What I did with my Door to Door Organics box this week...

The flurry of Easter activities have finally began to wind down and I have a moment of peace to finish up my post!  This was a very busy week!  And a creative week, I might add.  I really did not intend for this post to be so long, but I used my produce in such interesting ways that I had some explaining to do.  Apparently in great detail!

Before I get into those details, I want to explain why I use a service like Door to Door Organics when I am calling myself an "urban homesteader".  Urban Homesteading means something different to each individual.  There are no set rules or special clubs that you have to join to consider yourself as being part of this movement towards self-sufficiency.  In fact, what you are able to do yourself instead of buying or paying someone else to do for you may even change on a weekly basis.  One week you may have time to bake a loaf of bread and the next week you may not.  It's all about seizing opportunities to be self-sufficient when you can and making the best decisions with your money when you cannot.  During the growing season, we have a garden.  During the winter, we do not.  So for me, Door to Door Organics gives me the best produce for the best price with the most variety when I can't grow it myself. 

Heath has been the farmer at this homestead for the past few years and he has already begun sprouting and planting.  I have committed to managing the deck garden, as well as, using the front flower bed to grow lettuce and herbs.  We will posting our progress regularly with the first post coming up this week.

Without further adieu, I present to you my week in review.  I hope I've demonstrated that even though you may not be seeing a lot of variety in your box right now (just for a few more weeks!!) that you can use it in new and interesting ways.  To make it a little easier to follow, here is a brief summary of the contents of my box and what I made with each thing....

1 ea. Fennel - Caramelized Fennel, Onion, and Italian Sausage Pizza (on almond flour crust)
2 lb Yams - Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Vanilla Protein Frosting
1 ea. Red Leaf Lettuce - Many delicious salads
1 ea. Kale - Kale Mint Pesto
3 ea. Green Bell Peppers - Mexican Rice Casserole and Pizza
0.33 lb Garlic - Used in many of the recipes featured below
1 ea. Cucumbers - Cucumber Seaweed Lettuce Salad with Umeboshi Cucumber Dressing
1 ea. Beets with Tops - Pickled Beets (beets) and smoothies (tops)
1 ea. Baby Peeled Carrots - Mexican Rice Casserole
2 ea. Strawberries - Salads, smoothies, and just plain straight from the container
2 ea. Mangoes - Mango Chutney
7 ea. Fuji Apples - Ate them whole
6 ea. Danjou Pears - Ate them whole
1 ea. Avocado - Chocolate Pudding
1 ea. Blueberries - Whole Wheat Blueberry Scone-Cakes

If any of this entices you, please continue reading...

1.  Whole Wheat Blueberry "Scone-Cakes" - Used blueberries.  I hate to admit it, but I intended to make scones and ended up with something between a scone and a pancake.  Or maybe a muffin.  Whatever it is, it's delicious and so nourishing!  Logan named them "scone-cakes", so that's what we call them.  Click here for the recipe!

2.  Cucumber Seaweed Lettuce Salad - Used lettuce, carrots, garlic and cucumber.  This is a very refreshing salad that could easily be turned into a meal by adding some marinated tempeh or brown rice or even shrimp.  It is a lettuce-based salad topped with strips of cucumber, barely blanched and then shocked carrots, toasted nori, feta cheese, and sprinkles of toasted sesame seeds. It's dressed in Umeboshi Cucumber Dressing, which is an easy (and slightly addictive) dressing made out of umeboshi paste, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, and honey.  The recipe can be found here.  The salad has all of the same flavors as sushi, especially if you were to top it with brown rice.  The feta may seem a little out of place, but I figured it was my salad and I wanted feta cheese on it.  Kinda like people who eat ketchup on everything.

 

3.  Kale Mint Pesto - Used kale and garlic.  I love making pesto out of dark greens and this one was no exception.  I participated in a Seder Dinner this week and grilled a leg of lamb for the ceremonial feast.  Since I was also in charge of bring the dark green, I thought I would bring it in the form of a mint flavored condiment to go with the lamb.  That brings me to #4....

4. Mango Chutney - Used mangos.  Since mint jelly is so popular with lamb and my pesto condiment was missing that sweet element, I made a second condiment.  The mango chutney is spiced with Indian flavors and could be used in so many ways. 

Uses for pesto:

Tossed with pasta

Served along with chicken, fish, lamb, pork, beef, well, any meat

Tossed with salad (my favorite salad of the week:  lettuce, sliced strawberries, feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, and a small spoonful of Kale Mint Pesto evenly tossed in - YUM!)

