Co-ops: The Adventurous Way to Get Food

The second co-op pick-up

So… co-ops are pretty cool. I had heard about them before (mostly online resources), and people made them sound like a good way to get a lot of product (local, organic, or both) for a better deal. Well it costs me $30 each pick-up, and I get about 15 lbs of produce in my half-share. So that’s an average of $2/lb price for my produce — but it’s all organic. So I guess that is an okay deal. But the thing I appreciate most is that this is forcing me to be more adventurous and creative with my food. I have never tried beets… and I got some in this last pick-up. I will channel my inner Dwight Schrute and make some beet chips using this recipe I found online. I also got some of these weird purple potatoes in my pick-up, which I guess I will eat even though I try to limit my starchy carbs.

It’s a fun adventure, this co-op thing. And it supports local agriculture/farms, so that’s nice.

 

Oh and I thought I would post this funny Portlandia snippet where a couple who gets produce from a co-op get an alien-fruit (durian, ew smelly!). I’m still waiting for the day I find a durian in my pick-up. If that happens, I will be both excited and horrified.

 

First co-op haul

The first pick-up

“Meggos” aka Paleo-friendly Pancakes

I’ll be honest: I am a picky eater. I dont’ like cheese. I don’t like mayonaise. I don’t like salad dressing, or sour cream, or liver. There’s a lot of other things I don’t like… I could list them but I’d rather not bore you. But one of them is also eggs. I never could get past their texture… or their smell. I WANTED to like eggs, I really did. I always thought they were fun to crack, and I love the way sunny-side up eggs look… so cute! But I didn’t like them.

When I started to eat paleo/primal, I noticed a lot of paleo meals involved eggs. Frittatas, omelets, scrambled eggs… the list went on. I felt like I was missing out on a very convenient source of protein. And then I came across this blog post that changed my outlook on eggs.

All I had to do to like eggs was disguise them as a pancake. It was genius. Just add a banana and BOOM. Success.

I’ll eat these anytime of day… it’s simple, easy, and doesn’t take much time. I’ve taken to calling them “Meggos” (you know, cus my name is Meghan and all..) but I didn’t come up with this recipe so who the hell do I think I am? Anyway… here’s the recipe:

All you do is:
1. Heat a frying pan on low-medium heat
2. crack and whisk 2 eggs
3. mash up 1 banana (I just use a fork) and add that mashed banana to the whisked eggs
4. I add a dash of vanilla extract and a good sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice to my batter to make it even better. Stir that batter up real good..
5. Melt some extra virgin coconut oil in the now-hot pan
6. Pour in some batter. let it sit until it’s firm enough to flip… this can be tricky and even with all the “pancakes” I’ve made, I still screw up and flip too early, too late, etc.
7. Cook on the other side about another minute or so… till it’s golden brown and done.

These are good. They’re not the same as ihop pancakes… but they are comforting, filling, and I really enjoy them.

I also like to take some frozen berries, heat them up in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and then mash them with a fork to make a quick berry-compote of sorts. Pour that on top and you got yourself some delicious berry paleo-friendly pancakes.

Recipe Share #1: [Paleo] Kelp Noodle Japchae

One of the goals of this blog is to share delicious (and healthy) recipes. I’ve had several co-workers and friends ask me for recipes to try, so I hope this blog helps with that. Since I’m trying to stick with the Paleo diet right now, most recipes will be paleo/primal. And since the internet is already super-saturated with talented food bloggers, most of my recipes are ones I find online. Hopefully as I become a more seasoned cook, I’ll share highly-original, mind-blowingly awesome recipes that I create myself.

The first recipe I’d like to share is Paleo Japchae. For those of you who don’t know… Japchae is a delicious Korean dish that uses noodles (made from sweet potato), veggies, and meat. I had it for the first time at my boss’s baby shower… and I fell in love with the dish. It was so good, and I liked the different textures that the glass noodles, veggies, and meats offered. And really… it seemed like it could be a pretty healthy meal with a few adjustments. I decided I’d try to make a paleo version of it, so I googled “paleo japchae” and came across this recipe. Looked delicious, so I gave it a go… with a few adjustments. Instead of soy sauce, I used coconut aminos. And instead of sea food, I used chicken breast. And I didn’t cook the kelp noodles beforehand like the recipe originally called for. Here was the result:

Kelp Noodle Jap Chae

It was pretty damn good, and that’s why I’m sharing this recipe. Here’s a run-down of the recipe (with my modifications):

Ingredients:
Makes 4 servings
1-1.5 lb chicken breasts
5 oz spinach
4 oz white mushrooms (sliced)
1 red bell pepper
1/2 cup slices carrots (julienned)
3 stalks green onions (approximately 1 cup chopped into 1 inch pieces)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
3 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon coconut aminos
1/2 tablespoon of Sriracha sauce (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 bags of 12oz kelp noodles

Directions
Rinse the kelp noodles thoroughly and set aside.

Cut the chicken breasts into chunks. In a large (I’m not kidding — it needs to be big!) saute pan, heat the sesame oil on medium. Once oil is hot, add the chicken chunks and cook until no-longer pink.  Once the chicken looks about done, add the remainder of ingredients (except the sesame seeds). Constantly stir the spinach and mushrooms until they have wilted and browned, respectively. Then add the kelp noodles and sesame seeds. Continually stir for several minutes until the kelp noodles have absorbed the flavors in the saute pan and turn a nice light golden color.

Hope you enjoy. Kelp noodles are pretty cool actually — I’ve used them many times as a pasta substitue. They’re very neutral in flavor, and supposedly supply a good amount of iodine. They have a bit of a crunch to them — if you want it softer, you can boil the kelp noodles before using them in this recipe. That’s what the original recipe calls for — I just like my noodles al dente.

Okay so there you go! My first shared recipe! Yippeeee!