Two New Recipes! Zucchini Fritters and Egg roll in a bowl

I was on fire this week!  Well, we got zucchini in the produce box, and with it came a recipe for 5-ingredient zucchini fritters.  So I decided to give it a try.  I realized that while I planned to make them for dinner Wednesday, I'd forgotten that I had a PTA meeting.

So I made them Weds morning before work and after my workout.  But I made the mistake of getting dressed for work first.  So then, I smelled like fritters (oil) all day.  Hm.

Apparently the kids (big one especially) thought they were delicious!  I did too.  Pretty easy and great.

The other recipe I'd been reading about is "Egg Roll in a Bowl".  I found many versions, and started with this one.  I decided to try it because we got green cabbage from the box. It was a definite hit!

I used sliced steak for the meat, because I had it.  I think the key to this recipe (and a good stir fry), is getting the balance right of the spices - in this case, green onion, garlic, and fresh ginger.

For the Zucchini fritters, I used the recipe that came with the box - they have a newsletter. I don't have a picture of the actual fritters, because we ate them.  But maybe I'll take a picture later this week.

5-Ingredient Zucchini Fritters
4 cups shredded zucchini (the food processor is your friend!!)
2/3 c. flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup sliced scallions (green & white parts) - I will have to sub regular onion this week
Vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

Put shredded zucchini in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle lightly with salt.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes.  Or in my case, the length of a shower + getting dressed.  Using your hands, squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Put zucchini in a large bowl and mix with flour and eggs and scallions, plus 1/4 tsp and 1/8 tsp pepper (you know I eyeballed that).  Stir until combined.

Line a plate with paper towel.

In a non-stick skillet, heat a generous amount of oil.  Put over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, scoop a 3-Tbsp mound of the mixture into the pan, pressing lightly into rounds and spacing 2 inches apart.

Cook 2-3 minutes and flip, and cook 2 more minutes until golden brown.  Transfer to paper towel lined plate.  Repeat until done.  I think I made 15 of them.

They are delicious with sour cream, or just plain.

Marcia's Famous Salad

Next up!  Not a recipe.  It's not a surprise if you know me, but I eat a lot of salad.  Like every day.  I get a free lunch at work tomorrow (sandwiches) so I get a break from making a salad.

My husband is getting tired of sandwiches.  So I offered to make him one of my salads.  He used to eat sandwiches for lunch (for decades), then he started taking leftovers (and was competing with me for them).  I used to work that into my meal plan - however lately I've been giving him sandwiches. (because if he eats leftovers, then I have to cook dinner more often, KWIM?  And: baseball.  So many nights away from home.)

The risk here, though, is that he wants me to make him salad more often.  Hmm...

Delicious Eats from the Box

Well, here's a sampling of what we ate this week.

Sunday:
Brunch: Mushroom, feta, spinach frittata
Dinner:  Tamales (from Costco) with enchilada sauce, salad

Breakfasts were toast, homemade raisin bread, and cereal
Lunches were a combo of leftovers, sandwiches (dad) and salads (mom).

Dinners:
Monday: Chicken tikka masala (so...my office had an anniversary catered lunch Friday.  I missed it because I was off running the school jog-a-thon.  There were leftovers in the fridge. I took some home.  It was delish.  The kids had chicken fingers.)  Red cabbage and apple slaw.

Tuesday: Leftover tamales, red cabbage and apple slaw

Wednesday:  Refried bean and chicken tacos (bean recipe from 100 days of real food, done in crockpot on Monday), cabbage slaw.  Chicken is Costco roasted chicken.

Thursday: Bean and chicken burritos, salad (I had the slaw for lunch, by now I'm sick of the cabbage)

Friday: Red cabbage fried rice.  I'd made the fried rice last weekend and froze it, without the cabbage.  I cooked up the last 1/4 head of cabbage with garlic, mixed in the fried rice, and added leftover chopped chicken.

My basic fried rice recipe is from Weight Watchers, and I adjust it based on what I have. The kids LOVED it.  It was great.  I had sriracha of course.

