

And finally, I strung the cayenne peppers up to be sun-dried. I didn't have nearly enough cayennes to make a traditional ristra. I still used the same concept though. I bunched them together in two groups of 3. I tied them together with fishing line and wound some extra around them to make sure they were really secure. I did this to both bunches. I then threaded a needle with cotton thread, pierced the base of the chile stems, and pulled the string through all the stems. I them hung them up outside, and conditions permitting, in about 2 or 3 weeks, I will have dried chiles, ready to be crushed into pepper flakes or ground cayenne pepper.

It was a busy day yesterday, but well worth it.

Today we'll take a trip down to the garden, take some pictures, pick anything that needs to be picked, and then relax. Enjoy your Sunday.

'Til next time.

Roasted Red Potato and Black Bean Tacos

This is another one of those really good meals that is a little more suitable to a cooler time of year. However, nature doesn't always work in the way you would like her to, and thus, we get potatoes in the heat of summer. And aside from roasting, frying, sautéing, boiling, and grilling, I can't think of any other way to prepare them. The first four methods entail getting the apartment hot; the last one isn't an option. We live on the second floor of fairly old apartments with wood decks, it's a fire hazard. So, I roasted these, that is my favorite way to prepare potatoes, and they were fantastic, but man it got warm in here. Ugh. I am happy to report that we did not get potatoes in our CSA this week - thankfully.

















Roasted Red Potato and Black Bean Tacos

4-6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 tsp coconut oil
chipotle chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt

1 cup black beans, cooked
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
chili powder
cumin
salt

taco shells (we used organic blue corn shells)
diced tomatoes
shredded lettuce
a small can of sliced black olives, drained (optional)

Preheat oven to 425.

Toss potatoes with oil and spices and place in a baking dish. Cover with foil and roast for 40-45 minutes, stirring a few times.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the pepper, garlic, and onion. Cook for 10 minutes or until veggies are soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine with black beans and spices.

Layer lettuce, potatoes, bean mixture, and black olives in warmed taco shells.

Serve with diced tomatoes and more olives on the side.

'Til next time.

Fiery Black Bean, Corn, and Chile Quesadillas

The other night we had another really yummy, yet simple meal made out of mostly local ingredients. And this one did not require me to heat up my apartment for nearly as long. As much as I love potatoes, I hope we don't get more in our CSA this week, all the ways I can think to prepare them require heat. Ick.

Anyways, these were a bit on the spicy side according to Brett, so if you make this, keep that in mind and perhaps either cut down on the fresh chiles or use regular instead of chipotle chile powder.

Fiery Black Bean, Corn, and Chile Quesadillas

Note: This recipe makes enough for 3 quesadillas. We each had one for dinner and I took the leftovers in to work.

2 cups black beans, cooked

1 cup sweet corn, cooked

1 zucchini, diced

1 purple bell pepper, seeded and minced (any bell pepper would work fine)

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 banana pepper, seeded and minced

1/4 yellow onion, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of half a lime

chipotle chili powder

cumin

ground coriander

Mexican oregano

white pepper

salt

tortillas

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the zucchini, peppers, onion and garlic and cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the filling ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste.

Layer filling in warmed tortillas and fry if desired.

Serve with salsa.

'Til next time.

On Gradually Achieving a Sustainable Local Diet - (Mostly) Local, Sustainable, and Affordable

This post in the series will focus on how to eat a sustainable, mostly local diet, in a way that is affordable. But first, I must encourage you to check out Chile’s latest piece in her series on food security. Many of the things she touches on are relevant to this topic, and there is no need for me to “re-invent the wheel”, so I strongly recommend checking out her post.

Perhaps the biggest way to make a sustainable, local diet affordable is to cook your own meals and eat at home. I cannot stress this enough, Brett and I used to eat out a lot, let’s just say more times a week than we cooked at home, and it was pricey, not to mention unhealthy. Since I’ve started cooking my own meals, I have seen our food expenditures drop. Processed foods, while sometimes cheaper than whole foods, often lack in nutritional value and have a lot more packaging. If you look for organic or “natural” processed items, you are going to pay a premium and the packaging issue remains. I must also state, in my humble opinion, a varied whole foods diet is far more healthful than one largely comprised of processed foods - even the "healthy" ones.

