Tout Fini!

Whoopsie! I've taken an unplanned hiatus :) Summer is just nuts... throw 5 weddings including my own in to the mix, and it has become near impossible to cook wholesome food AND blog about it on a regular basis.  However, I'm not giving up entirely! I love posting, and I will do my best to post whenever possible.  I've cancelled my service with Green Earth Organics, and I have looked in to my 6th and final option... Plan B Organics.  It turns out, I'm done my produce box experiment sooner that I expected! After further research, I have discovered that Plan B isn't really a good 'trial' option.

Plan B is a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) system.  This means local households purchase subscription "shares" of the year's harvest from a local organic farm. CSA "shareholders" pay for their produce at the beginning of the growing season, providing the necessary start-up capital for farmers to purchase seeds, supplies and soil amendments, eliminating their reliance on expensive bank loans and helping to pay for the real cost of food.  When the harvest comes in, shareholders reap the benifits of their buy-in, by receiving weekly produce delivery.  Plan B sources the best certified organic produce from 12 farms in Southern Ontario for your shares each week for the 18 week harvest season.

I have heard of this concept before, but until now didn't really understand the details.  How amazing! Not only is everything organic, EVERYTHING is local! Going with this option would really have us eating seasonally. The one big difference is there is a much bigger focus on vegetables.  Since our prime growing season for fruit is rather short, there would only be fruit included when seasonally available.

As with other produce delivery services, there are share options (copied from the website):

Half Share 2010 ($22.50)

A half share is a weekly box, supplied all season, with 9-12 items of locally grown, certified organic vegetables, salad greens, and herbs. We recommend this size for a household with 2 adults. Some local fruit will be included when available.

Regular Share 2010 ($30.00)

A Regular Summer Share is a weekly box containing 11-14 items of locally grown, certified organic vegetables, salad greens, and herbs. This size is for a household with 2 adults and children. Some local fruit will be included in the share when available.

Full Share 2010 ($40.00)

A full share is a weekly box containing 14-18 items of local, locally grown, certified organic vegetables, salad greens, and herbs. We recommend this size for a household with 4 adults. Some local fruit will be included when available.

I think this is a lovely concept, but it does require quite a commitment.  I would be curious to know how many shareholders these types of CSA programs draw. I navigated through the Plan B website a little further and also found they participate in a number of farmers' markets throughout the season as well.

side note - check out my article on farmers' markets I recently wrote as part of the Ontario Home Economics Association quarterly newsletter, I've posted it in a separate post.

I will have to do a review of my many posts and write a summary of my overall experience.  I will rank each of the services I used based on a few criteria, and come up with an overall 'winner', so stay tuned - I'm not done yet!

For now, I'll update you on a few of the things Rory and I have been eating!

 Miso Lemon Glazed Trout, Sauteed New Potatoes, and Green Salad with Radishes and Lemon Vinaigrette 

The lettuce, radishes and potatoes were all GEO.  Here is the trout recipe (I subbed lemon for lime 'cause it's all I had).  The potatoes were steamed for about 8-10 minutes and then sauteed in a little butter and seasoned with salt and pepper.  The lemon vinaigrette was fresh lemon juice, EVOO, a touch of dijon mustard, and s&p.  I've made this trout recipe and have blogged about it before, deelish!

Veggie Greek Pita Pizzas

Rory put these together, onions, mushrooms, green pepper (all Ontario) on whole wheat greek pitas with lactose free partly skimmed mozerella. 400F for 12-15 minutes.  Easy, healthy, quick midday dinner!

Grilled Korean BBQ Pork Tenderloin, Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Carrots, Sauteed Kale

Yum Yum Yum!!! The pork was SO simple, a nice little Ontario pork tenderloin marinated for a couple of hours in PC Korean BBQ marinade, and grilled to perfection.

The kale (Ontario), was chopped, washed and steamed with the water that clung to it's leaves for 3-4 minutes and sauteed with EVOO and seasoned with s&p.  Kale tastes a little like broccoli and a little like cabbage, it's sweet and a touch bitter.  I LOVE it, I think it's secured its place as my favourite leafy green!

The carrots (about 5 smallish) and sweet potatoes (2 medium) were both GEO.  I chopped them into 1" rounds/pieces and steamed them along with 1 tbsp of roughly chopped ginger until soft.  Once soft, I whipped 'em up with my immersion blender, a little skim milk and non-hydrogenated margarine until smooth. Add s&p to taste.  The slightly spicy ginger flavour goes so well with these two veg, and complemented the asian flavoured pork perfectly.

Below is a nice little close-up of the perfectly grilled pork.  GO RORY! So tender and juicy and packed with flavour.

Tomato Arugula Mussels with Crusty Multigrain Baguette

I've already given my mussel secrets away in a previous post.  Mussel are just too easy! Rory followed my instructions perfectly for this batch, and they were ready when I came home starving from volleyball one night.  What a man!

Simply sautee a clove or two of garlic in some EVOO until soft.  Add a can of chopped tomatoes (we use PC no-salt-added).  Bring to a simmer.  Add the washed and de-bearded mussels, cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Turn off heat, add a few handfuls of arugula or spinach, recover and let sit for 2 minutes until wilted.  Toss and eat with lots of crusty multigrain bread for sopping up the flavourful broth! 

Simple Trout, Beans n' Rice (Yellow beans that is!)

I don't have much to say about this meal, except that Rory was once again, the chef! Perfectly baked trout (400F 10 mins, seasoned with s&p and a touch of EVOO), steamed Ontario yellow beans (sweet and perfect), and basmati rice.  Simple and wonderfully satisfying.  

White Trash Bash! 

Your eyes are NOT fooling you! This meal took place at my house!!! The occasion was a bachelorette party for my BFF Rhian...with a white trash theme (food included!)

Chips, ritz crackers and cheeze whiz, tang and vodka punch (in that beautiful serving vessel I picked up at Value Village for the occasion), meatballs, pigs in a blanket, and for dessert - twinkies, hohos, and rice crispie squares.  It was a definitely a heartburn inducing good time!

I had to post this....while there is a veggie tray (i couldn't bear turning people away without something nutritious), most of the guests couldn't quite believe their vegetable-blogging friend could host such a party! 

Wow, this post was kind of all over the place! I did do it in stages :)  Up next a summary of my whole produce box experience! and then what?!?! 

Happy Eating!!!