Welcome Miriel Salome!

Welcome Miriel Salome!

Menu Plan Monday

Yes, I actually have been doing menu planning for the past few weeks. I just didn't feel like taking the time to type it up on the blog :). I am having some significant trouble coming up with lunch ideas that are easy, fast and nutritious and don't involve eating leftovers from a previous dinner (since I like to use those for a future dinner). Any ideas??? I also want to incorporate more vegetables into our meals (including lunch), especially mixed into things so Mr. Texture-Picky 2-Year-Old will eat them more often.

Monday
B: leftover steel cut oats, leftover apple crisp
L: out at Hot Lips pizza (why oh why does the tastiest pizza ever have to be almost $4 per slice??)
D: spaghetti squash with Romano and pepper, salad, protein?

Tuesday
B: cereal, milk
L: squash leftovers
D: pan-fried chicken breasts, collard greens, whole wheat couscous

Wednesday
B: oatmeal
L: leftovers
D: with family

Thursday
B: cereal, milk
L/D: Thanksgiving feast! Bringing pecan pie, olive/pickle/vegetable tray

Friday
B: whatever we have in the fridge
L: ??? any ideas?
D: leftovers or Sunday's dinner plan

Saturday
B: cereal, milk
L/D: probably in Seattle

Sunday
B: oatmeal
L: ???
D: curried chickpeas with mustard greens and sweet potato (recipe from a friend, taken from Greens, Glorious Greens), brown basmati rice

Pecan Pie Recipe

Somehow in her years of cooking, my mom has come upon the perfect recipe for pecan pie (and given it to me). It seems to me that, since it's so incredibly easy to make pecan pie, I shouldn't be getting any acclaim for making it, but I get multiple requests in multiple circles to make it every Thanksgiving and Christmas, even from people who don't normally like pecan pie. So just in case you need a super easy, tasty and Southern pie recipe for any of your holiday gatherings, this one should do the trick. Happy eating! (PS - don't even think about counting the calories, just enjoy.)

Southern Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1+ tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup pecans
1 9" deep-dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients except pecans (and pie crust) and stir until well blended. Gently stir in pecans. Pour into crust. Bake 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Notes:

• As much as you may be tempted (like me!), don't add extra pecans! 1 1/4 cups is the exact amount that sits flat and beautifully on the top of the pie - any extra will make the top buckle and look ugly.
• The whole "until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean" thing will probably never quite happen, so just stick to the 50-55 minute time period, or a few minutes less if you have a convection oven. I tried waiting until the knife came out clean once, ended up baking the pie for something like 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 hours and ended up with a chewy, sticky mess.
• For the pie crust, homemade is always best, and it's actually not that hard. I would stay away from the recipes that call for vinegar and an egg, though - for some reason the flavor doesn't seem to go well with this pie (although it's great for apple or rhubarb). Recipe follows...

Simple Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening or butter
4-5 Tbsp cold water

Sift flour and salt together; cut in shortening or butter until pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp water over part of mixture, toss with a fork and push aside. Continue until all is moistened. Form into a ball. Roll to desired thickness on a floured surface. Makes one (or possibly 1 1/2, depending on how thick you like your crust) single-layered crust.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday
B: yogurt
L: PB&J
D: leftover salad and some other totally random stuff because I didn't plan ahead :)

Tuesday
B: cereal
L: grilled cheese, fruit
D: pasta with asparagus and goat cheese, salad with cucumbers and carrots

Wednesday
B: cereal
L: crepes with lemon curd and whipped cream
D: dinner with family

Thursday
B: pancakes
L: PB&J, fruit
D: potato gnocchi with fontina, pancetta or bacon, green peas, mushrooms and shallots

Friday
B: leftover pancakes
L: grilled cheese, fruit
D: slow cooker Korean short ribs, brown rice, kale or broccoli

Saturday
B: protein shakes
L: open-face quesadillas with jack-o-lantern faces
D: leftovers

Sunday
B: cereal
L: hummus and tortillas
D: more leftovers

Monday
B: yogurt and/or cereal
L: PB&J
D: Slow-cooker Roasted Winter Root Vegetables, oven-roasted chicken

Sugar and Spice...

