The Harvest Food Share is Coming To An End...

Next week is the last week we'll be getting our weekly Harvest Share delivery from Carron Farms, full of fresh, seasonal produce from local farms in Ontario.  This is the second year we've signed up for the delivery, and we haven't been disappointed.  Each week sine June we've received a food box with a variety of fruits and vegetables that are in season.  While this means that we don't always get the same things every week, I've really enjoyed trying new vegetables and introducing a variety of new flavours to my son.

We don't always love all the vegetables (my husband could do without cauliflower, and neither of us has been able to find a recipe for celeriac that we like), but we've been introduced to some great new flavours that we wouldn't have tried without this program.  Parsnips, beets, and even rutabaga come to mind. 

This week's delivery was sitting on my doorstep when I got home from work, and it looked so much like a still-life painting waiting to happen that I thought I'd snap a photo of it once I took it inside.

 

Lettuce, fresh garlic, cauliflower, mushrooms, beets, pepper squash, apple cider, spinach, purple potatoes, and apples are all part of this week's delivery.  

As soon as I saw what was inside, I started thinking about what I could make with all this yummy food!

Roasted cauliflower soup?  Borscht?  Mushroom Antipasto?  Mashed purple potatoes?  Baked, stuffed pepper squash?  Gluten Free Apple Pie?  So many options....

The best part is knowing that the food is not only fresh and local, but supports Ontario farmers.  It also minimizes the impact on the environment by only needing to be transported a short distance, and not being individually wrapped, or bagged, or otherwise packaged unnecessarily.  All good things.

So while next week may be the last delivery for this year, I'm already looking forward to seeing what next year's Harvest will bring!

Too cute not to post today

It's been a long day at work today, and this post is too cute to not post.  Until tomorrow!

Recipe: Autumn Harvest Soup

It's no secret that we eat a lot of soup in this house.  Soups are easy to make, inexpensive and abundant.  This soup makes use of those vegetables available from local sources this time of year.  The addition of apples adds just a touch of sweetness that really pulls the flavours together.  Gluten and dairy free.

Update: I adapted this soup from a recipe we received in our Harvest Food Box a few years ago.

Ingredients

olive oil or butter substitute to coat bottom of soup pot
1 small butternut squash or half a large, seeded, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
1 onion, diced or thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 apples, any sweet variety, peeled, cored and cut into 8 slices
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth or stock
water, as needed to thin soup
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tspn. nutmeg, or more to taste
thyme and marjoram to taste
1/2 tsp. fennel seed, ground


Directions

1- In a large soup pot, heat butter or oil over medium high heat.  Add onion and cook until it begins to soften.  Add garlic and saute for about 1 min.
2- Add vegetables and cook over medium heat for about 5 min. to bring out flavours.
3- Add stock, spices and apples.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer and cook, partially covered until vegetables are soft and apples are falling apart, approx. 20 min.
4- Taste soup and add salt and pepper, if necessary.  Adjust seasonings.  With an immersion blender, blend soup to desired consistency, thinning with water or more broth if necessary.  I like this soup to still have some chunks of vegetables.
5- Ladle into warm bowls and serve garnished with some fresh, chopped parsley.

Enjoy!  

Gluten Free Weekly Menu Plan

This week is full of recipes celebrating fall's bounty, including Brussels sprouts right from the stalk, thanks to our weekly vegetable delivery.

Monday: Penne Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes, Swiss Chard, Garlic and Goat's Cheese  

Tuesday: Autumn Harvest Soup (recipe to follow this week) 

Wednesday: Sweet & Sour Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry & a Side of Bok Choy With Sesame Oil and Salt 

 Thursday: Leek & Potato Soup 

Brussels Sprouts on the stalk

 


Friday: Turkey Legs, Rice, and Brussels Sprouts in a Chili Lime Sauce 

Saturday Sillies

Today has been a whirlwind of laundry, abstract writing, writer's block, more laundry, and more abstract writing.  I need something cute to cheer me up! 

Post-pumpkin painting snack

Grandpa and the grandkids

Creating a masterpiece

Tomorrow the gluten free weekly menu plan gets posted, and I have a new recipe to add this week.  I also haven't forgotten about the two product reviews from Thanksgiving.  I'll get one of them posted this coming week.  Happy Saturday!

