Week 3: Bag Contents & Recipe Ideas

I haven't had the opportunity to make my meal plan for the week (90 degree temps require a LOT of pool time), but for my fellow Fresh Forkers who are just itching to get started on their own meal plans - You did start meal planning, right?! -  I thought I'd go ahead and share a few ideas for this week's bag contents, and I'll post my meal plan tomorrow evening after I have the opportunity to think about it a little more.  If last week had a Mexican theme, I feel like this week is a little more Asian in nature.

Small bag contents:
-1 package boneless loin chops, 2 per pack
-2 lbs spelt berries
-1 bunch spinach
-1 head white stem bok choy
-1 dozen eggs
-1 head baby bok choy
-1 bunch beets with tops
-1 lb snow peas
-1 head chinese napa cabbage

Large bag additions:
-1 bunch carrots
-1 lb shelled peas
-1 head leaf lettuce
-1 extra bunch spinach
-2 bunches red bulb green onions

Honestly, my favorite item in this week's bag is the eggs.  We are an egg family and have them for breakfast - sometimes dinner - numerous times a week.  I have spent lots of time and money searching for the perfect egg at the grocery store ever since I tried the pasture-raised eggs from Fresh Fork last summer to no avail.  No organic, no cage-free, no free-range eggs sold at any of my local groceries came close to having the richness of these local pasture-raised eggs.  In fact, I now plan to purchase my eggs weekly at the back of the truck when we pick up our bag each week.  If you aren't a CSA subscriber, find a local farmer's market that sells true pasture-raised eggs and see for yourself.  For more information on pasture-raised eggs, click here.

Unfortunately, due to some unexpected events, I didn't cook as much as usual last week and I am still sitting on some bok choy, snow peas, kale and cauliflower.  Fortunately, I seem to have figured out a way to store my veggies that makes them last longer than expected. As soon as I get home from pick up, I take any leafy greens and place them in large plastic grocery bags with a damp paper towel.  Then I put them in the crisper of my second refrigerator that I keep nice and cold.   If an item such as beets or carrots come with the greens still attached, I cut off the greens and store them with the other leafy veggies as well.  I found that even my leaf lettuce stays fresh for a week or more when stored in this manner. To clear some space, tonight I made a quick and easy stir-fry using my bok choy, snow peas, and cauliflower from week two and served it over quinoa.  No recipe, I just heated some oil in a wok, threw in the snow peas, sliced bok choy, and cauliflower florets, added some minced garlic and grated ginger, then finished it with some soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.  Served with some sri racha or sweet thai chili sauce, it was easy, quick, and healthy!

Some recipe ideas for week 3:
Lemon Chicken Stir Fry (Eating Well)
Shrimp & Egg Fried Rice with Cabbage (Tyler Florence)
Skillet Baked Eggs with Spinach, Yogurt, & Chili Oil (Bon Appetit)
Summer Pea, Watermelon, & Farro (sub spelt berries) Salad (Cooking Light)
Chicken with Kale and Freekeh-Lentil Pilaf (sub your bok choy or spinach for kale; spelt for Freekeh, Bon Appetit)
Sweet Beet Cookies (Weelicious)
Beet & Goat Cheese Arugula Salad (Giada De Laurentiis)


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