PDA

View Full Version : farmers market and menu planning?



boogiemomz
05-03-2010, 10:24 AM
ok, please don't hate me, this is NOT meant to be a continuation of the previous food threads, i actually have a specific question. :duck: sorry!!

i have done well with menu planning using the week-long planned menus with grocery lists in magazines (like martha stewart's everyday food mag's "grocery bag" feature). but we are trying to get better about doing mostly FM shopping (FINALLY watched food, inc this weekend... :eek:), and i'm getting stumped with my menu planning. do you menu plan before going to the FM, or FM first and then plan meals around what you have? seems like the first would be hard because you don't know what's going to be available, but the second risks not using everything you bought and also getting home and not having everything you need to make something, and the FM isn't around again for several more days. just a logistical question, really. thanks for any advice!

m448
05-03-2010, 10:28 AM
some farmer's market vendors have their weekly offering preview on their site (most are CSAs or local farmers).

The good thing about buying in season is you'll know what's available. You mentioned Everyday Food magazine and it's a good one for using in season produce in their recipes. Might help to do the farmer's market, then menu plan that day based on what you get.

icunurse
05-03-2010, 10:47 AM
I was thinking the same thing, so I recently checked out a few cookbooks from our library. I did searches under local eating, farmers market, seasonal eating, and things like that. I currently have 2 books and I am waiting on a few more. Local Flavors is pretty good. But I am really enjoying Harvest Eating (so much that I just ordered a copy for myself). It goes season-by-season as to what is fresh and gives simple recipes, most of which aren't too exotic for my kids to eat.

I am stockpiling a couple of books and lots of photocopies to have simple, seasonal recipes on hand. You can also check out local eating websites for printable recipes.

misshollygolightly
05-03-2010, 01:07 PM
It sort of depends on the size and variety of vendors at your local FM. In addition to all the fruit/veg, ours has a cheese/dairy vendor, poultry vendor, butcher shop, and (at least a few months out of the year) seafood counter. Knowing that I can always walk out of the FM with pretty much whatever meat and dairy I want makes it easier to build menus around whatever fruit/veg are in season. I don't shop my FM every week--more like 1-2x/month, with a conventional grocery store on the off weeks. For FM trips, though, I walk through the whole place once before buying anything so I can see what is available and compare prices (and sort of put together meals in my head). Also, I've found it really helps to keep my menus and cooking processes *really* simple for FM meals. So, for example, I'll do a meat (or mushrooms) + 2 veg for a meal (cook the meat very simply--pan sear a steak, or roast a chicken or a loin or something, and either cook the veg separately or roast them in the pain with the meat). For example, this Saturday asparagus and multicolored new potatoes were in season, so I bought those and a salmon fillet. I parboiled the potatoes, then tossed those, the asparagus spears, and fresh basil from my garden together in a roasting pan with some lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cut the salmon fillet into serving portions and put it skin-side-up on top of the veggies in the pan. Baked at 475 for about 10 min or until everything is done. For another example, I might pick up a whole chicken, some potatoes, and some carrots or parsnips at the FM, throw them all in a crockpot with some wine and water, salt and pepper, and cook it on low all day. Basically, I think the key is to stick with simple menus with few ingredients. Plus, if you're buying FM produce and meat, you don't want to drown out the lovely flavors with lots of complicated seasonings and cooking processes--just let the natural flavors shine. Hope that helps some!