Again!

I will get this going on a regular basis. Maybe. In the meantime, I offer no apologies for whatever absences may accrue, however long.

But now, a report of my trip to the farmer's market on Saturday, et cetera.



I braved the pouring rain (ie waited till it slacked off) to visit the farmer's market near me. There weren't many people there. This week I bought:

* Strawberries ($5)
* 2 bunches of radishes, a mix of normal (?) and french breakfast types
* green onions ($4 for the radishes and green onion)
* asparagus ($5 (gah! But it's really gorgeous asparagus. Every stem is perfect))
* romaine lettuce ($2) (bought this last week and it was still going strong a week later, which is cool)


Total: $16

I'll probably buy some bananas and more bread before the week is up...

Still undergoing a bit of sticker shock from this whole eating local / organic thing I'm doing. Depending on who you are the news that I'm doing this may shock and/or enrage you. I'm telling myself it's an experiment. Hopefully I'll trick myself into some kind of habit before winter sets in. More on this later.



Menu for the week (lunches and dinners, plus leftovers & repeats):

* Aromatic lentils and rice with lime, ginger and mint (sauteed radish greens as a side)
* quinoa pilaf (from the freezer) with carrot sticks & steamed asparagus
* paprika and almond chicken salad (cooked chicken breast from the freezer)
* hummus sandwiches (lettuce, maybe radishes...?)
* scallion pancakes (not the real Chinese kind) with soy-lime dipping sauce and salad
* pasta & tomato sauce (from the freezer)

For breakfasts, I'm departing from my usual, oatmeal--it's predicted to be scorching all week and I don't think I'll want anything hot, so I'm having yogurt and granola. (Except for Sunday morning, when I made pancakes)

For snacks I'll have vegetables (carrots, asparagus, radishes) and hummus, strawberries, oatmeal banana cookies, and maybe dried apricots.

The rest of Saturday I was very productive on the cooking front. I cooked chickpeas and made up the hummus, and I made some chicken broth as well, since I had the chicken carcass from last week and a full container of vegetable trimmings, but I don't have a purpose for the broth yet. It went into the freezer in ~1 cup amounts. Then I made the granola and cooked up the ginger-lime-mint lentils along with some asparagus for dinner. (The lentils were pretty meh, not sure trying to pair lighter flavours with something so earthy works. Better luck next time!)

This way, the only thing I'll have to actually cook this week, by my count, is the scallion pancakes (which are pretty quick). Go go gadget organized. With my luck, it'll be pouring rain and 12 degrees by Wednesday.