Don't want to can your peaches? Freeze them- Whole!

I recently learned on a favorite website that I follow, that you can freeze whole peaches. When you pull them out of the freezer, the skin peels right off and, when thawed, you can cut them up and eat them just like opening a can of peaches- only all of the nutrients are preserved! Couldn't get any easier!

Check out Laura's website to read the whole article and let us all know about your experience if you try it!

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/you-can-freeze-a-whole-peach

New members - Welcome!

For voting purposes you'll need to know which week you are so it goes as follows:

If you are every other week starting:
June 11th = Week #1
June 18th = Week #2
June 25th = Week #1

If you are every week you can vote on both week 1 and week 2.

You'll want to change your vote each time.  I order on Monday, so make sure to vote by Sunday evening.

Again, welcome to our produce coop

Produce for February 5th

Fuji apples, Gala apples, Bananas, Green Beans, Strawberries, Grape tomatoes, Carrots, Broccoli, Cucumbers, Lemon, Grapefruit, Sliced Mushrooms, Red Peppers

Tortilla Soup Bar

Soup Base:

Lg Campbells tomato juice - 2 quarts
1 quart water
Chicken bullion - enough for 2 quarts liquid
2-4 Tbl Chili Powder
1/8 cup sugar

Boil til reduced by half.  Pour over toppings of choice

Pick and choose your favorite toppings, put into your bowl and cover with Hot soup base. Enjoy!

Suggested toppings:
Onions
Green onions
tomatoes
avocado
corn
cilantro
black beans
chicken
cheese
red peppers
green peppers


Fry sliced up corn tortillas to add to the soup.  Sour cream to top if desired

Cranberry Sauce

Mango Salsa

INGREDIENTS
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced (about 1 1/2 cup) (See: How to Cut a
Mango)
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 Jalapeño chile, minced (include ribs and seeds for a hotter taste if desired)
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Also good with diced red bell pepper and jicama.
METHOD
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the salsa
ends up being a little too hot or acidic for your taste, you can temper it by adding some
diced avocado.
From Simply Recipes http://simplyrecipes.com

Grilled Garlic Artichokes

Grilled Garlic Artichokes

Rated: Submitted By: rosiella Photo By: Cups N' Cake Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 35 Minutes Servings: 4

"No more dipping artichokes in mayo! These artichokes are grilled with a lemon garlic basting sauce. This is the best way to eat artichokes."

INGREDIENTS:

2 large artichokes 1 lemon, quartered 3/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Fill a large bowl with cold water. Squeeze the juice from one lemon wedge into the water. Trim the tops from the artichokes, then cut in half lengthwise, and place halves into the bowl of lemon water to prevent them from turning brown.
2.	Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat.
3.	Add artichokes to boiling water, and cook for about 15 minutes. Drain. Squeeze the remaining lemon wedges into a medium bowl. Stir in the olive oil and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.
4.	Brush the artichokes with a coating of the garlic dip, and place them on the preheated grill. Grill the artichokes for 5 to 10 minutes, basting with dip and turning frequently, until the tips are a little charred. Serve immediately with the remaining dip.

Don't forget to remove the choke!! 

If you aren't that familiar with artichokes then the choke is the fuzzy/furry looking think that you will see after you cut it in half. You could look it up online for more details but its pretty simple, and an important step. 

Thanks again to Cinthia Irvine for sharing this yummy recipe.

Mango Pie (healthy, raw, YUMMY!)

You need a food processor and blender. 

PIE Crust-
1 1/2 cup of your favorite nuts (I like almonds, cashews or macadamia).
3/4 cup dates
1 tbsp of honey or agave
pinch of salt

Put in food processor until all ground up and fine. Put in pie pan,smash it all down with hands, put in freezer until next step.

Filling-
4 mango's
2/3 cup coconut oil (melted)

Put in blender until creamy. Pour filling over crust. Stick in freezer until firm. Then eat!

I made this once using fresh pineapple and strawberries instead of mango. You could do any fruit you want. Good luck and let me know how you like this.

You could also just make the filling, put it in your freezer and eat as an ice cream or put in your fridge and eat as pudding. There is so much you can do with this simple recipe:)

Special Thanks to Cinthia Irvine for the recipe :-)

Cilantro Lime Dressing

Ingredients:

1/8 c. fresh lime juice (about 2-3 juicy limes)
1/8 c. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. canola oil
1/4 c. roughly chopped cilantro, stems removed

Instructions:

In the jar of your blender, combine lime juice, vinegar, and sugar. Blend until ingredients are completely combined. With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add cilantro and blend until the cilantro has broken down but still maintains some of its texture. Serve with greens, on any type of Mexican salad, or use as a marinade.

Delivery this week will be July 3rd

Just fyi, we are having produce delivered on July 3rd instead of the 4th this week.  Some of you have let me know to skip delivery but if you haven't let me know and need to skip please sell your basket or give it to someone.  I have to order this morning.  

Thanks, 

Alicia Connell

How to Cook and Eat an Artichoke

This is from simplyrecipes.com- one of my favorite food websites:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_cook_and_eat_an_artichoke/

I can imagine, that if you didn't grow up eating artichokes and if you were encountering them for the first time, they might seem a little intimidating. How one cooks and eats an artichoke is not obvious from its appearance. If you've always wondered how to cook and eat them, here are the steps:

 How to Cook an Artichoke:

1. If the artichokes have little thorns on the end of the leaves, take a kitchen scissors and cut off the thorned tips of all of the leaves. This step is mostly for aesthetics as the thorns soften with cooking and pose no threat to the person eating the artichoke.

