Bountiful Baskets Pick-up and Strawberries

I've been trying to keep up with all of the produce I get from Bountiful Baskets . Every spare minute I have, I'm peeling, cutting, dicing and otherwise getting the produce ready to use. After I finished peeling, slicing and storing the cucumbers, son #4 comes into the kitchen and asks if we have any. Of course, I directed him to the proper container. There is no excuse for not eating veges when they are ready-to-eat!

Today was another pick-up day for produce. I got 2 flats of strawberries. Tonight, after son #4's chamber orchestra performance, I am going to get them washed and freeze them in a single layer on cookie sheets, then, when frozen, will put them into ziplock freezer bags. We like to use strawberries for smoothies in the morning, and these were such a great price at $8/case (8#).

I made some vegetable soup stock yesterday using some wilted celery, a couple of carrots, some zucchini and seasonings. I made 3 quart containers of soup stock, and it smelled and tasted fantastic. Making soup stock is a great way to use vegetables that are a little past their prime. Those are now in the freezer. It will come in handy for making risotto, soup, or for using in other recipes.

I also froze a bunch of greens for smoothies. They were washed, put into my lettuce spinner and then packed into ziplock freezer bags.

Finally, I baked all of the yams I had, and am using them tonight for a yummy sweet potato casserole. I'll share the recipe for that later tonight. I'm making mini turkey meatloaf to go with the casserole. I'll probably include a green salad.

Hope that you are having a fantastic Easter weekend!

Bountiful Baskets Haul from March 6, 2010

Yesterday was the first day of Bountiful Baskets at Tuacahn, where I am one of the site coordinators. I think it went very well, all things considered. Take a look at the wonderful produce we got! I can't say enough good things about this coop. The bread is amazing, and the produce is fantastic.

Below is the Mex-pack...I've already used the green onions and 6 zucchinis (some from the mexi-pack and some from my basket) in the roasted zucchini with feta cheese recipe I made as a part of dinner tonight. I got the recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen, and it is delicious!

Five loaves of 9 grain bread....$10. It is really good! Some is going in the freezer.

Below is what I got from the standard basket, which costs $15. Lots of bananas, tangerines, apples (braeburn), spinach, cabbage, zucchinis, cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries, asparagus and red leaf lettuce.

Since I am a site coordinator, I was able to order a couple of cases of organic blueberries for $15. Can I tell you how thrilled I am about that! Of course, my family is gobbling them up!

We are really enjoying Bountiful Baskets! Check it out at http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ .

White Bean and Chicken Chili with Italian Cheese Bread

My computer is officially incompatible with my cameras and flip video. Now how's that for the worst thing that can happen to a blogger? Old camera technology with new computer is a recipe for disaster. Bummer. Anyway, my son took pictures for me last night, so, I'm happy about that!

And then, while blog hopping, I came across this recipe for easy Italian Cheese Bread. It was the perfect complement to the chili.

Last night we ate White Bean and Chicken Chili , recipe from Giada. We love this recipe, because it is so versatile. I use canned chicken chunks (because I have a huge stockpile of them in the basement pantry).

Here is the link for Italian Cheese Bread. This is comfort style food, which works well with my 4 young adult sons.

Wilted Green Beans with Red Onion

My friend, Char, gave me a wonderful cookbook last fall. I really love it! Our friend, Martha, had checked the book out of the library, and Char thought we both needed our own copy. The recipes are easy yet satisfying. I had a big package of green beans (Costo purchase of course!) that needed to be used, so I thumbed through The Simpler the Better by Leslie Revsin, and found this very easy but delicious recipe for wilted green beans with red onion!

First, begin by rinsing and trimming your green beans, and put them in a large pot.

You'll need some olive oil and red onion. And red wine vinegar (I put white in the picture..oops!).
Slice a red onion, thinly sliced. I used a mandoline.

Put the green beans and red onion in the pot, and drizzle with a few TBSP of olive oil and some salt to taste.

Cook on high until it begins to sizzle, then reduce to low and cover for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Take off heat, and add a few teaspoons of red wine vinegar. YUMMY!

Teriyaki Chicken in Slow Cooker

Even though you plan a menu for the week, sometimes you need to make a change. My friend, Char, gave me a lot of bok choy from her garden, so I decided I better use it before I pick up my Bountiful Baskets produce this Saturday ( I ordered the Asian selection along with a regular basket, which includes bok choy) . After google searching, I found this Teriyaki Chicken in Slow Cooker recipe. The great thing about it is that it calls for 6 cups of bok choy! This really tasted fantastic.

Teriyaki Chicken cooking in Crockpot

TERIYAKI CHICKEN IN SLOW COOKER  from Cooks.com

3 1/2 pounds skinless chicken pieces

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,231,154176-234200,00.html
Content Copyright © 2012 Cooks.com - All rights reserved331/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger, or 1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 minced cloves garlic
6 cups sliced bok choy
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Put  chicken in a 3-1/2 to 4-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce broth, water, sesame oil, ginger, vinegar, and garlic. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or on high for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Transfer chicken to a serving platter, reserving cooking liquid in cooker. Cover chicken with foil, keep warm.

Stir bok-choy into liquid in cooker. Cover, let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer bok choy to platter with chicken. Sprinkle chicken and bok choy with sesame seeds if desired. Spoon a little of the liquid from cooker over chicken and rice.

Broccoli plants are getting bigger!

Well, I have no idea how this broccoli will taste, but the broccoli heads are starting to grow. Here are a couple of pictures that show how the plants in this large pot are doing.

I'll keep you posted on when I harvest the heads! I am sure it will be in the next few weeks. It starts really warming up in St. George by March/April.

Turkey Cutlets with Peach-Vinegar Glaze

I was in Smith's a couple of days ago and was trolling the meat counter for marked-down meat. I saw several packages of Jennie-O meat products, and the price looked good to me. I bought 3 packages of Turkey Burger Patties (4/pack) and one package of Turkey Tenders (or something like that) for $2.29/package.
I have a great recipe for Turkey Cutlets with Peach-Vinegar Glaze. You should give it a try. It is very yummy!

6 Turkey breast cutlets 3/4" thick (I used the burger patties....they work fine)
3 tsp seasoned pepper (garlic, lemon or blend....I use lemon)
3 tsp olive oil
3/4 c. red onion
3/4 c. chicken broth
3/4 c. peach jam (I just pureed a pint of apricots, added 1/4 c. sugar and simmered it)
3 TBSP balsamic vinegar

Rub turkey on both sides with seasoned pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet over med-high heat and cook turkey until browned on one die; turn and add onion to the pan. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until onion is tender, about a minute. Add broth, jam and vinegar to the pan; cover, lower heat and simmer 8-10 minutes. Serve turkey with pan sauce over rice or pasta.

Above, the patties have been browned and the red onion added. Below, the apricot puree cooked with some sugar. I know, I'm creative in the kitchen. But really, who wants to keep running to the store? Not me.

Here is the delicious dish below, served over mini Farfalle pasta! It was so good. Everyone raved!

I enjoyed a glass of OJ with mine. It is a nice comfort food meal without a ton of calories.

Check out my impromptu center-piece for the table...mini roses in a yellow ware bowl.