Hi there readers.  Some of you are CSA members, and some are not.  Here’s a little insight into what I do with a sample Winter weekly share.  I hope to do this on a regular basis, we’ll see how that goes.  This first post will be a little long so that I can explain my whole planning process.  This might help some of you, if not, just ignore some parts

I’m Jen, by the way.  I help with emails and web (I took all those pictures above) and a little this and that for the farm while I work full time at home for my 2.5 year old son (that’s him eating a tomato in the bottom left corner picture).  I am also due in May with a daughter.  My husband Sean and I very excited!

I love to cook and have more time than some to cook but I certainly want to be able to get in an out of the kitchen sometimes so that I can do other fun things.  However, I want my food to taste great.  I will try to showcase ideas and recipes that are easy and taste great.  I do have my son and husband to cook for and they want yummy comforting food.

Oh, and we eat everything.  If you’re on a diet, vegetarian, vegan, etc. please feel free to omit or substitute ingredients.  My hope is that this will inspire Crooked Sky Farm readers to have a better experience with our AZ local veggies and fruit in their kitchen.

Here’s what I got this week (this might be different for our different CSAs depending on your size and schedule -either way, this is what Tonia harvested for me):

Gigantic bunch of Arugula

Gigantic bunch of Black Spanish Radishes

Big bag of Braising Mix

Big bunch of Carrots

Tangelos (4 of them)

Big bag of Salad Mix

Gigantic bunch of Rutabagas

An Acorn Squash

We usually do 8 items.  But you have to think of the root tops as veggies too.  If you’re counting those too, then you really get 10-11 items in a sample Winter share.  Awesome.

When I get these home, I try to do some prep before they make it into the fridge or on the countertop.

Key points that I learned from Frank:

• Try not to fuss with the veggies much until you eat them since they have their own skin and will spoil more quickly if you wash them early.
• Hack off the greens from the roots (carrots too).  The greens pull the moisture from the roots and they’ll dry out.

So, that’s what I did.

I hacked off the greens and put them all in a large plastic bag and put them in my fridge loosely tied.  The roots all made it into their own bag.  The oranges and squash are on the counter and there you go.  They’re all needing a nice scrub down before cooking.  They just came out of some clay-like dirt.  So, don’t forget that part - just try to do it right before you eat it.  You can scrub and clean and prep all of it when you get home, I just don’t do that.  I may not use a whole bunch of something, but I’ll clean it all as I use them in my meals and grab some more of that veg (that’s now clean) as I cook throughout the week.  If you do want to wash it all as soon as you get home, you’ll need a gigantic bowl of water - or I would just fill the kitchen sink, scrub the dirt of with my hands on the roots and gently swirl the leafy stuff in the water.  You might want to do an additional rinse to make sure they are nice and clean.  Just try to make sure everything is pretty dry when you put it in the fridge (water left on the food will make it spoil more quickly).

My weekly meal plan: Write down what you have in fridge, freezer, pantry.  Peruse some of your favorite cookbooks (I like looking at Moosewood, The Splendid Table and Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express lately, or the internet - try our recipe page… and start planning meals.  I like to plan around the vegetables vs around the meat.  Once decided. I like to write them on a cute paper and stick it on the fridge. Here’s a link to some of my favorite weekly planners: Some from The Project Girl, Future Girl Craft Blog, and a retro one from Tangarang.

You’ll hopefully only have a few items that you need to get from the store to supplement your current supply of food.  Once that’s purchased, you’re ready for the cooking.  This saves time and money later.  That’s huge.  Huge.

Here’s what I made/plan to make:

Radish pickles

Brownies with leftover steamed pureed greens

Spring Rolls (used shredded carrots, radish, and salad mix) with an easy peanut dipping sauce

Greens soup with basil and dill

Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash

Crushed pretzel crusted chicken breasts, chopped arugula, goat cheese, apple, sugared pecan salad with mustard dressing - morphed into another salad for lunch the next day (I coated the chicken with Frank’s red hot and made my mom’s homemade bleu cheese dressing - similar to this)

Pizza with a topping of finely chopped steamed greens and olives (this recipe) with pinenuts and cheese.

A Tuna Salad Sandwich with salad greens and/or arugula (whatever’s left)

Cream of Turnip/Rutabaga Soup

Tangelos - just ate them.

That’s 5-7 meals and some snacks and dessert.  So far, this week has been delicious.  I will try to post some pictures soon and promise to share more recipe ideas.  What successes/challenges are you encountering with your shares?  What have you done with your share?  I’d love to hear more about your experiences.