The New Dinner From A Box

As a House Manager, one of the first things I do to help busy families simplify is to recommend a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription. For those who aren't familiar, a CSA or "Farm Box" is filled with organic vegetables chosen from what is in season by a farmer in your area. You can sign up for a weekly or biweekly subscription to be delivered to your home or a local drop spot. Here in the Northwest we are lucky to have an abundance of CSA subscriptions to choose from.
This Spring I decided to take my own advice and signed up for a CSA box. Our baby, Colette was getting ready to eat solids and I knew I didn't have the time or the patience to ensure that all her vegetables would be organic.
After researching my options I decided on Full Circle Farm. I liked that I could sign on for a weekly subscription and put a hold on delivery if needed, say in August when our garden is actually producing enough veggies. One can also shop from their online grocer. Lately we've been adding the Grace Harbor Yogurt. I think the baby ends up wearing half of it but I guess that just means good business for our local dairy.
Part of my weekly "to do list" is to plan meals for my clients. Recently I found that I had 3 homes to cook for and all three held a subscription to Full Circle Farm. I wonder how that happened?
I've been meal planning for years now so I find its easy to throw one together but I realize that this is not the case for most people. For the most part I plan to cook four full meals each week assuming that there will be left overs and the family will be eating out or eating light the other nights. First I look at my veggies and ask, "What can I make? Salad? Roasted root vegetables? Stir fry?" Then I choose a protein, fish, chicken, tofu, beef etc. Once my vegetables and proteins are matched I decide if I want to add a starch such as biscuits, noodles or rice.
Once my meal plan is sketched out I do an online search for recipes so that I can be sure I have all the ingredients on hand. If not I add those ingredients to the list for the week. If I've done my job I will make only one grocery run a week. Believe me it is possible!
I went ahead and made a meal plan for this weeks CSA box. Here is the list of contents and a brief sketch of this weeks meals.

This weeks vegetables:

	Green Kale FCF	Sugar Snap Peas
	Spring Onions *	Bunched Carrots FCF
	Cauliflower	Red Leaf Lettuce FCF
	Roma Tomatoes	Cucumbers
	Flavorosa Pluots	Yellow Peaches
	Cantaloupe	Valencia Oranges

Menu Suggestions:

Teriyaki Marinated Chicken with a Massaged Kale Salad

BBQ Skirt Steak Tacos with grilled Peaches and Spring Onions

Tofu Buckwheat Soba Noodle Salad with Snap Peas, Carrot and Cucumber

Roasted Pork Loin with Cauliflower Gratin and Red Leaf Salad

Snack:

Hummus with Carrots, Peas and Cucumber

Bon Appetit!