This particular version included white rice, cauliflower rice, peas, carrots, chicken, sesame oil, Bragg's liquid aminos, garlic, and of course the cabbage.  And maybe ginger?  I don't remember.

Funny story, last night was the kiddo's first baseball game of the season.  My husband took him there, then watched him bat (he walked, but then scored!) then went to go get the little one.  After he got the little one, he met me for a free glass of wine at our wine club winery.  It's not exactly free when you buy a $15 bottle while you are there.  Then he took the little one back to the game, and I came home and cooked.

Now it's Saturday morning.  I took the last of the spinach, washed it, and cooked it up with some eggs and some red Leicester cheese (spicy peppers and roasted peppers).

The rest of today is chores...some groceries (it's raining, I'm feeling like split pea soup), swim lessons, and science fair project.

The Produce Box

So, we are trying a new thing this year!  Our CSA has been suffering because of the drought. They ended early last year, and haven't started up yet this year.  Our neighbors have been getting a local produce delivery for awhile now.  When they are out of town, they have us go over and put it in their fridge.  Bonus: it's still local (farmer's market, including our CSA farm), AND they deliver it.

The only downside is that it's more expensive.  Oh, and I have to prep and figure out what to do with it.  Our grocery budget is about $100 a week, give or take, and this is $40.

Well, we got our first box yesterday, and here's the haul.
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch celery
3 lbs oranges
1.5 lbs apples
1 head red cabbage (it's huge)
1.5 lbs spinach
1 head lettuce
1 bunch cilantro
2 lemons
1 pound broccoli
1 head garlic

So, what to do, what to do?  I have to tell you, I am NOT feeling the food prep today.  I know it's how we survive the week. But I am super duper tired from lack of sleep.  I've had a chest cold/ bronchitis.  And this week was the school move-a-thon, which I was in charge of running.

And other stresses are that I was at our potluck today, half way through eating, when one of the guys talked about how sick he was with food poisoning 2 days ago.  Ugh, it better be food poisoning.  We've had the stomach flu 3 times this winter already.  I've had contact with too many people with stomach flu!  It's been a gnarly season.

So here's the plan:
Red cabbage slaw with carrots and apples and blue cheese and walnuts (need to buy blue cheese)
Celery and carrots raw with PB or hummus
Lots of salad with lettuce and spinach and diced oranges
Steamed broccoli
Lemon herb salad dressing
Raisin bread

I've already made some fried rice and put it in the freezer.  I will toss the cilantro in there later. I don't have much meat right now - or what I do have is frozen solid.  I really need to plan better, and take stuff out of the freezer on Thursday night.  I have to go get the blue cheese, so I think I'll get some frozen chicken tenders and some sort of sauce from Trader Joe's.  Maybe chicken curry, or BBQ chicken, or something like that.  Tonight might be a good night for salad and nachos.

The week's meal plan - with links!

Well, as it so happens, we ate lots of delicious meals this week.  And I didn't take pictures of any of it.  I know if you visit my blog, though, you certainly don't do it for my photographic skills.  Yep, I spent my time taking pictures of my adorable 7 month old.

 

Yeah, I need to repaint the toenails.

 

So, here's what's on the menu this coming week.  This CSA started up again, so that means a ton of work.

 

Saturday: fish and pea curry, brown rice, and carrot ginger soup from this book

Sunday: baked lemon chicken and chickpeas and spinach from this book (I used chard, fava leaves, and spinach from the CSA)

Monday: leftover chicken and chickpeas

Tuesday: chicken fingers and roasted beets

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: leftover carrot ginger soup and pasta with last week's meatballs

 

Lunches: bean burritos with crockpot refried beans from 100 Days of Real Food.

 

I also washed lettuce and spicy greens, washed 2 bunches of radishes, washed blueberries.  Still have to make carrot sticks for lunches.

 

The only CSA veggie work to do the rest of the week is roast the beets with some carrots on Tuesday.

Green Tomato Relish

I had a couple of green tomatoes from the CSA, and this recipe came to my inbox.  So I decided to try it.

