WFP: Back into the swing of things…
I haven’t been doing as much food stuff as I would have liked this summer, but I’m hardly depressed about it- what with doubling the garden, being very pregnant, and then giving birth and recovering and having a new infant to care for… I’m just going to cut myself a little slack in this area. I had visions of us picnicking and eating fresh garden goodness every night. It’s not like we didn’t do that, but we got more carry-out over the past couple of months than I’d care to admit. What can I say? Some days I felt like the only time I had free hands it was to carry another diaper load to the wash or just get the dishes under control. And it was fun, too. We liked eating out more often and not having to think about it every night or make more dishes than were already piled up. Really, the only thing I regret about it is not remembering to bring our own containers to put the food in- I hated throwing away what they’d give us. But, now Asa is six weeks old, Jeff is back to work full time, and I’m feeling energetic and capable… most of the time. This fall-like weather has me breathing deeply and dreaming of all the warm comforting and nutritious foods that one can only really create at home. Fall conjures up so many memories for me. So many rich, distinct smells and flavors… I love it! This season will be fully appreciated here! Plus, cooking is such a creative outlet for me, not to mention is good for our health, is cheaper, is a good activity for Vera to take part in… the benefits are numerous. So, while I’m sure Jeff and I have a few more we-couldn’t-possibly-cook-anything nights to come, I’m going to do my best to keep us eating the way we really want to.
So, without further ado, here’s what I’ve been up to this week. Here’s a raw green bean spread. It’s really good, very simple and fresh tasting. 
This is a birthday basket for my dad. In it are some tomatoes, eggplant, pickled summer squash, patty pan squash, yellow crookneck squash, raw green bean spread, chili and Serrano peppers (he’s a spice-junkie), some sweet orange peppers, and some kale. He exclaimed (very sweetly), "I’ve never gotten kale for my birthday!" Haha. Anyway. 
For my birthday, I got this book from my dad. It’s a very cool book, often called "the bible for bread baking", and comes in handy considering that my sourdough starter bit the dust. It grew mold because I just kept forgetting about it on the counter. Sort of sucks, but I wasn’t doing well with it anyway. I will start sourdough up again soon, but this book presented me with an opportunity to learn other methods. I’m just going to experiment with different kinds of bread and try to do it often enough so we aren’t buying it anymore. It’s also written by a zen teacher, and is as much a book about food philosophy as it is about the recipes it contains. I’ll probably be talking more about this book in the days to come. Anyway, I made the basic Tassajara bread last week and it was lovely (although I forgot to take a picture).
Today I made pesto. However, I like to mix it up a bit, and keep things cheaper, and so I experimented a little. My nasturtium has done so well this year, I had to use some in it. I made nasturtium pesto last year, and it’s a great way to use it. Nasturtium has this great peppery flavor, but it can be a little overwhelming if used for more than a garnish on a salad. Anyway, when used in pesto, it really does justice to the plant’s flavor, I think, and mellows it out with the olive oil and lemon juice so that I could just eat spoonfuls of the stuff. So, I mixed it with some basil I also grew and drizzled in olive oil and lemon juice. Then I added a couple of cloves of garlic, salt and pepper.
And, I was trying to find a way to make it a little cheaper- traditionally I think it calls for pine nuts, but those are so expensive for a little bag! So then there’s walnuts that can be used, but those can be pricey as well. Then I saw these hulled pumpkin seeds, also known as "pepitos" in the bulk section at the co-op. They were only about $4 a pound, and so good! (Walnuts are about double that price, and pine nuts are a good 5-10 times that price). I soaked them in salt water and dried them in my dehydrator to reduce the phytic acid content (and to make them that much more munchable!) We’ve been snacking on them for a couple of weeks, but I decided to try adding them to the pesto.
The result is delicious! I added the final touch of a little parmesan cheese, and voila! An alternative pesto that is so yummy, uses up some garden extras, and is much cheaper! 
And for tonight, since I’ll be out with the kids until it’s time to eat, I decided to just keep it simple and slow roast some veggies along with that chicken we brought home last week. I’m looking forward to dinner tonight.
Next week: More meal planning in action!
Latest posts by Gracie (see all)
- Let the world be fed - October 21, 2024
- The Encounter - April 19, 2024
- On Practice - February 23, 2024
Ooh the green bean spread sounds delicious. I’m definitely trying that!
I love pumpkin seeds. Particularly delicious roasted in olive oil with a sprinkling of salt 🙂
Let me know how it turns out! I’m looking forward to another food post from your end… 😉
Ooh, thanks for mentioning that bread book! I’d also like to get to the point where we aren’t buying bread anymore, and between that and my interest in Zen, that sounds like a book I should check out.
Your nasturtium pesto sounds interesting too. In the spring I like to make pesto out of radish leaves, which are another more peppery, slightly stronger variation on the usual basil version.
