The Conscious Shopper: recipes

Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Salad (Put flowers in it!!!)

>> Friday, June 11, 2010

Mix a mesclun salad mix with strawberries, toasted walnuts, green onions, and the pansies that you need to pick out of your garden and replace with the more summery petunias, and drizzle with a basic balsamic vinaigrette. A salad no child could resist!

Balsamic Vinaigrette

MAKES 1/4 cup
COST: $0.80

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. dark brown sugar, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients thoroughly and pour on salad.

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

Vegetarian Recipe: Baked Pasta Casserole

>> Saturday, May 8, 2010

I've always been the type of cook that says, "I'm making what I want. If you don't like it, you can have a peanut butter sandwich." But recently, I decided that although this philosophy has led to kids who will eat kale and collard greens, it has also led to a lot of food waste. And while I don't want to stop offering them kale and collard greens, perhaps I could offer them foods I know they don't like a little less often.

So recently, I went through my recipes and cut out the ones that only my husband and I will eat. Out with the spicy, out with the "weird," in with a lot more pancakes for dinner.

Strangely, none of my boys like pasta. Hoping that it was just the recipes I was using, I decided to cut out most of my pasta recipes and try out some new ones. My first attempt was this Baked Pasta Casserole from 101 Cookbooks with only slight modifications (I used kale instead of spinach and rotini instead of shells because that's what I had on hand, and I didn't bake it because I was in a rush...Next time, I'll definitely bake it.)

Baked Pasta Casserole

Serves 8
Cost: $1.70 per serving

extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound whole wheat pasta shells
sea salt
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups well-chopped fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, lightly toasted
zest of 2 lemons
8 ounces shredded mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a large casserole dish.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
Saute the onion in olive oil. Stir in garlic and spinach. Cook just until wilted.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of almonds and half of the zest. Add to pasta and mix extremely well.
Sprinkle the bottom of a casserole dish with the rest of the zest. Add a layer of pasta, a layer of cheese, and so on, finishing with a layer of cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Top with remaining almonds before serving.

I thought this had a very surprising mix of flavors - in a good way - but my boys still wouldn't eat it. It was one of those strange meals where they pick out all of the pasta and only eat the cheese and kale. Weirdos.

Do you have a favorite pasta recipe? Include it in our Meatless Monday link-up at the Green Phone Booth every Monday!

This post was shared at Beauty and Bedlam.

Let Them Eat Cake...From Scratch

>> Friday, April 23, 2010

Second Son had a birthday recently, and this is the cake I made for him:

Frugal bloggers often repeat the message that you can save money on groceries by cooking from scratch. From my own experience, I can tell you that's true...sometimes. But sometimes, from-scratch food is more expensive. For example, I can get a box of macaroni and cheese for something like $0.35 at Aldi, and recently I even bought Annie's organic mac and cheese for $0.50 a box at Kroger. There's no way I could come close to making organic mac and cheese from scratch for $0.50. Does boxed mac and cheese taste as good as homemade? Absolutely not...but it works in a pinch.

I think that's the big take-home message: If you're short on time or don't need gourmet flavor every night, stick with a box or jar or can. If you want to make really good tasting food for less than it costs to buy already prepared really good tasting food, cook from scratch.

That's totally the lesson I've learned about birthday cakes. A boxed cake mix and a tub of frosting costs about $3.50, or less if you buy them on sale. But I really don't like cake mix. I mean really, really don't. For most of my life, I skipped the cake on my birthday and went with pie. And then we lived in the DC suburbs and discovered this amazing bakery called Cake Love. Holy schmoly! That's some good (expensive) cake!

So when comparing the cost of making a cake from scratch, I'm less concerned with the cost of a box mix that I don't enjoy and more concerned with the cost of a really good cake from a bakery.

The first step is finding a good basic recipe. Here's the one I use:

Basic Yellow Cake
from McCall's Cooking School

2 1/2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two round 9 inch cake pans or one 9X13 rectangular pan.
Sift flour with baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Continue beating 2 minutes.
At low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour.
Add vanilla. Beat just until smooth.
Pour the batter into prepared pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed with finger.
Cook in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.
Remove from pans. Cook completely before frosting.

With a basic frosting recipe, this cake costs about $8 when made with all organic ingredients. With conventional ingredients, it would only cost a little more than making a cake with a boxed mix and a tub of frosting but would taste much better.

To make my son's cake, I followed these steps:

Orange-Pineapple Praline Cake

1 c. orange juice
grated orange peel
1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple
1 c. coconut
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 c. melted butter
2 c. heavy cream
maraschino cherries

Using basic yellow cake recipe, replace milk with 1 c. orange juice. Stir grated orange peel into the batter.
Turn 1/4 of the cake batter into each pan. Using a spoon, spread each with 1/2 c. crushed pineapple.
Spoon remaining batter evenly over the pineapple.
Place cake pans on center rack in oven and back for about 30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently touched with fingertip.
Mix coconut, brown sugar, pecans, and melted butter.
At the end of the baking time, remove layers from the oven. Spoon praline mixture onto the surface of one layer; return it to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes.
Let second layer cool slightly in pan and then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Remove praline layer from the oven; cool slightly. Move to wire rack to cool completely.
Beat cream at high speed until stiff peaks hold when beaters are lifted. Place plain cake layer on a platter; spread with half the cream and remaining pineapple.
Add the praline-topped layer; frost sides with remaining cream, piping rosettes on top. Garnish with maraschino cherries.

