A Little Less Waste

In my mission to make my kitchen and cooking more green, I've decided it's time to invest in some composting supplies.  First of all, composting is great because you can turn would-be waste into good nutrition for your gardens and flower beds.  Secondly, there are so many options when it comes to composting equipment that there's truly something for everybody and every kitchen.  Here's what I picked up this weekend:

It looks a little like a fire hydrant, I know, but it's great for holding a couple of days worth of compostable food scraps and coffee grounds so we don't need to run out to the backyard three times a day to add to the big composter.  It's also small enough to put under the sink or nice enough to leave out (if we actually had any extra space on our counters).  Now, speaking of the big composter, I also invested in a large outdoor tumbler composting unit.  We haven't put it together yet, but I guess we should hurry up and do that.  I'll report back on how that's working out.  I'm still new to this whole process, but I've found that, as with many things in life, adopting healthier, more environmentally friendly habits are learning experiences.  Sometimes it's intimidating at first or it seems like too big of a change, but then after awhile, you find yourself wondering how you ever did things any other way.  

Potato Apple Soup

So while I've been hoping for some sunshine and warmer temperatures to welcome in spring this week, it doesn't look like it's going to happen.  A few more days (or weeks) of winter weather are in the forecast, so I've decided to make the most of it...I guess.  This week in our Grindstone delivery we received Russet potatoes, yellow onions, apples, baby carrots, Bartlett pears, Valencia oranges, radishes, green peppers, mustard greens, green chard, dill, arugula and green leaf lettuce.  Another bonus of these weekly deliveries is that the farm includes recipes for the ingredients in each box.  So just in case you were wondering what to do with all of those greens or potatoes, they've got you covered.  I'm not sure if all CSA farmers do this, but I do know that many vendors I've encountered at the farmer's markets are very willing to share cooking tips and recipes for their crops.  Just another great reason to get to know where your food is coming from!

The recipes offered this week were Potato Apple Soup, Potato Pancakes, and Beans and Greens.  We decided today was a soup kind of day as it's pretty blustery out there and very, very cold.  I made a few minor adjustments to the Potato Apple Soup recipe and it came out pretty tasty.  One adjustment I feel I should comment on is adding in whole milk instead of half and half.  I'm sure the half and half would be great, but we only had whole milk on hand and as I'm sure every parent knows, part of that role is being resourceful.  And taking resourceful one step further, the only whole milk we did have was still left from St. Patrick's Day that the leprechauns had mysteriously turned green.  So if you're wondering why my soup looks like a shamrock shake, my quest to be an extremely festive parent is to blame.  Addison thought it was great anyway, so I guess it was worth it.

Here's the recipe:

Potato Apple Soup 

1 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup celery, sliced

1 lb Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 cups Chicken Broth

1 Apple, peeled and diced

1/4 cup fresh dill

1 cup whole milk or half and half

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine onion, celery, potatoes and chicken broth in a large sauce pan over medium high heat for about 15-20 minutes.

2. Turn off heat and stir in diced apples.  Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor or you can use an immersion blender to blend until smooth (that's what I did).

4. Transfer mixture back to the sauce pan and stir in fresh dill and milk or half and half.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

I wasn't kidding about the green soup and since it's March Madness, go 'CUSE!  Maybe I should have tried to make it orange...

We served the soup with a salad using some of our fresh greens and pan seared salmon.  Very simple, but very tasty!

Our Green, Green Garden

Even though it seemed this past weekend that winter was here to stay and perhaps that furry little groundhog had told us a bit of a lie, springtime was all I could think about.  I decided it would be a good time to start getting our summer garden plans in gear and that maybe Addison would enjoy a little indoor planting.  Did she ever.

I took a little trip down memory lane and Addison and I read a book from one of my favorite childhood series, Mercer Mayer's A Green, Green Garden.  Remember "little critter"?  I still love those books just as much as when I was a child and this one was just the thing to get our little garden going.  Next, we mapped out our garden plans.  Addison drew her little garden and I drew the plans for our real garden.  It reminded me of Mr. MacGregor's garden in A Tale of Peter Rabbit.  (Sigh) If only my garden could ever look like that one, I would gladly accept a hungry rabbit or two.

Ryan and I had previously taken the measurements for our garden expansion and so I was able to determine how much we had room for and how much space each plant would need.  I purchased the seeds for the plants we needed to start indoors, we decided on sweet peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, lavender, rosemary, and thyme.  The remaining seeds will be directly sowed in the garden when it's warm enough.

Addison decided which seeds she wanted to plant, she went with tomatoes and peppers (her favorites to  eat of course) and we got to work planting.  I was amazed at how careful and focused she was with her little plastic shovel, scooping dirt into the little paper pots and "tucking in" her seeds into the soil.  We placed little Disney-themed tags in each pot, watered them and placed them on the window sill.  Each day since, she asks to check on them and I can't wait for the day when she gets to see something sprout.  That will be something pretty magical for her.

