Loving my green power!

Late one recent night, I couldn't sleep and on a whim downloaded a Kobo e-book for my iPod Touch (I can't put into words how much I love this little device). I must say that e-books are frighteningly easy to buy. Just two or three taps and it's yours! Plus you save over the price of a regular (old-school) book - I saved between $2 and $5. I had about a moment's remorse for my impulse buy, but then dove into my new book. I read voraciously in the dark (love the night-reading feature) and after 3 chapters finally turned it off to get some sleep.

 

Green for Life - Kobo

What was this fascinating read? "Green for Life" by Victoria Boutenko. I've mentioned this book in another post as it was a major source of inspiration for my exploration of green smoothies. After my initial fascination with these verdant drinks, I fell off the wagon and didn't get back on. I found mixing them using my immersion blender too cumbersome and I didn't have the determination to press on. I recently bought a new blender, in the hopes of making the process a little easier* and decided it was time to read more on the subject.

What is so great about Green Smoothies? Through her research, in consultation with many experts in the fields of nutrition - both human and chimpanzee(!) - and her family's own evidence, Boutenko discovered:

• Greens, above all other food groups, meet all nutritional needs.
• A raw food diet featuring green smoothies can cure disease, prevent cancer, and even slow or reverse aging.
• Consuming 1-2 litres of green smoothies per day can have profound health benefits, including: weight loss, improved digestion, improved allergies, healed eczema, fewer headaches, reduced stiffness after exercise, even improved sex life and peaceful birthing.
• After one month of drinking a litre of green smoothies per day, study participants reported: less fatigue and more energy, increased motivation, "zingyness", fewer grey hairs (!) and cravings moving from processed or cooked foods to raw foods and greens.

Now that's green! My lettuce began to bolt,
so I rescued what I could and made some
green juice: 4 cups packed green & romaine
lettuce blended with 4 cups water

This book is packed with surprising and up-to-date information on nutrition and how it affects our health, as well as copious testimonials. My e-book is full of highlights for every time I exclaimed, "wow!" Needless to say, my enthusiasm for green smoothies has grown. If even a small portion of these claims are true, I should experience a big difference in my health. While I'm definitely the most dedicated smoothie drinker, my husband will drink them if I make them, and my 2.5yo will gladly consume them if they include mango. My discerning 5yo is still vary wary. I've started asking him to try a sip every day and most days he complies.

So what's in a Green Smoothie? It's actually surprisingly simple: water, greens, and fruit. That's it. The ratio depends on your tastebuds, which will adjust as you become familiar with the taste of greens. Novices (this includes children especially) should start easy so the smoothies are tasty and enjoyable. You can get a large number of recipes by registering for the Recipe App on the Raw Family site, or purchase the App for your mobile device. It also includes a FAQ and an excellent guide to green smoothies. There are combinations for all tastes and seasons.

How do green smoothies taste? Yummy! You can completely adjust your ingredients based on preference. If you like sweet, add (very slightly green) bananas or mangoes. If the green flavour is a little strong, add more fruit or lemon juice. I really enjoy drinking green smoothies and look forward to the every day. We recently went away for five days and I didn't get to drink my usual allotment - though I did manage a little - and noticed the difference. I started feeling a general yuckyness and my digestion slowed down.

I carried two of these buckets containing 3 heads of lettuce each
(in their soil) to Cornwall, ON to prevent losing them to flowering
or drought. I used half in smoothies and the other half returned home.

Want to get started now? Some tips from the guide mentioned above: wherever possible, ingredients should be fresh, local, ripe, and organic; and rotate your greens (change it up now and then to ensure nutritional diversity). A tip of my own: frozen fruits can be great for convenience - fresh is better, but frozen is a good compromise, adds a great texture, and is refreshing in summer, I usually combine fresh and frozen fruit.

Here's a basic recipe:
1.5-2 cups packed greens (start with green or romaine lettuce or spinach)
1-2 cups water
2-4 cups fruit (try mango, strawberry, apple, banana, peach, etc.)

Before - romaine lettuce, frozen mangoes,
frozen strawberries, and water

After!

* I learned first hand last week how awful a green smoothie can be if made in a blender with dull blades. The greens and fruit skins remain in big chunks and the result is chewy - yech! Boutenko heartily recommends the Vita-mix blender, but at over $400, it's a little out of my price range at the moment. It could be a future family Christmas present. Instead I settled for a 16-speed Oster and have learned a few tricks to preserve the motor and blades: blend the water and greens first, then add the fruit which should be chopped or in small chunks, frozen fruit should be added gradually. If you get big chunks when mixing, blame your appliance, not the smoothie!

My Quinoa Obsession

Red Quinoa (dry)

Recently I discovered a book at Costco, which made me break one of my New Year's Resolutions. I had sworn not to buy any more cookbooks, due to my overflowing cookbook shelves (yes, plural). I'd seen this particular book before Christmas and had considered adding it to my wishlist - I actually took a picture of it. In early January, I found myself standing in Costco, looking longingly at the pile once more. Then something inside my went "crack", and my resolution was broken. All for the greater good (of my family), I told myself. (Yes, I can be weird about things. It only cost $17.39.)

The glorious book in question? Quinoa 365: the Everyday Superfood:

What the heck is quinoa (pronounced "keen-wah")? From the publisher's website:

One of the world’s healthiest foods, quinoa contains a perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids, and is a great source of protein, making it an increasingly popular food choice for those looking to incorporate superfoods into their everyday diets. Gluten-free, wheat-free, and nutrient-packed, quinoa is ideal for those who are health-conscious, vegetarian, or physically active, as well as for those with gluten intolerance, wheat allergies, and other digestive disorders. But that’s not all; you can eat quinoa guiltlessly knowing it’s free of cholesterol and trans fats, contains natural antioxidants, and is a source of vitamin E, calcium, potassium, iron, and magnesium. In Quinoa 365 sisters Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming show you how to use this miraculous superfood in all your favorite dishes.

