We've been quite involved lately in getting my homeschooling started for the year, so there hasn't been too much happening with food. Everyone's been a bit grumpy at times about the relative lack of variety and quantity of food, due to our lack of time to do a lot of shopping and more elaborate cooking. We still don't have oatmeal.
On Tuesday, we had blueberry-peach smoothies (frozen farmstand blueberries, Niagara Growers Cooperative peaches, yogurt made from a friend's goats' milk) for breakfast. Lunch, if I remember correctly, was of the potatoes (garden) and another vegetable variety. For a snack when my dad got home from work, I made round ginger loaf bread. Dinner was Swiss chard fettucine (Pasta City pasta, garden Swiss chard, cheese from friend's goats' milk), which would have been better if we had fresh basil and ricotta cheese instead of feta.
On Wednesday, my mom made cornbread (cornmeal and whole wheat flour from Thorpe's, goats milk from the friend, Upstate Farms butter, eggs from my hens) for breakfast. After shopping for grapes, broccoli, and cucumbers at nearby farm stands and the East Aurora Farmers' Market, we had leftover Swiss chard fettucine for for lunch. My mom and I made fried okra with Indian spices and sauteed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. For dessert, I made blueberry-peach smoothies.
For breakfast yesterday, my mom made Waldorf salad (farmers' market grapes, Thorpes apples, Farmers and Artisans walnuts, yogurt made from friend's goats' milk, garden Swiss chard). Despite how much I love my wonderful fresh local produce, I found the substitution of deseeded local grapes for seedless grapes from California and Swiss chard stalks for celery actually had too much flavor and not enough crunch. Lunch was sauteed vegetables leftover from last night's dinner. We got our fruit share at Thorpes in the afternoon. For dinner, my mom made chili (garden tomatoes, Thorpes soybeans, Farmers and Artisans kidney beans). It was an excellent way to use up the soybeans we received in our Thorpes share a couple of years ago, but the chili wasn't 100% local. It wasn't until she was mostly done with dinner that she realized that the vinegar the recipe called for wasn't local, at which point it was too late and she had to add it.
A couple of notes on things commonly neglected on this blog before I finish this hurried mish-mash of a post. First, my dad has different lunches than my mom and I on workdays. I usually don't know exactly what he packed, since he's almost always already at work by the time I get up. What he brings depends on what we have in the house, but is based on a combination of homemade bread and local fruits, vegetables, and yogurt. Second, pouring a glass (or glass after glass!) of goats milk at a meal or grabbing some fresh fruit when we're hungry is something my family does without thought, so I often fail to mention such things on this blog.
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Swiss Chard Fettucine
10 to 20 oz Swiss chard or spinach
1 small to medium onion (any kind) OR a small bunch of garlic scapes
plenty of fresh basil
three or four servings of dried pasta
about 1 Tbsp olive oil
up to a cup of ricotta cheese
a large pinch of dried basil (if fresh basil isn't used)
a large pinch of oregano
a large pinch of dried parsley
1/8 tsp of nutmeg
grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
If applicable, separate Swiss chard stalks from leaves and chop into small pieces. Chop Swiss chard or spinach leaves as though making salad. If applicable, chop basil leaves in the same manner. Cook pasta. In large frying pan, heat oil, then saute all chopped ingredients until leaves are wilted and (if applicable) stalks and tender. In large mixing bowl, combine sauteed items, cheese, and spices. Once mixed evenly, add pasta and coat with sauce. If your locavore diet will allow it (mine won't right now), top each serving with grated Parmesan cheese.
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