A Superb Owl.

Another busy week in the books...It's hard to believe that I've already been blogging for 3 months! I have so much more to give ;)

The Superbowl festivities were a success - there were punts, and field goals, and touchdowns, and Gatorade attacks....and most importantly, a group of friends getting together for some chow! (and beer and vodka infused Fresca!)

I thought pot-luck style would be the ticket, and invited guests to bring a treat along. From the Mills-MacGregor household (me!) came chili and potato skins. Candace and Brian brought some homemade guacamole, and flavourful navy bean dip for dipping Tostitos and warm pita triangles. Joanne brought a tex-mex style nacho dip, and the hit of the night - a blue cheese, buffalo wing dip. For dessert Erin, Andy and Pops Armitage brought some amazingly rich and surpringly low(er) fat Lucy Waverman brownies from her new cookbook  A Year in Lucy's Kitchen.  An amazing cookbook that inspires some wonderful seasonal cooking.  In fact, my favorite cookbook from my whole whopping collection is Lucy Waverman's last cookbook (of which I have a signed copy!) -  Lucy's Kitchen .

 

Joanne's Hot Chicken Wing Dip Recipe (sorry no photo!)

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot® or Frank's Buffalo)
• 1 cup Renee's chunky blue cheese dressing.
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken (this is optional, it was good with, but would've been good witout too!)
• 1 cup shredded old Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and hot pepper sauce until well blended. Mix in the Blue Cheese dressing, chicken and Cheddar cheese. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. If oil collects on the top (yikes), dab it off using a paper towel. Serve with tortilla chips, carrot and celery sticks.

Chili

 

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 2 cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes
• 2 cans red kidney beans with brine
• 1 can white kidney beans rinsed
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 2 jalepenos minced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 large onion chopped (ON)
• 2 pints crimini mushrooms sliced (ON)
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup of Ketchup (trust me!)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Brown your meat in a large skillet, and drain about 80% of the fat
2. Transfer meat and remaining fat to a large pot
3. Add onions and garlic, sautee until translucent
4. Add everything else!

Simmer for as long as you can - ours simmered allll day - 7 hours, but anything over an hour would work.

This was a rich and flavourful (and even better leftover!) - we had sour cream and cheddar cheese to add as toppings too. This is going to be my basic go-to chili recipe from now on - Thanks to Erin for suggesting to not rinse the kidney beans, and to add the whole can brine and all to the pot!

 

Potato Skins

 

The potato skins were excellent! The recipe was adapted from All Recipes' Baked Potato Skins. I used small (ontario!) white potatoes that I had on hand, did not use parmesan, and brushed the potatoes with a mixture of canola oil, garlic powder, onion powder, s&p. I also dolloped a little 14% sour cream and sprinkle on chopped chives to finish them off.  Mmmmm....miniature 2-bite bowls of savoury goodness!

Dessert!

On to a few other weekday items...

 

This recipe features the rutabagas that I received in my last FDO box.  I sliced up both rutagabagas into little 'fries'and tossed them with a little canola oil, s&p, and a couple of Tbsp of birch syrup (think maple syrup from a birch tree).  The birch syrup was a gift from my brother Matt and his gf Mary for Christmas, and this was my first try using it. It's from a local producer in Thunder Bay http://www.birchsyrup.ca/.  Was it ever GOOD! It's sweet like maple syrup, but has an entirely different flavour - I want to describe is a caramel-floral flavour...if you can picture that!

Before I popped this in the oven to roast, I seared a S&P seasoned pork loin in some canola oil, placed it on top of the veg, and let 'er roast away for about an hour at 375.

 

 

The pork was well seasoned, and beautifully juicy...the rutabaga and birch syrup were a tasty and unique partnership.  The rutabaga were a little unevenly cooked, even with a couple of stirs mid-roast, so next time I would cut them in to smaller, more even cubes.  I served this dish with a simple side salad - FDO live Boston leaf lettuce with a red wine vinaigrette (EVOO, red wne vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, s&p).

 

Finally, we have a healthy vegetarian dinner - a disappointment unforunately (Jen social worker - you are right to mock me in this instance). This dish was a take on Michael Smith's soba noodle miso soup recipe from The Best of Chef at Home...I didn't follow the recipe exactly, and since I was disappointed, didn't bother to write the details down. The basic receipe is:

• Miso broth (4 cups of water, 2-3 Tbsp Miso paste)
• Onion (FDO)
• Carrot (FDO)
• Brocolli (FDO)
• White Mushrooms (FDO)
• Nori (dried sheets of seaweed - I think it's universally available at supermarkets now)
• Soba Noodles (buckwheat noodles)
• Lime juice
• Sambal Olek (asian chili sauce)

I didn't love the flavour of the whole grain Soba noodles - they were too overpowering, and the soup turned out more like a stew because of all the starch from the noodles - I had a flavour profile in mind when I decided to make this dish - i was expecting a light flavourful broth, and that just wasn't how it turned out! But, you can't win 'em all :) and Rory liked it!

 

 

Thanks for reading!

I have a STELLAR carrot soup recipe to share next time!

 

 

 

"The Situation"

The Perogies turned out GREAT!!! I've been bragging about them all week - and they we're a big hit at the cottage...people said they could really taste the difference between the ho-hum frozen supermarket brand, and my full-of-local-flavour-and-love variety!

I didn't bring my good digital SLR camera to the cottage - I knew there was probably going to be one too many games of flippy/tippy cup going on (and I was soooo right), so the photos aren't phenomenal, but I'm posting them nontheless..we served the little bundles of tasty with sausages and peppers, which also turned out  great thanks to Damian's genius technique of scoring the sausages to make sure the juices ran down in to the roasting peppers....

These perogies were fried up on a flat surface pan that spanned two burners with some butter, onions, and bacon grease.  Damian had just fried up some bacon on the same pan for our appetizers...homemade jalepeno poppers! I can't believe I didn't get a photo of them - delicious, and he totally made up the recipe... my kinda cookin'!

