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Farmers Market Challenge: Winter Edition

December 24, 2016 By newwestfarmers

Let’s talk market deals. I know I have discussed market savings in terms of longevity and quality, but I have yet to mention a word on straight up monetary savings. Farmers’ markets get a bad rap when it comes to pricing. Some not familiar with New Westminster’s bi-weekly haunt have said it’s too expensive; they can get twice as much at the supermarket than at the farmer’s market. I propose we challenge that too-oft-heard stereotype.

Take for instance, the last winter market:

As we all know, I have a $40 budget that I try to balance to a tee. In doing so, I am not shy about letting vendors know what my budget is, what my plans for the week are, and what I can guiltlessly spend on their product.

I first walked up to Kevin at Bose Farms. To be honest, Kevin has thrown me for a loop every market since the summer. His prices are dirt cheap compared to grocery stores, and to a few of the other venders in the circuit. By all accounts, he does not fit the aforementioned stereotype. On top of that, his listed prices are often not the prices you’re going to pay when you get up to the cash box. All prices, whether carrots, Brussels sprouts, squash, or potatoes, are listed per pound. As I contemplated the spaghetti squash, Kevin sidled up next to me, and whispered the price he’d charge was actually nearly half of the $2 a pound listed. That, alone, had me grabbing for the football-sized veggie. When he put it on the scale, he grimaced. At $2 a pound it would have cost $8, at $1.25 a pound, it would have cost $5. For me, that was a total score, but for Kevin, he could not consciously charge me $5 for something that cost way less to produce. Off came yet another dollar.

I also picked up a bunch of carrots ($1.40), a bag of Brussels sprouts ($2.50), and a bulky bag of kale ($1.50). I’m not the best at math, but my calculator says that should have totalled $5.40. Kevin’s price: $4!

He excused it by saying he’s not organic: that his prices are still more than what it costs to produce; and finally, that he’s kind of goofy like that.

I’m hard pressed to name a supermarket that has a consumer-based conscious like that.

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

Bose Farms wasn’t the only one handing out deals. Just like you and I, these farmers aren’t fans of loose change. It’s easy to lose, it weighs down the cash box, they want nothing to do with it. So most that charge per pound, including Ossome Acres and Sweet Earth Organics, will round DOWN to the nearest quarter. You may balk thinking it’s just nickels and dimes, but hold on a sec, nickels and dimes add up to quarters and dollars. Over time, it is a significant savings.

Again, when was the last time a grocery store did that for you? In fact, since the removal of the penny, most times, they round up!

Shrimp and Chard quinoa, a go-to market-fresh favourite

Given the chillier weather, I figured soup was very much in order. I hopped over to the Tasty & Nourishing soup table. So. Many. Flavours. There was roasted red pepper and tomato soup, cauliflower soup, vegetable soup, cream of kale and leek soup, broccoli and cream of parsnip soup, green pea and quinoa dumpling soup, green bean and mushroom soup, bean and chorizo soup, split pea soup, and chicken paprikash soup. They all sounded so good; I had a hard time choosing. I narrowed it down to the split pea and the green pea and dumpling soup. I love split pea, but was intrigued by the dumplings. Instead of suggesting I buy both, Adrianna, the company’s founder, suggested I buy the dumpling soup and take a sample of the split pea. When she said sample, I thought I’d get a small yogurt cup size, nope I got a full bowl and a halfs worth!!!

I can assure you I have never got a sample size this significant from a grocery store.

Nothing quite like a cup of hot soup on a snowy-cold day

And finally, we’ve got our bite-sized samples. This is not a monetary savings, no, and many grocery stores have cookie samples, yes, but how many of us know exactly what is going into those cookies, and how many little fingers have been all over those cookies? I don’t, and frankly, I haven’t touched one since I was about eight years old. But the market samples, usually handed out on toothpicks or passed over via tongs, it’s pretty safe to say are hazard free. The makers and bakers are there telling you exactly what’s in them, what their origins are, how they were made, and when they were last baked. I got a taste of pure organic apple sauce, a bite of a turmeric muffin, an offering of beef jerky, a savoury pakora, a slice of scone, and a full-sized, melt-in-your-mouth, sweet, sweet choquette from Baguette and Co.

