Knitting Zeal

Wordless Wednesday

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

CSA share for this week, June 24th

This week's CSA share included some great choices! June is known for plentiful greens, and we were fortunate to bring home two big heads of lettuce and some bok choy. We also chose some carrots and cucumbers and two summer squash (zucchini). 

While I picked half a pint of raspberries, my son headed over to the Edible Classroom to learn about and taste fresh picked spearmint.  He really liked how it tasted.  I pointed out to him that we grow peppermint in our garden at home.  (I personally hate the smell and taste of spearmint!)  We talked about what mint can be used for and I shared with him that my grandmother use to grow spearmint  and would put it in iced tea.  We decided to use some of our peppermint in tea.  I made a simple syrup with four peppermint leaves added to infuse the taste of mint into it.  We brewed up a pitcher of decaf orange vanilla tea and added the syrup to it.  It was too sweet for me, but he really liked it. 

I have lots of zucchini recipes I've wanted to make and now that we have two medium sized ones, I'll have to chose which to make.  I'm thinking of making baked zucchini fries to serve with salmon burgers.  I also like to make zucchini muffins and veggie pancakes (like potato pancakes, but with added zucchini, carrots, and sweet potatoes.)

I'm not sure what to do with the bok choy.  The farmer mentioned it's the best crop of the year so far, so I figured it shouldn't be missed.  I tend to chop it up and add it to stir-fry.  I have a few cookbooks to go through to figure out how else to use it. 

The raspberries have been snacked on by the little guy, who loves them.  I've been thinking of making homemade yougurt ice pops and I think they will be a nice addition to them. 

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CSA share and Menu Plan Monday, 6/3/13

CSA haul this week

Menu plan Monday

This week we are doing lots of grilling to welcome in summer!

Monday: grilled marinated chicken (in Chiavetta's marinade) with steamed CSA broccoli, rice pilaf, and corn on the cob. Followed by s'mores!!

Tuesday: grilled organic hot dogs and rolls, pasta salad with kale pesto, chips and salsa, Caesar salad.

Wednesday: out to dinner with grandparents!

Thursday: Turkey burgers, leftover pasta/pesto salad, fruit salad.

Friday: dinner out!

Saturday: pizza night with salads.

Sunday: grilled shrimp, salads.

CSA haul this week

This week's CSA pick up included two heads of lettuce, a cucumber, kale, broccoli and strawberries. We have enjoyed all of it! The strawberries were amazing. We made smoothies for breakfast with them, blueberries, Pom juice, and yogurt. So good!

I still am not a fan of kale. So far using it in pesto has been my favorite. This week I made kale chips with olive oil and salt. I just don't like them. I ended up slicing up half the bunch into julienne strips and mixing it with lettuce to use as a topping on carnitas. That was good! Do you have a favorite kale recipe? Please share!

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Menu plan Monday, 6/10/13

Last week flew by fast!  We had horrific rain on Friday as a result of Tropical Storm Andrea. It meant the lemonade stand was postponed, the basement flooded, and we got wet!  I did get the chance to wear my new rain boots a lot! 

My son had fun playing in the rain.  He had to pour the water out of his boots by the end of the afternoon.  

 

Here is my menu for this week! We grilled on Sunday so that I had enought leftover chicken and pesto pasta to use on Monday for dinner. 

Monday: Grilled chicken salads, leftover pasta with pesto salad

Tuesday: Meatloaf muffins, CSA broccoli, rice pilaf

Wednesday: Pasta and meatballs, salad, broccoli

Thursday: Carnitas tacos, salad 

Friday: Homemade pizza, salad

Saturday: out

Sunday: grilling chicken on the BBQ for d-a-d

 

What's cooking in your kitchen this week?  Check out all the menu plans at Organizing Junkie! 

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Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and my little boy

It's that time of year again, time for Lemonade Days, the annual weekend dedicated to raise money across the country to support Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF).  It seems that everywhere we visit during the spring and leading into summer we see that familiar lemonade stand logo.  My lemonade loving son is quick to notice the logo.  We first noticed signs in Five Below and at Rita's Italian Ice stores.  My son hosted a lemonade stand last summer and he immediately asked if he could do it again.  Since he was aware of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, I talked to him about hosting a stand to support helping sick kids for the Foundation.  He agreed that he wanted to help.  

On Friday we were scheduled to host our stand, but with Tropical Storm Andrea hitting the coast, we are saddled with a day of rain and flash flooding all day!  Ugh.  So we post-poned our stand to Sunday.  If you want to come and support a wonderful cause, and you know where I live, please stop by from 2-4 pm.  If you would like to make a donation and buy a "virtual cup of lemonade," send me a message and I'll send you my son's donation page link.  

The Foundation sent my son his lemonade stand kit to help his fundraising efforts. It included the storybook about Alex and why she started her lemonade fundraising.  We have read this book multiple times each week since receiving it.  It is a really sweet story that gives just enough information to kids about Alex and her lemonade stand while being completely age appropriate.  I cry almost every time I read it.  I know that Alex had childhood cancer and passed away at age 8.  My son just knows she was sick and wanted to raise money to support the hospitals and researchers that helped sick kids.  I highly recommend reading this story to kids at least once.  

Rita's Italian Ice stores have dedicated raising funds for the ALSF cause by selling paper  lemons from June 5th through 18th for a $1.  During the past 7 years they have raised $3.5 million!  This year Rita's has announced that they have established Rita's Fund of Hope which will raise money to aid with the travel needs of families whose children are battling cancer.  My son is a frequent customer at Rita's and has always been a fan of the Alex's Lemonade flavor.  Seeing that this business supports ALSF encouraged him to help out by raising money on his own.  

I hope that if you see kids running a lemonade stand this weekend that you are able to support it, every penny counts!  Or stop by your local Rita's and contribute a dollar and see your name on a lemon!  The funds raised really do go to support research in finding a cure for childhood cancer.  This is a great organization to support!  I'm proud of my son for helping out, even at age five!

 

Disclosure: ALSF and Rita's sent me promotional information about their fundraising efforts.  Included were coupons for food items.  No financial compensation was received.  All money raised during my son's lemonade stand will be sent to ALSF.  

Wordless Wednesday

CSA share and Menu Plan Monday, 6/3/13

Ack, it's June!

And in our house, school is over so it's unofficially summer!  The kiddo is going to a two week camp right now, so he is at least busy for now.  It's a messy camp with days filled with paint and goo.  

This is the week that our CSA pickups for the season begin too!  Which means I'll be menu planning based around what we get each week.  Our pick up day is Monday afternoon.  Today we brought home two large heads of lettuce, radishes, a pound of broccoli, kale and a pint of fresh picked strawberries.  The strawberries were plentiful and my little helper was also the official taste tester.  He declared the berries perfect.  

This was the first time at the farm since last October.  It was fun seeing all the new growth and the fruits growing.  The Edible Garden is my son's favorite area and we spent some time there today catching up with the gardener/teacher there and checked out the new growth.  The apricot trees are covered with baby fruit and the asian pear tree is just starting to show some fruit production.  The blueberry bushes are covered with green berries.  We are hoping to be able to get at least a pint of them when they are ripe.  

Here is my dinner menu plan this week using our CSA share veggies:

Monday: Carnitas in the slow cooker with tortillas, salsa, and salads.  Strawberries too!

Tuesday: Chicken Stir Fry with broccoli and roasted radishes, brown rice

Wednesday: Turkey burgers, kale pesto pasta,  salad

Thursday: Crustless quiches, broccoli cheddar, with salads

Friday: BBQ at a friend's home!

Saturday: TBD

Sunday: grill night!  Thinking of making chicken shiskabab or shrimp!

What's on your menu for th is week?  Check out all the menu plans at Organizing Junkie!

I'm also linking up to The Vintage Mom's Locavore Living Linkup!  Check our her CSA share and her ideas for using it in meals!