The sausages (1 pan of honey garlic, 1 pan of mild italian) were scored and laid on top of a bed of bite-sized chopped bell peppers and sliced onions - which were tossed in EVOO and s&p -oven at 350 for 40 minutes-ish...I hate to admit to this, but I got the idea from watching Jersey Shore! yes, the MTV reality show about shirtless guidos selling get this, t-shirts. I'm calling this recipe... The Sausage "Situation"  (you closet JS fans know what I'm talkin' bout).

Cottage life is good! 

This week I got a new FDO fresh box...

My fave item is this nifty little squash, called a delicata

I still have quite a bit of produce left from the last box - a squash, carrots, 2 rutabagas, onion, and grapefruit, all holding up well even after 2 weeks...it's been a slow startup since the holidays (I know I know, it's Feb).  One thing I haven't mentioned is that I received a bunch of bananas from my first box that never ripened - for 2 whole weeks they stayed as green as the day they were delivered.  I've heard that if bananas are picked from the tree too early, this can happen.  I emailed FDO to let them know, and no questions asked they replied the same day with an apology and a promise that I would receive a better batch (or something of equal value if there were none) in my next box - and I did!  And of COURSE, my first batch of bananas started turning yellow on Monday! They are perfectly edible :)

Along with the produce I received a newsletter with a few new recipes (rather ambitions ones), and a notice of a price increase.  The basic box, will now be going up $2 to $37.  The explanation being "This price change is necessary for FDO to maintain itself as a sustainable business operating within our business philosophy - a philosophy encompassing environmental sustainability, fair wages and benefits for employees, timely and fair payments to farmers and suppliers, and community involvement.". 

This has been a wonderful service so far - and I've received some great customer service, and great quality organic produce...but I thought $35 was already steep.  Especially when I compare a basic (non-organic) Good Food Box for $17...this is now more than double the price.

Other food news of the week - it's Winterlicious! http://www.toronto.com/winterlicious 

I had a great experience on Monday with some fellow dietitians at Globe Bistro on the Danforth - Globe Bistro.  A beautiful space, and we had a great table overlooking the restaurant.  The food was very good, and the service was excellent (and no one ordered a single drink).  I neglected to bring my camera (ARG!) but you may be able to see the photos on my facebook page - I've linked Andrea's album to it: Globe Bistro photos

I've gotta get cooking over the next few days!  Superbowl Sunday is four days away, and I will be sure to post all about the evil smorgasbord I'm planning with friends!

In the meantime happy sustainable eating!

PEROGIES!

Today I did something that I've been meaning to do for ages.  Made homemade perogies!

I found what looked like a simple and well-rated recipe on All Recipes.com, a site that I've been using for years... http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandmas-Polish-Perogies/Detail.aspx 

I made a couple of small changes to the recipe in an attempt to de-process it.  I ommited the 'cheese whiz' sauce, doubled the shredded cheddar (and I used extra old Pine River white cheddar - from Kincardine, ON), and used onion powder rather than it's highly processed cousin onion salt.  Onion powder is simply pulverized dehydrated onion, the only ingredient is onion.  This is a great recipe to use it in if you want a nice smooth filling, and want to save yourself the time of pureeing an onion. 

I had just enough dough and potato filling, with very little waste.  I used ontario grown russet potatoes too of course!

The photo was taken before I popped them in the freezer.  I'm taking all 6 dozen of them to our friend's cottage this weekend, and we're going to serve them with sausage and peppers for dinner! mmm...

From start to finish, this took about 3 hours - the whole thing was very easy, just time consuming.

I'll be bringing my camera to the cottage and will try to remember to get photos of the finished product!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Yum! and Not-so-yum!

Hello food friends!!!

Ah, it feels good to be cooking again after a holiday of processed, food science driven fare!

The following few meals don't contain a HUGE amount of the produce that I received in my FDO box last week, but we had some stuff kicking around the house that needed to be used up, and I HATE waste!

 

Saturday night I had a great little girls night with a couple of my besties Amy and Joanne - a yummy dinner and FEW too many glasses of vino eventually led to a 3:00am chat about our varying philosophies on life, and an impromptu sleep over party!  It all started with great food though...

 

To start...prosciutto wrapped honeydew.  YUM!  Food styling courtesy of Amy

This melon was a non-organic non-local leftover from the week before last...Rory did the grocery shopping, and he's not as..sensitive... as I am about where my food comes from :)  Is it sort of sinful of me not to mind this?... if it means he's going to come home with a big deliciously juicy melon in the middle of winter, when all I've had are so-so apples and pears for three months? shhh...

This appy didn't exactly 'go' with the rest of dinner - but the whole theme idea gets thrown out the window when there's a melon to be used up!

 

Our main was...

Honey Orange Glazed, Miso Marinated Acrtic Char, Ginger Whipped Sweet Potatoes, and Braised Kale

 

Arctic Char was a first for me - I've always heard it's delicious, but it's usually expensive when I see it - Loblaw's had a sale!  This is Farmed, Iceland Arctic Char - A sustainable choice!  Arctic char is a pink fleshed fish - tastes a lot like trout, maybe not as strong...very yummy.

The recipe is a take on the following: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=226373

I didn't have mirin so I used rice wine vinegar, and I didn't have limes so I used fresh squeezed OJ.

This was also my first experience cooking with miso - it won't be my last!

 

For the ginger whipped sweet potatoes - peel and slice a few sweet potatoes, peel and mince a tablespoon-ish of fresh ginger - boil them or steam them together til nice and soft...and use a hand blender, a little chicken stock or cream or both, and whip 'em up until they're smooth and to your liking.  Don't forget to season well with salt!  An excellent combo and a great gingery compliment to the fish!

 

The kale (FDO) was cleaned chopped and cooked in heavy bottomed sauce pan with 1/3 c of chicken stock, steamed for 2 minutes with the lid on, then removed the lid until the stock evaporated, and seasoned with s&p.  I haven't cooked Kale before, but it's got the heartiness of cabbage, and the girls agreed the flavour is a mix between brocolli and green cabbage - not bitter at all, which is what I expected. 

 

Overall, a GREAT meal - I would cook all of these items again solo or in combo!

 

 

This meal was inspired by leftovers!  I had walnuts that needed to be used, two slices of proscuitto, an almost empty box of couscous, and a bag of cranberries starting to get shrively...

