Buy Local Challenge Week: Sort of Like March

The challenge started on a weekend, when I was in my cooking groove. Not rushed at all. I was calm and relaxed and made it to not one but two farmer's markets over the weekend. I was ready.

Then Monday set in. Followed by Tuesday, Wednesday... well, you know, all those days that you have to show up for work.  I started this blog on Thursday at which point I had forgotten to pick up my CSA vegetables (oops), forgotten to pick up a prescription (double oops) and forgotten to do something for my boss (gulp).  And, sadly, I had even written that last one down.  It just hasn't been one of my better weeks. So for me, this challenge started with a roar, and finished with a whimper.

I was glad that I bought a lot of fruit from the farmers markets for snacking during the week, and that I only set my goal to eat one local thing a day. I've actually met that goal, and was very pleased with the weekend's dinners.  Want to hear about them?

(Oh good, you're still here!)

Saturday: Indian food night!

• Pea and potato curry, using CSA potatoes, garlic and tomatoes
• Squash blossom and broccoli pakoras (like tempura, but with curry) - using squash blossoms from the farmers market (Tomatoes, etc. farm), served with a cilantro-mint chutney (mint from CSA)
• Homemade naan - not local, but King Arthur flour is the best

It took me more than 3 hours to prepare the meal above. Pretty sure I burned enough calories to cancel out all the deep-fried deliciousness. (Well, maybe not, but it was totally worth it!)

These beautiful squash blossoms...

...made awesome pakoras!

Here's the whole feast.

 

Sunday: Southern style cookout

• Grilled chicken breast w/BBQ sauce (from a bottle - wasn't in the mood to spend 3 hours in the kitchen again quite so soon)
• Grilled corn on the cob, from the farmers market
• Baked beans - real, honest-to-goodness cooked-for-9-hours baked beans, with molasses, brown sugar and tomatoes
• Cucumber and tomato salad, with CSA veggies

Monday: The downhill slide begins

• Leftover curry for lunch, and a farmers market peach as a snack
• Banana sandwiches for dinner (not local, but a childhood favorite)

Tuesday: Mmm... cobbler...

• Used rapidly deteriorating peaches and blackberries from Saturday's market to make a cobbler. I had intended to make a pie, but on a weeknight... ain't gonna happen. Cobbler was OK, but tasted a little off. Not sure if some of the fruit had turned already, or if I just did it wrong.
• Also sneaked some yellow squash into the tomato sauce for pasta at dinner. Almost managed to convince my child to eat it... almost. 

Wednesday: More sandwiches

• Sliced a giant tomato I bought at the Urbana farmers market. It was exactly bread-sized, and was fantastic in its juiciness with some mayo and provolone. 
• Finished the rest of the farmers market blackberries and some cherry tomatoes for snacks

Thursday: <crickets chirping>

• Today, just some CSA cherry tomatoes for a snack. 

Friday: 

• Tomato slices (one of the best ways to eat fresh tomatoes, I think)

Saturday:

• No idea... it's now a week later, and I just can't remember. I think I made a tomato, basil and mozzarella salad, but don't really remember for sure. (I had written everything down until that point.)

If nothing else, this week made me think more than usual about where my food comes from. I've resolved to try to eat something local every day through the fall, which should be easy with a regularly replenishing CSA supply.  It's so easy to fall into old patterns, though.  So I've gotten a "vegetable board" thanks to this idea from BittenWord, so I can remind myself what's in the crisper.

(Yes, we have a Viking ship on top of our fridge. Doesn't everyone?) 

Comments

[Kiki]

I'm drooling over your Indian feast-- yum! And the veggie board is such a smart idea. I might need to steal that one for our house too, since I tend to lose things that have floated to the back of the crisper drawers.

[April F.]

Wish I could claim credit for the veggie board idea. Mine tells me today it looks like a good time to make some soup! I ordered the stick-on chalkboards that the BittenWord guys recommended from Amazon, and so far am pleased. Nothing else (no magnets) will stick to the front of my fridge.