So if you're planning a garden for the summertime and are feeling as much spring fever as we are, right now is a great time to get your plans going and maybe even do some indoor planting.  If you have little ones, I would definitely suggest involving them too.  Not only is it a really fun activity to do as a family, you just might find your little gardener wanting to sample a few more veggies come harvest time since they had a hand in growing them!

Potato and Turnip Pancakes

So it's safe to say I'm pretty much in love...with a farm. I've mentioned Grindstone Farm in the past as they offer an excellent CSA and always have great organic produce at the Farmer's Market. I've recently found more reasons to love them though. Last fall I had the opportunity to visit the farm for a class I was taking and gained a new appreciation for the hard work organic farmers put into providing safe, quality produce through sustainable growing methods for their communities. This farm in particular is going the extra mile to make their produce as well as other organic food producers' products more accessible. This past week I took advantage of Grindstone's "Healthy Box" of produce.  I ordered the box of veggies online and it was delivered to a store very close to my house a few days later. Couldn't be any easier right? My thoughts exactly.  On top of that, everything in it was organic and cost me less than I normally spend at the grocery store. Amazing. Period.

Here's a little bit of what we received this week:

• Cabbage
• Leaf lettuce
• Turnips
• Spinach
• Shallots
• Apples
• Pears
• Avocados
• Lemons
• Bananas

Obviously not all of these items were grown locally since it is still a frozen tundra around here, but they were all grown organically and as many as possible were from local sources. Grindstone actually operates a greenhouse during the winter months, so they are able to keep up some of the growing all year round.  So overall, we were very satisfied with the quality and convenience if this mostly local purchase.

So what will we make with all of these tasty items you ask? Well since it's St. Patty's Day weekend and I'm Irish by marriage, I feel a bit of an obligation to make some good old fashioned Corned Beef and Cabbage.  However, before I do, the turnips were sort of calling to me (since I've never actually had one) and I found a really great recipe that I changed around and bit and came out with a pretty tasty, breakfast, lunch, or dinner-friendly Turnip and Potato Pancake.  Here's what I did:

Turnip and Potato Pancakes
Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients
- 2 medium turnips, diced
- 2 medium potatoes, diced
- 2 shallots, minced (original recipe calls for scallions, but I opted for shallots to offer a mild onion/garlic flavor)
- 1/4 cup of all purpose flour (a friend suggested to make this gluten-free, substituting 1/4 cup gluten-free pancake mix here)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- Sharp cheddar cheese for topping (just a sprinkle)

What to do:

1. Peel and dice your potatoes and turnips
2. Place them into boiling water for about 15 minutes or until they're tender.
3. While the vegetables are boiling, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Saute your shallots in the oil for about two minutes, being careful not to let them burn.
4. Once the potatoes and turnips are done, drain and mash them.
5. Stir in the flour, beaten egg, and shallots.
6. Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Using about 1/4 cup at a time, scoop the turnip mixture into the skillet and form 1/2 inch thick pancakes.  Cook until each side is golden brown, about 5 minutes a side.  I had trouble here flipping them without the pancakes falling apart, so make sure they're fully cooked and using two spatulas to flip may help.
7. Place the pancake on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain the excess oil.  Transfer to the serving dish and sprinkle with a bit of sharp cheddar cheese.  YUM!

Let's Try This Again...

Hi everyone!  After a long hiatus, I'm back to blogging and I've made a few small changes to my site. I will be trying things a little different this time around and I hope you'll find the page easier to use and the information and recipes even more helpful.  Here's a little bit of what you can expect from KJ's Green Kitchen:

1. Weekly posts on Mondays with ideas and info about eating healthy, local, and green.

2. A second weekly post on Fridays with a recipe.  My family will be participating in a CSA with weekly deliveries on Thursdays, so I will share what we received in our delivery (it will be a bit different each week) and a recipe for the farm fresh items.

3. I've opened up the comments section to everyone (not just followers) and I welcome any suggestions you have for things you're interested in hearing about or your experiences with any of the recipes I share.

I hope you'll return often to check out what's new in my green kitchen and be sure to check out KJ's Green Kitchen on Facebook and Twitter.

It's Blueberry Season!

On my to-do list for the last few years has been to go berry picking.  I have grown up picking apples in the fall as many of us Upstate New Yorkers do and have taken up pumpkin picking as well which is equally enjoyable.  There is nothing quite like the taste of a fresh picked apple, so I really wanted to see if the same went for fresh berries.  I was not disappointed.