 

Proscuitto wrapped arugula-walnut pesto chicken over whole wheat couscous, served with homemade cranberry jam with a side of live leaf lettuce with lemon vinaigrette.

 

 

This meal was a show stopper! and SO SO easy!

 

Arugula Walnut Pesto:

• 2-3 c. packed arugula leaves
• 1/3 cup of shelled walnuts
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c EVOO
• s&p to taste

Whip the first four ingredients up in a food processor - slowly add the oil at the end until it becomes a pesto-like consistency (this is open to interpretation!), add s&p until it tastes like you want it to.

 

Use the pesto in pasta, on top of chicken, fish, seafood, whatever you think it would be good with!  I gave samples to Andrea and Dara, two of my foodie coworkers, and they used it in a shrimp pasta, and on top of fish :)

 

The cranberry jam a bag of fresh cranberries, a cup of cugar, and a cup of water...simmered until thickened. 15-20 minutes..that's it!

 

The live lettuce was from the FDO box - it was from the same provider as the live lettuce I got from my organic GFB...it was crisp and fresh and a little sweet, with a mixture of lemon juice EVOO a 1/2 tsp of mustard and s&p for dressing

 

The couscous - read the package! Made mine with chicken stock :)

 

A great meal - rory swooned over it! I can't wait to eat arugula walnut pesto again - and it's way less expensive than basil/pine nut pesto to boot.

 

This final meal is the loser of the bunch - A Michael Smith recipe from his Chef at Home cookbook.

I think it's a GREAT cookbook, and this has been the only disappointment so far.  I think it may be that he's not very specific with the ingredient list, and that can be tricky...turns out for this recipe, the juice and zest from 1 lemon was much too lemony!

 

Penne with Smoked Salmon and Dilled Cream Cheese Sauce

 

 

I won't go on with the details of this recipe.  I was really hoping for a creamy smokey heavenly dish, and it was a disappointment - by no means awful, but really just edible.  The basic sauce recipe included cream cheese, lemon, green onion, dill, dijon mustard, capers...i left out the capers, and added a pint of roasted grape tomatoes, s&p..sounds good right?  I won't give up on a creamy smoked salmon pasta though... I've had delicious ones!  I'll just give up on this one :)

 

I hope some of you are able to make use of a couple of this post's recipes... really worth it!

 

I'm off to finish up my contribution to tomorrow's work potluck...vegetarian thai coconut curry (with sweet potatoes brocolli red peppers and chick peas)...

 

Can't wait to share more food soon!

 

 

A new era begins!

The Front Door Organics era!

Delivery number one was a success! I arrived home around 5:30pm on Monday night, and the blue Tupperware container was sitting at my front door - the answer to Rory's "what if it's 20 below outside?" question remains unanswered, as it was a balmy 4 degrees that day.  The perfect fridge temperature!

The contents of the box were beautiful - other than a couple of not-so-hard onions (not so bad they had to be tossed though).  With the produce, I received a 'welcome' letter, which included information on how to store produce appropriately - very useful!  I also received the weekly newsletter informing me of an upcoming organic food conference, the specials of the week (other organic groceries), and 3 recipes - vegetable stew with cobbler topping, goat cheese souflee with kale (fancy dancy!), and apple onion and cheese gratin.

Now I'd be lying if I said the contents of the box surprised me.  I received an email 3 days before delivery informing me what was coming!  Had I known another bag of potatoes was coming, I likely would have changed my order to replace the potatoes with something else.

Fresh Box™ Contents Jan. 18 - 22:

1 each Squash, Dumpling - ON
1 2 pound Onions, Yellow - Bag - ON
1 unit (1 or 2) Rutabaga - ON 
1 2 pound Carrots - Bag
1 bunch Broccoli
1 each Grapefruit
4 each Oranges, Navel
5 each Apples, Mixed Variety - ON
2 each Pears, Bosc
5 each Bananas - Fair Trade
1 each Mango
1 bunch Kale, Green

1 unit Lettuce, ‘Summer Mix’ - ON

Today, I received a follow up email asking me how my first delivery was, and how often I would like to continue receiving the box.  While there is slightly less produce in this box than the GFB boxes (and less local produce!), I decided to do biweekly - I may just have to supplement more from the supermarket.

Monday night, I made the following deliciousness...

Maple-mustard baked steelhead trout, creamy polenta, and sauteed baby spinach.  I had some spinach sitting in the fridge that needed to be used up, so the only FB (fresh box) item I used was onions!

Maple Mustard baked steelhead trout

• Preheat oven to 400 degree F
• Mix 1 part maple syrup with one part of your fave mustard - mine was a mix of dijon and yellow.  You need enough to cover your fish and wee bit extra for a little sauciness.
  
• season trout with S&P, pour sauce over fish
  
• Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on fish thickness.
  

...out comes moist, sweet and savoury perfection!

 

The polenta was a take on Michael Smith's recipe for polenta from his The Best of Chef at Home cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp canola or veg oil
• 1 onion, minced (FB)
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 cups milk (i used skim)
• 2 - 3 cups of chicken broth
• 1 parmesan cheese rind (or 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese)
• S&P to taste
• 1-2 Tbsp butter

Instructions:

1. Heat oil over med heat
2. Sautee onion and garlic for 2 minutes, or until translucent
3. Add milk and 2 cups chicken stock, bring to a simmer
4. In a slow steady stream, while whisking, add cornmeal (this will prevent lumps as the cornmeal grains quickly swell)
5. Once cornmeal is whisked in, turn heat to low, and stir regularly with a solid spoon (not the whisk) for for 15-20 minutes over low heat.  Add chicken stock along the way if it is getting too dry - I ended up having to add a full extra cup
6. Add parmesan rind and continue cooking over low heat for another 5-10 minutes...taste-test it! the texture should be nice and smooth, not grainy when it's done. (if you're using parmesan cheese, wait until the end to add).
7. Season generously with S&P...again, taste-test it!
8. Right at the end of cooking add butter before removing from heat.
9. Serve immediately (if you wait, the polenta will start to solidify on your plate as it cools) 

Now, I've made polenta once before - about 5 years ago or so - and it turned out terrible - grainy and tasteless - so I've been scared to try it again.  I had some cornmeal in the cupboard leftover from cornbread I made a few months back, and decided to give it another shot - am I EVER glad I did.  It was rich, creamy, and SO satisfying on a chilly winter night! It was a great savory compliment to the sweetness of the fish, and the slight bitterness in the spinach (btw the sauteed spinach, was sauteed onion and garlic in EVOO over med heat, throw in the spinach, add a small dash of water, a couple tsp at most, sautee for a couple of minutes until wilted and season with S&P - a very useful way to use that slightly wilted baby spinach that can no longer go in a salad).