Now, I didn't have enough to make a big batch.  And I didn't feel like it anyway.  And I learned you should never really work on something that needs to be simmered for an hour when you are nursing a baby, as it's all too easy to lose track of time and burn the crap out of everything.

But I digress.  I scooped out the top and my husband cleaned the burned bits out of the pan.  It's very tasty.

I cut the recipe in 1/4.  I still didn't have enough tomatoes, so I added zucchini.  I cut the hot peppers in half (used only one).  I could have used two.  I'm the only one eating the stuff anyway.  I got about 1 pint. 

Yesterday, I made a ham panini on my George Foreman and slathered it with this tasty stuff.  Yum!

Ode to Fairview Gardens

Tonight's dinner was an ode to Fairview Gardens.  I made our dinner with many of their ingredients.  This is our CSA farm (we've been members since 2001).

I did a one-pot italian rice and vegetables.  I used to make these kinds of things in a nonstick skillet.  I recently replaced my skillet with a "green" ceramic one.  I love it, but it's curved wall not straight wall, and I lost a lot of volume.  So instead, I've been making things in the Dutch oven, but it holds heat so well, stuff sticks.  So, I'm still learning how to get it right.

Today's rice was good, but it did stick, and some of it was still crunchy.  Hopefully it will soften in the microwave tomorrow.

Sausage and Rice and Vegetable meal (you could sub beans for the sausage).
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 small sausages (I used chicken-apple-chardonnay), diced
1 medium onion, chopped (from CSA)
1 medium zucchini, chopped (from CSA)
1 bunch chard - destemmed.  Chop the stems and leaves separately (from CSA)
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups diced tomatoes/ marinara (from CSA - they canned them!)
1.5 cups white rice
1 to 2 cups water (I was experimenting here - it depends on the pot and how thick your tomatoes/sauce are).
handful fresh basil, chopped (from CSA)

Saute the sausage, onion, zucchini, chard stems in olive oil until softened and well cooked.  Add the garlic and saute 1 minute.

Add the rice, oregano, dried basil, salt, and pepper and stir to coat rice with the oil.  Cook a few minutes to brown it a bit, if that's even possible in your pot full of veggies.  Add the chard and 1 cup water, reduce heat and cover to steam the chard a bit.  Add the marinara and the rest of the water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover.  Cook, stirring, until rice is cooked (about 20 min).

Toss with fresh basil.

I served this with kale chips from...FG!  And guacamole made with salsa I canned last year with FG tomatoes and peppers.

Greens!

It's definitely been "bag 'o greens" season at the farm, and we've been getting a kale/cabbage mixture (several different kinds of each).  I've put it in soup, creamed it, stewed it, but mostly, I like it stir-fried with Trader Joe's Island Soyaki sauce.  Because it's easy.  Wash, chop, stir-fry, add a little water, steam 5-10 mins, remove lid to dry out, add sauce, heat through, remove from heat.

We also got some brussels sprouts last week.  I roasted them last night.  This week was supposed to be "all you can pick" brussels sprouts at the farm (free to members), but they canceled it due to an extreme aphid infestation.  Which manifested itself in my broccoli today. Oh boy, it was bad.  I soaked/ rinsed about 10x, then boiled to within an inch of its life, then skimmed off the aphids and rinsed again.

My neighbor gave me the tip to try vinegar in the water.  I will next time.

This week's CSA had kale, lettuce, baby arugula, bag o greens, broccoli, radishes, cabbage, dried beans, and jarred marinara.

Sorry for the quickie, but I have a sick kid on my hands!

Ginger Glazed Carrots and Turnips, and Leftover Brisket

Okay, the brisket was MUCH better on day 2.  That's probably why the recipe suggests you make it the day before.  Softer, not chewy, flavorful.  Yum.  Maybe I'll try it again sometime.  It was delicious over brown rice.

I used this recipe from smitten kitchen.  My brisket was only about 1.75 lbs, so I edited it.  And I didn't have chili sauce so I used a little salsa.

