It's another Saturday, time to cook and prep for the week. The sad thing about my cooking plans is that I generally don't have time to make a menu plan until Saturday. It's a bit sad because there are three great grocery stores (Fresh and Easy, Trader Joe's, Smart and Final) very close to my baby's daycare. And I rarely have my grocery list made up in time to go after work. That would be best...stop at one on Weds, one on Thurs, one on Fri. No shopping or extra driving on Sat.
I did get 2 of the 3 done yesterday, but that's only because I had been randomly planning my meals in my head in the car. So at least I am able to do that.
How did I plan my meals? Well, this last week I ate a LOT of pasta with chicken and vegetables, and a ton of rice and lentils (that stuff was AWESOME), so you know that neither will be on this week's menu. It has been a LONG time since I've made pizza. So, I decided to make pizza. The next thing I do is look at our CSA for the week. The hubby picks that up now, so I have to make an extra special effort to see what we got. We have butternut squash, so soup is on the menu too. And Kalli has been posting delicious meals with sweet potatoes on Facebook, so I have to go buy some. Also, turkey breast was on sale, so it's turkey sandwiches for lunch this week.
Here's a summary of what I'm cooking this weekend:
Vanilla Chai scones (just add water...)
Crockpot refried beans from 100 days of real food (for burritos at dinner a few nights)
Pizza! (Saturday night will be tomato-based sauce, Sunday will be CSA-parsley-pesto)
Butternut squash soup with ginger (the very first post I ever did on this blog)
Crockpot tri-tip (for burritos)
The rest of the CSA food includes carrots (for carrot sticks and hummus at lunch), lettuce (salad), kale (kale chips because my friend hasn't sent me the quinoa/kale salad recipe yet), spicy greens (salad, and maybe on our turkey sandwiches for lunch).
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Carbolicious and Vegetarian
Well the main cooking meals this weekend were heavy on the carbs and greens and light on the meat.
I did a short inventory of my fridge, freezer, and pantry and decided to start cooking from it.
Saturday night we had greens...I used the spinach, beet greens, and dandilion greens from our CSA and made spaghetti with the greens, lots of garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and feta. On the side: roasted carrots, beets, broccoli, and baby fennel. The spaghetti was supposed to be whole wheat, but I sent the hubby and he probably didn't know what "ww spaghetti" was.
We had the same on Sunday with kale chips on the side.
On Sunday I cooked up lunches for the week. Spouse had today off with the kids and is headed to Boston for two days (brr...we don't own winter clothing anymore). I was looking for a way to use my lentils, so I made Arabic lentils and rice. It was amazingly easy. You serve it with browned onions on top (sorry Biz!) I also sauteed up a ton of diced carrots (okay, maybe only 1.5 lbs). I have already portioned out the rice, lentils, onions, and carrots into individual containers. Half in the fridge, half frozen. I am putting Chobani Greek yogurt (plain) on top. Delish!
I did a short inventory of my fridge, freezer, and pantry and decided to start cooking from it.
Saturday night we had greens...I used the spinach, beet greens, and dandilion greens from our CSA and made spaghetti with the greens, lots of garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and feta. On the side: roasted carrots, beets, broccoli, and baby fennel. The spaghetti was supposed to be whole wheat, but I sent the hubby and he probably didn't know what "ww spaghetti" was.
We had the same on Sunday with kale chips on the side.
On Sunday I cooked up lunches for the week. Spouse had today off with the kids and is headed to Boston for two days (brr...we don't own winter clothing anymore). I was looking for a way to use my lentils, so I made Arabic lentils and rice. It was amazingly easy. You serve it with browned onions on top (sorry Biz!) I also sauteed up a ton of diced carrots (okay, maybe only 1.5 lbs). I have already portioned out the rice, lentils, onions, and carrots into individual containers. Half in the fridge, half frozen. I am putting Chobani Greek yogurt (plain) on top. Delish!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The week's meal plan - with links!
Well, as it so happens, we ate lots of delicious meals this week. And I didn't take pictures of any of it. I know if you visit my blog, though, you certainly don't do it for my photographic skills. Yep, I spent my time taking pictures of my adorable 7 month old.
Yeah, I need to repaint the toenails.
So, here's what's on the menu this coming week. This CSA started up again, so that means a ton of work.