Overall this meal was a stunner! Try all of it! On top of being delish, it was also well rounded nutrionally...cornmeal don't forget is ground up dried corn kernel - a whole grain!

As I finish with this post, I am off for the evening to eat! Let's hope my next meal is as blog worthy as this one!

Happy Eating!

Too much for one post!

Before I start on the deets of my new delivery, I have a few random thoughts, photos and recipes to share.

Check out those CARROTS! aren't they beautiful!?  These are photos I took when I opened a bag of carrots from my organic GFB to discover they were yellow, and stunning!  I made excellent use of them in a decadant carrot cake (sorry, no photo!) - courtesy of Alton Brown http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/carrot-cake-recipe/index.html.  The cake itself was easy, moist, and full of heart warming flavours - the cream cheese icing was subpar in my opinion, but not terrible.  The cake I would repeat - with a different icing.

     Below is a pre-christmas photo of some asian inspired pork ribs I did in the slow cooker - unforuntely, I can't for the life of me remember what exactly went in to this recipe - this is why people who decide to write food blogs about their own recipes need to blog on a regular basis! Let this be a lesson to me!  What I can tell you is this dish included an unkown amount of soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sriracha chili sauce, and brown sugar.  Damn me for not writing it down! What I do remember is how delicious they were... I toasted those little sesame seeds before I added them too.

As a non-food related side note - this is a shout out to our good friends Erin and Andy, who as a house warming gift (many months ago!), bought us a very nice bottle of champagne, and two gorgeous green flutes  - they'll be proud to know we finally popped the top on that crystal the night Rory proposed :) It was perfectly perfect.  Yup, I'm almost officially taken - just one last quick trip to Vegas in May first ;)

I've also decided that I need to start posting any interesting non-food-box related food stuff - especially if I am given a gift of food!  Thanks to my good friend Michelle, who brought Rory and I back a generous helping of Austrian chocolate from her impromptu European getaway!  Where else can you find chocolate marzipan Mozart balls?!

I'm going to bring this post to a close, and start a fresh new one to go over my new delivery! I hope you enjoyed reading the rather schizophrenic variety this post had to offer!

a final note - I've added a photo of the green bean casserole that I talked about in my last post - I hope it is as mouthwatering and nostalgic for you as it is for me :)

Happy New(ish) Year!!!

My last post being December 16th makes it a whole month without updates! what kind of blogger am I!?!  I'm anxious to get back to it - and I'm sure those who follow have been foaming at the mouth for new mouthwatering recipes and photos ;)
I placed my deliveries on hold for the holidays - or at least tried to.  My final delivery of the Good Food Box was meant to be December 8th, as I planned on cancelling the Dec 22nd delivery.  However, my procrastination gene (what?!) forced me to wait until December 17th to call - and I was a few hours late.  When you want to cancel or make a change to a GFB delivery, you call your local coordinator (your pick up location), who in turn must call Foodshare to make the change - a rather inefficient system in my opinion.  Being the holidays, I assume there were likely lots of people trying to cancel delivery at the last minute, and therefore I forgive Foodshare for their strict cut-off time. 
Another large box of organic produce made it's way home just in time for Christmas - most of it came with Rory and I to Windsor for Christmas dinner.  The box had very similar contents to the previous boxes - and yes, yet another bag of potatoes.  I did notice this batch wasn't of the best quality though - there were 3 or 4 rotting onions in a bag, the squash I received was starting to mold on the outer skin, and the apples looked worse for wear.  Too bad, this was my last GFB delivery and I had such good quality in the rest of the boxes. 

I don't have many photos to share this time around unfortunately - but i used a lot of the produce in a very traditionally way so use your imaginations...

• green beans went in to a green bean casserole a la campell's soup with french fried onions http://www.campbellkitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeId=24099&ref=%2fSearchRecipesResult.aspx%3fSearchType%3d1%26q%3dgreen%2bbean - I couldn't resist.  As I cook more, I become less of a believer in using processed anything in my cooking, but there are a few key items that just make me feel like a million bucks - this is one of them.

• organic GFB mashed potatoes - with CREAM AND BUTTER!
• 2-squash bake with caramelized onions - see my recipe for sweet potatoes on my last post - substitute the sweet potatoes for two organic GFB squash (one hubbard, one buttercup)...the hit of Christmas dinner.  Along with the pre-stuffed cooked-from-frozen Butterball turkey which was juicy and flavouful - that's some freaky food science.
• organic GFB brocolli - steamed to tender/crisp, tossed with butter and S&P.
• organic GFB leaf lettuce salad - with sunflower seeds/ dried apricots/ red onions/ (recipe provided by Carmelle Mills) - good combo Mum!
• A good looking bunch of organic GFB swiss chard was left behind with the Mills' when Rory and I left Windsor, and my pops cooked it up for him and my mum - Neither of them had cooked it or tasted it before... how brave!  they both really liked it!!! And fortunately, it's on the 'highly beneficial' list for blood type A (insert exaggerated eye roll here). 

I also have some yet to be uploaded photos of a few other items - carrot cake, short ribs, a thai coconut curry - that I will share in my next post.

As of Monday, I will be starting up with a new produce box company.  Front Door Organics (http://www.frontdoororganics.com/) is a family business now in operation for over 12 years.  Their philosophy includes:

• Building and maintaining relationships with local farms and offering local products whenever possible
• Becoming involved and supporting community
• Fair wages and benefits for employees
• Timely and fair payments to farmers and suppliers
• Gender parity
• Environmental sustainability

In reading the website details, I get a strong sense that this is a company very committed to it's business plan - as long as that plan continues to fit within their philosophy of social responsibility.  How refreshing!

