Dark days catch-up

Here is the link to Not Dabbling in Normal, the blog that is hosting all of the Dark Days recipes and recaps of the week all over the US.  It is not only a good resource to find local sources for things, it is a bit addicting to read little snippets of others lives and their adventures.  I have failed miserably at posting things here that we have been eating.  So far almost every meal has something local if not most local in it.  We have a well stocked pantry of canned goods from our garden, gleaned from neighbors and friends trees and produce from a local farm that we picked at.  The freezers are both full (small chest freezers) of beef, frozen fruit 7 gallons of strawberries that a friend let us pick - she didn't want them! There are lots of vegetables and not many boxes of prepackaged food, something I have been trying to get away from in the past year (though there is still a box of Taquitos in the freezer, I need to use it up and have it be gone!)  The kids and I have been enjoying smoothies every other day for a snack in the afternoon from the straw berries, plums, blackberries and blueberries.  Dinner usually involves a protein and at least 2 vegetables.  The other night we visited a friend at the farm where we used to live and came home with a grocery bag full of squash and new sprouting lids for my mason jars!  What a find, now I can sprout 3-4 more jars at a time.  James loves his "plants" so much I have to limit him to how many he can eat or there will be none for the rest of us.  After I finish up the seeds I have I will try to find a more local source for sprouting seeds - the ones I have now are from Azure and Burpee seeds.  
Dinner the other night was spaghetti with marinara sauce, the "noodles" were made out of spaghetti squash from my friend (4 miles away) and I opened a can of tomatoes that had been canned with onions, garlic and basil that we grew.  I pureed the tomato mixture and added some more garlic and basil (one can never have too much of either).  We had a salad with lots of mung bean sprouts on top and sliced apples and cheese as sides.
I am hoping to be better about posting and taking pictures of our local, sole meals here in the future.  For now, click on the link above and pretend that I have been keeping up.  Happy reading!