It is not a grain either, but the fruit of a broadleaf plant. All by itself, cooked quinoa is a great sidedish and alternative to rice. Since it's a complete protein (extremely rare for a vegetable or plant), it is an ideal meat substitute. But really, use it in all your favourite dishes? Yep. There are recipes in this book for salads, breads, cereals, stews, burgers, frittatas, cookies, and puddings to name a few. Flipping through the book, there are countless ways I see that we can incorporate quinoa into our new flexitarian way of eating.

White Quinoa (dry)

Until this book, my only other quinoa recipe was Golden Quinoa Salad with Mango and Walnuts. I got the recipe from the newspaper and was so smitten, that I made it for a family gathering at the end of the summer a few years ago. It was a hit and I (who hates cold salads) couldn't get enough of it.

Golden Quinoa Salad with Mango and Walnuts

There are many blogs with adoring posts about quinoa. I even found a blog by a mom admittedly "Keen on quinoa". It's a great source for quinoa recipes: How Do You Cook Quinoa?

My first dish from Quinoa 365 was the Minestrone Soup. I had all the ingredients on hand and felt like making something warm and cozy (because of what our weather has been like lately). The quinoa cooks with the soup, so there is no extra step. When I served this yummy minestrone, it looked like this:

Minestrone Soup

But after it had sat a little longer, the quinoa plumped up and became more visible:

Minestrone Soup - Day 2

I make a similar soup as part of my own repertoire, but I will now definitely add quinoa to it for a nutritional boost. In fact, I'll likely be adding quinoa to all my soups!

The other recipe I tried was Outrageously Quick and Easy Pizza Crust. In a word: fantastic. When we make our own pizza dough, I've used a recipe that came with our breadmaker. It's very good, but this is better. The quinoa is cooked and cooled first, then added to the dough. I found the dough a little difficult to work with, but I'm sure that will improve with practice - and I WILL be "practicing" this recipe.

Slightly Overcooked Pizza made with
Outrageously Quick and Easy Pizza Crust recipe

I was a little worried that the crust would be too doughy, since it puffed up when baking, but it wasn't at all. The quinoa (although practically undetectable) gives the crust an interesting and satisfying texture. It's hard to explain, but I'll say it was a HUGE hit with my family. I made the pizza vegetarian, save for the tiniest bit of crumbled bacon.

You can find a handful of recipes on the Quinoa 365 website, including Championship Chili (on my list of next-to-try), but I strongly suggest buying or borrowing the book, because once you get started with quinoa, it's pretty exciting stuff. Some other dishes on my list: healthy cookies, quinoa veggie bake, jalapeno chedder pepper scramble, pumpkin pancakes, black bean soup, tomato and basil crustless quiche, caramel date cake, chewy chocolate chip cookies, to name but a few. I did say I was obsessed!

Flexitarian Family

I've recently come to the decision that we, as a family (but especially DH and I), can and should be eating less meat (red, white, fish, etc.). I'm aiming for vegetarian-ish, which apparently is called flexitarian. This means that we will endeavour to eat vegetarian as much as we can. So far, so good.

Why not go "whole-hog" (if you'll pardon the pun)? Most importantly: DH and I love meat and I don't especially love vegetables. In fact, I'm a very reluctant vegetable eater and I've struggled hard to incorporate them into my meals. Give me boiled or steamed veggies (with a very few exceptions) in a pile on my plate and I'm unlikely to eat them. For this reason, despite the fact that I've long aspired to vegetarianism, I didn't think it was realistic and figured I'd probably starve.

So why on earth do I want to do this? Good question. Without getting into the many long and difficult arguments, I'll give you my main reasons:

• Ethical and Financial - The more I learn about how the majority of food animals are raised, fed, bred, and slaughtered I don't want to be a part of it. There are better alternatives, but doing things "right" costs much more money than assembly-line, corner-cutting factory farming. So either we find more money in the budget, or we treat meat as a treat. The big bonus to the alternative sources I've found is the taste - unlike anything I've ever tasted before and so delicious.
• Health - I want to eat delicious food. I don't want to feel that I'm missing out on meat. If that happens, this will end up as a short-lived experiment rather than a lifestyle change. So I've got to find great-tasting meals with lots of variety. It also means that eating out will become even more of a rarity. I'll be cooking more of our meals and by default, we'll be making better choices with our food.

What spurred this on? Mostly a lot of reading and a lot of thinking. About a year ago I read The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Excellent books, great reads and really thought-provoking. I think they should be required reading. A month ago, I finally watched Food Inc. and my mom's group book club started reading Omnivore's Dilemma (at my request). I just finished the short and sweet Food Rules and have started our next book club selection: Eating Animals. But long before all of this, I took a first year university philosophy course on ethics, where we discussed the philosophical arguments for and against vegetarianism. The seed was planted then, so to speak.

So we've been at this for over a week, officially, and I'm thrilled both with how much we're enjoying our new way of eating and with how easy it has been. DH has been wonderfully supportive and on-board. He is a pretty adventurous eater and has loved sampling the new recipes like this 4-cheese Manicotti.

4-cheese Manicotti - unbelievably delicious

I followed the recipe, but for these exceptions: omitted the spinach - didn't have any, used our favourite Zarky's sauce (no extra anything in it, as close as you can get to making your own) instead of following the marinara recipe. I served it with a cheese garlic bubble bread. Words can't describe how tasty this meal was. I asked my husband at the end of the meal, "did you miss the meat?" His answer, "no way!" While the example may not have fulfilled the "healthy" motivation, it sure was encouraging and satisfying.

