Love Your Mother

From meatlessmonday.com: Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day, an annual event to honor the sanctity of the little blue planet we call home. If you’re wondering what you can do to participate, there’s an easy, even delicious, way you can do something good for the environment this week, and every week of the year: join the Meatless Monday movement.

Meatless Monday is a grassroots movement organized and promoted by advocates around the world who inspire individuals, schools, restaurants and even entire governments to get involved. Currently, there are home-grown initiatives in 35 countries, pledging to “one day a week, cut out meat” for their health and the health of the planet.

Earth Day turns 44 years old this year, and there are signs our planet is not aging gracefully. Read more from the Meatless Monday website.

While you're there, check out their great recipes, sign up for their newsletter, and check out other campaigns like The Kids Cook Monday!

Tonight I'm thinking about trying the Chickpea Quinoa Burgers. I'll let you know how we rate it!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Our most recent CSA delivery.

Ever find yourself buying the same fruits and vegetables at the store and sticking to the same recipes? Probably so. We all do; that may be why you're reading this, searching through magazines and trying new foods at restaurants. One way to break out of that rut, is to get food from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA allows city residents to have direct access to high quality, fresh produce grown locally by regional farmers. Good for you, good for the farmer and good for the environment.

Many of you may grow your own vegetables in the summer, get vegetables from family members who do grow their own or have easy access to local farmers and their products. If so, you may not want or need a CSA. For others, like me, a CSA delivery is a beautiful thing!

I've been wanting to do this for years, but have not been able to for various reasons. Here in Albuquerque, I am now purchasing from Skarsgard Farms. They deliver to the house weekly. We've only received two deliveries so far, but are really enjoying it. We'll likely receive a different combination of fruits and vegetables each week -- foods that are in season and that I might not have bought at the store. We ate some delicious pears last week which, for some reason, I had not been buying recently. So they've been a nice addition! And after having a big batch of kale in my weekly delivery, that's when I found the kale/quinoa/shrimp recipe. On sites like www.allrecipes.com, you can search by ingredients that you have to receive a list of possible recipes.


Personal note: There was a time when I would not eat anything green (except peas) and hardly any other vegetables for that matter besides maybe corn and potatoes! Ask my Mom. She has always enjoyed real food though; local Grainger County tomatoes are probably still here favorite. My point is that anyone can change; keep trying new foods and learning to appreciate new tastes. It can definitely be interesting!

Action Item: If you're interested in a CSA near you, check out www.localharvest.com.

For Further Reading: Benefits of Community Supported Agriculture and CSA: What It Is and Why You Should Join