Meat CSA and Zucchini Noodles

First a little overview of the Meat CSA we joined last month, and then fun with a new kitchen toy!

Earlier this summer I went in search of a local meat CSA.  We’ve been really trying to make a point to only buy grass-fed beef, local meats, and either organic chicken or close to it.  Luckily Whole Foods has their animal welfare rating which makes this a lot easier.

I guess you could say the next step would be to try and buy local when possible!  That’s where a meat CSA comes into play.  I’m sure by now you’ve heard of Community Supported Agriculture and probably in terms of veggie shares or fruit shares.  Well a meat CSA works the same way…you purchase a “share” of the farm.

I didn’t have a recommendation when I was looking so I went with a good old internet search, which led me to Chestnut Farms!

Things I was looking for in a CSA were convenience in the pick-up location, price, and information about their farm and how the animals are raised and fed. 

I loved this statement on their website:

“Our CSA is for people who love animals and happen to eat meat.  It is for people who want to know the farmer that raises their food and be sure that the meat they consume is humanely raised without any hormones or antibiotics.”

Couldn’t have said it better. 

Feel free to read more about their farm and their operations on their website!

So right now we opted for a 15lb share (the smallest they offer is 10lbs).  We figured we’d start there and if it was too much we could go down to 10.  Our first pick up was in July and the amount was pretty perfect. 

When you pick up your cooler you bring back the cooler from the month before.  During the pick-up they also have farm fresh eggs for sale, as well as a cooler full of “bits and pieces” that are either free or just $1…these are items like marrow bones, pork fat, bacon ends. 

This months share:

• a whole chicken
• chicken breasts
• 3 packs of ground beef
• fresh kielbasa
• bacon
• 3 packs of sirloin
• Lamb stew meat!  Excited about the lamb!

Last month was similar except instead of lamb we got pork, and instead of bacon and kielbasas we got homemade fresh chorizo and a couple smoked chicken breasts.

Their ground beef in phenomenal.  I don’t know why it’s SO much better, but it is.  It’s grass fed, and very lean because they don’t add any fat to it.  So you need to make sure you add fat when cooking.  But the first time we made burgers with their beef they were delicious!!

Everything is vacuum sealed and frozen and we just take out what we want when we want it.      

The farm is located out in the middle of Massachusetts and they welcome visitors who want to check it out anytime!   I hope to visit someday soon!

I’m also excited that they offer fresh turkeys for the holidays to shareholders! 

Ok I think I’ve talked enough about my monthly cooler of meat :)  If you have any questions about it just ask!!

I picked up the share yesterday and immediately took out some ground beef for dinner. 

I also broke out a new toy…

My spiralizer!! 

I bought the World Cuisine Spiral Vegetable Slicer from Amazon.

First up…Zucchini!

SO EASY!!  Seriously took 20 seconds to turn a whole zucchini into noodles!

I also whipped up a Bolognese-type sauce

• Sautéed onions and garlic in a little coconut oil
• added 1 chopped carrot
• add ground beef (little over 1 lb)
• 1 can tomato paste mixed in
• about 1 cup water/chicken broth/white wine
• salt/pepper/herbs and spices of your choice
• simmer
• stirred in a little half & half at the end :)

I added a pinch of nutmeg to the sauce which made it awesome btw.  Try it. 

For the noodles, I just sautéed them in a little olive oil for just 1-2 minutes just to heat…they barely need to be cooked. 

Love at first bite :)

 Do you belong to any CSA’s??  I always mean to sign up for a veggie one, but never do…plus paying it all upfront makes it a hard one to swallow at the time.  I pay each month with the meat.

Ideas for that fresh kielbasa?????

Classic Healthier Zucchini Bread

So many posts need to be written, and I will get to them I swear!  However, right now it’s 9:00pm, I’m still in my sweaty gym clothes after a kick-butt kick boxing class, and bed time is fast approaching. 

This is when I choose from that small pool of posts that are half written, or merely notes from a recipe that I intended to become a post. 
I’ll even include cute Bromley pics and an outfit at the end :)
Now, I can’t always blow your mind with crazy delicious new things like nectarine and feta flatbreads ;)  BUT this is still delicious, and if you by chance have a little veggie garden (like me), you probably still have more zucchini than you know what to do with (like me).