I also made ginger glazed carrots and turnips.  I got this bunch of teeny tiny baby turnips from the CSA, and thought they would go well with the rest of our carrots. 

Tomorrow is Wednesday.  Last Thursday was our first pick up day of our CSA.  All we have left is a lemon and some lettuce.  Good thing pick-up day is coming the day after.

CSA Haul!

Last week on on the thin side, this week was NOT!

1 basket strawberries
4 plums
3 avocados
1 head romaine
0.3 lbs lettuce mix
2 cucumbers
1 lb zucchini
1 bunch onions
1 bunch fava greens
2 lbs tomatoes

Looking forward to chopping and eating lots of salad!  I think I'm going to have an open-faced egg and tomato sandwich for breakfast.

CSA Week 1

Well, after 10 years of our CSA (this is the start of our 11th year), we've changed it up a bit. We switched our pick up day from Thursday to Tuesday. The reason for this was twofold:

1. Farmer's market at my son's school is Wednesday. It's easier to shop there because I already know what we got, vs. not knowing what we will get.

2. Farmer's market (the big one) is on Saturday. It's hard to shop on Saturday when we just got a ton of stuff on Thursday.

So now, we will have eaten our way through at least 2/3 of our stash by the time Saturday rolls around, at which point we can decide if we need more veggies and fruit. And by "we", I mean "me".

Here's the haul for week one, and it's a biggie:
1 head lettuce (salad)
0.25 lb arugula (salad)
1 bunch kale (kale chips)
1 bunch collards (not sure yet)
1 bunch beets (steaming as we speak to add to the salad)
1 bunch carrots (with hummus and for Moroccan Lentil soup)
1 bunch celery (Moroccan lentil soup and with peanut butter and maybe in a rice dish and blanch some and put in the freezer for soups later on)
1 bunch cilantro (Sesame Cashew Pasta)
0.25 lb garlic (everything)
1 butternut squash (roast it)

Plus my awesome boss brought in something like 50 to 100 lbs of avocados, so I brought home 7 of them. Avos, not pounds.

My general plan is to use the stuff that will wilt earlier in the week, and save the rest for later. So salads, arugula, greens will get used earlier. Root veggies and butternut squash will keep in the laundry room (which is cooler) for longer. Besides, peeling squash is a pain, so it is definitely a weekend thing.

We are pretty set for the week because I made:
split pea soup on Saturday (bit pot)
pasta with tomato sauce, veggies, and local sausage on Sunday (a whole pound of pasta, so we've got 8 servings)
a big pot of brown rice/quinoa/peas/corn and a big pot of fresh cranberry beans on Monday

When we run out of leftovers, I'll make the sesame cashew noodles.

Hey, check out my new tabs! Some of our family favorite recipes can be found in the recipes tab.

CSA

It's been awhile - I just got back from a 2 week vacation, which means I missed 3 weeks of CSA (CSA pick up is Thursday, we left on a Friday). My friend Kelly was the lucky recipient while I was gone (it's nice to donate your share to someone who appreciates the good stuff).

I was SOOO excited to finally get my share today, that I had to take a picture.

So here goes:
1 bunch onions
2 baskets strawberries
1 small head lettuce
2 peaches
2 oranges
1 basket cherries
1 lb zucchini
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch arugula
1/2 lb salad mix

The fruits are destined for just eating. The berries and cherries will be gone Saturday morning, at the earliest. I've been craving salad, so there won't be any problem with the mix (I made one tonight with the LOVELIEST avocado).

Some of the zukes and carrots went into a pasta salad for a potluck for my son's last day of school tomorrow (his preschool starts up again in 2 weeks). I also made arugula pesto for the pasta salad. Plus black beans, olives, and some sliced string cheese (it is for 2 to 5 year olds, you know).

This week CSA

Strawberries - TWO PINTS!! TWO PINTS!! The best strawberries ever.
1 bunch kale (need I say it? Kale chips)
1 lb broccoli: steamed. I dipped in hummus. It was good.
romaine: salad
beets: steamed in the salad, and the rest for snacking
lemons: dunno yet
1 lb oranges: ate one already

I should probably start listing all the free stuff I get from my boss, like a bunch of oranges and avocados this week. Pretty much you can assume that any avocado that I've eaten since January was free.

