This Week's CSA Box: 13 Items and 10 dishes!

This is my biggest personal challenge so far.  Can I create 10 distinct and separate dishes out of these 13 items?  Let's see!

Here's what we got: 

1 yellow summer squash

1 zucchini

5 sweet corn

5 large slicing tomatoes

1 delicata squash

3 hot peppers (1 red and 2 green)

6 baking potatoes

6 sweet potatoes

10 apples

2 green peppers 

1 bunch red radishes

1 nice mess of green beans

1 bag of kale 

Here's what to do with it: 

 

  RECIPE #1:  Welcome to my life, delicata squash!  I kept calling it "cool stripy squash" when we picked it up on Saturday.  Apparently I am not the first person to refer to it by this moniker.  If you Google, "cool stripy squash" you will see a bunch of photos of this squash!  This recipe pairs it with the fresh kale from the box and it looks delicious and healthy!   

Roasted delicata squash kale salad.  The recipe calls for pepitas, which are pumpkin seeds.  If you roasted the squash seeds from last week, they would make a perfect substitution.  In case you missed it, here's a link to last week's CSA post.  You'll find the recipe for roasting squash seeds near the bottom.  

 

RECIPE #2:  Collard green and radish slaw with crispy shallots.  With the cooler temps arriving, it is time for that glorious second harvest of fresh greens!  I've seen greens at the farmer's market the last two weeks at fantastic prices!   Greens pack a terrific nutritional punch and are absolutely delicious!  This recipe pairs collard greens with radishes and shallots  You could certainly substitute another hearty green, like mustard greens, for the collards if you'd like. 

  

RECIPE #3:  Break out the grill!  This jalapeno-lime corn on the cob looks amazing!  Take out the dairy and it should still be perfect for vegans.  You can use the hot peppers from the box or purchase jalapenos for more heat. 

RECIPE #4:  It's time for back to the basics!  This is a tutorial on the ultimate baked potato.  It gives step-by-step instructions and has suggestions for toppings.  We use items which ramp up the flavor without adding unneeded calories and fat.  We like:  salsa, mushroom gravy, sauteed vegetables, and/or homemade hummus. 

RECIPE #5: After last week's build-a-bowl adventures, I have decided that I really like adding a spicy flavor to sweet potatoes.  So, this week let's try

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chile Dressing.  

  

RECIPE #6: Cinnamon sugar apple cake takes me back to my childhood when apple cake was a tasty autumn surprise.  We ate it topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped topping. 

RECIPE #7:  Zucchilattas are such a clever name!  These are basically enchiladas filled with mushrooms, zucchini, and tomato.  Yum!  This recipe seems like the kind that you can swap out ingredients for whatever you have in the fridge. 

RECIPE #8:  The Love and Lemons site brings us this simple, but elegant recipe.  Lightly cook green beans.  Then add lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Perfection!  Do try simple lemon green beans.  

RECIPE #9:  Roasted red pepper and tomato pasta.  I got green peppers in my box, but I spied red peppers in some of the others.  I'll bet you could use red or green peppers for this smooth and rich-tasting vegan pasta sauce.  

RECIPE #10:  This sauteed Yellow squash recipe uses the last of our 13 ingredients from this week's box.  It comes to us from Rachael Ray.  

I did it!

  10 recipes with these 13 ingredients from this week's box!

 

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Do all to the glory of God, 

Hope

 

Clothing Hacks For Fall!

You don't have to spend a million bucks to look like a million bucks!  

When you live under the median you need to s-t-r-e-t-c-h every dollar and clothing can be expensive.  So, over the next few weeks I'm going to show you actual items from my wardrobe, tell you what I paid for each piece, and give tips on how you can save serious money on clothing!  I'm also going to tell what I have bought brand new and why I chose to spend more money on those items.

This week's tip 

Don't be afraid to shop used!  Here are links to some of my popular thrift store posts.  Ten tips for thrift store shopping.  And 40 items for $30: My Thrift Store Haul! 