I made this bread last month!!  But plan to make another batch as soon as I get the chance this week :)  I loved how it came out, and it uses up a whole big zucchini!
P.S. use a food processor (if you have one) to shred your zucchini.  Sometimes I’ll just shred whatever I have and freeze the extra!
Classic (healthier) Zucchini Bread Adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 2 8”x4” loaves or 1 large 10”x5”

• 1 1/2 cup White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1/4 quick oats 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• few shakes of nutmeg (optional)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Combine flours, flax, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar into a large mixing bowl, whisk together.
3. In another bowl combine shredded zucchini, egg and egg white, maple syrup, yogurt, canola oil, lemon zest, and vanilla.  Mix together.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry, gently stir together just until combined.
5. Fold in nuts, saving 1-2 Tbsp for the topping
6. Grease loaf pan(s) with canola oil spray, and pour batter into pan (or divide evenly among the 2 pans), and top with a sprinkling of nuts and/or coarse raw sugar.
7. Bake for 55min-1hr, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Let cool slightly, cut, and enjoy!

Wish I had a slice right now. 

Experimenting with flavors can be fun, but sometimes you just want the classics, and this is just that!
Bromley: Resting his head through the chair back…

Wet dog on hurricane day!

And as my favorite fashion accessory!
 
Most definitely an “office” look :)  I actually wore this same outfit for my interview at this company except I swapped out the cardigan for a khaki blazer.  I usually prefer a cardigan though…warmer/comfier.

• dark teal sleeveless cowl neck top – Target
• navy pencil skirt – Banana Republic
• cream wool cardigan – Banana Republic
• Tan/Red toe pumps – Pour La Victoire from a small shop in Portland, OR

I love those shoes.  Got them in 2008 and hope they never wear out on me!! 
That is all my friends!
You can feel Fall in the air, especially these chillier mornings…I LOVE it!  Although it does make getting dressed a little more challenging. 

Ok, I have 2 beer/Fall related questions...

1. Favorite pumpkin beer?  I'm on the hunt to try a bunch and determine my favorite!
2. And along those lines...anyone in the Boston/or surrounding areas know if any places are serving any pumpkin beers served in a cinnamon-sugar rimmed glass yet....???   Want it! 

Flexitarian Friday

Happy Friday!!  Is everyone ready for Irene??  I love a good dose of extreme weather sometimes…as long as no one is hurt of course, and there are no $$ damages ;) 

First, the winner of the $20 Eversave credit… @marciebeth!!

Congrats!!  I’ll send your email address over to the people at Eversave!  I hope the rest of you took advantage of the free $10 credit…which has been extended until today!!! 

This post is one of those times I just want to catch up on the week and such.  However, those don’t make for good titles, and so I tried to find a theme…Flexitarian!

I’m sure by now you’re sick of reading all the Healthy Living Summit recaps from around the blog world, and if you are then I know you read about the keynote speech given by Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of The Flexitarian Diet.

To sum it up in one sentence: pro-vegetables, not anti-meat!  I’d say this would describe me most of the time.  Hey, I still like meat and I don’t see that changing, but it can be expensive and I do love meat-free meals as well.  I can easily go days without eating meat and not even be trying. 

Turns out there was a lot of that this week too!

It started Monday night!  I remember a mention of Zucchini and Black Bean quesadillas somewhere in Dawn’s speech, or in something I read about her…either way this idea sounded fantastic!

I happened to have way more summer squash than zucchini that day from the garden, so I used the summer squash instead. 

Once the squash and onion were chopped, this came together in no time!

Black Bean and Summer Squash Quesadillas
Inspired by Dawn Jackson Blatner

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2T canned green chilies
• 1 small summer squash, chopped (about 1/4” cube)
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• crushed red pepper to taste (optional)
• 4 whole grain tortillas
• sliced or shredded cheese of your choice (we used 1 sliced of Havarti cheese per quesadilla)
• sliced avocado
• Salsa
• sour cream or plain low-fat Greek yogurt

1. Heat oil in a medium sauté pan over med heat.  Add onions, sauté for 3-4 minutes.  Then add summer squash, sauté for 3 more min.
2. Add cumin, smoked paprika, chili  stir to combine.
3. Add broth, stir, cover pan and simmer on low for about 5 min to soften up summer squash.
4. Remove cover, turn heat back up to medium, and add beans.
5. Cook for 2-3 more minutes or until squash is tender, then set mixture aside on a free burner.
6. Grab another sauté pan and heat over med heat, spray with canola oil spray.
7. Place tortilla in pan, add cheese, 2 sliced of avocado, then add 1/4 of the bean filling over half of the tortilla.
8. Fold the other half over, cook for 1-2 min, carefully flip your quesadilla and cook for another min, or until golden brown.
9. Cut into 3rds and serve with sides of salsa and sour cream!

