Let's talk produce...

Let me start by saying, I think we eat pretty healthy. However, I also always think there is room for improvement. That being said, organic produce and meats are expensive! I have been purchasing organic chicken and grass fed beef at Costco since they regularly carry those for reasonable prices. While Costco does often offer organic produce, it is very inconsistent and the assortment is not that great.

A member of one of my "mom groups" started up a new local pickup site with Annie's Organic Buying Club. Tim and I wanted a way to incorporate more organic produce both into our diets and our budget.  I did a little research and decided we would give it a go  They offer lots of different size options and add on items. I like that you can order weekly or biweekly and there is no "contract". One of the things I like about it that it forces me to meal plan around what the share offers that week.

So far, we have been getting the 3/4share. Right now, I am signed up for weekly however, if there aren't enough people in your area for that week, you may get moved to biweekly which so far is the only con to me.  Anyway, this was our latest share.

So, how did we use our share this week? Here is a breakdown of my meal planning.

Pears- used them to make Pear and Almond Steel Cut Oats. This was my first time making this and everyone ( including the Toddler was a fan). The nice thing about baked oatmeal is you can make it ahead of time and eat it throughout the week.

Eggplant- I LOVE eggplant parm but don't like that it is fried. I adapted this recipe a bit and made a Baked Eggplant and Chicken Parmesan Casserole served with a side salad. We got dinner and lunch out of this meal.

Sweet Potatoes- Tim doesn't really "like" potatoes. He will tolerate them but I have been able to get him to eat sweet potatoes by making BBQ Chicken Sweet Potatoes. I also add caramelized onions and garlic on top. YUM! We also had enough for dinner and lunch for 2!

Zucchini- We have a Veggeti and often use it to make zucchini noodles. This week we mixed some shrimp into the mix!

Sweet Peppers- Used to make sweet pepper nachos. This was my first time trying this and they turned out AWESOME! We had this as our main dish with a few adaptations... we skipped the olives and I mixed the chicken with spicy Latin beans.

Cauliflower- I decided to FINALLY try a cauliflower crust pizza  after seeing it all over Pinterest. I will say that it was very tasty but the consistency was a bit off. I will try it again though. We served this with a side salad.

Apples, Bananas, Kale - lunches, snacks and smoothies. If the bananas start turning, we chop them up and put them in sandwich bags and throw them in the freezer.

Avocado and tomatoes- Salads, thrown in eggs. Charlotte LOVES avocado slices with her dinner. Tim doesn't like the consistency of Avocado but I can usually sneak some in the BBQ chicken sweet potato mentioned above. Sometimes he will even put some in a smoothie.

We pick up our next share on Friday and I haven't meal planned it yet. We also got a fruit add on this week which has persimmon which I have never had before but I am excited to try. So far, I am loving the share and trying to incorporate more veggies in our diets :)