Join the O’ahu Swim Academy & O’ahu Fresh in helping our island Ohana by donating to the 2nd Annual Turkey Drive.

Let’s give a little to our fellow Ohana here on the Island by donating a Turkey. Our goal is 2000 lbs of turkey in one day. DONATE ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17th from 10 AM -8:30 PM. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS AND HELP OUR HUNGRY OHANA.

On Sunday, November 17th starting at 10 am, donations will be accepted at the O’ahu Fresh location until 3 PM. From 3 PM until 7:30 PM we will be driving around  town in a climate controlled van to pick up donations in the form of Frozen Turkeys.

What we are doing:

Picking up turkeys and giving them to the Hawaii Foodbank to benefit our local Ohana in time for Thanksgiving.

What you CAN do:

Shoot us an e-mail at TurkeyDrive2013@gmail.com,  message me on FB or text me with your address to pick up the Turkey. We are only doing pick ups in the Honolulu area (due to the fact that we only have a limited window of time for pick ups). If you would like to donate, but you live outside of the Honolulu area, please be sure to drop off your turkey at the Hawaii Food Bank from 8-8:30 PM sharp. If you live in the honolulu area and you just want to drop it off, you can do that too. Here is the address:

2611 Kilihau St.
Honolulu, HI 96819

Here is the address/contact information for O’ahu Fresh:

45 Queen St. #203 – Honolulu, HI 96813| phone: (808)343-8196

Drop by O’ahu Fresh from 10 am – 3 pm to drop off your frozen bird. We will be there awaiting your donation!

Please keep in mind that no one will be at the Hawaii Food Bank until 8 PM. We will meet you at the Hawaii Food bank by 8:30 PM. The Director of Donations at the Hawaii Food bank will be there to accept your donations until around 8:30 PM.

Want to donate more than one turkey? DO IT, and get some free gifts for your donation. A free 1-week subscription to Oahu Fresh (valued at $25) along with a free private swim session/goggle (valued at $37) will be given if you are willing to give 5 turkey’s to the drive.

If you have any questions/comments/concerns regarding this, please be sure to contact me ASAP. We can only collect at this time/day due to various constraints at the food bank and of course our own schedules.

Please see  www.HawaiiFoodbank.org,  www.OahuFresh.com, and www.OahuSwimAcademy for more information on the services from each organization.

Thanks again!

-Matt, Lisa and Chris

P.S. UPDATE!!! Our Friend  Omar Razvi, is getting together a bunch of people at  RB Sports Bar & Grill  at roughly 6 PM for a turkey drop off/drink session. Join him at 6, we will pick up the turkeys at aroun 8 pm this coming sunday. Thanks Omar for your help!

It’s a bounteous bag this week Oahu Fresh members!  And plenty of autumn faves in this bag too–beets (Kahumana Farm), butternut squash (Ho Farms), mixed citrus (Kama`aina Land Plant Rentals and Nursery) and mushrooms (Small Kine Farm), as well as green onions (Green Growers), 1/2 pound chinese parsley (Leilehua HS), organic mixed greens (Kahumana Farm), and some mixed greens OR daikonfrom Pacific Gateway Farmers in Kunia.

I am starting to think about recipes for Thanksgiving, and I think much of this produce could be used in dishes to complement your big meal!  Here’s a few I’ll be trying out this week so that I can sample them before the big day!

Butternut Squash and Mushroom Tart with Gruyere   This is a fast tart recipe!!  Even though you make the crust yourself it doesn’t get refrigerated…so you put it right in the pan.  This recipe also calls for pre-cubed and pre-sliced squash and mushrooms but using fresh will only add about 15 minutes to your prep time.  Use your fresh Waimanalo grown mushrooms in place of the shiitake.

Beet and Green Onion Appetizer   Perfect to take to a Thanksgiving potluck!

Cilantro Pesto   Another great pupu to take with some great bread, veggie sticks, or crackers.  Also you could jar this and present it as a hostess gift!

One more Cilantro Pesto recipe, this one has really great pictures of each step.

 

Mixed Greens Salad with Beets and Walnuts   A yummy and healthy lunch or dinner!

Crispy Chicken with Green Onion Pesto

Finally, thank you to all of the veterans out there.  We believe you deserve thanks all year long, but we’re especially grateful today for your service!

I couldn’t resist adding one more recipe–this one is for your butternut squash and it includes curry and coconut milk as well as fish sauce!  AND it’s for your slow cooker!!!  You can also do it on the stove…but I love the idea of putting all this together in the morning and coming back to it later, all done and ready to eat!  Slow Cooker Winter Squash Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk

 

 

 

Hi Oahu Fresh family!  It’s the unofficial start to the holiday season–the beginning of November!  This week’s bag has products from 2 farms we’ve not ordered from in a while–Mari’s Garden and Leilehua High School.  We’re very happy to be able to order from them and hope you enjoy their lettuce and pak choy, respectively!  In addition your bag will contain round eggplant from Ho Farm, hot chili peppers, long beans, yellow tomatoes, and okra from Pacific Gateway Farmers,  and mixed organic citrus from Kama`aina Land Plant Rentals and Nursery.

