Bare Minimum

I am diggin' this challenge to not overshop! It's forced me to become a much better cook, in addition to saving alot of grocery money and let's not forget time! I've been able to experience how interchangeable alot of veggies are...for instance, a 'green' is a green, is a green. One 'green' might take a little longer to cook, but most can be eaten uncooked. In fact I made a salad with some baby bok choy because I didn't have any other type of lettuces, and not only was it fine, but I'll choose bok choy in th future! Really, the goal of choosing a veggie, is to choose the ones that look the freshest at the market, not just the ones that "the recipe calls for"!


I'm pretty proud that this is what the veggie section of my fridge looked like the day before I left for a 4 day trip. This was after a couple of days of making and freezing soup and quiche like crazy, and using up all other veggies for salads. I also made corn and vegetable stock in my pressure cooker! (The last picture in my last blog post gives you an idea of the stock of veggies I had on hand the Sunday prior!) I had to pick up my CSA box the night before we left, so I just washed and prepped everthing for when we got back.

The first thing I did, however, the morning after our return was to give Wayne a call to see if he had any fresh summer squash....he had just picked 11 lbs.! Fresh, just picked summer squash, yum! I made two batches of zucchini and collard green (CSA) soup with bacon. I wanted to use smoked turkey, but guess what? I didn't have any! But I did have some bacon, so I sauteed the onion and garlic in bacon fat, (after browning the bacon), adding the stock, squash and greens, cooking or 15 min.,and finished the soup with a squeeze of lemon and basil (CSA) in the blender. I grilled another 4-5lbs of summer squash, tossed w/oil, salt and red pepper flakes, and made a wilted salad with some 'scape', I brought back from the farmers market, St. Paul, summer squash w/flowers, and baby lettuce greens.


So today I'll cook the rest of the scape, and toss it with reheated grilled veggies, chicken, brown rice and some sort of lettuce green...I've got baby kale and baby bok choy from my CSA box. I've got enough fresh and frozen soup for a long time...of course that won't stop me from making more, lol! Mark and I made a Trader Joes shopping trip for dairy eggs, nuts, and cereals (and Mark's ice cream, lol). And I'm resisting a trip to Whole Foods for a chicken, or ribs...probably ribs...some smoked bleu cheese and goat cheese, because I don't really need anything....I just want to buy something, LOL!