Really though, I love anything I can smother in salsa and sour cream!

Both Brian and I really enjoyed these!  Definitely going to keep this one in mind…so fast and easy!

Leftovers were enjoyed for lunch the next day.

 Some other meat-free gems this week…

Wednesday night I had my most FAVORITE salad ever!  I had 2 hours to kill after work and parked my butt at the bar of my favorite North End restaurant…Antico Forno…home to the salad that introduced me to my love for goat cheese.     

So simple, yet so perfect.  Mixed greens, tomatoes, soft goat cheese, balsamic and olive oil, grilled zucchini, all on top of pieces of aromatic flatbread. 

Breakfast is the easiest Flexitarian meal of all…for me anyways.  A lot of times it looks like this…

• plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• a drizzle of maple syrup
• chopped nectarine
• Lovegrown granola (from my HLS swag bag!) 

I’ll wrap it up with TWO outfits of the week :)

Greens and Blues

• green eyelet skirt – Old Navy
• navy t-shirt – Banana Republic
• light blue cardigan – Banana Republic
• Navy belt – was my grandmothers
• nude peep toe pumps – Rampage

And saving the best for last…not because it’s my favorite outfit, but it’s definitely my FAVORITE photo…with a special fluffy accessory!

• white cotton v-neck dress – Old Navy
• navy/floral scarf – Nordstrom
• wedges – Banana Republic
• Fluffy pup – Bromley :)  Doing the Murphy one leg-out pose

Happy Weekend! 

Have you done any Hurricane prep??  Do you think you’re a flexitarian??

Zucchini Lasagna

It almost felt like fall today with the chillier temps.  I was regretting my iced coffee decision once I got the office…I was COLD!

Although the iced toasted almond coffee with milk was still delicious :)

That would be a yogurt-waffle bowl breakfast.  Haven’t had that in a while:

• 0% Greek yogurt
• sliced strawberries
• toasted Kashi waffle
• all topped with real maple syrup :)

All that was missing was a chocolate chip!

The same day I drank that pumpkin beer, I also did another Fall-esque activity: made a huge pot of homemade tomato sauce.

Since we’re still getting more zucchini from our garden than we know what to do with, I wanted to try another popular zucchini dish…

Zucchini Lasagna!

Basically using sliced zucchini as my “noodle”.

I decided I wanted a nice filling meat sauce with this. Of course, you could make whatever type of sauce you want…especially to keep it vegetarian.

I had ground beef in the freezer, so I used that. My basic sauce is as follows:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef (I used 93% lean)
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 – 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 – 28oz can whole tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper

1. Heat oil at medium/med-high heat in a large heavy bottom pot, add onion and cook for 4-5 min.
2. Add garlic, cook another 3 min
3. Add ground beef, and break up using a wooden spoon, add some salt here.
4. Once beef is mostly browned, add carrots, cook for another 1-2 min
5. Add tomato paste, and stir around until it’s all mixed in
6. Then add red wine, stir and scrape bottom of pan
7. Add the rest of the tomatoes, 2 bay leaves, more salt, pepper, and other seasonings if you’d like (dried oregano, parsley, basil…)
8. Simmer for 45min-1 hour

Mmm the sauce definitely stole the show, and I have leftovers in the fridge and the freezer.

Zucchini can somewhat be treated the same way as eggplant.  You want to remove as much of the water in the vegetable as you can before you bake with it.

I used 1.5 med/large sized zucchinis and cut them lengthwise into strips, then in half if needed. 

Sprinkle with salt and place in a colander to drain.

Mine sat for probably 1.5 hours, and I saw lots of liquid leave the colander.  In theory this should have been good enough, and I think this would work if you got your zucchini sliced REALLY thin. 

However, mine was just “normal” thin, and in the end I wish I had cooked the zucchini first!

So I would recommend cooking your zucchini prior to baking.  Grilling would be delicious!  But steaming, boiling, or sautéing would work too.  Don’t cook too long though, don’t want mush!!