The total cost of the cake I made for my son was around $14, about the same as a cake from my local grocery store bakery, but mine is made from organic ingredients. A Cake Love cake of the same size costs about $50. How does it compare in taste? I'd give Cake Love a 10, mine an 8...and a cake mix a 2. That's worth it to me.

What do you prefer? Cake mix or cake from scratch?

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area and that I use organic ingredients whenever possible. Your costs may vary.

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Great Snack Experiment: Kale Chips

>> Thursday, March 18, 2010

I serendipitously stumbled on several recipes for kale chips recently in a way that made me feel like the universe was trying to nudge me into making them. Now I feel like I owe the universe an apology for waiting so long. As strange as they sound, these are surprisingly good and so easy.

Kale is one of the greens my kids eat without complaint (along with spinach), but even if you usually have to force feed greens to your kids, you should still give these a try. They're kind of in the same vein as popcorn - vegetable-based so relatively healthy, but also covered in fat and salt so not really healthy, making them a good snack.

Kale Chips

MAKES: about 4 servings (though you could easily eat them all by yourself in one sitting)
COST: $.81 per serving*

1 bunch of kale
1 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
sea salt to taste

Preheat your oven. Every recipe I've seen for kale chips lists a different oven temperature - somewhere between 350 and 450. I baked mine at 375 (not so coincidentally, the same temp I bake bread at).

Cut curly kale leaves off of the tough stems. Discard the stems.

Wash kale and dry thoroughly - either by patting with a towel or spinning in a salad spinner. It's very important to get the kale dry, or you'll end up with steamed kale instead of baked kale chips.

Toss kale with oil and vinegar. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Spread the kale evenly onto a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, stir, bake 5 minutes more, etc. until kale is crispy but not burnt. I baked mine for 20 minutes, and I think they're just slightly overdone.

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area and that I use organic ingredients whenever possible. Your costs may vary.

This post stems from my experiment in February to stop buying store-bought crackers and make my own snacks from scratch. For other snack ideas, check out the following:

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This recipe was shared at Tasty Tuesdays and DIY Day

Great Snack Experiment: Non-Animal Crackers and Granola Bars

>> Sunday, March 7, 2010

Aldi has the best animal crackers in the whole world. Normally, I don't snack during the day, but sometimes I can't help myself with Aldi's animal crackers. So in my attempt to make all of our food from scratch last month, one of the first recipes I went looking for was an animal cracker recipe.

I was inspired by this recipe for Animal Cracker Cookies from 101 Cookbooks. In a dream world, I would also own those animal cookie cutters from Williams and Sonoma, but in reality, I am both too cheap and too lazy to bother shaping the crackers into animal shapes. So we call them Non-Animal Crackers. Of all the cracker recipes I tried this month, these are the only ones my kids have requested that I make again. That should give you a pretty good indication of their tastiness.

Non-Animal Crackers

MAKES: 2 dozen cookies
COST: $2.99 with coconut oil ($2.25 with butter)*

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup walnuts (ground in a food processor or chopped very fine)
1/2 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut (also ground in a food processor or chopped very fine)
1/4 cup extra-virgin coconut oil, softened (butter can be substituted, but will affect the taste)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

In a medium bowl, cream together the coconut oil, sugar, and salt. Beat in the egg.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, walnuts, and coconut.
Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture.
Knead the dough a couple times until it forms a ball.
Divide the ball in half, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
The original recipe suggests lining your baking sheets with parchment paper. Since I don't have parchment paper, I just greased my pans, and I didn't have a problem with sticking. But if you have parchment paper, you might as well use it.
Roll each ball of dough out until it is 1/8 inch thick. Cut into cracker shapes (or animal shapes if you're adventurous) and place on baking sheets.
Bake 7 or 8 minutes until lightly browned at the edges.

I packed the non-animal crackers in Third Son's lunch for church (our congregation meets at a strange time). His nursery leader snuck a bite, and then emailed me for the recipe. In exchange, she sent me the following recipe for granola bars, which have been a huge hit around here:

Granola Bars

MAKES: 2 dozen
COST: $4.50 before adding extra goodies*

3 1/2 cups folled oats
1 cup Rice Krispies (or other cereal, or just more oats)
1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup extra goodies of your choice (raisins, dried apples, chocolate chips, etc.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 inch dish.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Then stir in the chocolate chips, if using.
Firmly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for 10 minutes, then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely before removing from the pan.

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This post was shared at Tasty Tuesdays and DIY Day

The Great Snack Experiment: Parmesan Crackers

>> Saturday, February 20, 2010

For my February Extreme Challenge, I stopped buying crackers for the month (along with a few other processed foods that have been lingering around in our diet). Crackers - specifically Goldfish crackers - have been my family's go-to snack since First Son was old enough for solids. There are so many things to love about a storebought cracker: they're cheap, easy, small, self-serve, and don't make too much of a mess. But my family has greened our diet and trimmed our waste-line, and crackers no longer fit the bill.

I've discovered this month, though, that deciding to cut out those lingering processed foods without coming up with a back-up plan is a disastrous way to go about it. We've been experiencing a domino effect of food shortages. Toast for breakfast leads to no bread for lunch, leading to no muffins for snacks, and so on. It's been tough to keep up with all of the from-scratch food needs around here, and after the month is over, I'm not sure how much I'll stick with it.