I am assuming most of the people who read this blog (since it is predominately a cooking blog) know how to cook, but if you don’t, start simple – learn basic skills like chopping, sautéing, roasting. From there you open up many doors. For those of you with even basic cooking skills, you have a lot of tools at your disposal. I believe very strongly in “full disclosure” (acknowledging your biases) so I will state for the record: I am a pretty lazy girl most of the time. As much as I love cooking, after working all day, I don’t want to spend forever in the kitchen on weeknights, especially not during the summer when it’s hot. So I have a cache of easy meals, things that don’t require a whole lot of preparation or too many ingredients. If you can’t see yourself getting in the kitchen every night, might I suggest the “one day in hell = a whole week’s worth of easy meals” method. Basically, pick a day of the week, say Sunday, plan on soaking all the beans you wish to eat that week on Saturday night, on Sunday, get up, cook all your beans, cook all your rice, even chop up veggies if you like – you’ll be in the kitchen most of the day, but you’ll have easy meals for the rest of the week. And we’re talking homemade, easy meals.

Another way to save big, both in dollars, and on packaging and energy usage, is to buy your beans and rice in bulk. Most grocery stores have at least a small bulk section, and there you will find a selection of dried beans, rice, legumes, perhaps even nuts, fruit, coffee, and spices. These goods are far cheaper than their canned counterparts and even the 1 lb. packages of beans and rice you can buy from the “regular” section. If you don’t know what you like, take Chile’s advice and just buy a little bit of each at a time until you find out. You won’t waste money or food that way.

Once you’ve determined what you like, buy larger quantities of it. Perhaps there is a local co-op in your area where you can make larger purchases from. This takes planning as buying things in bulk can cost quite a bit up front but if you have the means to do so, or can save to do so (as Brett and I did), you can save even more than you do buying from the bulk section of the supermarket. Brett and I have dedicated a closet to storing our rice and beans. In determining what to buy and how much, we took an inventory of our most oft used and favorite recipes to see what beans and grains were used most often. We then bought 25 lbs. of organic black beans, adzuki beans, pinto beans, and long grain brown rice, and 10 lb. bags of organic Anasazi and cranberry beans. Stored in a tightly sealed containers in a cool, dry place (such as a closet), they will keep for a couple of years. Brett and I also don’t own a car, so doing this is also more convenient for us. In a few trips we can lug home a year’s worth of beans and rice, and we eat a lot of beans and rice, so this saves us lots of time.

Before I go on, I feel like I have to state for the record that I am not advocating the vegetarian or vegan diet; sorry folks, that’s not how I roll. There are better people out there for the job and I personally do not care how others choose to eat; I think it is a personal decision. With that said, however, eating less meat, and more things like beans and rice is another way to save a lot of money on sustainable food. Local meat and dairy products can be quite pricey, and meat in general is just far more expensive than grains and legumes. Perhaps consider having a few meatless meals a week. Need some ideas? Check out my recipe index, and peruse any of the amazing veg*n food blogs on my blogroll.

You might also consider purchasing a CSA share. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You can find all sorts of great information about CSAs here, but the gist of it is this: you and a farmer enter an agreement where you pay, at the beginning of the season, for a “share” in the farmer’s harvest. You will get a proportionate amount of fresh produce over the duration of the growing season in your area on a weekly basis. Buying a share in a CSA does involve some risk, but being a farmer involves a lot of risk, and I don’t feel bad about sharing it with the farmer. What I mean by risk is, if there are floods, droughts, pests, anything that reduces or destroys the harvest, well, you don’t get any produce. But in a good year, you are likely to get more than you paid for. When produce is abundant, our farmer adds a little extra to the bag, if he’s doing well, he figures we should too, since we put our trust and “faith” in him.

Since you have to pay up front, this is another seemingly “costly” way of eating. At first it felt that way to us, but it is something we wanted to do, so we saved the money, and we have seen the savings ever since. In the end our quarter share of a CSA works out to about $5-6 a week. If any of you read this blog on a regular basis and see the weekly pictures of our CSA booty, you can attest that – as of late – we are getting much more than $5-6 worth of produce. Sometimes, as the lovely Jessy knows, there are more people who want shares in CSAs than are available, and you get “wait-listed”, sometimes for a long time, poor Jessy and her husband Dan have been waiting for 2 years! My advice is to be patient and get on a waiting list, but in the meantime, shop at the farmer’s market. (My fingers are crossed for you guys! Maybe next season!)

