Category: farmers’ markets

Meal Planning 101: Week 53 and Fresh at Five Week 2

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Decided to put my meal plan and Farmers’ Market update in one! I use things I buy from the market in my meal planning, so it made sense. 🙂 I’ll note what things I bought at the market or what things you can buy at the market.

Monday:

Leftover crockpot roast, veggies (take advantage of local fresh veggies from the market), rice, and gravy

Tuesday:

French dip sandwiches (using leftover pot roast) with roasted squash and zucchini (can be purchased at the market)

Wednesday:

I’m hosting Missional Community this week! We’ll be having a taco bar with several ingredients from the market!

Thursday:

Grilled salmon, grilled corn on the cob, and grilled stuffed peppers (peppers can be purchased at the market)

Friday:

Salmon mango salsa tacos, spicy black beans, mango salsa avocado salad, and baked tortilla chips

Saturday:

Leftovers

Sunday:

Buffalo chicken wrap and roasted sweet potato wedges

Extras:

Lunches – tuna salad
Baking – summer bread puddings

Every Tuesday (weather permitting) on Jefferson Street in Clinton, MS!

This week’s vendors are: 

Love’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice and Snacks – shaved ice
Chuck Jones – blueberries
Smoothie King – smoothie samples
Eat Cities – sauces and rubs
Kazery Farm –
T & R Dairy Farm – hormone free beef, milk, artisan cheeses, cheese spreads
Lee Lee’s Garden – plants and seedlings
Dad’s Disappearing Salsa – salsa and dip mixes
Amber Farms – tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, eggplant
Mississippi Cold Drip – Iced coffee, iced chai, coffee and chai concentrate
Simple Woods and Produce
Kasia’s Kitchen – sweet tea and lemonade
Benet Luchion – botanicals
Boyd Farms – squash, zucchini, peppers, eggs, tomatoes
Grumpy Dave’s Kettle Corn – kettle corn, caramel corn, local honey
Lilee’s Gourmet Bakery – baked goods
LaRose Freshest Produce – kale, squash, zucchini
Pickled Pickin’s – pickled things, salsa
The High Heeled Hippie – cherry tomatoes, red, white, and gold potatoes, baby squash, mint and other herbs, beets and carrots

This week’s fun extras are: 

Live music by violinist Redin Spann
Canning demonstration by the MSU Extension Service
Cooking demonstration using market ingredients by Marsha Barham, former Viking Cooking School Director
Tote giveaway to Friends of the Market
Best of Sweet Tea with a Flavorful Twist competition

Follow the Mainstreet Clinton Facebook page for more info! 

Fresh at Five Week 1

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You’ve surely heard me talk about my love for my Stars’ Hollow-esque town, Clinton, MS. The whole town is great, but by far, the Olde Towne area is the best! In Olde Towne the streets are made of brick, the shops are local and adorable, there is a perfect outdoor courtyard with string lights, the locals are the friendliest, and it truly looks like it could have come from a movie or tv show! Our Main Street Clinton promotions committee plans events to add to the magical feeling of the town. We have outdoor movie nights on the brickstreets in the spring and fall. On Saturdays in spring and fall there are huge outdoor markets with handmade things. I love it all! Buy by far, my favorite thing my lovely little down does is the summer farmers’ market, Fresh at Five. It’s every Tuesday in June, July, and August from 5:00 – 7:00. As a huge advocate for the market, I volunteered to use my blog to post to promote before the markets! I will very likely be doing a Fresh at Five Finds follow up post. AND, I’m actually a vendor this year, providing sweet tea and lemonade for $1 for the thirsty shoppers! If you live in Clinton or the Jackson-Metro area, join us! 


This week’s fun extras are: 
   
The Fire v. Police Grill-off
Live music by Jason Smith
Dinner options from Garden to Fire Pizza and 303 Jefferson

This week’s vendors are: 

*NEW* T&R Dairy Farm: hormone free beef, milk, artisan cheeses, cheese spreads
*NEW* Lee Lee’s Garden: strawberry plants, jade plants, purple heart plants, vegetable plant seedlings
*NEW* Kasia’s Kitchen: sweet tea, lemonade
*NEW* Love’s Hawaiian Ice: shaved ice
*NEW* Amber Farms: tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, eggplant
Garden to Fire: brick oven pizzas
Boyd Farms: squash, zucchini, peppers, eggs, tomatoes
The High Heeled Hippie: heirloom tomato plants, beets, baby carrots, radishes, cabbage, lettuce, mint, parsley, oregano, rosemary, dill
Pickled Pickin’s: pickles, salsa
Mississippi Cold Drip: cold brew ice coffee concentrate, flavored sweeteners
Little Leaf Farm: green and red lettuce, beets, chard, pak choi Asian greens, basil, mint, dill, cilantro, cherry tomatoes
Dave Bufkin: kettle korn
Footprint Farms: lettuce, cherry tomatoes, onions, herbs, beets, turnips
Dad’s Disappearing Salsa: salsa mix
Lilee’s Gourmet Bakery: zucchini bread (gluten free and low calorie available)
LaRose Freshest Produce: kale, squash, zucchini
Benet Luchion: botanicals
Make Mine Fabulous: baked goods

