Backyard Produce

Recently I signed up for an awesome program called Backyard Produce - website here.

I have only received 2 boxes thus far, but so far I love it!  It's such a good vehicle to try new and healthy things.  I am currently enrolled in the "Flying Solo" program which is $25 per week.  At first that sounded kind of steep because this was all I got in my first box:

This is the box that appears on my doorstep each Tuesday.  It's like Produce Christmas once a week!

 

The first thing Grant said was, "...That's it?"

But then I realized I can order smarter than this.  So this was my next order:

Rainbow Carrots!  Butternut Squash!  Green beans!  Fresh bread!  Tangelos!  Cucumbers!  All organic!!!

This week the Flying Solo basket has proven to be more than enough food for a few dinner sides (and mains).  Mama knows how to stretch a dollar! 

My favorite part about this program is that it inspires me to make dishes I wouldn't have otherwise made because I wouldn't have otherwise bought certain vegetables.  Take for instance this amazing pasta I made last night.

Normally I would never make a) Pasta or b) a Vegetarian dish.  But boy was I glad I did!  I used this recipe from Giada - Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese - (but I used whole grain bow tie) and it knocked my socks off. 

 

If you don't watch the Food Network religiously like I do than you might not know this amazing tidbit - You don't need to add cream to have a creamy pasta sauce!  All you need to do is add cheese to hot pasta than add some of the pasta water that you cooked the pasta in.  The combination of those two ingredients makes a creamy sauce that coats each piece of pasta and provides decadence to the max.  Added cream and fat is for the birds!

 

I can't wait to see what I can get in my box next week.  This is so fun.  It's like a food challenge/mystery each week.  Challenge accepted!  It feels great to eat fresh, organic produce while supporting NC farmers. Win, win, win!...Then eat :)

Diveats - Potato & Broccoli Puree

If you're like me, you sometimes struggle with ideas for interesting side dishes for dinner.  First world problems, I know.

 

Prepare to add a new side dish into your bag of tricks - Broccoli Puree (click the link for recipe)

 

I was just going to serve this alongside my chicken with dinner.  However, it ended up making so much and had a consistency that so resembled mashed potatoes, that I just decided right then and there to make it a little bed for my chicken to lay it's dead breast.

 

 

Chicken breast w/ Toast points, served on a comfy bed of Broccoli Puree

 

My husband declared that it looked so good, "It deserved a glass of wine with it."  I'm pretty sure he just wanted an excuse for a glass of wine, but I'll take it!

 

The only modifications I made were to add garlic powder for a little more flavor.  I also can pretty much guarantee that a little dollop of butter in the mix would taste divine, but I didn't try that this time.  Maybe next time, when I prepare to hibernate for winter.

Diveats - Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers with Basil Sauce

Behold. The stuffed pepper revisited.

This ain't your average Tex-Mex stuffed pepper. This here is fancy, yall!

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers with Basil Sauce, adapted from this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis.

(By adapted I mean the exact same except that I used Quinoa instead of Couscous and Sundried Tomatoes instead of Currants. Seriously, what is a currant?)

Mix up all the ingredients in a big bowl and stuff the peppers. The ingredients of this recipe were truly meant to be together. They marry perfectly in these peppers.

Blend the sauce. It's so easy and quick. Don't you just love the zing of lemon juice. So refreshing!


Blend the sauce until creamy and delicious! It really is an elegant sauce. I would know. I'm extremely elegant.

This is a pepper after baking at 375 degrees for about an hour. It's a little burnt/crispy on the top but that's OK. Crispy is a good thing! And it will get pretty during the next step.

I cut them in half for ease of serving and eating. And to expose those beautiful colors. Look, it's Christmas on a plate!

And if I'm being honest, it just allows for more surface area for the sauce :)

Spoon some of the creamy sauce on top and you have got yourself one colorful, delicious pepper for dinner!

It's the cure for the common dinner!

Parme$an

Hold the phone.

Is anyone else out there aware of the Parmesan cheese racket going on in grocery stores these days?

Last night I decided to top some asparagus with a little freshly grated Parmesan and some lemon juice. Sounds simple, right?

Well I'll be damned if I didn't go into the Harris Teeter, scour the randomly placed fancy cheese cart, and find only 2 brand options of Parmesan Reggiano, the cheapest and smallest of which was $9.45.

Umm, what? Have I never used Parmesan Reggiano before? How did I not know how unbelievably expensive this shit is?

Now I'm in a really though situation. After watching hundreds of episodes of Giada At Home, I am now convinced I need to put freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano on everything. And after seeing how much it cost, I am now convinced I can't afford to put it on anything.

I ended up getting the Harris Teeter "Fancy Shredded Parmesan Cheese", which isn't fancy at all. It kinda doesn't even look like cheese. Nonetheless, it still tasted great when roasted over asparagus.

And, the best part, you don't even have to pronounce it like a fake Italian. Score one for the po' folk.

This made me giggle

True dat.

Diveats - Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I have this sinking feeling that no one pays much attention to my "Diveats" posts, but that needs to change right here, right now.

Listen up people.

This is awesome. You need to make it. Recipe.

If you like feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, and things that are awesome, you are going to LOVE this meatloaf.

It tastes like a combination between an awesome type of sausage and a pizza! What's not to love about that?!

* In my opinion, whole milk is not required. I used skim milk and reduced fat feta and it was still the most moist, delicious meatloaf I've ever tasted.

Please make it and let me know what you think! It's diva certified delicious.

Home is Where the Big Fat Lie Is

I learned some very unsettling information this week.

Apparently neither Giada At Home nor Nigella Kitchen are filmed in either one of their homes or kitchens!

I feel so dupped. Now I would give anything to see one of these shows filmed. What do they do with the food since they are clearly NOT serving it to their families at their homes?!

This does, however, make me a little less concerned about Giada's OCD issues, as her "house" is always freakishly clean. But this does nothing to explain the stupid surf boards that sit outside the translucent windows in the kitchen. Or why she is always running "upstairs" to change.

And when Nigella goes late night in her bathrobe to grub on the remnants of her pies, is she actually just doing that in her studio kitchen...midday...with the lights off?

This gives me mad respsect for the Original Gansta Ina Garten. That show is straight up filmed in her house. What she lacks in wearing anything besides oversized button up shirts, she makes up for in honesty.

In related news, if you want to watch the most annoying episode ever of Giada at Home, I suggest the Pasta Party. Between her pronunciations of Pasta, Ricotta, Parmesan Reggiano, and Penne, it's enough to make you want to never travel to Italy again. Or even your local Olive Garden .

Liars!