... and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday
B: yogurt (YoBaby, needs to be eaten since it's a few days past the date...)
L: PB&J, grapes
D: leftover chicken, mashed potatoes (Gavin gets mac & cheese or grilled cheese, since he doesn't like chicken or potatoes - crazy kid!)

Tuesday
B: cereal with milk
L: PB&J or grilled cheese, yogurt
D: grilled eggplant sandwiches with mozzarella and parmesan, corn on the cob

Wednesday
B: pancakes (fresh) or waffles from the freezer
L: tomato sandwich with mozzarella, cucumbers, carrots
D: with family

Thursday
B: cereal with milk
L: ???? (I need some easy lunch ideas!)
D: Cream of carrot soup (recipe from our CSA, we'll see how we like it), bread

Friday
B: leftover pancakes or waffles from freezer
L: hummus and crackers/tortillas, fruit
D: with family again, bringing ???

Saturday
B: eggs, toast
L: ????
D: Enchiladas Suisas, Mexican beans, rice

Sunday
B: cereal with milk
L: quesadillas, fruit
D: leftovers

Ukranian Red Borscht Soup

We have gotten some beautiful red beets in our farmshare for the past few weeks. The only problem? I hate beets. There are very few foods that I truly cannot stand, but beets are one of them. What on earth do you do with beets, then, if you can't stand them? Well, first we gave lots of them to friends. Then, we decided to try making borscht. Amazingly enough, I love borscht even though I hate beets and I'm not a huge fan of cabbage. Here's the recipe in case you find yourself in need of a huge pot of pink soup.

Ukranian Red Borscht Soup
adapted from Allrecipes

16 oz pork sausage
3 medium beets, peeled and shredded
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
3 medium potatoes (any kind is fine), cubed, peeled if you like
1 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6oz can tomato paste
3/4 cup water
1/2 medium head cabbage, cored and shredded
8oz can diced tomatoes, drained (or not)
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp white sugar, or to taste
sour cream and fresh dill for garnish

1. Crumble the sausage and cook over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Set aside.
2. Fill a pot with about 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. Add sausage and cover. Return to a boil. Add beets and cook until they have lost (most of) their color. Add carrots and potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Add cabbage and diced tomatoes.
3. Heat oil in a skillet and saute onions until tender. Stir in tomato paste and water until well blended. Transfer mixture to the pot. Add the garlic, cover and turn off the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and sugar.
4. Serve with sour cream and dill on top.

Recipe notes:

• Although you could omit the sausage to make this vegetarian, it really is the biggest flavor-enhancer of the whole dish (besides the dill, see below). I would suggest getting a good-quality sausage that has a little kick. The best pot we made was with "hot" sausage from a 1/2 pig we purchased a few years ago.
• Do not skip the dill. Even if you have to use dried, find some dill! The sour cream is a big deal, too, although I did have to forgo it while Gavin was reacting to my eating dairy and it was still pretty good.

Happy beet-eating!

Menu Plan Friday

I'm back to menu planning, at least mostly. It still is grossing me out to some degree to think about food so I had to have quite a bit of help from Chad. But I am sure looking forward to planned grocery runs and avoiding that 5:00pm feeling of we-have-to-make-something-but-I-have-no-idea-what! Here's what we're having for dinner (one day I'll get back to breakfast and lunch, too, but this was enough of a chore for now):

Friday: grilled t-bone steaks, grilled corn with basil-parmesan butter, steamed fresh garbanzo beans with chili and salt

Saturday: pasta with leftover homemade roasted tomato sauce, corn on the cob

Sunday: eggs, grilled potatoes with onions and parsley

Monday: Broccoli Beef Wellington, made with homemade crescent roll dough

Tuesday: leftovers from Monday

Wednesday: dinner with family, bringing crescent rolls made with leftover dough

Thursay: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, peas

A Photographic Walk

For my birthday yesterday, I got a little time to myself to do whatever I felt like doing. Since it was a beautiful, warm day out, I decided to take a walk armed with my camera and photograph whatever struck my fancy within just a few blocks of my house. My 8-block walk probably took me 45 minutes, but it was nice to use the creative side of my brain for a little bit! Here's what I found (my personal favorite is the green leaf, although the first photo (a tree branch) is a very close second):