Spread on a sandwich

Tossed with cooked vegetables

Spread onto crackers

Spread onto slices of toasted baguettes or any warm bread

Eat it with a spoon

The uses for Mango Chutney are similar, so I won't repeat them.  Click here for the recipes for Kale Mint Pesto and Mango Chutney.

5.  Pickled Beets - Used...beets.  This was a recipe from Nourishing Traditions that I have been wanting to try.  It's lacto-fermented roasted beets.  Roast 3-4 large beets, as described here.  Allow them to cool completely, peel, and cut into 1/4 inch julienne slices.  Add the roasted beets to a glass mason jar and press down.  In a separate bowl, combine 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 1/2 tablespoons whey (if not available, add 1 extra teaspoon salt), 1/2 cup water, and seeds from 1 cardamom pod.  Pour over the beets and add more water to cover the beets, if needed.  Put the lid on the jar and sit at room temperature for 3 days.  Then transfer to the refrigerator. 

6.  Mexican Rice Casserole - Used carrots, green peppers, and garlic.  This was made completely on the fly as it was approaching 6:30 p.m. and I was being threatened by eating out.  Again.  We had eaten out the two nights previous due to a minor kitchen remodel and I was ready to cook again.  I had to think quick and use what we had.  I can't believe how good it turned out!  Really, sometimes I get cocky and insist we should eat at home and then it backfires when I make something that totally bombs!  It worked out this time, though, especially since I had no idea what I was going to use the green peppers for and I had some odd and end stuff in the fridge that needed to be used.  Whew!  This is best to make when you have some brown rice already cooked (Tonya's brown rice with cardamom works awesome in this) and black beans already cooked or a can on hand.  I am imagining leftovers for breakfast with eggs.  Heath is imagining a burrito...

I won.  I served the leftovers with scrambled eggs and a lettuce salad (dressed with the remaining cilantro-sour cream and feta) to my family for Easter brunch!  I had extra tomato sauce leftover that I used later on in the week for pizza.  It's really just a basic tomato sauce that's not "mexican-ized", so you can treat it as you would any tomato sauce.

Recipe:

1 medium onion

3 carrots

2 green peppers

4 cloves garlic, divided

2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder (regular would work)

1 28 ounce can organic whole tomatoes, drained and smashed by hand

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 teaspoon cumin

8 ounces sour cream

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro plus more for garnish

2 cups cooked black beans (1 can drained and rinsed would work)

6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

6 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese

Saute onion, carrots, green peppers, and 3 cloves of chopped garlic in a tablespoon of coconut oil.  When softened, add one 28 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes (drained and smashed by hand) and 2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder.  Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 10-15 minutes to let the flavors blend then add to a blender.  Meanwhile, add sour cream, 1 clove garlic, 2 tablespoons cilantro, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until smooth. Set aside in the fridge until ready to assemble.  Now add the tomato sauce to the blender.  Blend until smooth.  Mix the cumin into the brown rice.  Blend the cheese together.  Now you're ready to assemble.

In a 9x13 casserole dish layer in the following order:

1 ladle-full of tomato sauce spread around

1/2 of the brown rice pressed down and spread to cover the entire dish (wet hands help)

1/4 cup cilantro sour cream

1/2 of the black beans

2 ladle-fulls of tomato sauce

1/2 of the cheese

Rest of the brown rice pressed down and spread to cover all of the cheese

1/4 cup cilantro sour cream

Rest of the black beans

Tomato sauce

Rest of the cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbly.  Top with fresh cilantro and drizzle each serving with the cilantro sour cream.

7.  Chocolate Pudding - Used avocado.  Yes, it sounds weird, but the avocado gives a seriously silky consistency.  Here's how it's done:  In a blender add the avocado, 3 tablespoons raw cocao powder, 5 dried pitted dates and 1 cup coconut milk.  Blend until smooth.  That's it.  It's raw.  It's sugar-free.  It's full of healthy fats and nutrients.  Amazon.com has a great deal on raw cocao powder - 2 lbs. for $26.24 and even less if you do Subscribe and Save.  Raw cocao really is better if you're not going to cook it, anyway.  With so many antioxidants and minerals, it's a REAL treat!  EJ liked it...

