I have to admit, I felt like a kid going Christmas shopping this afternoon – I couldn’t wait to get to my Fresh Fork Market pick-up to get my bag of great food and see what other goodies they had waiting for us! I had received the email yesterday telling us what the contents of this week’s bag would be, and I got a bit nervous as there were several items I have never used before, and a few I didn’t even recognize.  But one goal I have is to learn to cook and eat differently, so I shall not shrink from this new challenge! I visited the Fresh Fork website last evening (www.freshforkmarket.com) and ordered some additional items for the week.  Here is what I came home with today:

• 1 # chorizo ( a seasoned ground pork with a Mexican flare, I think)
• 1 bag corn crackers (organic, non-GMO ingredients)
• 1 head lettuce
• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 bunch garlic scapes
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 pint fresh salsa
• 1 sleeve bok choy
• 1 quart strawberries

I see a Mexican night in our immediate future – can’t wait to dip into that fresh salsa!

My add-on items came to $45 and included the following:

• 2 loaves of wheat bread (1 for the freezer to serve later in the week)
• 1 24 oz. vanilla yogurt (loved this for breakfast all week)
• 1 package barbecue shredded chicken
• 1 lb ground beef (my daughter begged for a repeat of the cheeseburgers from last week)
• 1 smoked cheddar cheese cube
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 quart strawberries (I forgot to put 1 of the strawberry quarts in my first picture)

So for $70, I think I have meals for my family for the next week, with the help of a few extras from the grocery store.  Here’s my basic plan:

Wednesday: Tomato-Basil Linguine with Roasted Heirloom Tomato Sauce (didn’t get to use this from last week, plans changed)

Thursday: Mexican Night – using the chorizo, cilantro, salsa, corn crackers, lettuce = taco salad or something similar (still have some organic black beans from last week I might use in here somehow)

Friday:  Cheeseburgers, per daughter’s request (thinking of shredding some smoked cheddar and mixing it in before grilling)

Saturday:  BBQ Chicken, do something with garlic scapes – I hear they are wonderful!

Monday: Strawberry-Spinach Salad with cheese and crackers on the side

Tuesday:  Something with the bok choy – will have to figure that out…

This week’s FFM email listing the bag contents also included several recipes for this week’s items, so I will be looking at these very closely.   The email also explained how the spring harvest is coming in slowly due to a cold spring season and other variables, making it difficult for them to stock the bags with as much variety as they might like.   No problems here – this variety looks great and is more interesting than anything I have purchased at the grocery store in recent history.  Thanks, Fresh Fork Market, for making cooking interesting again!   Oh, and as a PS:  I lost 2 lbs this week, without even thinking about it – had so much healthy stuff to try out I didn’t even miss the potato chips!

Happy munching on that bok choy —  will post pic/recipe, whether it is a success or failure – stay tuned!