All posts tagged: meal plan

OOOOBY Box Week 4

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After a break, this week we are going back to OOOOBY’s original box. After reviewing OOOOBY’s service last week with all prices and produce calculated up, the Original Box is great value for money. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable 5 Kumara (Certified Organic) 2 Garlic (Certified Organic) 1 bunch Silverbeet (Certified Organic) 1 Avocado (Certified Organic) 1/2 Cabbage (Conventional Sprays) 1 Broccoli (Conventional Sprays) Fruit 7 Pink Lady Apples (Conventional Sprays) 10 Green Kiwifruit (Certified Organic) 10 Mandarins (Conventional Sprays) The weirdest thing in the box is: Nothing in the CSA was weird this week, but we did receive three small snails. A fair reminder that the produce is fresh and organic. Add Ons This week we added on a few extras such as pure apple juice, ciabatta and a bunch of fair trade bananas. Recipes This week there are 3 recipes included by OOOOBY and they were two salads and a frittata. CSA Link Party I am part of a CSA box link party. A link party is a weekly or monthly …

An OOOOBY Review

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OOOOBY stands for Out Of Our Own Backyards and is an Auckland-based company that offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA has been popular in other countries for years and with the trend towards organic and locally grown foods as well as growing in our own backyards, it is a recipe for success. Last week, we switched from the vege/fruit original OOOOBY Box to the Vegetable Box. The Vegetable Box costs $8 more than the Original Box but has a hefty amount of vegetables. With double the vegetables, it was too much for two people. We’re both back to working 40 hour weeks at the moment so I’m not eating at home as much. Therefore, we are taking a break from our subscription this week so I’ll take a moment to review OOOOBY’s services so far. Boxes We’ve had three deliveries and tried two different boxes out of their range of four. We tried the Original Box and also the Vegetable Box. We haven’t tried  the Fruit Box and Family Box which don’t suit our two-person …

Meal Plan Week 3

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Eat your vegetables I’m an omnivore and while I adore meat, I know we eat too much of it. The Koala doesn’t like vegetarian food. He doesn’t say so, but you can tell by the way someone eats if they love it or not. There is a loop hole. He adores soup. A meat-free soup isn’t considered a vegetarian meal around here. So, this winter, I’m adding meat-free soups to our menu. It’s cheap, filling and a great way to enjoy the stunning bread that we’ve been getting. We are at Week 3 of our CSA subscription and I’m writing a meal plan each week  to help get through all this produce. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables only 2 bulbs of garlic (self certified organic) 4 kaffir lime leaves (self certified organic) Half a crown pumpkin (certified organic) 1 cabbage (conventional sprays) 7 carrots (conventional sprays) 2 broccoli (certified organic) 2 silverbeet (certified organic) 1 stick of rosemary Meal plan week 3: Mince and cheese pie with mash and creamy garlic* silverbeet* Pumpkin soup: Spiced pumpkin* kaffir lime leaf* and …

OOOOBY BOX WEEK 3

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To get more efficient in our grocery shopping this winter, we are replacing the 2 to 3 trips per week to the market, with a weekly CSA delivery. I plan on topping this up with a fortnightly trip to (or maybe even delivery from) traditional supermarket and a fortnightly trip to Nosh (a local gourmet food store). Local CSA project OOOOBY has a great concept and ethic and we are in week 3 of our subscription. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables only 2 bulbs of garlic (self certified organic) 4 kaffir lime leaves (self certified organic) Half a crown pumpkin (certified organic) 1 cabbage (conventional sprays) 7 carrots (conventional sprays) 2 broccoli (certified organic) 2 silverbeet (certified organic) 1 stick of rosemary Fruit and sweet vegetables There is no fruit this week as we’re trying out OOOOBY’s vegetable only box. We still have kiwifruit left over from last week so we aren’t entirely fruitless. I got an Add On of kumara sourdough instead of ciabatta this week for a change. For those not in kiwi-land, kumara is the Maori word …

Kale chips and a CSA box review for Week 2

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The Koala: “What are you making?” Me: “I’ve already eaten them. They were kale chips.” The Koala: “Kale?…Chips?!? What were they like?” Me: “Like dry, crunchy leaves. I ate the whole bowl.” The Koala was unconvinced and secretly glad there were no kale chips left. Even I’m not convinced, but I did eat all of them before I realised what was happening. A good way to get rid of an abundance of kale I guess. This recipe is easy and you might as well give it a try if you have kale. Maybe you’ll like it. Or maybe you’ll find that you ate the lot before you could decide if you liked kale chips or not. Just make sure you keep a close eye on these suckers in the oven because they can burn in a heartbeat. Kale Chips Makes a bowl enough for 1 or 2 as a snack Ingredients 1 bunch of kale 1 tablespoon olive oil A sprinkle of salt, paprika, and/or garlic salt Preparation Pre-heat oven to 170°C/340°F. Pick the leaves from …

OOOOBY BOX WEEK 2

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To get more efficient in our grocery shops this winter, we are replacing the 2 to 3 trips per week to the market, with a weekly CSA delivery of fruit and vegetables. I plan on topping this up with a fortnightly trip to (or maybe even delivery from) traditional supermarket and a fortnightly trip to Nosh (a local gourmet food store). Local CSA project OOOOBY has a great concept and ethic and we are in week 2 of our subscription. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables Half a cauliflower (conventional sprays) 1 big red kumara (certified organic) 8 carrots (conventional sprays) A huge bunch of red russian kale (certified organic) 7 baby beets (certified organic) Fruit 6 pink lady apples (conventional sprays) 10 gold kiwifruit (certified organic) Only 2 varieties of fruit this time, and while my list and email both suggested that I was to be gettting mandarins or tangelos, they didn’t arrive in the box. The weirdest thing in the box is: Kale. I’m looking forward to using it because for some reason it isn’t …

OOOBY BOX WEEK 1 – Review

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Our first week trial run of local CSA company OOOOBY was a success. Every single item from last Tuesday’s CSA box was eaten before the next box was delivered although for a moment it looked like we weren’t going to get through all the fruit. But a solid weekend of fruit eating got us through the lot. I picked up a trick via Youtube on how to prepare kiwifruit and having pieces of ready to eat fruit on a platter made it more enticing. It was so much fun peeling kiwfruit this way, once I started, I couldn’t stop. Last week our CSA box included: Vegetables 1 garlic (self certified organic) 1 red skinned turnip (self certified organic) 6 carrots (conventional sprays) 1 fennel (certified organic) 2 brown onions (certified organic) A couple bunches of silverbeet (certified organic) 6 agria potatoes (certified organic) 1 large bunch of Italian parsley (Certified Organic) Fruit 6 newstead gold apples (conventional sprays) 3 mandarins or naval oranges (BioGro certified) 9 green kiwifruit (certified organic)  Meals for week 1 included: Baked …