Front Door organics delivers directly to your door.  To sign up, you can fill in an online form, or call the company directly. Either way, you will have to speak with an agent on the phone before you get your first delivery.  There are set delivery days for specific areas of the city.  I will receive my delivery between noon and 10pm, and I had the choice of whether or not I wanted the delivery person to knock on the door (I opted for no-knock service - we likely won't be home anyway).  Rory asked a valid question - what if it's 20 below outside, and we don't pick it up for 5 hours? Hmm, don't know.  We will see I guess!
I pre-paid by credit card over the phone (this is the only option for your first delivery), and a $10 deposit will also be charged for the Rubbermaid box that my produce gets delivered in.

There are two options for boxes- The Basic Box contains 10-15 organic choices.  The Custom Box contains the same - but you can replace any or all items in the box, with other items available that week - which are all listed online.  I chose the Basic Box, but was informed that I could change my mind and switch to the custom box online up until the day before delivery - impressive!

In addition to the flexibility with the box, you can buy other organic grocery items online and add them to your delivery -  either as a one time addition, or a standing order every week or every other week - from canned/dry goods, dairy products, household cleaners and even clothing and gifts!

Right off the bat, there are several advantages to this service over the GFB: it's a delivery right to my door, I can know in advance what's going to be in my box, and I can customize it (thereby avoiding mounds of potatoes!)
Down side - price.  Basic box is $35.  Custom box is $40.  The amount of produce sounds comparable to what I was getting in the GFB box, so hopefully it will last for 2 weeks.  We will know soon enough!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday - and that any extra pounds that snuck on were well worth it!

I'll be back with new recipes and photos in no time!

organics...

Ok, so I think I've been slightly ambitious thinking that I'd be able to post more than once per week! However, it's the holidays and I promise I'm doing my darndest!

As any followers would know, I received a new delivery last week - this time with an organic twist!  For the first time, I received something other than what was listed on the content list I get with the box - but as promised, is was replaced with 'something of equal value'.  I got a couple bags of green beans instead of a head of broccoli.  Below is what I received, and again, on visual inspection all the produce looked terrific.  A couple of interesting items...a light green/grey teardtrop shaped squash, which I've determined to be a grey hubbard squash, and some live lettuces! neat! that little package of lettuce standing up on the left side of the photo was shipped along with it's soil!  It's a varitey of 4 young lettuces (pleural of course being - letti ) that stayed fresh and crispy in the fridge - in the soil - (in a hole in the bottom of the sea... there's a HOLE, there's a hole... there's a hole in the bottom of the sea! 'member that one?)..anywho it stayed fresh and crispy for a whole week!

Uninterestingly - I got another bloody bag of potatoes.

 This past week has had me wrapped up in a flurry of social functions with no time to cook, but I've managed to used a few items along the way...sadly, I ended up having to toss the avocado - waited too long to use it...to think, I could've brought burrito night to the next level of deliciousness.

Dish numero uno (speaking of spanish numbers, who's heard about that football player - Cincinatti Bengals I think - who officially changed his last name to "ochocinco" because his number is 85...his jersey says ochocinco with 85 underneath!...yikes man.)

ok ok...sorry, I'm making a lot of weird side notes - on to the good stuff!

I call these...

I-kinda-feel-Italian-making-these Mussels

Mussels are truly one of the easiest proteins to make - and for some reason, they impress people.  Also, they are cheap as chips (as R.Goodall would say).  Regular price is $5 fo 2 lbs at my loblaws - normally, when ordering at a resto, you'd get a pound.

Ingredients

• 
  
  2 lbs mussels
  
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 box spaghetti - I use my fave PC omega 3 spaghetti - it's a whole wheat/lentil mix dough. yum!
  
  
  
• 
  
  1/2 a large can of diced tomatoes (I use PC no added salt), you can use the whole can too - I only had 1/2 left.
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 onion (organic GFB) chopped
  
  
  
• 
  
  2 cloves garlice (GFB) chopped
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 bunch spinach (organic GFB)
  
  
  
• 
  
  EVOO
  
  
  
• 
  
  s&p
  
  
  

Instructions:

1. To prep your mussels, you'll need to wash them, and de-beard them.  First thing to look for when you transfer your mussels into a colander for rincing is any mussels that are open.  If you find an open one, lightly tap the shell on a hard surface...if the mussel is alive (and it should be), the shell will slowly close.  If the mussel remains open, it's dead - toss 'er.  You'll notice when you're rincing the mussels there are some hair-like fibres protruding from the side of the shell.  These are the beards (they attach the mussels to one another in a colony) - tear these off - you may have to grab them with a dish towel, cause they can get a little slick.  Here's a good link to prepping mussels (http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Cleaning-Mussels/Detail.aspx).  I don't soak my mussels and never find them sandy, I think mine are cultured - maybe they're sand free?  I do give mine a good scrub with the bristly side of my sponge though.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water (use a couple tsp of table salt) to a boil and cook your pasta as directed.  When it's al dente, strain, but reserve a 1/4 cup of the starchy pasta water.
3. meanwhile, heat EVOO over med heat in a large pot - sautee onions and garlic until translucent
4. add tomatoes until heated through
5. Add the mussels, cover the pot, and let steam for 3 minutes.  The mussels are ready when they open up!
6. Combine the mussel mixture, the pasta, and the raw spinach into one of the warm pots, add the pasta water, toss everything together, and replace the lid for another minute or two to allow the spinach to wilt.  (if you come across any mussels that haven't opened - toss em! it means they were dead before you cooked them) 

This was deliciously salty, simple and healthy.  Rory loved this dish too.  The whole meal takes about 25 minutes from very start to finish too.  I do make mussels now and again, and it's a great ingredient to be creative with - I've made mine steamed in wine, in coconut milk, in chicken stock, with a variety of veggies...serving them with a rich and spicy tomato sauce is really yummy, with a nice rustic loaf of bread to soak up all the amazing juices.  Give them a try if you haven't before! you'll be so surprised how easy they are!

