Day 1: Coconut chicken soup, Crusty bread
Day 2: Tuna patties, Carrot and apple slaw with raisins
Day 3: Homemade pizza, Tossed salad with radish, shredded carrots, and olives
Day 4: Sloppy Joes (hold the bun), Side salad, Fruit smoothie
Day 5: Black bean soup, Avocado slices, Corn muffins
Day 6: Loaded baked potatoes (steamed broccoli, salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream)
Day 7: Baked cod, Wild rice salad
Notes: One more week and my CSA share starts! Can you tell I’m excited? Eating healthy, fresh, homecooked food while also supporting a farm in my community is a real passion of mine. That’s why I started this blog! CSA (community supported agriculture) is a way to buy local food directly from a farmer, which could include fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, honey, nuts, and other foods.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified many problems in the way our society operates. One major problem that I bet has affected just about every one of you is our food supply chain. From shortages of staples at the grocery store to massive food waste and dumping by restaurants, and outbreaks of disease at large meat packing plants. Almost every way you look at it our global approach to eating just isn’t working for us or the health of our environment. One of the best (and easiest) ways you can break the chain is to support local farms. Cut out the middleman and you will truly be helping these farmers and make your community stronger. You may think that this isn’t an option for you, that you don’t live in the right area, but there are over 2 million farms in the USA and about 80% are small farms. Even if there isn’t one right in your neighborhood, many farms have drop-off sites to bring the food right to you. If you are interested in joining a CSA, there are several websites to help you find one near you. Fair Share Coalition showcases a really large number of farms in Wisconsin and surrounding areas. You can search nationally at Local Harvest. The United States Department of Agriculture also has a food directory for CSAs.
I will continue to cook seasonally and locally with my CSA share from Crossroads Community Farm in Cross Plains, WI. If you are also a member of this CSA you can follow along and see how I use my produce each week. I will break it down by vegetable so you know exactly what to do. If you are using another CSA, I think you will still find my meal plans and produce breakdown quite helpful. It is likely that where ever you are in the United States that you will have similar produce and can make substitutions to the recipes to fit exactly what you have. That is the beauty of cooking!
One Last Note: I FINALLY have the plastic reduction challenge fully posted. Check it out in the menu above or click here. If you participated in the challenge this winter, you can now look back and jump into different areas that you might not have been able to fully complete. If you are new to this, it is a 90 day challenge that I created to help others reduce their plastic use in just about every aspect of life. The challenge is based on my experiences over several years and is designed to break it down into easy steps. COVID-19 has definitely affected my ability to reduce plastic waste, particularly surrounding grocery shopping. I understand the reasoning, but it is still disappointing. Here are some tips of ways that I have had to be creative to work around the changes:
- Produce bags: Most grocery stores still do not allow you to bring your own bags, so instead, I try to find “naked” produce as much as I can and place it directly in my cart. The grocery store I use sanitizes the carts between each customer and you can always wipe it down yourself it you need to. I also wash all my produce well right when I get home. The ability of viruses, like coronavirus, to survive on these types of organic surfaces is pretty low, whereas they can live on plastic and metal surfaces for 2-3 days according to the CDC.
- Bulk & Grocery: This is what makes me the most sad. I have been used to bringing my own containers and filling up at the bulk section for things like rice, beans, oatmeal, peanut butter, oils, and more. Right now the bulk section is closed off at my store and bringing your own containers is not allowed. Instead I have been trying to find my non-perishable items (things that have a long shelf life) in the largest package possible. My grocery store has some large bags, but you could also look at Costco, Sam’s, and Gordon Foods. Another option is to go right to the manufacturer. I was able to get a large bag of my favorite herbal tea sent to me from Rishi in Milwaukee and we got some fresh ground coffee from our small coffee shop in town that the owner kindly put into a paper bag. If I can’t find things in bulk, then I try to buy them in glass, aluminum, or paper containers that can be recycled. I was pleased to find some pasta in a cardboard box with a biodegradable (bioplastic) window.
- Meat: The meat and fish counters at my store were closed, but are now back open, so I can get meat and fish wrapped in butcher paper. I have been trying to cut back on our meat consumption to just a few times per week anyways since this is a good way to be kind to the environment.
- Check-out: I’m currently not able to bring my own shopping bags to stores and I’m guessing most of you are in the same boat. At first I was choosing paper over plastic, the past couple of weeks I have started asking for a box at the store. I know Costco does this and your local grocery store may be able to also. After all, the food they sell comes in a lot of boxes! If I’m not buying very much, I just load all the groceries back into my cart and then pack into my cloth bags when I get to the car. It isn’t the most convenient, but it is a workaround for now.
Feel free to share ways that you have had to adjust your grocery shopping. I’d love to hear how others are coping.
