Happy New Year! With the New Year starting mid-week, I hope the first days of January are filling you with hopeful energy for the year ahead. My parents are driving up to spend NYE with the kids, giving my husband and me some time for a date night or two to ring in the New Year.
It’s Week 1 of Dinner Plans and it’s the first one for 2025! We have a pick-up for Stepping Stone Farm on Thursday and Riverdog will resume next week. With the holiday schedules in flux, I’m relying on the winter greens and veggies we started to freeze before we traveled to SoCal for Christmas.
We’ve had a number of vegetable ingredients that have held on well the past couple of weeks and are still fresh! See below for my plan to cook these up and use them in the week’s Dinner Plans.
Seasonal Cooking Tip: Taking Stock in the New Year
This time of year prompts resets and fresh starts. After a couple of weeks where we indulged in cookies and cakes and savored delicious roast meats and hearty veggies, I always find a desire for lightness in these early weeks.
That does not need to come in the form of salads, though winter salads are also delicious! Nourishing soups, a pot of beans, and even fibrous grain bowls are a few things I begin to crave this time of year. When I checked the produce baskets and drawers going into this week, here’s what we have on had from our last CSA deliveries:
- Butternut squash
- Grey Kobucha Squash
- 2 Purple Daikon Radish
- Cauliflower
- Pomegranates
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Chard, Spinach, Beet Greens, Kale (all chopped, washed and in freezer bags)
When checking our freezer, I still had quite a bit of our seasonal Spinach Arugula Pesto. I’ve got frozen figs and peaches to make jams along with a few pounds of tomatoes for soups and sauces.
PS: don’t forget to check out Part I and Part II of my Pantry Essentials Series for more tips and recommendations for keeping a well stocked pantry ahead of the holiday season.
Dinner Plans for the Week
We’re easing into the New Year slowly. For our first winter in Napa I also find myself craving more winter hikes. I’m aiming to do more of that this year. Between drafting new book lists and planning homeschool lessons, dinners aim to reflect the ease and comfort I’m seeking in these first days of 2025.
Our Game Plan for Dinner this Week:
Sunday: Mexican Fish Soup
Monday: Creamy Potato and Leek Soup with Crispy Prosciutto (recipe coming soon)
Tuesday: One Pot Tender Beef Stew
Wednesday: Pasta with Sausage, Peas, and Roast Tomato Sauce
Thursday: Easy Turkey Chili
Friday: Pasta with Broccoli and Sundried Tomatoes
Saturday: Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Fontina
From favorite recipes to new things with a wide variety of ingredients, cooking delicious food with our CSA definitely gets us out of a dinner rut and reduce food waste. I share meal ideas for our busy weeks with our weekly newsletter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to be in the know when they’re live. 😉
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