You seriously cannot beat thrift store prices!  To prove it , I'll show you one of my fall outfits and tell you exactly what I paid for each item

The temps are beginning to drop and it's time to start

Layering for Fall

. 
 It's still plenty warm outside.  But, I find that I need to take along something with a little sleeve to keep my arms warm.  So, this week we feature great fall colors with an extra layer of warmth.

Multi-colored blouse - 40¢ !

TIP:  Look for a base piece that can be worn with several colors and styles of lightweight jackets and sweaters. 

This sleeveless multi-colored blouse bought from Mission Mart's $5 bag sale.  I get an average of 13 - 15 items in each bag when I shop the $5 sale!  That's just 40¢ for this blouse. 


 

Long gray shrug - 40 cents!

I paired the colorful blouse with this great gray long shrug.  It dresses up the sleeveless blouse and makes it perfect for going out shopping or to eat.  I got it in the same bag at the Mission Mart $5.00 bag sale.  So, let's add another 40¢ to our total.

Brand new Liz Clayborne jeans - $3.50

The black jeans are Liz Claiborne.  They came from Mission Mart and were brand new.  The fact that they were a size smaller than I generally wear and fit me to a "T" made them instantly my new favorite jeans! I  paid $3.50 for them! 

Naturalizer gray suede shoes - $3.50!

The gray/green suede Naturalizer shoes were also a Mission Mart find.  I don't think they had ever been worn! There was not one mark on the heels and they were also $3.50. I love, love, love them!

Two Alternatives for more warmth:

White cotton woven sweater

Coldwater Creek-new with tags!

 Both the white cotton sweater and linen jacket were bought at (you guessed it!) the $5.00 bag sale at Mission Mart.  The Coldwater Creek linen jacket still had tags on it!  So add 80¢ to our total 

 

 

 

What did I spend for all six pieces?  Just $8.60!!

 

  My Necklace

You notice I did not mention my necklace.  I saved it for last.  I do occasionally buy new merchandise.  Sometimes you have to weigh out how much you love a piece, how many different ways you can wear it, and if the purchase goes to support a cause that you feel strongly about.  This necklace is a solid "yes' to all three of those criteria. 

This beautiful necklace is made from paper beads.  It is incredibly light weight and very versatile.  You can double fold it, triple fold it, or twist  and secure it with a necklace extender.  I'm wearing it in the photo tripled. As you can see, it's a very long string of beads.  One of my favorite pieces, it is priced at $38.00 and comes from Noonday. 

Noonday partners with artisans from third world countries and through fair trade practices makes it possible for them to become self sustainable.  Many of these artisans are single mothers, who then provide employment for many others in their communities.  I love buying from a company with such a noble and life-changing purpose!  Their collection of jewelry, bags, and accessories is stunning!

 

You won't see me post links to products or services that I do not truly believe in!   

I love Noonday's heart for serving others and helping promote dignity and self-sustainability.  Yes, some items are quite expensive.  But, I added them to the post because I believe so fully in their mission.  They also always have a great sale and clearance section that you can check out when you click on the link.  This section may very well allow you to stay within your budget and still help, love, and support others who are less fortunate. 

My dear friend, Andrea, is a representative for Noonday.  I love so many of their pieces!!
You can click on this link to see the entire collection.



If you dig my long paper bead necklace as much as I do, then you can check it out at this link:

 https://andreamolina.noondaycollection.com/shop/dainty-paper-bead-necklace/

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Do all to the glory of God, 

Hope

This Week's CSA Box: Build-a-bowl meals!

I don't know if build-a-bowl meals are really a trend or I've just been making them more lately for my family.  Whatever the case, I love the idea of starting with a base vegetable in a bowl and then piling on the toppings.  It's so easy and minimizes all the clean up.  All the recipes in this week's post are based on this concept.  Enjoy!