Summer 2014 Market Dates:

June 3, 10, 17, 24

July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

August 5, 12, 19, 26


BLT Goodness

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I’m not the world’s top expert at saying no. Yes eases off the tongue a good bit easier for me. Saying no is something I have to practice and be intentional about. If not I’ll end up on 23 committees, with 47 projects, stressed and way over committed. 
However, some things are easier to say no to. Can you give me your username and password so we can share the account that you pay for? No. Can I drink the last bit of your milk. No. Can I drink your last Dr. Pepper 10. No. Can you fold my clothes? No. Can I use your toothbrush? No. Okay. I’m mildly being silly. I probably would let you drink the last of my milk and my last Dr. Pepper 10. But I have to give myself a pep talk every time I fold my own clothes, so good look with that. And no. I really won’t give you my password and username or let you use my toothbrush. 
Even if you don’t have the Can’t-Say-No-Syndrome like me, there are just some things you don’t want to say no to. You could call them impossible to say no to. Red Velvet cake for breakfast. Just can’t say no. Starbucks iced and blended beverages. Nutella on a spoon out of the jar. And…
One word. 

Bacon. Who can resist? Not me. I actually don’t eat bacon often. I do “real” bacon bits on my salads and in green beans, but I don’t crave/need/want/must have bacon until Spring and Summer. Why? Thee letters.
B – L – T. So simple. So classic. So perfect. So irresistible. I actually don’t enjoy the traditional bacon or way of cooking it. It’s greasy and poppy and makes the entire house smell like grease. However, when I started Weight Watchers I discovered Oscar Mayer Fully Cooked Bacon. It’s center cut [read less fat], microwavable, AND only TWO points per serving. And a serving? FOUR slices! I haven’t bought or had it since fall arrived. 
My taste buds and brain are weird about crossing things I consider to be seasonal foods over to other seasons. (Examples: I can’t eat soup or grilled cheese unless it’s Winter or Fall. I can’t drink hot beverages in Spring and Summer. I don’t eat guacamole, watermelon, avocados or pineapple in the cold weather seasons.) So, I equate BLTs with Spring and Summer. Fresh tomatoes from my Pawpaw’s garden are probably to blame for this. 
Here in the HOT great South, we’ve been in full Spring swing since January. (A slight exaggeration but not by much.) I pinned Skinnytaste’s BLT Lettuce Wraps long ago, in anticipation of seasonal BLTs. I pretty much followed her recipe exactly with a few minor alterations. I used fat free mayo, the aforementioned microwaveable bacon, romaine lettuce leaves, and chopped grape tomatoes. I recently attempted my first Lettuce Wraps with iceburg leaves as she suggests. I failed! They broke and did not work at all for me. A head of romaine is $1.00 at Wal-mart and seems to be a little more substantial to me. 
BLT Lettuce Wraps
original recipe from skinnytaste.com
Ingredients: 
  • 16 slices Oscar Mayer fully cooked bacon
  • 1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp Kraft Fat Free Mayo
  • 6 romaine lettuce leaves, hard ends removed
  • 1 cup chopped lettuce
  • salt
  • black pepper

Directions: 
Microwave 8 slices of bacon at a time for 60 seconds. Blot off excess oil. Chop and set aside. Chop grape tomatoes. I cut them in half, then little circles and discard the excess seeds and juice. Stir mayo into tomatoes. Add salt to taste to tomato mixtures. I wouldn’t add too much, because the bacon has a natural saltiness. Add fresh cracked black pepper to mixture.

My recipe yields 3 servings of  2 wraps per serving. To build a wrap sprinkle a little chopped lettuce in the romaine cup. Spoon 1/6th (a couple tablespoons) of the tomato mixture on top of the lettuce. Sprinkle 1/6th of the bacon on top. Tuck the bottom harder end in a bit and then roll the lettuce wrap over from side to side. It’s a little flimsy still, so I just wrapped mine in a napkin.

Each serving (2 wraps) is 4 points on Weight Watchers according to the recipe builder.

I served these with baked zucchini sticks and baked sweet potato fries dipped in skinny caramelized onion dip (recipes coming soon).