Here’s what we received in our bag this week:

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

Winter Week 4:

• 1 smoked ham hock
• 2 lbs. black turtle beans
• 1 lb. kale
• 2 acorn squash
• 3 lbs. sweet potatoes
• Aprrox. 1 lb. onion
• 1 head broccoli (or 1 bag broccoli shoots…which are just smaller heads)
• 1 package chorizo or Italian sausage
• 1 bunch beets with tops
• 1 bag mixed salad or braising greens
• 1 stalk Brussels sprouts
• 1 quarter peck empire apples

I haven’t given much thought to how this week’s items would be used.  I’ll probabaly cut the sausage into pieces and bake it in the oven.  Although, a crock pot batch of Italian sausage with peppers and onions might be a great meal for a busy swim lesson night next week.  I’ll probably make soup with the ham hock.  I don’t feel the need to be extra creative in the kitchen since holiday time.  We haven’t even put our tree up yet.

Last time we got beans, I cooked them in the crock pot and then froze them in 1-2 cup portions.  That worked quite well and I haven’t had to buy canned black beans in ages.  We were out of apples, so these will go into oatmeal as early as tomorrow.

The sweet potatoes weren’t in the best shape, I’ll probably just make mashed potatoes with them.  Beets will go into Harvard beets.  It will be a smaller batch, but enough for one or two of us to have them for a side.

I haven’t stuffed acorn squash yet this winter.  I like to make a stuffing with squash, sausage, cheese and rice.  Yum!  The onions will get used in general cooking.

I can not get enough of the sprouts this year.  Love them!  This kale is some of the prettiest that I have seen all year.  I will probably make a quiche with it.

I never know what to do with these mixed greens.  They are bitter and tend to have lots of stems.  The broccoli on the other hand is always fabulous and will probably get cooked tomorrow.

It was nice to stock up on milk and yogurt at the truck.  Too bad I didn’t think to buy eggs.  There’s always next time!

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

Winter Week 1:

• 1 whole pasture raised chicken, approx. 5 lbs.
• 2 spaghetti squash (unless we have a few enormous ones)
• 1 half gallon apple cider
• 1 quarter peck Winesap apples
• 1 handful sweet peppers (all of them are sweet, even though some look hot)
• 1 bunch turnip greens
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 bunch beets with tops
• 1 stalk Brussels sprouts
• 1/2 lb. bag stir fry mix

And, it’s exactly what we received.

I was excited to see the Brussels sprouts.  I’ve been eyeing this recipe from my pal Katie.  I’m thawing my bacon for it now.  I have all of the other ingredients on hand.  We were out of eggs, so I was glad to get them in my bag this week.  I’ve made the butternut squash custard drink a couple of times now and don’t want to be out of eggs just in case I want to make it again.

These are the turnip greens.  We don’t get them too often.  My go to recipe for greens that I don’t know what to do with is quiche.  So, I’ll probably make one of them this week.  It will include some leftover chicken and turnip greens.  And, it’s another reason that I’m glad we got eggs this week (although I also have some eggs frozen that I could use).  I like cooking the whole chickens.  We had them a lot growing up, so they never intimidated me.  I like making stock and using all of the pieces.

The different colors of cauliflower have been fun.  I’ll make this as a side dish and maybe serve them mashed.  The stir fry mix will go into a stir fry.  Wasn’t that an original idea.  I may combine it with some spaghetti squash and serve it Asian style.

My family isn’t a big fan of the spaghetti squash with tomato squash.  I need to investigate some additional recipes for it.  The peppers will go into chili that I am making tomorrow.

I’ll probably just sauté the kale.  I don’t have anything specific in mind.  I’ll make Harvard beets and use the greens in some eggs this week.

Apples almost always go in oatmeal and for snacks.  These will be no exception.  I don’t like apple cider.  I may decide to try it again some day, but it always has given me a headache.  That being said, Stephen, Nick and Sally all like it so they will enjoy it this week.

So, our winter season is off and running.  Three weeks in a row and then we go to every other week until May.  I love the CSAs, but I am also looking forward to a break in the action so we can use some of our preserved food.  I also need to start cooking some of the lamb soon.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

• 1 whole pasture raised chicken
• 1 lb. carrots
• 1 lb. Brussels sprouts (removed from stalk)
• 2 lb.s beets
• 1/2 lb. mixed organic greens
• 1 dozen pasture raised eggs
• 2 lbs. organic black turtle beans
• 1 smoked pork hock
• 1 lb. roasted butternut squash and cracked black pepper linguini

We were also expecting 1 pound of ground beef that was missed for everyone at Beachwood last time.

