Here's what will be in my Red Wagon Organic Farm CSA delivery this week, which is an excellent indicator of what will be prominent in tomorrow night and Saturday's Boulder Farmers' Markets as well. So many choices to make, including zucchini and fennel making their first appearances. But evidently no choice regarding those fava beans - looks like I'll have to buckle down and start shelling a la Alice Waters. Guess I'd better start consulting my Chez Panisse cookbook.
Next week is week 8, we hope to bring you:
Regular Share
-Lettuce
-Fava Beans
-Choice: Zucchini OR Grilling Onions
-Choice: Carrots OR Fennel
-Choice: Beets OR Broccoli OR Cauliflower
-Choice: Kale OR Chard OR Collards OR Bok Choi
Large Share Additions:
-Extra Choice: Carrots OR Fennel
-Extra Choice: Beets OR Broccoli OR Cauliflower
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
Pleeeese Not Fava Beans
I adore fava beans when someone else is going to all the trouble to cook them for me (shelling, steaming, further shelling before you even start to use them), but they're not something I'd ever want to spend the time on myself. But I sense I might not have a choice this week with my Red Wagon Organic Farm CSA. Uh oh. More when I finally have time.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Weeknight Dinner Ideas
Actually starting with tonight, since I never got around to that post. This relentless heat is driving me towards picnic-type food, so that's what will be on deck. Rather than heating the house with cooking this evening, I've already cooked some salmon burgers I picked up for an extraordinary $1.99 each at the Longmont Lucky's (last time they did that sale it was the same at the Boulder store, but no time to check now), and we'll have them either chilled or room temperature with a squeeze of lemon tonight. Using the last of my beautiful beets from Red Wagon Organic Farm, I've also made the simple and very fresh beet salad from Mark Bittman's 100 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics from the New York Times. It's actually the very first idea in his list. A cool dinner for a hot evening.
With fresh wild salmon fillets just $9.99 a pound at Sprouts through Wednesday, there's no reason to reserve that for a weekend dinner, so it's the plan for tomorrow. I was originally going to do it indoors on the grill pan, but as the heat will continue through tomorrow, we might just have to send the family griller outside instead.
With the heat, I wasn't in a mood to concoct a big chowder or heaven forbid a hot casserole this weekend, so instead of a reheat, our super easy dinner for Tuesday will be a real cheat, since I just picked up a bucket of cooked chicken for $6.99 at Whole Foods on today, the last day of their weekend sale. At least I somehow managed to resist their buttermilk-brined fried version, opting for the slightly more virtuous straight bbq style instead.
We'll want some sort of pasta by Wednesday, and the temperatures should have cooled back to the 80s to accommodate it. It should also be something vegetarian following our chicken bucket binge, but I'm afraid I haven't quite figured out what it will be yet. Ditto for Thursday on the planning, but more salmon burgers from Lucky's sale through Wednesday remain a possibility. I like them even better than the ones Whole Foods does, and Lucky's sale price is half the price Whole Foods charges, even when on sale.
With fresh wild salmon fillets just $9.99 a pound at Sprouts through Wednesday, there's no reason to reserve that for a weekend dinner, so it's the plan for tomorrow. I was originally going to do it indoors on the grill pan, but as the heat will continue through tomorrow, we might just have to send the family griller outside instead.
With the heat, I wasn't in a mood to concoct a big chowder or heaven forbid a hot casserole this weekend, so instead of a reheat, our super easy dinner for Tuesday will be a real cheat, since I just picked up a bucket of cooked chicken for $6.99 at Whole Foods on today, the last day of their weekend sale. At least I somehow managed to resist their buttermilk-brined fried version, opting for the slightly more virtuous straight bbq style instead.
