August 17- August 23

This week's Produce Box consisted of: 

• Chambourcin Grapes
• Mixed Bell or sweet Peppers
• Peaches
• Cucumbers
• Mountaintop Vine-ripe tomatoes
• Spaghetti Squash

The grapes will be eaten as snacks and in school lunches.  The peaches will also be snacked on and I may make a Peach Pound Cake. 

Wednesday, August 17-  Breakfast for dinner tonight.  I'll dice up some of the pepper and tomato to add to my egg scramble or omelet.

Thursday, August 18-  We'll grill Peach Pork Chops and serve them with Garlic Grilled Rosemary Potatoes (using the red potatoes from last weeks Box)

Simple Peach Sauce

• 1/2 cup water
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup sliced peeled fresh peaches

1. In a saucepan, bring water, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Add peaches. Bring to a boil; boil another 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Serve warm over pork chops. 

 

Garlic Grilled Rosemary Potatoes- my own original recipe
10 Red Potatoes
3-4 cloves minced Garlic
1/2-1 onion thinly sliced
Rosemary
Olive Oil

• Boil potatoes until tender.  Rinse under cold water
• Quarter potatoes and place in lightly sprayed heavy duty foil packet
• Add sliced onions and Sprinkle with rosemary and the minced garlic
• Drizzle with olive oil
• Seal packet and place on preheated grill
• Grill for about 10 minutes on each side 

Friday, August 19- Tonight I will use the spaghetti squash and pepper from my Box to make our meal.  I'll also serve this meal along with a side salad using my tomato and cucumber from my Box.

Baked Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Style- (reprinted from Allrecipes.com with my additions)

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 to 1 bell pepper diced
• 1lb of ground Italian sausage (chop meat may be substituted)
• 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 cube chicken bouillon
• black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.
2. Bake squash 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife can be easily inserted. Remove from oven, and cool.
3. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a pan. Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until golden brown. Add sausage and cook til no longer pink (you may wish to drain some of the fat out of the pan).  Stir in tomatoes, basil, bouillon cube, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until you have a medium thick sauce.
4. Remove squash strands with a fork. In a baking dish, layer with the sauce, a layer of spaghetti squash strands and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Top with Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until Parmesan cheese melts. 

Saturday, August 20-  We'll grill Haitian Voodoo Sticks and serve them in tortillas with sour cream and fresh diced tomato from my Box.  On the skewers I'll add cut onion and cut peppers, from my Box.  A side salad will round out this meal.  These beef kabobs are spicy but delicious.  However, the heat is too much for my girls.  

Sunday, August 21-  Fish is this evening main course.  I made this recipe on the grill before in foil packets and felt it was "too fishy" for my palette.  So I have altered the recipe and will bake it tonight.  I'll serve the fish with couscous and green beans (perhaps fresh green beans if I can find them at the farmer's market).

Easy Tilapia with Wine and Tomato  WW Points: 6

* 4 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia

* salt and pepper to taste

* olive oil

* 4 cloves garlic, pressed

* 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped (can substitute dried)

* 1-2 large tomato, chopped

* 1 cup white wine

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Place the tilapia fillets side by side in a lightly sprayed baking dish. Season each one with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over the top of each piece of fish, and sprinkle garlic, basil and tomato. Pour the wine over everything.

3. Place in preheated oven, and cook for 15-25 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Monday, August 22- Tonight is my youngest daughter's first soccer practice.  It's of course smack in the middle of our family dinnertime.  So the girls will eat earlier and after practice the adults will have dinner.  Since we are eating in shifts, the girls will have something easy and simple.  The adults will have hamburgers and homemade macaroni salad.

Tuesday, August 23- Tonight will be marked for leftovers.  Should none exist it will be pasta and meatballs.

The NC 10% Campaign

My weekend menu got flipped around due to the fact that Sunday I am entertaining family. So I just decided to flip the days and made the Haitian Voodoo Sticks Saturday. I decided to serve the remaining Sour Cream Potato Salad with the kabobs to help put out the fire. These sticks are HOT! (and we used half the cayenne called for!) But they are good. I am already planning on making them for my father when he visits. (He likes all meals that have a kick to them.)

