Day 16

Breakfast Day 16: 2 Strawberry muffins

Lunch Day 16: Left over cheese pizza, fresh peas & yogurt with frozen strawberries

Dinner Day 16: Cheese burger, salad, tomatoes, broccoli & beets

My sister Kimmy brought us some wonderful hydroponic tomatoes from Eden Valley- They were so good! Now I am getting excited for tomatoes from the Farmers’ Markets although it will be a few weeks yet.

Tonight was kid central at my house with 3 extra ones running around. I still managed to finish updating the blog, I am sorry that I fell behind over the weekend. I will admit that not having internet access was a nice break. I also got two loaves of bread ready for the oven in the morning and have a batch of my grandma’s flat bread recipe chilling in the fridge.

Day 15

Breakfast Day 15: Strawberries, contraband banana & granola bar (Sorry!)

Lunch Day 15: Pastures –A- Plenty cheddar brat, yogurt with strawberries, and fresh peas

Dinner Day 15: Cheese pizza (Dry Weather Creak flour, pizza sauce from Mages Gardens II & Bongards’ cheese) & salad (Louise Anderson & Chick-N-Coupe Ranch).

I made strawberry muffins with my niece Ella. She was nice enough to chop and freeze the last of my huge flat of berries! Now, it is time to go pick more strawberries and also get some raspberries! I also made my second batch of yogurt, I left it on the warming pad longer than the first batch… it might be too tart. I will know more tomorrow evening-

My boss Linda gave me a small block of Organic Raw Sharp White Cheddar Cheese from Organic Valley. This is some really really great cheese! I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a sharp cheddar cheese.

Day 14

Breakfast Day 14: SunButter sandwich on homemade wheat bread with raspberries jam from Birch Coulee Creak Farm

Lunch Day 14: French toast stuffed with apples and strawberry yogurt

Dinner Day 14: Egg sandwich (Dry Weather Creek Farms, Birch Coulee Farm, Bongards’ Cheese), strawberries (Hilltop Harvest) and a salad (Chick-N-Coupe Ranch)
Dinner on the run eaten in the car!

We are still recovering from a busy weekend camping & Mondays are softball night so, I really didn’t do much in the way of cooking, baking or planning for the week.

Day 13

Breakfast Day 13: Contraband blueberry muffins (I am sorry, my dad makes these awesome blueberry muffins that are super good and healthy- juice and yogurt in the batter rather than oil. So, I couldn’t resist!

Lunch Day 13: Pastures-A- Plenty brats, strawberries and Andy created a sandwich with left over roast beef, bacon and cheese that was local and wonderful- it needed some peppers and onions and it would have been perfect!My sister and brother in law found this amazing spicy mustard at the Bloomington Farmers' Market-made in Mankato, MN & so great on everything- an item to buy in bulk! Also, the kids had honey sticks also from the Bloomington Farmers' Market.

Dinner Day 13: BBQ Chicken pizza & salad- I had leftovers that needed to be used so pizza worked… The crust was ok, I think I need to roll it thinner and possibly watch the temp of my water when I am using yeast… All in all it was my first attempt at pizza crust and BBQ chicken pizza and it was more than eatable.

Day 12

Breakfast Day 12: -

Brunch Day 12: Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, strawberries & toast

Lunch Day 12: The kids had pizza pockets that were 80% local, the bread came from the store...

Dinner Day 12: Grilled chicken, strawberries salad & garlic bread

Sorry, I had to cheat and eat a S ‘more. I was so excited and then so let down, it really didn’t taste as wonderful as I’d remembered or imagined… Maybe all this good tasting fresh food is getting the best of me!

Day 11

Breakfast Day 11: Strawberry bread- I wasn’t very hungry, sorry
Lunch Day 11: Strawberry salad, yogurt & strawberry rhubarb muffin (I may have fallen into a rut!)

I am happy to report that I found the bread hooks for my mixer!
The best part is that I had them all along and they appeared when I needed them!

Dinner Day 11: Roast beef sandwich on homemade wheat bread with Bongards’ cheddar cheese, strawberries & a salad.

In an attempt to be prepared fro the weekend and a long car ride, I made a roast in a crock pot while I was at work. I did not follow a recipe or really know what I was doing. However, when I open the door into my house after work Friday afternoon the house smelled wonderful! The roast didn’t look that great but it was great on sandwiches.

I will do my best to eat as local as possible while camping. However, I am going to have to eat a Smore- Come on I AM CAMPING!

Day 10

Breakfast Day 10: Strawberry rhubarb muffin & yogurt

Lunch Day 10: BBQ chicken sandwich with cheeses on a homemade wheat roll, pickles and more strawberry salad- I love that stuff, so good & so easy!

Dinner Day 10: SunButter and Strawberry Jam (Birch Coulee Creak Farm) sandwich on homemade bread (Dry Weather Creak), pickles, strawberries (Hilltop Harvest) and sugar snap peas (Becker Market in Willmar).


I admit it, we had dinner in the car tonight. We were on the run and in a hurry to get to Willmar to meet up with some friends. We quickly checked out the Becker Market, as the vendors were just about to close down for the night. There were a number of vendors and a ton of people. It is Willmar Fest this week so the weekly Market was part of Thursday’s Willmar Fest events along with the Kiddie parade and a block party. I need to get up and check out the Becker Market on a day when it is less crowded. Amy & Lieann proudly sharing their Market finds including Sugar Snap Peas, Wild Rice Bread & a MN Grown button!

Day 9

Breakfast Day 9: Strawberry Bread & Yogurt, so good!