We'll want some sort of pasta by Wednesday, and the temperatures should have cooled back to the 80s to accommodate it. It should also be something vegetarian following our chicken bucket binge, but I'm afraid I haven't quite figured out what it will be yet. Ditto for Thursday on the planning, but more salmon burgers from Lucky's sale through Wednesday remain a possibility. I like them even better than the ones Whole Foods does, and Lucky's sale price is half the price Whole Foods charges, even when on sale.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Boulder Farmers' Market Today
Just a reminder that today's the Farmers' Market from 8 to 2 to downtown Boulder. Also the one at the fairgrounds in Longmont, with slightly shorter hours there. If heading to either, you might want to go earlier rather than later once the heat builds up.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Alfalfa's Grand Opening Sales
With Alfalfa's new store in Louisville now open, special sales are being offered both there and at the Boulder store through Wednesday, July 9th. Looking particularly good to me are Niman Ranch 12 ounce sausages nearly half off at $3.99 each, organic Kingdom English sharp cheddar $5 off at $7.99 a pound, farm raised Shetland salmon fillets $9.99 a pound, $6 off (with fresh wild in season, it's kind of hard to be tempted by farmed, but the Shetland name maybe implies a fine Scottish one?), housemade ham and cheese macaroni salad just $2.99 a pound, a whopping $4 off (and made with organic ingredients), three-packs of Julie's organic ice cream bars better than half off at $2.29, and Boulder Canyon chips three for $5 for the five ounce bag.
Have a happy and safe Independence Day, and try to stay cool this weekend!
Have a happy and safe Independence Day, and try to stay cool this weekend!
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Four-Day Sale At Whole Foods
For this 4th of July weekend, Whole Foods is offering us an extended sale running from today through Sunday. Both bbq and fried chicken are $6.99 each for eight pieces, 30% off, and there's an unspecified fresh coconut water that's $3.99 each, $1 off (won't find me going anywhere near that one - can't stand coconut). And there's also this:
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
This Week's Hot Grocery Deals (IMHO)
We have new sales starting today at our Boulder Sprouts and Whole Foods stores, while the current one continues at Vitamin Cottage through July 12th. Here's what's looking good to me now.
In Sprouts' new sale through July 9th, the stunner to me is fresh wild Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets for just $9.99 a pound ($12.99 at both Safeway and King Soopers, and I think it was $19.99 yesterday at Whole Foods). Some of that will definitely have to go on the grill this 4th of July weekend. Value packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts are $2.49 a pound, bone-in ribeye steaks are $8.99 a pound, whole or cut up chickens are $1.59 a pound, and bone-in country style pork ribs aren't the best sale price at $2.99 a pound, but they sure are good in a smoker or even just on a grill. Full 22 ounce racks of baby back ribs are $12.99 each, which must be in addition to the freshly cooked ones previously reported that will be available Friday and Saturday. On the fish side, that salmon really is the headline. They also have flash-frozen swordfish or Alaskan cod fillets for $7.99 a pound, but only once did I find the swordfish to be domestic. There's also a special three-day Sausage Spectacular, with all varieties $2.99 a pound.
In organic produce, green curly kale is just 98 cents a bunch (I might just have to try to replicate Oak at Fourteenth's kale and apple salad), on-the-vine cluster tomatoes are $1.98 a pound, white peaches are also $1.98 a pound, five pound bags of carrots are $2.98 each, red or green grapes are $2.98 a pound, and cantaloupes are 88 cents a pound. Elsewhere in the store, my favorite Blue Diamond Nut Thins are great at $2 a box (that's some of the regular type, not the artisan), a bunch of holiday snacks are $2 a bag (I see some quinoa chips and Garden of Eatin' chips in the picture), Santa Cruz organic lemonades are four for $5 (it also says "buy 4 get 1 free"), Greek Gods Greek yogurts are $1 each, and Green Mountain Gringo salsas are $3 a jar.
In Whole Foods' new sale through July 15th, I'm liking fresh swordfish steaks for $17.99 a pound, although that's only $2 off the usual. (Yup, I'd pay $10 more per pound to get a fresh domestic or Canadian swordfish rather than a frozen one from Singapore.) Lobster tails are $7.99 each, and they are always either from Maine or Canada (Sprouts also has some lobster tails for $6.99 this week). Whole American red snapper is $12.99 a pound, but I'm afraid I don't really know how to deal with a whole fish. Organic grape tomatoes are $2.50 a container and organic raspberries are $2.99 a container. Honest Tea's organic lemonade and limeades are $1.50 for 32 ounces, and the flavors are Whole Foods exclusives, and Frontera's great salsas are $3 each. For your holiday dessert, there's peach raspberry lattice pie for $9.99 each, $5 off.
