Challenge complete

Well, it's over. I picked up my last co-op share on Saturday. It was a good last pick-up: Sweet potatoes, lettuce, greens, apples, mushrooms and cider. We also got apple butter, which I've been waiting for since the co-op started, and a special surprise of kettle korn. I also picked up my last chicken, which made four uncooked chickens though I cooked one yesterday.

Back in March, on my very first post, I listed three goals: cook more, eat healthier and get over some of my pickiness about food. I would say I accomplished all of those things and even to a greater extent than I expected. I think I was somehow spared the foods I was most afraid of, i.e. turnips, but the fact I eat asparagus, cooked spinach, squash of all varieties and zucchini is a huge change from April.

While I definitely cooked more over the last eight months, what I found surprising was how much I enjoy cooking. A day in the kitchen is something I look forward to and find relaxing, which had never been the case for me. But I love making things from scratch and trying new recipes. That is not at all what I expected, but I'm hoping that's what keeps me motivated for the next four months.

As far as eating healthier, I definitely got more vegetables in my diet and actually rely on mostly vegetable dishes. And I no longer eat frozen pizza or cereal for dinner every night. But I cook with a lot of butter, and I made a fair amount of sweet things with the stuff I got in my shares. I don't think that was bad, but I'm not going to claim I was the healthiest eater either. I'm not one to focus on calories or fat, but eating healthier is still on my list of goals (along with returning to the gym).

When I started this, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a one-time thing or something I did year after year. I think it only took two pick-ups for me to decide that I would continue to participate. But it is going to feel like a long time until the end of April. I do still have three chickens, some squash and potatoes that will last me for a while longer, but it's going to be hard to go back to the produce section at the store. Maybe continuing to blog will keep me motivated to try new recipes, so I have something to post about.

Anyway, I just felt the need to wrap up the co-op season, the other posts this week will be Christmas related.

Evidence

I ran out of flour on Monday night.

I don't think I've ever run out of flour in the middle of a recipe or even run out of flour at all. And this was particularly surprising because I remember actually buying the bigger bag of flour within the last six or seven months.

I mention this because it's the latest sign that my habits are changing. I've gone weeks with only going by the grocery store for cereal, milk and granola bars and maybe a few other odds and ends to complete a recipe. But I've been eating better than I ever have since living on my own.

On Saturday, I stopped by the Farmer's Market and picked up a zucchini and a tomato to tide me over until my share this week. I've made two dinners with leftovers for lunch and my breakfast for the week with those two vegetables. Even four months ago, I never would have thought I could have made even one dinner with those vegetables, much less two when I wanted to eat the leftovers.

But it hasn't just been lunch and dinner that have been affected. The reason I'm out of flour is because I've been making more stuff for breakfast from scratch. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals, and I literally can't even talk to anyone before I've had my cereal. I don't give myself a lot of time in the morning, but I need something besides cereal.

For the past few years, I've made muffins from a package (just add milk), cinnamon rolls from a can or bought banana bread from the store. But I can't tell you the last time I've had any of those things. I've been eating zucchinni bread (also in muffin form this week) and scones and despite their appearance cinnamon rolls from scratch. And I can't wait to get some blueberries (coming this week!), so I can make blueberry muffins from scratch.
 
I look in my pantry and refrigerator, even my freezer, and wonder who has taken over my kitchen. Although the expired stuff that accumulates in the fridge does give me away, I'm still amazed at how different it is just three months after I started this experiment. Another strange thing, I actually gave up my bread share when I realized wasn't eating it because there was too much other good stuff and no need for peanut butter sandwiches.

I am going to leave you with this recipe for grilled pizzas from Every Day Food. I put sauteed zucchini, tomatoes and garlic on it with just some olive oil for sauce and then topped it with gruyere cheese (a rare splurge for me). Best homemade pizza I've ever made (so good I ate it before I took a photo).

Pizza dough

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and brushing
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

Pour 1 cup warm water into a medium bowl; add sugar and sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.
 

Whisk oil and 1 teaspoon salt into yeast mixture. Add flour and stir until liquid is incorporated. Turn out onto floured work surface. Knead until dough comes together in an elastic ball, 2 minutes. Transfer to an oiled medium bowl; brush lightly with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; set in a warm, draft-free place place until dough has doubled in bulk, 45 minutes. Punch down dough and cover; let rise another 30 minutes.
 

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Let rest 15 minutes before using.
 

Also, you can refrigerate dough pieces, covered, up to two days, or freeze up to one month.

Grilling

Heat grill on one side at medium-high heat. Lightly oil hot grill.
 

Stretch or roll out one piece of dough into a 10-inch long oval. Brush one side lightly with olive oil and season with coarse salt and ground pepper.
 

Place dough, oiled side down directly over grill. Brush top of dough with olive oil and cook until underside is light charred and bubbles form all over top, 1 or 2 minutes. With tongs, flip dough and cook until lightly charred, 1 to 2 minutes. Slide dough to cooler side of grill (or turn down heat for grill pan).
 

Top with desired cheese and toppings; cover grill. Cook until cheese melts and toppings are heated through, 2 to 5 minutes.