Market & Kitchen, July 4th

It is absolutely gorgeous outside today, so I've been making the most of it: walking around my neighbourhood, checking things out and going into all the stores I've spent the last month walking past but not actually entering. I wandered around this morning looking for garage sales (OK, it was a little more premeditated than that) and bought a bunch of cookbooks for $2:



Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook
The Urban Peasant - James Barber
A Passion for Vegetables - Paul Gayler
The Original Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1896!!) - Fannie Merritt Farmer

The last one should be an interesting read if nothing else....I also bought a butterfly shaped cookie from the kids manning the snack booth, but passed on the lemonade. The cookie is not in the picture because I ate it immediately. Ahem.

A decent haul at the farmer's market:



White Icicle radishes (on the left); the woman at the market said they & the greens were milder than normal radishes...I've already eaten some of the greens in scrambled eggs for lunch, and they were delicious. ($1.50)

Zucchini, spring onions, and mustard greens. I've heard of mustard greens before but I haven't seen them around. I'm eager to try them since I like peppery mustardy things. ($4.50)

New potatoes ($4)

Smoked pork chops from the Mennonite ladies....so basically bacon, I'm guessing. Sweet! I trimmed the bones and fat off one and rendered the fat to start the black beans I cooked this afternoon...it made my apartment smell amazing and gave great flavour to the beans. ($10)

No strawberries unfortunately...my garage sale adventures meant I showed up a little later than I normally do and there weren't any left. I still got some though--I went to the 'natural' food store nearby and bought a pint ($5) of local berries and some oranges ($2.30).

I also hit up the bulk food store earlier this week and stocked up:



I bought hard and soft whole wheat flour (I marked one bag with a twist tie and I think it was the hard flour one....oops), brown long grain rice, ground flaxseed, oatmeal, raisins, black and romano beans, cornmeal, cinnamon, and peppercorns. Mostly organic (the raisins, spices, beans and flax are not) and ~$19 for the lot.

So that's $46.61 spent on groceries this week...I still need to get milk and yogurt sometime, and coffee which I am completely out of (gasp, choke). That will push me over my weekly budget of $50, but I'm stocked up on a lot of things now so I expect I'll be good for the month.

This is what I'm planning on cooking this week:

Black bean & rice tacos with shredded mustard greens, salsa, and cheddar cheese
Pizza with herbs (I don't have enough basil for just that so I'll probably add some oregano...maybe some of the radish greens?)
Black beans, steamed or sauteed mustard greens, cornbread
Lentils & rice from the freezer, quick pickled carrots, the rest of the radish greens
Fried rice with carrots, peas, green onion, egg
Roasted new potatoes and zucchini, broiled pork chop
Ginger-lime salmon with zucchini en papillote, lentil & orange salad

Lunches will be leftovers (especially pizza...) and some tomato soup and chicken rice from the freezer. For snacks I have carrot sticks, oatmeal molasses muffins & cornbread, strawberries, oranges, and I'm going to hardboil some eggs as well. Phew!

Food Waste Friday

This is a Thing. Started by Kristen, Food Waste Friday is a chance for bloggers to take pictures of slimy, icky food! Yay!

No?

Ok, it's actually a set day for people to go through their fridges, or freezers or pantries, and see if there's any food they've let go to waste. By documenting it the hope is that we can be more aware of what we're wasting, and ultimately reduce or eliminate waste all together. In case you needed a reason why, or if you just abnormally like statistics (what? Numbers are cool), get this: about 30% of edible food is wasted in the US and UK. (source) Mind you, those numbers are over ten years old...I wonder if things have changed at all? And in which direction?



It's pretty rare for me to throw out a significant amount of produce. Because I'm only one person, keeping track of what I have and what's about to go off is pretty simple. And I don't think I've ever let bananas go bad...usually if they're about to go critical I bake muffins or throw them in the freezer until I can do some baking. Unfortunately, these went south faster than I realized, and there was collateral damage: I made a sort-of fruit salad with a kiwi and had to chuck the whole thing. Which is annoying, because the kiwis at least were tasty. Ah well.

Menu Plan Monday

Not going to the farmer's market threw me into a bit of a loop this weekend. I couldn't figure out what to eat this week and what I should use up first, and then I had to go shopping in the rain and overspent my grocery budget by $6. (I know, cry me a river). But then I came in and baked some bread and made some tomato soup and all was right with the world.


Tentative meal plan for the week:

Monday: chicken rice pilaf
Tuesday: tomato soup, bread & cheese
Wednesday: onion, chickpea & mushroom quesadillas, peas
Thursday: french toast & banana
Friday: tuna melt, carrot sticks

Lunches will be mostly leftovers. Snacks will be carrot sticks, bananas, kiwi, almonds, muffins (if I get them baked tomorrow...) and some other bits and pieces.

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.

Black Bean Hummus (or, The Blogger Returns)

No, it's not baby food gone wrong or some form of excrement (ewwwww). I made black bean hummus today, with the overall aim of having it to take to school for lunch (more on that later...) It's a little different from normal chickpea hummus, and has cumin, paprika, and a bit of cayenne pepper in it for a little kick. I used a recipe from allrecipes.com with a few changes. My modified version of the recipe is below.

• 2 garlic cloves, diced fine
  
• 1 540mL can black beans, drained, plus 2 TB liquid*
• 1 1/2 TB tahini (sesame seed paste)
  
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• half a lemon

Mix all the ingredients together, with a couple squeezes of lemon juice. If you have power tools, this recipe works best when mixed up in a blender or food processor, but if not just go at it with a fork, although the end result will be chunkier than mine (I used a stick blender). Taste and adjust the seasoning or add more lemon juice.

Serve with pita bread, raw veggies, or crackers, or use it on sandwiches as a spread.

* I rinse canned beans to reduce the sodium content, but that's just a personal thing.