Which brings me to my next post... My Quinoa Obsession

CSA Weeks 10, 11, and 12 - The End!

Well, my CSA share has ended. I've many thoughts on the issue (the subject of a future post), but first I'll summarize the haul.


FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #10
Bananas (4) 904 g
Lettuce (1) 178 g
Banana Peppers (8) 274 g
Carrots - large (5) 1.239 kg
Onions (2) 501 g
Broccoli 771 g
Potatoes (3) 542 g
Spring Mix (bag) 144 g
Mushrooms (bag) 112 g
Green Beans 573 g
Oranges - satsuma (4) 372 g
Lemons (1) 94 g
Apples - delicious (6) 646 g
Total - 6.350 kg


FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #11
Bananas (4) 730 g
Broccoli 717 g
Red Onions (2) 629 g
Fingerling Potatoes (9) 511 g
Green Pepper (1) 190 g
Spring Mix (bag) 153 g
Unpasteurized Apple Cider (2 L) 2.102 kg
Cranberries (half small bag) 111 g
Apples (5) 501 g
Oranges - satsuma (4) 307 g
Pomegranate (1) 127 g
Boston Lettuce (1) 180 g
Total - 6.258 kg

We were away for our week #12 pickup, so I gave it to a friend and asked her to make a list of what it contained.

FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #12
potatoes (2)
oranges (4)
apples (4)
red onions (2)
peanut squash
carrots (bag)
boston lettuce (1)
lettuce mix (bag)
pint of grape tomatoes (1 pint)
broccoli (1)

GRAND TOTAL (11 weeks) - 63.7 kg (average 5.8 kg/week)

As for usage and wastage...I admit I've commpletely lost track at this point. The holiday season through a wrench in the works and a lot of food was wasted, because we weren't home to cook or were already overloaded with food from other sources. The cider (a delicious surprise) and almost of the fruit was consumed and we've still got many potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions left. The greens, celery, and far-too-numerous carrots didn't fare so well.

This was our second week without a pickup and so far I don't miss it. I'm still clearing old produce out of the fridge, which is a little sad. I'd had such high hopes...but as I said, that is another post.

CSA Weeks #7, 8, and 9

Has it been this long?! I'll admit I've been neglecting my blogging duties (more about that in my previous post), but I hadn't realised I'd missed so many CSA updates. And there's another one to come for tonight!

I won't get into the ins and outs of where all the food has gone, but instead just generalities. First of all, we've lost a lot of greens. Our fridge tends to freeze stuff when it gets too full and it has been too full. (Frozen greens are limp and gross!) I've dialed down the temp and hopefully that will help. Also my youngest (still breastfeeding) gets terrible gas pains whenever I indulge in a green salad. This has been a major deterrent, despite how much I love them.

Next, I can't seem to keep the beets. Why do they always go soft on me? I can't figure it out. The potatoes and sweet potatoes are kicking along, as are the onions, except that they're now sprouting on me. The garlic is piling up (another gas-maker) and so are the celery and carrots. Fruit is not a problem - it generally gets eaten long before the week is through. The challenges lately? Avocado, cauliflower, and cucumber (we were overloaded in the summer).

My biggest problem lately however, has been focus. I've been busy with my new business and have not been cooking as much. The push is now easing and I'm starting to cook again. We've all got colds now, though, so that might put a hamper on things for a few more days.

As for recipes, well I've made chili, lasagna, and shepherd's pie recently using some of the produce. All are easy, frugal stand-bys and are especially welcome with the cold weather we've had lately. (I'll post recipe links soon!)


FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #7
Mushrooms (bag) 103 g
Yams (2) 501 g
Onions - medium (5) 585 g
Onions - small (4) 255 g
Beets (5) 390 g
Avocado (1) 193 g
Spring Mix (bag) 220 g
Baby Swiss Chard (bag) 238 g
Celery (bunch) 688 g
Green Pepper (1) 229 g
Garlic (2) 100 g
Tomato (1) 176 g
Apples (6) 571 g
Total - 5.041 kg


FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #8
Yams (2) 430 g
Onions (3) 493 g
Spring Mix (bag) 147 g
Baby Spinach (bag) 154 g
Carrots (bag) 996 g
Garlic (2) 98 g
Apples (6) 707 g
Pears (2) 325 g
Oranges (4) 664 g
Cauliflower (1) 649 g
Bananas (5) 1020 g
Potatoes (4) 591 g
Total - 6.274 kg


FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #9
Red Onions (3) 459 g
Spring Mix (bag) 156 g
Spinach (bunch) 222 g
Garlic (1) 51 g
Apples (4) 516 g
Grapefruit (1) 371 g
Lemon (1) 127 g
Bananas (5) 1034 g
Avocado (1) 180 g
Green Pepper (1) 318 g
Potatoes (4) 615 g
Green Beans 366 g
Summer Lettuce 233 g
Celery (bunch) 689 g
Slicing Cucumber (1) 335 g
Total - 7.672 kg

Oh and I have to mention that I have been enjoying immensely the Beretta Organics ground turkey I bought from Goodness Me! last week. I have never tasted anything like it! It tastes like 'meat'. I can't really describe it except to say that it is soooooo good. To paraphrase Michael Pollan, it tastes the way ground turkey should taste. It actually tastes even better than I ever thought it could taste. Am I exaggerating? I don't think so. I've had ground beef from Beretta in the past and raved about it. I've also got some of their bacon sitting in the freezer for a special occasion and I'm sure it will be the best bacon I've ever had. I've already looked into buying in bulk from Beretta, but since we don't live in their delivery area we'd have to drive to King City to pick it up ourselves. I'm seriously considering placing an order to do just that. Not only does the meat taste better, it feels better to know that the animals have been respected and raised in a humane and healthy fashion.

