Under the Median: Seasonal Produce: Feeding My Family for A Week for $50!

It's one of my life's missions to convince people that eating healthy does not have to cost a lot of money! So, this week I'm going to show you how I use all the items from my CSA box to form the basis of an entire weekly menu.

The cost of our CSA membership is $600 a year. This equates to just $25 per box throughout the season.

I'll tell you what ingredients I had to pull out of my fridge, freezer, and pantry. I listed those ingredients, to the best of my ability, in parenthesis under each recipe photo and description.

If those additional ingredients add up to a total of $25 or less, then I just fed my family for an entire week for $50!

Let me show you what I served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm super excited! So, let's go!

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What did I get in my CSA box?

Carrots with the tops
Summer squash
White onions
Red onions
Tomatoes
Beets
Red and white potatoes
Sweet corn
Black apricots
Cabbage
Green beans

Breakfast

This is a black apricot. I had never heard of it, but the 14 year old sous chef bit into it about five minutes after we picked up the CSA box. He declared it to be, "a sweet, juicy, delight with more of an apricot flavor and a hint of pluminess."

Steel Cut Oats or Cream of Wheat with Fresh Fruit

(Additional Ingredients: Oatmeal - $2.00, Cream of Wheat - $1.50, Fruit: $2.50)

This week, we also used the items in my CSA box to add a couple of other dishes, that you may not associate with breakfast.

Fresh Corn and Zucchini Frittata

(Additional ingredients: Corn Meal, corn starch, almond milk, spices - $.50)

This is where I admit to you that I messed up! I asked the sous chef to bring me some corn meal. I was paying absolutely NO attention and added 3 Tbsp of corn starch, instead of corn meal. So, I did what any chef does. I punted. I went ahead and added the prescribed 3 Tbsp of corn meal and then about 1 cup of almond milk to the batter. I knew that the corn starch would slowly thicken the dish as it cooked. The finished consistency was amazingly like a soft boiled egg, without having added any eggs, of course.

Whew! My blunder was erased, except, of course, admitting to my entire readership that I messed up. But, then again, if you've followed me for any length of time at all, you know that I often mess up - and often admit it publicly. Humanity is a good thing! ☺

Tex Mex Breakfast Bowl

(Additional ingredients: Corn meal, applesauce, almond coconut milk, salsa, black beans: $2..50)

This was another winner! We don't often think of vegetables for breakfast. But, we should more often. Veggies will fill you up and add fiber, which will stick with you for longer than any off-the-shelf breakfast cereal ever would!

This dish will certainly perk up your morning! Prepare your favorite cornbread. No boxed mixes, please! They are full of a lot of unpronounceable ingredients, preservatives, oil, salt, and sugar. Pick a recipe which doesn't contain a lot of sugar in it. This is a savory dish and you don't want the sweetness vying with the toppings.

Speaking of toppings, slice some cornbread. Put it on a plate and the top it with curry potatoes, salsa, a spoonful of black beans, and a sprinkling of fresh parsley if you have it! Divine! The kids begged for more!

Curry potatoes are both easy and delicious! It combines cooked red potatoes with curry powder, nutritional yeast, and non-dairy milk. See what I mean? Easy! The recipe comes from The China Study All Star Cookbook.

Lunch and Dinner:

Mix and match the following dishes to serve for lunches and dinners.

Minestrone Soup

(Additional ingredients: tomato paste, herbs, spices, red lentils, split peas - 40¢)

The 14 year old sous chef whipped this up for supper one night when I was busy and asked for help. He used basically every vegetable he could from the CSA box and then added a can of diced tomatoes, 3 Tbsp of tomato paste, spices, and about 1/2 a cup of red lentils and 1/2 a cup of split peas. Although those are not the usual beans for minestrone soup, the chef thought they would work well. They did!

Burgundy Stew

(Additional ingredients: fruit juice, mushrooms, herbs, spices, vegan veggie broth- $1.75)

French in origin, this hearty stew usually contains beef, braised in red wine. Our version features mushrooms (I used white mushrooms) and fresh veggies in veggie broth with either red wine or grape juice. Your choice. Either is delicious! Garnish with fresh herbs and serve with some of that cornbread that you made for the breakfast bowl!

Carrot and Walnut Salad

(Additional ingredients: walnuts, maple syrup, raisins - $1.00)

This salad is so easy and yet, so delicious! It's simply grated carrots with a sprinkling of walnuts, raisins, and real maple syrup. That's it! It tastes both fresh and amazing! No need for fat laden mayonaise. It would detract from the simple beauty of this salad.

Farmers' Market Ceviche

(Additional ingredients: cucumber, green onion, lemon juice, lime juice, peaches - $1.00)

Traditional ceviche is made from raw seafood marinated in lemon and lime juice as a preservative. In our case, this ceviche follows the same principle, only we are marinating lots and lots of fresh veggies in the lemon and lime juice.

