Christmas Menu in progress

Bone-in ham
Sweet potatoes
Pear + feta salad
Some nice toothy wheat bread, sliced
Dessert: port + Cherry pie + ice cream
Chocolate cream pie

Sound good, Matt?

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Post-meal update:
This was ultra-easy to make, and everything was fabulous. (Hey, it's my blog. I can brag to the 4 of you that read it, right?) If you need a reliable, easy holiday menu, you can't go wrong with this. The potatoes got great reviews from everyone, including mini-marshmallow snobs. 

Week 102—Managerial Complaints

Mon – Stir fry beef

Tues –  Italian meatloaf

Weds – Fri out of office

Alts – Cuban rice; eat out; pizza

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Out of town a few days next week, so the menu plan is light.

I spent about 10 mins giving my stovetop a good scrub this morning, removing the knobs, SOS padding around the gas burner plates, etc. I cringed when I saw that my husband had cut the pizza on top of the stovetop tonight, dripping cheese, pepperoni grease, and crumbs all over the place. Which brings up the topic of pet peeves. My husband does a nice job in the kitchen, and does the lion's share of cleaning it each night. But I really wish he wouldn't cut the damn pizza on top of the stove. Maybe if we had a glass top. But we don't.

Which brings me to his pet peeve about me in the kitchen. He finally broke last week and told me he thinks I load the dishwasher "like an Egyptian tomb." I had to think about that colorful description, but I think you get the picture. Anyway, this week's menu plan is dedicated to spousal tweaks in the kitchen. Happy cooking.

Menu Plan = 10PM Binge

While we have enjoyed the meals we've made thus far from the "Parent's" menu plan, we've noticed a distinct lack of calories.

Monday's meal was followed by a 7PM Dairy Queen run. Tuesday's meal was followed by a 10PM sushi-apple-cheese run (since the local taco joint had already closed). Tonight was a chili party at our daughter's school, so we ate like the bottomless pits that we apparently are. Yum.

Can you really eat a dinner with incredibly low fat and calorie levels and NOT pig out later? I'm chalking up the menu plan they provided as "this week's appetizers." Tasty, but you better have some supplements on hand.

Week 101—Parents Mag menu plan

Taken directly from my last issue of Parents, here's this week's menu plan:
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It's 5:45 and you've just walked in the door. The kids are starving and you've got 20 minutes to get a nutritious meal on the table before a serious toddler meltdown occurs. If this sounds like your typical weeknight, spending a little time on the weekend to prep some key ingredients will make tackling the weeknight dinner rush simple. We'll point out which components you should make-ahead to simplify your weekday mealtime.

The Menu
Monday: Honey-Hoisin Chicken With Rice
Tuesday: Pasta with Broccoli and Chicken Sausage
Wednesday: Veggie Fried Rice
Thursday: Panko-Topped Fish with Easy Greek Salad
Friday: Asian Burgers with Pineapple-Mango Salad

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I made the panko fish and Greek salad tonight. It took me literally 20 mins, start to finish. I was stunned. I thought the meal was excellent, as did my husband. The kids were less excited, but I served the meal with some crusty bread w/olive oil and reheated some pasta from the weekend which helped get a few more calories in them before heading off to skating lessons.

Shocking realization today: my kids spend more time ice skating than swimming over the course of the year. You know you live in a cold icy hell when...

School chili-supper on Wednesday this week, so I'll swap out one of the recipes above for a nice cook-free evening mid-week. Happy cooking.

Week 100 — Let's just eat out every day!

Mon – Steak, corn on the cob, potatoes via grill

Tues –  Tortellini w/red sauce, peas, banana bread

Weds – Italian meatloaf

Thurs – Beef stir-fry 

Fri – Pizza

Alts – Cuban rice; eat out

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I'm always looking for the best ways to make dinner easy. Here are some things that are currently working for me:
1. Eat out (my favorite)
2. Make meals that don't involve prep (e.g. toss everything on the grill)
3. Make the meal ahead of time (e.g. crock pot)

Here are things that haven't been working:
1. Making double batches and freeze one for later. It's a rare meal that I want to revisit in frozen form. Homemade spaghetti sauce, ok. Meatloaf? I only want to see that about once a year anyway.
2. Making things that require lots of attention to the recipe
3. Cooking before my husband gets home. I spend 2x the time, 3x the stress, and only have it ready about 20 mins earlier. I still try to do this on days that the household mood allows, but in general I've been cutting myself some slack and waiting to do the majority until he's home. Truly, it's: "Hi! How was your day? Here are the kids. I'm cooking." No slippers and newspaper right now. Maybe in a couple years. God bless you single working moms out there. You are Wonder Women!

