Week 79--Hours Cooking

Mon – Goulash
Tues – Tapas Meatballs with Orange Glaze (Taste of Home) with mashed potatoes
Weds – Tacoritos (Taste of Home)
Thurs – Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Onion & Cheddar Biscuits (Taste of Home)
Fri – Beef and Bacon Stroganoff (Taste of Home)
Alts– eat out; pancakes
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I have no idea what's wrong with me, but I'm choosing longer prep-time recipes this week. I'm sure this will be regretted by Tuesday at the latest. Taste of Home was my resource of choice this week since it just looked tasty up there on my kitchen shelf.

On the baby-food front, I was reluctant to serve yet another dish of barely eaten breast-milk-barley, squash, applesauce, or chickpeas to my 6-mo-old, so I ran some of our goulash through his food mill tonight. He ate with keen interest. Then we soaked some crackers in water and fed him bits. He went bonkers for this new taste temptation. Fun to see him excited about exploring new foods. Happy cooking.

* indicates a meal that can be made in 20 minutes or less

Good Vibes

For all of you hosting this week, may the turkey gods be with you.

Week 78--Thanksgiving

Mon – Chicken stir fry
Tues – Alfredo or One-Pot spaghetti* (Better Homes)
Weds – Pizza*
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Simple fridge-cleaning meals this week as we'll travel for Thanksgiving. I'm discovering that stir-fry is my version of the "Mom's Casserole" I grew up with. Give my mom fridge odds and ends, a pound of hamburger, and a can of creamy soup. Dinner's served. I do the same with left-over veggies, beans, chicken, steak, etc. for stir-fry. It's like a hot salad. Toss stuff in, add the dressing (ok, a stir-fry sauce), and a side of rice or soba noodles. It's hard to mess up and kids love an excuse to eat with sticks.

I wonder if I'll develop a reputation around this type of meal as my mom did. "What's for dinner, Mom?" "Stir-fry!" Groans. Happy cooking.

* indicates a meal that can be made in 20 minutes or less

Bake Sale

At 11PM Friday night, I found myself musing. Musing about the fact that I was making a bake sale item for my kid's school. Musing about the fact that I would like to be in bed. Musing that I don't really know how to make chocolate dipped pretzel rods because it's taking me a lot longer than it should. Musing about how many unusable bits there will be and how much chocolate left over so I can have a snack once I'm done.

For the 8 packs of 3 chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks I made, each pack selling for I believe 50 cents, that's a whopping $4 for the school. My ingredients cost roughly twice that. Quaint, but not economically savvy. Maybe half the point is community building? Making sure we all have enough dessert in our homes? Whatever the result, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the Irish soda bread that I picked up at the sale. And I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the "things for the benefit of school" tasks that lie ahead.

Week 77—Where's the Menu Plan?

Mon – Fish tacos (Simply Mexican)
Tues – Chili and corn bread
Weds – Ham and sweet potato hash w/eggs (Epicurious)
Thurs – One-Pot spaghetti* (Better Homes)
Fri – Jerk ribs and mashed sweet potatoes (Crock Pot)
Alts– pizza; falafels
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We made a menu plan on Friday. My husband shopped (with the kids, no less!) Saturday AM. Love. The menu list hit the recycling or trash some point after that. So now, to remember what it is we're supposed to make with all these ingredients. We'll see how close I can get. Happy cooking.

Update: menu found! helps to clean off the kitchen counter-tops now and then.

* indicates a meal that can be made in 20 minutes or less

The Fairest One of All

We've been playing Snow White at our house these days. One particular scene from the movie stuck in my son's head: Snow White is baking a pie for "the little men" with the help of her animal friends, just before the evil stepmother, transformed into an old peddler, stops by with a poisoned apple. 

He wanted to take our Snow White play to the next level by actually making a pie. Here's the result, complete with gingerbread cutouts for the crust.

Week 76--Lots of options

Mon – Monte Christos (Taste of Home)
Tues – Black bean and pumpkin chili (Taste of Home, stove or crockpot)
Weds – Chicken fajitas/chicken fingers
Thurs –  Left-over pasta puttanesca*
Fri – Pizza
Alts– spaghetti; pulled pork sandwiches
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Is it only Thursday? I have groceries on the brain since I never made it to the store this week. Friends visiting this weekend with kids, so we have lots of options built into the menu. Maybe enough to get us through the next 2 weeks if I'm lucky! Happy cooking.

* indicates a meal that can be made in 20 min or less

Week 75—Food for Fall

Mon – Out
Tues – Black bean and pumpkin chili (Taste of Home; can be made in crockpot)
Weds – Goulash*
Thurs –  Falafels* (box mix)
Fri – Spinach souffle
Alts– pizza
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Lots of work time, minimal cooking time this week. In fact, the fridge is a little echo-y since I haven't shopped. At least we have Halloween candy to sustain us. I like that the recipe names this week align with the amount of time it will take to make each corresponding dish. Happy cooking.

* indicates a meal that can be made in 20 minutes or less