We're Finally Home!

Last weekend we moved my oldest son into his college dorm and became familiar with his school, the administrators, and some of the students at William & Mary.  And this momentous event marked the end of our summer travels.  Between baseball tournaments, anniversary celebrations, and family vacations, we have not been home much.  Consequently, I have not had many opportunities to cook this summer.  Until, that is, this week.  This week the last thing I have wanted to do is eat out.  I am tired of restaurant food, whether it is a small deli or an elegant French restaurant.  I don't like having limited control over what I eat.  I ordered a red clam sauce that ended up being flooded with  olive oil.  Even the "vegetable of the day" was all too often bathed in butter.  Egg white omelettes were fried in some kind of fat, probably bacon grease.  And serving sizes were way too large.  Did I gain weight this summer?  Oh yeah.  But like a yo-yo, I would come home from each "trip", no matter how short, with a few extra pounds, meaning I had to really watch it the few days I was home to take them off again.  My weight went up and down, up and down all summer long. 

Well, now we are home for the next, God willing, 30 days, and I plan to get back on track.  And I need your help in doing it.  Here's my problem.  I have about 8 ears of corn from our CSA that I have not been able to cook yet and I want to make something (or some "things") wonderful with them before they are past their prime.  I have an edemame succotash recipe that sounds good, but that leaves me with about 4 more ears of corn.  I am open to suggestions and would especially appreciate foods that can be frozen or that will last in the refrigerator for more than a couple of days.  I also have a glut of tomatoes.  I have made a pasta sauce with the ones that just had to be used or die, but would greatly appreciate suggestions for what to do with the rest of them.   Especially since this week's box will contain more corn and tomatoes!

The past few days I have made some awesome recipes using produce from our CSA, including stewed Greek Green Beans which I served with veggie-laden Chicken Souvlakia; and a "Makeover Loaded Baked Potato Salad" from the August/September 2011 issue of Healthy Cooking magazine (see photo below and magazine link in right column).  I served it with Greek-style turkey burgers.

To shake things up (Yes, I'm making a tacky reference to the quake we had here today), I used the peaches we got from our farm to make a Blueberry Peach Cobbler from Cooking Light magazine.  And my weight?  It is remaining stable.  Why?  Because, even with the cobbler and the potato salad, I am controlling what and how much I eat.  Tomorrow, I plan to use my farm's eggplant to make Eggplant Parmesan from the January 2006 issue of Vegetarian Times.  Of course, I will make it with the home-made pasta sauce I made with all those tomatoes last night.  Yup, it's good to be home!