In the meantime, I've been trying out several homemade goodies and wanted to share a few with you, starting with this one:

Parmesan Crackers

MAKES: 2 dozen crackers

COST: $2.17*

3/4 c. whole-wheat flour
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 T milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir together the flour and salt. Cut in the butter (like when you're making biscuits), and then stir in the cheese.
Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time until the mixture holds together.
Roll out the dough onto a floured surface until very thin. Cut into squares and place on a baking sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. After you remove them from the oven, the crackers will continue to crisp up as they cool. They don't ever get as crispy as wheat thins, but they're similar with a cheesy flavor.

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area. Your costs may vary.

UPDATE: I tried this recipe again but substituted cheddar for the parmesan. It went over much better with the kids.

This recipe is based on fresh365's Parmesan and Cracked-Pepper Crackers and Smitten Kitchen's Parmesan Cream Crackers. I used all whole wheat flour and left out the cracked pepper because I knew my kids would refuse to eat them with pepper. Turned out that they refused to eat them anyway (parmesan is not their favorite cheese), but I thought the crackers were really tasty. So tasty that I ate them all within two days. And that, dear readers, is part of the reason I like storebought crackers. I am never ever tempted to snack on Goldfish.

And by the way, if you don't know about fresh365 or Smitten Kitchen, you need to check them out right now. They both take the most mouthwatering photos (and make very yummy food).

So that's my first snack recipe. If you have a favorite snack recipe you think I should try, send it my way!

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays.

Like what you see? Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook! You can also find me over at The Green Phone Booth.

This post was shared at Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

The K.I.S.S. Method for Saving Time in the Kitchen

>> Thursday, January 14, 2010

The kitchen is usually my domain, and I have a hard time giving up control. But my non-vegetarian husband and I have had an agreement since the early days of our marriage that if he wants to eat meat for dinner, he gets to cook it himself. And that is why one night after I had remarked in passing that we needed a side dish to go with dinner, I sat down to a meal of sausage, eggs, and cucumbers.

My first thought: "Cucumbers are not a side dish..."

My next thought: "Cucumbers as a side dish!"

Ah, the beautiful simplicity of it. No chopping and steaming and seasoning broccoli. No peeling and cutting and mashing potatotes. No husking and boiling and scraping corn. Just a simple plate of cucumbers. Which weren't even peeled.

So the credit for the Keep It Simple, Stupid Method for saving time in the kitchen goes completely to my husband.

The idea is basically that you do things in the kitchen to keep your meals simple and therefore save time.

I know...duh, right? But when you're cooking from scratch and you enjoy cooking like I do, it's easy to let meal preparation take over your life. You thumb through cooking magazines and scroll through cooking blogs and your weekly menus get more and more complicated and then dinnertime rolls around and you've only got 30 minutes to prepare a meal that takes an hour or more.

And that's when it's time to take a breather and remind yourself:

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Here's how:

Simple Sides. As I mentioned above, fresh vegetables make a perfectly good side dish - especially with a heavier meal - and require almost no preparation. Fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower...Mmmm.
Simple Potatoes. There are a billion and one ways to cook a potato, but I'd wager the simplest is to bake it. If you've got your oven on for any reason, toss a few potatoes in, bake for an hour, and serve them as a side dish later in the week. No peeling, cutting, or mashing required.
Simple Bread. Bread by any other shape is still just bread. If you've got a perfectly good loaf of bread sitting around, don't waste time making rolls, breadsticks, biscuits, or flatbread (unless you're ultimate goal is to impress your kids). It might be shaped differently, it might even be a little boring, but it's not going to taste much different.
Simple Stews. The simplest of all meals is the one where you throw a bunch of ingredients into a pot, simmer, and serve. It's extra nice if you can get your crockpot involved. As in this recipe for chili:

Vegetarian Chili

SERVES 4
COST: $1.17 per serving *

2 cups black beans (or 1 can)
2 cups kidney beans (or 1 can)
2 cups butter beans (or 1 can)
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup frozen corn
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 Tbsp. oregano
1 Tbsp. basil

Drain and rinse beans if using canned.
Combine beans, tomatoes, corn, green pepper, and onion in a crockpot.
Season with chili powder, parsley, oregano, and basil.
Cook on high for two hours.

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area. Your costs may vary.

How do you keep it simple in the kitchen?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the latest challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays here.

Like what you see? Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook! You can also find me over at The Green Phone Booth.

This post was included in the Festival of Frugality #213 at Cooking Manager, All Things Eco #86 at Focus Organic, Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family, Frugal Friday at Life as Mom, and The Carnival of the Green at Enviroblog

Seasonal Recipes for Late Fall

>> Thursday, December 3, 2009

Here's what we've been doing with our CSA produce...

What's in season in December?

To find out what's in season in your area, you can google "produce availability" and the name of your state, or choose your state on PickYourOwn.org. The latter has to be the worst designed and yet most valuable website I've seen. Anything you want to know about pick-your-own farms and preserving foods can be found there.

If you live in North Carolina, you will likely see the following fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market this month: apples, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, leafy greens, letttuce, peanuts, pecans, sweet potatoes, turnips.

