CSA (Can't Stop eAting)

In an effort to be more frugal with our money and to provide our family with fresh local produce we joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
We chose a local farm, Faucette Farms, which is close to our house AND their produce is organic. 

 The product manager, Polly, is SUPER nice and very accommodating.  If there is something in our weekly bag that might not be to our liking she is quick to offer up alternatives (like extra blueberries...which the kids never like wait to eat).  The only gripe Andrew, who is 4, has is that there is no red farm (meaning he wonders why there is no red barn), however there is a red tractor.

 This week this is what our haul looked like:

We got:
Blackberries
Blueberries
Tomatoes (vine ripe, German Johnson, and cherry)
Zuccini
Carrots
Green Beans
Mushrooms (shiitake and oyster)
Eggs
Spinach
Onions
Green bell pepper
Asparagus
Peaches
Garlic (one head)

To compare and see if we really are getting a good deal my husband and I checked produce prices at the grocery store and compared them to what we got from our CSA.  We estimated that we would have spent $41.00 on the above list, but our CSA only costs $21.00 a week...sounds like a FANTASTIC deal to me.

Should you find yourself in a situation where you might have leftover produce such as apples, and they are a little soft, let me suggest you make your own applesauce.  This process may initially seem daunting or like too much work...however once you do it you will never turn back to store bought again.  I make unsweetened applesauce all the time for the kids.

This week was one of those weeks where I had some extra apples

So I chopped them up, skins still on (I like to include the extra fiber)

Add them to a pot and add enough water to cover them up half way

If you would like the sauce to be a little sweet just add 1 or 2 cloves to the pot (it gives the applesauce an amazing flavor).
 Bring the water to a boil and then continue to boil the apples until they are fork tender (these 2 apples took about 10 minutes).
Spoon your apples into a blender, or food processor, with a little bit of the cooking liquid and blend until smooth (if you've put cloves in make sure you remove them before blending)
This is what you end up with:

My 2 small apples made about 1 cup of sauce.  I used 1/4 cup of it in the vegan banana bread I made here.

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