Meal Plan Monday
17 May 2011 1 Comment
in Fabulous Food Fridays, My Mama, My Superhero
Okay, so I’m late to jump on board with this, but I just found a group that focuses on meal planning. Since I try to plan my meals out for a whole month, I thought I would share my meal plan with everyone.
Let me explain something before I reveal my meal plan. I have a very strange food background. Growing up with a single mom who worked in a hospital and rarely made it home before 7 (before she started with the county when I was in high school), we ate out…a LOT. My husband, on the other hand, grew up eating at home in a household that ate a LOT of processed foods. Combine those two factors in with the fact that we don’t have a whole lot of money (we spend about $150 a month on groceries – total, for three people…that’s it) and you will find an interesting array on our menu.
I have also tried to add in themes to help make menu planning easier. First, I start with my Weekly Menu - go ahead, take it. I’ll share.
Then I try to theme my days. Since meatless is much less expensive and good for you, I aim for one specifically meatless day a week. I call it Meatless Monday! This month, I designated Wednesday as our Chicken Day, Thursday as Beef Day, and Friday as Poor Man’s Special. If you don’t know what Poor Man’s Special is, you’re probably better off. Poor Man’s Special is my husband’s contribution to the menu – it’s a family favorite of his, but not really all that healthy for you. Baby J loves it though - which tickles Papa pink (and, to tell you the truth, I like it too). I’ve also made an effort to add more fish to our menu (since it’s good for you) and designated Tuesday as our fish night.
So our menu this week is as follows (we had to switch Monday and Tuesday because I worked Monday night):
Sunday – Taco Salad
Monday – Fish Sticks and French Fries
Tuesday – Pierogies and Salad w/ Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette
Wednesday – Chicken Tacos w/ Spanish Rice
Thursday – Hamburgers and Carrot Sticks
Friday – Poor Man’s Special
Saturday – Stromboli
Check out Organizing Junkie for lots of other menu plans and resources (because, let’s admit it, everyone could use a little help now and then). Also, in case you have never heard me sing their praises before, I get most of my recipes and inspiration from the beautiful ladies over at Our Best Bites. So make sure to stop over there for some yummy nummies too!
Life – or at least something like it
20 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
A few months ago (probably more than that) I decided I needed to focus my blog and chose my obsession with crafting to focus my blog on.
*cricket, cricket*
It seems that life has gotten in the way of crafting. The little crafting I do get to do is usually last minute and late at night. Subsequently, the last thing I want to do is take time to photograph it. I just want to finish it, wrap it, and go to bed.
So maybe I shouldn’t focus on crafts (as many suggested after I declared my focus). All of my adoring readers get to read about whatever I feel like writing about; the joys and pains of motherhood, the trials and tribulations of budgeting, the ups and downs of marriage, the messes and successes in the kitchen, or links to things I find interesting. Do you think you can handle life – or at least something like it?
So today I want to talk CSAs. I’ll admit, I know NOTHING about CSAs other than it gives you access to locally grown food and supports local farms and farmers – yay! What is the biggest draw to a CSA for me? Getting to take Baby J out to the farm to pick up the produce. I don’t remember where I read it, but I read that it’s better to eat things grown from plants than manufactured in them. It’s SO true! And I want to make sure she knows the difference too.
I’ve been a farm marketer for awhile, but even I didn’t know of this fantastic resource (you can find anything online): http://www.localharvest.org/ I encourage you to type in your zip code and find out what is available to you. Purchasing locally grown food is healthier for your body, your local economy, the planet, the list could go on and on.
Superhero and I will be talking about joining a CSA tonight – if only for the fall storage crops. I am very excited!
Taco Goulash
20 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Fabulous Food Fridays, Five Question Fridays, My Superhero, The Juice
Did you ever use a recipe but kind of not measure the ingredients and end up with something so much more wonderful than the original recipe? I did that last night for dinner and let me tell you – even the leftovers were amazing! So without further ado…
Taco Goulash
1 small onion (or half one large onion), chopped
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
1 small green pepper, seededand chopped
2 cans beef broth
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 box vegetable rotini
1/2 cup salsa
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil and then cook the onion until translucent. Add green pepper, broth, diced tomatoes, black beans, vegetable rotini, salsa, chili powder, and cumin. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!
