CSA Winding Down

“Do you know what time it is?”

I can’t hear you.

I said, “Do you know what TIME it is?”

It’s time for another exciting edition of What’s in My Box.

And the crowd goes wild.

I know the suspense has been overwhelming, so let’s get to it already. To take a peek at my box (dirty, dirty), keep reading, but to check out all those other boxes out there (I know you’re curious), all you have to do is head on over to In Her Chucks. You’ll get to view everybody goodie box, plus get great advice on what to do with an entire pumpkin, aside from the obvious porch decoration. Needless to say, the timing couldn’t be better since I still haven’t touched last week’s pumpkin, nor have I come up with any kind of plan, outside of eating it. Hopefully, the cosmos are realigning in my favor again. I hate it when they stray; fickle cosmos.

Week Eighteen brought us some red leaf lettuce, a green and a red bell pepper, kale, apples, garlic (always a winner), a beefsteak tomato and a spaghetti squash.

As much as I’d like to wow you with my CSA and all the amazing things I did with it this past week, I’m afraid that’s just not gonna happen today. You see I didn’t actually do much with it, and there’s a couple of reasons why. I think the best way to explain it would be in a list (yeah for neurosis):

1) Winding Down: we are at week 18 and our shares are getting smaller and smaller, so I’m limited in what I can actually do with it. I made some more apple pie granola, but the majority of the apples have been traveling to my belly, via my mouth, in their natural state. I didn’t take photos, and somehow I know this fact won’t keep you up nights.

I’ve also put down some more salads; still good, but really they look the same as all my other salads, and this doesn’t mean I’ll spare you the picture; that’s crazy talk, even if I did just post it yesterday.

My tomato and some of the garlic went into another bowl of whole wheat spaghetti with feta cheese, parsley, and kalmata olives, creating one giant bowl of tantalizing flavors.

Speaking of spaghetti…

2) I gave away my Spaghetti Squash (gasp). I know I’ve broken some cardinal rule here by not taking on the spaghetti squash, especially since everybody seems to love these things, but I think they’re weird, and because I’ve never tried it, I, of course, am an expert on the topic and have no qualms passing judgement. The honest reason I dumped it is because I still have a pumpkin to contend with, and I didn’t need another giant squash on my hands. If you’re still keeping track, feel free to give this week’s point to the CSA, although season to date, I’m still winning (so there).

3) No onions. I still have a damn good amount of peppers (bell peppers, carmen peppers and yummy orange peppers), but no onions. Do you know how hard it is to use peppers without onions? If you do, then obviously you’re smarter than me, and some advice would be appreciated. My huevos calls for sautéed peppers AND onions; same goes for my burritos, or pretty much any type of soup. Sure I could have done one without the other, but it would have been weird: like peanut butter without the jelly, salt without the pepper, or Simon Cowell without a grey t-shirt. As it was, I made a frittata with sautéed peppers (the last of the Carmen’s), garlic and green onions (these are not the same as regular onions), and the result was edible. Not really photogenic (although I’m going to show you anyway), and not truly fantastic, but edible nonetheless.

4) Out of Veggies: I ran out of veggies (oh the horror!). Since we normally have an overabundance of veggies on hand, I stopped buying any extras at the grocery store weeks ago (the Hubby actually banned it). Other than a lone cauliflower which fell into my cart last weekend (oops, how did that happen?), I returned from my most recent grocery trip veggie-less. Poor planning on my part because come Tuesday, I was out of veggies. It didn’t help I was an overachiever on Monday night and blew my wad in one shot because apparently, I’m still in the “use as many veggies as possible mode.” Yeah, I made stir fry with everything (the cauliflower, the last of the green beans (ha-lle-lu-jah, hallelujah, hallelujah), the summer squash from I don’t even know when, the last of my onions, and some bell peppers. It was powerful and delicious, but it cleaned me out.

The kale on the other hand, I’ve been guzzling like a champ. I can’t quite explain it, but I am oddly attracted to drinking my veggies. I’m starting to get excited when the time comes, and if this is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

What did you get in your CSA? Are you a big fan of kale smoothies? If so, what’s your favorite combo? Any exciting weekend plans?