7.  Sweet Potato Cupcakes - Used sweet potatoes.  I've done sweet potatoes all winter long and every way you can think of.  Well, every way except cupcakes, that is.  For Easter I decided to make cupcakes to take to church and to have as dessert for my family brunch.  I had sweet potatoes and I didn't want baked sweet potatoes again. Or fries. Or soup.  Or gnocchi.  So, why not cupcakes?  These cupcakes are very moist and similar to carrot cake, but different enough to know it's not carrot cake.  When you know they are made with sweet potatoes, you can taste definitely taste them.  I frosted the cupcakes with a vanilla frosting that is not your "run of the mill" buttercream frosting.  It was inspired by the vanilla frosting in Babycakes, which is the cookbook from the famous bakery in NYC of the same name.  Vegan, (mostly) gluten-free, and (mostly) sugar-free.  It's a really fun cookbook to play around with.  If you want to try a few recipes without investing in the book first, check out Gwenyth's newsletter from several months ago.  But I digress.  The frosting.  It's not your typical opaque-like buttercream frosting, but it tastes heavenly.  The consistency is more like a shinier marshmallow frosting or something.  I changed quite a few of the ingredients from the Babycakes version, which calls for soy milk, soy powder, and agave nectar.  I try to avoid soy as much as possible and I have a secret crush on protein powder (Jay Robb Vanilla Whey - hormone free and sweetened with stevia - the only way to go), so I used coconut milk and whey protein powder.  I also used raw honey in place of the agave.  Try it out.  It's super healthy and you will want to eat it by the spoonful.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cup palm sugar

3 eggs

1 lb. sweet potatoes

1 teaspoon vanilla

Toasted coconut and chopped macadamia nuts for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wrap the sweet potatoes in aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes or until soft.  Cool, peel, and mash the potatoes.  Prepare 2 muffin pans with paper liners (24 total cupcakes).

In a medium size bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  With an electric mixer, beat the coconut oil and sugar for 2 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low after each addition.  Add the sweet potatoes and vanilla and mix well.  Slowly add the flour mixture and continue beating until the batter is smooth.  The batter will be slightly thicker than normal cake batter.  Spoon the batter evenly among the prepare pans and bake for 20 minutes.  Allow the cupcakes to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.  Top with frosting.

Vanilla Frosting:

1 can coconut milk

4 scoops vanilla protein powder (Any protein powder will do if you avoid dairy.  Also you can use soy powder,  Use 3/4 cup)

1 tablespoon coconut flour

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup coconut oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon xantham gum

In a blender or food processer, add the coconut milk, protein powder, coconut flour, honey, and vanilla.  Blend for 2 minutes.  With the machine running, alternate additions of the coconut oil and lemon juice.  Process until they are thoroughly combined.  Add the xantham gum and continue blending.  Transfer to a medium size bowl and cover.  Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.  If you are in a hurry you can freeze for about an hour, remove, and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy.

8.  Caramelized Fennel, Onion, and Italian Sausage Pizza - Used fennel and green pepper.  Do you ever see how long you can go without buying groceries just to challenge yourself to come up with amazing dinners when you have nothing in the fridge?  I do (haha).  I really thought I pushed it too far this time, too, but I pulled through. I made pizza with almond flour crust, because it takes no time to make and I like to go low-carb/high protein whenever I can.  I also used a non-traditional ricotta salata/parmesan cheese mixture instead of mozzarella since that is all I had.  It was good.  Probably would have been better with the standard mozzarella.  I could have been very crafty and used cheese curds from making cottage cheese earlier in the day (before adding the cream at the end), because you can do that.  I didn't have anything to feed EJ for lunch, though, so I made chocolate pudding with it (cottage cheese curds, raw chocolate cocao, coconut milk, one banana, and a little stevia to sweeten).  Ok, I ate for lunch, too.  Hey, it's very well balanced!  Like I said, I pushed the grocery store visit a little too far.

So, here's how I made the pizza:  Over medium low heat, add one sliced onion, one sliced fennel bulb, and one sliced green pepper in a tablespoon of grapeseed oil.  Cook for 10-15 minutes until caramelized.  Meanwhile, prepare your pizza dough.  I made an almond flour pizza dough from Elana Amsteram's Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.  It's not Heath's favorite type of crust, but you should try it and be your own judge.  I like it.  Anyway, once the veggies are cooked, remove them from the pan and add 1 lb. Italian sausage.  I had a pound in the freezer from my last CSA delivery from Parker Farms and I was trying to make up for using an almond flour crust that I knew Heath would not like, otherwise, I would have gone meat free.  Now assemble the pizza with your favorite tomato sauce (I used leftover tomato sauce from the Mexican rice with some added Italian herbs), sausage, caramelized veggies and cheese.  Bake at 450 degrees until the crust is baked through and the cheese is melted.  Note:  this makes enough toppings for 3 10 inch pizzas.  I only made one and then froze the rest in two separate containers.  I will use them again for pizza someday or maybe pasta.