As usual, below we’ll provide a few ideas and recipes for you, and we hope to see your ideas too!  And we have one more wonderful thing to reveal…we’re expanding to Kailua!!  We have been looking for a “good fit” location where we can begin a drop spot in the Kailua area, and we are now partnering with Cactus restaurant to do that!  We’ll begin dropping bags there next week on Thursday, so we hope to see some new Oahu Fresh members on the Windward side.  Sign up on our website and choose Cactus from the delivery options drop down.  Try out Cactus when you’re next in Kailua too, they use a lot of locally grown produce.

Slow Cooker Eggplant Curry

Hot Chili Paste   Use your hot chilis to make your own paste, then add it to whatever you like!

Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce recipes   one cooked, one raw…

Baby Pak Choy with Chili and Black Bean Sauce

Tempura Okra   I recently had fried okra on the Big Island at a potluck and I couldn’t stop eating it…it was light and not at all slimy.  I am determined to find some great recipes for it…I think this is one!

Panko Fried Okra   or this one…;)

Chocolate Dipped Oranges   FUN!

 Aloha everyone!  Here’s what we’ve scared up for you this week.  Instead of filling your bag with candy,    we’ve got sweet treats like mixed citrus and fall faves like beets and butternut squash.  And for the really  adventurous, we have ulu (breadfruit) this week!!

This week’s items include mixed citrus from both Hoalike Farm and Kamaaina Land Plant Rentals and     Nursery, both located on the North Shore.  We have Meyer lemons and Tahitian limes from Hoalike Farm, and Tahitian limes, tangelo, clementine, and lilikoi from Kamaaina Land Plant Rentals and Nursery.  Also we will be including 3/4 lb. organic beets from Kahumana Farm, a swiss chard/kale mix, grape tomatoes, and bush beans from Pacific Gateway Farmers, butternut squash from Ho Farms,  and  Hawaiian Ulu from ‘Ioleka’a valley in  He’eia and Mililani Ag Park.

If you haven’t tried breadfruit (ulu) before, you are in for a treat.  It’s extremely versatile, so no matter what condition its in you can put it to use.  When green and immature, ulu can be used similarly to artichoke heart.  When mature but still green, it can be a substitute for yams or potato, and when very ripe it can be used where you would use sweet potato, yam, banana, pumpkin, and chestnut.  For a really great intro and recipe ideas beyond what we’ve shared here, go to the National Tropical Botanical Garden Breadfruit Institute website.  Ulu is mature when the skin yellows and milky sap seeps through the skin.  When half ripe it is firm on the outside but slightly soft in the center when sliced.  Ulu will ripen in 1-3 days.

 

Mashed Ulu  

1 mature green ulu

2 tablespoon minced yellow onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dairy or soy milk

1/2 stick butter

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Wash, peel, and core ulu.  Cut into 2 inch chunks, boil in water until tender.  Drain ulu in a colander then mash while hot.  Add butter and onion, salt, pepper, and milk.  From Fae Hirayama’s The Breadfruit Cookbook.

Roasted Ulu with Garlic

1 green mature ulu cut into 2 inch chunks

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup water

Wash, core, and peel breadfruit.  Toss with crushed garlic and olive oil.  Place in baking pan with 1 cup water.  Cover pan with foil.  Bake one hour at 325 degrees, removing foil after 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to brown evenly.  Salt to taste before serving.  For onion ulu, add 1 cup chopped onion in place of garlic.  You can also add olives to this at the end, about 1/2 cup of green, black, and or Calamata olives, chopped or sliced.  From Fae Hirayama’s  The Breadfruit Cookbook.

 

Oahu Fresh Ohana-how are you all today?  We are well and stoked on this week’s bag–lots of organically grown goodness is coming this week!  You’ll be receiving slicing tomatoes from Green Growers, lemongrass from Ho Farms, organic bok choy, organic mixed keiki greens, & plantains from Kahumana Farm, a mixed bunch of kale and swiss chard from Pacific Gateway Farmers, and citrus from Kama`aina Land and Plant Rentals Nursery.  WOW!  I’m excited…here’s what I am thinking about making:

Swiss Chard Pesto (For Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos!)   I really want to try this!

Oven Baked Sweet Plantains   These are great to eat with any meal…very good at breakfast!

Mom’s Pork Chops with Crispy Garlic and Lemongrass   From the She Simmers blog, and a great way to use your lemongrass this week.  Serve with rice as suggested or with a kale and swiss chard sauté.

Cuban Chicken and Plantain Stew   If you need more inspiration to use your plantains, this is a good meal to put together on Sunday and eat for the week.  Create a salad with your keiki greens and tomatoes to go along with it.

Baby Bok Choy with Cashews   a really good side dish to tofu, meat, or several other veggie dishes

Happy Local Eating this week!