Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA Week 6

This week brought some more fresh produce from our CSA. Yesterday I picked Lauren up from the airport on her way back form Texas and we were able to pick up the CSA this week together. Since she is usually still at work or commuting when I go, she had the pleasure of coming with and getting to take the photos, whichwas a nice change of pace This week we traded in one of the giant cucumbers in for another bunch of beets. I have a few random ideas for them but well see if they pan out. Anyways enjoy.

1 bag red-gold potatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs Organics – 2 lbs



1 green slicing cucumbers – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics



2 bunch Detroit red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics



3 yellow straight-neck squash – certified organic – Goshen View Organics



1 bunch spring onions – certified organic – Healthy Harvest



2 hearts Romaine lettuce – certified organic – Riverview Organics



We also received 2 green zucchinis

Just Another Monday

I wish I had a really cool Monday update, but the day was spent mostly at doctor's office. I do what I can while I am home.

I was able to meet up with my parent's lunch, at the restaurant right next door to my dad's office.




Lunch was quick, then we swung by my dad's office so I could do some work, aka print out my plane ticket.



Then it was on to the next doctor's appointment, where I think I found a new pair of glasses.

Later in the day I was able to meet up with my last friend still living in Lubbock, Simon. Unfortunately he won't be staying in Lubbock for long, which means next time I will probably be friendless.



Sorry vegans, but Simon asked that I showcase his bacon cheddar fries on the blog, and since he was kind enough to meet me for a drink, I obliged.



We met up at Skooners, a local bar, where I spent many, many Friday's (and Saturday's) in college. The catch? Giant schooners of beer. You can't go wrong (especially for $1.75).





After Skooners, I swung by to see my friend Allison. RANDOMLY, Allison was in town visiting family. Her and her husband live in Seattle, and they had a kid not too long ago...about 8 months. She is my first friend with a kid, and it's freakin' awesome.
Allison and I met in high school, and we shared a love of all thing German. She is really awesome, and one of the smartest people I know. A few years ago she was living in Germany with her husband Tim, and my mom and I just happened to be hanging out in Europe for a few weeks so we got to hang out a lot. I think that's when our friendship really solidified.
Anyways, I finally got to meet her and Finn, who is so lucky to have Tim and Allison as parent's.



I spent the rest of the evening at home, eating dinner, packing, and teaching my parent's how to foam roll. My dad is hoping to run a half marathon with me later this year and I am trying to keep him injury free.

And at this moment I am flying back to Philly! I can't wait to see Eric and the cats!

Zucchini Napoleon

For dinner last night I wanted to finish off some of the remaining items from the CSA before the new veggies came in. Lauren was still out of town and being that she despises marinara I figured Id go that route.

I started out by slicing some zucchini into thin circles and getting them ready for the breading. I also chopped up a spring onion and got out some left over marinara from a large batch I made a while back. I think the key is to make large batches of sauces like marinara and cashew cream to make weekday night meals quick but not bland.

I lightly breaded the zucchini by first dipping the slices into a wet mixture of warm water and a flax meal. For the dry I used some whole wheat bread crumbs and added garlic powder, basil, oregano, parsley, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. I wanted to bake them to use a bit less oil but its been WAY too hot here lately and the last thing I want to do is turn that bad boy on. I turned to the cast iron with a bit of oil and it did the trick. I mixed some of the cashew cream with fresh parsley for part of the filling. Ive made tofu ricotta before and I just cant get into it as much as raw cashew cheese. I stacked the zucchini with a layer of marinara, followed by a bit of cashew cream, onions and some nooch. I stacked a few more layers until the thought of eating out weighed the fun of stacking.

I will say it was delicious. I think I will make this again and with the zucchini baked and with the use of pesto as the sauce for Lauren.

Photos from the Weekend

Hello from Texas! I flew in Friday evening to see some family. Unfortunately Eric couldn't make this trip, but it feels good to be home.
I got in later than expected due to weather, so Friday night I immediately went to sleep.