CSA Week #6

Realising this blog won't write itself, I figure it's time. I'll admit I'm hesitant since I'm feeling a little guilty about my progress with our veggies. My reason for blogging about our experience with a weekly Community Supported Agriculture share was to force me to be accountable and push me to use it wisely. Thank goodness for that, otherwise we might have long been buried in rotting produce.

I'll also admit that this week I've also been a little distracted. I've been crocheting my little heart out, both for my family and for charity. The kids have been challenging too this week and when they'd finally relax, so would I. We had our in-laws here for the weekend and for once, I didn't cook much. (Usually I relish the opportunity to try out some new recipes on them, as they're adventurous eaters.)


FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #6
Carrots (bag) 921 g
Onions (4) 639 g
Boston Lettuce (1) 234 g
Arugula (1 bunch) 103 g
Celery (1) 831 g
Yams (1) 470 g
Potatoes (5) 748 g
Cabbage (1) 524 g
Bosc Pears (5) 926 g
Apples (6) 888 g
Bananas (6) 1.006 kg
Oranges (3) 438 g
Total - 7.728 kg

We've currently got 3 full bags of carrots (!) in the fridge begging to be used. There's still zucchini, avocado (is it still usable?), lots of salad greens, celery, some apples, and pears. There's a pile of onions, potatoes, and yams waiting patiently for consumption. I still haven't made the Curried Carrot and Cashew Soup (today, maybe) or the Zucchini Carrot Muffins. I did make a butter chicken dish using some of the onion, potato, and carrot - delicious, but I used a commercial spice mix so won't be posting the recipe this time. I'm still a little intimidated by guacamole (is it tough to make? how quickly does it need to be eaten? are the avocados still edible?) so that hasn't been made yet.


I did make a Spelt Bread this weekend, which was well received. It's super easy and quick with only 5 ingredients and no rise time. I've been inspired to try making green smoothies with some of our greens, but am a little nervous that K., who is still breastfeeding, will get really gassy. I'm willing to try it at least once, since it seems like an excellent way to get in some important nutrients. I suppose I'd better get busy, after all, we get another haul tomorrow!

CSA Week #5

This CSA Tuesday, a few events reminded me of the importance and centrality of food and eating:

While picking up this week's CSA share, I met a new mom of a 2 week old girl. She had her baby in a carrier on her front and we chatted as we loaded our food into bags. I was happy to see that she and her husband are concerned about the quality of food their family eats and where it comes from, and are committed to a CSA even in the crazy early days of parenthood.

As I drove back home and was stopped at a traffic light, I noticed 3 teenage boys (I'm guessing about age 16) crossing the street. They looked like average teenagers, dressed in trendy clothes and talking and laughing together. Then I saw that each of them was carrying an empty reusable shopping bag and were on their way to the local grocery store. How wonderful that not only are they involved in food shopping (although they could just be buying pop and snacks for all I know - but I'm being optimistic), but they are helping to eliminate plastic bags by bringing their own.

Before all of this, I was at Ronald McDonald House with Social Mamas, preparing dinner. I always enjoy myself there (it's no secret I like to cook) in the great big light-filled kitchen. We spend the time talking about anything and everything (often heavy topics like religion for some unknown reason), and always laughing. Every now and then, someone comes into the kitchen for some food or just to pass through and we're reminded of our purpose there: to make a home-cooked meal for the families of children who are in the hospital. Most of the time, these are really sad cases. We met a mom last night whose son suffered brain damage and blindness as a result of choking on popcorn in a movie theatre. He went without oxygen for 10 minutes and noone helped him. They don't know if the blindness will be permanent. I can't even imagine.

At first I felt bad for our cheerful chatter, thinking we might be being insensitive, but then I realised that the sounds from the kitchen might help others feel like it was an ordinary household and not just a very serious and sad place. As I peeled and chopped the vegetables carefully and arranged them on a platter, I was aware of how cooking for others is a way to comfort and nurture. It can be so easy to forget the basic importance of nourishing our bodies and our souls.

All this brings me to our CSA...

The leeks from the past two weeks and some of the celery went into a delcious Slowcooker Chicken with Leeks in Cranberry Walnut Sauce. The lettuce and arugula have been almost all used in some tasty salads, and the fruit was eaten fresh. The mushrooms were dehydrated - so cool and likely the topic of another post - as were previous weeks' parsley and red kale. Last week's kale will also be dried and the yams will likely be chopped and frozen. I'm still planning on making a guacamole, but I can't seem to get around to it. We've already lost one avocado, and all the turnips and beets.

What we received this week in our share:


FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #5
Carrots (bag) 936 g
Zucchini (2) 497 g
Onions (6) 1340 g
Swiss Chard (bunch) 295 g
Red Potatoes (5) 939 g
Avocado (1) 211 g
Spinach (bunch) 232 g
Yam (1 XL) 518 g
Bartlett Pears (5) 833 g
Apples (9) 985 g
Bananas (6) 975 g
Total - 7.76 kg

The zucchini are a welcome addition, but they hail from Mexico and I'm a little conflicted about that. We certainly don't need more carrots, but I'll find something to make with them: perhaps another batch of Carrot Zucchini Muffins and some Curried Carrot and Cashew Soup. I'll likely combine this week's and last week's potatoes with some of the onions and roast them for dinner. I'm going to try using some of last week's butternut squash in an Acorn Squash Lasagna, since butternut and acorn squash are interchangeable. And the rest? We'll see...

CSA Week #4

While I've still got of last week's produce still kicking around, things should change this week as I fire up the dehydrator. I managed to use all but a few leaves of the boston lettuce in salads (soo yummy and pretty) and the previous week's romaine is long gone. The bananas were gobbled up and today I made a delicious and easy Apple and Pear Sauce. One pumpkin succumbed to a toddler's heavy hand (K knocked it down a few times, the skin split, and it rotted). Aside from that, we've got everything else left. I plan (yes, I've said it before) to catch up this week.