In My CSA Box

Week 6:

We used the tsunga in a stir fry. Tsunga seems to be an extremely bitter green, but in a stir fry, it didn't taste too bad.

The red russian kale went into a soup. I'm really liking this kale - it's a mild enough green that I can sneak it into practically anything and the kids will eat it without complaint.

Radishes are also surprisingly good in soup.

I made the sweet potatoes into a casserole using a modified version of this stuffed sweet potatoes recipe.

We saved the mesclun salad mix for the next week.

Apparently forgot to take a picture of this week's box.

Week 7: Thanksgiving Week!

We mixed the mesclun salad mix from this week with last week's salad mix to make a great big salad for Thanksgiving.

I used the swiss rainbow chard in a stir fry. (We really do eat a lot of stir-fries.)

I cooked up the collards Southern (but vegetarian) style and served them with golden chickpea patties.

The watermelon radishes and scarlett turnips were roasted together with a little olive oil and sea salt following a recipe from the CSA. None of us liked it much, but the watermelon radishes are sure pretty!

Week 8: (This week)

I'm using the red romaine head lettuce in a salad served alongside pizza.

I used the red russian kale in yet another stir fry.

I'm going to try the red radishes and scarlett turnips in a soup. My husband really doesn't like turnips, but hopefully a soup with lots of other vegetables will cover it up enough for him.

I'll be making garlic herb pasta this week and serving it with the beets in this recipe for beet salad with goat cheese.

I'll be making the collards Southern-style again alongside vegetarian sloppy joes. (Basically this recipe for walnut oatmeal burgers but with tomato sauce and italian herbs rather than veggie broth, and then break up the burgers into pieces like ground beef.)

Other great recipes for late fall:

:: I love this recipe for Savory Bread Pudding with Butternut Squash, Chard, and Cheddar from A Veggie Venture.

:: fresh365 has a great Harvest Hummus, and I've also got my eye on this Asiago Sweet Potatoes recipe.

:: I think this Gingerbread Apple Upside-Down Cake from the Smitten Kitchen looks divine and would be a great baking pick-me-up after my own apple pie disaster.

Related Posts:

Make Your Own: Flour Tortillas from Scratch (and a question about wheat)

>> Thursday, November 19, 2009

Although most of our grocery purchases are organic or local nowadays, I've still been buying our favorite brand of cheap flour tortillas. We like the small size, the taste, and the convenience - burritos are my "I don't have time to cook tonight" meal. But I don't like the questionable/processed ingredients or the plastic packaging.

I've looked at Whole Foods for tortillas, but all I could find were some gluten-free things, and frankly, I'm not getting the whole gluten-free fad. I have no need for a gluten-free diet, and although I know many people (including Oprah) who are buying gluten-free products even though they haven't been put on a gluten-free diet by their doctors, I don't really understand why. Maybe someone wants to leave a comment explaining it to me. :)

Anyway, I'm mostly still sticking with our old reliable tortilla brand, but occasionally I make tortillas from scratch. They are sooooo yummy, healthier, and there's no plastic packaging involved.

Flour Tortillas

MAKES 8 tortillas
COST: $0.15 per tortilla

1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. water

Combine the flour and salt.
Cut in the butter.
Gradually add the water.
Refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours. (The recipe I have says to do this , but I have to admit that I never have. As I said, burritos are my quick meal, and refrigerating for 24 hours would make them completely not quick.)
Divide the dough into 8 to 12 pieces, depending on how big you like your tortillas.
Roll each piece very thin.
Cook on a hot griddle for about 20 seconds on each side.

And hurray, hurray, I finally got around to looking up that wheat farmer my friend told me about forever ago. I went and picked up some wheat from them last week - brought my own five pound buckets - so if I can get into the swing of grinding my own wheat, that's one step closer to zero waste!

Question though - does anyone know anything about soft wheat? I bought two buckets of hard wheat, and one of soft. Hard wheat is what most of us are used to, but the soft wheat is supposed to be good for things that don't rise like cookies and pancakes. But I always do half white half wheat in all my baked goods. Could I substitute the soft wheat for the white flour, eliminating the need for all-purpose flour?

Seasonal Recipes for Fall

>> Friday, October 30, 2009

On a whim one day, I decided to join a winter CSA with Coon Rock Farm, a sustainable farm in my area. I had heard a lot of good things about this farm (one person called it the Polyface Farms of North Carolina), and since there are zero organics available at my farmer's market, I decided to give it a try over the winter.

So I thought that instead of my usual way of doing these seasonal recipes, I'd just show you what I got in my CSA box and tell you how we used it (or plan to use it).

What's in season in October/November?

To find out what's in season in your area, you can google "produce availability" and the name of your state, or choose your state on PickYourOwn.org. The latter has to be the worst designed and yet most valuable website I've seen. Anything you want to know about pick-your-own farms and preserving foods can be found there.

If you live in North Carolina, you will likely see the following fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market this month: apples, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, leafy greens, peanuts, pecans, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, turnips, and winter squash.

In My CSA Box

Week 1: (Sorry no picture of this week's offerings)

We ate the turnip greens in an omelet. We eat omelets with toast almost every week.

The arugula and d'avignon radishes went into a salad as a side dish for pizza. Pizza is another weekly menu item.

I made pesto with the basil with a side dish of the aforementioned salad.

