Happy Early Summer Basket and Weekly Meal Plan!
This Week’s Basket included the following: Cameo Apples, Valencia Oranges, Peaches, Blueberries, Green Scallions, Sweet Jumbo Vidalia Onions, Romaine Lettuce, Parisi Collards, Parisi Potatoes, Hurricane Creek Tomatoes, Parisi Beets, and Parisi Squash.
This Week’s Meal Plan via PepperPlate.com:
*Recipes from this week’s meal plan can be found on the Recipes Archive page, plus a few new ones here:
- 15 Minute, Open-Face Chicken Caprese Sandwiches (tomato)
- Jewel-tone Pancakes with Creamy Yogurt-Dill Sauce (beets, carrots)
- Citrus Chicken with Roasted Peaches
- Don’t forget about the recent Produce Spotlight on Beets (just in case you can’t figure out what to do with those beauties)!
Weekly Basket and Meal Plan
A BIG Thank You to Julia from A Little Bit of All of It for creating a meal plan for you all last week! We were out of town for my brother’s wedding in New York! It was fun, but we are glad to be home and back with you all.
This Week’s Basket Included Parisi Farms Curly Kale, Parisi Farms Red/White Creamy Potatoes, Tomatoes from Kem at Chef’s Greenhouse, Texas Jumbo Sweet Onions, Red D’Anjou Pears, Star Ruby Red Grapefruit, Kiwifruit, Bananas (oops, they didn’t make it into the picture), Carrots, Broccoli, Crimini Mushrooms and Baby Spinach.
This Week’s Menu:
Note: All recipes from this week’s menu can be found on the Recipes Archive page.
Purple de Mayo Basket and Weekly Meal Plan
I’m Julia from A Little Bit of All of It and, while Melissa is on vacation, I’m happy to be filling in for her! This weekend is Cinco de Mayo so I have a special Mexican themed menu to kick off the week. I love Mexican food and have fond memories of eating it growing up in Southern California so I’m looking forward to a day full of Mexican!
This weekend also marks the return of the Saturday Market to Downtown Greenville. Maybe I’ll see you down there!
Links to all of the recipes are included below. Enjoy and Happy Cinco de Mayo!
This Week’s Basket includes: Purple Garlic, Limes, Yellow Onions, Local Purple Sweet Potato, Hass Avocados, Gala Apples, Red Cabbage, Green Bell Peppers, Red Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Tommy Atkins Mangos, Pineapples (not pictured),Bio-Way Farm Lettuce
Breakfast
Sa – Breakfast Burrito with pineapple chunks
Su – German Apple Pancake
M – Scrambled Eggs and 100% Whole Wheat Toast with Coconut Oil
T – Baked Oatmeal
Fr – Nourishing Chai Tea Muffins
Lunch
Su – Oven Barbecued Pork Chops with Cole Slaw
Th - Tuna and Apple Salad
Fr – Egg Salad with Yogurt and Dill
Dinner
Sa – Sweet Potato Burritos with Homemade Salsa, Avocados, Green Brown Rice and Mango Coconut Ice Cream
M – Southwestern Steak Salad (using Homemade Ranch) with Grilled Pineapple
T – Cajun Style Chicken with Mango Salsa and Cajun Baked Sweet Potatoes
W – Chicken Fiesta Salad with Foil Pocket Fruit Dessert (using apples)
Rainy Day Basket and Weekly Meal Plan
Hope your gardens and flowerbeds are enjoying all this rain! It’s perfect weather for curling up with a cup of organic coffee and a good book, listening to the pitter patter of April showers. And I think you’ll enjoy this week’s basket and meal plan as the April showers bring in the May flowers this coming week!
This Week’s Basket Included: Lemons, Yellow Jumbo Onions, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Cucumbers, Red Delicious Apples, Local Collards, Bananas, Silver Dollar Mushrooms, Blueberries, Grape Tomatoes, Bio-Way Farms’ Garlic Scapes (the Curly Green Onion looking bunch), and Bio-Way Farms’ Lettuce.