My next dish is a take on a side that I made for Thansgiving....

Maple roasted sweet pototoes and caramelized onions with a parmesan crust

Ingredients:

• 
  
  a number of sweet potatoes - I'd say 4-5 medium sized ones.  (3 GFB, 1 super huge organic GFB)
  
  
  
• 4 cups of slices onions (organic GFB)
• 4 Tbsp oil - divided (I used canola)
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese (only the real deal please!)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (or veg)
• 1/4 cup light cream (I used 5%, but richer would obviously be deelish too)
• S&P
  

Instructions:

1. preheat oven to 400F
2. peel and roughly chop sweet potatoes
3. drizzle 2 Tbsp oil and maple syrup over potatoes in oven proof dish, sprinkle with s&p - throw 'em in the oven and roast for 40 mins or until easily peirced with a fork.
4. meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp of oil over low heat - add onions, cooking slowly for 20 - 30 minutes, until onions are a deep sweet brown.
5. Combine the potatoes and onions in a dish/pot where they can be blended with a hand blender, or put them in a regular blender. 
6. Add cream and stock slowly, blending in between additions - blend until you reach a consistency that suits you - mine were very smooth and moist. (you may need more or less stock/cream)
7. Transfer mixture into an oven safe dish, sprinkle with parmesan - bake until the top starts to brown into a lovely crisp looking crust.

I brought these potatoes to a pot-luck at work, and they were a hit - when I went to get my dish back, it had practically been licked clean!  I did get a chance to try them, and damn they were good!  Please try these!

 On to the afformentioned burrito night (FYI - afformention is one of Rory's favorite words).

My intention was to use the avocado for burrito night, but when I found out it was past it's prime, I decided to go on with the show!   I'm not going to give these burritos a name, because it's not really a recipe...just a bunch of yummy things in a soft warm (whole wheat!) shell. 

 My burrito contents:

• brown basmati rice - cooked stovetop with salt and a little oil
• my homemade refried bean mash - mince a 1/2 jalepeno, a clove or two of garlic, and sautee them with a can of rinsed black beans for a few minutes.  Then mash em up, add a tbsp of sour cream, the juice of 1/2 a lime and spread  over burritos and other mexican style foodstuffs to your heart's content!
• chicken thighs, sauteed with a 1/2 a chopped tomato, some chili power (1 tsp), lime juice (1/2 lime), and s&p
• chopped tomato
• recently dead live leaf lettuce (GFB organic)
• sour cream
  

yum yum! This was really good and healthy!  Other things that would be yummy in this - peppers, onions, cheese, mashed sweet potato (Kensington market Yam Burritos - to die for!), guacamole of course...the list could really go on...another opportunity for creative cooking :)

I have a couple more things planned for the next couple of days involving beans, zucchini and carrots, so keep following!

I'm leaving you with this beautiful photo of Choereg, an Armenian holiday bread - this photo was taken before I dove in for a piece - it's a slightly sweet, dense, doughy textured bread, that really reminds of a cinnamon bun ...I sliced a piece and ate it warm with a little margarine...and it was devine!  Thanks so much to Christine for this thoughtful and delectable gift :)

Resto review - Amaya Bread Bar

Although this isn't GFB related, I thought the foodies in the crowd would enjoy a restaurent review!

I've been really riled up to talk about my dinner out last week at Amaya Bread Bar - www.amayasbreadbar.com

There have been lot's of wonderful reviews about this place, and I love indian food! On top of that I was going with a couple of fellow foodies...a night of good food while talking about food is pretty much heaven in my books!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, and missed out on the photo op, but I will give a brief review!

Service - pretty much terrible.  Had to ask for water refills three times, and spent almost 2 and a half hours at the table - I would say well over half of that time was waiting.  We watched people come and go around us.

The food - I didn't write everything down unfortunately, but I think I remember most of it.  The three of us opted for the $45 tasting menu, which would allow us to share 3 apps and 3 mains, and we thought, 3 desserts.  Being the brave foodie souls that we were, we decided to go with 'chef's choice' - even though we had the option of choosing which menu items we wanted, we thought it would be best if the chef presented us with what he thought was the best of the best....don't do this.

First, we received an amuse bouche - a round slice of eggplant, stuff with cream cheese, and deep fried, served with a mint sauce, and a tomato chutney.  this was pretty good - i mean, deep fried cream cheese, common..of course it was good.

Apps

lamb kabobs - pretty good flavour, not too lamb-y (i'm not a fan of that musky lamb flavour), but dry, needed some sort of indian ketchup equivalent!  The mint sauce did appear again on this plate - very underwhelming.

samosas - one stuffed with potato and peas, one stuff with chicken tikka...good flavours - again with the deep fried, which gets automatic bonus points

Chicken tikka - chunks of moist, extra salty (too salty for both my campanions) tandoori chicken with a really light sauce.  really nothing spectacular, and we just had the same thing in our samosas...with so many options, you'd think the chef would send out something different

We received a small bowl of extra tart lemon sorbet between apps and mains - this was yummy...and palate cleansing of course.

Mains

Butter chicken - definitely not the best butter chicken I've ever had - it was so sweet - I feel like someone back in the kitchen dumped some sugar in the pot by accident.  2.5 out of 5 stars

Lamb Roganjosh - a spicy lamb curry - this lamb had a musky flavour, but it was very tender...the sauce was nice, but carried that lamb flavour a little too much...if you're a lamb lover, you'd like this.

Channa Masala - chick pea curry - VERY good.  The best main in my opinion

Shrimp/Coconut curry - I forget the name of this, but another sweet and savoury sauce - the shrimp were huge, and well cooked, the sauce was seasoned well but there was an herb or a spice in it that I didn't quite love.  It was a fave of the other gals.

Now, the piece de resistance, and I really think this was their saving grace:  the naan.  It was delicious. We received a variety, rosemary, plain, and garlic...tender, chewy warm and perfect...and lots of it, perfect for sopping up the extra curry sauces!

