Summer Market

This weekend is the first weekend of the official “Edmonds Summer Market” with my favorite fruits, vegetables, and most importantly—earrings! (Seriously, if you guys need earrings, Vera at Edmonds Farmer’s Market technically VNDesigns is the best jeweler ever.) But besides the earrings and pretty flowers, the farmers markets are a great place to stock up on your weekly grub.

Buying foods from farmers markets is beneficial in many ways, you get delicious and nutritious food, it is not coming from mass marketing and middle men, cuts down on carbon emissions, supports local economy, and creates community. I like talking with the vendors at the farmers market—there’s a particular stand at the Edmonds market from Yakima that has THE BEST cherries on the planet. There’s another stand from Skagit Valley that sells monstrous zucchinis in the mid-late summer that I really enjoy.

But why really buy from farmers markets? The food is more expensive than Winco, QFC, or Safeway, I understand, but nutritionally you get more bang for your buck. Farmers harvest crops with the intention of the consumer purchasing it at its time of ripeness. The farther away the crop is from you (bananas are not grown in WA people), the sooner the farmer has to pick the produce from the crops. The later you pick the produce, and the closer to peak ripeness that time is, the higher the nutritional value. (I feel like there were a lot of “the’s” in that sentence….) Makes sense though, right? If you harvest a fruit/vegetable much before it’s ripe it’s like cutting the umbilical cord too early—you cut off the plant’s source of nutrition which means less nutrition for the plant compared to a plant that was harvested later. These farmer’s markets allow the consumer to get fresh fruits/veggies that were harvested the day before, or even that morning! How fresh is that?

Another benefit to farmers markets is getting foods that are seasonally appropriate. At a typical supermarket you can find strawberries in mid-December and winter squash in June. These foods are not as nutritionally dense as foods that are produced seasonally because plants were made to grow at the times they were made to grow. Strawberries need a lot of sunshine (something we don’t get much of in the winters) and when produced off-season in a greenhouse or shipped in from countries south of the border the nutritional quality greatly diminishes. That’s why it is suggested in winter months to buy frozen berries because those foods are picked at peak ripeness (right in the summer time) and flash frozen to lock in those key nutrients.

Going to the farmers market you don’t have to worry about “is this grown in a greenhouse” or “is this food in season right now?” because you can just talk straight to the farmer right there. ASK QUESTIONS! They love to talk about their farms, they love to talk about food, and they love people who are interested in their food. So go have fun, enjoy a nice day out in your community, get some earrings, pick up a bouquet of flowers for your mom, and enjoy the juicy delicious and nutritious Yakima cherries.

*I was not paid by any farmers/vendors, just my enthusiasm for the Edmonds Summer Market J

ZUCCHINI BREAD bourbonandhoney.com

PREP TIME

20 MINS

COOK TIME

55 MINS

TOTAL TIME

1 HOUR 15 MINS

A sweet breakfast or tasty treat, this bread is quick, easy and packed with fresh zucchini.

Author: Kristen Olson

Makes: 2 Loaves (24 Servings)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups grated fresh zucchini (3 medium)
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 8x4 or 9x5-inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the sugars, eggs and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and melted butter until well blended.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture, to the wet ingredients, stirring after each addition, until well blended. Fold in the nuts, if desired.
5. Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans. Bake for 40 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in a resealable bag at room temperature up to 4 days.

Meal Planning

Oh meal planning, one of my favorite things in the world! Why is meal planning so wonderful you ask? Well, first of all you get to think about all the delicious food you'll be eating throughout the week. Second, you get to see on paper (I prefer visual learning) the variety you'll be getting throughout the week. And most of all it helps save so much money! I can see a bunch of college kids saying "ugh meal planning is such a waste of my time, I just eat what I want"... RIGHT! However, it is also possible to eat what you want AND not have a bunch of your groceries go to waste.

So, the first step to meal planning is having a good set-up. Some people like lists while other people like grids. Personally, I like a grid. Google image search has plenty of meal planning templates, or you can make your own on Word or Excel. Here's an example of one I made (in 2 minutes).