I love easy yummy meals – especially when they don’t require a meat purchase because then they’re even cheap!
Hope you enjoy – and for some entertaining reading while you’re stuffing your face with the yumminess – it’s Five Question Friday!
1. Do you have any nicknames and if so how did it come about?
My hubby and I have nicknames for each other – I call him my melon (When Harry Met Sally reference) and he calls me his lobster (Friends reference). When we were living in separate states, I got him a lobster to cuddle with!
2. What is your birth order amongst your siblings?
I am my mother’s oldest, but my father’s third (maybe fourth) child. It puts me in an interesting position because I am the oldest, but we have a brother older than me that we know too!
3. In a movie of your life, who would play your significant other?
Meet Josh Lucas. I think he would be as close physically as I’m going to get – except for the blue eyes – Superhero has brown eyes.
4. What is currently your favorite song?
Hmmm…my absolute favorite is Standing Outside the Fire by Garth Brooks. I am really liking Love Like Crazy and Keep On Lovin’ You.
5. Are you saving your money for anything right now? Big or small purchase?
I am saving gift cards that I keep getting to get a yellow Kitchenaid stand mixer.
Head on over to My Little Life to check out other Five Question Friday answers!
My Unconventional Creative Side
19 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Canning, Creative Space, Gardening, Threads Thursdays
Okay – usually when I post about my creative side, I tend towards to the artsy-crafty creative side. Not so today! I am so proud of this little baby that I want to let the whole world know!
Tomato Sauce meet the world – world meet my Tomato Sauce! You see, the reason this tomato sauce is so special and worthy of so much attention is that, with the exception of the lemon juice, I grew everything in the jar. I made the sauce out of tomatoes from my garden, added the herbs from my herb garden, and canned it myself! I only got one can – but that’s beside the point. This baby is going to my mother as an Empty Nester Gift. I hope she likes it. I did get a little extra on the side that I mixed with some noodles for lunch – so fresh and yummy!
If you’re looking for real crafts, make sure to stop by kootoyoo.
Have you missed me?
06 Aug 2010 1 Comment
in Fabulous Food Fridays, Five Question Fridays
I have missed you!
We’re veering away from Fabulous Food Fridays this week so I can play catch up! Although, I do have a pork butt roast in the crock to make pulled pork for dinner that smelled devine when I left this morning. That is your dose of food for today!
I hope all is well with you. All is well with me – no worries there.
My mother and I took an impromptu trip a few weeks ago – which is what threw me off of blogging; well that and being pretty consistently busy at work. But I’m back now.
We have a very busy August coming up. Superhero found the camera cord, so I will be able to invite you all to join us on our adventures. This weekend we are going to the St Andrew Society’s Highland Games and a birthday party for Baby J’s buddy (I can’t believe he’s one). In a few weeks, my mom will be coming down for a weekend and then the next week Baby J and I are going to Washington DC to the National Zoo and the Maryland Rennaisance Festival. I look forward to sharing it all with you!
In case you didn’t notice, I’ve added a new page! Please take a moment to check out My Recipe Book. It’s a little sparse now, but will have many more recipes added in time.
Now…onto the important stuff!
The Love Spud
09 Jul 2010 5 Comments
Check out this fellow! This potato graced our presence over the a little while ago. Some have the love bug; we have the love spud! And what did I do with the love spud? Did I eBay it to make my millions?
Nope – I made mashed potatoes to go with a great new chicken dish.
Quilt Squares are back in my Creative Space
08 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in Canning, Creative Space, Fabulous Food Fridays, Quilting, Threads Thursdays
I am working on ending up on the same week as the Simple Sampler Quilt Along, but I tend to make the blocks on the weekend. So here are the blocks I made for last week’s blocks. I really love these blocks and I can’t wait to see everything all together in the end. It’s going to look so scrappy! I am making sure to use some of my favorite fabrics that I only have little bits left of. This is the first quilt I am making for myself, so it’s going to be quite the treasure!
If you haven’t already, join in! You aren’t that far behind yet.
I am also still working with my crochet needle. I have figured out a Christmas gift for a friend and I hope she likes it when it is done.
