by Sam Tackeff | Jul 11, 2016 | Farm, Meal Planning
Happy Week! I thought I’d catch up this afternoon with a quick “From the field update”. I’m heading back to the farm on Tuesday – and I haven’t eaten through enough of last week’s produce yet, so my meal planning this week is focused on eating through as much of this as I can! I also have a Walden delivery – coming on the 21st, so I have a good amount of eggs and meat to make my way through. (Don’t forget you can get $20 off a Walden share through August with my referral code thesecondlunch)
:: June 28th produce at Stearns Farm CSA ::
To pick: 2 quarts of sugar snaps, 1 quart of snow peas, and I grabbed some yerba buena (a type of mint) from the herb garden.
Pre-picked: 2 lbs. zucchini, 2 large cucumbers, 1 head lettuce, collard greens (or kale!), 1 bunch scallions, 1 bunch salad turnips, 1 bunch kohlrabi, 1 bunch beets.
And here’s how I organize my CSA share.
This week’s prep: here’s what I’ll be making with my produce and some of the meat share. Most of the produce will be for my lunches.
- hard boil eggs and pre-peel some of them
- a batch of Turkish zucchini
- cook down collards
- pickle turnips
- spiralize kohlrabi for kohlrabi slaw
- sauté beet greens and kohlrabi greens with olive oil and garlic
- prep snacks: sugar snaps, baba gannoush, and green tahini
Here’s what I’m thinking for dinners this week:
Monday: pork chops and apple-kohlrabi slaw
Tuesday: crab, mango, and avocado salad
Wednesday: ground beef with salsa, cauliflower rice, and guacamole
Thursday: butter chicken with rice and salsa
Friday: out!
Happy week!
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 6, 2016 | Meal Planning
Happy Monday! In good news, I re-signed up for my farm share this summer, so we’ll be eating well all summer long. The photo is a sample from last summer’s haul.
We had an unexpected vet visit this weekend, because the pup was having tummy troubles. He ended up getting fluids, some anti-nausea meds, and plenty of rest, which gave me a good excuse to curl up with him on the couch and work on my weekly meal plan. By the end of the afternoon he was still feeling under the weather, so he got a fancy overnight stay, and we’re hoping that he can come home today. Having a sick fur baby is terrible.
It’s been a while since I’ve formally written out a meal plan – lately it’s been a combo of meal kit boxes, and last minute trips to the store for simple dinners. With my latest training cycle coming to an end, I need to just eat mindfully before my next big race, so I’m planning things out again!
I’m also testing out a blender (from an un-named company), so there will be a few sauces and green smoothies this week in my rotation for side salads and lunches. I’m thinking a spring pesto and maybe a ketchup.
:: The Weekly Meal Plan: Week of June 6th, 2016 ::
This week’s prep: cook chicken breasts and rice for pup’s bland get-better diet, grill chicken thighs and vegetables outside for week long lunches. It’s my start of grilling season, and I’m hoping to spend a lot more time cooking al fresco this summer now that I have access to a larger grill than my mini one.
Monday: chicken steamed buns over spiralized carrot and mint salad. This is one of our leftover meals from last week that I had stocked in my refrigerator. I’ve been having fun with my spiralizer lately – something about the season that makes me want to spiralize ALL THE THINGS!
Tuesday: salmon with creamy barley and zucchini salad. A Blue Apron meal that I think I’ll follow through with from their recipe rather than doctoring too much.
Wednesday: chicken picatta with fusilli pasta + garlic chives. We actually haven’t had pasta in a while. I may swap out my current favorite gluten free brown rice and quinoa pasta from Trader Joe’s for a little bit more protein.
Thursday: spiced lamb and beef tagine with lemon-garlic cauliflower couscous and labneh. This is a Blue Apron meal that I’m doctoring – swapping out cauliflower rice for the couscous.
Friday: out! or more likely takeout until it’s patio season and we can sit somewhere with the pup. Let’s face it, I may be in the mood for Chipotle.
Saturday: Thai marinated pork tenderloin with mango, cashews, and a mango-jicama slaw. A combination of a Cooksmarts meal (I subscribe to the meal planning service), and a salad that I like from Trader Joe’s.
Sunday: shrimp cobb salad with avocadoes, tomato, bacon, corn and eggs. Another Cooksmarts meal.
And now a question for you – what are some of the challenges you have around getting dinner on the table these days? I’m looking to build some new meal planning resources, and I’d love to hear more about what’s frustrating or challenging you.
by Sam Tackeff | Oct 25, 2015 | Meal Planning
The season is winding down at the farm, and I picked up my last regular season share on Friday. After the next one, I’ll have two winter pickups (mostly root vegetables) before Stearns closes up shop for the year.
It’s been a while since I’ve written out an actual meal plan – I go through phases where I’m completely sure about what I want to eat, and then ones where I’m finicky and can’t plan in advance. I still manage to feed myself wholesome meals (most of the time), but it really helps to have things organized.