Cute, huh? Alright, next is the fun and dirty part. I like to plan out dinners first so I can think about what dinners I can use the leftovers for lunch or the next night, then plug and play from there. I get lunches and dinners at work on Mondays so that makes Mondays easy! However, our house has a rice allergy (crazy, right?) so it makes grains harder to accommodate for lunches and dinners. You'll want to keep these things in mind as you're meal planning to make sure you're still getting variety. Here's my week's meal plan:

So you can see that there are some repeat breakfasts (completely normal and okay), and I was able to plug in 3 different leftover meals throughout the week. If you're someone who goes out a few times each week make sure you put that into your meal plan so you can plan ahead of going out and possibly having the leftovers of that meal for the next day. Also, you can see that my evening "snacks" are really just sweets because I have a huge sweet tooth and love ending the day on a sweet note. Sue me, alright?

How does meal planning help with grocery shopping? I usually go grocery shopping on Fridays so my meal plan grid usually starts on Friday instead of Sunday, but regardless, I can look at the foods that I got at the "beginning" of the week and use them multiple times throughout the week. For example on Sunday I had cheese and crackers for my morning snack, used that same cheese block for dinner, a few snacks throughout the week, and a grilled cheese on Saturday. I'd also use that cheese for my tacos and probably on the turkey sandwich also. I buy a big thing of Costco frozen chicken to last throughout the week (and usually 2 weeks). The pasta that I bought for the mac and cheese I'm also using for the pasta on Tuesday night. The garlic bread that I bought for Wednesday's dinner I finish up with Saturday's dinner, and I'm constantly eating up fruit and yogurt throughout the week. By planning all of this out I don't have to buy a bunch of veggies that I think I'll eat but never get to it, I won't get fruit that will just sit on the counter and rot, and I'm not buying a bunch of meats with the intent of cooking it but end up having too much leftovers that the meat either goes bad or in the freezer. Meat is expensive! I'd rather have the cash in the bank.

Also, by writing all of this out I can see that I have variety throughout the week. I have multiple meat options, different grain options, not eating the same breakfast every single day, and still enjoying my ice cream. Yay variety!

The last thing that I really appreciate about meal planing is avoiding the "what do you want to eat" "I don't know" conversation. Having it planned out I can prep myself all day with how long it will take to make dinner that night. I also don't have to wrack my brain after a long day when I have zero brain power to figure out what to eat. Major stress reliever in my life.

If you're not the kind of person who likes to have their entire week planned, that's okay! Pick out 5 different meals to make throughout the week and pick one off the list each day (or when you run out of leftovers). Another good tip is cook in bulk, if you have the freezer space. If you make a big crock pot meal you can portion it out to multiple meals and freeze it, that way when you get home from work you can choose from the different frozen meals you have previously made and have a quick meal while still getting variety. Life isn't that tough!

Disclaimer: I'm also not as perfect as my meal plan may suggest, sometimes I may miss a snack or change the meal that I had planned. That's the beauty of flexibility. Sometimes I'm just really busy and forget to have a snack, sometimes I forget to bring a snack with me. Sometimes I'm exhausted and pick up take-out on the way home instead of following the plan. Life goes on and its all good.


Homemade Mac & Cheese

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour (or a little more depending on if you're having a good day or not)
1 cup milk
1 buttload of cheese (I like it cheesy, maybe 1 1/2 - 2 cups grated cheese)
1/2 lb macaroni noodles (1/2 box), cooked

On a stovetop at medium-high heat melt the butter and mix with flour to make a paste. Pour in the milk and stir constantly until it thickens-- you want to see the sauce stay where you put it when you stir. Mix in the cheese and turn off the heat. Make sure the cheese is nice and melted then mix in the pasta (make sure you boil the pasta as you make the sauce.. depending on if it's a good day or not the pasta may be done a bit before the sauce thickens). Indulge in cheesy goodness!
*The amounts may be off a little, I usually don't measure when I'm making mac and cheese.
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