A Farmers' Market Bounty

Just so you know, this blog isn't going to turn into a food blog at least not any time soon. I thought I would share one of our favorite activities.

Whenever I am not teaching, Tristan and I will trek to the local farmers' market in Larchmont Village. I love the variety there and the ease of finding a parking space! We usually go before they close for the best deals. It really helps when you're on a budget and money is really tight.

I bring my own produce and canvas bags to load up with fresh produce. Today, we walked away with two full canvas bags with:

-a dozen red roses ($5!!!!)
-4 onions ($2)
-3 tomatoes ($2)
-1 tray of strawberries ($6)
-6 loaves of bread ($5)
-8 or so oranges ($3)
-a bundle of grapes ($1)
-2 bushels of spinach ($2)

I ended up going $6 over my budget (with the bread. I was being lazy and decided I would shell out the $5 and not bake it myself since I am baking a cake today.)

The grand total? $26

I figured it out that it's a huge savings over the prices in a super market not to mention that I am buying fresh, local produce. This food will last us a week (or more)!

My favorite thing to do with our bounty is to make a spinach salad with tomatoes, onions, corn, cherries (no luck on those yet, but soon) and add sliced strawberries to the salad. Yum! Add some flax seeds and almonds and it's perfect!

I like simple food. Makes me happy. Keeps us healthy.

Do you have any favorite produce that you like to look for at the local market? I'm always looking for new suggestions on different things to try. I'm on the lookout for green almonds now after hearing about them on kcrw's Good Food show.

Ciao!