When in doubt, I opt for a protein and two vegetables, and go from there. Sometimes it’s chicken, brussels sprouts, and a salad. Other times it’s eggs, tomatoes and potatoes. Occasionally, and very rarely, it’s no vegetables at all. But when that happens – you know, it’s okay! Because sometimes you just need Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese and lobster.
Vegetables I’l be eating from the farm share:
Acorn squash, cabbage, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, peppers, carrots, bok choi, broccoli, potatoes, kale, daikon, and mixed greens.
Things I’ll be cooking this week:
:: A big green salad with grilled chicken thighs, fennel fronds, roasted peppers, roasted acorn squash, feta, nuts, and whatever else needs to be used in my fridge.
:: Some tomato sauce to freeze, with the last of my summer tomatoes. I haven’t decided which recipe to use yet, but I want something relatively basic that will go well with different flavor profiles and cuisines.
:: I’m tweaking a Turkish red lentil soup recipe for my forthcoming quick weeknight meals e-book.
:: Some
pickled daikon and carrot salad from Elizabeth Andoh’s
Kansha cookbook. I made this for an event at Omnivore once, and it was a total hit.
:: Beets! Beets! Beets! I’m going to make a twist on the
Veselka Borscht , and
quick pickled beets with cumin and coriander.
Treats I want to try: I make my pumpkin chocolate chip cake at least once a season! This week is going to be the week.
What’s cooking in your kitchen this weekend?
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 29, 2015 | Farm, Farmers Market, Gardening
This summer I’ll be heading west to the farm every other week as part of a CSA (community supported agriculture) program at Stearns Farm, in Framingham, MA. Unlike the CSA boxes that end up on your doorstep, Stearns is a bit more hands on, and requires both regular work hours, and picking a good portion of your produce each pickup. It’s a way for me to avoid the supermarkets, eat in season, and (selfishly) farm without the larger commitment.
:: Storing and prep ::
On CSA pickup day I try to clean my fridge and re-organize in advance so I’ll have space for my produce when I return.
When heading to the farm, I bring large cooler bags, and a few assorted sizes of Ziplocks. I also bring a pair of scissors to cut herbs and certain vegetal leaves. I bring a sharpie to label my produce with a name and date picked.
If produce can stay on the counters in a shady part of my kitchen, I’ll leave them out. If I have no space, I’ll freeze leafy vegetables like spinach and chard to put in smoothies.
So, what’s on the table?
:: June 19th produce at Stearns Farm CSA ::
To pick: 1 quart snow peas, 1 quart snap peas, 10 stalks of swiss chard, 2 quarts of strawberries, and glean spinach which was going to seed. Herbs: sage, marjoram, garlic chives, and mint.
Pre-picked: 1 lb. zucchini, a large head of escarole (or a kohlrabi), a huge bok choy, mustard greens, scallions, and three heads of lettuce.
:: Quick Meal Possibilities ::
When dealing with my CSA vegetables, I like to have an arsenal of easy no-recipe meal ideas that use a lot of vegetables. Many of my go to meals are here. I also make a lot of stir fries, serve quick cooked vegetables with ground meat, mix vegetables with eggs, eat large salads, and break out my spiralizer to make vegetable noodles.
My cookbook collection certainly helps with ideas – I have a good selection of vegetable based cookbooks which are organized by vegetable type. I also make good use of my Eat Your Books subscription.
My Walden Meat share (pictured below) also helps me plan – I try to defrost a few meats in the fridge every week, and then build meals based on what I’ve pulled out to cook.
Just a few of my meals this week – not all of these are exclusively with farm produce, but I prioritize what needs to be eaten quickly (lettuces), as well as any existing leftovers in the fridge.
- fresh herb and scallion frittata
- single serving strawberry crumbles
- salad with Turkish köfte, peppers and avocado
- peanut soba noodles with scallions, snap peas, and chicken
- salad with snap peas and cabbage, and cumin spiced chopped beef
- potato and cauliflower jalfrezi with hard boiled eggs
- chicken tikka masala with garlic sautéed spinach
- goulash with ground beef, red lentils, tomato, and cauliflower
- farm lettuce salad with fennel, pepper, roasted broccoli, vadouvan sausage
I’ll try to drop in notes over the course of the season so you can see what I’ll be doing with my produce. In the meantime, I’ve been sharing most of my meals here on Instagram lately. Take a look!
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 19, 2014 | Meat
For the past few months I’ve been looking forward to meat share day – my delivery of my Walden Local Meat CSA. Here’s a look at today’s haul. I get the 10-12 pound share, and supplement it with a few extra pounds of ground beef, two dozen pastured eggs, and occasionally a few extra goodies. This month I got a couple of pounds of beef bones for bone broth.
This month’s share had: a large Boston Butt (pork), ground pork, ground beef, breakfast sausage, beef stew meat, bratwurst, Lamb round chops, and a boneless strip steak. (Each share is different, and you mark your preferences in a monthly survey they send out. You can customize, add on, and cut out things you don’t like. They also provided some of their home made beef sticks to try out.
So many great meals to look forward to!
Walden Local Meat Co.
http://waldenlocalmeat.com/
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