Which is why I started counting points a'la weight watchers again this week. Pants a little tight. need to drop about 5 lbs.

CSA Week 8

1 bu cilantro (Saturday's pasta)
6 lemons (Saturday's pasta)
1 bu chard (Saturday's pasta)
1 head romaine (Thursday salad, a little leftover)
1 bu kale (kale chips)
1 bu beets (roasted with onion and potato)
1.5 lb oranges (2 large)
1 pt of the most awesomest strawberries I've eaten in months

Week 5 CSA

Week 5 CSA
parsley
cilantro
cauliflower - white and orange
kale
oranges
carrots
radishes

Menu plan
salmon patties, kale chips, lentil rice soup (from a mix)
cornbread stuffing, roast cauliflower
Mediterranean chickpeas and rice, orange cauliflower, mushroom walnut pate (new recipe)
pasta with parsley and cilantro pesto (new recipe)
red lentil and artichoke soup (new recipe)

rest of the nights are leftovers

This week at the CSA

I thought it would be useful to post what I get from the CSA, and what I actually USE it for. One of the biggest ways to be "frugal" with food is to actually eat what you get - tossed food is money down the drain.

I've been thinking a lot lately about eating frugal. Less is Enough is starting a new challenge, and I'm looking forward to reading her progress. My own frugal goal from last year kind of petered out in September due to work constraints. And truth be told, rather than get hard-core like that this year, I'd rather focus on eating locally.

Don't worry, the menus are still going to be frugal as they will be made from frugal ingredients. (Including free food - can I tell you that folks from work have been bringing in cherimoya, grapefruit, oranges, persimmons, apples, satsuma mandarins, and avocados? Yum!) But I'm not likely to have the time or inclination this year to carefully track every penny and show you how one person can eat on $100 a month. Although I could probably hit that value, considering how many pounds of cherry tomatoes I got from one seed I planted. My hub just picked another one yesterday (tomato, not pound. It's cute.)

Last week's haul was:
One bunch long onions: spaghetti sauce, red cabbage slaw
One 4lb head of red cabbage: 1/2 went to the slaw, half to sweet and sour red cabbage and apples (which I'm finishing for lunch today. I think I've eaten 2.5 lbs of cabbage in 5 days).
One large head romaine: two nights of really big salads
One bunch carrots: salad and cole slaw and sticks. Still have some left for this week.
Cilantro: Sesame Cashew Noodles
Kale: Kale chips
Turnips: Sauteed turnips with butter and apple juice
Lemons: haven't used these yet, will probably put in salad dressing

This week:
green cabbage: will try fermented kimchi with onions and last week's carrots
1.5 lb apples: just eat 'em, maybe make a dessert since I bought a 3 lb bag also
LARGE head romaine: salad. And lots of it.
1/4 lb spinach: sandwiches or salad or smoothie
1 bunch arugula: probably pesto
1 bunch beets: steam and put on the salad
broccolli: mmm...steamed broccoli
bunch long onions: soup, kimchi

Crockpot Taco Soup

This recipe originated here. I am looking forward to testing out more. I don't use my crockpot very much, but with a return to full time, I expect to use it more.

Of course, I adjusted the recipe to both make it cheaper and a bit more "from scratch". First, I used dried beans instead of canned. This meant cooking up 1 cup of dried kidney beans in the pressure cooker on Sat (and then freezing), and cooking up 1 cup of dried pintos on Sunday. On Tuesday, I browned the meat. Instead of the large can diced tomatoes and small can of tomatoes and chiles, I used 3 cans (14 oz) of diced tomatoes and 4 oz can of green chiles. I added a "cube" of chipotle (I buy it, puree it, don't use very much, put it in ice cube trays, move to a freezer bag, where it languishes. It's hot. I have to make a LOT of something so that it's not too hot.)

I also subbed some spices for the MSG-filled "ranch dip mix".

So here goes. My son loves the "juice" of soup (the broth), and kept saying "juice is spicy, milk makes it better".

Crockpot Taco Soup
3 c. cooked kidney beans, drained: 0.45
3 c. cooked pinto beans, drained: 0.33
2 cans corn, undrained: 1.78
3 cans diced tomatoes (14 oz each), undrained: 1.68
1 can diced green chiles: 0.60
1 packet taco seasoning: 0.50
1 lb browned ground sirloin: 2.25
chipotle, paprika, sugar, garlic powder, onion flakes, and parsley ("ranch dip" substitute): 0.50
Total: 8.09 for about 17 cups, or 0.48 per cup

Dump in crockpot. Stir. Cook for 8 hours on low.

This was pretty good. Not fabulously good, even with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. But pretty good. I might try it next time vegetarian, and add some fresh onion and garlic.

I served this with Bok Choy with a soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, molasses, and peanut butter sauce mixture. It was pretty good, even if it doesn't sound it.

It's a big week on the farm:
2 bunches bok choy
1 head napa cabbage
the largest head of lettuce I've ever seen
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch collard greens
2 kohlrabi
3 oranges
1 lb mandarins
1/4 lb spinach

Cabbage is going into ramen slaw for the big birthday bash. Lettuce and spinach for salad and sandwiches. Greens maybe for an egg dish, or collard chips. Kohlrabi for stir-fry. That should get me all the way to next Weds. I still have a bulb of fennel from last week...I traded the fennel for extra bok choy this week.

Weekly Grocery and CSA roundup, 7/5-7/11/08

This one's ugly. Really. Didn't bother trying this week...or last week. We didn't host a lot of people this week, but we did make 2 trays of lasagna...(veg)...one for a friend who had a baby.

Grocery: $87.72

7/5 Ralph's: $9.22

Mayo: 2.50
Salsa: 2.89
2 pkg ramen: 0.40
jarred ginger: 1.99
1 head garlic: 0.50
6 bagels: 1.29 (from markdown)

7/5 TJ's: $11.83
Gal milk: 3.49
Joe's O's: 2.29
Feta: 2.29
3 apples: 1.47
Tortilla chips: 2.29

7/6 TJ's: $10.94
2 apples: 0.98
Cornbread mix: 2.49
Gal milk: 3.49
2 loaves bread: 3.98

7/7 TJ's: $12.66
cereal bars: 1.69
Chicken teriyako: 4.99
6 frozen egg rolls: 2.99
Spicy sushi rolls: 2.99

7/10 Scolari's: $18.12
2.65 lb onions: 1.83
head garlic: 0.35
2 cans spaghetti sauce: 3.38
2 lb mozzarella: 5.99
1 lb sliced mushrooms: 4.58
1 lb lasagna: 1.99

7/10 Lazy Acres: 6.98
2 pkgs pectin: 6.98 (making jam)

7/11 TJ's: 11.24
1 lb frozen chopped spinach: 1.29
whole grain fancy loaf bread: 2.99
32 oz cottage cheese: 3.99
1 lb raisins: 1.99
2 apples: 0.98

7/11 Mesa Produce: 6.73
1 pt strawberries: 2.99
zucchini: 1.24
2 red bell peppers: 2.50


CSA: $20
1 bu basil
1 basket strawberries
1 lb shelling beans
1 bu dandelion greens
1/2 lb carrots
2 lb peaches
2 onions
2 lb plums (very ripe, we made jam)
1 lb tomatoes
2 lb potatoes

Weekly CSA and grocery roundup: 6/27/08 - 7/4/08

Grocery total: $118.83

6/27 Vons: $9.86
Ground sirloin (1.99/lb): 5.24
chicken drumsticks (19): 4.62


6/28 TJ's: $22.27
Cornbread mix: 2.49
whole grain loaf: 2.99
limes, 1 lb: 1.29
apples, 4: 1.96
bananas, 3: 0.57
3 frozen pizzas: 12.97