We also got an acorn squash, which I plan to use in these acorn squash quesadillas from the Smitten Kitchen.

Week 2:

I used half of the baby red russian kale and purple mizuna in a stir fry.

The tatsoi (a green similar to spinach) went into omelets.

We haven't used the Japanese white turnips yet.

We made a salad with the d'avignon radishes, radish greens, and the other half of the kale and mizuna, which we ate as a side dish with pizza and the following recipe for pumpkin pasta:

Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

SERVES 4
COST: $1.05 per serving*

8 oz. penne pasta
4 oz. yogurt cheese (or cream cheese)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
ground nutmeg to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions.
Place yogurt cheese, parmesan cheese, butter, and milk in a saucepan. Heat until melted, stirring frequently.
Add pumpkin. Cook until heated through.
Add pasta, tossing lightly. Sprinkle with ground nutmeg.

Week 3:

Once again, the tatsoi went into an omelet.

The arugula, radishes, radish greens, and some of the baby braising greens will go into a salad as a side dish for pizza and tortilla soup (made with some peppers and corn that I froze in the summer).

I'll be sautéing the Japanese white turnips from this week and last week for a side dish with golden chickpea patties using the following simple recipe from the CSA farm:

Sauteed Baby White Turnips

SERVES 2

4 turnips with greens
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Cut greens off turnips and save for later.
Wash turnips and set aside to dry.
Heat oil in a frying pan on medium high.
When the oil is good and hot, throw in the whole turnips and stir well to coat with oil.
Cover and continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes. When turnips start to brown, and in greens and cool all together until greens are slightly wilted.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Other great recipes for fall:

:: fresh 365 made Maple-Pumpkin Pasta with Blue Cheese and Sage and Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas.

:: It's Not Easy Being Green invented Crockpot Baked Stuffed Pumpkin with Apples.

:: Farmer's Daughter put together an Apple Tart.

:: A Veggie Venture baked custard inside of a whole pumpkin. She also has an interesting Supper Casserole with Pumpkin and Green Chile Cornbread Topping that I think could be altered to fit a vegetarian lifestyle.

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area. Your costs may vary.

Related Posts:

Early Fall Seasonal Recipes

>> Friday, September 18, 2009

I doubt anyone but me cares, but I had said I would be posting seasonal recipes last Thursday, and I'm just getting around to it more than a week later. If anyone has anxiously been awaiting seasonal recipes - I'm so sorry!

What's in season in September/October?

To find out what's in season in your area, you can google "produce availability" and the name of your state, or choose your state on PickYourOwn.org. The latter has to be the worst designed and yet most valuable website I've seen. Anything you want to know about pick-your-own farms and preserving foods can be found there.

If you live in North Carolina, you will likely see the following fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market this month: apples, cabbage, corn, grapes, green beans, leafy greens, peaches, peanuts, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.

Seasonal Recipes for Early Fall

This first recipe is a sneaky way to add more veggies to your kids diet. It's a type of macaroni and cheese, but the sauce also includes butternut squash. You can see in the picture that I actually didn't use macaroni - we didn't have any, but I'm not sure what kind of pasta I substituted.

Macaroni in Butternut Squash
(modified from Fresh Choices)

SERVES 6
COST: $1.10 per serving*

12 ounces elbow macaroni
3 cups of peeled, seeded, and chopped butternut squash
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. tahini
2 tsp. mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbsp. seasoned dry bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cook the macaroni according to package directions.
Meanwhile, microwave the squash in a casserole dish with a little bit of water for 10 minutes, or until the squash is very soft.
Transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the parmesan cheese, tahini, mustard, salt, and black pepper. Process until smooth.
Blend in enough milk to make a sauce the consistency of very thick soup.
Put the pasta in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Add the sauce and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs.
Bake until the top is lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

This is basically a giant pancake. The original version of this recipe called for bananas, but we've tried peaches and apples, and both worked great.

Another great choice for brinner is this recipe for mango pancakes - you can substitute peaches or apples to make it local and seasonal.

Peach Cinnamon Dutch Baby
(modified from Fresh Choices)

SERVES 4
COST: $1.21 per serving*

3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
2/3 c. milk
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 peaches, chopped
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk, and 1 Tbsp. butter
Heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. butter over medium heat in a 10" oven proof skillet. Add the peaches and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until heated through and the sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon.
Rewhisk the batter and then pour into the pan, stirring briefly to scrape the fruit from the bottom. Transfer to the oven and bake until the pancake begins to puff around the edges, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1 Tbsp. brown sugar and bake until very puffed and golden brown, about 5 minutes more.
Serve immediately and cut into wedges.

Other great recipes for late summer:

:: It's Frugal Being Green has a scrumptious-looking recipe for butternut bisque.

:: It's Not Easy Being Green has been working her way through a harvest of giant zucchinis.

:: Farmer's Daughter is making apple walnut bread.

:: Going Green Mama remembers making apple streudel with her grandmother.

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area. Your costs may vary.

Related Posts:

Late Summer Seasonal Recipes

>> Thursday, August 13, 2009

Time for some more seasonal recipes to help you eat locally and live frugally!

What's in season in August/September?

To find out what's in season in your area, you can google "produce availability" and the name of your state, or choose your state on PickYourOwn.org. The latter has to be the worst designed and yet most valuable website I've seen. Anything you want to know about pick-your-own farms and preserving foods can be found there.

