Breakfast
overnight oats (oats, milk, raisins, apple, cinnamon)
Morning Snack
handful of nuts
Lunch
chicken
purple mashed potatoes
radish top soup
Dinner
tofu cacciatore with lots of veggies
over spaghetti squash
sprinkle of mozarella
Late Snack
milk
carrot/zucchini muffin
pumpkin muffin
(gave my husband a generous taste of each)
 Posted by at 9:40 PM
 

This week in our CSA, we received garlic scapes, tomatoes and Ohio City whole wheat linguini pasta.  This sauce was created to utilize these ingredients as well as some other items on hand.  I needed a sauce with some flavor since I was out of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese which I usually add to my Béchamel sauce.  I served this sauce on top of my linguini with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.

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Recipe: Chunky Tomato Béchamel Sauce

Summary: All ingredients are approximate as I don’t really measure much.

Ingredients

  • 2 T butter
  • 2 T whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1 t black pepper
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 tomato, chopped with seed removed
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 2 garlic scapes, chopped
  • 1 T Penzeys pizza seasoning
  • 2 T Penzeys red and green bell pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Melt butter in a non-stick skillet.
  2. Incorporate flour a small amount at a time to make a paste.
  3. Add milk slowly and stir.
  4. Continue to stir frequently until thickened.
  5. Add black pepper.
  6. In another pan, heat olive oil.
  7. Add remaining ingredients.
  8. Continue to cook until it looks like sauce, stirring occasionally.
  9. Once thickened, combine with Béchamel sauce.
  10. Serve over pasta with or without cheese.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

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Breakfast
overnight oats w/apple (no raisins or nut butter), milk, cinnamon
Morning Snack
none
Lunch
whole wheat Ohio City pasta w/tomato, bechamel, garlic scape, carrot, mozzarella cheese sauce
Afternoon Snack
handful of nuts
Dinner
BBQ tofu on whole wheat bun
salad w/ lots of veggies
Late Snack
strawberry shortcake
 Posted by at 8:40 PM
 

I had a great workout today.  For the first time since my knee injury, I completed an hour long class.  It was nice to take the water aerobics class, and it was even nicer to be able to do almost all of the exercises.  I didn’t attempt the frog or soccer kicks.  I exercised good judgement and did other exercises during that time.

It was nice to workout and not be sore today.  I’m looking forward to getting back to my trainer workouts starting on Wednesday.

 

We were invited to a little party at Horseshoe Lake Park to celebrate the birthday for one of our friends.  We packed up our lunch and headed to the park after the J.

This isn’t a park with a playground (no slides, monkey bars, etc.)  But, it has swings, a climbing structure, grassy areas, restrooms and a couple of pavilions.  The kids had a ball and enjoyed the open space.  It wasn’t crowded which was a bonus.

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The park is located at 17499 S Park Blvd, Shaker Heights, OH 44120.  We ended up getting rained out and Nick wasn’t feeling well, so we didn’t stay too long.  The next time we go back, we’ll have to take a hike on the trail and explore a bit more.

 Posted by at 9:31 PM
 
Breakfast
overnight oats
Lunch
salad
turkey burger (open faced w/shrooms, onions, blue cheese, garlic scape)
slice of Dakota
Afternoon Snack
potato chips
Dinner
chicken
potato salad
strawberry shortcake
Late Snack
milk, chocolate, maple
(last night's turned into orange juice instead of the above)
 Posted by at 9:14 PM
 

Today was our second pick up for the Fresh Fork CSA.  We were expecting the following items.

Small CSA:

  • 1 lb Berkshire chorizo sausage
  • 2 lbs spelt berries
  • 1 lb whole wheat linguini
  • 1 bunch garlic scapes
  • 1 head assorted leaf lettuce
  • 1 quart strawberries
  • 2 lbs hoop house tomatoes
  • 1 dz brown eggs

Here is what we received.

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The radishes were owed to us from last week since ours were missed.  The yogurt was an add on.  Most weeks, there are additional items for sale at the back of the truck.  It was $5 and although it’s expensive, we really like it.

Update on last week:  I ended up serving the tomatoes to my husband and son on their salads.