Absence explained

You might have been wondering why my blog posts suddenly and completely stopped. Well, a very tiny little baby suddenly caused a dramatic change in my daily life - tiny, meaning, at the time about the size of a lentil, and now something like the size of a turnip. We anticipate meeting this little one at the end of February :). I've been feeling baby movements since about 14 weeks and Chad got to feel the baby for the first time today (17 1/2 weeks).

Unlike my pregnancy with Gavin, this pregnancy has pretty much knocked me out of the normally-functioning world for a good 2 1/2 months, so blogging was one of the first things to go (soon after were washing the dishes, menu planning, cooking, pretty much anything involving food or the thought of it, cleaning the house, etc. etc.). Perhaps I'll be back to it soon, although the bathrooms are a little higher priority than the blog at the moment...

Menu Plan Thursday

We got our first farmshare last Thursday! Yay! I like being forced to eat more vegetables and vegetables that I wouldn't normally buy at the store. Last week we got 4 kohlrabi and I knew from last year that I'm not all that fond of it raw. I looked around and found this recipe - we made it tonight and loved it (but it's certainly not devoid of fat!).

We'll be getting our farmshare (and the email that tells us what will be in it) on Thursdays, so I'm switching to menu planning on Thursdays so I can use the produce at its freshest. My brain is foggy and I'm not wanting to spend loads of time on cooking at the moment, so I went for the easiest possible menu still using what we have, not being tasteless, completely boring or super unhealthy, and only needing to stop at one store tomorrow for grocery shopping (oh how I love thee, Trader Joe's).

Friday
B: cereal and milk
L: PB&J, pea pods, carrots
D: grilled sausages, beet greens (haven't tried this before but it looks tasty - and easy)

Saturday
B: waffles from the freezer
L: whole wheat pasta with homemade pesto (from the freezer)
D: Thai beef salad (from our Thai cookbooks)

Sunday
B: cereal and milk
L: leftovers, or if there aren't any, sausages
D: grilled beef short ribs and steamed broccoli

Monday
B: cereal and milk
L: hummus wraps
D: pancakes with rhubarb sauce, scrambled eggs

Tuesday
B: cereal and milk
L: grilled cheese, fruit and fresh veggies
D: potluck, bringing tableware

Wednesday
B: frozen waffles
L: PB&J, fruit
D: taco salad with Mexican beans

Thursday
B: cereal with milk
L: quesadillas (using leftover Mexican beans)
D: grilled chicken breasts, side salads

Menu Plan Monday

Monday
B: omelets with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, pancakes with strawberries
L: tomato basil chicken salad sandwiches, fruit
D: leftover soup, crackers

Tuesday
B: cereal with milk
L: chicken salad sandwiches, fruit
D: leftover homemade pizza

Wednesday
B: oatmeal
L: PB&J, carrots with homemade dip
D: leftover soup, rice

Thursday
B: cereal with milk
L: quesadillas with homemade Mexican beans, fruit
D: grilled steak, potatoes, green salad

Friday
B: eggs and toast
L: macaroni and cheese (yes, from a box!), fruit
D: leftover soup, green salad

Saturday
B: bran muffins from freezer
L: grilled cheese sandwiches, carrots or fruit
D: pesto pasta, green salad

Sunday (Father's Day! = special food for Chad)
Brunch: crepes with blueberry filling and whipped cream
D: country-style pork ribs with Ancho barbecue sauce, grilled corn, green salad, chocolate mousse layered dessert

Menu Plan Monday

Monday
B: cereal, I think?
L: leftovers (clean out the fridge!)
D: taco salads with leftover Mexican beans

