The CSA

We are not healthy eaters by nature.  It isn't that we don't like healthy food, it just isn't always convenient. Packaged or prepared foods tend to be easier.  We are not unhealthy eaters either though. When I go to the store I grab the pre-washed, pre-cut lettuce in a bag.  My go to vegetables are broccoli, baby carrots and sweet potatoes.

Last year I toyed with the idea of a CSA but I was pregnant and feeling a bit lazy.  I decided we would just buy what was in-season at the farmers' market.  I think we went once :(.  So this year I decided to go for it.  It is kind of like joining a gym; you pay a lot upfront for benefits later.  One big difference is that every time I open my fridge, fresh food is staring at me.

After a little research we chose the Root Connection in Woodinville.  The biggest draw is that I go to the farm to get my food.  This may sound like a pain, and there are many CSAs that deliver to a neighborhood location, but I wanted my 3-year-old to see where his food is coming from. The added bonus is the pick-your-own greens, flowers and herbs at the farm included in the price of your share.   The even have an area for kids to pick veggies.

The challenge in a CSA is that you get what us ready to eat that week and you get whatever amount is available divided among the participants.  This means you don't always know what you are getting ahead of time (though you can get an idea based on the growing seasons of the different foods) and you might get just a  little of something and need to be creative in how you use it or get a lot of something and share it with friends or store it (frozen, canned) for the winter.  The biggest challenge to me is cooking with ingredients I don't normally gravitate toward in the produce department.  We will see how I do...