If you live in North Carolina, you will likely see the following fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market this month: apples, butter beans, cabbage, cantaloupe, field peas, grapes, green beans, leafy greens, okra, peaches, peanuts, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, watermelon, zucchini.

Seasonal Recipes for Late Summer

Another stir fry to start off with. I like stir fries because you can generally swap out the vegetables for whatever's in season, despite what the recipe calls for. Stir fries are also great for summer because they are quick and easy and don't involve the oven.

Peanut Noodles
(from The Cook's Encyclopedia of Vegetarian Cooking)

SERVES 4
COST: $2 per serving*

7 ounces medium Chinese egg noodles
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
12 ounces zucchini, roughly chopped
generous 3/4 c. roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped

For the dressing:
1/4 c. olive oil
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 fresh red chile, seeded and finely chopped
3 Tbsp. snipped fresh chives
1-2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
snipped fresh chives, to garnish

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions and drain well.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a very large frying pan or wok and cook the garlic and onion for 3 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the peppers and zucchini and cook for another 15 minutes over medium heat, until beginning to soften and brown. Add the peanuts and cook for 1 minute more.
Whisk together the olive oil, grated lemon zest and 3 Tbsp. of the lemon juice, the chile, chives, and balsamic vinegar to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss the noodles into the vegetables and stir-fry to heat through. Add the dressing, stir to coat and serve immediately, garnished with fresh chives.

This week, I attempted to use fresh butter beans since I can get them locally from the farmer's market and can't find an organic version in a can. But the butter beans from the farmer's market look and taste more to me like a lima bean than the butter beans I'm used to, so I'm not sure about them yet. Either way, they tasted great in this recipe, which is one of my favorites.

(For another great butter bean recipe, check out the Butter Bean Burgers.)

Garlic Herb Pasta

SERVES 4
COST:$ 1.50 per serving*

1/3 c. softened butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
mushrooms, sliced
2 cups cooked butter beans
1/2 box rotini
1 Tbsp. fresh chives

Cook pasta according to package directions. Just before draining, reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside.
Saute mushrooms in a little bit of oil until tender.
Stir together butter, garlic, thyme, lemon juice, and pepper until smooth.
Add mushrooms, garlic butter, butter beans, and parmesan cheese to pasta.
Gradually add the reserved cooking liquid, tossing constantly over low heat as the butter and cheese melt to form a sauce.
Add chives and toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This is a new recipe that we just tried tonight. My husband and I both enjoyed it, but the kids wouldn't touch it (even though I got whimsical and called them "zucchini boats"). I think it was too spicy for them. If I make it again, I'll substitute tomatoes for the chiles and use fresh red pepper instead of the pimientos. Also, I used the recipe for stuffing mix from the More with Less cookbook.

Stuffed Zucchini

SERVES 8
COST: $1.40 per serving*

4 medium zucchini
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 c. butter
1 (4 oz.) can green chiles, drained
1 jar (2 oz.) diced pimientos, drained
1 1/2 c. herb-seasoned stuffing mix (dry)
3/4 c. mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese

Heat 2 inches water to boiling. Add zucchini. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain. Cool slightly.
Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise. Spoon out pulp. Chop pulp coarsely.
Place zucchini cut side up in ungreased baking dish.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook and stir onion in butter in a frying pan until the onion is tender. Stir in the chopped pulp, chiles, pimiento, and stuffing mix.
Divide stuffing mixture among zucchini halves. Sprinkle each with about 1 Tbsp. of cheese.
Bake uncovered until hot, about 30 minutes.

The following recipe was submitted by my friend Maren. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds super delicious!

Salsa

Finely dice any of the following. We like to experiment, the basics being the same (tomatoes, peppers, etc):

Tomatoes (I choose low-acid because I have reflux, but grape tomatoes, beefsteak, any of those work)
Bell peppers (yellow, red, green, purple for color)
Sweet onion (vidalia or a different kind)
Green onion
Garlic, very finely minced
Beans (we like black, pinto, or great northern)
Corn
Avocado (decreases the life of the salsa, so only add to what you will eat within 6 days or so)
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Some kind of hot peppers (our faves include habaneros, jalapenos, cayenne, Hungarian wax, etc)
*don't forget the gloves when dealing w/hot peppers unless you want burning hands for a couple days*
Secret ingredients: half a bottle of Italian dressing & a half cup of sugar per large mixing bowl of salsa

Mix everything together and then let it "age" in the fridge. This step is essential so the flavors can leech out and combine.
Reminder again: wear gloves when handling hot peppers or your hands and everything your hands touched (eyes, cheeks, mouth, etc) will burn for a couple of days. To decrease the heat of a pepper, leave out the seeds and white ribs of the pepper.
Sometimes we'll mix a batch up and then decide it needs something else. We'll add it and let it sit a day more if necessary.
For extra fun, add an acidic fruit such as pineapple, mango, or peaches.

Other great recipes for late summer:

Green Bean directed me to this recipe for All Day Apple Butter at Allrecipes.com

Prudent and Practical has a recipe for homemade applesauce.

Going Green Mama has been on a cooking roll with her grandmother's recipes. It all looks delicious.

Green for Nothing provides several seasonal recipes ranging from the grill to the pasta bowl.

