Garden Grown Chef (2025)

24/11/2024

Beautiful board set up today featuring Daily Crisis Farm cheeses and Locally Seasoned chutney on a custom board by Windy Hill Workshop for Spring Valley Farm's wreath making class.

🎄 Getting in that holiday spirit 🤶

Gift cards are available and can be used towards weekly and custom meal services, in-home catering and board set ups like these!

21/11/2024

I love it when I can experience the meals I prepare for my clients with my own family.

To suit the tastes of my 8 and 3 yr old girls, I took advantage of the beautiful lazy Susan they gifted me for Mother's Day from Windy Hill Workshop and added a "choose your own adventure" element to our soup and salad dinner.

I took all of the add on and topping options I'd given my clients on their order form and plated them separately so everyone could mix and match however they wanted. Watching the girls artfully adorn their soup with herb oil, croutons and Manchego cheese (meant for the salad but a brilliant addition to the soup 👏) was the highlight of the meal.

We're already an olive family, but the Spanish manzanilla olives with the little pimentos were new to them and really stole the show 🫒

📸 Cauliflower, potato & leek soup with herb oil and sourdough focaccia croutons from Fates Bread & Honey, Co. 📸 Spanish salad with greens from My Mother's Garden, olives, almonds, orange segments, fennel, Manchego cheese and sherry vinaigrette with chickpeas, chicken from RED STAR FARM or salmon from Louie Louie Seafood
📸 Pumpkin pie parfait with brown sugar pecan granola

14/11/2024

Lots of tasty, balanced meals in the last couple sessions, helping local families to fuel their week.

Some clients use these meals as an occasion to sit down and eat together without the extra hassle of preparation and others prefer things individually portioned for easy grab n' go nutrition that fits into their hectic schedules.

Whatever your household's needs, I'm happy to help!

Chicken, broccoli and spinach this week from RED STAR FARM, beets and carrots from My Mother's Garden and herbs, kale and peppers from my garden. Shrimp from Louie Louie Seafood

Orders for next week due in Friday by 8pm.

📸Honey 🧄 chicken (or cauliflower) with sesame 🥦 and 🥕 over brown rice.
📸Chicken (or mushroom & white beans) and spinach in a Cajun pumpkin "cream" sauce with rigatoni.
📸 Copy-cat Atwaters Baltimore Kale Salad with roasted beets, pumpkin seed granola, herb 🍋 buttermilk dressing and Autumn chicken (or chickpea salad). Rosemary & sage butternut squash soup with sourdough croutons and morning glory bread.
📸Sweet potato and black bean burgers with chipotle aioli and candied jalapeños with hot 🍯 Brussels sprouts.
📸 🍤 Scampi (or hearts of palm) with broccoli and bucatini pasta.

12/11/2024

Menus for the rest of November are up on www.gardengrownchef.com and the weekly email with the order form for next week will be going out tonight.

On it will be a pre-order for a special Thanksgiving week treat from Fates Bread & Honey, Co. , her Jumbo Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll pictured below. These freeze really well, as do all of her sourdough masterpieces, so I will personally be ordering several for my family to enjoy.

Be sure to subscribe on the website if you haven't already!

05/11/2024

I don't use a lot of red meat in my meal service, but when I do it's always from local farms. This flank steak from Red Barn Farm Market at Harry C. Dehoff Farms was absolutely incredible. Luckily there was enough left to share with my family and both of my picky kiddos crushed it!

It's all about balance so I kept this week's soup vegan for those looking for a soup and salad dinner combo.

📸 Steakhouse Salad with pickled red onions, radishes, blue cheese, whole grain mustard + balsamic vinaigrette with choice of kidney beans, flank steak or organic salmon from Louie Louie Seafood
📸 Mushroom & Barley Soup with fire roasted tomatoes, harissa and kale

01/11/2024

What an incredibly fragrant cooking session. I love working with warm spices like cumin and smoked paprika and adding in touches of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg. These spices worked perfectly with the Mediterranean style rice pilaf with carrots, roasted cauliflower, currants, toasted almonds and pistachios.