Speaking of which, here's what we got:

FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #4
Yams (2) 636 g
Mushrooms 101 g
Leeks (3) 345 g
Butternut Squash (1) 2.39 kg
Avocado (1) 223 g
Celery 654 g
Boston Lettuce 227 g
Arugula 125 g
Kale 359 g
Apples (10) 1.11 kg
Bartlett Pears (3) 489 g
Bananas (5) 929 g
Oranges (3) 385 g
Total - 7.98 kg

The very small oranges were a nice surprise and 2 of the 3 were consumed by F and I within minutes of them coming in the door. Also welcome is the arugula since I love its nutty flavour and would like some variety in my now daily green salad. The kale is green this week, not red and the pears are Bartlett not d'Anjou. We've got our requisite butternut squash (destined to join its brethren in the freezer), as well as apples (gala), and bananas.

My excitement over the oranges made me realise that my best efforts will go awry (am I mixing metaphors here?) once clementine season arrives. I think they're only grown in Morroco. They are one of my favourite fruits and as I said to DH, "I'm not made of stone."

Make It From Scratch Blog Carnival

I have just participated in my first Blog Carnival at Make It From Scratch. You'll find lots of delicious recipes and other crafts and things. My contribution is my Zucchini Carrot Muffins. Please check it out!

Zucchini Carrot Muffins

As the carrots and apples from my weekly organic CSA shares are piling up, it is time to get muffin making. The zucchini is from this year's container garden harvest, which I shredded and froze for just such an occasion. I've made these once before and they were a huge hit with the family. I found them a little sweet however, and have reduced the sugar this time. (Normally I would replace some of the oil and sugar with mashed ripe banana, but I'm all out.)

These are one of my favourite ways to sneak vegetables into my kiddies. They devour them and prove how great they taste.

makes 28 medium-sized muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped peeled apple
3/4 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds (or chopped almonds)
2 teaspoons orange zest (optional - didn't use, didn't have)
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup multigrain flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins

1. Gently toss together carrot, zucchini, apple, coconut, hemp seeds and orange peel; set aside.


2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

3. Combine eggs, oil and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thick). Fold in carrot mixture and raisins. (I mix with my hands, I find this the easiest way.)

4. Fill greased or paper-lined muffins cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

5. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.

Adapted from Recipezaar Recipe #118885

Click here for a printable version.

CSA Week #3

Week 3 of our fall Community Supported Agriculture share and our fridge is getting FULL! So full that the veggies are starting to freeze. We lost most last week's spinach and kale because of this (what good there was went into a soup).

I'm still dealing with the nausea and lack of appetite from my cold/flu (no I'm not pregnant - I checked) and I'm not back into my cooking/baking stride. With last week's bounty, I made a turkey stock

and a tomato veggie soup.

We also had a salad with the romaine lettuce. Most of the fruit was eaten. Still left: beets (which are piling up - I love them, but they're a lot of work), turnips, pears, apples, parsley, avocado, mushrooms, celery, romaine lettuce.

FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #3
Carrots (bag) 907 g
Mushrooms 104 g
Leeks (2) 225 g
Pie Pumpkins (2) 1.2 kg
Butternut Squash (1) 1.45 kg
Onions (2) 528 g
Red Kale 455 g
Potatoes (4) 455 g
Pears (5) 920 g
Apples (7) 815 g
Boston Lettuce 201 g
Bananas (4) 925 g
Total - 8.2 kg

Plans for this week's goodies include: soup (yes, more soup!), carrot-zucchini muffins (with frozen shredded zucchini from my own garden), and lots of preserving (see below). We're just 3 weeks in and already I'm a little wiser than when we started.

What I've learned so far:

- Local fall fruit gets boring fast. Every time I come in the door with bananas, which are the first of the CSA fruits to be eaten, my 3.5-year-old (a serious fruit lover) gets very excited. "BANANAS! THANK YOU MAMA!!" he yells. It's really sweet, but a little sad since I feel like I'm depriving him of the other colours of the fruit rainbow. My mom recently brought us non-local strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. It was all I could do not to snatch them from her and devour them greedily all by myself (I'm an even bigger fruit lover than my son).

- One family can only eat so much soup. I've made LOTS of soup already and I foresee more to come. I love homemade soup and so does my husband, but both of us are getting a little sick of soup. I've been freezing over half of what I make and even still we're feeling overwhelmed.


- We're going to have to preserve a lot of what we get because we just don't eat this much food, let alone vegetables. I've borrowed a food dehydrator and I'll be giving it a test run, as I consider purchasing one. I've read that drying kale is a great way to use it, so I'll be starting with that first and then will try the parsley and mushrooms. I've already frozen a bunch of chopped butternut squash and yam, and will probably be doing the same with this week's butternut squash. The apples and pears will get made into sauce and then frozen.

- We most likely will not be doing a winter share (Jan 6 - Apr 2). There will be more than enough leftovers from this share to fulfill most of our needs in the early new year!

CSA Week 2

I can't believe it's already Saturday and I'm just posting about the CSA I picked up this past Tuesday! (The two kids and I have been sick and that's thrown a wrench in our plans, but more on that later.)

First, what happened with the rest of last week's veggies? I'm ashamed to admit that the spinach bit the dust. I hadn't expected it to go so soon, but alas it wilted and withered and in the green bin it went without so much as a taste taken. Half of the salad greens went too. The beets and mushrooms are still awaiting consumption. The remaining apples went into soup or were eaten by my son. 2 of the pears are still hanging on. Most of the enormous butternut squash went into a Curried Butternut Squash Peanut Butter Soup but only this Thursday. The rest of it has been frozen for either another soup or a squash lasagna.

