How can we have so much produce in the house and nothing to eat? That has been our dilemma the last week or so. I think that’s one of the hard things about trying to eat clean and cook from scratch: rarely is there a quick snack or effortless meal. But on the plus side, we aren’t constantly snacking and eating junk (i.e., our pants fit).
However, to help resolve this little problem, I made some muffins and soup Sunday night. And the flavors and aromas are definitely triggering autumn in the brain (and tummy).
This week’s goodies (roughly L-R): green zucchini, mystery squash (I think it’s a small spaghetti squash), yellow zucchini, corn, butternut squash, cucumber, beets, potatoes.
Sunday:
- Butternut beet soup with whole wheat french bread
We have not been big beet fans, regardless of preparation. Our best bet has been to try to hide them and get the nutritional benefits without actually tasting them. This soup pretty much accomplishes that. It’s sweet and velvety and great with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle of cilantro.
- Apple pie muffins
These muffins had so much potential. That was until they ended up baked apples with a hint of muffin. Six apples was obscenely too much apple for the amount of batter (and I think I only dumped five apples worth into the batter before stopping myself). If you make them, use three apples. That will be plenty.
Monday:
- Greek salad
The Mister is very particular about his Greek salad, having studied abroad in Greece in college. Tomato, cucumber, red onion, feta, olive oil, oregano, salt, and a squirt of lemon juice (no olives for this man). This will alternate with soup for lunches this week. - Yoyo
With a new semester in full swing, Mondays will be yoyo nights, since the Mister is on campus all night.
Tuesday:
- Black bean and corn salad
A simple salad with some of the last tastes of summer made an easy dinner with lots of leftovers.
Wednesday:
- Zucchini calzones
I think we’ll use one of our standard pizza doughs and our go-to red sauce (from this book), add some sauteed zucchini, garlic, and onions (and cheese, of course). We’ve never actually done calzones, but i figure it’s got to be easy since we’ve conquered pizza.
Thursday:
- Bacon cheeseburgers and baked parmesan garlic fries
Sometimes you just need a scrumptious, naughty dinner. This is that meal.
Friday:
- TBD
We’re either having people over or we’ll cook up the mystery squash.
Saturday:
- Pumpkin zucchini bread
I think I’ll shred up the yellow zucchini and make bread/muffins and freeze some. - Trader Joe’s gorgonzola gnocchi with veggies
We’ll plan another simple dinner for the weekend; plus it’s an easy way to use up some of the blanched veggies in the freezer.
Linked up over at In Her Chucks CSA link party, once again.
I couldn’t agree with you more about the effort of eating clean. Sometimes I wonder what life was like before all of our modern conveniences. Would we still be bummed out that it takes so much work to whip up a meal? or maybe that is why folks decided to invent convenient meals…either way, I TOTALLY get where you are coming from.
Would love for you to link up to this week’s CSA Link party…http://inherchucks.com/2012/09/06/whats-in-the-box-42-a-giveaway/. Hope to see you there!
Was your beet soup hot or cold?
It was hot (although, I suppose you could eat it cold). I’m not big on cold soup. It confuses my brain. :)
I am not a fan of cold soups, either. Gazpacho is not my friend. Your “hidden beet” soup is such a lovely color! I have a friend who will probably love this recipe– definitely going to share it with her.
I completely agree with you about the sometimes frustrating aspects eating clean and eating healthy. Making a meal requires a lot of work. At the grocery store, I shun the snack food aisles but somehow always regret it when I’m hungry and my only option is to make something from scratch.
I totally agree about the time suck that is healthy eating. I do a lot of prep work on Sundays and rely on the slower cooker when my energy starts to wane during the week. I used to hate beets, but then one day, it was like a switch flipped, and now I love them. I can’t think of any good ways to hide the “earthy” (oh, come on, we all mean dirt-like) flavor. I like them shredded raw and also roasted, but both are definitely beet-y. And I’ve done calzones once, and it was very easy — just wrap the fillings in the dough instead of spreading them on top. Very tasty.
Prep before the busy week is a great idea and goal to work toward. I try to do big meals for leftovers and baking on the weekends, but aspire to do more of the chopping and other pre-work then too!
It really does help! Especially by mid-week, I’m too tired in the evenings to do too much, so having some prep done is so helpful.
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