Here’s a group shot:

We didn’t have many eggs left and use quite a bit in everyday cooking.  So, I was glad to have these in the bag this week.  I also have some frozen egg beaters that I need to work into some recipes soon.  Surprise, surprise, we’ll be making Harvard Beets with the beets this week.

I was originally going to make this pasta for dinner, but we had other pasta in the fridge and opted for a quicker dinner tonight.  The Ohio City pasta cooks fast, but I usually make a white sauce to go with it and the leftovers were easy tonight.  We’ll save that for another day this week.  Everyone in our house loves cooked carrots.  Now that Stephen can eat raw ones again (since getting his braces removed), we may have to discuss how to prepare them.

We’ll have the Brussels sprouts tomorrow.  Last time, we let them go too long and I think they lost some of their flavor.  The greens will hopefully go into salad.  I’m not the biggest fan of this variety, but I need to get better of just eating them.

With pork hock and black beans in the same week, black bean soup is in order.  I’ve been looking at recipes for a couple of days and haven’t quite decided on a version for us yet.

Our chicken is 7.8 pounds!  That is definitely the biggest Fresh Fork chicken we have have gotten thus far.  For now it’s parked in the freezer along with our ground beef.

Lastly, the warehouse did a “blow out” sale on the ham loaf.  We remembered it fondly so I stocked up.  It was $2 a pound.  I like to describe it to people as ham based meatloaf mix.  I will be making meatballs and muffin size meatloaves with some yet to be invented rhubarb honey BBQ sauce and then freezing them for meals.  I’ll serve them with potatoes, different grains, pasta, etc.  I like to bake them and freeze in big batches so we can get several meals out of them.

Lastly, this is the first time that I got to take photos of my CSA pick up with my new lights.  I think that I have tons to learn, but it’s a huge improvement over the dark photos of recent weeks.  I’m mostly intrigued by how different the wood table looks in the photos when I think I had the same lighting and camera settings for all of my photos.  I think that the angle of the camera has a big impact.  I think I’ll be learning how to use a tripod next.  Hopefully, I’ll have a some time to experiment over the next couple of weeks.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

• 1 tub (4 oz.) goat milk feta
• 8 oz. jar of brandied cherry preserves
• 8 oz. mixed baby greens
• 1 sleeve of leaf lettuce
• 1 head of cabbage
• 1 bag of Mrs. Miller’s dried egg noodles
• 1.25 lb.s Andouille
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 8 oz. pak choi
• 2 lbs. onions
• 1 lb. Brussels sprouts
• 3 lbs. sweet potatoes
• 1 24 oz. loaf of apple pound bread

Here’s a group shot:

I don’t have any immediate plans for the sweet potatoes, but I’m glad that everyone in our house likes them.  I’m thinking of using the ground beef in a crock pot unstuffed cabbage tomorrow.  I only got one pack of beef and I’m checking on that.

I’ve never used Andouille sausage in anything before.  For now, it’s in the freezer and I’ll think of something later.  My husband just found a sweet potato and Andouille recipe that sounds promising.  The goat cheese will disappear on crackers and toast.  Cheese never lasts long in our house.

Greens disappear without much effort and these will be no exception.  We need to keep our veggie intake up to balance the cookies this week.

I have all of the ingredients for French onion soup and will make it in the next day or two.

The Brussels sprouts and pak choi will make good sides this weekend.

Apple pound cake is a new one for us.  I’m sure it will be eaten quickly once we taste it.  The noodles will be in the cupboard for a few weeks since they aren’t perishable.  We still have turkey in the freezer, so some soup may be in order.

We aren’t cooking a ham for Christmas, but I’m sure these preserves will be tasty no matter how we enjoy them.  I’m considering making homemade jelly doughnuts for Christmas.  Maybe they will have cherry filling.

I also splurged on extras this week.  We were out of eggs and still wanting to do some baking this week.  The breakfast patties were so good when we had them before, so I couldn’t turn them down.  I wanted to try some local eggnog.  The bacon will be in the freezer for as needed in recipes.  The spinach pasta was dinner tonight.  I can’t remember the individual prices, but our total was $28.

I’m excited for the holidays this week and hope to enjoy cooking a few meals at home.  Eating out really does get old, but sometimes it’s definitely the easy way out.