The base for the Bohdi Dahl was entirely different but equally satisfying with garlic, ginger, onions, scallions and lots of Thai chilis from the garden.

📸 Roasted Chicken Thighs from RED STAR FARM scented with orange and thyme.
📸 Pan Seared Organic Salmon from Louie Louie Seafood , King Trumpet Mushrooms or Chicken Thighs with Mediterranean Rice Pilaf with Roasted Cauliflower
📸Base for Bohdi Dahl (Indian/Thai style Lentils)

30/10/2024

November schedule and menus are up on the website and the weekly email and order form will be going out this evening.

Lots of cozy, balanced meals using fresh, local and seasonal ingredients are on the way!

Subscribe at www.gardengrownchef.com

29/10/2024

Loving the colors in the first session of the week. Had to have some orange for Halloween 🎃 and this savory salad mix from My Mother's Garden is really making these salads pop.

📸Asian Chopped Salad with 🥦, purple cabbage, radishes, sunflower seeds, scallions, 🥕+🫚 dressing and choice of edamame or 🍤 from Louie Louie Seafood
📸 Sweet Potato & 🍏 soup with coconut milk and Aleppo pepper.

25/10/2024

I got to work with some beautiful produce from Oak Spring Farm this week for my Mexican inspired menu. There was also chicken from RED STAR FARM , shrimp from Louie Louie Seafood and beef from Roseda Farm

When the weather stays a bit warm this time of year you have to be able satisfy the desire for something cozy that feels like Fall while utilizing both late Summer produce and the typical Autumn ingredients. This week's menu did just that and was a big success.

Next week's menu and order form have already gone out but orders aren't due in until Friday at 8pm (and all my clients know I'm pretty lenient about that 😉) so there's still plenty of time to go to www.gardengrownchef.com to subscribe.

📸Beautiful local produce for this week's meals
📸 Mexican Chopped Salad with Cilantro-Lime Buttermilk Dressing
📸Simmering pinto beans & red beans for enchiladas
📸 Butternut Squash & Poblano Enchiladas with choice of chicken, beef or bean
🚫Not pictured was the delicious Chili Verde with Pumpkin Cornbread

10/10/2024

The sun is shining but today's breezy, chilly weather has me feeling grateful for cozy sweaters and nourishing, warm you from the inside out soup.

A perfect day for menu planning. October menus are being updated online and next week's menu and order form just went out. Orders are due Friday at 8pm so there's still time to go to www.gardengrownchef.com and subscribe.

📸 White Bean & Kale Soup with Gremolata Hot Italian Sausage from Nine Pines Farm 🥕, celery, 🥔, 🍅, artichoke, red peppers, 🍋 and lots of herbs and 🧄 Perfect with crusty sourdough from Fates Bread & Honey, Co.

04/10/2024

The food I cook for my clients is not always the food my kids want to eat.

We have a "try it" rule but they're not just picky, they're "strong willed" (I could use less kind words) and I've found that they would often just prefer to "starve".

There are few things I dislike more than a mealtime battle but one of them might be making separate dinners. So we've found a compromise.

We take a few extra minutes to set a nice table, bonus if it can be outside. Everyone has a role to play from silverware to arranging flowers. The meal is set out on one large platter when possible with items remaining separate. I typically try to have two proteins and if the vegetable is "weird" like this Sicilian Caponata, I'll include one or two more familiar options.

Everyone gets to make their own plate with the only rules being there must at least be one vegetable and one protein. It seems to work, most of the time.

For my clients that are trying to feed their kiddos with my meals, I hope this helps. You can always make a request in your order for items to be packaged separately, order multiple proteins or bases to meet different tastes, request a side veggie or add on to the dish at home.

Not every menu item can be made acceptable for some of our little food critics, but many can be and I'm happy to help where possible.

03/10/2024

This week's menu was the perfect combination of comfort and sunshine that we all needed this week.

Early Autumn calls for slightly cozier meals that still take advantage of late Summer produce.

