Local diet update - August 25, 2008

Three words for you: Saturday Mornings Rock!  

Saturdays, as some of you know, are my farmers market days here in Bryan. Not only do I get all kinds of goodies to munch on all week, I have the opportunity to catch up with friends and family as I make my rounds to each stall. Speaking of goodies, though. Check out my haul from this weekend. That's a large bag of green beans, a small bag of sage, 3 yellow onions, spinach, pears, salsa, a large jar of honey, and a dozen eggs. Needless to say, I spend all Saturday afternoon in the kitchen (as usual) putting together meals for the coming week. But more on that in a minute. For now, let's get back to shopping.

To supplement my farmers market goodies, we stopped by The Farm Patch for more of those local peaches (from Mexia) that I've been nibbling on for the last few weeks. As far as I'm concerned, peaches just never get old, so I carefully selected 1-1/2 dozen of the most gorgeous peaches from the bunch. 

Of course, Friday's shopping consisted of retrieving our milk from the dairy pick-up. This week, we also picked up a pound of gouda cheese. Mmm... Cheese!

Alright, then. On that note, let's move on to cooking and baking. My first week as an unemployed bum gave me prime opportunity for fun in the kitchen. And believe me, I took advantage. Here's all the goodies I've made in the last week:

• Whole Wheat-Oatmeal Pancakes - I hadn't made my whole wheat - oatmeal pancakes (I sub whole wheat flour for the white flour) in a few months and with me on this mediterranean diet thing, it was a no-brainer to bring these yummy flapjacks back. I whipped up a batch, allowed them to cool, and popped them in the freezer for easy morning breakfasts. Just toast one of those babies in the toaster oven, grab a piece of fruit, and I'm good to go!
• 100% Whole Wheat Bread - I've been playing around with wheat bread recipes, but have had only a small amount of luck. So I decided to start over and spend an afternoon scoping out new recipes. I found one for 100% whole wheat bread that looked interesting and decided to give it a try. Would you know it? It was perfect. I got two gorgeous loaves, with perfect crumb, the bread is soft (which I think makes a great sandwich) and it has a wonderful flavor. We finally have a winner! That definitely widens my dining options!
• Veggie Soup - Now this is exciting... I had a drawer full of veggies still sitting in the fridge so I decided to throw together a pot of soup. And, of course, now that I'm not working, I totally have the time. In the pot went potatoes, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, purple hull peas (all local so far), salt, pepper, olive oil, and (get this) basil from the back yard. Yep! I harvested my first basil leaves. It was so exciting!  Of course, what am I going to do with a whole soup pot full of yummy vegetable soup? Can it! Yep! I canned another 6 quart-size jars of soup in my pressure canner. 
• Tuna Salad - I was looking for an easy way to slip in some of those Omega 3's and some extra protein to keep me full and happy. This turned out really well. I took 2 cans of tuna, 4 eggs (from farmers market), chopped up 1/2 an onion (farmers market), 1 celery stalk, a can of sweet peas, a couple tablespoons of canola mayonnaise, salt, and pepper; and mixed it all up in a large bowl. A cup of tuna salad was REALLY good with my steamed green beans and a cup of my homemade veggie soup. What a feast! I sure don't feel like I'm on a diet! And I have lots of leftovers for more meals.
• Steamed Green Beans - this was an easy one. I just washed and cut that huge bag of green beans from the farmers market. Put them all in the steamer for 20 minutes and then lightly salted them. When they're fresh like that, do you really need anything else? Delicious!
• Bean Dip - Last, but certainly not least, I made Chile's pinto bean dip - except I used black beans, navy beans (both local from DiIorio Farm and Market), and salsa (from Dallas and sold at our local farmers market). I'm using the organic flax seed and brown rice crackers I bought this past week (sorry, not local) as chips. Mmm. Good stuff!
  

Well, our fridge is full of all those local and homemade goodies and I have some fun ideas for meals this week. Stay tuned for Thursday's Market to Table post (it's the last One Local Summer Challenge report). I've been saving a fun one for last!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Happy (and mindful) eating!

P.S. If you're interested in seeing what other farmers markets are like around the country, check out The Farmers Market Report at the To Every Meal There is a Season blog.