Thursday, February 24th box: Staples. And a pineapple.

by Brie

The box this week was pretty exciting. A pineapple! A nice, big, fabulous pineapple. We will probably cut it up and eat it. But if you want you could bake it in one of my favorite desserts, pineapple upside down cake.

The box had some great basics and favorites. Like an avocado, which you could cut up and eat with salt or add to this black bean salad. Carrots would be great in spiced carrot muffins or this carrot pudding.

Warm food is perfect in this cold weather. I'm thinking an onion tart with the bag of yellow onions. Maybe served with roasted potatoes or potato puffs.

Broccoli with cheese sauce is popular in this house. It would also be great in a quiche, a feta and tortilla crust quiche or roasted in the oven. Mushrooms are so versatile, try frying them up or adding them to sauces, but they would also be wonderful in their pierogi recipe. That is how I am going to cook them. 

This is what's on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Thursday, February 17th box: Greens and reds

by Brie

The best part of this week's food box didn't need to be cooked. The big container of fresh organic strawberries were inhaled by my two kids as soon as they woke up. Strawberries make a good breakfast I say!

The other bright red container in this week's box was a pint of grape tomatoes. I like to eat grape tomatoes raw, or sauteed with garlic and basil. They would also be great in a baked tomato sauce or in these cute tomato and mozzarella appetisers.  And tomatoes are also perfect in soup.

There were lots of green vegetables this week. A bunch of snap peas had me thinking about all the fun things I could make, like snap pea and brussel sprout sautee or mushroom, tofu and snap pea stir fry. But what I really want to try is this garlic and snap pea soup. I am also going to be throwing baby bok choi in this garlicky soup (perfect for the flu making its way through our house). You could also try soy glazed baby bok choi or garlic bok choi. Yum.

My first thought when I get spinach in my box is to make a salad, but I am always pleased when I try something different, like this chana masala recipe. Spinach is also great in any kind of pie or casserole. Like this spinach phyllo pizza or eggplant and spinach lasagna.

The hardest vegetable for me is celery. While it can be useful to throw into other dishes, I wasn't sure how to use it as a main ingredient. Now I know. If you are looking for some good celery dishes try pear and celery soup, watermelon and celery salad or spinach and celery salad. I'm going to try making this sweet and sour celery.

We love to eat roasted vegetables and one of my favorites are parsnips. For something a little different I am going to try these parsnip fries. They would also be yummy glazed with honey and roasted with carrots. Parsnips would also be great in parsnip fritters or a parsnip pie.

This is what's on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Thursday, February 10th: soup and other food

by Brie

It is the middle of February and that seems like the perfect time for soup. Lots of soup. When I opened my food box this week all I could see was soup. Beets are perfect for borscht. Cabbage mixed with garlic is a great soup for a cold day. I love the bright green of cream of broccoli soup. Curried carrot soup would go perfect with the lettuce wraps I am going to make with the romaine lettuce in the box. And cream of mushroom soup is one of my favorites. 

(If you are planning a week of soup like I am, try making my favorite homemade whole wheat bread recipe. I have yet to make a bad loaf!) 

For anyone who wants to make some food that doesn't get pureed, how about using the shredded cabbage for some fresh coleslaw, fried cabbage or cabbage noodles (I think I will try the last one and see if I can get my kids to eat it!). The beets would be great roasted with ginger or in a marinated salad. Mushrooms are always good in risotto (this recipe uses a slow cooker), gravy or dressed up in a mushroom tart.

I'll also be making a few non-soup dishes this week. Like our now favorite zucchini phyllo pie (did I mention my four year old ate three servings last time) and my favorite chili recipe with some yams thrown in.

A big bag of beautiful looking apples arrived in our box. The kids have already started eating their way through the apples, but I am tempted to set some aside for an apple pie or apple tart. If you have some time try making a batch of apple butter. We cooked some up in the fall and it was great served on toast, yogurt or pancakes.

This is what's on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Thursday, February 3rd box: Baking with fruit and roasting vegetables

I have been looking forward to our food box all week! And knowing what was coming just made me more excited.

There was a lot of fruit in this week's box, which is great because we love to eat fruit, but after making an amazing Anjou pear bread recipe last week I am tempted to hide the fruit away and not let anyone eat it. I may just save it all for baking! The navel oranges would be great for this orange yogurt phyllo pastry dessert, bananas foster are my idea of a treat, I could eat this grapefruit pudding cake with a spoon and if the pear bread doesn't interest you how about some pear cake. If you want to get more creative with the fruit you could try orange, lemon and grapefruit marmalade (perfect for using both the oranges and grapefruits), fennel and orange salad (don't you love it when a recipe lets you use two items from your box) or even, wait for it, creamy banana lettuce salad.

Maybe it is the cold and snow, but all I want to do is roast some vegetables. I will be making my favorite roasted cauliflower soup (which doesn't have to be vegan if you use cream or milk), but I was also tempted by roasted cauliflower with cumin and coriander or even the spicy cauliflower recipe. The snap peas from this weeks box are going to tossed into this sesame maple roasted tofu recipe, although they would also be good cooked with ginger or lemon. I am also going to make the campfire potatoes (in the oven not the BBQ), but the potatoes would also be lovely in a scalloped potato and fennel recipe or a kale potato puree.

I have decided to try some different recipes with the zucchini and Swiss chard. I am hoping the kids will like either the cheddar zucchini fritters or cheesy broiled zucchini. I am going to make a rainbow chard pie for dinner with friends this weekend, but I am sure it would be just as good cooked up with garlic and lemon or with roasted beets.

This is what's on my menu plan this week. What are you cooking?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.

Coming this week: Thurday, February 3rd, 2011

I just got my email invoice for this week's box. I am very excited by what will be arriving on Thursday and have started to think about what to make. This weeks box has:

• navel oranges
• bananas
• blueberries
• Anjou pears
• grape tomatoes
• grapefruit
• zucchini
• cauliflower
• potatoes
• snap peas
• rainbow chard

Any ideas for recipes?What would you make with this fabulous organic produce?

Brie loves eating food and is learning to love cooking food. She also blogs about motherhood at Capital Mom and about Ottawa with kids at Kids in the Capital.