Main dish decision

We're hosting some neighbors for a mini-reunion this weekend and I'm trying to decide:
grill meat (brats/dogs/burgers)
or
enchiladas & tacos
or
big pan of some tasty pasta dish

I'm looking for easy, but good. We're eating outside, so grilling seems like the obvious direction. Maybe kabobs? They can be time-consuming to string, but lovely to behold. Hm. Any suggestions?

Update: Kebobs it is. Tonight my husband and I plan to have a kebob-threading date. Maybe put in a movie or some good tunes and thread away. Woo!

Dinner plan? Meh.

Not planning meals this week since it's so hot that none of us really seem to be eating much anyway. Doesn't mean exciting things aren't happening on the meal front, however. Highlights thus far this week:

– Having Jimmy John's deliver to my car (complicated tale, but let's just say they provide excellent service)

– Trying out a new local taco shop that offers things like 16 hr brisket and pumpkin seeds in their taco selection. All tacos $2.50. My husband and I tried 5 kinds tonight with a cool beer. Perfect. Rusty Tacos, right next to Trader Joe's for curious local readers.

– Having popcorn for dinner on Sunday. Seems like there was something else too, but all I remember was the popcorn.

God Bless America my cooking dreams have come true

Husband found this product on the Sam's Club website. It's food for a year. Sure, it's supposed to be an emergency supply, but I'm thinking what a beautiful thing! Cheap, and little menu planning required. Even comes with a wheat grinder! Customer reviews are, uh, interesting. Makes me want to watch The Road again.

Here's what you get for your $887.00:

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Total of 85 #10 (institutional size) cans, which are: 

Grains, Oats & Rice

3 Long Grain White Rice (47 servings per can)

9 Hard White Wheat (54 servings per can)

2 Quick Rolled Oats (25 servings per can)

3 Elbow Macaroni (23 servings per can)

Vegetables

6 Dehydrated Potato Dices (22 servings per can)

3 Freeze Dried Sweet Corn (15 servings per can)

3 Dehydrated Sweet Peas (13 servings per can)

2 Dehydrated Chopped Onions (653 servings per can)

1 Freeze Dried Broccoli Florets & Stems (20 servings per can)

3 Pinto Beans (47 servings per can)

3 Lentils (49 servings per can)

1 Dehydrated Diced Red & Green Bell Peppers (141 servings per can)

1 Dehydrated Cross Cut Celery (42 servings per can)

1 Dehydrated Carrot Dices (27 servings per can)

Fruits

3 Freeze Dried Apple Dices (11 servings per can)

3 Freeze Dried Whole Strawberries (22 servings per can)

1 Freeze Dried Whole Raspberries (20 servings per can)

3 Honey Coated Banana Slices (21 servings per can)

Dairy

3 100% Country Fresh Instant Milk (39 servings per can)

3 Chocolate Morning Moo’s® Low Fat Milk Alternative (61 servings per can)

3 Cheese Blend Powder (45 servings per can)

Proteins

6 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Bacon (flavored) (188 servings per can)

3 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Beef (flavored) (40 servings per can)

3 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Chicken (flavored) (45 servings per can)

3 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Taco (flavored) (33 servings per can)

6 Dried Whole Eggs (56 servings per can)



Desserts

1 Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix (52 servings per can)

1 Blueberry Muffin Mix (48 servings per can)

2 Buttermilk Pancake Mix (24 servings per can)

Misc Item

Wheat Grinder

camping!

Getting ready to camp in cowboy country for a week (Dakotas/Montana). I was excited about making only foods that you cooked on a stick/pie pot thing-a-ma-jig/or foil packs. Husband NOT so excited about being so reliant on a campfire, thinking we'll want the cookstove anyway. So I'm planning.