Dessert - a very disgusting looking bowl of white-ness.  it was a round molded chunk of cottage cheese, swimming in a pool of extra sweet milk - infused with an indian spice (don't know what).  It was cold (as intended), way too sweet, and the texture of the cheese was not appetizing.  I gave it my best shot, and the spice infusion was quite nice, but overall, this dessert was a failure...none of us liked it.  And it was our only option...unlike the apps and main, we received only one dessert.  In the end, I think we'd had enough, and wanted to leave anyway - it had been 2.5 hours!

So overall - don't think I would be back - although, I wouldn't complain if someone wanted to give it a go.  I would just order off the menu - after all, the reviews can't all be wrong right? maybe it was just a bad night!

potatoless!

It's been a week, so lot's to share!

First, I had to come up with a game plan to get rid of the potatoes!  SUCCESS! I cooked a couple big ol' batches of shepherd's pie and beef stew.

The stew was a Michael Smith recipe, from the Best of Chef at Home cookbook.  The shepherd's pie was my own recipe.

My mise en place for the stew

Michael Smith's Beef stew

Ingredients (this is a slight variation from Michael's recipe):

• 2 lb stewing beef
• 1 can whole tomatoes (don't bother chopping - they'll breakdown in the cooking process)
• 1 900 ml tetrapak of Beef Stock (I used PC organic)
• 1/2 bottle of red wine (I used Jackson Trigg's Cabernet-Franc)
• 2-3 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 2-3 medium sized potatoes
• 1-2 parsnips
• 1/2 turnip slash rutabaga 
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary  
• a couple dried bay leaves
• 2-3 Tsbp of canola oil
• S&P

Instructions

1. Heat canola oil in a nice big pot over med-high heat (it cannot be non-stick)
2. In batches, sear the stewing beef until nice and brown.  Make sure you only have one layer of beef in the pot at a time - the beef will steam rather than brown if the pot is too crowded.
3. When the beef is done, get rid of most of the oil, leaving a tsp or two in the pot.  Do NOT wash that pot!  All those delectable little brown bits stuck to the pot are exactly what you want to keep for a richly flavoured stew.
4. Turn down heat to med-low, add onions and garlic and sautee until translucent.
5. Add the red wine to deglaze - meaning the wine will lift all of those yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pot - scrape 'em all off to incorporate them in the stew.
6. Add EVERYTHING else.
7. Simmer over low heat for as long as it takes to make that beef tender.  It took me 3-4 hours...i wasn't really paying attention to the time.  
8. Remove the rosemary twig and bay leaves, add any salt and pepper as needed.

This would make a great slow cooker recipe.  You could do steps 1-6, and then add it all to a slow cooker for the day.

The stew was a big hit.  Rich and full of great flavour.  I would probably add something green at the end next time - some peas or spinach I think, I just didn't have any at the time.  Michael's recipe actually called for double the amount of veggies that I used.  He suggested adding half at the beginning of the cooking and half near the end of cooking - to keep them more firm.  I thought there were already a prefect amount of veggies in the stew after it was done cooking, and they weren't mushy at all, just soft, like you'd expect in a stew.  I froze the rest of my prepped veggies for another stew or soup this winter.

Now, the shepherd's pie

Mirepoix 

Da Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 carrot diced
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 1 onion diced
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• 1 cup beef stock
• 3-4 medium potatoes - peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 cup(ish) frozen corn kernels
• milk
• 2ish Tbsp margarine or butter
• S&P

Instructions:

1. Over medium heat, brown ground beef in a large skillet - once browned, drain the fat and set aside
2. In the same pot, add canola oil - once heated , add carrots, celery, and onion and sautee until they start to soften
3. Add beef, tomato paste, beef stock, cover, and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.  Remove lid, and simmer for another 10 minutes until mixture has thickened.
4. In the meantime, boil or steam potatoes until soft.
5. Mash with margarine or butter, and milk (add a Tbsp or two at a time), until smooth and fluffy.
6. Add S&P to taste to meet mixture, and potato mixture.
7. In an oven proof dish, layer ground beef - corn - and mashed potato mixture.
8. If you baked it immediately, it should take about 20 minutes at 350 F.  If you refrigerate before cooking, I did 45 mins at 350F.

This was pretty good - I didn't season it quite enough and had to add S&P at the table.  Also, I think I would make the ground beef a little saucier, needed a touch more moisture...extra beef stock and tomato paste would've done it!  Good flavours though!

I served this shepherd's pie when my sister Shannon came to visit this week. Alongside, we had....

Dilled Potato Beet Soup

and...

Sauteed Savoy Cabbage with bacon

Both of these sides were deelish!

The dilled potato beet soup was the recipe from the GFB included in my last delivery.  The savoy cabbage was on-the-fly.

Dilled Potato Beet Soup (I varied the recipe slightly - the original called for double the stock...I knew it would be WAY too much and the soup would be too thin)

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium sized beets, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3-4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped.
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 900 ml tetrapak of veggie stock.
• 1/4 c chopped fresh dill
• S&P to taste
• sour cream and additional chopped dill for garnish

Instructions:

• Over med heat, melt butter, and sautee onions and dill for 2-3 minutes
• Add potatoes, beets and stock
• Simmer over med-low heat for 30-40 minutes (until beets are soft enough to puree)
• Puree with a hand blender right in the pot (or in batches, use a regular blender).
• Add S&P to taste, and garnish as you see fit!

This was so simple, and had such an interesting flavour...and good gracious, beets make food beautiful don't they?  It was rich and earthy, with a fresh dill flair!  Instead of sour cream, adding whipping cream to the soup itself would also be delicious.  I would make this again for sure!

Sauteed brussel sprouts with bacon

Ingredients:

• 1/2-3/4 head savoy cabbage
• 4-5 slices of bacon sliced
• 1 Tsbp EVOO
• S&P to taste

Instructions:

1. Slice cabbage into manageable sized strips
2. Use a steamer basket or a couple inches of water in the bottom of a large pot, and steam cabbage for 3-4 minutes.
3. In the meantime, sautee bacon until crisp and remove with a slotted spoon (do not use a non stick pan).  Discard all but 1 tsp of of the bacon fat.
4. Over med-low heat, add evoo and steamed cabbage to the bacon pan, stirring to remove all the brown bacon bit from the pan, sautee for 2-3 minutes until heated through
5. add S&P to taste, transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with bacon.

