Menu Plan Monday 8/27/12-9/2/12

Monday

Breakfast: Yogurt, Cheese, Fruit, Crackers

Lunch: Dining out with friends

Dinner: P.F. Chang's Frozen Entrees

Tuesday

Breakfast: Smoothies

Lunch: Macaroni and Cheese and Broccoli

Dinner: Saucy Chicken and Green Beans (this one but subbing beans for asparagus)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Yogurt, Cheese, Fruit, Crackers

Lunch: Dining out with friends

Dinner: Sandwiches

Thursday

Breakfast: Yogurt, Cheese, Fruit, Crackers

Lunch: Ham, Cheese and Carrots

Dinner: Dining out after swimming class 

Friday

Breakfast: Yogurt, Cheese, Fruit, Crackers

Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Green Beans

Dinner: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Saturday

Breakfast: Yogurt, Cheese, Fruit, Crackers

Lunch: Ellie has a dance rehearsal, so we'll be dining out

Dinner: Hopefully we'll be dining with my parents

Sunday

Breakfast: Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs, Fruit

Lunch: Sandwiches (hubby usually has salami, kids usually have PB&J, and I have whatever tickles my fancy)

Dinner: Slow Cooker Sprite Roast (beef roast, packet onion soup mix, can cream of whatever soup, can lemon-lime soda), Mashed Potatoes, Buttered Green Beans

Creation night

Most everyone has leftover night.  Some call it "clean-out-the-fridge night."  We rarely have enough of anything to have the same plate for everyone or even a cohesive plate.  Sometimes I have to use what I have to create new dishes.  Since I'm the only one who reliably eats my leftovers, I usually have nothing or very little in the fridge when leftover night rolls around, so I have to scrape together whatever I can and create something appetizing, hence "creation night."

I use this technique at lunchtime, too, most days.  I use this time to increase my intake of foods and seasonings that my family doesn't like.  I've been trying to increase my family's intake of anti-inflammatory foods, but they - my husband included - don't like the flavors of most.  I've been trying to find ways to include them in foods they like.  So far, I've been mostly unsuccessful.

I don't know the origin of this picture that has been floating around Facebook, but I linked it to another blog post that uses it and has some great links at the bottom.

Tonight I decided to try adding the seasonings to prepared foods that already have a lot of flavor.  I thought that if I could make them work in store-bought goods, I could carry my successes over to homemade goods.  To the leftover, store-bought potato salad I added generous amounts of turmeric, garlic powder and parsley.    To the store-bought ketchup, I added generous amounts of turmeric and garlic powder.  Someone what disappointing to me, but good for my experiment, I couldn't even taste them but for a slight garlic aftertaste.

Garlic and turmeric aren't listed in the chart above, so here are a couple of links:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP04432/Turmeric-for-Brain-Body-Health.html

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02027/garlic.html

I'm optimistic.  Homemade ketchup is on my short list.  Potato salad isn't even on my list, but it could be.  Certainly other dishes could take the same doctoring with the same results.

Feeling good about my success, I tried to save a sour plum.  It felt ripe, but it wasn't sweet.  I didn't want to waste it, so I threw it in the oven with a little brown sugar and some gingersnaps crumbled on top.  That stupid plum ended up more sour than before!  Explain to me the science behind this.

Anyway...I'd love to hear how you've made over your leftovers!

'365' one-a-day-challenge

I am so forgetful!

Featured Photo of the Week

In case you missed my first post, here it is:

Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning has issued a challenge: '365' one-a-day-challenge.  I took them up on it, starting today!  You can find my photo album on Kandid Katie's Facebook page.  There are a lot of fun albums linked on Irresistible's page, so check them out!

Menu Plan Monday 10/31/11-11/6/11

Meaty Monday: Slow Cooker French Dip with fresh fruit and veggies


Tasty Tuesday: Simple Slow Cooker Picante Chicken (I always add extra veggies to the slow cooker) over rice with fresh fruit


Wild Card Wednesday: Mommy and Daddy are eating out before Bradley class with the Bowmans; kiddos are eating organic chicken nuggets, green beans and fruit


Spaghetti Night: Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter only with green beans, since hubby doesn't like asparagus, and without Parmesan, since the big one (Ellie) and I aren't supposed to have dairy