“In Canada, you eat popcorn with movies; in France, we eat chouquettes,” laughed Bernard of Baguette and Co.

Singing fa-la-la-la-la with German apple strudel

MARKET LOOT:

Bose and Farms

Carrots

Brussels sprouts

Kale

Spaghetti squash

                                        Total: $8

Outwest Local Beef

Beets

                                        Total: $3.50

Ossome Acres

Chard x 2 ($5)

100g pea shoots ($4)

                                        Total: $9

Healthier Choice

German streudel ($3.50)

Schrippen bun ($0.60)

                                        Total: $4.10

Baguette & Co.

Baguette

                                        Total: $3

Tasty & Nourishing

Green pea and quinoa dumpling soup (600mL)

                                        Total: $6.75

Jam Shack Preservery

Raspberry lemonade jam (125mL)

                                          Total: $5

Before purchasing the preservative-free Schrippen bun I was 75 cents short of my $40 budget. I was determined to break even, and searched high and low for something 75 cents on the dot. But unfortunately, it was either 60 cents for the bun, or a $1.25 for a pretzel – nothing in between. I opted for the bun, which left me 15 cents under budget. That was not acceptable. Instead of stuffing it into my pocket, it went into the guitar case of the local entertainer Jen Hiltz.

Now, you would think after all those samples, I would have been way too full for a proper lunch back home. And I was decently full, but the thing is, the bun was preservative-free, and even though the woman behind the Healthier Choice counter told me it would last fine in the fridge, I just could not take my chances. And so, another great market adventure, made all the better with the surprise savings, was closed with a proper-good market fresh sandwich.

Needed talented mouth-widening skills for this one.

Yum. Yum.

Filed Under: Eats and Drinks, Uncategorized Tagged With: buy local, farmers market challenge, Fresh Food, frugal shopping, Shop Local

Farmers Market Challenge: Winter Edition

December 2, 2016 By newwestfarmers

I realized as soon as I stepped foot on the market grounds, the $40 challenge would be facing an added challenge this season. The winter market is not the same as the summer market – there’s more preserves and baked goods, less veggies, and all but no fruits on display. The greens are limited, and root vegetables aplenty.

Note, the other adult of the house tends to turn his nose up at the root veg. Shocking, I know.

Tis the season for being frugal with the wallet, and creative in the kitchen.

I had anxiously awaited the rebirth of the market during the long four weeks it was on break as it transitioned from summer to winter. I missed my greens. Like, really missed them. The spicy flavours of the mustard greens, mixed with the chewiness of kale, and the lemon-infused purslane, all but filled my dreams! Without, I was again relegated to dumping dressings on our salads to bring up some iota of flavour with the blandness of the store-bought spinach leaves.

The first winter salad
The first winter salad

The first bite back of that winter-infused, market-fresh salad had sugar plums dancing in my belly and angels praising hallelujah on my tastebuds.

But, unlike the summer market, the variety at first glance is lacking. The bundles of mustard greens are gone, and in their stead, we have bags of mixed greens, arugula, and butter lettuce, along with a selection of kales and microgreens. The bags are not as voluminous as they were in the summer; it’s the last of the greens until the greenhouse crops kick in, much to my salad-loving dismay.

Yet, look a little closer, and you may be as thrilled as I was to discover there are greens everywhere: turnip tops, carrot tops, rainbow chard leaves, oh that pretty chard. And the best part, it’s two for one.

I love two for one!!!