This Week’s Menu Plan (via PepperPlate.com):
Some New Recipes From This Week’s Menu:
- Apple Lemon Puff
- Falafel
- Organic Bacon and Greens Snack Wrap
- Scape Pesto (and 6 other things to do with Garlic Scapes)
- Double Garlic Soup
- Blueberry Banana Coffee Cake
Produce Spotlight: Beetroot (aka Beets)
Beetroot is a heart healthy, antioxidant rich root vegetable that is usually deep red or purple in color. The beet greens that grow above ground can be used as you would spinach or chard: eat them fresh in a salad, steam them with a drizzle of olive oil or sauté them with some garlic and butter. The beetroot (or beet) is naturally sweet, so it can be added to smoothies and baked goods quite easily, or simply sautéed in butter and garlic with some salt and pepper. Whatever you do, don’t miss out on this amazing vegetable!
Chilled, Sliced Beets are delicious on a salad, especially a spinach salad with black olives and feta cheese! But don’t use a can. It’s quite simple to make them from the fresh beets you found in your basket this week!
Here’s how:
- Remove the beet greens and reserve for another dish.
- Scrub your beets and rub with a little oil, then wrap them in foil.
- Roast at 350F for 1 hour. Let cool and toss in the fridge, foil and all.
- When you’re ready, unwrap the foil, peel the skins off the beets, and slice them in thin rounds. Keep the rounds whole or quarter into bite size pieces, depending on the size of the beet.
- Store in a wide mouthed mason jar and toss on your salad. Use within a week for best results.
If you’re wanting to use beets in a baked goods recipe, like the Chocolate Beet Cupcakes seen here or the Spelt & Beet Pancakes on this week’s menu plan, follow steps 1-4 above (chilling and slicing parts are optional) and toss chunks into a food processor till smooth. Don’t be scared. These are delicious and super moist (not to mention a great way to sneak veggies into your kids’ diets).
Another favorite recipe of mine is the Glazed Beet & Egg Sourdough Toasts that we served at our Irish Pub Themed Party this past year. And there are more Beet related recipes available on the Recipes Archive page, so pick one for the week and try it out. Let us know what you think! Bon Appetit!
Fresh, Spring Basket and Weekly Meal Plan
This Week’s Basket Included: Baby Spinach, Broccoli, Star Ruby (red) Grapefruit, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Curly Parsley, Cameo Apples, Peaches, Hurricane Creek’s Bibb Lettuce, Chef’s Greenhouse Tomatoes, Parisi Onion Mix, and Parisi Beets with Greens. Some baskets also included Kiwi.
Recipes from This Week’s Meal Plan:
- California Sandwich
- Baked Hummus and Spinach Dip
- Moroccan Couscous with Sweet & Spicy Chicken and Garlic Spinach
- Citrus Chicken with Roasted Peaches
- Bacon Pancakes with Maple Bourbon Butter Sauce
- Ina Garten’s Ploughman’s Lunch
- Trail Mix Cookies
- Creamy Dijon Dill Broccoli Salad with Shallots, Red Pepper and Currants
- Brown Rice Bar (aka “Unfried Rice”)
- Other Recipes can be found on the Recipes Archive Page.
Weekly Basket and Meal Plan
This Week’s Basket Included: Hurricane Creek Farms‘ Romaine Lettuce, Parisi Farms‘ Kale, Local Chef’s Greenhouse Tomatoes (Wait until you see these Beautiful Italian tomatoes!!), Watsonia Farms’ Green Cabbage, Covington (NC) Sweet Potatoes, Lemons, Bananas, Red Onions, Shallots, and Cauliflower (Not shown, but in most baskets: Valencia Oranges, Kiwi, and Ataulfo Mangos; we received extra of other items instead).
