Nomday: Bountiful Baskets

This Nomday is more about obtaining foods than making. The household has opted to experiment with the Bountiful Baskets program. This is a very cool little co-op market deal. Check out their website for the full spiel but basically it is a community grocery store in a public parking lot. Volunteers use cute little plastic laundry baskets to organize the foods, but you have you bring your own bags to cart it away. The cost is low because there is so little overhead and it is all volunteer run. The best part is if you volunteer your time, there might be some extra goodies in your basket.

Our locations are primarily in school lots and I was happily surprised to find that I knew many of the people shopping and working. The price was worth the amount of fresh fruits and veggies obtained and there was a nice friendly community feel to the whole ordeal. 

I am super excited to try this again next week!

A few caveats; most items still need to ripen, which is great, unless you want to use it right away. Bring bags and boxes and a cart or a friend to help carry; there is way more than you would expect! 

Bountiful Baskets

http://bountifulbaskets.org/

Nomday Double Whammy!

This week the crew revisited the much loved munchings, Golabkis! But last week, when I was out of town on Nomday and could not post, we tried this one!

Chicken and Dumplings

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Approximate Cost: $22.00

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons of butter

1 (10.75 oz) can of cream of chicken soup

1 (10.75 oz) can of cream of celery soup

3 1/2 cups of chicken broth

1 onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

Chicken bouillon seasoning or cube

salt & pepper

1 (10 oz) package of refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

EXCLUDING BISCUITS put all ingredients in the crock pot. Place biscuit dough in one hour before, cook until dough is no longer raw in the center. *Note: Make very small dough balls or else they get really gooey and sort of gross by the end of the week and no one will eat them.

Golabkis! (Cabbage Rolls)

Golabkis! These little rolls of goodness were the icon of my youth in a Polish family. I never made them on my own because, well, watching my mom and grand-mom struggle with wilted cabbage leaves just did not induce a deep desire to give it a go. Well, as it turns out, I should have shown them all. I am pretty sure I can attribute my mad golabki rolling skills to making far too many tedious Asian foods, but so be it. That is just how I roll. 

If you do give this recipe a try and find rolling slimy cabbage leaves not to be among your skill sets, there is a means to cheat. Layering the cabbage and meat mixture with tomato sauce into a crockpot serves the same flavor, without the presentation.

Cabbage Rolls

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 9 hours

3 lbs. ground beef

2 cups cooked rice

1 large head of cabbage

1 can condensed tomato sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Scald cabbage just enough to separate leaves. Remove leaves from head of cabbage gently, trying to keep whole. Set leaves on paper towels to cool. Prepare meat in a large bowl; add rice, salt and pepper; mix well. Place about 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of each leaf; fold in sides and roll ends over meat. Place in Crock Pot. Pour tomato sauce over cabbage rolls. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours.

Nomday: Beer, Cabbage and Brats

Some things require a repeat performance, this recipe is one of those things. Besides, what better meal to enjoy after a weekend at the Made in the Shade Beer Festival in Flagstaff, Arizona. Good times care of Local Lily! Keep a look out for my write up on the festival on www.locallily.com.

Cabbage and Brats

Approximate Cost: $21.00

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 hours

5 to 6 links apple smoked sausage

1 medium head cabbage, quartered

1/2 large red onion

1 cup creamy honey-mustard dressing

1/4 cup cider vinegar

I chose not to brown the sausage because usually the food is left to cook for more than the average time and I don’t want over cooked meat, if you want it done faster though, I recommend browning the meat first. Combine with cabbage and onion in the Crock Pot. Add remaining ingredients; cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Nomday: Cabbage and Brats

Cabbage and Brats

Approximate Cost: $21.00

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 hours

5 to 6 links bratwurst sausage

1 medium head cabbage, coarsely shredded

1 large red onion

1/2 cup creamy honey-mustard dressing

1/4 cup applesauce

1 to 2 teaspoons caraway seed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

salt and pepper to taste

I chose not to brown the sausage because usually the food is left to cook for more than the average time and I don’t want over cooked meat, if you want it done faster though, I recommend browning the meat first. Combine with cabbage and onion in the Crock Pot. Add remaining ingredients; cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

This turned out so tasty! I am not sure it will make it the entire week and I am thinking of adding potatoes next time to bulk it up a bit more.

A bit of trivia: Chou-chou means cabbage in French, but it is also a term of endearment ie; Ma petite chou-chou!

Winter Garden Week Three

The gardening blogs are going to be rather uneventful for the next couple weeks I think. Nothing is sprouting just yet. There is not any real work to be done until something greeny starts popping out. Does anyone have any advice how to alleviate the tedium of waiting?

I was gifted with a few more seed pockets this week though. Thank you so much, Max! So, now I am pleased to announce, the victory garden will have spinach, oregano, chives, eggplant, and African daisies! This is all so very exciting and it makes me even less patient!

I did find out that while it is very convenient to water the garden from the kitchen sink spray nozzle, I will have to do some major soaking every now and again with the outdoor hose or the reserve water in the shed.

Maybe next week there will be some action to report. Until then I will continue to take my umbrella out in the moonlight and dance around the garden fence with my invisible garden gnomes!

Winter Yard and Garden Week Two

Suggestions were taken books were read, and seeds were obtained, planting has begun!

The garden soil had a week to settle a bit before rooting about in it to plant. I am so super thrilled by the uncommonly temperate weather Arizona is having; it makes it much easier to attempt gardening especially since in the past I have had very little luck with plants. That is all going to change this year though! This garden is going to be marvelous!

Okay, honestly, I have been so lax on getting to this project I am very concerned about the seeds I bought over a year ago. Will they even germinate? If they do I should have cabbage, arugula and Brussel sprouts in a few weeks. If they don’t well, it was a good shot and I will buy more seeds, fresh seeds, to try again.

I am attempting potatoes on a whim too. We had some store bought taters in a bag at the bag of the pantry at they started to sprout eyes and look more than a little unappetizing. I considered tossing the dead spuds in the compost with so many other gooified vegetation, but thought, why not give it a go! So, I cut the potatoes into sections to give each of the eyes something to grow on and buried each piece. I have no idea if this is going to work, but at worst, I will have potato rot to fuel the soil and it didn’t cost any more than letting the spuds go bad.

Most important lessons of the day; barefoot is the only way to wander a fresh garden, (Soil feels so good between the toes!) and it is so convenient to have the garden just outside the kitchen window closest to the sink. I can water with the spray attachment instead of dragging out the garden hose!

While I am waiting for veggies to sprout; suggestions on how to make this more fun and less tedious?