What we got:

1 kuri squash
1 spaghetti squash
9 medium apples
3 zucchini
2 cucumbers
3 green peppers
1 red pepper
1/2 dozen ears of corn
4 large tomatoes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 large sweet potatoes

My goal was to bulk cook the base items for the bowls on Monday morning.  By noon this is how the inside of my oven looked. That's a full tray of sweet potatoes on the bottom shelf of the oven with stuffed peppers, kuri squash, and spaghetti squash on the top shelf.   

 

Check out those beautiful kuri and spaghetti squash!  I roasted them for 60 minutes at 400 degrees.  Check them at 45 minutes - I remembered to check mine when the smoke detector started beeping.  I ran upstairs and threw open the oven.  Whew!  The only problem was the edge of the parchment paper got a little too brown.   The squash was perfectly cooked in just shy of 1 hour.  

Here's what's on the menu!

Sweet and spicy Red kuri squash bowl: (pictured above)

Kuri squash is a beautiful thing to behold!  The flesh is a shade or two lighter than the hubbard variety and appears like a cross between a butternut and acorn squash.  The seeds are not connected with stringy material.  I always like this trait in a squash because it makes it easier to save the seeds to toast later.After being roasted, the squash flesh literally melts in your mouth. My kids said it was "buttery".  This recipe got an enthusiastic two-thumbs up from every member of my family. The white sauce on top is tahini mixed with some fresh lime juice, a few drops of hot sauce, a splash of real maple syrup - then thinned with water to make it the perfect consistency for drizzling over the top of the rice and squash. 

  I know I mentioned keeping the seeds to roast them.  If you've not roasted squash seeds before, no worries!  I'll post a link to instructions at the end of this post. 


Nourishing Vegan Buddha Bowl:    I have made this recipe before and it is both filling and delicious!   I like it because I can chop all the ingredients and then put them all out on the table in little bowls.  Then each family can top their bowl with items which they like. 

Sweet Potato Burrito Bowls:    

Since my oven was already set to 400 degrees and was full of cut squash, rather than cooking the sweet potato in a pan, I cut the potato into cubes, coated it in the seasonings, and then roasted it in the oven on parchment paper.   The cubes cooked in about 30 minutes and I think that they will work out great for this bowl. They smelled divine while they were roasting and I'm pretty sure this will be voted as a "make again" dish! 




Mexican Zucchini Burrito Boats:   

This is where I admit to you that I haven't made zucchini boats since I was in my early 20's. They were horrible!  I truly don't know what I did wrong to them.  But, it must have scarred me, because I have never tried to make them again.  While searching for recipes for this post, I found this one.  Thirty plus years later, maybe it's time to give it a "go" again! 

Stuffed Peppers:  Yep!  It's a rerun!  This recipe is a little different than the one I posted two weeks ago.  The salsa gives it a little bit of a Mexican kick.  These peppers were just made for stuffing and I was already making brown rice for some of the other recipes.  It was just so simple to make up another pan of these lovelies!  


 


 Chili Stuffed Spaghetti Squash:   I roasted the spaghetti squash today along with all the other base ingredients for this week's build-a-bowl meals.  It's all ready to add some homemade chili.  I'll top the non-vegan squash with some cheese.  It will just take a quick heat through in the toaster oven and dinner will be served! 




If you want more inspiration check out this article filled with 14 spaghetti squash bowl recipes.  

Finally, as I promised, here is the link to how to roast squash seeds.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/54873/roasted-winter-squash-seeds/


My kids love these as a mid-afternoon snack.  We've made them flavored with garlic and onion powder and also with traditional salt and pepper seasonings.   I soak them in a bowl covered with water with some salt added.  until I am able to take all the stringy parts off of the seeds and get time to roast them.  

Enjoy the slightly cooler temperatures!

Hope

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Bits and Pieces: Creating a Casserole

Welcome to my new series: "Bits and Pieces", where I show you how to make the most of what you already have in your house.  

Today, my sous chef and I take just a few ingredients and create a meal which will serve your family for two nights!  

