Hello!

We are going to keep it simple this week. We had a whirlwind weekend. 16 hours logged in the car over 3 days. Totally worth it, but I’m totally exhausted. Despite being tired, I am excited to get in the kitchen this week. We still have some cooler weather and I am in full nesting mode. For me, this means cooking and baking. I have to take advantage of it while I can!

 

Here is what we got in our CSA:

Spinach

Parsnips (again?!, shaking fist to sky)

Ramps

Sunchokes

Asparagus

Chives

Saute Mix (Kale and other cooking greens)

Sorrel

If you are on Pinterest, I just started a board dedicated to CSA recipes, check it out.

Meal Plan:

Crispy Eggplant with Marinara and Chickepeas over Spaghetti Squash with Sauteed Greens and Mushrooms: I made the eggplant once before and we loved it. It makes great leftovers for Manatee and given our week, that is a major plus.

Rotisserie Chicken made into Chicken Salad: That will be our go-to snack/lunch for the week. I had it my brother’s house with celery for dipping and loved it.

Very Veggie Meatloaf with Sweet Potato and Sunchoke Mash and Asparagus OR sauteed greens: The meatloaf is from my cookbook and makes two large loaves. I am going to freeze one un-cooked and freeze the leftover mash for an easy freezer meal.

Leftovers OR Pasta with Mixed Veggies and Asparagus: Lots of girls’ nights (aka me and Baby G) this week so we will either dine on leftovers or make a quick and easy pasta.

Huevos Rancheros: I am doing a huevos rancheros egg bake for G’s birthday brunch. I want to do a trial run that will be an easy meal Friday or Saturday.

Our “problem” CSA item this week is the Saute Mix. I am not a big cooked greens person, but I really want to make sure we eat it. Really going to try to make them this week and will let you know how it goes (and what worked). Wish me luck!

Baking/Freezer Meals:

With our last two bunches of ramps, I am going to mix together more ramp burger patties and freeze them. They were really good and would love to have those in the freezer for later in the summer.

I made a batch of 4 mini cheddar and chive loaves for the freezer. They make a great snack/appetizer.

Going to whip up some egg sandwiches and freeze them, mostly because they had a buy-one-get-one-free deal on English muffins.

Possibly make something with rhubarb (rhubarb scones?) or parsnips (morning glory muffins?). We will see how my ambition wanes as the week goes on.

In other news, I think we will be ordering an electric smoker this week. We were visiting my brother last weekend and my sister-in-law made the most amazing smoked salmon and ribs. Manatee and I both fell in love at first bite. What an easy way to make delicious food!

Quick Report on Ramps:

So I finally get it about ramps. They are awesome. The ramp burgers we made had the most amazing flavor (ramps + grass-fed beef + liquid smoke + crushed red pepper), and then we made a CSA egg white frittata with ramps, baby bella mushrooms, asparagus, cheddar, and topped with chives. Best frittata I have ever had. So happy we got two more bunches this week.

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That’s what we are cooking this week. What about you?

What do you like to do with ramps?

Do you have a smoker? What should we smoke first?