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.

July 14th - July 20th Menu

Wednesday is Delivery Day!
I was delighted to get my Produce Box early today. Why? Because that means we can have watermelon with lunch!

This weeks contents include a personal Watermelon, a pint of Blueberries, 7 Peaches, 2 Bell Peppers, a basket of Roma Tomatoes, Butternut Squash, 4 small Japanese Eggplants, 2 small White Eggplants and 2 Pickling Cucumbers.

Our family schedule this week keeps us apart for a few nights which in turn means leftovers Wednesday (to make room in the fridge) and possibly take out Thursday.
So the watermelon will be gobbled up with lunches, breakfast and snacks along with some of the peaches. Over the weekend I will make fresh Blueberry Muffins.

Our first meal made with our Produce Box will not occur until Friday with Eggplant Parmesan and homemade sauce using the 2 white eggplants, a pepper and the roma tomatoes. I will be making my tomato sauce for the first time. I altered the sauce recipe by using 10 tomatoes in the puree and 3 for the chopped tomato, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tbsp dried rosemary, and 1 tbsp of basil. I actually forgot to pick up celery at the market so I omitted them. After 2 hours of simmering I added 2 tsp of ground pepper and 1 tsp salt. Since my family isn't especially fond of chunky sauce, I used a potato masher to smooth out some of the chunky pieces. The sauce was a success! And the white eggplants delicate flavor enhanced the meal. Husband gave it 2 thumbs up!

Saturday I will be using a fellow Produce Box's recipe for Peach Chicken using the rest of my peaches. We will have Garlic Grilled Red Potatoes and green beans with dinner. I hope to get those ingredients at a local farmers market, DJ's Berry Patch or Western Wake Farmer's Market.

Sunday I will make Butternut Squash Risotto with Shrimp and possibly a side salad or loaf of bread. I have made risotto in the past with pleasing results. I am eager to taste how this recipe will turn out.

Monday will be marinated chicken fajitas using the marinade from the steak fajitas we had last week. I told you it was DELICIOUS! Along with grilled peppers (from my Produce Box) and onions. I'm also thinking of a corn and bean salad again if I can find a different recipe or modify and tone down last weeks side. UPDATE: I found a Black Bean Salad recipe which I will make Monday.

Tuesday is Asian Peanut Noodle Toss.
Taste of Thai Peanut Noodle Toss Recipe
1/2 Box (8 oz) Rice Noodles
1 TBSP oil
3 cups favorite vegetables chopped (I used 3 of the Asian eggplants, the last pepper & a squash from our garden)
1 tsp Salt
1 13.5 oz can of Coconut Sauce
1 packet (both inner envelopes) Peanut Sauce Mix
1 1/4 lbs chicken or beef thinly sliced

Soak noodles according to stir fry directions. Heat oil in wok over medium high heat. Add vegetables, salt and meat. Saute 3 minutes. Add coconut milk and peanut sauce. Mix. Bring to boil while stirring and boil 3 minutes. Add drained noodles and combine. Cook while stirring until noodles are firm but tender. Add peanuts for garnish.