Here's what I found in my goodie box this week:

FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #2
Onions (2) 353 g
Italian Parsley 157 g
Spinach 252 g
Avocado (1) 166 g
Butternut Squash (1 small) 811 g
Yams or Sweet Potato** (2) 897 g
White Carrots (7) 424 g
Mystery Root Vegetable* (5) 310 g
Beets (7) 345 g
Mushrooms 116 g
Apples (7) 787 g
Bananas (5) 918 g
Celery 787 g
Red Kale 284 g
Hydroponic Romaine Lettuce 283 g
Total Weight - 6.89 kg

* Thanks to the help of my father, these have been identified as small turnips. I'd considered posting a pic on Facebook and asking my friends to 'name that root vegetable'!
** I honestly can't tell the difference despite many efforts to educate myself.

I'm planning to make a veggie soup tomorrow with some of the veggies (not sure which yet) with a turkey stock I made on Thursday (also used up some veggies), the fate of the rest is as yet undecided, We're making good progress on the romaine lettuce, but in all this has been tougher week. I've fallen behind in my eating and cooking because I've been sick since last Sunday and have been enjoying a general lack of appetite and bouts of nausea - yippee! So I haven't zipped through the veggies as I'd hoped. Fingers crossed that this week is better.

3 Days Into Our CSA Box

So here we are on day 3 (which would have been day 4 had I picked the box up on time) of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box of organic food. Here's how much we've eaten our way through so far and where it's gone:

FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #1
3 red cubanelle peppers - 431 g bread and soup
2 onions - 521 g bread and soup
4 small potatoes - 435 g soup
6 beets - 558 g
5 carrots - 408 g bread and soup
2 heads of broccoli - 740 g soup
1 bunch of spinach - 421 g
1 small bag of salad greens - 159 g
1 extra large butternut squash - 3.5 kg
1 small bag of mushrooms - 136 g
7 apples - 869 g 2 eaten by the boys
5 pears - 435 g 2 eaten by the boys
5 bananas - 728 g eaten by the boys
Total Weight - 9.771 kg 6kg to go

That doesn't look so good, but if you consider that 3.5 kg is one butternut squash (which is destined for a delicious curried butternut squash peanut butter soup), and that I already currently have an enormous load of various types of local apples scattered about my kitchen from other sources, that's not too bad. I've made a cream of broccoli soup, two 2-lb loaves of "garden patch bread", and tonight made a roasted vegetable soup (which, to be fair, also included 5 peppers, an onion, and a large sweet potato all from a local grower and lovingly donated by my mother).


What will I do with the rest? The squash and about 4 apples will go into the above-mentioned soup. I'll make a salad from the spinach and greens. The beets will be roasted and eaten as a side dish. The remaining fruit will be eaten probably by the boys. The mushrooms: I don't know. I forgot to put them in tonight's soup, so I'm not sure.

I'll be posting recipes for any dishes I mention, but they may not go up right away. (I do have 2 very young children after all!)

What our family is doing to combat climate change

Thanks to a Facebook update from the David Suzuki Foundation, I was inspired to join www.blogactionday.org. I pledged to post a blog today in the category "Mommy and Family". Kind of vague, but nonetheless, it got me thinking: What is my family doing on a very local level to combat climate change

That led me to the next question: What human actions contribute to climate change? Wikipedia says:

Of most concern in these anthropogenic factors is the increase in CO₂ levels due to emissions from fossil fuel combustion, followed by aerosols (particulate matter in the atmosphere) and cement manufacture. Other factors, including land use, ozone depletion, animal agriculture and deforestation, are also of concern in the roles they play - both separately and in conjunction with other factors - in affecting climate.

While somewhat informative, the Wikipedia article gives me little guidance as to how I can be of influence, so I kept searching. Back I went to the source of this blog, The David Suzuki Foundation, which has a handy list of things we can do to help slow climate change. I read through them to see how we measure up. Here's my list of what we're doing and where we can improve:

AT HOME:
1. Reduce your home heating and electricity use - We recently completed a Home Energy Audit and spent 18 months upgrading our 50+-year-old home. We replaced our 40-year-old (!) furnace, insulated our roof, attic, and basement, caulked, weather-stripped, changed plumbing fixtures, fixed leaks. In all, we managed to bring our home above the best estimate of improvement of our auditor and got a nice chunk of cash back from the federal and provincial governments (not to mention all our savings in gas, electricity, and water). What else we can do: we didn't fully insulate the basement (couldn't afford it at the time and we were expecting a baby) and we could replace our other toilets and some very old windows and doors.

2. Choose energy-efficient appliances - When buying appliances for our home when we moved in, we did our best to choose energy-efficient ones. In hindsight, we should have opted for a gas stove and clothes dryer as they are more energy efficient.

3. Check the Canadian government’s Auto Smart ratings for the next car you intend to buy to make sure it’s fuel efficient and low polluting - Our cars - a compact and a station wagon - are used, one is made domestically, and both are as fuel-efficient as was possible in their class.

4. Walk, bike, carpool or take transit to get to one of your regular destinations each week - We combine errands whenever possible to reduce driving. Where we can improve: In good weather DH can cycle to work, I can cycle with kiddies in tow, when going to events without kids I can carpool with others. Public transit within the city is not practical with two young children and DH finds the 20-minute bus ride down the road to work overly long and cumbersome to do on a regular basis. (He's on the bus for 20 minutes then walks for 10 minutes - compared to 10 minutes in the car.)