My list-in-progress (numbers indicate number of times served):

Breakfast
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Instant oatmeal (2)
Yogurt & oats & peaches/apples(2)
Eggs and toast (2)
Pancakes (2)

Lunch
----
Hodgepodge. Bringing stuff for:
wraps/sandwiches that can be filled with:
- Goober pbj
- Nutella & bananas
- cream cheese and jam
- canned turkey/tuna and cheese

Side options:
applesauce
pudding cups
pita chips
sun chips
edamame
ritz & squeeze cheese
fruit cups
...and lots of other snacks Grandma packed!

Dinner
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Walking tacos (fritos/meat made in advance or chili beans/avocado/toms/cheese/salsa)
Corn on cob & hot dogs & beans
Spaghetti and meatballs and peas
Turkey sausage foil-pack (new potatoes, onion, gr beans)
Chicken a la king on mashed potatoes
possibly chili or other soup (bring frozen)
+ we'll eat out ANY and as many meals as needed for peace and sanity

Desserts
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popcorn
smores
singing apples (stick apple on a stick; cook until sings; peel; roll in cinnamon and sugar)

What's in a list?

Forgive my extreme laziness in not rotating the top photo. I found this list in my Target cart while shopping a couple nights ago. I thought it was fascinating. The sheer detail of the note, down to specific brands and flavors, the grammar/spelling, the handwriting style, paper type...all these things that made me think "elderly woman who dictated this list trying to make it foolproof for her husband whom she sent out shopping."Is that what you see in it?

Compare that to my list below in comparative shorthand. It being Target, my cart was considerably more full than my list would indicate by the time I reached the checkout.

I hope to find more of these lists. Could make a fun analysis. So interesting to me to see what people are eating/buying.

Rubber hits the road

Menu planning (for me) is done in order to make life easier. I will now put this to the test. It's after 10PM, and really, I just want to go to bed after a busy weekend away.

How quickly can I put a menu together? Let's start the clock:

Menu-plan breakdown

Went to cook this evening. No steaks. No seafood. No anchovies for the pasta dish. Nearly had to go out to eat (tragedy!), but tacos saved the day. Menu plan ≠ shopping list this week. Other than losing the hamster, thank goodness this is the greatest crisis we faced today.

Week 60--All creatures great and small (for dinner)

Mon – BBQ chicken* and corn bread, greens (crockpot cut up chicken w/bbq sauce on top)
Tues – alfredo* with carrots
Weds – potato sausage foil pack (Taste of Home)
Thurs – curried apricot pork chops (Taste of Home)
Fri – grilled salmon and asparagus*
Extras – halibut tacos (Taste of Home)
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Returning to my original weekly menu count this week since I was continually confused by the new naming convention. That said, the menu plan itself is all about variety.

I am also pursuing my "dinner in 15 minutes" query and trying out a few recipes this week that might fit this description. I'll mark them with an asterisk, then plan to log the ones that work out for future use. These will hopefully become part of a substantial list I can reference for fast ideas down the road. I created a list of 15- 20- and 30-minute meals for toddlers when I was first learning what to feed a little person. I suppose I'm just advancing that now to family-oriented recipes. Happy cooking.

*Indicates this dish will be ready within 15 minutes. I hope. If not, well then sad news for the chef.

Is there a bagel in the house?

It occurred to us last night that we have been doing an okay job of prepping for our Baptism brunch on Sunday. Too bad we've totally neglected to consider that people will be visiting throughout the weekend and there's hardly a crumb of other food in the house. Think we'll do a Sam's trip tonight and get some steaks for grilling, a side salad, and sun chips. I'm making those dolmates as well to have on hand.

Or maybe we'll just be GONE at every mealtime. Think anyone will catch on?

Baptism Brunch Menu Plan (work in progress)

I'm typing this with a warm cozy baby on my lap. Is this technically multi-tasking, or just wasting time be/c I'm spending more time on this than I otherwise might so I don't have to move?

Anyway, here's what I think we'll do for the brunch. Thank you, epicurious.com. This weekend we'll work out a schedule since a lot of these items can be made in advance. Think there will be about 15 people here to eat.

SIDES
Hot crab dip with veggies (peppers, carrots, radishes--from our garden-woo!)
Guinness Stout Ginger Cake (from "Desserts of Gramercy Tavern")
Bagels (onion recommended w/the trout-egg dish)
Watermelon slices, bowl of blueberries or some sort of fresh fruit
Hash brown brunch casserole

MAIN
Creamy scrambled eggs w/smoked trout and green onions
Baked french toast w/cardamom and marmalade  My brother made this last recipe for my neice's 1st Communion last month. It was great. Ultra-sweet.