Saturday: fish and pea curry, brown rice, and carrot ginger soup from this book
Sunday: baked lemon chicken and chickpeas and spinach from this book (I used chard, fava leaves, and spinach from the CSA)
Monday: leftover chicken and chickpeas
Tuesday: chicken fingers and roasted beets
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: leftover carrot ginger soup and pasta with last week's meatballs
Lunches: bean burritos with crockpot refried beans from 100 Days of Real Food.
I also washed lettuce and spicy greens, washed 2 bunches of radishes, washed blueberries. Still have to make carrot sticks for lunches.
The only CSA veggie work to do the rest of the week is roast the beets with some carrots on Tuesday.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Eat For Health Soup
So, a year or two ago, I bought "Eat for Health" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. He also wrote "Eat to Live". He's been advocating a plant-based diet for a very long time. His dietary recommendations, in general, are pretty extreme when you look at the sheer amount of produce he recommends.
I picked up the book again last week and skimmed a few pages. It's cold and flu season, so I figured any veggie-heavy recipe would be a blessing. I tend to cook ahead and soups are good for that.
The first soup recipe I found looked great. I hadn't realized how some of the recipes in the book were written for speed in mind. The recipe called for low-sodium tomato soup as a base, with carrot juice also (purchased, though some recipes call for fresh. I don't have a juicer, so that's not happening.) The vegetables he recommends adding are all frozen, and canned beans.
I followed the recipe almost exactly. I used some pre-cooked pinto beans in place of one of the cans of beans. I used fresh broccoli instead of frozen. I used fresh onion and sautee'd it in olive oil first. It was pretty good. A little more "solid" than most soups I eat, and am used to. Very filling.
It's important to note that the recipes make HUGE amounts...many of the other soup recipes make 30 cups of soup (I think I only have one pot that big) and say that they serve 8-10 people. Of course, in the doctor's world, you'd be eating 3 cups of soup as your meal. His calorie count on the daily meals is about 1800...all from plants. Anyway, it tasted good but looked pretty darned awful. It was also 2x the price of my Moroccan Lentil Soup. Still cheap though.
And I caught a cold anyway. But it's that time of year.
The other weekly meals were:
Tri tip in the crockpot - used for tacos.
Ham sandwiches.
So I made the soup on Saturday, we ate it that night with hamburgers, then froze the rest. I made the tri-tip on Sunday, we ate it Sunday and Monday, then froze the rest. We defrosted the soup for Weds, Thurs, and Friday, which we ate with scrambled eggs and cheese quesadillas. The rest of the tri-tip is still in the freezer. We will probably pull that out for the latter half of the week. Here's my leftover-burger lunch on Sunday:
Here's how the week is shaping up:
Saturday: Tilapia and homemade tomato soup (Freeze rest of soup)
Sunday: Asian style meatballs with rice and stir fry veggies
Monday: Sunday leftovers (freeze remaining meatballs)
Tuesday: The usual (baked chicken tenders and broccoli)
Wednesday: Leftover soup with tri-tip tacos
Thursday and Friday: See Wednesday
For lunch, I am planning on making a big batch of pasta with asparagus, spinach, garlic, and olive oil. We'll eat it all week. Setting up my weekly meals in this schedule is making it MUCH less stressfull during the week. Though I have to say, eating the same thing Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for dinner and the same lunch all week does get pretty boring. But at least there is very little temptation to overeat these meals.
I picked up the book again last week and skimmed a few pages. It's cold and flu season, so I figured any veggie-heavy recipe would be a blessing. I tend to cook ahead and soups are good for that.
The first soup recipe I found looked great. I hadn't realized how some of the recipes in the book were written for speed in mind. The recipe called for low-sodium tomato soup as a base, with carrot juice also (purchased, though some recipes call for fresh. I don't have a juicer, so that's not happening.) The vegetables he recommends adding are all frozen, and canned beans.
I followed the recipe almost exactly. I used some pre-cooked pinto beans in place of one of the cans of beans. I used fresh broccoli instead of frozen. I used fresh onion and sautee'd it in olive oil first. It was pretty good. A little more "solid" than most soups I eat, and am used to. Very filling.
It's important to note that the recipes make HUGE amounts...many of the other soup recipes make 30 cups of soup (I think I only have one pot that big) and say that they serve 8-10 people. Of course, in the doctor's world, you'd be eating 3 cups of soup as your meal. His calorie count on the daily meals is about 1800...all from plants. Anyway, it tasted good but looked pretty darned awful. It was also 2x the price of my Moroccan Lentil Soup. Still cheap though.