This Week’s Meal Plan (via PepperPlate.com):
Featured Recipe of the Week:
Caribbean Sweet Potato and Banana Bread (contains coconut and pecans)
The rest of the recipes from the meal plan can be found on the Recipes page.
Easter Basket and Weekly Meal Plan
This Week’s Basket Included: Hurricane Creek Farms Tomatoes, Hurricane Creek Cucumbers, Hurricane Creek Lettuce, Extra Fancy Granny Smith Apples, Florida Valencia Oranges, Green Chard, Yellow Onions, Silver Dollar Mushrooms, Jumbo Carrots, Parsnips, Blueberries and Local Watsonia Farm Strawberries.
This Week’s Meal Plan (using PepperPlate.com):
This Week’s Recipes can be found on the Recipes Archive page, along with a few new ones for this Easter Holiday Week:
- Tyler Florence’s Scalloped Potato Gratin
- Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
- Amish Apple Cake with Hot Caramel Sauce
Happy Easter from Milk and Honey Organics!
Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs from “Two Men and a Little Farm” Blog
Look at these beautiful eggs! Here are some simple ideas on coloring eggs naturally. First, remember to start with hard boiled eggs. The best way I’ve found to hard boil eggs comes from the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook: place eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to rapid boil over medium high heat. Remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Then drain carefully, so as not to crack the shells, since you’ll be dying them.
Next, from “Two Men and a Little Farm” Blog, boil 2 cups of water with the following ingredient combinations, depending on what color you like, for 30-60 minutes, until it reaches your desired color. Then strain and add 1 cup of colored water and 1 Tbsp. of vinegar to a cup to dip the eggs in. Drain on paper towels and store in refrigerator.
Here’s the color chart.
|
Color
|
Ingredients
|
| Lavender | Small Amount of Purple Grape Juice Violet Flowers + 2 tsp Lemon Juice Red Zinger Tea bags (Celestial Seasoning brand) |
| Violet Blue | Violet Flowers (no lemon juice) Red Onion Skins (boiled) Red Wine Hibiscus Tea |
| Blue | Canned Blueberries Large Amount of Purple Grape Juice Red Cabbage Leaves (boiled) |
| Green | Spinach Leaves (boiled) Fresh Basil (boiled) |
| Greenish Yellow | Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (boiled) Fresh Parsley (boiled) |
| Yellow | Chamomile Tea Orange or Lemon Peels (boiled) Celery Seed (boiled) Ground Cumin (boiled) Ground Turmeric (boiled) Green Tea Carrot Tops (boiled) |
| Golden Brown | Dill Seeds |
| Brown | Strong or Instant Coffee Black Walnut Shells (boiled) Black Tea |
| Orange | Yellow Onion Skins (boiled) Carrots (boiled) Paprika Chili Powder |
| Pink | Red Grape Juice Fresh Cranberries / Cranberry Juice Raspberries Beets Juice from jar of Pickled Beets |
| Red |
Lots of Red Onions Skins (boiled)
Canned Cherries with Juice Pomegranate Juice Raspberries |
Note that any combination of the “Ingredients” list will give the desired color; you don’t have to use all of the ingredients to make it work. Also, this is a great way to use the scraps from your basket after you’ve enjoyed the goodness – peels, rinds, skins, etc. work perfectly for this – and you can still compost them after they’ve been boiled.
Have fun! And if you’re really creative, consider hand dying tea clothes for Easter gifts using the same colored water.
This Week’s Basket and Meal Plan
- French Toast Kebabs (use strawberries)
- Tomato Egg Cups
- Collard Rolls (aka Cabbage Rolls with Collards and Sausage)
- Orange Salad with Romaine Lettuce, Walnuts, Blue Cheese, and Cranberry
- Caramelized Pear and Gruyere Torta (Notes: make the night before; can substitute crushed pecans for pistachios; serve with french bread or crackers)
- Other Recipes Here.
Milk & Honey Organics