Market Loot:

Ripple Creek Organics

  • 1 bunch rainbow chard $3
  • 1 bunch kale $3

Sweet Earth Organics

  • 1 red onion $2
  • 1 bunch turnips $3
  • 1 bunch rainbow carrots $3.50
  • 1 bag mixed greens $4
  • 1 bag arugula $4
  • 1 bunch tatsoi greens $3
  • 1 leek $1.50 ($3/lb, rounded down from $1.65 because farmers don’t like nickels and dimes)

Ossome Acres

  • 1 celeriac $2.50
  • 50 grams sunflower, pea shoots, and wheat grass mix $2.50

Muy Rico

  • 1 container pico de gallo $5

Baguette & Co.

  • 1 French baguette $3

Total spent was $40 on the dot.

fm161201collage

You will notice the presence of turnips and carrots on that list. You may recall the aforementioned note about the husband not liking root vegetables. Well, when my boy saw the rainbow-coloured carrots, he had to have them, and when I heard the tops could be used alternatively in pesto, I had to have them. Mario was dubious; he really does not like carrots. We tried the tops in our salad: I thought a little mixed with other greens was complimentary; he, however, thought them too bitter. We were both, however, pleasantly surprised with the carrot-top pesto. We’ve made pesto previously, using typical ingredients, but something about this pesto, I can’t exactly pinpoint what exactly, really sent the flavour through the roof. It was so good, I was dipping my finger into the pesto bowl after dinner had already been devoured. We used the pesto in a pesto chicken dish with sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus one night, and also on salmon fillets two nights later. It has also been scheduled for yet another appearance on the dinner circuit for next week.

It was that good.fm161201pesto

This pesto was unreal.
This pesto was unreal.

I was also intrigued by the turnip tops. I have only ever seen the turnip root, not the stalks, it never occurred to me they would have stalks, and when I saw the stalks, it never occurred to me they could be used in salads. But really, it makes sense doesn’t it. They’re a bit chewier than your typical greens, and have a slightly spicy nature to them. Added to the varietal greens, along with the arugula, the chard leaves, carrot tops, sunflower and pea shoots, and our salads were bursting with a smorgasbord of flavour!

I also roasted a turnip for a side dish one night, and added turnips to one of my lunch salads. But I wanted to somehow incorporate them into a recipe that my boys could enjoy as well. That was a going to be a tough sell. The boys in my family want nothing to do with turnips, not even cheese-doused turnips. I needed to come up with a recipe that would make them palatable (read: hidden) for all to enjoy. On a whim, I picked up a celeriac. I had never seen this before. I had no idea what it was. Truthfully, I probably should have clued in it was of the celery family, what with its name and all, but nope, I needed confirmation from Ossome Acres. When I got home I fired up Pinterest and searched out recipe after recipe before finding a soup recipe that, with a few alterations, incorporated both the celeriac and turnip, as well as the leek.

Turnip salad was a winner!
Turnip salad was a winner! Recipe
Soup Success!
Soup Success! Recipe

Note: While the recipe does not call for turnips, we added them for enhanced flavour. It also does not purée the mix, but if you like creamy, thick soups, puréed is the way to go. If you are lactose intolerant, however, I would highly recommend using another source other than milk. (Cough-cough).

The last purchase made was a French baguette from Baguette & Co. I had heard Bernard speaking to customers in his customary French dialect, and was instantly drawn to him. I have a love for languages, a love for Europe, and a love for European bakes. There was a lineup, but it was not a worry; listening to him was like being in the thick of the Champs Élysées. When we were up, I learned he was from Lyon, France, located on the border of Belgium, north of Paris. We spoke of my family in Belgium, and of his “poor” English. He fed us delectable palmier samples. I did not want to stop the conversation. When we got home, and heated the baguette up to accompany our dinner that night, memories of Paris filled my heart. The freshness, the crispness of the shell, the chewy inside, the yeasty aroma, the connections made at street markets – it is incredible what food can do.

Baguette: Très bon
Baguette: Très bon

Take it from me folks, do not be intimidated by the winter market’s offerings. There is lots to be discovered, and it’s a great motivator for trying new foods, new recipes, and meeting new people.