And I caught a cold anyway. But it's that time of year.
The other weekly meals were:
Tri tip in the crockpot - used for tacos.
Ham sandwiches.
So I made the soup on Saturday, we ate it that night with hamburgers, then froze the rest. I made the tri-tip on Sunday, we ate it Sunday and Monday, then froze the rest. We defrosted the soup for Weds, Thurs, and Friday, which we ate with scrambled eggs and cheese quesadillas. The rest of the tri-tip is still in the freezer. We will probably pull that out for the latter half of the week. Here's my leftover-burger lunch on Sunday:
Saturday: Tilapia and homemade tomato soup (Freeze rest of soup)
Sunday: Asian style meatballs with rice and stir fry veggies
Monday: Sunday leftovers (freeze remaining meatballs)
Tuesday: The usual (baked chicken tenders and broccoli)
Wednesday: Leftover soup with tri-tip tacos
Thursday and Friday: See Wednesday
For lunch, I am planning on making a big batch of pasta with asparagus, spinach, garlic, and olive oil. We'll eat it all week. Setting up my weekly meals in this schedule is making it MUCH less stressfull during the week. Though I have to say, eating the same thing Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for dinner and the same lunch all week does get pretty boring. But at least there is very little temptation to overeat these meals.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Keeping it Simple and Being Thankful
Well, it happened again. The husband had a business trip. It was a short one...Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday evening. Except...it wasn't. The work there was delayed. He had to stay an extra day. The flights back were booked, so he ended up doing a lot of driving (2 hours in Arizona to get to the airport, 2 hours in California to get home).
Now, I always freak out a little bit, at least, when my spouse travels. Being a single parent is hard work. It's stressful to handle - especially now there are two of them. And I still have a job. And I don't have much in the way of a "village" (we live far from our families). So I need to have strategies for making it through - pre-cooked meals, entertainment options. Even still...I am never happy and I dread it. And lately, the baby has started waking frequently (teething?) and being hard to settle back down. This after 3 months of sleeping 10 hours.
One wake-up call came the morning my husband was leaving, in the form of a facebook post from a friend. He was asking for prayers for friends of his (nobody I know) whose < 1 month old baby daughter died of SIDS. Healthy little baby, just didn't wake up one day.
That shut down the whining really fast. There are worse things than lack of sleep. It really helped me let go and ENJOY the time with my boys instead of seeing the time alone with them as a burden and "when can I get my me time?" (Hint: I never did get the me time.)
I kept it simple and organized. Dinners were:
Tuesday: leftover enchiladas with frozen green beans (microwaved)
Wednesday: leftover moroccan lentil soup (from Saturday that I'd frozen) with bread
Thursday: repeat of Wednesday
Friday (husband home): ordered pizza
Lunches were also leftovers. I didn't have to do any cooking beyond making toast, heating soup, or microwaving. There were minimal dishes. I was able to nurse the baby 2-3 times after coming home, feed him cereal, work on homework with my 1st grader, have him do his daily reading, and read to him also. On top of that, he got a little extra TV time.
Before going to bed, I had our three lunch bags lined up on the counter: baby food, paci, and bottle in the baby's (just add the milk bottles in the morning). Nuts, orange, banana in mine (just add the refrigerated items), and same for my older son. It was very laid back and relaxing. Why? Well, one reason is that I left later. I had to stay at home until my son got picked up for school, so I had an extra 20-30 minutes (bonus is there is less traffic later also, bad part is I am too late to work for the morning meeting). Also, I just didn't bother pumping in the morning. That's another 20 minutes I gained. I won't be able to continue that though. And of course, no workouts (but I only work out Tues/Thurs during the week as it is.) These extra minutes in the morning meant most items were picked up from the floor and we were able to play games together - Uno, Connect Four, etc.
Now I'm thinking that it was so relaxing that I need to try and capture some of those habits now that my husband is back. I always pre-prepare meals, but generally at least do some cooking the night of (usually a vegetable). Can I do that ahead of time too? I will try that. Can I have the lunch bags lined up every night?
