Hello, hello! In eating news, we’re been having some tasty meals lately – many of which have been inspired by the cool new From the Farmer DC service (read below for my full review)! On Sunday night after getting back from skiing, Matt and I were in the mood for something new and different and decided to browse through some of my cookbooks and magazines. We ended up deciding to try a recipe for Portobello Mushrooms with White Beans and Prosciutto that I spotted in Self Magazine last fall.
Ours didn’t come out quite as beautiful as theirs (any tips for how to keep the Portobello mushrooms in a circle/boat shape instead of getting flat when you pre-heat them?), but they were certainly delicious!
Now we want to experiment with more stuffed foods – next up we’re thinking peppers, maybe with a similar filling. Stay tuned. 🙂
Matt also whipped up some homemade banana bread for us in our bread machine (<—that thing rocks). We just followed the recipe the bread machine book suggested but used whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour and about half the sugar it called for. YUM! Love having fresh bread on hand for snacks.
On the lunch front, on Monday when we had a snow day and Matt and I were both working from home, I whipped up some massive salads for us.
In the mix was baby kale, quinoa, some leftover lentils, avocado, feta cheese, chopped parsley and basil, shredded carrots, and mushrooms. Yeah, it was pretty epic. Topped with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette (olive oil + vinegar + dijon mustard + lemon juice). Oh, grain salads, how I love thee.
I made a triple batch of quinoa while I was at it so we’d have some on hand for later. Love doing this!
Speaking of prepping things once and then eating on them for awhile, my favorite thing to do this with is roasted veggies. Love roasted broccoli – and the other thing on the tray is not potatoes but parsnips! They look like a yellow carrot but are a bit starchier.
We had a ton of produce on hand thanks to a delivery from a fun new-ish local DC area company called From the Farmer – have you heard of them?
Basically, From the Farmer has the best of your local farmer’s market delivered right to your door. Once you sign up, you’ll receive a weekly basket of 6 to 10 seasonal fruits and veggies per week, delivered between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m., so it’s there when you wake up. I LOVE this because two things that have stopped me from signing up for other CSAs/fresh delivery services in the past are a) having to go pick it up somewhere inconvenient and lug it home, and b) having to wait around during a time block for it to arrive. When I woke up, it was right outside my door (another bonus – they brought it up the elevator to right outside our apartment – it wasn’t left down at the front desk!). Even better is it came in a small easily foldable bag, not a large awkward box or bin that I’d have to find space for in our apartment until they came again. That said, the bag has not had the opportunity to be folded because someone thinks it’s her bed… 😉
Too funny. My mom bought her a little cat bed for Christmas and she wouldn’t go anywhere near it, but a random basket? She’s in love. Cats are so weird.
Aaaaanyway… back to From the Farmer. Jason, one of their co-founders, reached out to me about trying out their service to share my thoughts here on the blog, and I was happy to help support a small local business – especially one so geared towards health and supporting small local farms! Jason and I also met up for coffee earlier this week just to network as fellow entrepreneurs. I had a lot of fun learning more about how the company began (he got his first taste of food-related start ups by working at Love Grown Foods! <— their granola rocks) and how they have grown since starting. I have SO much respect for anyone starting their own business, let alone in the food space – so many logistics to deal with!
From the Farmer has no weekly commitment and you can stop or pause your deliveries at any time. They have three options: a half bushel, a single bushel and a double bushel – and for an extra fee you can add some fresh baked local bread, too. The quality of the produce was excellent – most items are delivered within just 48 hours of being harvested – and another big plus is that you get an email each week detailing what will be in your basket, including some storage tips and recipes for each item so you can plan ahead. The prices are on par with what you would pay at a farmers market, but of course you’re getting it delivered right to you. Jason said that if you can shop at a farmer’s market, that’s best because then the farmers take home the most money. But if you’re doing most of your produce shopping at a grocery store, then give From the Farmer a shot instead to help support the farmers (they pay them a higher rate than grocery stores do).
For our complimentary basket, I selected the single bushel. In addition to broccoli, parsnips, mushrooms, lettuce, and turnips, it also included RunningByrd Tea Company local tea – what a fun surprise! It was their “Shenandoah Smoke” tea which was REALLY good – tasted almost like root beer or whiskey in a weird but good way.
Now that the weather is getting nicer, I’ll likely try to hit my local farmers market more frequently because I love browsing around, trying samples, and just enjoying the atmosphere, but on weeks when I know I won’t be able to, I’ll hit these guys up. Thanks again, From the Farmer, and I hope some of you DC area readers will check them out! Great company and great, responsible business owners too. To help sweeten the deal, here is my affiliate coupon code – it’s good for 20% off the first four deliveries. It’s not time-restricted, applies to any plan, and doesn’t need to be used on four consecutive deliveries. The code is fAnnetastic-20. (This code is no longer good, but there’s a new 20% off affiliate code at the bottom of a recent post – click here to check it out!) Enjoy!
We’ve used up everything but the turnips – any great turnip recipes to share?
Have a wonderful day!