Let’s get creative.

RCFM’s winter market runs the first and third Saturday of the month from November to April and is on Belmont Street in Uptown New West from 11-3.

Filed Under: Eats and Drinks, Uncategorized Tagged With: eating frugal, eating healthy, farmers market, great deals, Shop Local, shop seasonally

Farmers Market Challenge Week 15: The Finale!

October 16, 2016 By newwestfarmers

Oh. My. Goodness.

Wow!

Is that real?

It can’t possibly be bread, it must be cake!

They assured us it was bread.

Chocolate bread!!!

Last week was the final week of the summer market bringing the $40 market-spending challenge to a close. And in proper, good Katie form, I went all out.

Early in the challenge, I would never have purchased an $8 loaf of bread, chocolate or not. My spending was based on a strict budget where veggies took precedent. But, as the summer market started preparing for fall, the veggie selection became less vast, and, well, sometimes you really do need a reward for doing a great job.

I think I did a great job; chocolate bread was my reward.

Sadly, I did not read the ingredients. I did not realize there was orange infused into that bread. I do not eat orange-infused sweet treats; haven’t since I was about five years old and some totally evil person decided to underhandedly slip marmalade onto my toast – blech! In my mind, orange does NOT belong in chocolate.

Sigh.

fm16-chocolate-bread
Plus, we may have overdone the sweet factor: Chocolate French toast, syrup and all. Holy decadence!

 FINAL WEEK’S LOOT:

Zaklan Heritage Farm:                                     • 2 bunches of mustard greens: $5

  • 1 mini lettuce: $2
  • 2 purple onions: $2.65
  • 1 bunch parsley: $2

Ossome Acres:                                         • 1 zucchini: $2

Ripple Creek Organic Farm:                    • 1 garlic: $3

A Bread Affair:                                           • Chocolate bread: $8

Wild West Coast Seafoods:                     • 1 lb tuna: $16

Total spent was $40.65. 

When I started this challenge 16 weeks ago, I didn’t know what exactly it would present. I considered our family on the upper scale of health prior to going in, but admittedly we were a bit stale and stagnant in meal planning, eating the same-old, same-old week after week.

The market changed that.

It gave us new foods, new recipes, new cooking adventures, new menus, new tastes, new perspectives.

This is what the market gave my family:

fm16-collage
A collage of tasty goodness

In my first post of this challenge, I asked if the market was true to its negative stereotype of being “too expensive,” a sentiment I have heard echoed several times by my fellow Food, Nutrition and Health peers at UBC. After 16 weeks, I can handedly say that yes, some of the product is pricier than you’d get at grocery stores. But, and this is a huge but, the quality, flavour and freshness is bar none far superior to that of the chains.

When you know your food was picked that day, when you know your food hasn’t undergone chemical procedures to stall the ripening process, when you know every bite is going to be infused with an intense flavour that tickles your differing taste buds, when you know it’s going to last longer than a few days, as long as a FEW weeks even, that has to be factored into the budget.

When you know how to shop the market, as I quickly learned, when you know how to search out the best deals (two for $5 mustard greens made my list EVERY week), when you know how to plan, when you build relationships with the farmers, when you know how to use so-called wastes to your advantage (onion stems was a favourite discovery), you DO see a savings.

We did.

We stopped going to the veggie stand three times a week; our foods were lasting. We stopped buying salad dressings; the intensity of the greens didn’t require added flavouring. In meal planning, we started looking at multiple ways of using the entire vegetable – limited waste, so an environmental savings as well.

There were challenges. A vegetable one week was not guaranteed the next; something you had hoped would be there, didn’t make the cut that week; if you weren’t there early, chances were the items you wanted were all gone.

fmnopierogies
The week of no perogies!