This dish is SO amazing that it immediately went to the top of my "make again" list! I diced as many veggies from the box as I could in nice, even pieces. Then, I added green onion, cucumber, and a couple of fresh nectarines. Finally, I poured on 1 Tbsp of lemon juice and 2 Tbsp of lime juice. Mix. Let marinate. And eat by the bowlful. It's that easy!

Cabbage Slaw with Oil Free Lemon Ginger Dressing

(Additional ingredients: lime juice, vinegar, maple syrup, spices, low-sodium soy sauce, walnuts, raisins - $2.00)

I know I've posted this recipe before, but we love it so much that we eat it all summer long! Simply grate caggage, add some grated carrot if you'd like, tomato, walnuts, raisins, and our Under the Median oil-free lemon-ginger dressing. The dressing is one of our popular Under the Median Cheap Eats featured recipes. You can find the recipe for our oil-free lemon ginger dressing here..

Air FriedVeggie Platter: Beet chips, quinoa balls, stuffed squash blossoms, zucchini rounds

(Additional ingredients: squash blossoms, almond flour, aquafaba, quinoa, homemade hummus, fresh herbs: $4.50)

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Our newest Under the Median Cheap Eats recipe, I am absolutely in love with this one. The only downside is that squash blossom season is really short. But, that gives us something to look forward to for next year.

Quinoa Balls

These were a last minute inspiration after I had some filling left over from the stuffed squash blossoms. All I did was make balls (about the size of walnuts) and roll them in a little additional almond flour. It lined the air fryer basket with parchment paper so that they wouldn't stick to the fryer. Air fry at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, turning half way through. Remove when they are lightly browned. You'll need the squash blossom filling recipe and you can find it here.

Beet Chips

The beet chips were literally beets sliced very thin and allowed to sit out for about 30 minutes to dry out a bit. Add them to the air fryer and fry at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Stop the fryer every 5-6 minutes to turn the beets over and watch them to be sure that they don't burn! They will crisp up and the natural sugars will taste like candy!

Mexican Cabbage

(Additional ingredients: hot pepper, herbs, spices, tomato paste - 25¢)

Cabbage, sauteed with onion, garlic, a hot pepper, corn, and tomato paste? Yes, thank you! This recipe, from the Happy Herbivore, made a huge pot. We ate it the first night as a topping over baked potatoes, and the rest will last us another two nights! This is one of those recipes that gets better as it sits, too!

Pasta Primavera

(Additional ingredients: lemon juice, whole wheat pasta - 60¢)

Easy peasy! Just saute veggies in some water. Add onion and garlic powder and lemon juice. Serve over 8 oz. of whole wheat pasta. I didn't follow a recipe. I just made it up as I want along. Want a recipe to follow? Here's one that I found that is closest to what I did.

Carrot top pesto over pasta

(Additional ingredients: raw sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, whole wheat pasta - 90¢º

I based this carrot top pesto on my recipe for oil-free radish leaf pesto. It was very tasty atop a bed of 8 oz. of whole wheat pasta.

Potatoes and Green Beans with Carrot Top Pesto

(Additional ingredients: raw sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, lemon juice - 40¢)

This recipe was devised because I remembered the potato and green bean dish that my mother made all the time when I was growing up. She added bacon or ham for flavor. As a vegan, I use liquid smoke, instead.

DIRECTIONS: Cook some diced onion and garlic in a pan with a little water until the veggies are softened. Add diced red potato and green beans. Add about a cup of water to the bottom of the pan so that the potatoes and beans don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through. Add onion powder, garlic powder, and salt free seasoning (your choice). About 1 tsp. of liquid smoke will give it a "meaty" feel with no added fat or cholesterol. Stir in about 1/4-1/2 cup of carrot top pesto. Serve warm.

Additional sides:

Crackers from Aldi - $.75
Salad mix - markdown at Kroger - $3.00
Homemade salad dressing - $1.00
Baked Potatoes - $0.00 (Already in CSA Box)
Sauteed beet greens - $0.00 (Already in CSA Box)

Total cost of all additional ingredients: $26.55

Drum roll, please! The total cost of our entire weekly menu is:

$51.55!!

The best part is: I had quite a few ingredients left over from the CSA box. So, I didn't even use up every single item. That means I still have more base ingredients that I can add to the brand new box that I pick up on Saturday morning.

So, here's a shout out to the hard-working farmers of our nation! I so appreciate all the amazing, nutritious, fresh food that they bring my way every week.

Salut!

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Thursday, July 18, 2019

Seasonal Produce: Feeding My Family for A Week for $50!