In Sprouts' new sale through July 9th, the stunner to me is fresh wild Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets for just $9.99 a pound ($12.99 at both Safeway and King Soopers, and I think it was $19.99 yesterday at Whole Foods). Some of that will definitely have to go on the grill this 4th of July weekend. Value packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts are $2.49 a pound, bone-in ribeye steaks are $8.99 a pound, whole or cut up chickens are $1.59 a pound, and bone-in country style pork ribs aren't the best sale price at $2.99 a pound, but they sure are good in a smoker or even just on a grill. Full 22 ounce racks of baby back ribs are $12.99 each, which must be in addition to the freshly cooked ones previously reported that will be available Friday and Saturday. On the fish side, that salmon really is the headline. They also have flash-frozen swordfish or Alaskan cod fillets for $7.99 a pound, but only once did I find the swordfish to be domestic. There's also a special three-day Sausage Spectacular, with all varieties $2.99 a pound.
In organic produce, green curly kale is just 98 cents a bunch (I might just have to try to replicate Oak at Fourteenth's kale and apple salad), on-the-vine cluster tomatoes are $1.98 a pound, white peaches are also $1.98 a pound, five pound bags of carrots are $2.98 each, red or green grapes are $2.98 a pound, and cantaloupes are 88 cents a pound. Elsewhere in the store, my favorite Blue Diamond Nut Thins are great at $2 a box (that's some of the regular type, not the artisan), a bunch of holiday snacks are $2 a bag (I see some quinoa chips and Garden of Eatin' chips in the picture), Santa Cruz organic lemonades are four for $5 (it also says "buy 4 get 1 free"), Greek Gods Greek yogurts are $1 each, and Green Mountain Gringo salsas are $3 a jar.
In Whole Foods' new sale through July 15th, I'm liking fresh swordfish steaks for $17.99 a pound, although that's only $2 off the usual. (Yup, I'd pay $10 more per pound to get a fresh domestic or Canadian swordfish rather than a frozen one from Singapore.) Lobster tails are $7.99 each, and they are always either from Maine or Canada (Sprouts also has some lobster tails for $6.99 this week). Whole American red snapper is $12.99 a pound, but I'm afraid I don't really know how to deal with a whole fish. Organic grape tomatoes are $2.50 a container and organic raspberries are $2.99 a container. Honest Tea's organic lemonade and limeades are $1.50 for 32 ounces, and the flavors are Whole Foods exclusives, and Frontera's great salsas are $3 each. For your holiday dessert, there's peach raspberry lattice pie for $9.99 each, $5 off.
One-Day Sale At Whole Foods
At least for today, we're seeing the return of the Wednesday one-day sale at Whole Foods, something that's been in hiding for quite a while. Today it's Applegate antibiotic-free beef hot dogs, half off at $3 a package.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
BBQ Ribs At Sprouts
Once again, Sprouts is offering to make a summer holiday easier on your cooking schedule, again doing baby back ribs cooked on a mesquite grill at $12.99 a full rack. The ribs will be available Friday and Saturday, the 4th and 5th, from 11 am to 6 pm or while they last.
Planning Generally In Chaos
The genesis of this blog was friends asking me to share my weekly lists of dinner plans, which are mostly inspired by what's seasonal and also what's on sale at Boulder's natural grocery stores (with the two generally overlapping). However since I started the blog, the feedback I'm getting from a larger audience (thank you!) is that the sale information is of more interest than, ahem, what we're having for dinner. I'm trying to keep up on the sales front, but you may have noticed have been slipping back a bit on the dinner plan lists. This is partly because as I predicted, getting into a CSA this year, as much as I'm totally enjoying it, is wreaking havoc with my planning process. Where I used to have a list with seven straight lines and a clear idea for each day's dinner, my list now looks like something coming out of an asylum, with arrows redirecting mains and veggies everywhere. This is probably a good thing for my too structured brain, but apologies if you actually liked the dinner plan lists. Happy July!
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