Breezy Willow CSA Week #11

What we received:
Sage
Thyme
12 eggs
Loaf of challah bread
1 watermelon
3 green peppers
5 peaches
7 white nectarines
3 tomatoes
Bag of spinach
Bag of mushrooms
6 ears of corn

What's left from Week #10:
 6 corn
1 cantaloupe
1 eggplant
3 white nectarines
5 summer gold apples
3 tomatoes
Bag of patty pan squash
12 eggs
1/2 Loaf of honey whole wheat bread
2 green peppers

What's left from Week #9:
12 eggs
Purple basil
Rosemary
1 onion

What's left from Week #8:

3/4 Bag of potatoes

Monterey Jack cheese

What's left from Week #7:

12 eggs

Cherry Limeade Sangria

Cherry limeade is one of my favorite summer drinks, particularly from Sonic.
This recipe from Pinterest combines that delicious taste with wine and vodka to make it an adult treat!

yield: 20 servings

ingredients
2 750ml bottles of Sauvignon Blanc
2C maraschino cherry syrup
1 bottle (59oz) of Simply Limeade
1.5C vodka
3 limes, sliced thinly
1L bottle of club soda
Handful of Maraschino cherries

directions

1. In a large punch bowl or beverage dispenser, combine wine, limeade, cherry syrup, vodka, limes, and cherries.
2. Refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
3. Just before serving, add club soda.
4. Enjoy!

Nutella Sea Salt Truffles

We LOVE Nutella. LOVE it.
I found this recipe on Pinterest and knew it was a must make.
I doubled the recipe to make enough for the gathering I was having, they turned out delicious...and SO SO rich.

yield: 24 truffles

ingredients
1/2C (2 sticks) salted butter
1/4C heavy cream
1C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1C Nutella
Cocoa powder
Sea Salt

directions

1. Add chocolate chips to a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Melt butter, heavy cream, and Nutella over medium heat.
3. Once melted, bring to just under a boil, stirring constantly.
4. Let cool for 30 seconds then pour over chocolate chips.
5. Let sit for 1 minute, then whisk mixture until smooth.
6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for ~2 hours until firm.
7. Scoop heaping teaspoons or tablespoons (depending on how large you want the truffles) and form into balls. 
8. Roll in cocoa powder.
9. Then roll one half in sea salt.
10. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to set.
11. Keep in refrigerator until ready to eat (they get melty pretty fast).
12. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Sausage & Peppers

I am trying get back to eating minimal amounts of flour, sugar, and dairy.
I found this recipe while searching for healthy crock pot recipes.
While this recipe tasted delicious, be aware that it will be a little watery - but that is nothing a slotted serving spoon can't fix!

yield: 8 servings

ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
10 chicken sausages (~2.5 lbs)
1 large onion, diced
3 bell peppers, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 large tomatoes, pureed
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp sea salt

directions

1. Cut sausage in half width wise.
2. Pour the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat, and slowly brown the sausage on both sides.
3. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Place sausage in the bottom of the crock pot.
5. Cover sausage with peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, crushed red pepper, and salt to the crock pot.
6. Mix well.
7. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
8. Serve by itself or over pasta.
9. Enjoy!

Breezy Willow CSA Week #10

What we received:
 6 corn
1 cantaloupe
1 eggplant
8 white nectarines
6 summer gold apples
Bag of tomatoes
Bag of patty pan squash
12 eggs
Loaf of honey whole wheat bread
3 green peppers

What's left from Week #9:
12 eggs
4 ears of corn
1 green pepper
Purple basil
Rosemary
Bag of green beans
2 slices cinnamon raisin bread
1 onion

What's left from Week #8:

Bag of green beans

3/4 Bag of potatoes

Monterey Jack cheese

What's left from Week #7:

12 eggs

What's left from Week #6:

12 eggs

Cantaloupe Sorbet

We are big ice cream eaters in this house, which is a bad thing when you're trying to eat better and not gain a ton of weight.
We also have had an abundance of cantaloupe, which lead me to Pinterest searching for recipes to use it when I came across sorbet.
This sorbet was delicious, light, and very refreshing!

