Celebrating Local: What to do with your Produce Bags

Planning Your Meals

• Start by making a list of the ingredients you have on hand from your produce bag. SMC sends out a weekly produce listing every week. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here!
• Make a list of the meals for the week you plan to cook.
• For each meal, choose a fresh vegetable that will be the focus of the meal and find a recipe that features it. You can add other vegetables if it the recipe calls for it or it just makes sense – vegetable soup is an awesome way to use lots of produce – but in general, don’t try to fit the entire contents of your produce bag into a single meal. 
• Use Pinterest to organize seasonal recipes. SMC compiles recipes and ideas on their Pinterest page.
• If you don’t have enough of a single ingredient to make an entire dish, consider including it in a salad. A pint of tart cherries won’t make a pie, but they can work nicely on a salad!
• Use the weekend to prepare meals for weeknights you know it won’t be possible to cook. Make a huge pot of soup that can be reheated, or grill chicken or steak for topping salads.
• Don’t just think about dinner! Include veggies in packed lunches, and offer them as snacks. Add veggies to omelets or frittatas at breakfast, or slice up fruit and add to yogurt and oatmeal.

Storage Tips

Properly store produce so it doesn’t go bad before you can cook it. Farm fresh produce lasts a lot longer than the stuff you buy at the grocery store, assuming it’s stored correctly. If you can’t eat it, preserve it! Slice it, blanch it, freeze it, and put it away for winter. To make storage easier for berries and chopped fruits, be sure to quick freeze them before storing them in the plastic bags. Storing the fruit with sugar will extend its quality while frozen. 

How to Freeze Fruit

• Wash and sort fruit carefully and discard parts that are of poor quality. Prepare fruit as you will use it.
• Check the University of Minnesota's chart for freezing fruit to see if an anti-browning treatment is suggested. Use ascorbic acid preparation as recommended in the chart or in the manufacturer's instructions.
• Use dry sugar, or sugar syrup in suggested portions. Dissolve the sugar needed in cold water. Stir. Allow to stand until sugar is completely dissolved. Do not heat. Sugar syrup  will keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator. If you are preparing a sugarless pack of fruit that browns, be sure to treat with ascorbic acid or other anti-browning agents.
• Pack into plastic freezer bags, freezer containers, or freezer jars. Allow ½ inches of space for expansion. Pack fruits that tend to darken in rigid containers under the syrup by placing crumpled wax paper between the lid and fruit.

South Mountain Creamery is proud to partner with Gude Brothers in Middletown, MD to bring you the freshest, local produce straight to your door. Learn more about our produce and home delivery at www.southmountaincreamery.com

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Celebrating National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month

June isn’t just for celebrating dairy products – it’s also National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month! Summer is just around the corner, which means plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables will be available!

Eating fruits and vegetables provides health benefits. People who eat more vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Most fruits are naturally low in fat, sodium, and calories; and none have cholesterol.  Fruits also provide nutrients vital for health, such as potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and folate (folic acid).

• Calcium: Calcium is essential for healthy bones and teeth. It is also needed for normal functioning of muscles, nerves and some glands.
• Folate: Healthful diets with adequate folate may reduce a woman’s risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect.
• Iron: Important for healthy blood and normal functioning of all cells.
• Magnesium: Magnesium is necessary for healthy bones and is involved with more than 300 enzymes in your body! Inadequate levels may result in muscle cramps and high blood pressure.
• Potassium: Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain a healthy blood pressure.
• Sodium: Assists in normal cell function throughout the body. Most diets contain too much sodium, which is often associated with high blood pressure.
• Vitamin A: Keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps protect against infections.
• Vitamin C: Helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy.

10 Tips to Help you Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Make it Visible: Keep a bowl of whole fruit on the table, counter, or refrigerator.

Think about Taste: Buy fresh fruits in season when they may be less expensive and at their peak flavor. Add fruits into your recipes for a sweet treat!

Think about Variety: Buy fruits and vegetables that are dried, frozen, and canned (in water or 100% juice) as well as fresh, so that you always have a supply on hand. Dazzle your plate with color! Eating fruits and veggies in a variety of colors — red, dark green, yellow, blue, purple, white and orange — not only provides eye candy for your plate, but mixing things up also gives you a broad range of nutrients.

Don’t forget Fiber: Make most of your choices whole or cut up fruit, rather than juice, for the benefits that dietary fiber provides. Fruits and vegetables provide fiber that helps fill you up and keeps your digestive system happy. Diets rich in dietary fiber have been shown to have a number of beneficial effects, including decreased risk of coronary heart disease.

Be a Role Model: Set a good example for children by eating fruit and vegetables everyday with meals or as snacks.

Wake up with Fruit: At breakfast, top your cereal with bananas, peaches, or strawberries; add blueberries to pancakes; and drink 100% orange or grapefruit juice. Or try fruit mixed with yogurt!

Fruit for Lunch: Pack a tangerine, banana, or grapes to eat, or choose fruits from a salad bar. Individual containers of fruits are easy and convenient, too!

Fruit and Veggies with Dinner: Try adding pineapple to coleslaw, or include orange sections, dried cranberries, or grapes in a tossed salad.

Snack on Fruit: Dried fruits are easy to carry and store, making them great snacks.

Keep Produce Safe: Rinse fruits and vegetables before preparing or eating them. Rub fruits briskly under clean, running water to remove dirt and surface microorganisms. After rinsing, dry with a clean towel.

South Mountain Creamery is proud to partner with Gude Brothers in Middletown, MD to bring you the freshest, local produce straight to your door. Learn more about our produce and home delivery at www.southmountaincreamery.com

SMC Fresh Veggies

Meet Larry Gude, from Gude Brothers Greenhouses! 

Gude Brothers is a controlled environment farming venture, They are experts at growing greenhouse produce. With state-of-the-art growing facilities covering 1.5 acres, Gude Brothers combine constant sunshine, optimal temperatures, greenhouse protection and controls to create natural, wholesome produce season after season. They produce local, healthy food using sustainable, biological growing methods. Gude Brothers provide South Mountain Creamery with fresh Field Lettuce Mix, Asian Mix Lettuce, Arugula, and Kale daily!

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