To find my new blog, go here. Be patient as things are still a little bit rough around the edges.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. What does that mean? Well, the way a CSA works is through investment. A consumer buys a share with a farm. The consumer pays upfront a certain amount and ensures the farmer that a specific amount of their crop is going to be purchased. The farmer can then rely on the intended consumption. They can use the money to buy seeds and pay for other upfront costs, rather than having to wait until they can sell their crops after harvest. This also gives them cash flow throughout the year, rather than receiving most of their income during just one season. The consumer then picks up their share, usually on a weekly basis, of the crop from the farm. This lasts for the entire season, usually 20-25 weeks.

Shares

Farms usually have different types of shares. Most common are half, full and advanced. The share is the amount of food you will be receiving. It can also indicate which type of food you are receiving as some farms will have a dairy share, which would include milk or cheese every week.

Cost

Though the cost upfront seems like a significant amount of money, it actually works out to be cheaper than buying produce from the grocery store. Most CSAs are between $23-26 per week, much less than if you were to buy the same products individually.

Drop-Off/Pick-Up

If you live by, or are willing to drive to the farm, you can always pick up your share from the farm. However, for those who can’t, there are various city drop-offs depending on the CSA. You should factor this into which CSA you choose, you don’t want one that drops off on the same night you have Chess Boxing practice.

Farm Tour Day

Almost all farms have what they call Farm Tour Days. This is a time when the CSA members are invited to the farm they have been supporting. It is a great way to get to know the farmers and see the farm. Sometimes you even learn something, on the farm tour last summer I learned that asparagus was grown one stalk at a time. It helps you see the producers of your food as real people. It helps you see the world of food production with your own eyes.

Local

This one is obvious, but you are supporting a local company. CSAs are just as good as going to your local farmer’s markets to get food, most of the CSA farms even sell at farmer’s markets.

Family Farms/Co-ops

All of the farms are either small family farms or farm co-ops. Pennsylvania in particular has a significant number of small family farms that are dying every year from competition. When harvests go well, things can be easy, however for a small family farm or co-op a bad crop can mean big problems. By participating in a CSA, if the harvest goes badly or doesn’t have maximum production, you are ensuring that the farm doesn’t go out of business and can continue. You are helping to give them “Rainy Day”(bad analogy since rain is good in the farming world) money to bring them through the bad harvests or unforeseen problems.

Decisions

When I pick up my CSA for the week, all of my decisions are made for me. I don’t have to go through the produce aisle and think of what to make. Instead, I am given the fruits and vegetables that I will be using that week. This is a huge plus for me, as decision-making usually leads to frustration in my household.

This past season we had a full share from Harvest Valley Farms. Every Thursday we would go to pick up our share. A sample weeks share would be: 1/2 dozen ears of corn, pint of pickling cucumbers, head of cauliflower, three zucchinis, a bag of green beans, 4 apples and a head of lettuce. Harvest Valley sends out a weekly e-mail letting you know what is in the share and includes a recipe using one or more of the items. I absolutely loved it and we plan to continue getting CSAs every season.

If you have a CSA or decided to get one, which farm are you using and why?

If you are interested in getting a CSA this season, which you should be, Local Harvest is a great website to find one near you. Local Harvest also has information on farmer’s markets and other food related things.

Natasha Wescoat is a Michigan-based artist that I fell in love with a few years ago. I don’t remember exactly how I stumbled upon her website, but I instantly enjoyed her landscaped trees and floating birds. Since then her art has moved onto other characters, but I think I still enjoy her early stuff the most. Her art is clearly whimsical with its ability, at least for me, to move you to a lighter and more carefree mood. I like how this contrasts her usual use of dark colors. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.

You can visit her blog. Or just browse through more of the artwork on her website.

This is one of our favorite vegan dishes. It’s nice and heavy, like normal Mac & Cheese, but is full of vegetable deliciousness.

This isn’t a recipe that would fool someone, you can definitely tell there is something up with the sauce. (If you are interested in a good homemade vegan “cheese” sauce, this is one of my favorites. Just make sure you add extra lemon juice as it will add some nice cheesy tanginess.) The recipe below is a modification of this original recipe for ‘No-Nooch, No-Tofu, Excellent Mac ‘n’ Cheese’. Nooch is another name for Nutritional Yeast Flakes. In my opinion of the biggest arguments against veganism is the issue of Vitamin B12. B12 is a vitamin that is important to the nervous system, and a severe deficiency can result in some pretty serious health problems including anemia and nervous system damage. Vitamin B12 is not available in any “natural” plant food form. The only way for vegans to get it is through supplements or fortified foods. Nutritional Yeast Flakes are one such fortified food. Nutritional Yeast is not like baking or brewer’s yeast, but is often used to make cheese-like substitutes because of its nutty flavor. One of the changes I make to the original recipe is including “Nooch” as I like its flavor and texture.

Mac & Cheez

Prep Time 10 Min : Cook Time 15 mins : Servings 6

Special Equipment Needed
Food Processor or Blender

Ingredients
8 oz Macaroni¹
2 Medium Sweet Potatoes²
4-5 Medium Carrots
1 Medium Onion
1 Tablespoon minced Garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
1/2 Cup Raw Cashews
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
2 Tablespoons Vegan Margarine³
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Red Hot Pepper Flakes, optional

Prepping the Veggies

1. Place the cashews in a small bowl and cover with water. Allow them to soak whilst you are doing other things.
2. Chop the sweet potatoes, carrots and onions.
3. Put the sweet potatoes, carrots and onions in a large pot and cover with water. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
4. Once the water is boiling, turn down the heat and allow to boil on medium heat until the carrots and potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Carefully drain the veggies, saving the liquid in a bowl.
6. Reserve 1/2 cup of the broth and place the rest back in the pot and bring to a boil. This is the liquid you will boil the pasta in, add additional water if necessary. When the broth water is boiling, cook the pasta accordingly.

my new food processor (see notes)

Food Processor: The Mother of All Small Appliances

7. As the pasta is cooking, drain the cashews and place them in the food processor.
8. Add the 1/2 cup reserved broth, garlic, lemon juice, mustard and margarine to the cashews. Process until smooth.
9. Add the veggies to the mix and process until smooth. The consistency should be like a thick sauce.
10. Taste the sauce and adjust the spices as needed, this is when you should add some salt and pepper.

Make It Spicy

Once your sauce is where you want it, assemble. Place some pasta in the bowl, followed by a healthy portion of sauce. Unlike other Mac & Cheese recipes where it’s a 3/4 noodles to 1/4 sauce proportion, this dish is best when it is at least half and half. So be generous with the sauce. Sprinkle some red pepper flakes, or even your favorite hot sauce on top, and enjoy the veg!

Notes:
1 The East End Food Co-op has a great macaroni in their bulk section that is made from quinoa flour. It’s awesome and has a bunch of added protein. If you don’t know what quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wAH) is, it’s a grain that is the only non-animal complete protein and super tasty.
2 There is always a debate over the difference between sweet potatoes and yams, but as I don’t feel like getting into that here. I mean the root vegetable with the dark red/maroon-ish skin and the orange flesh.
3 I use Earth Balance when I want a vegan margarine. It is the tastiest to us, but anything would work.
4 Food processors are awesome. My old one broke a bit ago and I did a ton of research about this new one. It is agreed upon by almost all of the reviewers, consumer and professional, that this is basically the best food processor out there right now. It is the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus DLC-2011. This was its inaugural ceremony and it preformed beautifully!

This past Thursday was just one of those runs. I don’t know if I had eaten poorly on Wednesday, or if the warm weather threw me for a loop (though I would never complain of the blessed sunshine of wonderfulness), but I wasn’t having fun. I kept repeating the Jillian Michael’s mantras, “Pain is fear leaving the body” and “When it starts getting uncomfortable, those are the ones that really count”, and “We don’t get to the finish line and stop, that’s when we push even harder”.

I focused all of the pain I was feeling on the fact that I needed new shoes. I am a very conscious shopper. I often do a lot of research on the products I buy, especially big purchases. I also hate consumerism in general and get very anxious when buying anything. I will have arguments with myself in the store: “Do I really need this?”, “Is this going to help my life?”, “Is this clubbing baby seals to make my life easier?”, etc. Needless to say, I don’t like buying new stuff, especially when they are things just for me. So I wasn’t too excited about the idea of buying new running shoes. I mean they looked fine. There weren’t any hole; the soles didn’t seem terribly worn. But my knees, and even lower back, were beginning to hurt. After being horribly frustrated by a painful run, I decided it was time to finally get new shoes.

My Spiffy New Shoes

It is a rule of thumb to replace your running shoes between 350-550 miles of use. For me that is about 4-6 months, at my current running pace. That seems like an awful lot of shoes. However, I keep telling myself that it is an investment into my future. By using running shoes I am making a happier, healthier me, as corn-tastic as it is. I am preventing diseases such as diabetes, which would cost myself and my insurance significantly more than $150 a year. Also, when it comes to exercising activities, running is one of the cheapest. The only equipment you really need is shoes.

Now that you are convinced you need new running shoes, you should go to Elite Walkers and Runners. Elite is a great local shop. The staff are incredibly friendly and there to help you with whatever you need. Though they are all skilled in delivering you the perfect pair of shoes, they don’t flaunt their abilities to make you feel bad. I know nothing about running and probably asked some pretty stupid questions, but Erin, the lady helping me, didn’t make me feel as dumb as I sounded. She answered my questions kindly and made me feel comfortable. They are able to look at your old shoes and suggest what new ones might work. They also watch you run to see if the shoes are working properly. One of the pairs I tried on was making me push-off my big toe, which apparently is bad.

They also have an interest in the community. From their mission statement:

Our mission is to be the central hub for the Pittsburgh running community and to spread the passion that the staff has to get people out and moving. We have moved forward with this mission through our involvement in the development and sponsorship of races around the Pittsburgh Region; educating the community through wellness clinics, health fairs, good form running classes, and corporate nights. We have also encouraged our youth to get involved in Track and Cross Country through education about running, injury prevention, and through team nights held at the store.

This is exactly what I want in every business I use. This inspires me to want to support them. They even have a Soles 4 Souls donation box for your old shoes.

And that is why I have been shopping rather exclusively at Elite Walkers and Runners for all of my slogging needs.

It was somewhat serendipitous that the right shoes for me happen to be New Balance. I apparently really like their shoes as I have bought about 3 pairs in various styles from Goodwill over the years. Also, they are a pretty cool company, not amazing, but cool. Here is what they call ‘Responsible Leadership’

In case you don’t know what a co-op is, aside from a magical, wonderful land of rainbows, it is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit. The East End Food Co-op is a grocery store in Pittsburgh that sells food, cosmetics, vitamins, toiletries and cleaning supplies that are “natural and organic”.Therefore everything in the store has been carefully purchased and thought about. Co-ops are the best place to do all your regular shopping, especially in the winter months when you can’t rely on farmer’s markets and CSAs.

Local

While buying local is very trendy, this doesn’t make it any less important. By buying food that is produced in your area you are supporting your local economy while cutting down on shipping costs, both monetary and environmental.

Advantages: Freshness. Produce that is produced conventionally has to be picked well before it is ready to be eaten. If the bananas were perfectly ripe when they were harvested, they would be spoiled by the time they reached the shelf. On the other hand, local produce isn’t going far, often things can be picked that day or the day before.

Relationship. The co-op is like your local grocery store. When I go in there, I recognize the various workers, and I feel like some of them recognize me. The people are always helpful and ready to suggest how to use this random hippie product you have never heard of. They aren’t answering to a larger corporation that has the region or nation to look at, they are answering to me, a member of their local customer base. It feels like my grocery store.

Bulk

Like most co-ops, EEFC has a bulk foods section. Their bulk foods range from oats and pasta to cookies to herbs and spices. Bulk foods are stored in large containers and priced by the pound.

Advantages: Less packaging. You are able to bring your own reusable containers and fill them. (note: they do also have bags and containers for you to use if you don’t have any)

Quantity Control. You are able to buy as little or as much as you need. Not sure if you are going to like the Hemp Plus Granola, only get a little bit. Or better yet ask one of the friendly Co-op employees and you can test it out.

Price. The prices are usually significantly discounted. We buy our maple syrup in bulk because it is literally almost half the price of the bottles on the shelf.

Membership

This should actually be called Ownership. Co-ops are also businesses owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services and by the people who work there. It currently cost $100 to become a member at the East End Food Co-op, because that is the current cost of a share. By purchasing a share, you are becoming part owner of the co-op. It is a one time cost, like any other share purchase in a company. You can also sell it back at any time, for instance if you are moving away.

Advantages: Discounts. 2% on daily purchases, 20% on uncut case purchases. Also, once a month they have Member Extra Discount Days (MEDD) where members receive 10% off.

Board of Directors. Members are able to vote and run for elected positions. This gives a member even more power in what is going on with the co-op.

The East End Food Co-op is located in Point Breeze at 7516 Meade Street, 15208. If you don’t live in Pittsburgh, the National Cooperative Grocers Association has an interactive map to find a co-op near you.

I had never poached an egg before, at least not in water. I use to call eggs that I microwaved a certain way poached, but after poaching eggs and eating them, those were definitely just microwaved eggs. So I decided it was time to change this and level up in my culinary skills. I am not sure how many of you have watched Julie & Julia, a movie I was very surprised that I highly enjoyed, but there is a scene where one of the main characters attempts to poach eggs. I had heard it was difficult to poach eggs and this scene reinforced that fear. From an episode of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell, I learned that you need to add a bit of vinegar to the water. Julia Child from Julie & Julia says you need very fresh eggs. Finally, Whitney Miller, the winner of Masterchef US, used a technique on the show where you swirl the water before you drop the egg in to be poached. With all of these tips, I set to work poaching eggs for the first time.

I originally wanted to do an Eggs Benedict, but decided that as delicious as hollandaise sauce is it is equally heart-stopping. Instead I chose to create my own recipe featuring a poached egg that was a bit healthier. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato, so this recipe is sliced sourdough toast, topped with a roasted tomato slice and a poached egg.

Eggs Pomodoro

Prep Time 10 min : Cook Time 20 min : Servings 3

Ingredients

1 large tomato
6 eggs¹
1 loaf of sourdough²
1 Tablespoon vinegar
olive oil
fresh course ground pepper
salt, to taste and 1/2 teaspoon
basil, fresh or dried

Roasting the Tomatoes

1. Slice the tomato into nice thick pieces, you want at least 6 slices.
2. Place the slices on a foil lined baking sheet.

Drizzle the olive oil over the tomato slices and sprinkle with pepper, salt and basil to your liking. Should be about one teaspoon each to the precision chefs.
3. Place the baking sheet in the broiler set to high. It will ultimately depend on your tomatoes and your broiler as to how long they will take to cook. You want them to have that great crinkled skin that tomatoes get from being in the oven. It should be about 10 minutes, but make sure you keep an eye on them.

Poaching the Eggs

4. Fill a small saucepan with 2-4 inches of water, bring to a rolling boil.
5. Reduce heat until the water is barely simmering, add vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Don’t skip this step as the vinegar helps to keep the egg together!
6. Now into a small bowl crack one egg. While holding the bowl in one hand, probably the non-dominant one, swirl the water with a whisk or spoon in the other hand. You want the water to look like a little whirlpool for something small like mice. When the water is vigorously swirling, quickly remove your swirling apparatus and place the lip of the bowl as close to the surface of the water as possible. With one motion slide the egg into the center of the whirlpool. The motion of the swirling water holds the egg whites together and prevents you from having to try to push them close to the egg yolk. Unfortunately with this method you can only cook one egg at a time, but it is well worth it as the other method is a bit more finicky.³
7. Allow egg to simmer until egg whites are “set”, about 3 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon⁴. Repeat until all eggs are poached.

Assembly of Deliciousness

8. Slice your sourdough loaf into decent pieces. If your loaf is wide, as mine was, cut the pieces in half. Toast to desired darkness.
9. Place a perfectly toasted slice of sourdough on your plate. Top with a supremely roasted slice of tomato. Then crown with a creamy poached egg. I love ground pepper so I put just another short grind on there to finish off the flavors.

10. Behold the dish you have created with beautiful technique! And, of course, dig into the scrumptious meal.

Notes:
1 I used local eggs from Nu Way Farm.
2 I had Allegro Hearth‘s Left Coast Sourdough, deliciously tangy!
3 This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Also, if you mess up and have something resembling egg drop soup, throw out the water and start again. Poaching eggs just takes a bit of practice, by the 3rd or 4th egg I was much more comfortable. The best thing to remember is don’t be too tentative, be confident: simmer, swirl, drop.
4 I have a gas oven and the broiler is on the bottom. While the tomatoes were cooking the oven was warm, so I used it to keep the finished eggs warm.

Before we left for China I had been going to the Climbing Wall on a weekly basis. I had built up some nice calluses and was starting to feel like I was actually excelling. Then we went to China for six weeks and all of the skills I had picked up vanished. I was willing to give it another go, knowing how much fun I had the last time around. I arrived at the Climbing Wall with some friends and set to work. For the next two hours, it was nothing more than pain and suffering. Everything I tried seemed to kick my butt, my hands hurt, and I just wasn’t having a good time.

This past week I debated whether or not to try again. My usual climbing buddy was out-of-town and I could easily use that as an excuse to skip it. But thankfully something in the back of my head said “You’ll pay for it later”. So I told myself to shut up and I texted a few other friends who had been going. I walked into the bouldering room telling myself I was there just to build up my calluses again. After a bit of a slow start, I picked up some confidence from completing a few routes. I decided it was time to conquer one route that I hadn’t been able to do since before China. It would be just the boost I needed to kickstart myself back into climbing. So I started up, and got to the same point I always had but couldn’t go any further. I jumped down defeated. I tried a few more times and decided today wasn’t the day. I moved onto a few more routes and was mad that I hadn’t been able to suck it up and finish.

Then a guy came in and started looking at the same wall I was. He brushed off some of the holds and I told him to go ahead as I was just looking, at my defeat. He proceeded to ascend a V5 (bouldering is rated on a “V” scale at the Climbing Wall, from VB for Beginner to V0 through V16), not with total ease, but enough to recognize that he was experienced, and impressive. My friend and I started to talk with him, receiving some pretty nice advice about general climbing. It made me realize that this was the day, no matter how much it hurt and how scared I was of falling. I stood at the bottom again, and said I was going to hit the top. I grabbed and reached and got to the same point and pushed myself to the next hold. I got to the top, and then navigated back down. I was scared and unsure on the wall, and my hands were burning, but, like any triumphant after many failures, I had a smile of sweet satisfaction on my face with my arms held high in a “V” for victory.

The pain of climbing

The Climbing Wall has been a great activity, especially in the dreary Pittsburgh winter. It has many different skill levels and routes that are constantly changing. Though I may have made it sound like I am hardcore with that story, I am still only at the VB/V0 level. They also have a top ropes course and classes. I really don’t want to link their website because it is quite appalling, but with great reservations here it is, please don’t judge it by its website quality, or lack there of.

If you are in the Pittsburgh area and interested in going to the Climbing Wall, we go every Wednesday, which is Ladies Day (half-off).

I am not sure how many of you have heard of the book The China Study, it is a book about the rise of certain illnesses in China and their correlation to the rise in animal product consumption over the last 20 years. I personally have not read the book, though I have it on my requests at the library, but I have talked to some people in China about this issue.

While in Shenyang, I had the privileged to meet some medical students studying at the local university. One day when a group of us were out to lunch, one of the girls brought up this very topic. She explained how she saw a huge problem with how Chinese people are eating now. Before people were unable to afford meat and, therefore, it was not a huge part of their diet. And when meat was eaten, it was usually fish, pork or poultry. Now, however, because people are making more money and meat prices are cheaper, the general public is able to consume more meat, especially new meats like beef and mutton. My friend expressed that she didn’t think this was a good thing. She felt that Chinese people were eating too much meat and were going to have more health problems than past generations.

This is exactly what The China Study explains. They link the increase in cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, to name a few, to the increase in animal product consumption. An article in Newsweek also points out with life expectancy on the rise, Chinese people are now living longer with these diseases.

If this sounds all too familiar, it should, China is starting to deal with the same things that Americans have been dealing with for the last 50 years.

I am sharing all this to help back up my feelings on meat consumption.

My Opinion:
I don’t think it is wrong to consume meat. I can agree with people who argue the Christian Biblical perspective that God has given us animals to eat from Genesis 9:3.(Though I won’t bring up that this was after the flood because that is another discussion for another time) But I also don’t take lightly what was said in Proverbs 23:
²⁰ Do not join those who drink too much wine
or gorge themselves on meat,
²¹ for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

I would love to return to a day when eating meat meant that it was a special meal. When Thanksgiving had real value because we celebrated the true blessings of being provided for, not just over-eating like every other day. If you didn’t eat meat at every meal, how much more value would you place on the turkey or the pork roast?

Which of these has more value?

I would hope the chips have a lower value because of the time and effort spent on making the deliciously crafted meal on the right — this coming from someone who use to have a rather substantial addiction to Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles.

I am no longer desirous to put specific dietary restrictions on my life, but rather to focus more on putting value on my food. Meat in China is losing it’s value, just as it has been lost here. I wish that more people would understand the gravity of that, for our health, and for our culture.

If you are nerdy like me and like research, I found two really interesting research studies done on meat consumption in China: Determinants of Meat Consumption in China and Meat Consumption in the Home in China: An Empirical Study.