What’s in the Basket
2 Apr 2012
April is when agriculture in this area really starts to take off. We spend the winter thankful for greens and citrus, and just about the time everyone is getting sick of kale and oranges, bam! It’s strawberry time! And then the tomatoes start coming, and then everything else comes in a flood. We bought the season’s first cucumbers last week. Now this week the full diversity of crops in this area was really apparent- everything from sweet peppers to tomatoes to strawberries to greens!
Unfortunately, last week’s meal plan was a complete bust. The fridge was still stuffed full on Friday, so I knew this weekend would be a light grocery week. I still spent my $40 budget though, because I majorly splurged and bought 1/2 flat of strawberries ($10), a whole smoked mackerel ($8), and a free-range chicken ($11).
What’s in the Basket: a huge bunch of fresh dill, a whole smoked mackerel, one head of savoy cabbage that was too gorgeous to pass by, more oranges and grapefruit, a giant seedless cucumber, swiss chard, and 2 tiny pathetic bunches of cilantro that I spent my last dollar on. Chicken and ridiculous amount of strawberries, too, but they didn’t make it into the picture.
I still have: beets, more cucumbers, several peppers, a big bag of romaine lettuce, sweet potatoes, carrots, quelites, and green onions.
Now the contents of the fridge are threatening to escape every time the door gets opened. We must stick to the meal plan this week!
Sunday- Giant frittata with smoked mackerel, fresh dill, chicory and queso fresco for breakfast, and grilled local sheephead fish with garlic-grapefruit-soy dipping sauce and fried rice for dinner.
Monday-Homemade Sloppy Joes with ground venison, peppers, and green onions, and sliced cucumber salad
Tuesday- Burritos with homemade refried beans, salsa, queso fresco, green salad, maybe pupusas if I feel creative
Wednesday- Meatloaf, savoy cabbage like this, roasted beets, mashed sweet potato
Thursday- Claypot Chicken Rice (using my trusty cast iron dutch oven since I don’t have an Asian clay pot) with stir-fry of whatever vegetables are left over
Friday- Leftovers!
What are you eating for dinner this week?
May 24, 2013 at 9:52 am 
May 23, 2013 at 3:51 pm 
Apr 02, 2012 @ 15:47:36
That’s some pretty chard. I’m really looking forward to my greens being big enough to start cutting.
That frittata sounds to die for.My meal plan’s posted, and it’s a little boring, but that’s more or less the necessary state of affairs at the moment. It will get better.
Apr 02, 2012 @ 17:13:15
It will! It will get better!
Apr 02, 2012 @ 22:36:31
I’ve never been good at planning ahead. In our house, the first comment after dinner is finished is “what are we doing tomorrow night?” and that’s about as far ahead as it goes. But I love the puzzle of using up everything in a farm share (a couple of years ago we did two and that was really challenging). Good for you for being so organized!
Apr 02, 2012 @ 23:27:49
Using up everything in a farm share *is* a challenge. I hope it’s usually an enjoyable one!
I’ve been writing weekly meal plans for probably 10 years. I find it the best way to stay within our grocery budget. If I don’t have a meal plan and write a list before I go grocery shopping then I will invariably have to make multiple trips to the store in one week, which to me is very wasteful.