yield: 1 quart of sorbet

ingredients
1/2C water
1/2C granulated sugar
4C cubed, peeled cantaloupe
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)

directions

1. To make simple syrup, combine sugar and water in a saucepan, and heating the mixture over med-high heat until boiling.
2. Stir and cook until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove saucepan from heat and allow to cool.
4. Add cantaloupe, wine, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a blender.
5. Puree until mixture is smooth.
6. Pour mixture into your ice cream maker and churn for 15-20 minutes until sorbet has formed.
7. If you don't have an ice cream maker, pour mixture into a freezer safe container and allow to freeze for at least 4 hours.
8. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and followed it almost exactly -- the only thing I changed was cooking time because the recommended 15 minutes made them very overdone.
These cookies smelled delicious while baking and tasted delicious when done!

yield: 4 dozen cookies

ingredients
2 1/4C flour
1/2C cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1C (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1C brown sugar
3/4C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
2C cinnamon chips

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.
3. Combine the butter and sugars and cream together with a mixer on medium speed.
4. Slowly add in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and whisk until incorporated.
6. Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet and mix.
7. Once mixture is combined add in the cinnamon chips.
8. Scoop out cookies about the size of a tablespoon and place onto prepared baking sheet.
9. Bake 10-12 minutes.
10. Let cool slightly before eating.
11. Enjoy!

Cap'n Crunch Cupcakes

I love Cap'n Crunch cereal and was really excited when I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest.

I was a little disappointed when I saw it used a box cake mix, and also a little afraid of peanut butter marshmallow frosting on Cap'n Crunch, so I altered my Milk & Cookies Cupcake recipe to fit my cereal & milk need.

SO GOOD!

yield: 24 cupcakes

ingredients

for cupcakes

2C sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

2C all-purpose flour

1C 2% milk

3/4C vegetable oil

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

4C Cap'n Crunch Cereal

for frosting

3 sticks (1.5C) salted butter, room temperature

3.5C powdered sugar

7oz sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

for garnish

Cap'n Crunch Cereal

directions

1. for cupcakes: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners, or grease pan if not using cupcake liners.
3. Beat together eggs and sugar in large bowl (or stand mixer with paddle attachment) on low for 2 minutes.
4. Alternate adding flour and milk, on low speed, until combined.
5. Add oil, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat on low for 1 minute.
6. Add 2 cups of Cap'n Crunch Cereal to a freezer bag.
7. Using a hard object (I use a metal measuring cup), crush cereal very finely.
8. Add crushed cereal to the batter, mixing until combined.
9. Fold remaining 2 cups of uncrushed cereal into the batter.
10. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way full.
11. Bake for 24-26 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
12. Allow to cool completely on wire rack.
13. for frosting: In a large bowl (or stand mixer with paddle attachment), beat butter on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
14. Add powdered sugar, alternating with condensed milk, on low speed.
15. Add vanilla extract.
16. Beat on medium-high speed for 5 minutes.
17. Pipe (or spread) onto completely cooled cupcakes.
18. for garnish: Place ~3 pieces of Cap'n Crunch cereal on each cupcake.
19. Enjoy!

Potato Corn Chowder

In this week's CSA recipe email was a recipe for corn chowder.
I changed things around slightly based on what I had in the house (and because with a bacon loving husband, 1 slice would not be enough) and it turned out great!

yield: 4 servings

ingredients
2 slices maple bacon, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tbs flour
2C chicken stock
2C vegetable stock
2C water
10oz potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp sea salt
4 ears sweet corn
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2C heavy cream

directions

1. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until fat renders.
2. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft - about 3 minutes.
3. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring, 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock and whisk until smooth.
5. Add vegetable stock, water, salt, and potatoes.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, use a sharp knife to cut kernels from 3 of the cobs of corn into a bowl.
9. In the same bowl, grate the kernels off of the remaining cob using a large-holed grater.
10. Add corn kernels and grated corn to the soup.
11. Stir in thyme and cream.
12. Cook 10 minutes, until corn is tender and soup is heated through.
13. Enjoy! 

Breezy Willow CSA Week #9

What we received: 
12 eggs
1 cantaloupe
6 ears of corn
3 tomatoes
3 green peppers
Purple basil
Parsley
Rosemary
Bag of green beans
5 peaches
Loaf cinnamon raisin bread
2 onions

What's left from Week #8:

3 cucumbers

2 beets

1 green pepper

Bag of green beans

3/4 Bag of potatoes

Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 loaf of Herb de Breezy Willow bread

What's left from Week #7:

12 eggs

5 summer squash

What's left from Week #6:

12 eggs

What's left from Week #5:

6 eggs