5. Consider vacationing close to home - That's an easy one since we don't have the funds to do otherwise

6. Choose a home within a 30-minute bike, walk or transit ride from your daily destinations - We chose our current house based on its proximity to DH's work as it shaves 20 minutes (and all the highway driving) off his commute each way. I've got no commute, as I am a stay-at-home-mom

7. Take care of your trash - We recycle, green bin, vermicompost, soon will backyard compost. We attempt to reduce the amount of packaging brought into our home, but it is a challenge. Our 3.5-year-old is toilet trained, our 11-month-old is in cloth diapers except at night. Heck, even our cats 'go' outside most of the time.

8. Eat wisely - If you've read any of my other blog posts, you'll know we're trying very hard in this regard.

9. Learn about how to plan a green, low-carbon wedding - We'll be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary this Sunday, so this doesn't apply to us. However, our wedding was admittedly rather high-carbon, since we were married in Hawaii. It was a small wedding party (only 11 others attended), so that's something. Our reception (in Cornwall, ON) was within easy driving distance for the majority of attendees, but some had to travel from the Toronto area.

10. Take the David Suzuki Foundation’s Nature Challenge to learn more about other ways you can help protect the environment - On my to do list.

11. Go Carbon neutral - Not sure exactly what this entails, but will be reading more about it.

Hmmm, we've got a lot of bases covered here, but this is only part one of the Suzuki Foundation's "What you can do". In future blogs I'll be exploring the following areas: at work, food and climate change, go carbon neutral, take action, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge.

CSA - Yay!

I picked up my first ever CSA box today - what an thrilling experience! It's like Christmas, opening up that box and not knowing what you're going to find inside. (I kept saying "this is so exciting!") I was pleasantly surprised with the bounty I found. (More on that later.) I've been eagerly anticipating our first box for several weeks, so it's a wonder how I managed to forget to pick it up yesterday. Thankfully, we had 24 hours to pick it up before it's given away. So on the way home from preschool, with my 3.5-year-old and 11.5-month-old in tow, we picked up our lonely box. (Technically it had 2 other boxes to keep it company - clearly I wasn't the only one who'd forgotten - but there was a tall stack of empties sitting next to them.)

How did I get here? Well, I've been kicking around the idea of joining a CSA for some time now and after reading "The Dinner Diaries", I was inspired to finally take the plunge. A few weeks ago. I signed up with Plan B Organic Farm in Flamborough. According to their website: "Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) is a system of growing and distributing organic produce that restores the link between the farmers and city dwellers." Basically, you pay ahead of time and then every week you pick up a box full of produce from a local depot. Plan B is a multi-farm CSA, so the summer produce comes from 12 organic farms in southern Ontario. In fall and winter, it comes from "local and imported origin" although you can choose just local (that would mean slim pickin's in the dead of winter). Go to their website to see all the yummy goodies you can get in a box.

I only signed up in September, so I did a single share for Fall 2009, which spans Oct.13-Dec.31. It amounts to $25/week for 12 weeks. It's a real bargain for organic produce and saves so much effort trying to locate a good variety of local food every week. A single share is: "One week's worth of fruit and vegetables - approximately 8-10 items/week, enough for a household with 1-2 adults." To be clear, 8-10 items does not mean 1 apple, 1 pear, 2 potatoes, 1 head of lettuce, etc. Take a look at what came in my first box!

FrugalMaman's Fall CSA Box Week #1
3 red cubanelle peppers - 431 g
2 onions - 521 g
4 small potatoes - 435 g
6 beets - 558 g
5 carrots - 408 g
2 heads of broccoli - 740 g
1 bunch of spinach - 421 g
1 small bag of salad greens - 159 g
1 extra large butternut squash - 3.5 kg
1 small bag of mushrooms - 136 g
7 apples - 869 g
5 pears - 435 g
5 bananas - 728 g
Total Weight - 9.771 kg

It looks like I'm going to be kept on my toes planning meals around all this fresh produce! I know what to do with these fruits and vegetables, and luckily my family eats everything we received. (My 3.5-year-old son is very excited about all the fruit and was begging to dig in as soon as we arrived home.) I am looking forward to some delicious salads and soups over the next week. I must admit I'm a little nervous, though, about one day finding a lot of strange looking root vegetables in my box. At least this is the easy part of the season!

I intend to track how we fare with our fare. Should it work out well, I'll be signing up for a winter share.

More from the Plan B website:

Why buy produce from Plan B in the fall instead of the supermarket?
- The best selection & value of local and imported certified organic produce
- Plan B "puts local first" in the shares, with stored root crops, local greenhouse greens, and local apples all season long.
- The imported foods in your share are as fresh as you can get. They don't sit out on a store shelf losing valuable nutrients, they go straight from the cooler to you.
-Support Plan B in their ongoing work of developing a local organic farm business by buying from us year round!

Locally delicious or how much do you know about your meal?

I just finished the most wonderful meal. It was simple, quick, inexpensive and sooo delicious. Now, I have to admit that part of the reason it was inexpensive was that my mother had given me some of the ingredients most of which were bought from local growers at the Milton Farmer's Market, but even if I'd bought them myself they wouldn't have cost much. I sauteed some onions, added lean ground beef which I seasoned and browned, then threw in some fresh peas and chopped red pepper. I served it with some of my mom's delicious potatoes baked with cheese and onion. Nothing fancy, extravagant, or high in fat or calories. My 3-year-old said, unsolicited, "mama, I like this burger." My husband said, "I could finish everything that's left, it's so good." I was proud.
So, what's the big deal? First of all, most of the ingredients (onions, peppers, peas, beef) were locally grown/raised. Second, and perhaps most important, the beef was grass-fed. What's the difference and/or who cares? Well, until recently, I would have said the same thing. Lately I've been reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals", by Michael Pollan. I'd done some research and decided that it was a book I needed to read. That is a huge understatement. I'm about halfway through and if I had all the time in world, I could have read it all in one sitting it's that fascinating and spellbinding. (Granted, not everyone is as interested in where their food comes from, but he is an excellent writer and the book is anything but dry.) I can tell you this from my reading so far: just about everything we eat is made from corn. Really. Unless you grow your own organic vegetables and eat whole foods, chances are excellent that corn factors prominently in your diet and your body. But, as I say so often in my blogs, that is another story.

