Loving Tipi After Week 1

We have successfully finished most of our produce from the first week and we have plans for the few items that remain.  It doesn't look like anything will be going to waste, which is definitely a goal we have while we are participating in the CSA (and in general).  We did this by using the ingredients in dishes we already eat and by trying some new recipes.  Thanks to all who have shared ideas so far; here are some more:

We bought a rotisserie chicken the other night, which we used with some of the vegetables for two meals.  The first night, we had a salad with mixed greens, chicken, craisins, almond slices and Asian sesame dressing.  Mandarin oranges would also be a nice touch to this dish.

The next day we used the leftover chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches (olive oil mayo, green garlic, chives, and craisins).  I suppose we could have used lettuce here too, but we opted not too.

On Wednesday, I tried a recipe for "Crispy Asparagus."  I had been looking for several days for a way to make a "dried snack food" out of the asparagus.  This recipe was pretty much the only one I was able to find (it was one of many asparagus recipes on a link that Stef submitted.)  While it worked okay, I don't think that I will be making it again.  The recipe calls for blanching the asparagus in salty water, which I thought made the final product taste too salty.  Ironically, while I was cutting up the asparagus, I found out that I actually like it raw; it reminds me of fresh green beans.  I guess that I have only had it cooked before (and not to my liking).  With that said, we will still be trying some new recipes.  We got a new bundle of asparagus today and I already picked up the ingredients for the "Gruyere/Asparagus Tart" that Stef pointed out.

Today was perhaps my favorite new meal so far.  We had thin spaghetti with "Arugula Pesto" and it was delicious!  I would strongly recommend this recipe.  We were able to use the arugula and green garlic from the box.  The recipe calls for 6 cloves of garlic.  We just cut off a piece about 4 fingers wide from each stalk of green garlic instead and then proceeded as the directions suggested.  That seemed to work well.  Everyone in the family liked it; including J.

Rhubarb Pie

We recently visited my husband's grandparents up north.  I decided to use some of the rhubarb to make a rhubarb pie to share with them.  It went over very well.  Case in point: Grandma, who has Alzheimer's, usually needs help feeding herself.  Well, after she finished her piece she grabbed Grandpa's hand, fork and some of his pie so she could get another bite :)  Here is a link to the recipe if you are interested.  I cheated and used a store bought crust.  A homemade crust and vanilla ice cream would make it even better. 

Grandma used to do a lot of cooking/baking.  I'm curious if she has a good pie recipe hiding somewhere.  Do you have any family pie recipes that have been passed down?

On a side note, before we left for the trip, I used a few of the mushrooms and chives on a frozen pizza.  The frozen pizza was nothing special, but finding out that Jackson really likes mushrooms was :)

It's Here!

J and I picked up our first box of produce today, and I couldn't be happier with it.  The box (which is supposedly small because it is early in the season) has a lot of beautiful veggies for us.  

It contains red and green leaf lettuce, arugula, radishes, button mushrooms, asparagus, rhubarb, chives, and green garlic.  As you can imagine, this box is mostly going to be used for salads, as it was tonight.  As I was preparing the salad, I could not help but be excited about it.  I was washing dirt off the lettuce, not pesticides.  It's a good feeling :-)

Tipi Produce sends out a newsletter with ideas about what to do with each week's produce.  One suggested recipe for this week was homemade chive and green garlic salad dressing.  The recipe was simple (1 tablespoon of chives, 1 teaspoon green garlic, 1/2 cup of lowfat buttermilk, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 tablespoon mayo and salt to taste.)  It was a good start, but I imagine we will be tweaking this recipe as the summer goes on. 

I am hoping to make a rhubarb pie tomorrow and hopefully doing something with the asparagus and mushrooms soon.  I'll eat both, but I'm not normally a huge fan of either.  Any suggestions?

We Joined Tipi Produce!

C has been interested in getting a share of a CSA for awhile, but I have always been a little hesitant because of the financial aspect.  A friend recently mentioned that her family is entering their third year as members of Tipi Produce, out of Evansville, Wisconsin, so I thought it was worth a closer look.  Upon exploring their website, I found out that the rates seem pretty reasonable and that we are even eligible for a $200 rebate from our health insurance company.  This makes the final cost to us about $18 a week for a box of local, organic produce.  This price, combined with our desire to eat healthier food, helped us reach our decision quickly.  We will be picking up our first box tomorrow!!

We will be using future posts on this blog to share what we get from Tipi Produce and what we are doing with it.  We would also like this to be a place for others to share their CSA experiences, recipes and suggestions.  

With that, are you or have you been a member of a CSA?  If so, which one?  What did you like/dislike about it?