CSA - yah!

This is a girl appropriately name after her great great granny Olive. We picked up our CSA box last week and she shouted, "Yah, tomaaaatoes! Now we can make tomato samriches (sandwiches)." I used to love walking in my granny's garden when I was Olivia's age. Smelling the garlic, looking for bugs, picking tomatoes and beans. She taught me how to string beans and I think my mom still has the tin pot we used to string them in. I have the pale pink colander that we rinsed them in. Maybe one day we will have a garden that our kids and trapse out to in the morning and get dewy grass all stuck to their feet like I did. But until then we will support our local CSA farm. Tomato, basil, cucumber and mayo samrich - with a little salt and pepper. Actually, I think I used Kefir cheese instead of mayo. It is the consistency of cream cheese, but tastes a little more like yogurt - kind of tart. Good substitute...not for mayonnaise. There is no substitute for mayonnaise. We may be eating healthier these days, but I would still eat a spoonful of mayo if I had the opportunity. We just use the kefir cheese for variety.
So., this was part of our first box. I had thought about taking a picture of every box - we get one bi-weekly...but then I added that idea to the list of things I have decided not to do (nor feel guilty about not doing) while pregnant with a third child or parenting three children. I can share more of that list later.
More from the same box. We have definitely been exposed to some things we don't recognize. Just this week I put what I think was a kind of squash in a potato squash soup. The herbs a lot of fun to mess around with and the sprouts have been a great addition to salads.
This was actually my first attempt at a vegetable broth. With all these veggies around I have tons of ends and skins...and we don't compost (though the skunk that lives in our backyard might wish that we did), so I have been saving them in the frig and then making broth. Seemed to taste fine to me.
Beet bonanza. I have to admit that some of those are still in my fridge. I have used all the small red ones in smoothies...that's right beet smoothies...and I put spinach in them too! My kids are so suckered. With enough OJ and banana and cherries they don't know the difference. Although one morning Olivia did say, "This one tastes a little beety." She was right. I'm not sure what to do with the black beets. I think I will roast them and use them in salad.
Shelling beans with Olivia.
I'm not a big casserole maker. But Mike isn't a big squash fan. I could eat a whole bucket of sauteed squash and onions with evoo, garlic, and salt and pepper. But I have to get a little creative for him because he thinks they just taste like dirty water. This is a squash, mushroom, parm. bake. Not too bad.
When I told Mike I could stick my face in this dish he said I was weird. The picture isn't great and the recipe is just one I adapted from the back of the red quinoa box from Trader Joe's. It has avocado, tomato, black beans, corn, bean sprouts, red onion, evoo, s/p, cilantro, maybe I put balsamic vinegar in it. It is so good. You could add chicken and make it your main dish. We have put salmon on it.
This is equal to cleaning out the refrigerator. If things are about to go bad - put them on a pizza and lots of cheese. So far it has all been edible.
Our purple carrot - still orange on the inside.

So the CSA journey begins...