 

Our final market meal was a trusty favourite we discovered the third week of the challenge – tuna loin. Unfortunately it had jumped in price since the beginning of the summer; what cost $12 in June, cost $16 in October due to a “crummy” season. It meant fennel was scratched from the list. It meant none of the maybes on the list would get into our bag. But man, that tuna – a drool-worthy, dream-worthy delicacy! Worth every sacrifice. Worth every penny.

fm16-final-shop
Challenge complete. Where oh where to get my mustard greens now?

 

Dear summer market, so much of you I shall miss.

Luckily, winter is coming!

Winter market starts November 5, and runs the first and third Saturday of the month, uptown on Belmont street.

See you there.

Filed Under: Buying local, Favorite Finds, Uncategorized Tagged With: Baked Goods, buy local, eat local, family, Farmers, farmers market, food security, Fresh Food, Katie Bartel, kids, local food, locavore, new west, New Westminster, RCFM, Shop Local, Winter Market

The inaugural Long Table Dinner

October 9, 2016 By newwestfarmers

On September 29, we hosted our first ever Long Table Dinner as part of Tourism New West’s Feast on the Fraser celebration. Forty-five hungry RCFM supporters came out to dine under an open tent in Tipperary Park. The menu was filled with delectable items from our vendors.

20160929_174211
Menu

We were lucky to have a beautiful autumn day and the tables looked a treat thanks to a donation by the Bloom Bloom Room, a local florist based out of Sapperton.  The centrepiece garlands added the perfect ambiance for a harvest feast. The Uptown Business Association kindly allowed us to use their giant tents which set the stage.

20160929_171236
Table for two?

Diners were greeted with a glass of local Pacific Breeze wine and shrubs donated by Vancouver-based Mixers & Elixers. Shrubs are drinking vinegars—slightly sweet and slightly tart, we mixed them with soda water. They were served by marvelous volunteers from the New Westminster Youth Ambassadors Society.

The table held an abundance of bread donated by A Bread Affair and butter that was almost too pretty to eat. The Local Churn donated some unique combinations including tart cherry and sherry.

The opening course comprised a Caprese Salad that featured locally grown vine ripened tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a balsamic reduction. There was also a Hundred Mile Salad with kale, spinach, beets, goat cheese, candied pecans and what I sincerely hope were edible flowers.

20160929_180430
The salads

Salads consumed, we then moved onto the entrees which included char-grilled, wild-caught BC salmon that was served with a roasted pineapple salsa. If you haven’t yet tried Wild West Coast Seafood’s products we can attest to their top-notch quality. The diners also feasted on mushroom-hunter grilled Rockweld Farm chicken breasts, another generous donation from one of our popular local vendors. This wasn’t one of those either/or situations—everyone got both salmon and chicken as well as mozzarella-ricotta stuffed agnolotti as a side. We also had roasted in-season local vegetables (because it was a Farmers Market event after all) and grilled corn on the cob from the Fraser Valley. We were lucky to be able to purchase ingredients from some favourite market vendors including Zaklan Heritage Farms, Bose + Sons Family Farm, Ossome Acres, and Greendale Herb & Vine.

20160929_185806
The entrees!

Unbelievably, diners still seemed to have room for the exquisite goodies donated by Sweet Thea and Delish Gluten Free Bakery. There was a choice of assorted tarts and gluten-free brownies and I do believe more than one person tried both a tart and a brownie (no judgement here!). Unfortunately no photos remain because anyone standing in the way of the dessert table would have been taking their life in their hands.

The Long Table Dinner was an incredible community feast! The generosity of local RCFM vendors + the company of good friends and neighbours + the deliciousness of eating local = the best kind of evenings in our books.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Buying local, Uncategorized, Vendors Tagged With: buy local, eat local, family, Farmers, farmers market, Farms, food security, Fresh Food, fundraiser, local food, locavore, LongTableDinner, new west, New Westminster, organic, Shop Local, Vendors, wine

Farmers Market Challenge: Fish, stew, cheese… oh my!

October 7, 2016 By newwestfarmers

Last week’s post was all about summer; this week’s is all about fall.

