Overabundance

It’s official. Today I became completely overwhelmed by the amount of produce we had in the house. The final straw wasn’t the Bounty Box full of fruits and veggies (and the reminder of last week’s box to boot) nor was it the pile of tomatoes and peaches Jonathan’s parents brought back from their trip (I refused to take any of the corn on the cob, given the 12 ears already in the fridge). What finally tipped me over the edge was the bags—plural—of freshly picked peppers, cucumbers, and more that Jonathan carried home from his friend’s garden.

I knew we were wasting good food simply because we were unable to keep track of it. I had to formulate a plan or I would go nuts.

First step, organize the fridge. The crisper drawers are woefully small so we were simply tossing plastic bags full of produce onto the bottom shelf. Dinner meant digging through the bags on top and come Saturday, I usually ended up throwing away far too much.

The solution was simple—plastic crates that would not only keep our produce organized, but could be pulled out so we can see what we’ve got. An added bonus was that it would be much easier to keep clean. Crisper drawers were now reserved for lettuce and other greens.

Next step, cooking.

We’re pretty good at using our produce and most of our meals consist of selections from our Bounty Box, but we don’t think about options like freezing. So this weekend, Jonathan and I spent an entire day cooking in bulk. We had enough to freeze, including enough peaches for a couple more pies. What all did we end up with?

• Gazpacho with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic and herbs.
• Chicken and sausage cacciatore with onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers and cherry peppers.
• Lemongrass infused vodka
• Peach pies—two!

After cooking all day, we finally sat down to dinner—sliders with caramelized onions and mushrooms and a green bean and potato salad. And of course, peach pie for dessert.