2016 CSA Series- Week 4
Woah. Jokes over. Turn back the calendar. How it is August already?!?!
Life has been a little on the hectic side. We’ve been painting the new house in full force (since June really, but we’ve been going HAM lately). That leaves little time for blogging! 🙂 But I’m trying to snap lots of pics to share our mini reno were doing.
*side note* picking paint colors is a unique form of torture I was not aware of until now…..
Focus…. ok, since the last CSA(community supported agriculture) post I’ve also gone to my CSA farm to meet my farmers and have a tour around the farm. It was a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful farm, and I can’t wait to share more about that and pictures of it soon!
Now, this week is jam packed with goodies. ❤
Here’s what we got in box# 4:
Some pretty standard items so not too hard to identify but because it’s fun: 
Sometimes it takes a while for me to find something interesting and fun to do with the veggies but I’m pretty happy with what we did this time around.
Cabbage: I have the perfect thing I want to do with this but time got the best of me and then I got another one in my next box so I’m going to do a double batch and share it with you next time! Stay tuned 🙂
Broccoli: Honey Lemon Chicken Rice Bowls So albeit, while this might not be the most exciting thing to do with the broccoli itself this dish as a whole is fun. The broccoli was so fresh and delicious I’m sort of happy we just steamed it and go to enjoy the full blown flavor by itself. These Honey Lemon Chicken Rice Bowls are a breeze to whip up and also make great leftovers for work too!
You can reduce your sauce down as much as you ‘d like. The honey gets it very sticky and sugary so you can get a pretty thick sauce if you’d like. But it’s all up to you and what you like 🙂 The longer you simmer the thicker it will get (don’t forget it will thicken up even more when off the heat).
Pickling Cucumbers & Onion: Easy Refrigerator Pickles
THIS recipe is my favorite pickle recipe in the WORLD. It’s so easy and so delicious. A tab bit sweeter than the average recipe but I love it. I usually eat way more than my fair share of these in one sitting.
Zucchini/Summer Squash: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Zucchini bread? Pretty tasty. Zucchini cookies? Amazing and world changing.
I adapted a recipe I found and added flax and chia seeds for added nutrition. There’s also a surprising amount of zucchini in here too! They’re cookies but they also pack a healthy punch! And important step in the instructions is to squeeze the zucchini dry (or as dry as you can) this will help keep your cookies from being a soggy mess. 🙂 I used both zucchini and summer squash in this recipe as you can see from all the beautiful green and yellow flecks below (Go Pack Go 🙂 ).
Cauliflower & Swiss Chard: Riced Cauliflower & Swiss Chard Spaghetti These pictures didn’t turn out that great. Apparently I was shaky mc shakes this day and all of them have a little blur, sorry about that! This was a off the whim creation and has a great summery lemon taste along with being packed with TONS of veggies; the swiss chard reduces in size greatly and the cauliflower rice is so fine you wouldn’t know you’re eating a plate of veggies too 🙂 
My hubs thought all the little riced cauliflower peices were garlic. ha! I DO love garlic but that would be extreme even for me. But as you can see from this close up, this recipe is a terrific way to get an extra serving of vegetables into a pasta dish. It’s virtually undetectable. 
Lettuce, Onions, & Cucumbers: Cucumber & Blueberry Summer Salad What would a week in summer be without a salad?! Very similar to our berry salad from last week, but still different enough and delicious! 
More Cucumbers: I had quite the supply of cukes laying around. I got a ton in the box and my in-laws gave some to me too. I made my go to bbq dish for a group of people we had over at the house and it was a big hit, not to mention a great way to use up a seemingly never ending supply of cucumbers. Oh and the best part? It take like 5 minutes to make. win.win.win.
