swimming in squash

j. picked up our csa share yesterday and it's kind of overwhelming, i have to say. we signed up for the two-person share and it seems like we are swimming in veggies. maybe that is a testament to us not eating enough normally... to tie up the first week, we cooked everything i mentioned, plus some. it's been great! and i just had fun spending time to figure out unique ways for us to use our veggies this week (even though i am totally exhausted, physically & emotionally, from work. but that's not for here or there!). in a way it reminds me of the food challenges/cupboard cleanouts i have done in the past -- figuring out a way to make good use of every ingredient! /sigh

^^^one day i will use a camera other than my phone...^^^

contents, week 2:
8 yellow squash
1 italian eggplant
2 japanese eggplant
4 sweet potatoes
4 cucumbers
3 cubanele peppers
6 banana peppers
4 poblano peppers
3 zucchini balls
4 radishes
1 arugula
1 watermelon

planned recipes, week 2:
roasted sweet potato, goat cheese & arugula sandwiches
vegetable-filled lasagna
banana pepper poppers
roasted eggplant salad with smoked almonds & goat cheese
radish, boursin & chive tartines
white chili
chipotle sweet potato burgers

last week, in addition to the other meals i posted about, i created a banana squash nut bread (aptly named asanti sana squash banana - using dark chocolate, too), the above-mentioned chipotle sweet potato burgers (that husband already requested for this upcoming week), and gnocchi w/ squash ribbons. i should probably link to all of these delicious meals (i will eventually, but not tonight). things i have enjoyed with this meal planning is cooking ahead! i'm going to try to freeze some of the lasagna and chili this upcoming week. and i'm happy to be able to use our csa share for a dinner party with friends (we're bringing the radish tartines and banana pepper poppers).

still not sure what we're going to do with all of our squash, but at least j. has promised to devour the watermelon and cucumber (both of which i despite -- the flavor just isn't potent enough, ya know?).

welcome to csa!

for those unaware, csa is the acronym for community-supported agriculture. depending on the situation, you basically pay a membership fee or contribute labor or work costs to support a local farm, and the farm, in turn, supports you with the fruits & veggies produced. for a while now we have been wanting to grow our own vegetables, but time has not permitted it (or we haven't made the time; priorities, ya know?). after watching dirt! the movie we both felt pretty convicted about our relationship with earth (in the specific instance, earth = dirt) (it's on netflix instant play, you should watch it if you haven't yet). a little while later i was reading the weekly newsletter issued by my employer, advertising a community-supported agricultural system via pinckney's produce, located in beaufort. j. and i signed up and will pay about $21 per week for 12 weeks of delivered farm-fresh produce. this week we received our first share. exciting!!

i have to tell ya, pinckney's produce is great about communication. from the time we signed up we have been receiving weekly newsletters informing us of crop conditions, any obstacles they have run into, and what to expect in our share boxes. now that we are receiving our shares we should receive an e-mail each monday with what veggies & fruits to expect so we can plan our meals. and on wednesday we pick up our box! it's pretty awesome. i was so giddy when i picked up our share today. look at this thing, overflowing with fresh bounty:

this is the breakdown of what we received:

italian eggplant (2)
sweet potato (5)
bell pepper (4)
okra (14)
pickling cucumbers (3)
yellow squash (8)
zucchini (4)
banana pepper (5)
poblano pepper (2)

and these are some of the meals we are having this week:

eggplant parmesan
bacon/sun-dried tomato stuffed peppers, brown rice & black beans
sausage stuffed zucchini boats
bacon-wrapped pepper poppers, roasted squash + okra
falafels with sauteed squash and carrots

have you ever thought about participating in a csa?

Weekly Yums | 9-15 September 2013

Monday
birthday dinner @ J.'s
crabby patties, pasta, bacon wrapped asparagus, French bread, cake!

Tuesday
tuesday night group, hosted by us!
peach, arugula, corn pizza; fruit; Caesar salad; dessert TBD

Wednesday
Polliwog's

Thursday
large black bean and corn salad

Friday
breakfast burritos

Saturday
burgers, corn on the cob, baked beans, salad

Sunday
salmon, brown rice, asparagus

kinda lost my motivation to post these weekly and bi-weekly meals, but after a few weeks of vacation time, i felt inspired enough to do so. somehow got lost on the internet yesterday, perusing through new blogs and recipes and before i knew it three hours had passed. don't you kinda hate and love when that happens? it led to a ton of new (vegetarian) recipes that i would like to try. woohoo for new things! also, autumn is just around the corner, and it is by far my least favorite season -- especially for cooking. we signed up for a CSA share (which we should be receiving next weekend, methinks) so i'm curious to see if that will change my outlook. remember last year i tried to embrace all things pumpkin and soup? and ended up with only a few things i liked? yeah. i need that kind of new perspective. how's everyone doing?

Photos: Engagement Portraits

Last weekend we met with M. & J. to shoot their engagement photos in both Tarpon Springs and Starkey Park. M. is an art teacher so I envisioned large colorful murals as a backdrop to the cityscape that she desired. Tarpon fit the bill and it was so much fun! They were troopers and even stuck it out through the drizzling rain so we could catch the good lighting. We look forward to seeing you guys again in November for the big day!