Free-for-all Friday: Leftovers if we have any, freezer raid if we don't

Menu Plan Monday: 4/10/11-4/17/11

Sunday
Lunch: Tacos, Enchiladas and Refried Beans (Slow Cooker Enchiladas: 1 can enchilada sauce or 1.5-2 cups homemade sauce, 1 package of at least 10 corn tortillas, .5-1 lb cheese, depending on your taste and health concerns.  :o)  In a 1.5-2qt slow cooker, pour a little enchilada sauce to coat the bottom.  Place a corn tortilla (or pieces of corn tortillas if they are not the same shape/size as the crock) on top then a layer of shredded or thinly sliced cheese; I like medium cheddar.  Pour more sauce over the cheese, and then add another tortilla layer, compressing everything.  Top with more cheese and sauce and tortilla, pressing each layer.  Repeat until you use the last of the enchilada sauce.  Cook on low for at least a couple of hours.  Serves 4-6.  Be sure to watch it; the edges will darken too much after a few hours.  I've found 2-4 hours works for me.)
Dinner: Chicken Tikka Masala, Aloo Gobi and Brown Basmati Rice

Monday
Lunch: Hopefully lunching with Daddy
Dinner: Slow Cooker French Dip and Cheesy Vegetable Bake (Some combination of frozen veggies and cheese with a Ritz Cracker and butter topping)

Tuesday
Lunch: Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese and Broccoli (We'll just pour the mac-n-cheese over the broccoli)
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce and Toast (Sauce: Brown ground beef with garlic, onion or shallot salt and garlic pepper; then add a jar of pasta sauce and veggies, like frozen spinach and grated carrots, and simmer while the pasta/squash cooks)

Wednesday
Lunch: Hopefully lunching with Daddy
Dinner: Chicken Green Bean Casserole (I skip the croutons and instead add a bag of stuffing mix to the soup/chicken/green bean mixture)

Thursday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Dining Out

Friday
Lunch: Hopefully lunching with Daddy
Dinner: Frozen Pizza, Salad and Crudites

We don't know what our weekend plans are yet!

Note: We serve fruit with every meal.

Time for Tea

I love tea.  I have always loved tea.  I was the only seven-year-old I knew who ordered iced tea at dinner.  I felt like I was special.  I felt then, as I do now, connected to other tea drinkers.  Let's face it:

Tea brings people together.

My taste in tea has changed over the years.  I used to love LOVE love Nestea instant tea.  I went through it by the jarful.  When I stayed home sick as a tween, all my mom needed to do was make up the pull-out and leave the remote and the Nestea on the end table, and I was set for the day.

As the years went on, I discovered the wonders of green tea, said wonders being that it existed.  Working in the mall, I fell in love with the Blackberry Jasmine green tea at the various Asian restaurants in the food court.  I'm not a flavored tea person, but if it's not sweet, I can appreciate it.  This leads me to a tea-drinking quirk of mine.  While I do enjoy a rich, full-bodied tea, hot or cold, I prefer my tea weak, more like tea-flavored water.  (I better not see any comments about how tea is, in fact, tea-flavored water.)  My loved ones have joked about misplaced drinks, saying that if it looks like pee, it must be my tea.  Now there's a visual for you.

My wonderful husband, who normally does not indulge my addictions, introduced me to Jasmine Pearls.  These are full green tea leaves rolled into balls with jasmine.  They bloom when you add hot water.  The jasmine flavor is flowery, but it's so subtle and soft that it's not too much.  A lot of people who do not like flowery teas like jasmine.  I like to add a little lavender to my Jasmine Pearls.  Sometimes I mix them with white tea.  Sometimes I mix my white tea with lavender.  Tea is fun.  If you want to discover new flavors of tea, the best way is to find a bulk loose-leaf section and grab a few pinches of each flavor that interests you, not in one bag, of course.

I must interject here with some tea-care instructions.  Be sure to store your tea in a cool, dry, dark place...metal canisters are great for this.  Do not display your tea on the counter in a clear-glass canister or jar!  Not only does light degrade the tea quality and flavor, it decreases the amount of antioxidants.

I also feel the need to throw in some brewing tips here.  Remember: you can always add water to tea that is too strong, so be sure not to use too little!  Alton Brown gives his guidelines here.  (Note: He likes both tea and coffee very strong.)  He also tells you proper brewing temperatures and times.  To paraphrase Mr. Brown's comments in his tea episode, when your kettle whistles...  For black tea, bring the tea to the kettle (it brews hottest).  For green tea, bring the kettle to the tea (so it cools just a touch).  For white tea, remove the kettle from the heat for a couple of minutes before pouring (white tea is delicate).