The savoy cabbage was surprisingly tender, and so sweet, especially the inner yellow leaves.  There was only a very mild bitter flavour on the darkest green leaves, which really added to the overall flavour of the dish.  Buy savoy cabbage!! it's SO good! I will definitely buy it again...and use it in a stir fry or something, a really great option for adding different greens to your diet.

Of course the bacon made this dish sing, but I would even do sauteed savoy with garlic in the future for a healthier option!

This was the end of GFB #2...overall I feel I made great use of what I got.  I was left with one head of garlic and 4 grapefruit, which are still looking good - I will try to use this week!  In terms of waste, there was really none - only about 1/4 of the savoy cabbage head got tossed.

Moving on! I'm really looking forward to using my new organic GFB!  I wonder what the feature of the week will be?!

Happy Eating!

a little somthin'

I've been a little negligent in my cooking this week! Since my last post, there's not too much to add...somehow, I have managed to use a lot of my GFB though!

 

Those pesky potatoes are causing me a little stress (to a girl that likes variety, using 10 lbs of potatoes in a month can be tricky business!) I'm not sure what to do with them! Of course spuds are perfect cooked simply, but I'm looking for something fun and creative to work on. My friend Joanne and I were talking about making perogies from scratch, so maybe I'll aim for that...Jo, can we make a date?

 

I will be getting my final GFB delivery next week - I've contacted my pick-up location and have requested a change in my order. I'm going for the large organic box for my last delivery. This box costs $34 (as oppposed to the $17 for the one I'm receiving now). Does anyone want to wager on whether I think organic will be worth it or not?

 

O.k. back to business...the produce report.
 
The fruit... 
4 grapefruit - still kicking around. I have a few ideas for them - 1) sprinkled with sugar for breakfast 2) in a salad 3) in grapefruit champagne sorbet (this month's Style at Home magazine has a great looking recipe by Donna Hay - and I have been looking for an excuse to use my Kitchen Aid ice cream maker!)

 

The bananas, plums, and pears (local) from this delivery have been great. I was worried about the plums which were exceptionally firm. I braced myself for a sour bite, but was pleasantly surprised by their sweetness...and they tasted very, hmm... plummy? they were good, and now gone!

 

The Bosc pears are excellent examples of Bosc pears! Crisp and sweet, with that fuzzy little feeling you get on your tongue that is undeniably Bosc :)

 

I used the avocados (yes, a fruit) over the weekend in a simple guacamole (sorry no photo!!! picture this...green mushy stuff...appetizing green mushy stuff :) )

Included in my guacamole:
2 small Hass avocados (very ripe)
1/4 small onion, minced
1/2 clove garlic, minced
Juice from a lime
1 roma tomato seeded and finely chopped
S&P to taste

(normally I would add a 1/2 jalepeno, but we were serving a spice sensitive crowd)

 

I didn't the think the avocados were the typical grocery store Hass variety, so I searched 'avocado varieties' and came up with this http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/avocado-viewer/index.htmWho knew??? It turns out that the GFB avocados were likely Hass, but they were really good hass! Much paler than I've seen before, and VERY smooth and creamy, like butter (man's greatest invention)

 

I used a good chunk of my veggies in a really great curry recipe a couple of nights ago. It wasn't indian, it wasn't thai - a fusion of sorts. I made this one up, but it's inspired by a soup recipe from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry (authors of Looneyspoons).

 

We'll call it...

 

Wicked-good Fusion Veggie Curry

(this receipe is vegan, and gluten free btw!)

 

 

 

Ingredients (seems like a lots, but there really isn't much prep work, trust me!)

• 2 tsp canola oil
• 2 tsp GFB garlic (2 small cloves)
• 1 Tbsp grated ginger (I always have a chunk of frozen ginger ready for grating - freezing makes the job a cinch)
• 3/4 tsp of curry powder (I used Club House), cumin, and garam masala (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garam_masala. Got mine from the Spice House in Kensington Market - coriander will work here to, or nothing if you have neither)
• 1/2 - 1 tsp salt (please taste before adding more)
• 1 small GFB onion (local), chopped
• 2 small GFB sweet potatoes (local), chopped in 1"ish pieces
• 1/2 large can of diced tomatoes, about 400ml (I buy no-added salt, so I can salt myself...such a good dietitian)
• 4 small GFB zucchini (2 large, 3 medium...really whatever!) chopped to the same size as your sweet potatoes
• 1 can of chick peas (or lentils would be yummy) - rinsed.
• 1 can of coconut milk (go light for a lower fat version)
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter (Kraft-smooth)
• 1 Tsbp brown sugar
• Juice from 1/2 lime (a Tbsp or so)
• 1 tsp Sriracha (hot asian chili sauce - optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat canola oil over medium heat
2.  Add onions and sautee for 2-3 minutes
3.  Add garlic and ginger and sautee for about a minute
4. Add curry powder, cumin, and garam masala, sautee for another 30 seconds
5. Add coconut milk, sugar, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes - turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until potatoes are almost soft enough to eat.
6. Add zucchini and chickpeas, and simmer for another 5-8 minutes, until zucchini are cooked through
7. Add peanut butter, lime juice, sugar, and sriracha and simmer until heated through (p.b. is melted)

 Serve over basmati rice.

 

This made enough for Rory and I for dinner, lunch the next day for both of us, and one more lunch, so 5 servings-ish depending on personal gluttony :)

 

This recipe is a keeper for sure, I brought a couple of samples in to some foodies at work, and they also agreed. A great vegetarian dinner option (I try to do at least a couple per week), or a great dinner party option for your vegan, celiac, kosher friends! ENJOY!

 

Still left on the agenda to tackle is the giant head of Savoy cabbage - not sure what I'll do with this, and recipe searches have been pretty fruitless. Sauteeing with bacon comes to mind...stay tuned!

 

Also remaining are: 3/4 bag of beets, a FULL 5 lb bag of potatoes, a few onions, a couple of sweet potatoes, and some garlic. Suggestions always welcome :)

 

Happy Eating!