Tuesday
B: omelets
L: PB&J, peas and carrots with dip
D: roast chicken, green salad

Wednesday
B: cereal with milk
L: hummus wraps, carrots, fruit
D: Coconut Beef Stew, leftover rice, maybe green peas

Thursday
B: waffles from freezer
L: grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit
D: leftover chicken, green peas

Friday
B: cereal and milk
L: hummus wraps, gruit
D: leftover beef, rice, green peas

Saturday
B: waffles from freezer
L: leftovers (if there are any more!) or mac and cheese
D: tomato basil chicken salad (link: scroll down for recipe), homemade bread

Sunday
B: eggs and toast
L: pasta with tomato sauce (from a jar, probably)
D: Esau's Lentil Soup, leftover bread

Menu Plan Monday

I planned yesterday but didn't get around to posting until today. Also I decided to include breakfast and lunch in my plans because I've been finding that I have plenty of things for Chad to take to work and usually have something for Gavin but often have no idea what to make for myself for lunch (that doesn't involve large quantities of cheese).

Monday - B: cereal and milk; L: take-out Thai and pineapple; D: grilled zucchini pasta

Tuesday - B: low-fat whole wheat banana bread; L - PB&J, fruit; D - leftover salmon, sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and onions with cheddar cheese
TO DO: Soak beans

Wednesday - B: cereal with milk; L: hummus wraps, banana bread; D - taco salad with Mexican beans

Thursday - B: eggs and toast; L: cottage cheese, pineapple, carrots; D - grilled chicken, couscous salad
TO DO: thaw whole chicken, make veggie dip

Friday - B: cereal with milk; L: macaroni and cheese, snap peas and carrots with dip

Saturday - B: waffles from freezer; L: PB&J, carrots and snap peas with dip; D - dinner out with friends

Sunday - B: cereal with milk; L - cottage cheese, leftover couscous salad; D - chicken wings (from Gourmet magazine), salad, rice

Couponing

I started couponing at the end of last year and figured I'd give it a few months to see if (1) it actually is saving me money and (2) it is worth the time (and if I got better at it and thus it became less time-consuming). (For the record, "couponing" doesn't just mean using coupons shopping how you would normally shop - it means planning your purchases purposefully, using high-dollar coupons when things are on sale and taking advantage of rebate or other programs at drugs stores to get free or they-pay-me-to-take-it items.) I've come to the conclusion that, for our specific family, it is very much worth it for household and personal care items (like shampoo, paper towels, etc.) and not usually very profitable for food (based on percent of total food budget) but helps some. I'm sure we could have an incredibly low food bill if only we weren't so picky about what we eat - no artificial stuff, no preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, as much whole grain as possible, as little canned food as possible, certain things (especially certain produce) organic only, not too much processed food, and we're trying hard for more fruits and vegetables. Don't get me wrong - we have definitely lowered our food bill by using coupons, menu planning and paying attention to which stores have the lowest prices for things we normally buy, but we aren't even close to $40/week for a family of 5 like I've read about from others (in my same city, in fact).

But the personal care/household items is definitely great. This month all of our household and personal care items came to a grand total of $17.44. (By the way, if you don't factor in the expensive all-natural, biodegradable, handmade etc. laundry detergent, it would be a net gain of $3.16.) This is what I got:

• 3 shaving creams; 2 packs of gum; 3 rolls paper towels; 2 vitamin waters; 1 toothbrush; 4 hair gels (specific type Chad uses); 1 all-natural chapstick; 1 pack hair ties; 1 men's hair color (no, we do not use this - I will donate it); 1 body wash; 1 pack asprin (ditto for donating); 2 types of eyedrops (will donate 1); 1 pack dishwasher detergent; 2 pregnancy tests; 1 reusable grocery bag, 1 package disposable diapers (all of the above came to -$2.74, meaning I made $2.74 by buying them)
• 2 mascaras, 2 tinted moisturizers, 3 eyeshadows (all physician's formula brand "organic" makeup items) (-$4.41, again meaning I made money on these)
• 1 all-natural toddler's toothpaste ($3.99)
• specialty handmade laundry detergent, most of it specifically for cloth diapers, enough for 112 loads ($20.60)

