Happy Friday, y’all! It’s gorrrrrgeous here today. I started my day with an early a.m. walking coffee date with my friend Karen in northwest DC. Love all the little offshoot Rock Creek Park trails you can explore!
Starting the day with some fresh air, a latte, and catching up with a good friend = best thing ever.
Besides the weather, another thing I’m loving about September so far is the produce! Thank you to From the Farmer in DC, who I have declared my love for here on the blog before (here’s my full From the Farmer review from this spring), for sending me a complimentary box this week!
From the Farmer sends you a weekly box full of the best of your local farmers market: 6 to 10 seasonal fruits and veggies, delivered between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m. so when you get up, it will be waiting right outside your door. Check out my original review post for more details, and read on for a discount code if you’re interested in checking them out. 🙂
Bonus: pets love the boxes (they just switched to recyclable boxes instead of reusable bags, since people kept forgetting to return the bags).
From the Farmer is all about inspiring people to eat locally and seasonally, whether they are here in DC or not. Here’s your mission: challenge yourself to cook something new and creative with your favorite seasonal produce, or try a fruit or veggie you’ve never had before! Let me know in the comments section how it’s going, and tag social posts with #farmtofANNEtastic (and @fANNEtasticfood if you like) so I can see what you’re cookin’! You certainly don’t have to be in DC to participate – this is just to inspire everyone (including me!) to eat more locally and seasonally, and to try something new. That said, local readers who use the hashtag and also tag @fromthefarmer on social media will be entered for a chance to win a free box; they will randomly select and contact one local winner each week. In the meantime, use my affiliate code farmtofANNEtastic on their website for 20% off your first 4 weeks of delivery.
This week’s produce was definitely put to good use! First up, I used one of the zucchinis to make a batch of my old favorite Zesty Lemon Zucchini Muffins (<—click for recipe) – Matt loves having quick breads like this to grab in the morning for breakfast, and I love them as afternoon snacks with fruit and plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese!
Yummm. Just as good as I remembered!
Bonus: I took the time to do a nice photography session for the muffins and updated the recipe page for them since the photo was really old and not too beautiful. I’ve been working to get better pictures up for a bunch of my old favorite recipes so they are more Pinterest-friendly and get some new love. Here are a few others I’ve updated the photos for over the past few months – check the out! 🙂
- Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
- Easy Lentil Veggie Burgers (this is one of my fave new pictures)
- Gluten Free and High Protein Pancake
- Sweet Potato Cranberry Coconut Muffins
- Sweet Potato Lentil Chili (<—need to make this again ASAP)
- Almond Crusted Tilapia
- Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Carrot Cake Muffins
- Mexican Lasagna
- Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies
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- Anyway! The vast majority of the From the Farmer produce (potatoes, onions, some tomatoes) went towards the
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- I made this week, and I also used one of the onions and a bunch of the tomatoes to whip up a batch of the
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- from the
- I’m helping to promote with Fitness Magazine.
FYI: I used fresh instead of canned tomatoes in the recipe because that’s what I had on hand, and it worked fine but made a more watery (I strained it and it was fine), less bright red salsa. So if you like your salsa bright red, follow the original recipe. 🙂 I’ve loved having fresh salsa on hand this week to snack on – I usually enjoy it with chips and some guac or avocado in the mix, too. I might toss some black beans in the rest of the salsa as well!
As for the last of the tomatoes, I used one in breakfast this morning – toast + mashed avocado + sliced tomato + a fried egg + salt and pepper. So simple and awesome.
Now all that’s remaining is some pears (which will just get eaten as is) and a big crown of broccoli, which I think will get roasted. Love roasted broccoli – so much tastier than steamed or boiled.
And now, time to buckle down and get more things crossed off my to do list before the weekend begins! I’m excited because my college BFF Turner was in town yesterday and today for a conference, so she’s going to stay overnight with us tonight just for fun. We’re running the Clarendon Day 10k tomorrow morning and have plans to hit up an epic brunch somewhere after and just enjoy the weather. Can’t wait!
What fresh produce have you been loving this week?
What are you up to this weekend? Hope you’ll enjoy some lovely weather, too!
I’ll leave you with some weekend reading:
- Adding this fascinating article to the list of reasons why I recommend my AnneTheRD clients quit the artificial sweeteners: Diet Soda May Alter Our Gut Microbes and Raise the Risk of Diabetes – via NPR
