Battle of the Bins
Yesterday morning I received an email from Durham Organics, the small business that brings me organic food to my door every week. Usually, I receive an email listing what to expect in my bin for the current week. Well, to my excitement, April (April Manson is the wonderful mother of Durham Organics) announced a contest called "Battle of the Bins" that would show people what we (the customers receiving the bins) did with our produce throughout the week.
If you have followed my posts (in any of my blogs and Facebook past and present), you'll know that I love taking pictures, and especially pictures of food!
Let the games begin!
Wednesday Evening, my weekly Christmas present arrives. I open it, check it against the list, and arrange it into a happy face:
 |
| carrots, broccoli, lettuce, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, portabello mushrooms, potatoes, red cabbage, bell peppers, onions, bok choi, and celeriac |
In the morning
I make millet and amaranth porridge with the local onions and carrots:
My son eats it and likes it. It's pretty easy to make. Just soak millet and amaranth over night, drain and rinse, set aside. Meanwhile, sautee the onions and carrots (and whatever other suitable vegetables are available) in some oil and salt. Once the veggies are tender, add the millet and amaranth, stir, then add some water. Stir and cover. Stir and cover. Pretty easy and nutritious.
SUPPER TIME
I decide the theme of build-your-own lettuce wraps! Here's what I use from the bin: potatoes, carrots, beets (from a previous week), bell peppers, bokchoi, butter lettuce, mustard greens, and radishes (from a previous week). I supplemented the meal with fresh dill from my garden (amazing that there's still food growing in November!), fermented cabbage (home-made with local cabbage), quinoa, avocado, home-made roasted red pepper cashew dip, and other non sugary condiments.
I also make a stirfry with the onions, carrots and bokchoi for my son.
 |
| Remy waits patiently for his food to be served. |
Presenting Happy Face Meals
 |
| millet with local squash, local cucumbers, local beets |
 |
| Enjoying the local feast! |
 |
| Bok choi wrap and lettuce wrap for the eyes |
 |
| Supper time in action |
 |
| My husband's creation |
 |
| Little Sister smells the fermented cabbage |
 |
| Here's my wrap |
 |
| So grateful for such abundance! |
And when it is time to get the baby, I tear the lettuce up, put it into the bowl of quinoa, added other veggies and voila!
Every week is like Christmas... even with the weekly emails to tell me what to expect in my bin, it's still a surprise. And then when I find out what the contents are, it's then creation time. Thank you, April, for making local organic produce available and accessible to us. I hope that many others will be excited to learn about the benefits of eating local organic food. There are choices that we can make for a brighter future. But NOW is the time to act. I am grateful.
If anyone is interested in Durham Organics, you can visit www.durhamorganics.ca. Please let April know that Kim Sit referred you, and you'll be taken care of.
Thank you so much for visiting my blog. Have a super-duper day!
