September 15- September 21

Today's Produce Box is the last box for the Summer season. In 2 weeks the Produce Box will be offering Fall boxes filled with local farm's Fall Harvests. I am excited to see what those offerings will include. This week I received 4 lbs. of Sweet Potatoes, 5 Cucumbers, 1.5 oz of fresh Basil, 2 large Onions, a pint of Grape Tomatoes, 3 Butternut Squashes and local Grape Cider.

I am thinking of using my Pumpkin Bread recipe and substituting the pumpkin with butternut squash. I'll let you know how that works.

Last week I used cucumbers in a tomato sauce. Something different to use up my abundance of cukes. My husband is not a cucumber lover so he didn't care for the addition of the cucumbers to the sauce. I however, thought the sauce was excellent. Of course I made a few alterations to the recipe. I added one can of crushed tomatoes, 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste and ground beef Overall I enjoyed this sauce and am wondering if I could shred the cucumbers to hide them from my husband? Here is the link for the Cucumber-Tomato Sauce.

Wednesday, Sept. 15- Grilled steak served with Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries. (The recipe calls for making them chips but I plan on baking them as fries and adding a little garlic powder and ground pepper to the mixture.)

Thursday, Sept. 16- With our crazy Thursday schedule, I am either opting for sausage hoagies on the grill or take out.

Friday, Sept. 17- Butternut Squash Risotto using my old stand by risotto recipe, with a few additions. First, I will add 2 cloves of minced garlic to the onion. Second, I will add cinnamon and nutmeg to my mashed butternut squash. Lastly, I will use a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. By the way my old and reliable risotto recipe can be found on the side of Harris Teeter Arborio Rice. I will add some cut up tomato to the risotto and some shrimp to round out the dish.

Saturday, Sept. 18- With yard work on the agenda all day, I would like to keep tonight's dinner simple. I plan to make the Cucumber-Tomato Sauce again using the shredded cucumber and a dash of chopped fresh basil over pasta along with a loaf of bread.

Sunday, Sept. 19- Seasoned Grilled Pork Tenderloin (I'll make up my own rub using some chopped fresh basil, lemon pepper, garlic powder, salt and chopped onion) with Grilled Sweet Potatoes. I made these potatoes a few week's ago and everyone (even the kids) ate these up!

Grilled Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes, sliced
1 apple - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp white sugar
drizzle of maple syrup
1/4 cup butter

Directions
1. Preheat an outdoor grill.

2. In a bowl, toss the sweet potato and apple slices with the cinnamon and sugar. Place on a large piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with maple syrup and top with butter. Tightly seal foil around.

3. Place foil packet on the grill, and cook 40 minutes, turning every 5 to 10 minutes, until potatoes and apples are tender.

Monday, Sept. 20- I'll break out the crock pot tonight for Chili. I enjoy crock pot meals for the ease of preparing a sumptuous dish. With a little prep work in the morning by evening I will have an awesome and hearty meal!

Tuesday, Sept. 21- Most likely tonight will be left overs however, on the off chance all the left overs were already eaten for lunches I am thinking of pork chops and potato pancakes.