I thought it might be interesting to post our shopping lists. I used to read a few blogs that were in the habit of posting weekly shopping lists and I found out about a few products this way, and was inspired to try a new vegetable or two.
Here’s mine for today:
Fresh Produce:
Red Leaf Lettuce
Fresh Organic Baby Spinach
Tomatoes
Lemon
Lime
Cucumber
Button Mushrooms
Red Onion
Garlic
Bell Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
Avocado
Asparagus
Sweet Potato
I love co-op shopping! What's cherimoya? I always think rainbow chard looks so pretty, but I've yet to find a way to cook it so it's not too bitter for me. Do you have some special way you like to prepare it?
Well, we just went shopping so we aren't low on much, but if I called the husband to make requests (he works at Trader Joes) it would be for:
fatfree soymilk
veggie dogs
vegan parm (if they had it, but they actually don't)
vegan cookies (yuuummm)..then again maybe not lol
gala apples
organic ketchup
dill pickles
sweet potatoes (cause I just read them on yours and I LOVE them)
Kamut bread
chocolate silk (though it gets me in trouble)
black strap molasses
veggie ground
We already have fennel, which is super good saute'd in olive oil and tossed with whole wheat spagghetti and veg parm. We have two types of greens, oranges, lemons, limes. Wheat tortillas, broccoli, carrots, portobellos, nectarines. There's brown rice in the fridge already cooked, organic peanut butter and cherry jelly which is to die for. I never had too much of a sweet tooth until I started breastfeeding my little girl, now watch out! Wierd.
It is green and has "facets" all over it and is almost heart shaped. It has a pear-pudding like flesh that surrounds many, many black seeds. I use it to create a sweet pudding-like sauce for fruit salad (and it is so yummy!).
I use every last bit of it, stem and all! Rainbow chard goes really well in soup, especially with tomatoes beacuse the acidity cuts the bitter flavor, IMO.
I made up a recipe last month that was a real hit with the family..I'll look for where I posted it and post it here
I also steam rainbow chard or kale, toss it with freshly pressed garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, umeboshi vinegar (or soy sauce or Bragg's) and unhulled sesame seeds, then eat it like that OR make tempeh "bacon" and add that in.
Even better is to take that combination of all those things and make wraps or tacos with sprouted flourless or corn tortillas, add a sliver of avocado and for the family that isn't watching calories, a little bit of Vegenaise to each taco or wrap! My DH will eat 8 of the corn ones!
I'm getting my first box of organic CSA produce tomorrow and I'm excited! I have no idea what to expect, we've never done this before. They are probably still harvesting cool weather crops like lettuce, so I may be eating salad all week
Things I bought over the weekend:
Soy Feta (from Sunergia Soy Foods)
organic tomatoes
organic Vidalia onions
smoked tofu
Seeds of Change Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette
nectarines - not organic, but they smelled so good I couldn't resist
organic bananas
organic zucchini
a loaf of bread from a local bakery that buys organic grains and mills them themselves, then bakes the bread in a wood fired oven
organic sun dried tomatoes
mushrooms
I love, love, love a good vegetable sandwich I've discovered that the soy feta slices well and is perfect on a sandwich.
I'm definitely going to have to try a cherimoya soon!
I've got to get some cherimoya and tempeh, yum! Corn tortillas are a good idea, I've been ignoring them. I'll bet cherimoyas are expensive? I think I've seen them before, but never bought one. I will now. Tempeh "bacon"? This is an effect you manage yourself, or you buy these? Sounds good.
There really is nothing like the combination of garlic and lemon juice, it's just so good.
I cook my chard up with some garlic, then splash some balsalmic vinegar over the top and let it reduce down a bit. The balsalmic's sweetness counteracts the bitterness in the greens.
Community Supported Agriculture - basically, you buy a "share" in a farm. Your money provides funds for the farm to run. In the meantime, you get a box of whatever the farm is growing on a set schedule, usually every week or every two weeks. The produce is local and fresh, and you have a vested interest in the success of the farm. And its YUMMY.
I think I’ve had cherimoya before. When I used to shop at the market near my office in Los Angeles (it was in Koreatown) I used to find all sorts of stuff I was unfamiliar with. I did have some green fruit that sounds like what you’re describing but the vendor couldn’t tell me it’s name in English. Very sweet and a nice texture. Haven’t seen any since moving back to WI though.
I wanted to do CSA this summer, but with all of our moving, wedding, and other costs lately we just don’t have the extra funds to plop down all in one go. Maybe next year. I even found one that would knock some of the price off your membership if you work on the farm, sounds fun to me. Over the course of the growing season I’m sure the cost is the same or less than buying at the markets and grocery stores.
I will look for some chard next time I’m at the farmers market and experiment. I’m sure I could like it in soup at the very least, I put turnip greens in my soups sometimes and I don’t care for them steamed.
That would be fun, to work some at the farm to knock a bit off the price! I found two in my area online but I can't handle the $ right now either, not all at once like you said. I'm sure it's a good $ and less than I'd pay over time, but...just not available, too much going on. I'm going to e-mail them, see if I might catch a break being a new drop site?
I just picked up my first CSA box. I'm a little disappointed, there wasn't very much in there. But I'm sure it will vary week by week. This week I have 2 heads of red lettuce, one bunch of scallions (huge), snow peas, sugar snap peas, 2 cucumbers, and homemade mozzarella cheese. I don't think I've ever cooked snow peas before, so that will be interesting
CSA shares can start off slowly early in the season, that's for sure, but you should have an abundance of wonderful things to enjoy very soon. I've bought a share for about five years and the boxes always start off light, but by then end we're getting a very full box plus extras that won't fit in.
Anyway, you can color me jealous right now, because we're waiting for our first box of the year.
Share Your Veg*n Shopping List
Great idea!
My DH will eat 8 of the corn ones!