I enjoy drinking my tea in another nifty and thoughtful gift from my hubby, my Libre Tea glass.  I can brew my tea on the go, I don't have to change containers, and I don't need an infusion ball because the filter's built in!  The glass is insulated, so I don't burn my hand, and my tea stays hot.  Hubby actually got me two: a glass one and a plastic one.  The plastic one still has glass on the inside, but it's not as fragile as the all-glass one.  Those of you who know me can guess that's the one I use.

I recently had a new tea experience.  The yummy Japanese restaurant Le Hana near the base of the Portland Aerial Tram serves a wonderful green tea, nutty and smokey.  I asked the hostess/server about it, and she said the brand was Miyako.  Unwilling to wait for an Internet order and knowing I've seen this type of tea, green tea with toasted brown rice, from other brands in the past, I looked for the tea in the bulk loose-leaf section of New Seasons Market (thank you for your vast selection of bulk loose-leaf tea!).  I found it made by The Republic of Tea.  Yay!  Yum!  Introducing the Tea of Inquiry.  [Ooohhh...Aaahhh...]

Don't be surprised or disturbed if your preschooler points out the "bugs" in your tea.

The excitement is building!

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the beautiful swirling motion of the leaves as I poured in the water.  Maybe next time.

For some strange reason, the tea separates into two groups: floats and sinks.

Suddenly, the floats group starts to fall.

I know my tea is ready when all the tea is at the bottom.  Neat, huh?

Ahhh...ready to drink.  And the next cup is already brewing!

I love drinking tea.  It relaxes me and makes me happy.  I love sharing tea with my friends and loved ones.  I feel like I'm part of a big family when I connect with other tea drinkers online, in stores, in coffee houses, in tea houses...  We're everywhere!  (That was a little more ominous than I intended.)

What is your favorite tea?  Where do you like to drink your tea?

I love CARROTS!

A friend had this as her facebook status today.  It reminded me that I, too, love carrots!  I love them raw.  I love them steamed with butter and maybe some tarragon.  I love them roasted, maybe with honey and almonds, or maple syrup.  I love them pureed into a curry soup or a cream soup or a ginger soup!  I love carrots tempura, carrot cake, carrot muffins (I put shredded carrots into most of my muffins)...  The list goes on.

For me, winter is an awesome time for cooked carrots.  They contain so many nutrients, including harder-to-come-by copper.  They, and other root vegetables, provide so much comfort and health benefits.

So...

I want your carrot recipes!

Foraging for Scraps

Andrea Tidrow's blog reminded me of a yummy recipe I created with stuff I found in my refrigerator.

I used leftover slow cooker chicken, but rotisserie would be very yummy, even grilled. Shred it. Combine Vegannaise or an oil-blend mayo with a garlic vinaigrette, like Annie's Naturals Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette, to create a yogurt-like texture. Quarter red grapes. Combine chicken, dressing and grapes, roll in a tortilla and enjoy!

I wish I had a picture for you, but I was so excited that I ate it without thinking.  I've made it since, and every time I'm too excited to eat it.  Maybe next time...

Now, be sure to check out Andrea Tidrow's blog for other inspired dishes of desperation.

Menu Plan Monday...on Thursday

So I'm a space cadet.  I'm sure you just didn't know what you were going to do without my meal plan this week.

Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - French Dip Tacos (Leftovers of Slow Cooker French Dip served on fresh flour tortillas, with au jus, of course) with sauteed green beans.  Seriously, buy the raw tortillas in the refrigerator section and cook them yourself.  It's worth it.
Wednesday - Picante Chicken that I didn't make last week served over rice, as always...gotta catch that juice!
Thursday - Dining Out
Friday - Leftover Buffet

Menu Plan Monday

Meaty Monday - Eh...dining out
Tasty Tuesday - Chicken with Apples and Onions and cheesy broccoli
Wild Card Wednesday - Slow Cooker French Dip and Crock Pot Applesauce
Spaghetti Night - Simple Slow Cooker Picante Chicken with extra veggies (yeah...I know it's not pasta)
Free-For-All Friday - Leftovers, anyone?

Operation: Freezer Cleanout (A.K.A. Lessons in Menu Planning)

We are going on a trip, and our freezer - and pantry, for that matter - is full of things that won't last until we get back.  I kinda forgot about this until this week, so now I'm desperately trying to creatively construct meals - preferably with nutritious element from our culinary collection.

The first day, I cooked a frozen cheese pizza with fresh pepperoni and a pepperoni broccoli stirfry.  I also threw a box of yellow cake and a box of raspberry Jello together to make one of my favorite desserts ever, it was incredibly tasty and just as moist and wonderful as the blue cake I made for my mother-in-law.