When you live Under the Median, you need to become a master of using all the food at your disposal to feed your family nutritious meals for very little money!  You don't want to waste a single thing!  But, sometimes you open your fridge and if it's at the end of the week or the end of the month, then what is available seems a little dismal.  Today I show you what happened when I opened my fridge and found that I just a handful of items available to feed my family for two nights. 

Last Thursday, I opened my fridge and found the shelves nearly empty!  I discovered a round bowl with 6 cups of plain brown rice, a tupperware  container filled with homemade marinara sauce, 2 small yellow summer squash, a 1/2 inch thick piece of onion.  Other than that, I could only see a few stalks of celery and the remnants of a bag of carrots.  On the counter I had two small banana peppers, some Italian bread, and a couple of heads of garlic. 

We would pick up our next CSA box on Saturday morning, giving us far more meal options.  But, somehow this conglomeration of ingredients needed to be transformed into something which would feed my family for two nights!  

 So, my 14 year old sous chef and I got busy planning.  Then we made you a video!  We talk about color, texture, flavors.  We take stock of our spices and sauces.  We created this Italian layered casserole, which was both satisfying and delicious. 

 Video!

Click this link to head over to Youtube to watch our newest video:  Bits and Pieces - Creating A Casserole.   I chronicle step-by-step instructions for making the casserole and offer you lots of tips on how to make the most of what you have in the house.  Enjoy!

Let me know what you think and what topics you'd like to see me address in future videos!  

 

Links:

(Note: This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase, I will be compensated.) 

Here is where you can order some of that amazing Kirkland no-salt seasoning for yourself.  It comes paired with a container of Mediterranean seasoning!  Yum!  

 

KIRKLAND SIGNATURE RUSTIC TUSCAN Mediterranean SEASONING & KIRKLAND SIGNATURE ORGANIC NO-SALT SEASONING (21 organic spices and ingredients)

I use Bragg's Aminos nearly every single day!  It's a soy sauce alternative, which contains a huge number of amino acids.  It's a little high in naturally occurring sodium.  But, a little bit goes a long way.  So, you don't have to use a lot to make a dish taste delicious! 

 

Bragg Liquid Aminos All Purpose Seasoning Soy Sauce Alternative, 32 Fl Oz, 2 Pack

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Do all to the glory of God, 

Hope

Deals of the Week

 I must admit to spending the past couple of weeks heading to the store far more often than I'd like and just picking up small amounts of what I need. Whenever you do not shop intentionally with a written list and use the sales flyer, you will spend more money and wind up with fewer basic ingredients. 

That brings us to this weekend.  I finally looked at ads, wrote a list, and headed to HyVee and Krogers for some great deals!

Store #1:  Kroger

I'm going to throw a photo out there.  This is a fantastic deal!  I didn't buy it since I don't eat meat.  But,  if you want a super price on meat, then here you go!

  

Buy 1 - get 1 free on family sized chuck steak packages!  Since the regular price is $5.99 a pound, this amounts to a 50 percent discount or just $3.00 a pound!  

If you have a small family it is so easy to cut each roast into smaller pieces and freeze them.  If you are not going to freeze it immediately, throw it all in a crockpot, shred it, and then freeze in small recipe-sized packages.  Whatever you do, don't freeze, thaw, and then re-freeze.  This leaves it too prone to pathogens. 

So, what did I buy?  A lot!  What I spent:  JUST $30.00!!!!

Organic Kroger brand Simple Truth almond milk: on sale this week for $2.49 each.  But, you can add an additional $.50 coupon on your store loyalty card.  It brought the price down to just $1.99 per half gallon!   You could get this price for up to 5 of them.  I got five! 

Simple Truth organic canned beans:  The 4 packs of organic beans were the same deal!  They were already on sale, but there was an additional coupon you could load onto your loyalty card, making the price just $.69 per can!  For organic beans this is a great price! You could use the coupon up to 5 times.  

Kroger sour cream and dips: 16 oz.  for just $1.00  each!
Kroger cream cheese:  $1.00 each!