The air is crisp, the orange, red and yellow leaves are blowing in the wind, children screeching with glee as they scatter through the organized piles, hoodies and winter leggings taking over shorts and tanks, hot chocolate fast replacing ice cream.

Tis the season for belly warming, hearty recipes.

The Bartel menu has officially embraced fall – tortilla soup; quinoa, kale and squash stew; stir fry; and cheesy, cheesy quiche were staples of the week – made all the more comforting by market-fresh goodness.

To be honest, I didn’t know we were going all in with fall, in fact, our market shopping list this week was quite lacking. We had our usual meal-planning session, but both husband and I were stumped as to what to put on it. Meals were suggested, but ultimately rejected – we were not inspired.

So we went in with a list of our staples: greens and a few veggies, and that was it. We left it to the market to decide.

This week’s loot:

Zaklan Heritage Farm:

  • 1 mini purple cabbage: $1
  • 1 leek: $3
  • 1 purple onion: $1.60
  • 1 bag arugula: $4
  • 2 bunches mustard greens: $5

Greendale Herb and Vine:

  • 1 eggplant: $2.50

Country Village Market:

  • 1 basket Brussels sprouts: $3

Golden Ears Cheese Crafters

  • 1 medium-sized  chunk of smoked gouda $8

Wild West Coast Seafoods

  • 1 pound petrale sole: $12

Total spent was $40.10.

Of the loot not on the original must-have list were the Brussels sprouts (screams fall), red cabbage, leeks, eggplant, onion, smoked gouda, and petrale sole.

 

thumbnail_fm14cheese
Smoked gouda

 

We knew we wanted a fish, tuna to be exact, but unfortunately, due to a “crummy” season, what was $12 for a pound a month or so ago is now $18 to $20. Sadly, out of our price range. Ron “the fish guy” suggested we try the petrale. We were hesitant at first because every time we’ve purchased sole from the grocery store it has significantly shrunk upon grilling.

That’s filler, Ron told us, all water. Apparently most fish sold in chains have added water filler to beef up their appearances!!! Ron assured us it was a tasty fish that would retain its size, and at $12 a pound, it was within our family friendly budget.

Because it’s a lighter fish, we didn’t want to overload it with seasoning – keep it simple, Ron advised.

We splashed it with olive oil, added dill, salt and pepper, wrapped it in tinfoil and threw it on the barbecue, along with tinfoil wrapped veggies, including the eggplant and zucchini from last week.

fm14fish
Fish

 

My only concern with the fish, which by the way, my four-year-old devoured without any prodding, is the bone content – there were a lot of small, fine bones littered throughout. Good thing the boy doesn’t care about appearances of his foods just yet; it was quite mangled by the time I was through with it.

The Brussels sprouts and eggplant were grilled on the barbecue – sooo yummy! A portion of the leeks and cheese were used in the quiche; the remainder of the leek was used in a quinoa stew that also used the delicata squash, tomatoes and tatsoi from last week, as well as the Russian garlic from two weeks ago, and the onion, and purple cabbage. Pretty much I threw everything I had in there!

 

thumbnail_fm14stew
Essentially, a kitchen-sink stew

The stir fry incorporated the green beans, red pepper and garlic from last week, as well as this week’s onion. And with one more day to go, a little bit of onion and cheese remaining, I am heavily considering making a single-serving French onion soup.

Fall, it’s a beautiful, tasty time of year, don’t you think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Buying local, Favorite Finds, Featured, Uncategorized Tagged With: buy local, eat local, Farmers, farmers market, Fresh Food, Katie Bartel, new west, New Westminster, Shop Local, Vegetables

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Land Acknowledgement

Our market is grateful to operate on the unceded land of the Qayqayt, Kwikwetlem, and other Halkomelem speaking Peoples. We acknowledge that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land. We acknowledge the incredible gift this land is to our market and BC Agriculture. We commit to the ongoing work of decolonization and allyship.

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