Pico de Gallo

I have decided that I am a big fan of pico.  It is basically a fresh version of salsa.  It is light, crunchy and can have a nice kick to it, depending on what you put in it.  It is also super easy.  Everything just gets chopped up and put in a bowl.  We ate this with tacos tonight. 

Pico de Gallo

2 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced finely
1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
1 green onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced (three out of the inside of big garlic.  Are those cloves, or is the whole thing a clove?)
juice from 1/2 lime
salt, to taste

Combine everything in a bowl and serve. 

100% of the contents of this recipe came from my baskets last week.  I got the tomatoes from the conventional basket and the rest from the guacamole pack.  Actually, it is more like 99% because I already had the salt.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts are actually good!

I remember eating brussels sprouts a few times in my childhood and I think the end result was always a spanking.  Needless to say, they were not on my list of foods that I ever planned on eating again. 
Having children of my own, however, was enough to make me willing to give them another go when we got them in our baskets last week.  You just can’t trust a kid’s opinion of a food until you have tried it as an adult.

I was talking to my Uncle Curtis tonight about brussels sprouts and he told me that he hated them.  He served a church mission in Ireland and ate them just about twice a day.  They were always boiled, which might have been how I ate (or didn’t eat them) as a kid.  I found this recipe for roasted sprouts on Allrecipes.com.  My whole opinion of them has changed.  You might say that I’m converted, even.  Two of my children asked for seconds.  Did you hear what I said? Two of them asked for seconds.

I wasn’t sure how to prep them.  They had a lot of extra leaves and were a lot bigger than I remembered them being.  I peeled off the outer leaves and cut off of the stalk.  That made them look more like I thought they should look.  It seemed like there was a lot of waste.  I also cut them in half, which reduced the cooking time.  There were a bunch of the inner leaves that kept falling off and I just threw them away.  I wish I would have just cooked them as well, because those blackened leaves were the best ones.  I cooked them in the oven, but now I wish I would have used the grill.  My house is stinking hot now. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Preheat oven to 425.

1 pound (or so) brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed and bottoms trimmed
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Kosher salt (be sure to use Kosher because it is chunky.  See it in the picture?)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Place everything in a gallon-sized bag and knead it around to coat it all evenly.  Let it sit for an hour or two.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Stir every 5 minutes or so to help them brown evenly.  Serve immediately.

If you think you hate brussels sprouts, I recommend giving this recipe a try.  You just might change your mind.

Basket Breakdown 8/18/12

Long story short, I didn't do the breakdown because I ended up giving away some of my baskets this week, plus I was just plain busy after we were done.  This is the basic run-down that we got.  Remember, your results may vary, depending on how the case-ends were distributed.

4 peaches
3 pears
9 plums
3 onions
1 bag red grapes
7 bananas
1 head romaine lettuce
1 bunch kale
4 tomatoes
3 crowns broccoli
1 bag of brussels sprouts

Going off of previous weeks, I would guess that this basket is in the $30 range, when compared to Walmart pricing.  The contibution amount, including fees, is $16.50, so that would still be a savings of almost 50%.  Not bad.

Did I ever tell you about the specials that you can add to your baskets each time?  There is usually a case of fruit that is offered.  This week it was 20 pounds of tomatoes for $12.00.  Previous weeks have had cases of pineapples, mangoes, plums, peaches, and strawberries.  There are also 5-packs of bread available.  Each week, there is also a different veggie pack, based on a theme.  There has been asian packs, italian packs, mexican packs, and this week, we had a guacomole pack, which I got.  It had:

6 avocados
2 bunches green onions
2 yellow onions
1 bunch cilantro
4 jalapenos
4 green chiles
1 clove garlic
6 limes

The contribution for it was $8.50.   I  know that avocados are usually at least $1 a piece, so that would have also been a significant savings. 

Crockpot Ranch Potatoes

I don’t think that you can go wrong with potatoes and ranch.  Add cheese to the mix and you for sure have a winning combination.  This simple recipe is basically just cooked potatoes, ranch dressing and cheese.  I cooked the potatoes in the crockpot, but you would boil them or roast them, whichever you prefer.  I liked the crockpot method. 

I used red potatoes because that is what came in our baskets.  They have nice, thin skin, so I left it on.  You could use any other type of potato, such as russets or golds.

2-3 pounds potatoes, quartered
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (or a big spoonful if you buy it by the already-minced jar)
1 cup water
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
sliced green onion or chives

Place the potatoes, garlic and water in the crockpot and cook for about four hours on low, or until the potatoes are tender.  Drain the water and place in a bowl.

Add the ranch, cheese and onions and stir to combine.  Serve.

What I learned this week

I learned a couple of things this week.  I had read somewhere that breaking your bunch of bananas apart from each other will slow down the ripening process.  All of the bananas that I got in my baskets this week were single bananas, except for two that were attached together.  Guess which two are ripe, while the rest are still green?  That's right, the two together.

Next, I knew that keeping fruit in paper bags speeds up the ripening process.  We always sort our peaches into paper bags.  We ate the peaches out of one bag fairly quickly.  I left the other bag sitting on the counter and kept thinking to myself, "I need to take those out of the bag."  I finally took them out today, only to find that a couple of them were moldy.  The others were on the verge of being over-ripe.  The lesson learned here is that fruit is perishable, especially when you leave it in the paper bag.

Basket Breakdown 8/4/12

This week, I went to City Market, which is our Kroger affiliate, to make the price comparisons.  I forgot to check the price of the red potatoes, so I guesstimated on that.  We got almost five pounds, so I went with about how much a five-pound bag of reds would cost.  They are usually just a bit more than russets.

Romaine lettuce – 2 – $1.59 each = $3.18
Galia Melon – 4 lb 1 oz – $0.99/lb = $4.02
Peaches – 1 lb 7 oz – $1.59/lb = $2.28
Haas Avocados – 2 – $1.59 each = $3.18
Mangos – 5 – $0.50 each = $2.50
Organic tomatoes – 1 lb 13 oz – $1.99/lb = $3.61
Blueberries – 6oz package = $4.99
Red Potatoes – 4 lb 14 oz = $3.00
Bananas – 2 lb – $0.55/lb = $1.10
Green cabbage – 2 lb 3 oz – $0.59/lb = $1.29
Cherries – 2 lb 2 oz – $2.99/lb = $6.35

Grand total = $35.50
Contribution = $16.50

Savings = $19.00

Between the two baskets that I received, I got a total of three heads of lettuce and three heads of cabbage.  I gave one of each away, but that still leaves me with a healthy amount of greens.  I will just use the lettuce in salads and sandwiches, but I am going to have to get creative to use the cabbage.  We don’t eat coleslaw, so that takes out the most obvious option.  If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!