While it’s not technically crafty, I can’t wait for this weekend! I am going to take Baby J raspberry picking here. We are making infused vinegars and sundae sauce for Christmas gifts. I will share more with you about that later.
P.S. Hope everyone had a great fourth of July weekend! I will be posting pictures of everything we did next Tuesday.
Pie Crusts
25 Jun 2010 2 Comments
in Fabulous Food Fridays, My Superhero
As mentioned in my previous post, I am going to share with you my secrets of great pie crust. I happen to think I make a pretty spectacular pie crust and I know a lot of people that this process baffles, so I thought I would share. Now that I’m done glorifying myself, you need a couple staples for said pie crust:
First thing, a fantastic pie plate. Okay, you can use an aluminum one recycled from a store bought pie (I do it all the time) but in the event you have a fantastic pie plate, use it.
Oh, but I am not promoting Pampered Chef with my pie plate. I actually got this particular pie plate at a garage sale for ten cents (yup, you read that right, ten cents). After using it, I’m very happy I didn’t pay the full retail value for it. It’s really not that different from my other pie plates. No offense to Pampered Chef.
You need shortening, flour, salt and water. I don’t use any special kind of shortening, flavored or otherwise. I don’t even use Crisco that so many people swear by.
A super cute helper. Okay, this isn’t a necessity, but it sure makes the process that much more enjoyable!
Just a word of note – this recipe is the first time I have ever written in my cookbook. I made notes on the side margins about the amounts I use that make the crust turn out yummy. I’m a historian – it’s a huge no-no to deface what could be historical artifact down the line. I have defaced my Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook just for good pie crust. Hope you enjoy it!
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
5-6 tablespoons water (more or less depending on humidity)
Combine flour and shortening in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter (its a weird must-have kitchen tool – my husband had no idea what it was for before he saw me make a pie crust), cut the shortening into the flour. I find it is much easier if you toss the bowl a couple of times to coat the shortening chunks in flour before you start with the pastry cutter; it just means you have less of a chance of having to pull the shortening off the pastry cutter half way through. Add your salt about halfway through. When you’re done, your flour, salt, shortening mixture should look like this:
Now is when you start with the water. Add each tablespoon of water separately against the side of the bowl, using a fork to blend the crust together. Usually, I get about a quarter of the bowl in with each tablespoon and then sprinkle one more over the top to blend it all together. This is the key secret to a successful pie crust – it cannot be too moist! The more water you add, the less handling you should do. Also, if you live in a particularly humid area (like me) use less water.
After five tablespoons, it’s not going to look like pie crust. Use your hands to kind of squish it together in the bowl. Then turn it out onto your work surface and knead it. Split in half and shape each half into a circle prior to rolling out (I find it’s easier to get the end shape result I want if I start with the same shape). Roll out to about 1/4 thick.
Carefully lift and place in pie plate, sealing any cracks as necessary. Use a fork or your fingers to scallop the edges as you wish. The other half can make another pie crust or be used on the top of this one. I would show you examples of the edging, but I’m having an issue with pictures right now.
Hope this helps with your pie crust endeavors. Homemade pie crust is really not as difficult as it seems and it freezes really well too! Make it ahead of time, roll up with some parchment paper and wrap in saran wrap and foil or put in a freezer bag.
So you may be wondering why I brought up pie crusts in the first place. Well, one of my husband’s favorites meals is quiche, so for Father’s Day I made some fabulous quiches (whiched help us get through the surplus of eggs we have on hand – chicken sitting has it’s rewards). I thought I would share that recipe with you, but have to start with the foundation before you build the house, or the quiche as the case may be.
Happy crusting! Make sure to say hello in the comments to let me know you were here!
How do you take a break at work?
22 Jun 2010 3 Comments
in Fabulous Food Fridays, The Juice, Time Out Tuesdays
Okay, so I know it’s in the eighties outside and it is officially summer as of yesterday, but I thought I would share my little time out at work.
