When you have a CSA in the summer

Every week I get more produce, so I have to use it up or I will fall behind. That said, it’s not too hard because I’m storing things up for all year long…

I tried my hand at canning for the FIRST TIME EVER with tomatoes. I picked something easy peasy, but it still didn’t go perfect because look at what happened.

They all floated to the top leaving all the tomato juice down below. Ah well. It is safe and all, but next time I know to pack em in tighter.

These are also HUGE jars, which meant it took forever to heat all that water for that length of time. And I was sweating my face off the entire time.

So lesson number two is use smaller jars.

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I did a few batches of pico de gallo, but froze them instead of canned them. I’ll work my way up to it. We have gone through two jars of salsa already and it is GOOOOOOOOD stuff people.

I also made a few batches of nectarine jam because our tree finally hooked us up in early August. We didn’t get as many as we have in the past few years, but still plenty to jam. I actually canned them, but made a critical mistake in the process. Instead of using pectin, I used chia seeds (like I always have), but didn’t think to look up if they were shelf stable or safe to keep in the pantry until after canning them. Ugh. And of course I discovered that chia based jams are NOT safe to be canned. Whoops! So I ended up freezing them in the end.

Failures behind me! You know what I HAVE been successful in utilizing? A bunch of peppers and tomatillos!

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Have you ever made enchilada sauce before? If you haven’t, you need to because (a) it’s way easier than you think it is and (b) it’s b-a-n-a-n-a-s delish. Do it. Please and thank you.

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One batch green.

One batch SPICY.

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And yet I still had heaps more peppers to use up…

So I turned to the internet and figured out I could dry them out, crushed them up, and freeze them to use as needed. Done and done.

I’ve also been making chili on repeat. Every batch is different than the one before it. And since I have tons of summer squash…might as well sneak in some of that. Oh and eggplant! The kids have NO IDEA they are eating squash and eggplant and peppers with their beans and ground meat. Neither does Kyle to be honest.

What else am I forgetting…

With the eggplant I’m making babaganoush (some for the freezer, some to spread on pitas for lunch) as well as eggplant bacon (HUGE HIT!).

With the garlic, I’m roasting it and jarring it.

With the basil, I’m making PESTO AND PESTO AND MORE PESTO.

Walnut pesto. Pistachio pesto. Nutritional yeast pesto. Sun dried tomato pesto.

You name it, I’ve made it with basil.

The one thing I haven’t been able to figure out what to do with…

Is okra!

Full disclosure, I’m not a big fan.

Turns out, the kids are. What’s more, they like it RAW. Guys, I have weird kids. I bring it in a tupperware and they eat it down to the stem like it is a totally normal snack food.

Here is some home made marinara (more sneaky eggplant hiding inside).

Pro tip for popsicles: if you have a tiny amount leftover (that doesn’t fit into a full popsicle mold), pour it into an ice cube tray. To make a handle, poke a toothpick into a berry (or cut up fruit chunk) and freeze it.

In addition to not wasting that last little bit of smoothie, it’s the perfect thing to serve at 5 pm when your kids are whining about being hungry but you don’t want them to ruin their appetite for dinner.