This will be an ongoing series of posts throughout the year. If you would like to participate, you can:

Post a recipe on your personal blog, and add the link to the comments of this post.
Email your recipe to consciousshopperblog [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will include it in the next post.
Post a recipe on your personal blog, email the link to consciousshopperblog [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will include it in the next post.

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area. Your costs may vary.

Related Posts:

Seasonal Recipes for the Summer

>> Thursday, July 16, 2009

More seasonal recipes to help you eat locally and live frugally!

What's in season in July/August?

To find out what's in season in your area, you can google "produce availability" and the name of your state, or choose your state on PickYourOwn.org. The latter has to be the worst designed and yet most valuable website I've seen. Anything you want to know about pick-your-own farms and preserving foods can be found there.

If you live in North Carolina, you will likely see the following fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market this month: green beans, butter beans, blackberries, blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, grapes, leafy greens, okra, peaches, peppers, potatoes, raspberries, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Summer Seasonal Recipes

I decided this time around to provide some of my favorite "universal" recipes - that is, generic recipes that I can alter easily to fit what's available. I've found that using universal recipes has been the best strategy for my family to eat seasonally - meal planning is simplified, yet it still feels like our meals our diverse and interesting.

First off, a muffin recipe. We're still in the midst of berry season, so this is a good recipe to have on hand to carry you through the summer. I experiment regularly with the ingredients in this recipe, so my notes are at the end.

Berry Muffins

(slightly modified from The Ultimate Muffin Book)

MAKES 12
COST: $0.56 per muffin*

1 3/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp flour, divided
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pint berries
1 large egg, at room temperature
3/4 c. buttermilk
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease the muffin tins.
Whisk 1 3/4 cups of the flour, the oat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until uniform. In a small bowl, toss the berries with the remaining 1 Tbsp. flour. Set both bowls aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the flour mixture just until moistened. Gently fold in the flour-coated berries, incorporating them without breaking them up.
Fill the prepared muffin tins 3/4 full.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the muffins are browned with cracked but rather flat tops. A toothpick inserted into the center of one muffin should come out with one or two moist crumbs attached, provided the wet berries don't gum up the toothpick as it pierces the muffin.

Notes:

I generally do half white flour and half whole wheat. The muffins turn out less fluffy, but more nutritious.
I use quick oats instead of oat flour because I don't buy oat flour and am too lazy to make my own.
I've experimented quite a bit with using honey in muffins rather than sugar since I can buy honey locally. Basically, you just need to add 1/2-3/4 as much honey as sugar, decrease the amount of liquid slightly, and lower the temperature 25 degrees since honey browns faster than sugar. The muffins end up with an obvious honey flavor but taste just as delicious.
If using frozen berries, do not thaw them.
The muffin pictured has an oat crunch topping made by mixing some butter, oats, flour, and sugar and then sprinkling it over the muffins. Normally, I don't make this.

A stir-fry makes a great universal recipe. Mix and match your vegetables to create a new dish every time. Some options include carrots, peas, corn, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, greens, cabbage, squash, zucchini, and scallions. In the winter when vegetables are scarce, you can even sprout your own bean sprouts. Almost anything tastes good in a stir-fry.

This dish can be served with rice or over Chinese egg noodles.

Stir-Fried Vegetables with Cashew Nuts
(from The Cook's Encyclopedia of Vegetarian Cooking)

SERVES 4
COST: $1.325 per serving*

2 pounds mixed vegetables
2-4 Tbsp. sunflower or olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger root
1/2 c. cashew nuts or 4 Tbsp. sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or sesame seeds
soy sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the vegetables according to type.
Heat a frying pan, then trickle the oil around the rim so it runs down to coat the surface. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add the harder vegetables and toss over the heat for another 5 minutes, until they start to soften.
Add the softer vegetables and stir-fry everything over high heat for 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the cashew nuts or seeds. Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Serve at once.

This recipe calls for cherries, but it works just as well with other berries. You might need to adjust the sugar slightly, depending on the tartness of your berries. If you're using cherries, beware! I completely destroyed this cookbook with cherry juice the first time I made this cobbler.

Cherry Almond Cobbler
(from Fresh Choices)

SERVES 6
COST: $0.84 per serving*

1/3 c. butter
1/4 c. whole grain pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. organic buttermilk
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 pint sour cherries, pitted and halved

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the butter in a 9" deep-dish pie plate or shallow 2-quart baking dish. Put the pan in the oven until the butter melts, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, 1/4 c. sugar, the baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk and almond extract, then whisk the mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened, leaving a few lumps.
Pour the batter over the melted butter in the pan. Scatter the cherries on top of the batter. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake until browned around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Other great recipes for summer:

Prudent and Practical offers up a Fresh Blueberry Pie.

Going Green Mama has several recipes for using your summer squash harvest:

Green Bean at the Green Phone Booth went crazy with cherries.

And Arduous is asking everyone to dish up some mouth-watering but healthy food porn.

This will be an ongoing series of posts throughout the year. If you would like to participate, you can:

Post a recipe on your personal blog, and add the link to the comments of this post.
Email your recipe to consciousshopperblog [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will include it in the next post.
Post a recipe on your personal blog, email the link to consciousshopperblog [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will include it in the next post.

*Note that all costs are estimates based on prices in my area. Your costs may vary.