6/29 Ralph's: $17.21
10 lb whole wheat flour: 6.38
1 lb light tub margarine: 3.29
2 lb CA brown rice: 1.59
1 lb lentils: 1.19
mini donuts: 0.99 (discount rack)
6 pk whole wheat english muffins: 0.89 (discount rack)
1 lb whole wheat bread: 1.29 (discount rack)
1 cantaloupe: 1.59

6/30 Trader Joe's $11.45
bagel chips: 2.29
gallon milk: 3.49
dozen eggs: 1.49
veggie burger: 2.49
12 flour tortillas: 1.69

7/3 Lazy Acres: $35.21
Italian sausage: 5.65
2 bars Dagoba chocolate: 3.98
Cheese: 2.74
Cookies: 2.84

7/4 Albertson's: $22.83
Whole grain bread: 2.59
Hot dog buns: 3.29
tortilla chips: 2.50
Reese's: 0.50
2 lb shrimp: 7.30
4 oz smoked salmon: 3.99
1.8 lb grapes: 1.41
1 avocado: 1.25

I had some pretty good weeks, followed by a couple of not-so-great ones these last two, as far as sticking to my $50 budget. I guess the weeks when my husband goes out of town on business are a little tough. Plus this week we entertained three or four times, which accounts for the frozen pizzas (I didn't say we were fancy entertainers), the chicken legs, shrimp, sausage, and the ground sirloin.

Weekly grocery and CSA roundup, 6/20 - 6/27/08

Grocery total: $50.41

6/23 Costco: $22.23
2pack strawberry jam: 4.99
3pk honey: 9.29
2 lb havarti cheese: 7.95

6/23 TJ's: $11.23
Cornbread baking mix: 2.49
Blueberry bars: 1.69
Romano & Parm cheese: 4.01
3 bananas: 0.57
1 doz eggs: 1.49
2 apples: 0.98 (Nick is on an apple kick right now)

6/25 TJ's: $16.95
1 L EVOO: 7.49
1 gal lowfat milk: 3.49
1 loaf WW bread: 1.99
Sea salt: 0.99

CSA ($20) what we got, amt, and what I plan to do with it:
broccoli - 1 lb (saute)
summer squash - 1 lb (tacos)
green beans - 1 lb (Asian saute)
peaches - 1 lb
plums - 1 lb
cucumber - 1 lb (salad)
carrots - 1 bu (ginger saute)
basil - 1 bu (pesto)
lettuce - 1 hd (salad)
beets - 1 bu (roast)

Random Free stuff: 4 avocados from friend's tree.

Weekly grocery and CSA roundup, 6/13-6/20/08

Grocery total: $45.72

Vons 6/13: $6.98
balsamic vinegar: $3.49
2 loaves fancy bread for party: $3.49

Tri County Produce 6/14: $1.56
2 large red onions: $1.56

Costco 6/15: $11.28
3 lb cottage cheese: $5.29
2 lb sharp cheddar: $5.99

Trader Joe's 6/17: $14.91
32 oz organic yogurt: $2.99
1 gal 2% mil: $3.49
BBQ sauce: $2.49
3 bananas: $0.57
whole wheat bread: $1.99
16 oz sour cream: $1.69
6 whole grain english muffins: $1.69

Scolari's 6/19: $8.49
2 green peppers: $1.00
24 oz salsa: $1.99
1.5 lb tortilla chips: $2.50
2 head garlic: 0.70
2 onions: $0.80
1 cantaloupe: $1.50

Kmart: $2.50
crackers: $2.50

CSA: $20
plums: 1 lb
strawberries: 1 pt
cilantro: 1 bu
basil: 1 bu
green beans: 1 lb
lettuce: 1 head
beets: 1 bu
turnips: 1 bu
onions: 1 bu
carrots: 1 bu
radishes: 1 bu
summer squash: 1 lb

Free stuff
4 oranges (Yejin's tree)
6 plums (Kevin and Julie's tree)
1/2 cantaloupe (from Michelle)
4 corn muffins (from Michelle)

plus invited to dinner 6/16 and 6/17 at friend's houses, and free lunch tomorrow 6/21 (company picnic)