September is a time of transition. I get moms back in the gym after the kids go back to school. The temperature fluctuates with warm days but cooler nights, which by the way are starting to arrive just a little bit earlier. The air conditioning turns off but you don’t need the heater quite yet.
The farmers market is in transition right now too. Due to the crazy summer weather you can still find plenty of summer crops like peppers and zucchini. They humbly exist along side fall vegetables like beets and butternut squash.
I’m rolling into month three of the Ultimate Oxygen Challenge and I need plenty of vegetables to help me do so. I’m carb cycling so veggies will be one of my main sources of carbohydrates. One of the snack options is hummus and veggies, so am taking advantage of the still plentiful cucumbers. Lettuce wraps are also on the menu this month. I bought some gorgeous butter lettuce and fresh ginger at the farmers market and made these spicy tofu lettuce wraps (instead of the chicken ones on Amanda’s meal plan) from Vegetarian Times. Have you ever bought fresh ginger? It freezes well and I learned you could even use the stem for flavoring. I think freezing actually things grating it much easier too. With one purchase I should have enough ginger for for months!
I also got some inspiration from the the Vega Team to make their Cauliflower Fried Rice in place of the chicken and brown rice on the plan. With protein from mushrooms from the farmers market all I have to do is added a little baked tofu or a Gardein Chick’n Scallopini.
I’m also learning how to cook my greens without oil. Instead of just the usual spinach and kale, I decided to branch out with yu choy. Yu choy is a chinese green that the Yang Family Farm is selling at Farmers Market of the Ozarks. Amanda says to steam the greens, but I chose to blanche the yu choy after a quick YouTube search. The results were pretty delicious with a little soy sauce on top. If you prefer to saute, they taste great with coconut oil too.
I’m excited about fall crops. The apples are delicious and I can’t wait for more winter squash to arrive. I may try a beet smoothie for a pre-workout snack.
How do you prefer your greens? What fall fruit or vegetable are you most looking forward too?