Lunch Day 9: BBQ chicken sandwich & strawberry salad

Dinner Day 9: Fish sandwich (lake in Northern MN), peas (from my boss Linda), strawberries (Hilltop Harvest), Bun (Dry Weather Creak Flour).

Elliot and I made it out to the Hector Farmers’ Market this evening. We picked up some spinach, beets & Sherry Kenney of Chick-N-Coupe Ranch was nice enough to sell us some strawberry popcorn from last year (its kernels are red but it pops up white).

We also made a batch of strawberry rhubarb muffins from the Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook. They look and smell delicious!

Day 8

Breakfast Day 8: Yogurt & strawberry bread, even Elliot gave this breakfast his attention!

Wheat Bread Recipe
Ready in: > 2 hrs
recipe difficulty 3/5 Difficulty: 3 (1=easiest :: hardest=5)

Serves/Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 package yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
2 tablespoons oil
2 eggs


Directions:

Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Let stand 8 to 10 minutes. Then stir to dissolve. Steel Knife: Place 3 cups of flour, salt and honey in processor bowl. Process 5 or 6 seconds. Add dissolved yeast through fee tube while machine is running. Process about 10 seconds. Combine milk, oil and eggs in a measuring cup. Add through feed tube while machine is running. Batter will be very sticky. Dump in the reserved 1/4 cup flour as machine begins to slow down. Process until well mixed, about 30 seconds. Batter will not form a ball on the blades. Empty onto a well-floured board or counter. Flour surface of dough to make it manageable for kneading. Knead about 2 minutes, adding flour as necessary to prevent dough from sticking. Place in a greased bowl and turn dough over so that all surfaces are greased. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Punch down. Roll dough on a lightly floured board into a 9x12 inch rectangle. Roll up, jelly-roll style, from the shorter side. Seal ends by pressing down the ban. Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool.

This recipe from CDKitchen for 100% Whole Wheat Bread serves/makes 1 loaf
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recipetemplate.php?scale=1+loaf&mid=1619

Dinner Day 8: Juicy Lucy burgers (cheese filled)Pastures A Plenty Beef, homemade buns Dry Weather Creak Flour), salad (Chick-N-Coupe Ranch & Louise Schwiess Anderson), broccoli (Either Chick-N-Coupe Ranch or LaVonne Lothert), radishes (LaVonne Lothert) & strawberries (Hilltop Harvest).

I attempted to make hamburger buns, although they look like hockey pucks they tasted pretty good & they did the job. My only complaint is that they got to be kind of thick! I found a great looking strawberry rhubarb muffin recipe in The Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook my boss, Chris loaned to me. I am looking forward to making them tomorrow.

Day 7

Breakfast Day 7: SunButter sandwich on homemade wheat bread, yogurt & strawberries.

Lunch Day 7: Walleye (leftover from last night) sandwich on wheat with cheddar cheese & lettuce, broccoli, beats & radishes and a pies of rhubarb pie!

Dinner Day 7: Leftovers! Chicken, peas, cheesy polenta & squash soup.

I made Strawberry Bread with some of the beautiful berries picked at Hilltop Harvest near Redwood Falls. Yum Yum Yum, I will make many more loves of this bread in the near future. The recipe came from the MN Grown Pick of the Month website & available at the end of this blog.

I saved some energy and kind of took the night off in anticipation of preparing throughout the rest of the week for a weekend camping trip which always requires extra work and even more so with eating local. I will need to make breads and snacks to bring along… Any great snack ideas out there that can be made with seasonal produce and travel well?

Strawberry Bread

Ingredients:

· 1/2 cup unsalted butter
· 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
· 3 large eggs
· 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
· 1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped
· 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inch). Set aside.

Place the walnuts (or pecans) on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes or until brown and fragrant. Remove from oven and let cool completely before chopping coarsely. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and sour cream (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries and walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake about one hour, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

Recipe Courtesy of joyofbaking.com

Day 6

I am determined to find berries today!

A loaf of bread in the oven at 10:30 am is a lovely way to start the day! Please note that my bread looks better than the one from the other day… I am learning!

Breakfast Day 6: -

Brunch Day 6: Pastures A Plenty bacon, eggs from Birch Coulee Creek Farm, bread made with wheat flour from Dry Weather Creak and honey from Kruse in Milan topped with jam from Birch Coulee Creek Farm.

Lunch Day 6: -

Hurray for Hilltop Harvest of Redwood Falls! So many beautiful and tasty strawberries, friendly staff, other nice folks out picking with their families- a great way to spend an hour or two on a beautiful afternoon! This was the first time I’d ever gone berry picking- and it was a fun time. Three-year-old Hokon even had a great time. I picked a flat full of strawberries in about 45 minutes and it was well worth my time. I quote ”These are awesome tasting strawberries!” and Andy would not say that about fruit unless he really meant it.

Dinner Day 6: Fresh Walleye that Andy caught on Big Sand Lake near Park Rapids, (not super local but from the great State of Minnesota). We also had leftover cheesy polenta, salad, left over chicken, strawberries, radishes, kohlrabi and beets. Our neighbor Hilly joined us for dinner along with my friend Ann and her two boys, Hokon & Espen. We all enjoyed dinner so much that none of us including the three little guys saved room for the humble rhubarb pie I made last night.

Such a great dinner and it all came together really easy (no joke)! During the 20 to 30 minutes that it took to get dinner on the table Ann & I were chatting. We came to the conclusions that eating local is not difficult, planning a head is key along with making the most of your leftovers, having a willingness to try new things is also very helpful as well as keeping it simple. At each meal now rather than asking my self or family “what do you want for dinner?” I know ask “what do we have for dinner”.