Friday Five: Thanksgiving Recap

 Here's what I was thankful for on this Thanksgiving






1- Help in the kitchen

2- Family 

3- Friends

 4- Summer temperatures in October 

5- Silliness and Fun 

Product Review: Food For Life Brown Rice Tortillas

This week I tried out gluten free tortillas that resemble a traditional flour tortilla to make vegetable and bean burritos.  I found them in the gluten free frozen section at my local grocery store and decided to give them a try. 

They come in packs of 6, and the instructions say to keep frozen or refrigerated until use.  I kept them frozen until the night before use, and then defrosted them in the fridge.  When I was ready to use them, I opened the resealable package and pulled a few out. 

The tortillas are separated by wax paper, keeping them from sticking together.  I was impressed by the size and look of the tortillas.  They look very much like a traditional flour tortilla, with just a slightly tougher consistency.  I followed the package directions and heated the tortilla before filling it with beans, peppers, onions, dairy free cheese, salsa and cilantro.

I piled on the ingredients to see how the tortillas would hold up under pressure (and because I like my burritos that way).  The true test came when I rolled up the burrito.  The tortillas had a flakier texture than a regular tortilla, so they were a bit tougher to wrap, but they performed well.  I would suggest perhaps heating them a bit more (I put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds), or using toothpicks to keep them together.  Here's what my burrito looked like on the first try:

You can see in the photo that the tortilla cracked at one end, but after I made a few more I was able to better manage it.  The photo below shows how it held up after being cut in half.  I didn't rearrange anything for the photo, because I wanted to show how it worked the first time.  As I mentioned before, with a toothpick to hold it together, a nice, tight burrito would be easy to achieve.

What's that?  How did they taste???? 

Pretty darn good! 

I was ready for some dry, mealy tortilla, but instead I found that they had a mildly nutty, buttery flavour with a bit of an al dente texture.  I actually found myself nibbling on a plain tortilla because I liked the flavour so much.  The only drawback is that they don't absorb liquid the same way a flour tortilla does, so the juices flowed right out.  I remedied this by wrapping a napkin around the bottom end while I was eating.  No problem! 

The Verdict:  I really like this product.  It's the closest to a regular flour tortilla I've had since my son went gluten free almost a year ago.  The texture and flavour is a bit different, but still good, and they held up well to my overflowing burrito.  These will become a staple in my house. 

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkin Painting

Who says a pumpkin needs to be carved? 

Recipe: Homemade Apple Sauce

Since apple picking a few weeks ago, I've been making a lot of apple based recipes.  I've always liked applesauce, and when my son was a baby it was one of the things I would make for him from scratch in the fall when local apples were cheap and plentiful.  This year it was great making applesauce from the apples my son was able to pick himself! 

Homemade applesauce

This recipe makes about 6-8 servings.  It can be doubled or tripled and frozen in freezer bags or single serving containers.  

Ingredients
6-7 medium apples, Macintosh or Spy
juice of half lemon
1 tbsp. brown sugar or honey (or more to taste)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup water or more as needed

Directions:

1- Peel and core apples.  Cut into chunks.
2- Place apples in a saucepan and squeeze lemon juice over top.  Stir to coat to prevent browning.
3- Add water, sugar and cinnamon.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to help break down apples. 
4- Continue to cook until apples are mushy and mixture has a sauce-like texture, adding more water if mixture becomes too thick and lowering temperature if bottom begins to burn.  Adjust seasonings.
5-  For a completely smooth sauce, blend with an immersion blender until smooth. 

Gluten Free Weekly Menu Plan

This week's plan is a simple one, containing easy to make recipes and leftovers.  I did try a new product, gluten free tortillas, so I'll be writing a product review of them later in the week.

Monday: Leftover turkey pie with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and salad. 

 Tuesday: Vegetarian Fajitas with Gluten Free Rice Tortillas  

Wednesday: Three Sisters Soup and Warm Vegetable Salad 









Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs in Tomato Sauce 

Friday: Ceviche on a bed of lettuce and served with leftover soup