Earlier in the summer, my family and I found a really great berry patch in Baldwinsville called Hencle's Berry Patch, which specializes in a variety of berries including strawberries, raspberries, and even gooseberries.  With the unusually warm spring we had, the farmer's told us that everything was a bit early this year, but we were lucky enough to catch the end of the strawberries and pick a large number of fresh raspberries.  I had never experienced true fresh picked strawberries before and they were by far the best I have ever tasted.  The raspberries were pretty amazing too, reminding me of when I used to race down to my parent's raspberry bushes behind our house in hopes of picking the berries before the birds could feast on them.  Not only was this a great experience as far as finding fresh, healthy, and local produce, but it was a really fun family activity.  It's a great way to get outside and even a really good opportunity to teach your kids a bit about where their food comes from.

Well, the season for strawberries and raspberries has sadly come and gone, but luckily there are still blueberries to enjoy.  The other day, I packed Addie and Ryan up for yet another jaunt to the farmlands of Baldwinsville (I know, quite a journey).  We found a number of blueberry patches in a row and chose to stop at Reeves' Farms because they are known for their sustainable farming methods and particularly their organic blueberries.  We had a great time and picked enough blueberries to throw in the freezer and enjoy into the autumn months.  With our fresh blueberries, we enjoyed a great summer breakfast of Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes, here's the recipe:

Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients

2/3 cup buckwheat (or any other whole grain) pancake mix
1 egg
2 tsp canola oil
1 cup milk*
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

*I prefer to make whole grain pancakes a little thinner because they tend to burn before the inside is fully cooked, but if you prefer thicker pancakes use a little less milk.

Stir together ingredients until just combined, do not over mix.  Grease a griddle or flat-bottomed skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.  Pour about 1/4 cup of batter at a time onto the hot griddle.  When the edges of the pancake appear dry and the middle starts to bubble, flip and cook for a few more seconds.  This recipe yields about 6 pancakes.

I really like to double or even triple this recipe and make a lot of pancakes because they're great to throw in the freezer and they're healthy and whole grain, so they're a wonderful option for kids or toddlers.  Keep in mind that they do contain eggs, so beware of feeding them to little ones under a year if they haven't had egg whites yet due to possible allergic reactions.

Remember, there's still plenty of time to enjoy the fresh fruits of summer and it's way more fun to get out there and pick them yourself!

So many markets, so little time!

I was recently having a conversation with my sister and she brought up a great point about farmer's markets.  Why do they always have to be on Saturday?  Everyone already has a packed schedule on weekends during the summer with traveling, graduation parties, weddings, marathon viewings of the Olympic coverage (maybe just in my house), who has time on a Saturday to add another thing to the list?  Well, there's good news!  Although it use to be true that most farmer's markets were held on Saturdays and the larger ones still are because they get the most traffic then, there are many smaller ones popping up all over Central New York on just about every day of the week and at various times of the day to accommodate everyone's schedule.  So if you weren't a farmer's market fan before because you didn't want to take the time out of your Saturday morning, you're not alone, but give one of these other markets a try and support a local farmer this week!

Upstate Farmer's Market

This market has two locations on two different days of the week.  On Thursdays from 11-3:30 it's located at Upstate at Community General Hospital on Broad Rd.  On Fridays from 11-3:30, it's located in the parking lot of the Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital on Irving Ave. right next to Crouse Hospital.  If you work at or near either of these locations, stop down on your lunch break and check out the fresh, local produce.  Both locations opened this week and will run throughout the summer.

You can find more information on Upstate's website by following this link or liking "Upstate Farmer's Market" on Facebook:

http://www.upstate.edu/specialevents/farmers_market.php

Cicero Farmer's Market

For those of you who live and/or work north of Syracuse, this is a new farmer's market this year located in the Driver's Village parking lot next to Burlington Coat Factory.  This one is great for the "after work" crowd because it runs from 3 pm-7 pm on Tuesday evenings.  It opened earlier in the summer and will run all the way until October 30th.  For more info on this market, you can like the "Cicero Farmer's Market" page on Facebook or contact the Cicero Youth Bureau Parks and Recreation Department at 699-5233.  You can also E-mail the market's coordinator at jraddell@ciceronewyork.net.

Camillus Farmer's Market

This market is held on Fridays from May through October rain or shine.  It's located on the corner of West Genesee Street and Male Avenue in front of the Camillus Municipal Building.  A great thing about this market is that the organizers require all products to be homegrown or homemade, so you can be sure that you are supporting your local farmers and artisans.  Fruits, vegetables, baked goods, flowers and shrubs, and a variety of crafts are available for purchase.  For more info on this market, you can contact the Camillus Town Clerk's office at 488-1234.

Syracuse Eastside Neighborhood Farmer's Market

This one is located at Westcott Community Center on Euclid Avenue and is another great one to try if your work schedule keeps you from visiting the ones held during the day.  It's on Wednesdays from 2-7pm and is running now until October.  For more info, you can call 751-1067.

These are just a handful of farmer's markets that have been added to the growing list all over Central New York.  Some are new this year and some have been around awhile.  With all of these choices, you have no excuse now not to try one.  Go out and buy local this week!