Produce Box is back and so the menus begin!

February 28-March 6

The Produce Box began actually last week but our family passed on ordering a box.  This week's box was filled with deliciuos foods as well as additional add on items I threw.  Since TPB is starting earlier then in previous seasons, they have decided to expand their farmer's radius for the first few boxes.  Currently some items are from other states.  Personally I didn't mind since that meant Florida clementines/oranges made an appearance in my box this week!

Other items included: starwberries, broccoli, carrots, bibb lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers and zucchini.

The oranges and strawberries have been healthy sweet snacks and the berries were polished off over the weekend served over homemade french toast.  I served fresh carrots with dinner Friday evening and blanched the rest to freeze for later meals.  The tomatoes have been great accompaniments to our sandwiches.

I plan on baking up some Zucchini Bread tomorrow.

 Zucchini Bread

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sift together flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, baking powder.
3. Beat eggs. Add and mix well sugar, vanilla, and oil. Add zucchini to egg mixture. Add dry ingredients, mixing well. Stir in nuts if desired. Pour into 2 ungreased loaf pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. 

Friday, March 28-  I had picked up premade refrigerated chicken cordon blue from BJ's earlier in the week.  I served these with the carrots from my box along with mashed potatoes.

Saturday, March 1-  I made up Asian Lettuce Wraps using the bibb lettuce from my box.

Asian Lettuce Wraps WW 9 pts (2 wraps with 2 small scoop beef)

• 16 lettuce leaves
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Sauce

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 T soy
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 1 T chile paste

Mix ingredients and spoon desired amount over wrap before rolling.

Directions

1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped peanuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked beef; continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
3. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Add desired amount of sauce. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!

Nutritional Information

Servings Per Recipe: 4 (2 wraps)
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 388 Total Fat: 22.3g Cholesterol: 69mg Sodium: 580mg Total Carbs: 24.3g Dietary Fiber: 4.7g Protein: 23.4g

Sunday, March 2-  Dinner was comprised of mac n cheese, roistierre chicken and leftover potatoes.

Monday, March 3-  Dinner will be leftover Lettuce Wraps, mac n cheese, ham steaks and chicken along with fresh sliced oranges.  

Tuesday, March 4-  With the green peppers from my box I'll be using them for fajitas tonight.

Wednesday, March 5-  I plan to use one of the previous frozen crock pot meals for dinner this evening.

Thursday, March 6-  Currently I am contemplating Chicken Pot pie for dinner tonight.  I'll use some of the frozen carrots I blanched and I might throw in some diced green pepper too.

Chicken Pot Pie

• 2 deep dish pie shells 
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup (per a friend's suggestion I am using cream of chicken with herbs)
• Combination of fresh & frozen veggie mix- about 2 cups
• 2-3 cups cooked chicken 
• 3/4 cup milk 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme

1. Boil chicken in chicken broth.  After it is cool cut in to small pieces 
2. Reserve broth and boil fresh or frozen vegetables for 5 minutes and drain.
3. Pre heat oven 375 degrees 
4. Mix chicken, vegetables, soup and milk in a medium bowl 
5. Add salt and pepper to taste and thyme
6. Pour mixture in pie crust cover with 2nd pie crust 
7. Cook pie for about 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.