Now it is certainly worth mentioning that although it appears that I got a lot of stuff for free, in the grand scheme of things it isn't really free because it takes time. Thankfully the time I spend is significantly diminished by being organized, planning meticulously, having a Rite Aid and 2 Walgreens stores within 2 miles of my house, being experienced (I spend maybe half the amount of time now that I did in January), and perhaps most of all, reading these two blogs:
www.frugallivingnw.com
www.beingfrugalisfabulous.com

(There are lots of great money-saving blogs out there, but these just happen to be the ones in my Google reader.) So for our family, the verdict is yes, couponing is helpful enough to justify the time, at least for the moment while I have the time to spend and we're not super picky about our shampoo (at least, for the adults - the kids' stuff, well, that's another post altogether).

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - out to eat on the way home from the Tulip Festival

Tuesday - grilled pork steaks and zucchini

Wednesday - crock pot chili

Thursday - grilled chicken salad

Friday - leftover chili

Saturday - taco salad

Sunday - various leftovers

Menu Plan Monday

I'm feeling even less inspired in making food than last week, so most of our dinners will be courtesy of the freezer. It's so nice to have a deep freezer (thank you in-laws!!!!)!

Monday - homemade pizza, salad (pizza stuff left over from last week, salad left over from yesterday's Easter dinner)

Tuesday - Crock Pot Mexican beans in taco salad

Wednesday - barbecue meatballs (from the freezer), rice, salad

Thursday - borscht from the freezer

Friday - leftover meatballs, rice, salad

Saturday - red lentil dahl from freezer, rice

Sunday - leftovers, or scrambled eggs and waffles from the freezer

Menu Plan Monday (oops, I mean Tuesday, again)

I am in a bit of a funk for figuring out what to make for dinner - I think the sunny weather is making me lazy :). But we've still got quite a bit of leftovers in our fridge from the two bean dishes from last week, so I'm in luck. Here's what we'll (probably) be having:

Monday: steak. (Yes, just steak, and just one at that - Chad and I shared. I was so lazy and didn't want to bother with being in the kitchen. I think we had a few little snacks after dinner, though, and I made some guacamole.)

Tuesday: chicken pot pie with the rest of the pie filling in the fridge and the refrigerated crescent rolls that are expiring today

Wednesday: leftovers (beans and rice)

Thursday: homemade pizza, salad

Friday: more leftovers

Saturday: even more leftovers

Sunday: Easter - dinner with family, bringing NW salad with greens, cranberries, Gorgonzola cheese, pecans and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Menu Plan Monday (oops, I mean Thursday)

Wow, I suppose I'm getting slack on the menu posting. Not that I'm not planning, just not posting (although I did wait until Tuesday this week).

Monday - out to happy hour at Gustav's

Tuesday - remaining leftover Borscht from the freezer

Wednesday - Black Beans and Rice (yum!! spicy but Gavin can handle it and we really like it)

Thursday - Indian-Style Chickpeas, rice

Friday - leftovers

Saturday - chicken pot pie with innards from freezer, crust made of refrigerated crescent rolls (This has been on the menu for several weeks now but I've always had some reason not to make it. But my crescent rolls are nearing their expiration date so I guess I should go ahead and make it...)

Sunday - more leftovers

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Oops, I forgot to start the chicken broth in the crock pot this morning, so we opted for a frozen pizza from our freezer and some fruit. Gavin and I are sick and our kitchen faucet is only nominally functional until a week from now when the new part comes in. Oh well, some days are better than others.

Tuesday - chicken noodle soup (hopefully!)

Wednesday - chili (also, hopefully - I have to start this in the morning, too)

Thursday - leftover chicken soup

Friday - leftover chili

Saturday - pot pie with crescent roll crust

Sunday - leftovers

Somehow it seems we end up having something different than I plan at least once a week, whether it's that we have dinner with family or friends or someone gives us something. I'm certainly not complaining!