Friday, July 31, 2009

CSA Adventure: Week 12

This week's share felt abundant, for the first time...and yet the contents were a bit disappointing. We are still up to our ears in cucumbers, and still no good tomatoes. As far as last week, the corn was hardly worth eating--definitely not sweet--and guess who didn't get the mint used AGAIN?? I did take a cucumber salad to our church potluck last weekend, and although I wasn't a big fan, Steve did like it, so that's something. I threw some more in salads for dinner tonight, and in a pasta salad for a get-together I'm attending tomorrow. Wish I could wave a wand and turn them into zucchini...I'd LOVE to have more zucchini! So much more usable.

I am realizing that I desperately need some new ground beef recipes. I tend to cook with chicken more than beef. I use ground beef for tacos, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, and a few soups...but summer doesn't feel like soup time, and the ground beef is piling up in my freezer. So, please post your best ground beef recipes in the comments!

This week's bounty:
  • tomatoes--12 cherry/grape, one Roma, none remotely close to ripe :(
  • Chinese cabbage
  • four regular cucumbers
  • two lemon cucumbers
  • four small yellow squash
  • about a pound of green beans
  • about 1/4 pound purple beans
  • banana, jalapeno and cayenne peppers
  • basil
  • parsley
  • "herb sugar"--for coffee/tea, apparently...but Steve drinks his coffee black and I don't drink either
  • an unidentified sachet of something fragrant, purpose unknown
  • six farm-fresh eggs
  • two pounds grass-fed ground beef

8 comments:

Sarah D. said...

Let's see... Ground Beef.

Hamburgers on the grill; meatloaf; Manwich sloppy joes (manwich is the only way to make sloppy joes!); Farmer Brown; Hashbrown casserole; Swedish Meatballs (yum!); hamburger and noodles (personal recipe); Sweet 'n Tangy Meatballs.

That's all I can think of, off the top of my head. If you want any of the recipes, just let me know! =)

I wish I had an abundance of cucumbers... I've been craving those. =)

Amy said...

no hamburgers--we got a big box of premade patties a few weeks ago, remember? plus we'll be getting another big box Labor Day week--so we definitely don't need to make our own.

what is Farmer Brown?

I need to try using the ground beef to make a sausage substitute. a friend of mine has a good recipe for turkey sausage, adding spices to ground turkey...I'm wondering if it will work just as well with ground beef. we'll see.

Unknown said...

Our two favorite ground beef recipes can be found at tasteofhome.com. Search for "nacho mac" and "slow cooker enchiladas." Can you tell we like mexican food??!?

Sarah said...

I had such a good time visiting with you this week--look forward when we can get Steve and Mike together to "talk shop."

I've got some recipes that call for ground turkey/beef. I'll email them to you! They are for casseroles and different kinds of meatloaf. Some of them, things you can freeze too.

Sarah D. said...

That's right... I'd forgotten about the huge box of beef patties!

Farmer Brown is basically: browned ground beef covered with mashed potatoes, topped with American cheese, and baked 'til 'melty'.

Here's my recipe:
-brown your ground beef (about a pound), adding whatever ingredients you usually would. (I add onion and garlic.) Drain. Season with black pepper, garlic salt and onion powder.
-Place in bottom of 2 1/2 qt. casserole dish.
-Top with mashed potatoes. (For this recipe, I mash mine with: milk, butter, cream cheese, black pepper, garlic powder and onion salt.)
-Finish with two layers of American cheese slices on top.
-Bake @ 350* for 25-30 min. or until cheese is melted and just starting to brown.
-Serves 4.

It's almost like a "Shepherd's Pie" (which is another ground beef recipe). I like to serve corn with it.

Let me know if you try the recipe, and what you think. Sorry I don't have measurements for the ingredients... I just kinda "dump" until it looks/ smells/ tastes right, since everyone's tastes are different. =)

Good luck with all that ground beef! =)

Amy said...

ah...I forgot, I do make shepherd's pie with ground beef--just haven't in a while.

thanks for the ideas, everyone (feel free to keep them coming!)

Kayla said...

I use ground beef at least 4 times a week! Josh is a beef guy : )

E-mail me if you want/need the receipes for any of this stuff

Stroganoff
Homemade Sloppy Joes
Enchiladas
Tator-tot casserole
Tacos
Spaghetti
Goulash
Lasagna
Meatloaf-butternut/accorn squash
Shepards Pie
Cheesey hashbrown casserole
Chili (Mac- or potatoes-or hotdogs in the summer)
Hamburger gravy /mashed potatoes

I'm sure I could think of more... but I imagine that's enough.

Jennifer said...

I know this is probably way too late for those little tomatoes, but maybe for next time...

Tomatoes ripen beautifully on the counter near a window or on the windowsill itself. You don't really want to put tomatoes in the refrigerator if you can help it, but sometimes it's necessary once they're ripe.