Grapes!  Choose your color!  It is unusual when they put red, green, and black grapes all on sale at the same time for the same price.  It's like the perfect trifecta!  Well, it's happened this week!  They are all just $.79 a pound!  Go get 'em!  They are on sale at Kroger through Tuesday night at midnight!  We got two bags - one red and one black.  We'll be back on Tuesday for one more run at this price, before the new ad begins on Wednesday morning.

This is my plug for Kroger natural peanut butter.  Look at that label!  Just two ingredients:  peanuts and salt!  That's it!  The natural oils separate to the top of the jar.  But, it takes less than 2 minutes to stir it all in when you first open the jar.  It's on sale this week for just $1 a jar!!








Markdowns!!

Don't forget to check the Kroger Marked down aisle for great bargains!  Today I found Goya canned beans for $.59 each and 1 pound boxes of Barilla rotini pasta for just $.49 each. 

Store #2:  HyVee

  Time for the truth!  

 Pizza!

We headed to HyVee Friday evening after the first day of our co-op classes.  It had been a long day and the kids were ready to celebrate the first day back to the regular school-year routine.  So, we bought two of their family-size pizzas.  They were on sale for $8.99 each!  For no extra charge, their hot food department will perfectly bake your pizzas for you while you wait.  After multiple attempts to cook them at home, with dubious results, we now opt to stroll for 15 or 20 minutes and wait for their perfect-every-time cooked pizzas. You can call ahead too and they will have them hot, ready, and waiting for you if you don't have any other shopping to do.  It's cheaper than carry out.  They also  have a regular rotation of coupons on pizza and soda.  Be sure to ask about coupon deals if you call in your order.

While waiting for our pizza, my 10 year old, the one with the irresistible smile, talked me into a carton of Blue Bunny brownie chocolate ice cream.  He was unaware that I knew it was on sale!  But, it made me look like a really great mom, nevertheless.  

We also hit up their discount cheese bin for some $1.51 dill havarti and grabbed three cartons of cottage cheese on sale for $.69 each.  On our way back to the pizza department, we spied this display! 

It's sometimes hard to score consistently fantastic prices on household items.  I like this deal for several reasons.  Let's begin with the label:  

1.  It is 100 ounces.  That's a lot of name-brand detergent.

2.  It is free of dyes and perfumes.  It's dermatologist tested and hypoallergenic.  Some of my kids can be a little sensitive to the additives in detergents.  So, I have used Tide free and clear detergent before and I am hoping that Arm & Hammer is just as clean from possible irritants.  In fact, I was banking on it being an effective detergent.  I bought 4 of them!  I'll let you know how it does. 

3.  The price is fantastic!  It was $4.99 with a coupon for an additional $1.00 off attached to each bottle.

4.  This week, it is a gas perks item.  So, if you have the HyVee gas card, you can take $.10 off a gallon for purchasing one of these.

What I got: 

2-  family sized pizzas  = $8.99 each
1-  carton of truly decadent ice cream = $3.88
3 - 8 oz. containers of cottage cheese = $.69 each
1 - slab of dill havarti cheese from the marked down cheese bin = $1.51
4 - 100 oz. bottles of Arm & Hammer Laundry detergent = $3.99 each - PLUS $.10 per gallon on the gas perks card! 

Total:  

 $50.18. 

  I want to hear your thoughts!

 I don't use fuel saver points at HyVee.  Maybe I should.  After all, I didn't use my Kroger card points either, until you all set me straight a few months ago.  It was you, my readers, who enlightened me to the wonders of the Kroger fuel card savings!  Thank you!  So, maybe I should think about the HyVee card too.  So, somebody tell me, what's up with the HyVee card?  I understand to look for the weekly items on which the fuel points will accrew.  But, I don't regularly purchase many of the items that are listed on the weekly flyer as being eligible for the fuel points that week.  So, dish to me!  Do you use this card?  Do you find it helpful in saving money on gas?

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