Sunday, June 12, 2011

This and That

Here's a short update of what's new and things we've been up to this weekend.

Yorktown Farmers Market
Every Saturday morning from May to November there is a Farmer's Market at the Yorktown Riverwalk. You can get just about anything there- from locally grown fruits, veggies, and herbs, fresh farm raised meats and eggs, locally fished seafood (I LOVE living near so much water!), baked goods, treats for your pets, and flowers. Local artisans are also there selling things like handmade jewelry, wreathes, and knick knacks. There is live music playing too- I think it adds to the festive atmosphere of it all. But the location is what I love the most- right on the York River in the Historic District. As you walk down the hill from the parking area the view is spectacular! Of course, I am biased since I happen to love where I live.




Yesterday we didn't get a whole lot or stay too long. It was so very hot, and my allergies have me not feeling so great this weekend. I have a gorgeous Magnolia tree in my backyard and it has huge blooms on it this week, that I happen to be highly allergic to! I just can't bring myself to have it taken down- it's so pretty. But I digress...:-)

We took the girls this week. As I've said before, we try to include our daughters in our grocery shopping as much as possible in an effort to teach them healthy eating habits. Yesterday my oldest picked out tomatoes. Big, red, beautiful tomatoes.




We also got some spring onions and fresh red and white potatoes. Oh, and a free reusable bag. I actually did not need a lot because we are still working on getting through our CSA share from last week. Next week I will have a longer list.





New Recipes

This past week I have had a lot of fun trying new things in my kitchen. Yes, it's been hot- insanely so! But that's no reason not to cook in my opinion. I keep the house cool all day by keeping the shades drawn, lights to a minimum and ceiling fans on. I save my cooking for when the temperature starts to go down a bit. With 3 kids and a husband depending on me for meals I can't not cook. So I just plan ahead on the hot days.

A few new recipes to look forward to this week:
Slow cooker Braised Short ribs
Stuffed 8 Ball Squash
Zucchini Bread (I'll actually be making some today since the two loaves are already gone!)
4 Squash Marinara sauce and fried polenta
Plus a few more.

We also made our first batch of Strawberry Ice Cream Friday night. It was a success, but I am not yet ready to share the recipe. While it was good, it needs a little work in my opinion.


The girls are so excited that we can make our own ice cream and have been sharing ideas for new flavors. They want peach, triple berry ( blueberry, strawberry, and raspberry), chocolate, and vanilla. I want to make these, perfect them, and then share the recipes. I have a few ideas of my own for new flavors too, as does my husband. So stay tuned on that one!

What I'm Reading
For Christmas last year my Mother-in-Law gave me "The Food Matters Cookbook" by Mark Bittman as one of my gifts. I have been loving trying new recipes from it, and sharing a few with you all. I downloaded "Food Matters" the book on my Kindle and have recently found some free time to start reading it. (With 3 kids, quiet time for reading is a rare luxury!) I have really enjoyed the book so far and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to eat a more sustainable and healthy diet.




Vegan Challenge
Ever since I've had to stop eating Dairy I have often thought that being vegan might just be easier. But I confess, I like meat too much to go vegan. We don't eat meat at every meal, but we do eat it often during the week. Over the last year or so we have become smarter in our meat purchases, getting organic free range beef from a private farm in W.Virginia and organic free range chicken and eggs from a local farm. Soon we'll be getting our pork from there as well. We do now have a meatless day during the week- and this past week we had 3 meatless days- which was awesome!
I mentioned to my husband that we should do a Vegan challenge: for one week we would eat a vegan diet. He actually agreed that it would be a good idea. This is going to take some menu planning and recipe research so it won't be this week, but we are hoping to do it the following week or once we get back from vacation. When we do this I will be sharing our experience of meat eaters going Vegan, as well as sharing the recipes that we try.

And one final thought: Dairy Free Omnivore is on Facebook! If you want updates on new recipes, please visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Dairy-Free-Omnivore/212813875397790. Anyone who "Likes" the page will get my Pork BBQ recipe. (I haven't shared this one on the blog yet)

Happy Cooking!

3 comments:

  1. Hey Steph, I am with you on the meat thing. I eat it very rarely, but I enjoy chicken and seafood sometimes.. as well as eggs!!!

    I am adding your blog to my "dairy free blog resources" that I posted today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Thanks for including me in your blog resources! I am so excited about that!!

    My husband was raised on a small cattle farm so we can't get away from beef in our family. However, I REFUSE to by or eat grocery store beef ever again. After watching Food, Inc. and reading "Food Matters" I just can't. We may be meat eaters, but we are both very supportive of the humane treatment of animals- even those raised as food.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fantastic post - I have been making the transition to a whole foods/organic diet over the past month. Isn't it great to know that not only are you consuming food that is all natural, but it tastes SO much better than most of the food that is processed/contain additives/raised inhumanely.

    ReplyDelete