Eggplant: Brushcetta I posted about this in the last box post as well but didn’t have any pictures. So because it’s so freaking delicious, I decided to make it again and share pictures this time! This one was one of the first recipes I put up on the blog back when I first started it. And oh woooowww, looking back how my formatting and photography have changed since then. Needless to say, an updated share was necessary although it’s still as delicious as the first time I made it; it just looks much more presentable now 🙂 
Carrots & Hot Peppers: Roasted Veggie Tacos This was the recipe I was most excited to make. Sort of inspired by my roasted veggie stacked enchiladas , these roasted carrot tacos are a delicious meat free meal for mid week (or any time of week!) If you wanted you could sub sweet potato for the carrots or do a mix, but I wanted the delicious carrots to be the highlight!! 
Whew another week in the books! 🙂 Hope you enjoyed. Get out there and make the most of the rest of the summer!
What are some of your favorite summer time recipes?!?
xoxo
Before the past couple days, We’d been having some absolutely gorgeous summer weather (not too hot or humid) and we took advantage and made some delicious burgers on the grill. There might honestly be nothing better than a grassfed beef burger cooked on a natural charcoal grill enjoyed while sitting outside. ❤ This coleslaw was the perfect fresh veggie side. I didn’t make and use that much “sauce” because I hate goopy and soggy coleslaw but if you find you want more, feel free to do so!
Used the Lettuce & Strawberries:
These strawberries! You guysssss, just as good as the last box and so much better than store bought. They were so good. We used them in both the salad it’self and in the dressing! I had a friend over and this salad was a big hit, she even made it for her family the next night she liked it so much! 🙂 
Used the Fennel:
Used the Peas, Summer Squash, Zucchini, Basil & Eggs:
I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem. I LOVE zucchini noodles but my husband? Not so much. Every time he asked what’s for dinner and I say *blank blank* pasta or pasta with *blank* I get “
Not a great picture, but couldn’t resist a little gooey egg action 🙂 🙂 
Used the Garlic Scapes & Cucumbers:
This was the first meal I made with the CSA veggies from this box. Holy Moly we started out strong. I can’t even pick a favorite part of this meal. The polenta (grits), the chicken, the collards, the toasted coconut…it was all so damn good.
You know those annoying “ads” on Facebook that are so misleading? Like the picture of a banana with the title “10 foods that are slowly killing you”. Yeah, you totally know the ones. They’re a buzzkill. Sometimes I’m deceived and click on them and read the craziest things and always wonder…what are these sites that only have that stuff? Who’s making money from this? How is this a real thing? Who writes that stuff? Do people believe this stuff? I probably spend too much time thinking about it to be honest.
100% disclosure here…. I’m having a hard time not making these every day and eating them and rationalizing it as healthy for me. So far only the one batch of them, but I can feel another one coming on. I mean c’mon you guys….like, how could you not?
You’re hungry for them now, right? Make them. You’ll love them. *pinkey swear promise*
The weather the past week or so around here has been out of this world! In Wisconsin, weather fluctuates pretty extremely. One day could be 70 degrees and then you get snow the next. It’s a lot to handle sometimes.
TWO: combine all of your spinach and cheese filling ingredients in a bowl. 
THREE: layer and assemble the lasagna. Follow those “layer instructions” below. 
FOUR: finish the layers and then top generously with cheese, because #Wisconsin.
FIVE: bake it, divvy up, and devour ❤
Oh so delicious. I love nutmeg but some people are not big fans, you can omit if you would like, although I might judge your sanity because it’s so good. I could go on and on, but I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves. Hopefully you make this and love it too!
If you’re not drooling now, something might be wrong with you. Here’s the recipe so you can make this for yourself. 
We’ve had a LOT of new views and new subscribers in the past few days because of the love from and a post by 
My biggest weakness in life is chips and salsa. Scratch that, it’s just the salsa.
Boom. You’re done, and well on your way to happy salsa land. If you’re obsessed with SPICY like me, you can throw in some jalapeño too, which I did.
Don’t forget to check back for the delicious pork taco recipe! Have wonderful and safe weekend!
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