The Rest of the week

Thursday night- soft tacos/bean burritos.

• These are always a hit with the kids (more that the take out burritos).  Simply canned (or frozen if I have any) black beans, tortillas, grated cheese, home made guacamole (avocados from Safeway, fresh lemon juice from neighbor's lemon), and sauteed bell peppers and onions (both FC box items).

Friday night- Zucchini Tomato Casserole 

• I mostly followed this recipe.  I almost always have success with Simply Recipes and this was no different.  Made with zucchini from the FC box,  and basil leaves and yellow gold tomatoes from our garden.  Even with sub-par grocery store bread, it was quite good!

Saturday night- dinner out

Sunday night- grilled salmon, wild rice, green salad

• We had one last piece of salmon from my husband's summer fishing trip, so we marinated and grilled it for dinner.  We topped it off with some finishing salts that my brother in law brought us from Spain and served it with wild rice and a green salad (with red leaf lettuce from the box, sliced pears from our tree, pecans, blue cheese, dried cranberries, and homemade honey balsamic vinaigrette).

That's it!  Our dinners for the week, incorporating most of our FC produce.  We still have the cucumber and broccoli left.  We will definitely eat those tomorrow.  And we get our new box tonight... let the adventures begin again!

Meatless Monday and Tuesday

Our box contained lovely golden beets this week.  I have never cooked beets so I did a quick google search; roasting caught my attention because we also had Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, and a few yellow onions (from a previous delivery).

For dinner Monday night, I peeled and cut up all the root vegetables (3 beets, ~12 tiny potatoes, 3 carrots, 4 small yellow onions).  I drizzled with olive oil, a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with garlic salt (sadly, no fresh garlic on hand).  Then I cut a few sprigs of rosemary from the garden and tossed that in too.  I spread the veggies on two cookie sheets and put them in a 425 degree oven to roast for ~45 min.

While the veggies were roasting, I cooked up some Emmer faro (takes a good while- at least 40 min) and heated up some navy beans.

When all the goodies were done, I mixed the roasted veggies with the faro and served with a side of beans.  Also, we had crumbled goat cheese and feta cheese (the kids don't like goat cheese) for a topping.

Thank goodness we had plenty of leftovers, so we mixed the navy beans in with the faro/veggies and stored in the fridge.

Tuesday, we washed the baby spinach from the box and tossed all of it with the roasted veggie mix.  We added a handful of pecans and feta cheese, and tossed to coat with balsamic vinaigrette (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper).    That salad would have been enough, but one of the peaches was super ripe, so I also made a quick fruit salad- one peach, a few strawberries and grapes, and snow leopard melon.  Served both salads with a little bread and butter and it was a delightful meal that didn't seem like leftovers at all!

Last night we had burritos from a local place because we were joining preschool friends for an evening picnic and had no time to make anything...

Welcome

About 3 months ago, our family of 5 started subscribing to Full Circle- a customizable, no commitment produce box subscription service.

So far, so good.  I like...

• the flexibility to change items that are in our scheduled delivery
• the ability to hold a delivery for weeks when we are out of town or don't want the produce box
• the ability to add meats, grains, dairy, and other grocery items in addition to the scheduled box contents

Also, I like that it forces us to eat more fruits and vegetables.  I am being more adventurous in cooking (I roasted beets last night.  Beets!) and the kids are definitely willing to try new things.

So... why the blog?  Mostly, I want to keep track of what meals we eat, how well we are using the produce that comes in the box, and I want to make these ideas available to others.

Typically (when I'm feeling extremely motivated and energetic) I plan and shop for our meals for the week on Sunday, knowing that our produce box will be delivered Sunday night.  We were out of town last week, so no planning. 

Here's what we got in the box this week...
(menu details tomorrow)

• Cucumbers, Organic - 1 each
  Pinnacle Organic, San Juan Bautista, California. 
• Sweet Baby Broccoli, Organic - 1 each
  Lakeside Organic Gardens, Watsonville, California.
• Bagged Carrots, Organic - 1 pound
  Coke Farm, San Juan Bautista, California.
• Yukon Gold Potatoes, Organic - 1.5 pounds
  California Growers, California.
• Baby Spinach, Organic - 0.33 pound
  Jayleaf, Hollister, California.
• Green Bell Peppers, Organic - 2 each
  Pinnacle Organic, San Juan Bautista, California.
• Golden Beets, Organic - 1 bunch
  Lakeside Organic Gardens, Watsonville, California.
• Red Leaf Lettuce, Organic - 1 each
  Lakeside Organic Gardens, Watsonville, California. 
• Bella Royal Peacotums, Organic - 1 pound
  Nicholas Family Farms, Orange Cove, California.
• Snow Leopard Melons, Organic - 1 each
  Capay Organic, Capay, California.
• Zee Lady Peaches, Organic - 2 each
  Purity Organic Citrus - CA, Thermal, California.
• Red Flame Grapes, Organic - 0.75 pound
  Anthony Vineyards, Bakersfield, California.
• Gravenstein Heirloom Apples, Organic - Approx. one lb.
  Coke Farm, San Juan Bautista, California. 
• Strawberries - Pint, Organic - One pint.
  Serrano Organic Farm, Las Lomas, California.