Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb 29 2012

Local produce, year round!

Prior to this year, I thought it was virtually impossible to eat local produce year round.

Sure things like meats, chicken, honey, and maple syrup would be found at the local winter farmer’s market, but produce could also be found there? Even salad greens like spinach, lettuce, kale, and numerous other less common varieties? I was skeptical…

Sure enough the first time I went to a winter farmer’s market there they were… potatoes, squashes, apples, onions, carrots, even winter greens. At first glance I knew it was possible to eat a healthy, local diet year round, without depriving myself of my favorite food group – produce!

This past weekend my husband and I volunteered at the Seacoast Eat Local farmer’s market in Rollinsford and it was a great experience! We helped farmers unload their vehicles with all of their delicious food. And I made mental notes on what I was going to buy as I was helping!

Winter greens (spinach, kale, lettuce), garlic, apples, sea salt, and fresh bread!

Thanks to these tasty ingredients, plus some yummy feta cheese from my CSA and oil, salad dressing, sunflower seeds, and organic oranges all from Whole Foods, I made a tasty Winter Citrus Salad. (Click on name for recipe)

Winter Citrus Salad

And, thanks to more yummy produce and pork from my CSA, I also created this tasty slow-cooker recipe: Slow Cooker Pork and Cabbage (Click on name for recipe)

Pork, cabbage, apples, oh my yummyness!

I am so thankful to be eating fresh, local food year round!

What have you been cooking up with in season ingredients?

Feb 24 2012

Weekend cooking!

Happy Friday!

I don’t know about you, but I love weekend cooking!

I have more time to make yummy meals on the weekends, because I’m not rushing around going to or coming from work. I will literally spend hours cooking in the weekends – I find it relaxing and fun!

My favorite meal to cook on the weekends is breakfast. I typically make some sort of egg dish, like a breakfast pizza or a fritatta, but occasionally I make some pancakes…. Like this delicious Pumpkin Oatmeal pancake recipe I created last weekend.

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During the fall and winter, I typically make a large one-pot meal. Last week’s creation was a Butternut Squash Chili. Sorry, no pictures of this delicious meal, but it passed the taste test of quite a few people so you’ll have to trust me that it looks and tastes very good! And, it’s healthy!

What is your favorite meal to cook on the weekends?

Feb 23 2012

The Top 3 Reasons Why YOU Should Join a CSA

It may be only February, but now is the time to sign up for a Summer CSA folks! The days are getting longer and warmer, and the planting season is right around the corner…. Before we know it Winter will be long gone. Woohoo!

I received two emails this week from farms regarding the sign-ups for their CSAs…. AppleCrest Farm in Hampton Falls, NH and Brookford Farm in soon-to-be Canterbury, NH. I was a member of AppleCrest’s CSA last summer and purchased the localvore share – fruits, veggies, bread, ice cream, herbs, and flowers. It was a great value and a first time CSA experience! AppleCrest is one of the only farms in the area that offers a fruit portion to their CSA program – most CSAs are just veggies. When the summer season was coming to an end, I found Brookford Farm and signed up for a CSA with them and continued to do so through these winter months. Through Brookford’s CSA I receive a dairy share, veggie share, meat share, pork share, and a chicken and egg share – practically all of the food I consume comes from Brookford Farm.

I could go on and on about how much I love CSAs, but I would probably lose some of you… Hopefully I haven’t already! Below are my top 3 reasons on why YOU should purchase a CSA share:

1). Support your local economy! When you purchase a CSA share from a local farm, you know where your food is coming from…. Not from a mystery shelf in the grocery store or a sticker that reads Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, or California. It is coming from your own state! Over the course of the season, you get to know the farmer and his/her employees. You see them on a regular basis and are helping to support their farm – not a farm that is hundreds of miles away. Your hard earned dollars go directly into the hands of a hard working farmer – not packaging companies, large corporations, and the transportation industry.

2). The food is better for you! When you pick up your weekly CSA share, it is typically picked from the field that very same day. It is not picked, put on a plane, train, or truck, carried hundreds or thousands of miles from it’s original destination, sorted, packaged, then finally put on the shelf to sit and wait to be purchased…. When you calculate all that time, it is a good week or two from the time the produce is picked to when you purchase it in the store – that is a long time! Produce has it’s highest vitamin content, and therefore greatest health benefit, when it is first picked. The longer it takes to get to you, the more nutritional value it loses. Fresh produce = a healthier you.

3). (My personal favorite!) You try new foods! You never get the same produce in your share week after week. Yes, in August you will most likely get many tomatoes and ears of corn each week, because that is what is currently being harvested; however, chances are you’ll receive other veggies that were not in the previous week’s share, or a different variety of that harvested veggie (I.e. Different types of lettuce, tomatoes, squash, etc.) You get to experiment and be creative with the produce you receive each week. Chances are you’ll receive some produce you’ve never purchased before, maybe never even heard of before. Prior to this past summer I never purchased any of the following veggies: cabbage, radishes, sunchokes, Swiss chard, kale, and leeks – now some of these veggies have become some of my favorite veggies to eat! Having a variety of veggies in your diet allows your body to receive so many benefical vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants.