 2. Slice about 3/4 inch to an inch off the tip of the artichoke. (This step is optional)

 3. Pull off any smaller leaves towards the base and on the stem.

 4. Cut excess stem, leaving up to an inch on the artichoke. The stems tend to be more bitter than the rest of the artichoke, but some people like to eat them.

 5. Rinse the artichokes in running cold water.

 6. In a large pot, put a couple inches of water, a clove of garlic, a slice of lemon, and a bay leaf (this adds wonderful flavor to the artichokes). Insert a steaming basket. Add the artichokes. Cover. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 25 to 45 minutes or until the outer leaves can easily be pulled off. Note: artichokes can also be cooked in a pressure cooker (about 15-20 minutes cooking time). Cooking time depends on how large the artichoke is, the larger, the longer it takes to cook.

 How to Eat an Artichoke:
Artichokes may be eaten cold or hot, but I think they are much better hot. They are served with a dip, either melted butter or mayonaise. My favorite dip is mayo with a little bit of balsamic vinegar mixed in.

 1. Pull off outer petals, one at a time.

 2. Dip white fleshy end in melted butter or sauce. Tightly grip the other end of the petal. Place in mouth, dip side down, and pull through teeth to remove soft, pulpy, delicious portion of the petal. Discard remaining petal. Continue until all of the petals are removed.

 3. With a knife or spoon, scrape out and discard the inedible fuzzy part (called the "choke") covering the artichoke heart. The remaining bottom of the artichoke is the heart. Cut into pieces and dip into sauce to eat (or just bite straight from the stem)

Artichoke Pasta with Alfredo

I usually make this with bottled artichoke hearts - because that's what I have. But a quick google search tells me how to cook the artichoke and work with just the hearts. (Click the link for video instructions or written instructions on a few ways to cook an artichoke.)

So I'm excited to use fresh artichokes for one of my favorite recipes this week!

Ingredients:

• Pasta (bowtie or rotini)
• Chicken (boiled and shredded) 
• Peas, frozen
• Artichoke Hearts
• Alfredo Sauce (a bottle, or the delicious recipe below)
• 2 c low fat milk
• 1/3 c low fat cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 c freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Alfredo Sauce

1. In a blender, blent the milk, cream cheese, flour and salt until smooth and set aside.
2. In a large nonstick saucepan, melt butter on medium high heat and add the garlic. Saute the garlic for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from sticking and burning.
3. Add the milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for 3-4 min or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more or until the sauce thickens, about 6-7 min.
4. Once the sauce has started to thicken, remove from heat. Whisk the cheese into the sauce and immediately cover the pan. 
5. Allow the sauce to stand for at least 10 min before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. 
6. Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days. The sauce will become very thick once refrigerated. To use it, reheat the sauce and add a little milk until the desired consistency is reached. 

Pasta

1. Cook chicken & shred it. 
2. Cut up artichokes & warm the peas.
3. Combined cooked pasta with chicken, artichokes & peas.
4. Add Alfredo Sauce & mix well.
5. Serve warm with delicious bread & a salad! (the come back and tell me how much you loved it.)

Produce ordered for April 25th

Fuji apples, Gala apples, Avocados, Bananas, Strawberries, Broccoli Crowns, Carrots, Cucumbers, Kiwi, Lemons, Green Onions, Oranges, Spinach, Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Tomatoes

Produce for April 18th

Fuji apples, Gala Apples, Avocados, Bananas, Strawberries, Broccoli, Grapefruit, Jicama, Green Leaf Lettuce, Yellow onions, Oranges, Sno Peas, Red Bell Peppers, Tomatoes

Ethiopian Cabbage

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp minced garlic

4 carrots, thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 head cabbage, shredded

5 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute the carrots, onion, and garlic about 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric, and cabbage and cook another 15 to 20 minutes. Add the potatoes; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until potatoes are soft, 20 to 30 minutes.

Our absolute favorite way to prepare cabbage!

Produce ordered for March 21st

Fuji apples, Gala Apples, Golden Delicious apples, Bananas, Green Beans, Strawberries, Carrots, Cauliflower, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Red Leaf Lettuce, Red Bell Peppers, Pineapple, Cherry tomatoes

Roasted garlic and citrus zest (but probably not together)

Our family loves roasted garlic.  It is delicious in so many things.  This page shows photos of the easiest way we have found to roast garlic:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_garlic/

Also, I've found that I often use citrus juice in a recipe but not the zest or vice versa.  You can zest citrus fruits and juice them at the same time, then freeze the zest or the juice in ice cube trays to use later.

Produce ordered for March 14th

Fuji Apples, Gala Apples, Asparagus, Bananas, Strawberries, Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumbers, Limes, Oranges, Pears, Red Bell Peppers, Idaho Potatoes, Spinach

Produce ordered for February 29th

Fuji Apples, Gala Apples, Golden delicious Apples, Bananas, Asparagus, Avocados, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Yellow onions, Oranges, Pineapples, Yellow Squash, Cherry Tomatoes

Roasted Vegetable Stir Fry

Here's a great way to use vegetables. It's easy and brings out the wonderful flavors of the vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 Pound Vegetables, cut into bite size (Zucchini, Squash, Peas in Pods, Carrots, Celery, Asparagus, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Onions, etc.)

1 1/2 Tablespoons Olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together in pan. Cook at 450°F for 30 minutes. Serve with rice.