First farm share of the season!

Hey guys! Thank you all so much for your support and kind words about my first post yesterday! It is going to be really special sharing this experience with you, and just makes me really, really excited!

So, last week, I was talking to my older brother about my decision to remove meat. As a medical student himself, he is a bit of a hypochondriac but I'll admit that it is entertaining to hear the worst case scenario of any situation. So when I told him what I wanted to do, I was bracing myself for some declaration of that I would be at risk for sudden death or eye explosion, when he drops the biggest bomb on me. "You know, your hair is going to fall out". Uh... WHAT?! Despite being runner-up for the Marsha Brady award in high school (I lost to a brunette..which I don't know...just doesn't seem fair..) my hair is kind of my thing. So yesterday I searched online for vitamins I need to take to keep any hair loss at bay. Low and behold, a couple posts mention Vitamin B12, which was ironically perfect because some chic handed me a 5 hour energy literally moments before!! If there is such thing as a Vitamin B12 jackpot, I just hit it! 8,000 percent of your daily value? Shoot, I wouldn't have to worry about my hair for 80 days! Despite her warning to drink only when I was tired (which I wasn't) and that it was already 5pm, I did have this legit concern and a competitive game of Mancala to win. 5 hours of energy and fulfillment of 4 months of vitamin requirements have never been so easy (as was kicking some Mancala ass).

Worst idea ever. Come midnight I had as much energy as Shoshanna from Girls after she accidentally smokes crack. I went cray.. From sophomore year experience, I know it is probably a good idea for me to remove my phone battery after drinking an energy drink, since my hyped up tendency is to break up with people I am not dating. Such precautions aren't as accessible with the iPhone so I put it out of reach as I sped read chapter after chapter of the third book of the Song of Ice and Fire series. If you know anything about these, which you probably do just from the TV series, you should get that this isn't exactly the best thing to read before bed. When I did dream, there was a dragon eating a direwolf that was eating me, all in fast forward. AH! I woke up today with the worst migraine I have had in years so I legit believe that after one night I got addicted to and am now withdrawing from my 5 hour. Bottom line of this story? Take a multi-vitamin instead.

Good news is that I picked up my first farm share of the season yesterday! As I mentioned, I signed up through Clarion River Organics, which is a co-op of 8-9 different farms and just so happened to have the cutest stand at the Phipps Farmer's Market. After checking out their website, I knew that they were the organization I wanted to support this season! In addition to their full shares, they also do a small share for single girls like me, which is just a smaller bag of goods that I still pick up each week. A huge pro for a college student, they also allow for you to pay your fee in 2 installments, once now and once in August, so it hasn't hurt my bank account too much! Oh, and although this doesn't apply to myself, they also give a 50% discount to anyone using the SNAP food stamps program, which I think is an awesome way for people of lower SES to have access to fresh, organic foods. Plus, they even have events throughout the year where you can visit their farms, so this is a win all around! Love them already!

My first share consisted of a huge bag of snow peas (my mom used to grow these when I was a kid, so tons of memories associated with these guys), a bag of mixed lettuce, a cabbage literally larger than my head, a bundle of kale, and some garlic scapes. Aside from basic lettuce, these are all things I would never think of picking up at the grocery store, but I have already found SO many options for cooking them!

Last night, for example, I made this amazing Kale and Egg Bake. Now, I am not a chef by any means (most of my skills, if  I have any, are in baking), so I don't even want to pretend that this is a cooking blog, or that I invented this idea myself. Instead, I place my trust in the hands of strangers with cute blog names, lots of comments, and a chic background. Head over to Runningtothekitchen's blog for the recipe! Instead of garlic I threw in some of the scapes but pretty much followed the recipe from there. (I picked up some Amish cage-free certified humane eggs last week from Oh Yeah! Icecream on S. Highland, the difference between them and the "large white eggs" from GE is def noticeable! Plus I need an excuse to go back there every week, the place is amazing.)  I had all the ingredients already, it took under 30 minutes to cook, and I got to experiment with my new goods. Not to mention, IT IS THE MOST DELICIOUS THING EVER! I can't wait to make it  for any of my friends who are willing to try!

May not look exactly like her's but still INCREDIBLE!

So, after such a positive first experience, I cannot wait to try out more things! I am at a bit of a loss with what to do with all my cabbage though, to be honest. The only experience I really have with cabbage is eating Macedonia Sarma and simple, yet deliciously refreshing, shredded cabbage salads prepared by my favorite Macedonia in her kitchen. If anyone has any ideas, please share them!

Thank you again for reading! I am planning on making Kale Chips, which are apparently in right now, sometime later today or tmw, and will hopefully be checking out a farm fresh tasting menu at SOBA in Shadyside tonight, so there are more posts to come! XX