We stopped at DJs Berry Patch and picked up some peppers to make my husband's awesome Salsa, green beans for dinner tomorrow and blueberries for a blueberry topping to accompany the NY Cheesecake I'll be serving for dessert tomorrow.

I enjoy buying local- supporting community agriculture, supporting our local businesses and farmers among many other reasons. I came across this campaign to help build NC local food economy. The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) is leading the 10% Campaign. North Carolina Cooperative Extension agents are supporting the 10% Campaign by acting as local foods coordinators in all 100 counties. Help build North Carolina's local food economy by joining the campaign. They are also on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/nc10percent

Menu July 21-July 27

It's Wednesday again which has now become one of my favorite days. Not because it's half way through the week (although that is nice too) but it's The Produce Box delivery day!

This week we got a fruit heavy box. Our box includes 1 Watermelon, a Sprite Melon, 7 Peaches, 2 striped (Korean) Melons, Cherry Tomatoes, Potatoes, 2 Butternut Squashes and Heirloom & Yellow Tomatoes. My box also held a pleasant surprise, a Carolina Crisp Peanut Bar.

I've already put together a delicious fruit salad. I have 3 different recipes I am eager to try. Maybe I can stretch this fruit to make all 3 this week? I began my fruit salad journey first with Honey Fruit Salad.
As with any fruit salad, it's very versatile in that you can put together any combination of your favorite fruits. My salad has from my Produce Box, watermelon, sprite melon, striped melon and peaches. I did omit the poppy seeds. The fruit salad has been a refreshing snack and side dish with all the hot weather lately.

Wednesday I am keeping dinner simple with Bacon Cheeseburgers topped with slices of tomato, Garlic Grilled Potatoes and Fruit Salad.

Thursday will be Sour Cream Potato Salad made with half the potatoes and cherry tomatoes (Boil potatoes until tender, Quarter potatoes, Mix mayo and 1/2 cup of sour cream into potatoes, add 2-3 cut up hard boil eggs, cherry tomatoes, 3 chopped green onions, bacon bits and shredded cheddar cheese) and Chicken Cordon Blue Sandwiches (for simplicity I used a frozen breaded chicken breast, after heating add a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss cheese).

Friday my daughters and husband have their Daddy-Daughter evening so depending upon my mood it's either take out, maybe Sushi?, or breakfast for dinner (eggs over onion potatoes- Produce Box potatoes of course).
I suspect by now the Honey Fruit Salad will be gone. With the remaining watermelon, peaches, and melons, I will make another fruit salad variation, Glazed Fruit Bowl. I will not be using pineapple, so I will be using water to replace the pineapple juice. Also per another Allrecipes reviewer, I will use instant pudding mix.

Saturday I will be making Butternut Squash Casserole to accompany Cranberry Pork Chops. I intend to use my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker in the microwave to avoid heating up the house too much. I also plan to use cran-raisins, apricot preserves and I will spoon the mixture completely over my pork chops rather than make stuffed pockets.

Butternut Squash Casserole- from Williams-Sonoma

Casserole:
4 cups butternut squash puree
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Topping:
1 cup vanilla wafers, crushed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Lightly grease a casserole dish (4 - 6 cup capacity).
2. Combine squash puree, sugar, milk, vanilla, orange extract, salt, flour, eggs and melted butter. Pour into the prepared casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until set.
3. Meanwhile, make the topping. In a medium bowl, combine crushed vanilla wafers, melted butter and the brown sugar. Sprinkle over top of the cooked casserole and return to the oven to brown for an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.

Sunday will be Haitian Voodoo Sticks (aka Beef Kabobs) served with grilled tortillas, corn on the cob (picked up at DJ's Berry Patch or Western Wake Farmers Market over the weekend) and either sour cream or I'll use Yah's Best Herbal Delight to make a sauce (I received a sample in a previous weeks Produce Box).

Monday will be either leftovers or pizza. I think my girls will be rooting for pizza!

Tuesday by now most of my Produce Box should be consumed. I foresee some potatoes, if they haven't gotten cooked with breakfast over the weekend, and cherry tomatoes, if they weren't used up in the potato salad or kabobs. So I will wait to see how the week goes before deciding on Tuesday's menu. Got to know what I have before I can make it, right?