Here’s our plan of attack for this week:

We like the yogurt with jam mixed in and as the liquid for overnight oats.  I’m going to make whole wheat honey strawberry shortcake with the strawberries  I have radish top soup on the stove now.  Some of the radishes will be used in salad and the rest will be blanched and frozen.  The lettuce and tomatoes will get eaten in salad.  The sausage and pasta will be eaten as a main course.  We will sauté most of the garlic scape with other veggies during the week.  We may make some garlic pesto pizza as well.  Eggs and spelt berries are staple items and have a long shelf life, so we don’t have specific plans for them yet.

 

I didn’t have a workout today unless you count taking the kids to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History with a walk around Wade Oval.  Next up: water aerobics in the AM.

Breakfast
overnight oats
Morning Snack
none
Lunch
peanut butter, creamed honey on Dakota bread
Afternoon Snack
potatoes w/blue cheese
Dinner
open face turkey burger w/lots of shrooms and onions w/garlic scape
potato salad
blue cheese
Late Snack
glass of milk
maple, chocolate
 Posted by at 10:10 PM
 

One of our favorite times of the year began today.  It’s time for U-Pick.

If you’ve never been picking before, here are a few things to consider.

  • Bring water, snacks, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc. when you go to pick.
  • Some places want you to have your own containers.  Other places provide them.
  • Call ahead and make sure u-pick is open.  Many places only pick for a few hours a day depending on condition.
  • Most places are “reasonably” stroller friendly, but keep in mind you are in the fields – it’s a perfect time for the stroller with the big wheels.
  • Ask about restrooms or port-a-jon availability when you call to verify hours so you aren’t caught off guard, especially if you take little ones.
  • It’s nice to have correct change, so it’s a good idea to stock up on small bills for u-pick farms.
  • Some places will have parking close to the fields, but at others you will have a walk to get to picking.
  • Www.pickyourown.org is a great resource.

Also, pick your own isn’t usually cheaper than the local market or store.  Pick your own is about enjoying the experience, seeing how crops are grown and and enjoying fresh and local.

First up for the U-Pick season here is strawberries.  This year, strawberries were a bit later than normal due to all of the rain that we have had.  Today, we traveled to West Orchards Farm in Perry, Ohio. From our house in Mayfield Heights, it’s about 30 minutes away. It took us a few minutes longer today due to the construction on route 2.

The U-Pick here opened at 8am.  We arrived a few minutes after 8 and were the only ones doing U-pick!  Here’s the view of the entrance of the market along with a sign directing you to the picking area.

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We were greeted by Allee who has worked at the farm for 5 years.  She’s a student at Mt. Union and works here during the summer.  She set us up with our containers and headed out to the field with us.  When it’s not busy, she picks.  West Orchards provides containers.  The kids each had a small basket and I had a larger container for berries.  We ended up picking 9 pounds of berries.  Here the strawberries were $2 per pound regardless of the number of pounds picked.

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Nick enjoyed picking eating the strawberries.  He had a red face and fingers to show for it.

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Sally spent most of the time in the stroller, so I didn’t get any good photos of her.  I’ll have to try to capture her next time.

We were able to park really close to the fields and there was a port-a-jon available as well.  We’ll definitely be returning to West Orchard.  If we don’t make it for more strawberries, we’ll definitely go out for sour cherries in a few weeks.

Nick, Sally and I hope to be picking a couple of times a week throughout the summer as we enjoy our seasonal fruits and vegetables that are available for U-Pick in the area.  I hope you enjoy our tour of the local U-Pick farms.

West Orchards Farm Market 3034 N. Ridge Rd.  (SR. 20)Perry, OH 44081 (440) 259-3192

 

 

I didn’t have much of a workout today.  I spent 35 minutes on the Nu Step with a headache.  Some movement is better than no movement.

Breakfast
overnight oats
Morning Snack
a few strawberries from the field :-)
Lunch
pizza w/onion, red pepper, shrooms on whole wheat dough
Afternoon Snack
oatmeal again
Dinner
turkey burger w/lots of onion, shrooms, hint of blue, whole wheat bun
Late Snack
strawberry ice cream (homemade)
 Posted by at 9:07 PM  Tagged with: