going with the flow this week *Update*

This week at Door to Door, I decided to stick with the box as much as possible. Armed with my 3 favorite cookbooks and my computer, I found recipes to match what was in the box. I only subbed out lettuce (for another acorn squash), green onions (for yellow) and Red Delicious Apples (for Fuji-Ted's favorite).

Here's what's in the box next week:

Item: Quantity:
Acorn Squash 1.00 ea.
Broccoli 1.00 ea.
Green Chard 1.00 ea.
Acorn Squash 1.00 ea.
Celery 1.00 ea.
Cucumbers 1.00 lb
Eggplant 1.00 ea.
Yellow Onions 1.00 lb
Tomatoes 3.00 ea.
Bananas 5.00 ea.
Bartlett Pears 6.00 ea.
Kiwi 3.00 ea.
Fuji Apples 4.00 ea.
Valencia Oranges 6.00 ea.

Yum. Here are our menus:

Laura's Acorn Squash with Apple-Tempeh Stuffing
Eggplant & Potato Curry p79 Veg Slow Cooker
Red Beans & Greens p128 Veg Slow Cooker
Cucumber Salad
Tomato Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

You can tell spring is in the air because I actually am craving salad! I'm very excited to try the acorn squash dish. It sounds yummy and a possible contender for the Quorn Loaf's place of honor at Thanksgiving. I was sad that VwaV didn't have ANY squash, eggplant or cucumber ideas that sounded at all appealing. I'm bummed. But I will make her Tempeh crumbles for the acorn squash, so that will be interesting.

Last week was tough; Wednesday's box appeared on the roughest day of the week, the day after Ted's party, and everything was in chaos, both emotionally and physically (the house was a wreck). I didn't have the energy to cook and I was really worried about the produce. But happily, by Thursday I was craving a healthy meal and was able to steam up some spinach with balsamic vinegar and raisins and quickly throw together the sweet potato curry and save myself from a possible downward spiral into produce disaster. Phew! I guess it's like laundry: you can't fall off the wagon forever. Just start another load (or meal) tomorrow.

This week I am also working on two "uncheese" recipes for Grilled Cheese sandwiches for Ted. He is a big grilled cheese lover. It's funny; I had bought The UnCheese Cookbook (twice, actually!) months ago after getting into Vegan Lunch Box. I think it's going to come in so handy with the dairy issue! I'll let you know how they taste. Both use roasted red peppers and cashews, so those must be 'cheesey' in some way.

• Red Beans & Greens was surprisingly good! I think the addition of liquid smoke really gave it the smoky flavor it needed. This was really yummy. It didn't smell very good when it started cooking this morning, and it had 2 onions and lots of celery (both yucks for me) so I didn't expect to like it. 4 stars.
• Acorn Squash w/ Apple-Tempeh Stuffing was FABULOUS. I had the time so I let it bake the full 2 hours and the squash was sooo tender. This rocks and will DEFINATELY take the place of our fake turkey. YUM. The sausage crumbles from VwaV were a nice addition too-I think it might have been rather bland without them and the tart apples. 5 stars.
• Cucumber Salad was ok. I grew up enjoying cucmber sandwiches: mini pumpernickel bread slices with a dab of mayo topped with sliced cucumbers and a sprinke of celery salt. This was trying to be like that, but it was too mayo-y (or perhaps the vegan mayo is too strong) and I should have just stuck with sliced cucmbers with celery salt. No stars. Won't do it again.
• Eggplant & Potato Curry was ok, but not amazing. After the wonderful curry form VwaV this one was kind of bland. But it was great because it was a slow cooker one, so I prepared everything the night before and just put it on Low in the morning. So, 3 stars. I'll do it again if I need a hearty meal after a busy day and I have a ton of potatoes to use!
• Tomato Salad-blah, way way WAY too much balsamic. Perhaps because it marinated overnight rather than just 2 hours. Next time I'll make sure to eat them the same night I prepare them. Bummer. 1 star but probably my fault.