In Her Chucks

If there was an award for moving, we would win hands down.  Since Freddie and I have been together (8 years now), we have moved at least once a year (sometimes more).  So I thought I would break down our travels and various moving adventures to show you how much we apparently love to be on the go.

• When we first met, I had just moved into my own apartment, while he had just moved back in with his dad.  Although soon the tables turned and I decided to move home with my mom (1) and he moved into his own apartment (2).
• After living with my mom for a while, I decided to go back to school in Arizona (3).
• Once I graduated, I moved out of student housing and into a house with a roommate (4) and 5 dogs (2 of which were mine).
• After a year of roughing it in the desert and surviving a long distance relationship, I moved back to LA to live with my brother and be closer to Freddie (5).
• Six months later Freddie and I got married and moved into our first apartment together in Playa Del Rey (6).
• A year later, Freddie was offered a great new job up north so we made our way to the central coast (7).
• We didn’t have time to find a place right away so we moved in with my dad for a few months until we could get an apartment of our own.  Luckily it didn’t take long for us to land our own place (8).  But after having Harper we realized we needed more space.  So we moved into a brand new complex that had loads of young families with kids (9).
• As Harper grew and became more mobile she loved to play outside.  So we started looking for a house with a yard.  It took a few months to find the right one, but when we did it was perfect! (10).

Last week, Freddie was offered another new position an hour and a half north from where we currently live.  Which means, another move (11).  This might be a record as we have only been in our current house for a few months.  As much as we hate to leave our lovely friends, it is a wonderful opportunity for his career, and as his wife, I am 1000% behind him.

Just in case you needed a recap, that is 11 moves in 8 years.  One would think we were in the military but actually, my brother is the one in the army (who is also in the midst of a move).

So I said all of that to say, I will be looking for a new CSA.  The movers come next Tuesday so I probably won’t have a box lined up by next week, but I will be sharing another recipe roundup with you instead.  The town that we are moving to is famous for their farmers market.  So I might be sharing my farmers market finds with you until I get my new CSA squared away.  But no need to worry, WITB will continue regardless.  The show must go on :)

Before I share my last CSA box with you, I wanted to highlight some of the 10 delicious links from last week.  Starting with My Yummy Local Life’s delivery of Napolitos, otherwise known as prickly pear pads.  Being a member of my CSA for 3 years now, I thought I have seen it all.  But I have never seen or heard of prickly pear pads.  I am officially intrigued and on the hunt for my own bunch of napolitos.  Until I find some though, I will be stuffing my face with Fresh Farm Feasts Double Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies…yum!  And finally, thanks to Salted Plates, I now know what Paneer is (it’s apparently the week of learning!).  Thank you to everyone who participated in this week’s party.  I love lusting over your tasty treats.

And let’s be honest, who isn’t lusting over these tasty treats…

Not a bad way to say goodbye to 3 glorious years of fresh farm produce.  And for the most part, I was seeing double.  Two bunches of kale, 2 leeks, 2 heads of broccoli, 2 pints of strawberries and 2 heads of lettuce.  So spoiled.

So what am I going to do with all of this delicious goodness?  Well, being that we are headed out in less than a week and will no doubt be overwhelmed with packing, cleaning and saying goodbye to our friends, most of this might make its way to the juicer.  The carrots, spinach, oranges, kale and lettuce will make for a nutrient packed meal or snack.  Plus, it’s been a while since we got the juicer going and we might as well give it one last run before we box it up for the move.

The strawberries will be perfect for the oatmeal I have been enjoying for breakfast.  And the rest will be thrown into this “water recipe” with some sprigs of the fresh thyme and a few slices of the kiwi.  Doesn’t that sounds refreshing?

We all know who will be enjoying those two heads of broccoli on her own (*cough* Harper *cough*).  In fact, as soon as I opened up the box she walked over, pointed to the green trees and said, “What’s that?”.  Now, of course she knows exactly what it is, but that is her little code word for “I want that”.  Let me give you an example.  Not only does she love broccoli, she LOVES butter.  When we go out to dinner and she spies the butter on the table, she will usually ask to sit on whoever’s lap is closest to the butter.  Once she is in perfect position, she will point to the butter and ask, “What’s that?”, as if she didn’t just weasel her way over to the butter to pretend to not know what it is.  My response is usually, “I don’t know, what is that Harper?” to which she responds, “That’s butter mama.  Harper loves butter!”.  And I love Harper :)

For the leeks I am thinking soup.  Asparagus soup to be exact.  I recently overbought asparagus and thought the leftover spears would be perfect for a creamy soup.

Your turn:  What are some of your favorite ways to use the fruits and veggies shown?  Any special recipe, tips or tricks you’d like to share?  Looking forward to reading your responses :)

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PS:  Don’t forget to tell your readers about the party by linking back to this post and grabbing the official “What’s in the Box?” button at the bottom of my blog.  Thanks!