Last night we had frozen chicken strips, frozen chicken nuggets, the sad leftovers of a bag of frozen onion rings, frozen tater tots, a box of frozen veggies and a can of baked beans.  Ellie and I had a nutritious meal.  My husband?  Well, he did eat a single onion ring along with his strips and tots.  Onions are veggies, right?  Oh!  I rounded out my meal with Martinelli's sparkling apple-grape juice.  Yum!  I followed the meal with some of the yummy raspberry cake.

For lunch, my mom requested frozen Hebrew National pigs in a blanket, so I reheated some of the baked beans and cooked frozen peas and carrots with butter, shallot salt and garlic pepper.  It was a rather tasty meal.  Of course, I also had a piece of raspberry cake.

Dinner tonight was frozen P.F. Chang's beef with broccoli and frozen spring rolls.  The P.F. Chang's meal is not the cheapest, about the same price as getting it at the restaurant, but it sure is tasty, and we can round out the meal for much cheaper than dining out.  I also baked some frozen tropical fruit with some honey.  I produced a yummy fruit concoction resembling a crisp without the crisp topping.  I'll have to remember this.

I knew we had a lot of food in the freezer, but I really had no idea.

Blue Rose of Birthday

(Okay...I know.  Bad play on words.)

My mother-in-law has a birthday this month, and we celebrated last weekend.  We don't generally do big birthday celebrations for adults, so I wanted to do something to make it special.  My mother-in-law loves blue food, the brighter the better.  I decided I was going to make her a blue cake with blue icing.

I found a recipe for Jello cake online.  I also found a recipe for Kool-Aid glaze, but I didn't really follow it.  If you need a recipe, follow the one with the Jello cake but substitute milk for water.  My wonderful husband went to five stores to find both blue Jello and blue Kool-Aid.  I can't believe it was that hard to find.  In the end, he still had the wrong Kool-Aid, but at least it did turn the glaze blue.  The cake was blue berry flavored (note: not blueberry), and the glaze was blue raspberry lemonade.  It took a ton of powdered sugar to tone down the lemonade tang.

My husband (did I mention he's wonderful?) suggested using a Bundt pan, and I elected to use the rose-shaped pan that my mother-in-law gave me in honor of my middle name: Rose.  The cake cooked up beautifully, and hubby completely drenched it with the glaze.  When cut, it wasn't as blue as I had hoped (and the camera makes it look really yellow green), but you could tell it was supposed to be blue.  The cake was moist and subtle, and the glaze added a slightly crunchy, tangy-sweet contrast.

Review of this week's recipes

Meaty Monday:
Gluten-free pasta w/ sauce from a jar and crumbled spicy sausage - Always depends on the sauce; our new sauce didn't cut it
Did Sesame Garlic Broccoli tonight instead
Garlic Bread - sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds for added crunch and nutrition...yum!
Tasty Tuesday:
CrockPot Tuscan Chicken from Saving Dinner served over rice - served with Italian green beans (sauteed green beans tossed with Italian dressing)
Wild Card Wednesday:
Old Chicago!
Spaghetti Night (Well, since we did Spaghetti Night on Meaty Monday, we'll do Meaty Monday on Spaghetti Night):
Morton's Roast from Costco on the grill
Sesame Broccoli (like this recipe) - had to switch to sweet potato fries

Yummy Slow Cooker Lunch 12/30/09

I had no idea what to make for lunch, but I knew I did NOT want to pack both kids into the car just for some fast food. So...I pulled out some frozen hot dogs (Nathans - the good stuff) and put them in the fridge to thaw. Then I had thought: slow cooker. I proceeded to do a search for "slow cooker hot dog recipe." I found a few things, most taking hours, of course. One, however, Hawaiian Hot Dog Surprise, only took 30 minutes, and I had the ingredients (at least I thought)! Working with what I actually had, I subbed half the hot dogs with leftover ham and left out the beans (which I amazingly didn't have - I ALWAYS have baked beans!) and the white sugar just because I figured it was sugary enough. I also cooked it on high for 30 minutes because it wasn't bubbling like the recipe implied it would. The end result was SO YUMMY! The Nathans hot dogs are salty, which gives a nice contrast to the sugary sauce and pineapple. The ham was good in it, too. I highly recommend this recipe, though I would bet money that the white sugar is unnecessary. I served lightly-buttered peas with this meal, which sounds weird but complemented the dish well. Toddler approved.