Woke up bright and early Saturday morning and went for a run around my parent's neighborhood. One thing that always throws me off in Texas is how nice people are. Every single person I saw while running said hi.

After the run I immediately changed and jumped in the pool. The dogs freaked out. The dog we had growing up loved the pool and would always swim with us. Bueller and Baxter are scared of it, and get worried about you while you are swimming.



After cooling off I scoped out my mom's garden. She is growing a lot of veggies this year, squash, eggplant, okra, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.





Then I sat down outside to have breakfast with my dad.





My mom and I did some quick shopping, then we were on our way to Stephenville, Texas! The real reason I came down to Texas is it is my family's yearly reunion. The reunion is a usually a good time to see everyone in my family and I really wanted to make it since my time in Texas in limited these days.
My mom packed the road trip essentials, sammiches and Topo Chico!







After checking into our hotel we all made our way to Granbury, Texas for dinner.
We ate around the town square.





My brother Chase and his girlfriend Jackie drove up from Austin.



My second cousins hanging with my dad.



And I got to meet the newest addition to our family, another second cousin named Heath.



Sunday lunch was spent at the actual family reunion. We all get together and it's potluck style.
My grandma was the star of the reunion, still kicking it at 91.



I don't have too many photos because my cameras was in the hands of a four year old taking out of focus pictures for most of the lunch.









Before heading back to Lubbock we stopped by my grandmother's parent's grave.



Made it back to Lubbock and fixed a small dinner.


And hung out outside with my parents and dogs.

Matt & Nat sale today.

So Ruelala, one of those online boutique type of online sale stores, is featuring items from Matt & Nat TODAY! Matt & Nat have an amazing vegan line of purses, wallets, and bags for men and women. It is usually very hard to find bags/purses that do not include animal bi-products and if you do find some they are usually either poorly made (most likely from a sweatshop somewhere) or they are overly expensive. This is a good opportunity to check out some of there stuff on the cheap and support a great business.

The sale starts at 11am today. If you need a link to sign up:

Ruelala

It's a Pizza Party

I think every household should have some pizza dough hanging out in their refrigerator. It takes barely anytime to prep, and makes for a quick and easy dinner.

I knew I was going to have a long day at work yesterday, and I wanted to come home to some nice comfort food. After a few emails back and forth Eric and I decided on pizza.

As I am sure you have noticed, we don't really eat conventional pizzas. First off, the veganism sort of eliminates that. And second, I don't even like tomato sauce. This makes us get creative.

We decided to use up some of our produce from this weeks CSA and settled on two different types of pizzas.

First up we have the radicchio pizza, based off a recipe from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet. I have been wanting to make this pizza since I got the book, so I was excited when we got this weeks produce share.



Neither of knew what to expect, we have never had baked radicchio, but it was a pleasant surprise. It wilted some, but stayed crunchy. And obviously the pizza was topped with cashew cheese. It just gets so nice and crunchy when baked.

And to accompany that pizza we made kale pizza.



Kale is one of my top 10 veggies. I like it raw, massaged, baked or dehydrated. This pizza turned out delicious as well, the kale gives it a nice crunch.

And this was all washed down with a brewskie.



Need another reason to make pizza? The clean up is relative easy, which is always nice.

What's your favorite pizza topping? I'd love ideas for different pizzas!

Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA Week 5

As the weeks progress there seems to be a much greater variety of items in the CSA than before. The butter head lettuce was not looking so hot so I swapped it out for another head of kale. This will be the first week in a while we won't have LOADS of lettuce to consume. We have a few plans for some of the items that we haven't worked with yet and excited to pick our cucumbers!

1 box new red potatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics – 1 quart



1 bag pickling cucumbers – certified organic – Meadow Brook Organics – 2 lbs



1 bunch beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics



2 green zucchini – certified organic – Bellivew and Autumn Blend Organics



1 bunch spring onions – certified organic – Healthy Harvest



2 bunch green kale – certified organic – Autumn Blend Organics



1 bunch dandelion greens – certified organic – Hillside Organics



1 head radicchio – certified organic – Bellview Organics