Monday-
Grassfed meatloaf with potatoes and brussels sprouts from the farmers' market.
Tuesday -
On our own. It's getting more difficult to fend for yourself when you don't feel like cooking. I think I had some bread with peanut butter and honey. Speaking of peanut butter, did you know that you can make it by putting a bunch of salted, roasted peanuts in the food processor and processing it until it forms a ball? Oh yeah!
Wednesday -
Roasted chicken with potatoes and onions and a cabbage salad (all from the farmers' market). We slaughtered the chicken on Monday. The chickens are putting weight on nicely. She had a lot of fat on her too. After eating chicken that tastes like, well, chicken I don't think I can ever go back to eating commercial chicken.
Thursday -
Beef & buffalo broccoli with curry sauce. Kind of an Indian dish. I know, I know, Indians don't eat beef but it was tasty...
Friday -
Roasted duck with orange cranberry marmalade glaze with mashed parsnips (from the CSA) and potatoes (from our garden). This was the first time I've ever cooked and eaten duck. I figured I should probably do it before we start raising them. And the conclusion? We are DEFINITELY raising ducks!
Saturday -
Homemade spaghetti pasta with sauce from our canned tomatoes and veggies from the farmers' market and grassfed ground beef.
Reflections -
This week was really tough. The third week of not having a farmer's market. We were definitely out of produce and had resorted to eating unripe oranges off of our tree. Really, it was like eating lemons. It was also a week of people bringing in chocolate to the office. I quickly realized that life is too short for shitty chocolate. Yes, I'm talking to you Hershey's, M&M Mars and every other major candy brand out there.
It is very hard to get produce. We do not access to CSA's here, we just have our local farmer's market and that just runs June-October. We have no one in my area who grows apples or peaches,either.
ReplyDeleteI got some apples and small peaches from my neighbor, and I put those up, in a light syrup and water-bathed them. This is usually how I do it to have some type of fruit during the winter here. The next batch of peaches and apples, I dehydrated them and keep them in the freezer to use as a candy substitute or to put into fruit cakes or oatmeal.
And forget about any oranges, as what we get here isn't worth the money that the grocery charges.
What you are doing is an experiment and a learning curve, this year, it takes planning, very much on your part. You are doing great I think, and it will be so much better this coming year. You have so much more access to things than we do here in Nebraska.You are truly pioneers on your little urban farm.
It's hard once the farmer's markets close up for the year. I ran a Fall CSA this year just to see how it would go. I wasn't able to provide the variety we do in the Summer but we managed to keep 8 families in produce and whole grain bread up until the week before Christmas (zone 6b lower Midwest). As we get more space under cultivation I'm hoping to get a better winter garden set up as low tunnels require adjustments a couple of times a day. Good luck with your year long project. I'm really enjoying reading about it.
ReplyDeleteI want to learn how to make kale chips!
ReplyDeleteYea, being of European stock has really spoiled me on the chocolate front. Never going back to hershey, etc.
ReplyDelete