Category — Farmers Market

This afternoon I spent some quality time in Walmart.  Now, now now.  The Walmart near our apartment is also a grocery store and prices on grocery staples are amazing when compared to my beloved Hannaford.  I was able to stock up on a few pantry items (beans, tuna, canned tomatoes, canned salmon) as well as my normal Stonyfield Farm Skim Milk, and Stonyfield Farm Fat Free French Vanilla yogurt.  I was also able to buy 3 new boxes of cereal – which I’m sure you will see over the next few days.  All of this was WAY cheaper then the grocery store.  I don’t shop at Walmart too often, but when I do, I do a big shopping. 

After going to Walmart, I unloaded the 4 bags of groceries, and headed out to the Farmer’s Market.  It is getting bigger and bigger every week!

Matt and I stocked up on lots of goods including lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, blueberries, onions, yellow plums, corn, a tomato, wheatberry salad, a lemon square and chocolate chip cookie.  I put everything away and forgot to take a picture – sorry!

The other day, while reading Elina’s blog, I saw her make Eggplant Stew over Couscous and immediately wanted to try it.  At the Farmer’s Market today, I picked up all the veggies (minus the peppers which I got at Walmart).

Matt and I got to washing, chopping and dicing.  We used one of my favorite appliances again – the Mandolin – to slice the eggplant and zucchini. 

I didn’t read misread the recipe and instead of slicing the peppers, I diced them.  We also used a lot more eggplant then the recipe called for – it was recommended in the comments.

The veggies cooking on the stove top. 

The eggplant after cooking in the microwave – we were both surprised at how much the eggplant reduced!

All together with the spices, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce

MMM…

Finished product

I cooked up some whole wheat couscous and then served with a little feta cheese

I absolutely loved this meal.  A great meal if you have a garden and have lots of eggplant and zucchini.  I love the veggies and it wasn’t too heavy – a perfect summer meal.  Matt, not the biggest veggie lover, said this was “Not bad considering all the vegetables in it.”  He also remarked that he wouldn’t necessarily request this dish, but would eat it again.  That to me is a success!  This recipe made tons so you will be seeing it a lot in the next few days. 

Matt was in charge of the zucchini and eggplant and while cleaning up, he realized there was another eggplant that I had peeled but he didn’t slice.  The eggplant for the Stew was already done cooking in the microwave.  Not knowing what to do with it, we decided to slice it into disks and roast them on the pizza stone (after the suggestion by Jen a few weeks ago).  We put a little olive oil on the stone, and put it in the oven to heat.  In the mean time, Matt salted the eggplant and we let it rest on a dishtowel.  After a few minutes, he rinsed the eggplant and squeezed the liquid out. 

On the stone they went.

Our pizza stone is well loved as you can tell. 

When these were done, they were delicious.  Very salty but delicious.  Thank you for the suggestion Jen – I will never roast veggies on a baking sheet again!

On to dessert…Matt and I picked up a Chocolate Chip cookie (probably one of my favorite things on the entire planet) and a Lemon Square from Flour Girls Bakery (they had a tent at the Farmer’s Market).  

I am not much of a lemon square kinda gal but this lemon square was not bad.  The cookie, although had a great texture (soft and chewy), was very salty – like they used salted butter AND salt.  I did eat the entire thing but I do think the Raspberry Oat square I got last time was much better. 

Tomorrow I have some more errands and some cooking to do.  I may have to take Matt to the eye doctor as well – his eyes are watering so much he can barely see.  I have no idea what is wrong with the two of us and our eyes.  Hopefully the eye doctor can figure it out.

60;

Good Morning!  Matt and I got up this morning and enjoyed some Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Zucchini bread for breakfast.  I wanted to get moving so we would make it to the Farmer’s Market nice and early – so I hurried us out of the house.

But before we made it to the Farmer’s Market we made a pit stop at

Which has the most amazing iced tea.  I have no idea why, but it is.  I brought in my reusable cup which Honey Dew is happy to fill. 

I love this cup because it is just like the ones they use – except its reusable. 

TRY THIS:  According to Ideal Bite, “If you purchase one cup of coffee every day in a disposable container, you create about 23 lb of waste each year.”  Furthermore, Styrofoam can actually “disrupt your hormones, and the chlorine used to bleach paper cups creates carcinogenic dioxins during production.”    There is a great article about how to select a great travel mug.  Its a good idea to have a few so you don’t have to worry about having to clean the same one every day.  I feel much less guilty indulging in my ice tea habit knowing I am using my own cup and reducing waste. 

On to breakfast…

I had my piece of bread with 1/2 butter and 1/2 cream cheese.  The cream cheese was my favorite 1/2. 

We made it to the Farmer’s Market was quite busy this morning.

Matt and I bought tons of produce – when we got home, I took a picture of it all!

Doesn’t that look great!  I got 3 things of blueberries (one to eat, one to freeze and one for a special recipe later this weekend), radishes, orange and yellow carrots, garlic, zucchini, corn, mixed greens, orange cauliflower, and two tomatoes.  All this cost about $35 – a little pricy, but I am willing to pay it knowing how fresh and local it is!

After a little while, we enjoyed some lunch.

Leftover Falafel (we had one patty left which we split), made into a grilled cheese on a deli flat.

Plus the leftover mixed greens from the Farmer’s Market LAST weekend.

Kinda looks like a pineapple doesn’t it?

Plus an overripe kiwi on the side.

Can’t wait for our dinner out tonight.  Its at a seafood restaurant and I’m trying to decide what to get.

I set my alarm for 7 am to beat the heat and go for a run.  I ended up snoozing until 8 and then deciding against the run – for no particular reason other than I was tired.  A relaxing breakfast sounded MUCH more appealing. 

For breakfast Matt and I made fruit salad with yogurt and egg sandwiches. 

In the fruit salad was 1/2 mashed banana, blueberries and 1/2 a kiwi plus some Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt.

While I was working on the fruit and yogurt, Matt was working on the Egg and Cheese Sandwich with tomato (from the farmer’s market last week).

To make, he cooked 1/4 cup egg whites in a bowl sprayed with Pam.  Cooked them for 30 seconds in the microwave, stirred and then cooked the eggs again in 15 second increments until set.  The roll is a Whole Wheat Pepperidge Farm Deli Flat.

Nothing completes breakfast for me like a cup of tea.

After breakfast, I sat down at the kitchen table with my monstrous binder of recipes I have collected over the years (most ripped out from magazines), a new cookbook I got for Christmas and the Hannaford sales circular to make my grocery shopping list for the week. 

I have planned dinners for the next few days – this way I don’t have to think about “What’s for Dinner” during the week.

Our first stop was the Farmer’s Market.  The Farmer’s Market is much bigger on Saturday’s then during the week.  This year there is even a Seafood truck. 

We left the Farmer’s Market with

Cherry tomatoes (picked this morning!), blueberries, two cucumbers, 2 onions, a bag of mixed greens, fresh eggs and 1 lb of scallops.  All of this for about $32 – not bad! 

Green Fact: According to Sustainable Table, each food item in a typical U.S. meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles to reach your table.   Furthermore, according to Sustainable Table “…small, sustainable farms help reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels is by selling their products locally. The less food has to travel, the less fuel is needed to transport it. But sustainable farming practices also have the potential to reduce fossil fuel dependence by eliminating wasteful production practices.”

To find a Farmer’s Market near you, check out this website.  I highly recommend them (especially if you can’t grow your own produce like me!)