Day 1: Chili with corn and jalapeno pepper
Day 2: Ratatouille, Shiso tea
Day 3: Homemade pizza, Tossed salad
Day 4: Burritos with carrots, black beans, onions, and anaheim pepper
Day 5: Carrot soup, Corn muffins
Day 6: Baked salmon, Kale dip with red pepper and cucumber slices
Day 7: Fridge dump
Notes: The kids are back at school and the nights are getting cooler. Summer is winding down. But I’m going to sneak in one last batch of ratatouille. We grew eggplants in the garden this year so I am using them up and freezing a bunch of ratatouille. Feel free to add peppers if you desire. They are in season here. I also am making my first batch of chili for the fall. Since it is sweet corn season I can use fresh corn, cut from the cob, rather than frozen. I already have my freezer stocked with more for my winter chili. I don’t have a recipe for the burritos this week. I just chop up the veggies, saute until soft, add the black beans, then sprinkle with taco seasoning and wrap in a tortilla.
GLP Tip of the Week: I’ve noticed that my fridge is getting a little overcrowded these days. That means it is time for a fridge dump! I’ve posted about this before (here is my original post), but thought I would let my new followers in on this food saving technique. If you need a reminder why food waste is so bad you can read here. When I find I am having trouble putting things into the refrigerator, I know it is time to go diving and figure out what needs to be eaten now. This is also a good trick when you don’t want to make supper. Basically I tell everyone it is a free for all and to find whatever they can for dinner, but it has to be mostly from the fridge. Even my 3 year old can participate. I do this at the end of my meal planning week so I know I’ve already used what I needed for my meals and I haven’t yet loaded the fridge back up with next weeks groceries. This also coincides with garbage day, in case I find something hiding that needs to be tossed. With careful planning (breakfast, lunch, and supper), ideally you will only buy what you need and use everything up each week. The better you get, the less often you need to do a dump. You may need to start with a fridge dump once a week and use what you have to plan your following weeks meals. I’m now down to only 3 or 4 times per year. It has only taken me 6 years to get here! 😉
CSA notes: Here is how I am using my produce share this week
- Carrots: 4 for carrot soup, 3 shredded for burritos, any left will be cut up for sticks to eat with kale dip or for lunch
- Tomatoes: ratatouille, if you don’t use them all you can slice for tossed salad
- Eggplant, Globe: ratatouille
- Pepper, Jalapeno: seeds removed and finely chopped to add to chili
- Shiso: steep the leaves in hot water for 20 minutes, then strain. Refrigerate until cool. Add lemon or lime juice and honey to taste and pour over ice. You can also serve hot if you desire.
- Onion, Yellow: 1 in ratatouille, 1/2 for burritos, 1/2 for carrot soup
- Pepper, Anaheim: seeds removed and chopped for burritos
- Kale, Lacinato: Remove the stems and chop the leaves for dip
- Lettuce Head, Various: tossed salad
- Pepper, Sweet Red (either Bell OR Carmen): Sliced and served with kale dip
- Garlic: ratatouille, burritos, kale dip
- Cucumber: sliced and served with kale dip
- Corn, Sweet: 4 for chili, 2 for corn muffins. Cut off cobs.
