An appropriate symbol of my afternoon

On this Saturday afternoon I suddenly find myself at LaGuardia Airport staring at the overpriced gourmet snack stand waiting for a flight to Atlanta. I was finishing up my farmer’s market shopping for the week - and I had planned to buy everything from the farmer’s (sorry TJ’s and WF) - a new experiment and challenge. Well, I got a call from my Dad, asking if I’d come down to Atlanta for a few days and help my Mom, who hurt her back this week while he was at a large business conference. So here I am, stuffing kale, broccoli rabe, red bell peppers, and NY State apples into my luggage so I can continue to bring you the best recipes, and no food goes to waste. However, I did leave behind the duck legs and fresh baby back pork ribs in the freezer, as well as fresh butter and cheese, and hopefully my awesome parents will contribute to this weeks groceries once I get to the ATL. I wasn’t planning on this week’s menu being as structured as every other week, and wanted to get inspired by what I saw at the Saturday Greenmarket, have a set ($80) budget, and see what I could make of what I bought when I got home. I had a little bit of time to collect my culinary thoughts, and once I pick up a few things in Atlanta, I’ll have a budget total for the week, minus what I left in Brooklyn in the freezer (I’ll add the value of those items next week when I use them). Here’s what we have so far:

Monday: Kale, and hopefully a duck cut of some sort. Johnathan and I have started a group circuit training class with some friends, and our homework this week from the trainer is to eat kale.

Tuesday: Eggplant, maybe roasted?

Wednesday: Tagliatelle with Broccoli Rabe in a cheesy cream sauce (A staple in our house, and I was inspired to make this again when I saw the beautiful broccoli rabe at the market)

Thursday: Something SUPER easy - I fly back to NYC at 3pm, and go to the Food Network Wine and Food Festival at 8pm that night.

Friday: Curried Butternut Squash Soup - I was invited to a wheat free/gluten free/dairy free dinner party, and my contribution is the soup course. I’m a bit skeptical, but I know my friends will cook some amazing food - I’m just so thankful I don’t have those dietary restrictions!

Saturday: (!!!! - hopefully a good extra meal, making 12 meals instead of 10) Stuffed acorn squash - I think I need to try Quinoa as a stuffing.