This week's ingredients from:
RED STAR FARM 🌽 🍆 🍗
My Mother's Garden 🫑
North Acres Farm 🥩
Louie Louie Seafood 🍤

📸Mexican Street Corn Chowder with Shrimp or Pinto Beans
📸Arugula Salad w/ Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Queso Fresco, Toasted Almonds and Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrette with choice of Beans, Shrimp or Chicken
📸Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
📸 Thai Basil Stir Fry with Peppers, Green Beans, Zucchini, Carrots and Red Onion over Brown Rice with Choice of Tofu, Beef or Shrimp
📸Sicilian Caponata with Choice of Gigante Beans, Swordfish or Chicken Thighs with arugula, couscous or Sourdough Pesto Focaccia from Fates Bread & Honey, Co.

Menu and order form for next week are going out shortly.

Subscribe at www.gardengrownchef.com

27/09/2024

Chesapeake Grits were a big hit this week.

Meal Prep clients customized their combos and enjoyed Shrimp & Sausage, Sausage & Mushroom, just Shrimp and Cannellini Beans & Mushrooms with local red peppers, spinach and garden fresh herbs over Daily Crisis Farm Krabby 🧀 grits.

These gorgeous wild caught 🍤 are from Louie Louie Seafood and the Chesapeake Sausage 🦀 🐖 is from North Acres Farm

Next week's menus went out today but there's still time to subscribe to receive the weekly menu and order form on www.gardengrownchef.com

24/09/2024

Meal prep success. This is the first week of Fall menus and Mondays are for batching out soups, salads, breakfast and snacks to help families start their week off right with balanced nutrition ready to grab n' go.

📸 Minestrone Soup, Kale (or Romaine) Caesar Salad with Chicken or Cannellini Beans, Garden Veggie Dip with Veggies & House-Made Pita Chips and Apple Pie Parfaits with Cinnamon Walnut Granola

19/09/2024

So long sweet Summer ☀️

This was the last week of my Summer menu and I celebrated the season with some favorite items using the best of late Summer produce from Oak Spring Farm and RED STAR FARM and highlighting fresh seafood from Louie Louie Seafood

Next week begins Fall 🍁 menus which means soups are back!

Subscribers received the menu and order form yesterday but there's still time to go to www.gardengrownchef.com to sign up and receive weekly menus.

Orders due Friday by 8pm with pickup and delivery options Monday-Thursday.

📸 Old Bay Succotash
📸 Summer on a Plate with Succotash, Smashed Potatoes w/ Garlic & Herb Sour Cream and choice of Burning Hell Hot Sauce Down by the Bay BBQ Portobello, Salmon or Chicken
📸Greek Souvlaki with Tatziki, Arugula, Feta, Tomato, Cucumber, Red Onion, Choice of Roasted Chickpeas, Halloumi, Shrimp or Chicken and Flatbread or Tabbouleh
📸Fiesta Salad with Chipotle-Lime Dressing, Pico de Gallo, Spiced Pepitas, Avocado, Queso Blanco and choice of Black Beans, Shrimp or Chicken
📸 Sun-dried Tomato Dip with Veggies & house-made Pita Chips

12/09/2024

One of the things my meal service clients have probably learned by now is that I rarely make the same dish twice, not exactly at least. I typically don't follow a recipe, just an idea and a method.

The Thai Summer Coconut Curry was one of the most requested dishes, but this one was a bit different than the last using beautiful yellow string beans, Thai chilis and basil from my garden as well as onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers and corn from RED STAR FARM

What goes into it completely determined by what's available when walking down the rows on sunny late Summer day ☀️

07/09/2024

Better late than never. I went through my seed stash today and selected everything I wanted to use on upcoming Fall and Winter menus that was still viable to grow in my raised beds with the help of row covers for frost protection when needed.

With one full year of providing families with balanced seasonal meals under my belt, it is my goal for next year that at least 50% of the produce I use will be direct from my garden to your table.

Luckily my local farm partners have my back for the rest 😜

Garden Grown Chef