BEVVIES
Sparkling agua
Coffee
OJ
Actually, why not mix the sparkling agua with the OJ? Nice variation, not so sweet, a bit fresca. Sounds good.

DESSERT
I'm debating ordering a cake, or making a double of the recently much-practiced Tres Leches. I'm looking at this list thinking there's a lot (too much) here both to do, and to eat. Will review w/the hubby before writing the final shopping list.

Week of June 7

Mon – Gramma Barb's spaghetti
Tues – pizza
Weds – dolmates--double batch (Opaah!)
Thurs – rotisserie chicken
Fri – fish sandwiches w/sweet potatoes
Extras – chip plate
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Starting to pull together ideas for a baptism brunch on June 20. Any suggestions for recipes that are good to make in advance, or that just came out really well for you? We're serving about 15 people and I want to keep things easy, but special. As I type, my second Tres Leches cake in a month is cooking in the oven. Mmm.

Loss and the Weekly Meal Plan

Just had an interesting conversation with an old friend of mine who is a relatively new mom. She was talking about how she's using weekly meal planning to lose her baby weight. It'll help keep her from eating out so often, and ensure she has good ingredients on hand. For my part, I started doing it to save time and energy thinking about what to cook for the evening meal. I've also used it to lower food expenses and minimize waste.

In short, it seems like the ultimate purpose for planning is to CUT BACK on something. Might be calories, dollars, time, or trash, but for those of us that do it, it's about "slenderizing" elsewhere.

I recall seeing a weekly menu listed on the fridge calendar where I was babysitting as a 15-year-old. I concluded this woman must be nuts, or at a minimum obsessive-compulsive. I made sure the toys were all put away just so that night. Now I recognize that she was tapping into what busy parents do in their households all the time—organizing a bit so there's more time for other things.

Week 51—Online Assemblage

Mon – Curried Chicken w/Peaches (Taste of Home)
Tues – Ham & Cheese Pasta (Taste of Home)
Weds – Baked Sloppy Joes (Taste of Home)
Thurs – Enchilada Casserole (Taste of Home)
Fri – Orange roughy w/cornbread and mashed sweet potatoes
Extras – breakfast; Cuban rice
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I got a few emails from the Taste of Home website this week that led me to this menu plan. Each day this week I grabbed one or two recipes that sounded interesting. With all the improvements to the magazine in recent years, I still can't quite believe they published Thursday's recipe as a "casser-olé." That's part of the mag's charm, though, and I suspect I'm supposed to laugh at the wit of it all.

For the fish, I plan to use the following:
Combine onion salt, pepper, dill and paprika; sprinkle over fillets. In a large skillet, cook fillets in oil over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily.

I've been putting together my shopping list below as I've added recipes this week. I'm leaving it here for now be/c it doesn't exist anywhere else that's portable for the store.

Groceries: sweet pots, cilantro, buns, fish (roughy/snapper), fryer chicken, Mex cheese blend or other to go w/cheddar, bowties/wagon wheels, black beans, salsa (grande), peaches (slice-canned)

Happy cooking.

Stunning Realization

I'm sitting here working on an updated website design for my graphics business. I'm keeping it simple (as it always has been) since a) I am not a programmer and b) I have only about 15 hours to spend on this effort. Meanwhile, my husband is downstairs cooking dinner for tonight. Bliss.

Then it hits me. As of today, we have a new baby due in 3 weeks. No longer speaking in terms of trimesters or months, it's down to weeks. At this point, it's anyone's guess. Time to start stocking up, making extras when planning the weekly menu, and buying tons of frozen pizzas.

I also better get back to that website design before the last update (2007) turns into seriously ancient history.

Oops. Lent!

Ok. Realized that Lent starts today and reviewed my menu for meatless options for today (Ash Weds) and Friday. Hm. Might need to rework a bit and pull out the last of my salmon from my Sam's purchase for Friday. As for tonight, the kids dove into toast and cereal, by popular request. Will be a good opportunity to focus more on meatless and seafood menus during Lent. Now I have to find some new recipes to try!