thoughtful consumption

beautiful, slender carrots and lettuce

These carrots would be gorgeous steamed with butter and parsley. Or raw as snacks or in salad.

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green onions and Bordeaux spinach

The green onions smell so good and will be great in salads, stir fries, or grilled. Tomorrow or Friday at the latest, we’ll have a wilted spinach salad. I’ll cook some bacon and crumble it and then quickly sauté green onions in the grease. Then I’ll dump the bacon bits and onions in leftover salad dressing, heat it, and then pour it over the spinach.

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green cabbage and broccoli

butternut squash and apples

These fall/winter staples are great to have around. I’m thinking this cabbage will last in my fridge well until next month, so it’ll be good while the CSA is on vacation. (Here are some cabbage ideas.) If it doesn’t look like we’ll get to the broccoli (or last week’s cauliflower) in time, I’ll blanch and freeze it for later. But I’m hoping we’ll get to eat both the broccoli and cauliflower fresh. Steamed with butter, pepper, and salt, they make an easy, fast, and delicious side dish. No cheese sauce necessary!

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bruschetta mix, fromage blanc, and eggs

The bruschetta mix smells amazing – and a lot like pico de gallo. So instead of going Italian, we’re having quesadillas made with Fontina cheese and topped with the fresh mix and possibly some fromage blanc. The mix could also be heated and added to scrambled eggs for a very quick huevos rancheros dish. So many possibilities!

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Finally, I made a massive store order. Actually, it was multiple orders because I kept forgetting things.

dozen eggs, 2 pounds of butter, a beeswax candle, whole wheat sourdough bread, chocolate mint, and lemon verbena

The beeswax candle is my attempt at decorating, and the dried tea is for my stocking!

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Produce backs up in my refrigerator during the holidays because there are so many events that involve eating and subtract from our meal count at home. So I try to make sure we get to the stuff that needs that is best enjoyed quickly, like bruschetta mix, green onions, and spinach. Usually spinach will last a while, but this batch looks like it’s ready to be eaten. So far last week’s lettuce is hanging in there. But I think we’ll be having salad every meal this week!