Right after our wedding (holy cow, how was that 8 years ago), Eric and I got our first CSA. It was a box full of 6 varieties of lettuce, a head of cauliflower and a carrot. I was massively disappointed and we set the idea on a backburner.

In the years since, we’ve lived in Hollywood next to an amazing pop-up farmers market. Sundays would mean brunch at the market, cruising through the stalls for fruits and veggies and then running next door to Trader Joes for staples. Grocery shopping was never more fun. Plus we could scale up and down on our produce as needed. Leaving the market was among my top losses for leaving Hollywood.

I knew when we moved, I’d need to get creative in how we could find local produce where I enjoyed the acquisition experience as much. I started researching local CSAs again a few weeks after our move, but convincing Eric that it wouldn’t be a repeat of the great lettuce disaster of ’08 was another story.

Thanks to Yelp, I stumbled upon a local CSA that allows you to stagger your box delivery. (One of the things that we’re worried about is actually using up a boxes worth in a week and then getting a whole additional box.) With a $5 first time coupon, I knew it was worth a shot.

Unfortunately, I had to travel for family purposes the night of our first CSA delivery but we were thrilled with the experience. We were overwhelmed at the amount of beautiful produce we got for $20. Last week our second box was delivered and I was there for the unpacking. Luke had a blast, counting what was inside and learning about new fruits and veggies.

Ensuring we get enough vegetables into our diet is even more important to me with my pregnancy and Luke’s move from a daycare that gave him veggies twice a day. We’ve had a ton of fun experimenting with our CSA. Here are a few recipes I’ve cooked up in the last few weeks. Excited to see the ways that our CSA challenges me in the weeks ahead.

Feel free to follow (or unfollow) my Pinterest board dedicated to CSA recipes and send any ideas you might have my way for making the most of our newest obsession!