Menu Plan Monday 12/28/09

(Sorry about the weird formatting; Blogger is acting up on me)

• Meaty Monday:
• Gluten-free pasta w/ sauce from a jar and crumbled spicy sausage
• Garlic Bread
• Tasty Tuesday:
• CrockPot Tuscan Chicken from Saving Dinner served over rice
• Wild Card Wednesday:
• Not sure yet - probably takeout
• Spaghetti Night (Well, since we did Spaghetti Night on Meaty Monday, we'll do Meaty Monday on Spaghetti Night):
• Morton's Roast from Costco on the grill
• Sesame Broccoli (like this recipe)
• Free-for-All Friday:
• Not a clue; no idea what we'll be doing

Menu Plan Monday 12/21/09

Menu Plan Monday

This week is all messed up, and not entirely because of Christmas!

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Some slow cooker chicken dish I have yet to select (depends on my ability to get to the store today)

Wednesday: Freezer cleanout (I see chicken dino nuggets in our future...)

Thursday: Tenderloin roast (hubby's choice), cheesy potatoes, cheese dip, Spicy Sesame Green Beans (only half spicy, though, for the wee ones)

Friday: Ham, Jello salad (yes, I said Jello salad), corn, peas, scalloped potatoes, whatever else we add to the list...

Review of this week's recipes

Meaty Monday:
Morton's Pot Roast from Costco – Good but not as sweet as I’d hoped, since it contained sugar, and very fatty
Stir-fried corn – Turned out better than I’d hoped!

Tasty Tuesday:
Last-minute change of plans led to dinner out

Wild Card Wednesday:
Last-minute doctor appointment led to takeout

Spaghetti Night:
Spontaneous dinner out with friends, conveniently also Italian

Free-for-all Friday:
Erickson Family Christmas!!!

Menu Plan Monday 12/14/09

This week is an easy week for me. I deserve it!

Meaty Monday:

Morton's Pot Roast from Costco

Stir-fried corn

Tasty Tuesday:

Tuscan Chicken from SavingDinner.com (received in an email from Flylady...I don't feel right posting it, so if you want it, message me or comment with your email address) over rice instead of pasta (I love it when the veggies are part of the main dish!)

Wild Card Wednesday:

Cranberry Stuffing Turkey Breasts from Costco

Roasted green beans

Spaghetti Night:

Fancy pasta with sausage (haven't decided which fancy pasta or sausage yet)

Free-for-all Friday:

Whatever's left!

Review of this week's recipes

Review of this week's recipes:

Meaty Monday:
Easy Slow Cooker Meatballs – They were good, but the meatballs themselves could have used more seasoning (the only seasoning was in the breadcrumbs) and they didn’t hold together well. They have hope, though!
Roasted Parsnips – I also made some with cinnamon and sugar. They were ALL good!!!
Garlic Bread – Well, our bread molded spontaneously, so no garlic bread for us… :o(

Tasty Tuesday:
CrockPot Brown Sugar Chicken over rice – It was very good but tasted just like Picante Chicken. Since the Picante Chicken has fewer calories and more veggies and is less work, we’ll dump this recipe and keep that one.
Garlic Sesame Green Beans – Good as always, though I forgot the almonds and made the beans without red pepper flakes so that Ellie could eat them (I like them better that way, anyway). I also added chopped garlic to the oil (because I accidentally started to make my garlic green beans instead of Mike's). I give a huge thumbs up to veggie recipe that makes my toddler ask for more until there is no more.

Wild Card Wednesday: Changed to a meal out, since Mikey’s chiropractic appointment got in the way.

Spaghetti Night:
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce – Since I doubled the meatball recipe on Monday, I decided to just break up the meatballs into sauce. I’ll have to try this recipe another time.
Honey Mustard Broccoli - MUCH better with Ken's Steak House Honey Mustard dressing than with Safeway Honey Mustard
Garlic Bread

Free-For-All Friday: Whatever is left!

Family Dinner (Saturday or Sunday): Ditched the food plans when the family plans changed...had yummy brinner

Menu Plan Monday 12/7/09

Here I go with my first week of complete menu planning! I'm very excited!

(Oh, and be sure to check back at the end of the week for a review of this week's menu!)

Meaty Monday:
Easy Slow Cooker Meatballs
Roasted Parsnips
Garlic Bread

Tasty Tuesday:
CrockPot Brown Sugar Chicken over rice
Garlic Sesame Green Beans

Wild Card Wednesday:
Ham Sandwiches
Fruit Salad

Spaghetti Night:
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Honey Mustard Broccoli
Garlic Bread

Free-For-All Friday:
Whatever is left!

Family Dinner (Saturday or Sunday):
Slow Cooker French Dip
Sweet Potato Fries