Related Posts:

Late Spring/Early Summer Seasonal Recipes

>> Thursday, June 18, 2009

Thanks to everyone who answered my call for seasonal recipes this month!

This will be an ongoing series of posts throughout the year. If you would like to participate, you can:

Post a recipe on your personal blog, and add the link to the comments of this post.
Email your recipe to consciousshopperblog [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will include it in the next post.
Post a recipe on your personal blog, email the link to consciousshopperblog [at] gmail [dot] com, and I will include it in the next post.

What's in season in June/July?

To find out what's in season in your area, you can google "produce availability" and the name of your state, or choose your state on PickYourOwn.org. The latter has to be the worst designed and yet most valuable website I've seen. Anything you want to know about pick-your-own farms and preserving foods can be found there.

If you live in North Carolina, you will likely see the following fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market this month: green beans, blueberries, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, leafy greens, lettuce, peaches, green peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, strawberries, and watermelon.

I've also found that the farmers are able to push the limits of the seasons pretty well around here by using greenhouses and cold frames.

Late Spring/Early Summer Seasonal Recipes

I really wanted to try this first recipe, but we got to the farmer's market too late in the day to get any strawberries. Strawberry season is petering out around here.

Strawberry Pavlova
contributed by Maren

SERVES 4-8

4 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 C granulated sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c heavy cream, chilled
2 to 3 cups strawberries, sliced and sprinkled with sugar

Preheat oven to 275F.
Beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar together in a bowl until the whites hold a stiff peak. Add the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, beating until mixture is stiff and glossy. Beat in the cornstarch, then the vinegar and the vanilla.
Butter and lightly flour a loose-bottomed 8-inch cake pan (or just a pie pan will do), and fill gently with the meringue mixture, spreading it higher around the edges than in the center of the pan to form a depression.
Bake cake for 1 to 1.25 hours or until meringue is firm and lightly browned. Pavlova will remain moist inside. Cool slightly, unmold, slide onto a serving plate (or leave in pie tin if preferred), and cool completely.
Whip the cream, and add sugar to desired sweetness. Just before serving, spread the Pavlova with whipped cream and then with the strawberries. Serve immediately.

Frank says this recipe will work with any type of berries. He didn't call it "rumtopf," but I did a little research, and that was the name I discovered. Is that what you call it, Frank?

Rumtopf
contributed by Frank

Fill mason jar with 2 inches of sugar.
Fill the rest of the way with berries.
Fill the jar with as much 151 as will fit.
Seal jar and turn over each month.
Open and share with your adult friends starting with the Thanksgiving holidays and lasting through New Years.
To share open the jar pass out the berries for eating, then pass arounf the jar or pour shots or make daiquiris.

Lettuces and greens are my cooking nemesis. I'm always looking for new ways to serve them. When I fed this salad to my boys, First Son said, "You can't put strawberries in a salad!" Yes, you can...

Crunchy Romaine Strawberry Salad
(from Allrecipes.com)
contributed by Conscious Shopper

SERVES 12 (If you click on the recipe title, it will take you to Allrecipes, where you can adjust the serving size to a more reasonable amount)
COST: $0.57 per serving*

1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
8 cups torn romaine
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

Discard seasoning packet from ramen noodles or save for another use. Break noodles into small pieces.
In a skillet, saute noodles and walnuts in butter for 8-10 minutes or until golden; cool.
For dressing, in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the oil, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce; shake well.
Just before serving combine the romaine, onions, strawberries and noodle mixture in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss gently.

A delicious way to get your kids to eat spinach. When I made this, I left out the sun-dried tomato pesto because I didn't have any (I might have increased the butter to compensate), and I used my homemade pizza crust.

Pizza without the Red Sauce
(from Allrecipes.com)
contributed by Conscious Shopper

SERVES 8
COST: $1.13 per serving*

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 unbaked pizza crust
1 tomato, sliced
1 bunch fresh spinach, torn
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 (6 ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven according to pizza crust package directions.
In a small bowl combine butter, olive oil, garlic, pesto, basil, oregano and Parmesan cheese. Spread mixture evenly on pizza crust.
Arrange tomato, spinach, onion and jalapeno on pizza. Top with crumbled feta cheese.
Bake according to pizza crust package directions.

We tested out this recipe and really enjoyed it. We don't have a grill, so I roasted the vegetables instead, and I used zucchini instead of asparagus because I got confused when telling my husband what to get at the farmer's market. But it still worked out great!

Spring Asparagus and New Potato Salad
from Andrea Chesman's 1998 book, The Vegetarian Grill
contributed by Going Green Mama

6 T. olive oil
Juice of one lemon
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lb. new potatoes, halved
1 lb. asparagus
12-16 c. salad greens
parmesan

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss potatoes and asparagus to coat.
Grill potatoes, turning every 10 minutes or so, about 30 min. Grill asparagus until limp, about 8 min. (Be sure to reserve marinade.)
Arrange salad greens on plates. Top with grilled asparagus and potatoes. Drizzle remaining marinade on top. Sprinkle with parmesan.

Going Green Mama has many seasonal recipes on her blog, and I'll be trying out and including more throughout these posts.

If you try any of these recipes, let me know what you think!

*Note that all prices are estimates based on costs in my area. Your costs may vary.

Related Posts: