CSA Bounty

It's been a bit of a transition for me to adjust to shopping and planning according to the CSA delivery schedule but I knew it had been a successful one on Sunday when the truck broke down and weren't able to pick up our food. I hadn't bought bread and eggs from the store because I knew the 'good stuff' was coming. We were completely out...not a good way to start the school week!

Besides, we all treat the deliveries like Christmas morning around here.

"Mommy, what is that vegetable?"
"Did we get sausage?"
"Ooooh, what are you going to make with that???"

Not to worry, though, as 'Christmas' came today! Here's what we received....

Whole chickens, chicken breasts, beef chuck steaks, beef cube steaks, summer sausage, pork steaks, eggs, whole wheat and sourdough breads, cinnamon rolls, whole wheat spaghetti, popping corn, green beans, corn, stewed tomatoes, pickles, strawberry preserves, sweet potatoes, and squash.

Lest you think we're the world's biggest carnivores, I'll let you in on our plan. We purchased a family share of meat for the winter season which is a bit too much for us. Our family of five usually consumes about four pounds of meat per week. (The weight of the meat listed above is 17-18 lbs. The deliveries are bi-weekly.) So, I'm carefully rotating the meat in the freezer so that it will last until the beginning of the next winter season in November.

My idea is that, come summer, our food costs will drop as we only purchase CSA produce shares but that extra money will go to purchasing and canning lots of in-season foods (CSA, pick-your-own and/or farmer's market) for next winter.

That's how it works in my head, anyway. Stay tuned to find out how it really works. :)