So… my very last CSA post is later than usual. To be honest I completely forgot about writing it! You’d think after 19 weeks of posting each Tuesday about the CSA that it would be routine and I wouldn’t think about it anymore! 😉 Not so! I forgot!

BUT… as an excuse we had A LOT going on last night. The CSA arrived, I had dinner to make for dear friends, and then Brian invited an unknown amount of guys over to help him lay the flooring in our kitchen (2.5 years as concrete, so quite exciting times!). He needed them to help him lift the fridge over the counter so that he could lay flooring underneath and then move it back. BUT… he told them to just come over to help and that we would feed them dinner!

WHAT!!!! How many? “I’m not sure” When are them coming? “Sometime after 5:30” How long do you think it will take? “Until we finish” Will all the men be eating dinner? “I think so” And you don’t really know how many will come? “I think 5 replied, but only 2 are for certain.”

MMMM HMMMM… I see. NOT helpful! So we… both of us did work on it together made a HUGE 12+ cup batch of fried rice. We were cooking for over 2 hours and most of it was demolished. Only two men came, but one of them had their family stop by and they hadn’t eaten, so the wife and 3 kiddos had some dinner too. Thankfully since it was such a huge batch there was plenty to share.

So.

That is my excuse. They guys were working (and enjoying some beer) til late hours of the night. After they finished I cleaned the fridge (cause we all know our fridges aren’t cleaned often enough) and then reloaded it. My priority was to get them finished and out of the kitchen so I could do my cleaning and reloading and GET IN BED!

Sending out an email was the last thing on my mind! 😉

But here is what we got and a few recipe ideas I have…

Lettuce – YAY salads! I’m actually planning on making burrito bowls a la Chipotle for dinner tonight and I was planning on using some leftover kale in the fridge. But lettuce is MUCH better! SO excited! I may also make taco salad this week which is a huge favorite, it’s easy to make and all of us really enjoy it. Since we are into fall I still have some of my pumpkin, butternut and acorn squash left, so I may make some soup to go with it. Maybe with a southwestern flare! Yummm… mouth watering already!

Kale – Typically we use this for green smoothies as I’ve mentioned many times before, but I also have a white bean soup that uses kale thrown in at the end and it adds some color and added nutrients to the soup. There is also a Thai Coconut Soup  that is AMAZING and a bit of kale in that would work fine as well!

Tomatoes – I still have some left from last week… so I have GOT to get moving on doing something with these. We will eat some tonight in the burrito bowls and some in the taco salad later this week, which the heirloom minis will be fantastic for that. The rest of them, though I think I’m going to dehydrate and maybe jar some and cover with olive oil and spices and give as gifts for Christmas to friends. We have had so many tomatoes this year including our garden, that I’m a bit overwhelmed!!!

Potatoes – We still have lots of these too, but I’m not worried about it! They keep and we will use them through the winter! There are some FANTASTIC Indian dishes I’d love to make that include potatoes like aloo mutter masala. Since I’m off diary at the moment for Xanthie I’m tempted to wait on these dishes until I can have yogurt again. It just isn’t the same without!

Cabbage – Another great veggie that lasts til you are ready to use it and is easy to use. Making fermented sauerkraut, adding to soups like a hardy beef base vegetable soup, or steaming it for cabbage and ham.

Spaghetti squash – I’ve been waiting ALL summer for one or more of these! So excited they finally arrived! I LOVE using this as a noodle substitute and the kids enjoy it as well. One of our favorites is sausage stroganoff. This will definitely be on the menu for this week!

Red peppers – Since we usually eat these raw we are going to keep with tradition! These are the last of the year and I want to enjoy them! I don’t usually buy them in the grocery, so it will be a while til we see them again! Even Xanthie loves these as a snack, although I did find out this week she doesn’t like orange or yellow peppers… has to be red! Good thing it was all red peppers we received this week!

Apples – Raw this week for these too! I will probably buy some apples at the grocery this winter, but will use them mostly for cooking instead of eating raw, cause they just don’t taste as good! These are SO fantastic I don’t want to do anything but enjoy the crisp juicy crunch as the perfect afternoon snack… sometimes with a little almond butter or a slice of pungent cheese (which is currently out… but hopefully back in before too long!)

And with that, goodbye for a month and a half… Come mid December our winter CSA will start and I’m SO excited about it! I am sorry to see the end of the summer CSA, but I do look forward to new and exciting foods come winter! So adieu for now, but we will chat again! If you haven’t signed up… do so!!! So that we can see you all winter too!!!