Pretty beets in that last photo!
I noticed you mentioned that pesto- I really wanted to try it but didn’t get around to it! Next year…
Too bad about your starter, but I guess making a new one doesn’t take all that long. I’ve been away from home for a week now, and had to ask my mom to feed my starter. I just remembered about it this morning…but it’s in the fridge, so it should be ok.
Nasturtium pesto sounds really interesting. We always used to have a ton of them in our garden when I was growing up, we’d eat them all the time, but never as pesto. Pine nuts are really expensive, but when you think about the effort involved in harvesting them, I guess it’s sort of justified. I bought a half pound of organic ones a couple of months ago, $15. I keep them in the fridge, and use them sparingly, so I still have a little left. I love them on pizza or in a salad.
I love pine nuts too! I wish they weren’t so pricey, but you’re right, they are probably worth it. They’ll just be more of a treat than something I get for making pesto to store for the year. 🙂
Holy cow, the walnuts at your co-op are expensive! I get them at Meijer for about $4/lb, but then again I’m not sure of the farming process. Pine nuts are about $10/lb and way too expensive for us. I’ll look into the pumpkin seeds because that sounds tasty!
We tried parsley pesto a lot last year, until we learned that parsley decreases milk production. Since I was having such a hard time nursing anyway, I’ve pretty much avoided parsley in large quantities ever since!
Weird- that’s SO cheap. I even looked online just now to check various prices for bulk nuts, and it seems to always be about $8 a pound for walnuts and $30 a pound for pine nuts. Crazy! I bet the pumpkin seeds are super cheap there…
I didn’t know that about parsley. I love parsley, I tend to just throw a little in to things, but often. I’m not particularly worried about my supply, but just for my reference, how much is too much?
For me, eating parsley pesto on spaghetti or something like that (so pretty large amounts of parsley, compared to just using it for seasoning) resulted in a significant decrease in my pumping output.
kellymom.com lists parsley as some herbs that can be used to decrease oversupply here (http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/herbs-oversupply.html) but doesn’t say anything about how much. Also here: http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/herbs_to_avoid.html#milksupply.
I don’t think if you’re using it sparingly as seasoning or a dash here and there that it will have any effect. I think I might be the exception to the rule that I had to work so hard to keep my supply up!
I may be wrong about the price of pine nuts… we avoid them because they’re so expensive. 🙂
On the topic of meal planning (which you don’t have to answer right away) I have been wondering:
With your garden, and storage processes, and occasional “found” items, how do you plan meals? I know you have a lot of nameless meals–not sure what it will be or what it was, but it was delicious. Because quite a bit of our grocery shopping happens at the farmer’s market (Sundays), the restaurant store when we get there to see what’s on sale (Tuesdays), and the food bank (Wednesdays/Thursday), we don’t have the ability to plan a week’s worth of meals at a time. Even three days can be difficult, because we never know what we’re going to end up with that needs to get used up pretty quickly. (And sometimes we’re bad at using things quickly because we just don’t get to them, not knowing what to make.)
Anyway, it’s been a frustrating endeavor, and since you brought it up, I just wanted to share my frustration and tell you I’m eager to hear your thoughts even if they don’t directly apply to me 🙂
Well, while we don’t have a “spaghetti night” so-to-speak, I do have a core group of meals that I like to put together that are really versatile. So, for example, I love to make frittatas for dinner, they are delicious and fast and anything can go in them. Just the other day I made an Asian style frittata with a yogurty-Thai sauce. But, stuff like that, interesting one-pot meals that can use a lot of random ingredients and go different ways. So obviously, casseroles are a good call. Also soups and stir fry. Tonight I’m making a summer squash casserole because I have so much of it! There’s also a bunch of stuff that I can rely on getting, too, so I have some regular meals surrounding that stuff. So, for instance, I’ll have dry beans and plan a few meals a week containing those. I like to make bean burgers, bean soups, or just serve them on the side with some tacos. That’s another one, actually. We always get corn tortillas, and I make lots of different kinds of tacos- not always with meat in them. Or like, we always get some tuna with our benefits, so I like to make tuna cakes every couple of weeks. I actually make a lot of things into cakes, now that I think about it… haha. And then I almost always try to pair these things with a vegetable(s) I’m trying to use. If I can’t use my veggies, then they go to the compost, to the chickens, or into the freezer for using when I make stock. That way nothing goes to waste!
Anyway, if I were you, I’d plan your meals on Thursdays. It sounds like you’ll have the stuff from the store and food bank for the week, and then you just have farmer’s market stuff, but you can plan what to buy from there, so planning for the whole week shouldn’t be a problem. I’m also not averse to changing my plans if I’m inspired- I frequently move things around and have a meal I was planning on a later day. Anyway, I hope this was helpful! I’d be really interested to know how your planning goes.