The rest of my lasagna consisted of:

Filling:

• 16 oz part skim ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper

And Mozzarella cheese of course!!

To layer:

• Start with a layer of sauce
• zucchini slices
• 1/2 ricotta mixture
• mozzarella, shredded
• sauce
• zucchini
• ricotta
• mozzarella
• zucchini, if you have some left
• OR
• leave off the last layer of mozzarella, add sauce
• then top with mozzarella!

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil for first 25 min, then remove foil.

Let sit for at least 10min before cutting.

Since I totally forgot the middle sauce layer, I had my serving with a big scoop of sauce on top!

Served with a side of “garlic bread” made on TJ’s sprouted wheat bread :)

Girls Dinners: Bistro du Midi and Dining In!

I had two fun and fabulous dinners with some beautiful ladies last week!

The first was a birthday celebration for my bestie!!

I’ve been dying to try Bistro du Midi for a while now, so this was the perfect excuse to have a fun girls dinner, sitting in the open patio area they have right along Boylston Street across from the Public Gardens…

I arrived first, earlier, to secure a good table.  We had a reservation, but this area is first come first serve

I then ordered a cocktail while I waited for the rest of the crew.

This is most definitely my favorite cocktail of the year!     Excuse me if I am spelling this wrong but it was the Montesquieu, which was:

• white rum
• fresh strawberry
• sparkling wine

It was refreshing, could barely taste any alcohol (which I like), and the only sweetness was from the fresh strawberries!  Perfect Bridget drink :)

We started with a couple appetizers:

Courgette Flower Beignet, Orange Maple Glaze :
Fried Artichokes, Aïoli

Both were delicious (fried of course), but the aioli served with the artichokes was so good we dipped everything in it!  I didn’t care for the sweeter orange maple glaze that came with the zucchini flowers.

For my dinner I chose the:

Seared Duck Breast, Swiss Chard, Gnocchi, Black Olives:

Everything on this plate was incredible!  I especially wished there were more gnocchi!!  Filling though, after the apps, so I took half home to Brian…he was happy about that!

Really didn't need this side of Ratatouille Provençale , but it too was amazingly flavorful.

The birthday girl ordered the:

Coral Infused Chitarra Pasta, Maine Lobster, Baby Spinach, Lobster Jus

I stole many bites.  The flavor was so interesting and delicious, and that pasta was perfect.

If all that wasn’t enough, we made sure to save room for desserts.

I had checked out the dessert menu ahead of time and knew I wanted to try something!

We chose 2 for the 4 of us.  Both were AMAZING!!

Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Cake, Salted Caramel Ice Cream

I wouldn’t even call this “cake”…it was like a layer of almost a crisp meringue/cake with a chocolaty mousse layer on top of that.  Then whole hazelnuts and chocolate on top!  With the salted caramel ice cream on the side.

Each bite was heaven.

The other was a fresh cherry and pistachio tart with cherry sorbet (can’t find the menu description)

A pistachio tart shell was filled with a pastry cream and topped with sliced juice fresh cherries!

The pistachio flavor was subtle but paired perfectly with the cherries.

I haven’t had restaurant desserts this good in a long time!

And my classy-self timed photo of my outfit that night:

 

• orange dress: Forever 21
• navy belt and gold bracelet: were my grandmother’s
• brown heels: Libby Edelman from Lord & Taylor

Friday’s dinner was just as fun and delicious…but totally different!

Different group of ladies, and we gathered at one of the girls apartments.  We all brought something to eat (on the lighter side) and spent the night gabbing away.

I made up a batch of zucchini cakes!  This time I baked them, as it was easier in this situation, but I would recommend frying them over baking!

We also had some beautiful jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce!

I always forget how yummy, easy, and healthy shrimp cocktail is!  I need to buy some shrimp more often!

Fresh corn salad with red onion and basil…this was a Barefoot Contessa recipe and such a perfect summer side dish.

Also a gorgeous salad!  This had mixed greens, big buttery pecans, and lots of dried berries!

(wines and salad dressings) 

Love my friend Wendy’s floral plates!!

I missed pictures of dessert, but we had small bowls of coffee ice cream and delicious little salted brownie bites from Trader Joes.

It was a blast!  Hope we do it again soon ladies!!

2 Questions:

• Favorite place/restaurant to go out for a girls night??
• Favorite dish to make for a girls night in?!