There are multiple types of CSAs out there. For example, some farms offer market style pick ups, while others offer you a pre-packaged share. Some farms make working in the fields mandatory, while others do not. A great resource for checking out CSAs in the Southern NH area can be found at Seacoast Eat Local. Also, this Saturday there is a CSA day at the Rollinsford Farmers Market from 10am-2pm. You can ask farmers about their CSA programs! For farms outside NH, check out Local Harvest.

Join a CSA! Your body will thank you!

Below are two pictures of some CSA shares I received this fall:

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Feb 20 2012

Ingredient of the week: Cabbage

It’s been 2 weeks since my last post and nearly a month since my last ingredient of the week. I guess I have some catching up to do!

Now that I’ve enrolled in school and the weather has been nicer, my free time has been occupied with optional school work and getting outside for workouts as much as possible. I will continue to do the ingredients of the week, but they will not be every week. I hope to still do it twice a month, but we’ll see what happens as the year progresses…. it’s going to be a busy spring and summer!

This week I chose a vegetable that up until last spring, I had never before bought or cooked, and barely ever ate. Today it is one of my favorite vegetables! Crunchy, juicy, healthy, yummy – I find cabbage to be a versatile veggie that can be used in a number of ways.

 

Red Cabbage from my CSA on 2/9/12

 

Ways to use and cook cabbage:

- In boiled dinners with root veggies

- In soups and stews. Check out my new recipe for Cabbage, Leek, and Potato Soup

Cabbage, Leek, and Potato Soup

- In slaw. Check out my recipe for Winter Cabbage Slaw, which uses cabbage and winter root veggies.

Winter Cabbage Slaw

- In sauerkraut. I took a class at Brookford Farm in the fall on how to make sauerkraut and was shocked at how easy it was. The course used Sally Fallon’s recipe from her book, “Nourishing Traditions,” and uses only 3 ingredients: Cabbage, whey, and sea salt. It takes only about 10 min. to make.

Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut Recipe, from Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions”

- 1 head of cabbage, sliced thinly

- 2 Tbsp. whey

- 2 Tbsp. sea salt
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Using your hands, turn the cabbage constantly until it begins to reduce and you start to hear fizzing sounds, about 10 min. Then, pack the cabbage into a wide-mouth canning jar, I typically use quart size, and seal with a lid. One head of cabbage typically yields one quart jar.

Let the jar sit on the counter top for 5 days. If you hear fizzing that is normal, as it is building pressure as the cabbage is fermenting. Release the pressure on day 5, then seal back up. Store in cold storage for up to one year.

You can also add other ingredients to the sauerkraut, such as onions, carrots, daikon radishes, apples. Sauerkraut goes well with pork, in soups/stews, on burgers and hot dogs. I put it on tuna sandwiches and I love it!

When you make sauerkraut and allow the cabbage to ferment, it increases the vitamin content of the cabbage, especially vitamin C.

- Health Benefitsof cabbage can be found on the following websites:

Amazing Health Benefits of Red Cabbage

Cabbage vs. Lettuce

Health Benefits of Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut

 

Feb 6 2012

My big announcement.

What is your passion? What do you get excited about, what moves you?

For some it may be their family. For others their career, a hobby, traveling, sports.

It can be a number of things. I define passion as something that moves you – something you get excited about, something you love, and something to give your all to.

Over the years I’ve been passionate about a number of things. In high school it was the committees I was on, deciding that I wanted to be a teacher, and working with children. In college those passions changed and I was most passionate about was having fun with friends and having a social life I deprived myself of in high school. Then, my first few years of post college life lacked passion…. Until April 2010 when I went on my first run and my life changed.

I can confidently say that I have never been passionate about anything like I am now about my health. Nutrition, cooking, fitness, and having positive relationships with the ones I love, are the most important things to me. They are my passions – and they help me have a happy, healthy, and balanced life.

I’ve decided to take my passion to the next level…. And I enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition!!! Over the course of the next year, I will be doing online courses to become a certified Health Coach!

I’ve decided to sign up for school for multiple reasons; mainly to learn more about nutrition and get as healthy as I can be, and how to share the information I learn with others. Hopefully I will help people become passionate about their own health and help them make positive changes in their lives. I believe that health issues are an epidemic in this country, and I refuse to sit back and just allow it to happen. I read articles, such as this one about obesity and unhealthy living habits, all the time and I get so frustrated. (Especially when I read statistics like only 10% of adults eat the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables…. Seriously?!?! That is just plain unhealthy.) I can’t just sit back and watch it happen. I must help make a change, even if it only has a small impact.

I have come along way since my first run nearly two years ago, but I still have a way to go. I am very excited about the journey that I am about to begin and I know I am going to learn a lot in my coursework – not only how I can help others change their lives, but also become a healthier me!

Here’s to new beginnings!

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