First, you need the perfect mug…one that happens to fit just right in your hands so you can get the most out of the warm chocolatey goodness. Mine is a nice round mug I got at the Grand Canyon when I went a few years ago with my mother. It is earthy brown with Kokopellis on it. It has a handle that is big enough for me to slide my whole hand through and I just curl my fingers around it. For a moment I am far away from the phone calls and the people who can’t pay their water bills because their cable is more important
How do I make my hot cocoa perfect? Are you riveted? First, a packet of hot cocoa is just not enough for a mug worth getting up to go fill, so I add some non-dairy creamer (remember, I’m at work with limited access to anything better). I add about enough to double the amount of powder in the bottom of the cup, sometimes more. Then I add enough water to be able to stir the powder into a syruppy state – no more than half a mug. This is the secret to success right here – once fully mixed together add two-three times the amount of marshmallows you want on the top of your mug. Then fill the rest of the cup with hot water. The water will melt a majority of the marshmallows infusing your hot cocoa with a creamy texture and creating a wonderful marshmallow-ey layer on the top.
Wrap your hands around that mug, curl into your broken, uncomfortable office chair and slip out of reality for a moment. Enjoy!
I have decided to join in with the Tuesday Tag-A-Long. What a great way to find some new blogs to peruse, follow, and become addicted too! Join me won’t you!
Don’t forget to check out my giveaway! Thank you for stopping by!
Blueberry Pie The Redux
04 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Fabulous Food Fridays, Mommy Mondays, Threads Thursdays, Time Out Tuesdays, What I Believe in Wednesdays
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I was truly inspired by the amount of visitors and responses I received when I entered the Blogger’s Quilt Festival. So much so, that I have worked very hard to figure out how to re-orientate myself into blogging (yet again – I know). I realized in my attempt to figure out how to get myself to blog more often that I didn’t blog because I didn’t know what to write about.
So here is my idea – I am going to theme my days to give me a direction to write in. I have come up with cute themes too. I am very proud of them! Here goes nothing:
Now that I have bored you to the limits and used “etc” a few too many times, don’t think that I’ll leave you without our theme for the day. I did take pictures for this, but realized I cannot find my camera cord. So you’ll just have to picture it in your mind. Since it is Friday, following with the theme, I thought I would post a great recipe for you!
HEALTHY CHEESE SAUCE (FLOURLESS CHEESE SAUCE) for Macaroni and CheeseBaby J is currently wheat free. We’re hoping this will change soon; it’s a precautionary measure at this point and she did have a slight reaction the one time she got wheat. Once her awful diaper rash clears up, we will be trying wheat again and we’ll see what happens. However, even if wheat does become okay, I think I may still keep this recipe around for the sheer fact that it’s much healthier than your normal cheese sauce. Since the base is beans, which happen to be the perfect food (with the exception of the musical fruit connotation they have picked up), it’s packed with protein and costs very little to make. Did I mention it’s ridiculously easy to make and takes all of five minutes to prepare?
1 can chick peas
1/2 cup milk 1 cup shredded cheese Drain and rinse chick peas. Place in blender with 1/2 cup milk and puree until the consistency of pudding – you want this to be as smooth as possible because it is your base (think the roux and milk stage of macaroni and cheese). Place the puree in a small sauce pan and add shredded cheese. Heat over medium heat stirring constantly until the cheese is melted. This doesn’t take long, so don’t walk away. The beans will dry out quickly, so you have to keep stirring until the cheese is melted in.
You may consider adding more cheese depending on your cheesy preferences. I added less last time and it was very beany. Fortunately, the beans do have a rich flavor of their own, so if you wanted to avoid a lot of cheese for cholesterol reasons, you could definitely get away with that.
From this point on, you are free to use as you wish. The last batch I made, I froze in ice cubes. This way I can pull an ice cube or two out at a time for Baby J’s lunches or nights when we’re eating something with wheat in it and she can’t have that. Just defrost, cook up a small amount of pasta and mix in. I also added burger to part of the mixture for cheeseburger macaroni – the original reason I sat down and measured it for this post (that’s right – I measured my ingredients just for you). Baby J’s preschool serves lunch and I replace what she can’t have with as equal a replacement as I possibly can.
Well, I hope you stick around to see how the themes turn out! I appreciate you stopping by to read – say hi in the comments to let me know you were here. Stick around too – I’m going to be announcing a small giveaway two weeks from yesterday!
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