I live closer to a farmers market than the grocery store.

I can’t believe I just found this market! A friend of mine informed me last week that there is a Saturday farmers market at the corner of Alton Pl. and 36th St, in the parking lot of the Sheridan School, which just so happens to be a 5-minute walk  from where I live. It is held by New Morning Farm, which is about a hundred miles north of here in Pennsylvania. And, it literally is easier to get to than the Giant for me. How about that.

So yesterday, I trekked out into the snowy morning, and went to pick up loads of fun stuff. I got: raisin-walnut bread, honey crisp apples (omg–the best apples in the world), a couple pink lady apples (which I also like, but not as much as honey crisp), Asian pears, carrots, white sweet potatoes, turnips, arugula, and beets. I got a ton of stuff, literally all the food I will need this week minus a couple things like soy milk, almond butter, soy “meat”, etc–and I only spent about $35. In fact, the honey crisp apples were $2/lb, which is $.59 cheaper than they used to be when Giant had them, which they don’t anymore. I hate Giant, I really do. I shop there, but I hate it.

Bt-dubs, if you are looking to really cut out your plastic bag usage, check out these produce bags from ReusableBags.com — They are awesome, my sister got me a set for Christmas and I use them all the time. Every time I use them, people stare at me, with jealous eyes. Mmmhm.

So then, I went on to literally cook up a storm yesterday. I cooked so much I didn’t have time to blog, that’s how much I cooked. I think what I am going to try to do from now on is do my cooking on Saturday/Sunday and then have meals to eat during the week. I never have time to cook during the week. Does anyone?

I boiled up the beets and peeled them and put them away to use later in the week in salads or heated up. Um, so just a tip if you plan on boiling and peeling beets at home: don’t wear a white top while doing so. I couldn’t tell if I was cutting into my fingers or just covered in beet juice. Appetizing, I know. (I didn’t cut myself. Just FYI.) But anyway my clothes were covered in red spots after–I should invest in an apron. If anyone knows a simple way to peel beets, please let me know.

More on beets: I had never eaten a beet until about a year ago, when I accidentally ate one at a salad bar. And I liked it. I just don’t ever buy or cook with them, but they really are delicious. And they are apparently really good for you, super high in fiber and vitamin B and all this good stuff. Anyway, buy an apron, eat a beet. This concludes today’s Beet PSA.

Later on, I got my carrots all peeled and sliced up for the week. If I don’t do that when I first bring them home, I never eat them, it’s awful. I just get too busy/lazy during the week.

Then, I made the most delicious smashed white sweet potatoes. This is literally all the ingredients I used.

White sweet potatoes aren’t that sweet–they are sort of a combination between white potatoes and regular sweet potatoes. Which means you can make them go sweet or savory. I went savory. I boiled them up ’til tender, then threw in some chive cream cheese, garlic powder (didn’t have real garlic on hand), salt, pepper, and soy milk until just right. I mashed them up with this doo-dad we’ve had in the kitchen but I don’t think we’ve ever used, worked like a charm. I’ll graze on those pot’s throughout the week.

Then, I embarked on a strange turnip ordeal. My sister sent me a recipe for glazed turnips, which I intended to make, but then I think I put too much water in, so I decided hey, this is going to taste sweet anyway, let’s throw in some sliced Asian pear. So basically, this is what I did: Heated up a saute pan to medium heat, threw in sliced up peeled turnips, then threw in about 2 T. butter, a little pepper, and a big drizzle of maple syrup. Then I threw in the sliced pear. Then I poured in some water until everything was covered, but I should have only put in about half that amount of water–it’s supposed to steam the turnips, not boil them–not a huge mistake but ended up making everything more cooked than ideal. Then you cover the pan (I didn’t have a properly fitting cover–oh well) and steam for 10 minutes.

I tried the glazed turnip-pear experiment afterward, it was OK–but needs work for sure.

Note to self: I need more spices for the cabinet if I expect to do much cooking down the line. We’ve literally got about 5 spices in the kitchen, including salt and pepper.

Oh! And, look at all the books that arrived yesterday for my independent study slash personal reading pleasure eventually when I have more free time…

And now off to Bikram…