The farmer’s market is a great place. There is an atmosphere at the farmer’s market. It is so refreshing to talk to people who actually know about the products they sell, lots of folks gathering and talking, and there is almost always live bluegrass music (this is Missouri). Atmosphere aside, this is the place to find some of the best deals on some of the highest quality produce during the growing season. Most people assume that the farmer’s market is more expensive than the grocery store, and they are right, to an extent. If you buy meat, dairy, bread, or anything like that, these items may be more expensive than the grocery store. In my experience with the bread, it is really about the same. My basic point about this is – if you are buying a premium product – expect to pay a premium price, no matter where you procure it.

Buying in season is very affordable. When sweet corn really starts coming in here, the farmer’s are almost giving it away. Same with tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash. There are many resources at your disposal to get an idea of what is grown in your area and when (this is for the US). Buying local has many positive advantages: first, in my opinion, it just plain tastes better; second, fewer miles are traveled from farm to table, saving resources; and third, it is better for your local economy which affects you directly by way of schools, roads, and other public services. Most of a dollar spent locally ends up recycling in the community as the person you gave that dollar to is likely to spend it locally as well. Whereas most of a dollar spent at Wal-Mart immediately leaves town.

A great way to take advantage of the abundance of summer and the low prices of local produce is to preserve it. There are many ways to preserve food from drying and canning to freezing. Sweet corn’s in season? Buy it up, boil it, take it off the cob, and put it in freezer bags. You’ll have local sweet corn for the winter. Consider purchasing a boiling water bath canner if you wish to preserve acidic foods like fruit, pickles, or even tomato products, or a pressure canner if you wish to preserve low-acid foods like veggies or meat. Peppers and fruit can be easily dehydrated in the oven, a dehydrator, or even on your porch or a cool, dry room in your home. Chiles can be dried without a dehydrator. Simply cut a slit in the back of each chile, run a string through the base of the stem, and hang ‘em up someplace that isn't humid. In a couple of weeks, you will have dried chiles. Put them in a bag or container and store them in a cool, dry place. A word of caution: if you do decide to can, be safe, make sure you have the proper equipment, that you read the directions fully, and do not deviate from the recipe (you can still be creative, most recipes will say something like “1 ½ lbs. of hot peppers", you can choose which hot pepper you wish to use). Failure to follow procedures could be harmful and potentially fatal. Do not be scared of canning though. When done properly (i.e. following the directions), it is perfectly safe and a great way to not only save money, but to eat locally even in the dead of winter. If anyone else has any food preservation suggestions or tips, please leave them in the comments area.

The final area I will touch on briefly is gardening. Not only is this a way to save money on (very) local, sustainable food, it is just damn good fun, and a great workout. It’s a great activity to do with children (especially in conjunction with vermicomposting) as well as a partner. Even if you live in very small quarters and don’t have much in the way of sunlight, you can still grow things, limited as the options are. You just have to learn what is possible, and learn to use all space as efficiently as possible. The next and final piece in this series will be a brief introduction to gardening in small spaces.
'Til next time!

Roasted Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas

This meal was simple and really tasty. However, my preferred method for cooking potatoes is to roast them. Let's just say, the fact that it's summer, and that we are partaking in Crunchy Chicken's Keep Yer Cool Challenge, that it got a little warm in the apartment. Luckily, Brett is the master of "air flow", and was able to use fans to suck that hot air right out of the apartment. I love you Brett, you rock! If it wasn't for you, well, I would have probably lost my appetite due to the heat. :-)















Roasted Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas
5-6 small Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
chili powder
cumin
Mexican oregano
paprika
ground coriander
black pepper
salt

1 cup black beans, cooked
2 purple Hungarian peppers, seeded and minced (serrano or jalapeno would work as well)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow squash, diced
chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
salt

tortillas

Preheat oven to 425.

Season cubed potatoes with the above listed seasonings. Cover with foil and bake 35-40 minutes, until potatoes tender, stirring a couple of times through cooking.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid.

Combine all the filling ingredients except the potatoes in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer roasted potatoes and veggie mixture in a warmed tortilla. Fry if desired.

Really tasty, really easy, and also healthy. What can beat that?

I hope to get the next post in the Sustainable Local Diet Series up before my Garden Update on Sunday. There are only two pieces left, the next will be on how to save money eating a local and sustainable diet, and the final piece will be a brief introduction to small space gardening.

'Til next time!