Back to the beef. You know how you sometimes see or hear "grain-fed beef", as if it's a good thing? It's not. Turns out cows don't eat grain. They eat grass. That's what they're supposed to eat. Cheap, easily grown, subsidized corn had to be used somehow and without getting into details, it fattens a steer up quickly, and humans are forcing them to eat it. Because it goes against their physiology, we have to devise all kinds of clever and ingenious ways to keep costs low and keep them alive until slaughter. Antibiotics, feedlots, e-coli, and hormones are a part of our supermarket beef because we are feeding cows something they have not evolved to eat.

All this brings me back to my meal... I was at Whole Foods in Oakville (great place, but not quite as good as the Organic Garage - a few blocks away) yesterday and spotted a package of grass-fed lean ground beef. It comes from Beretta Organics, a family-run farm located outside King City, Ontario. A little more expensive, yes, but there is another way of looking at it: regular supermarket beef is underpriced and unnaturally cheap. It didn't cost the world, by any means, so I snatched a package and was super-excited to try it out. The verdict? Mmmmmm. Ground beef never tasted so good. My husband said "it has a different texture!" True, it was not chewy, but instead tender and oh so savoury. I can only imagine what a grass-fed steak would taste like.

Having children has changed me, hopefully for the better. It has opened my eyes to so many things, including what I put in my body and how I feed my family. I am also much more sensitive to injustices and the more I learn about how food animals are treated, the more I am upset by it. I strive to grow better, buy better, cook better, and eat better. I live in the suburbs, but I still have a strong urge to grow my own foods and support better practices for growing and for raising animals. It's a process and it has take me years to get here. I have miles to go yet. I remind myself that I am a role model for my children and that I can make a difference by teaching them my values. I am nourishing not only their bodies and with every meal, I have another opportunity.

Want to know more about grass-fed beef? Try these links:
http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/grass-fed-natural-beef.asp
http://eatwild.com/basics.html

Want to locate a source near you? Go here to find local sellers in Canada or the US:
http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html

Hamiltonians can find info at the Hamilton Local Food Directory:
http://environmenthamilton.org/eatlocal/directory/index.htm

Other informative Books to try:
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollan

My Edible Container Garden

I may have overdone it this year, but I was very enthusiastic and hopeful. I've got very little land that gets enough sun to grow an edible crop, so the vast majority of my edible garden is in containers. As of today, my edible garden now includes: lettuce, arugula, radish, beet, green onion, pea, strawberry, raspberry, red currant, chive, oregano, parsley, basil, mint, cilantro, chocolate mint, tomato, cucumber (straight 8 and pickling), bell pepper, cubanelle pepper. All but the raspberry and red currant are in containers!

I've got 18 sqft of "Square Foot Garden" in 3 planters attached to the outside of my deck railing. Despite all the claims by Mel Bartholomew in his book, All New Square Food Gardening, my plants have not done very well in them the previous two years. This year I added about 2 inches of compost to the top after planting and so far the plants are doing much better. Has anybody else tried square foot gardening? I was so excited about it after reading the book, but after a lot of money and effort, I've been pretty disappointed. Maybe it would be better if they were on the ground and were about to stay a little cooler or hold more water?

Since my hopes were sky high, I had to gather enough planters or pots for the rest of my babies. I've got alpine strawberries in hanging baskets, but everything else is in a pot or planter. I couldn't keep everything on the floor of my deck or we'd have no room for ourselves (although I think that is still becoming an issue), so I used some bungee cords to attach some pots to trellises I have on the driveway. I also got some window box brackets for two planters and nabbed an excellent deal on wall planters at 4 for $4 (reg. $6.99 ea). When I ran out of large pots for tomatoes, I used old drywall pails and drilled holes in the bottom for drainage. I managed to get a huge fiberglass planter for $15 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Burlington (LOVE that place) which I'm hoping to use for a potted apple tree next year.

Everything is doing very well for the most part. I'm having to improvise as I discover problems, since my goal is to spend little to no money on the garden at this point. We've had huge amounts of rain, so I've had to water very little. When I do, I use the water from our at-capacity rain barrel. I spotted aphids on my tomatoes and have brewed a tomato leaf concoction to spray on the leaves, which should hopefully work. One pot of zucchini has fruit that is skinny at the blossom end (see pic below). I'm guessing it's because the terra cotta pot dries out more easily?


We did have a hail storm that tore holes in the leaves of practically everything, but they're all recovering nicely. My cilantro has bolted and now looked ridiculous, so I chopped it down. (I just read that this happens to cilantro in very et weather.) The lettuce and basil are still holding back and I'm trying to harvest as much as I can to prevent bolting. Something is eating my radish leaves, but they are still growing fine, so I'm ignoring it. I think my cat has been eating my green onion shoots although I haven't caught her in the act. Another issue I'm dealing with is finding space for my sprawling cucumber vines. I haven't figured out what to do for the planter boxes, but I've got to decide soon or they'll strangle my tomatoes and peppers! I think I'll let them trail over the railing onto a trellis and hopefully they won't burn where they touch the wood.

I decided to weigh my harvest for fun after I saw the weigh in at A Posse Ad Esse, but my less than 100g so far looks pretty silly compared to Paul Gardener's 48.22lbs. Next year I'll try pumpkins and really bring that number up!