The only really big negative for the whole week was the lack of sleep. The baby was awake a lot Tuesday. The rain came on Wednesday and kept me awake. And by Thursday the baby had a cold and spent a lot of time coughing. I was awake with insomnia all three nights for at least a couple of hours. So, I'm dragging. On that note on this Friday evening, I am headed to bed. I hope to catch up on my sleep this weekend. I tried to spend some time this evening planning the week's meals. However, I found that I had enthusiasm, but not the brain power. It will have to wait until morning before the big grocery shop.
Now, I always freak out a little bit, at least, when my spouse travels. Being a single parent is hard work. It's stressful to handle - especially now there are two of them. And I still have a job. And I don't have much in the way of a "village" (we live far from our families). So I need to have strategies for making it through - pre-cooked meals, entertainment options. Even still...I am never happy and I dread it. And lately, the baby has started waking frequently (teething?) and being hard to settle back down. This after 3 months of sleeping 10 hours.
One wake-up call came the morning my husband was leaving, in the form of a facebook post from a friend. He was asking for prayers for friends of his (nobody I know) whose < 1 month old baby daughter died of SIDS. Healthy little baby, just didn't wake up one day.
That shut down the whining really fast. There are worse things than lack of sleep. It really helped me let go and ENJOY the time with my boys instead of seeing the time alone with them as a burden and "when can I get my me time?" (Hint: I never did get the me time.)
I kept it simple and organized. Dinners were:
Tuesday: leftover enchiladas with frozen green beans (microwaved)
Wednesday: leftover moroccan lentil soup (from Saturday that I'd frozen) with bread
Thursday: repeat of Wednesday
Friday (husband home): ordered pizza
Lunches were also leftovers. I didn't have to do any cooking beyond making toast, heating soup, or microwaving. There were minimal dishes. I was able to nurse the baby 2-3 times after coming home, feed him cereal, work on homework with my 1st grader, have him do his daily reading, and read to him also. On top of that, he got a little extra TV time.
Before going to bed, I had our three lunch bags lined up on the counter: baby food, paci, and bottle in the baby's (just add the milk bottles in the morning). Nuts, orange, banana in mine (just add the refrigerated items), and same for my older son. It was very laid back and relaxing. Why? Well, one reason is that I left later. I had to stay at home until my son got picked up for school, so I had an extra 20-30 minutes (bonus is there is less traffic later also, bad part is I am too late to work for the morning meeting). Also, I just didn't bother pumping in the morning. That's another 20 minutes I gained. I won't be able to continue that though. And of course, no workouts (but I only work out Tues/Thurs during the week as it is.) These extra minutes in the morning meant most items were picked up from the floor and we were able to play games together - Uno, Connect Four, etc.
Now I'm thinking that it was so relaxing that I need to try and capture some of those habits now that my husband is back. I always pre-prepare meals, but generally at least do some cooking the night of (usually a vegetable). Can I do that ahead of time too? I will try that. Can I have the lunch bags lined up every night?
The only really big negative for the whole week was the lack of sleep. The baby was awake a lot Tuesday. The rain came on Wednesday and kept me awake. And by Thursday the baby had a cold and spent a lot of time coughing. I was awake with insomnia all three nights for at least a couple of hours. So, I'm dragging. On that note on this Friday evening, I am headed to bed. I hope to catch up on my sleep this weekend. I tried to spend some time this evening planning the week's meals. However, I found that I had enthusiasm, but not the brain power. It will have to wait until morning before the big grocery shop.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Flavors of Winter
I happened to be shopping at the Farmer's market on Saturday, looking for avocados. I only had twenty bucks. I happened to spend all $20 on other things that took my fancy (including avocados).
The first thing I got a gander at was kabocha squash, marked down to $1/lb. Man, this stuff is so good. The same stall had these beautiful heads of delicate lettuce, so I snagged one of those. And some pistachios made their way into my bag too. But they were up a buck from last week. Ouch.
I've really been trying to up the produce intake lately. I generally eat a lot already. But it's cold and flu season, so I figure that more veggies will help with keeping the immune system strong. Alas, I caught the cold my husband had, so it's my third of the season. There are several folks out at work with the flu, so here's to hoping I don't get that. The whole family has gotten the flu shot, but the baby only got his less than a week ago, and it takes 2 weeks to take effect. I'm a little bit paranoid about the flu, mostly because some people are stupid and they go to work sick. But I digress...
A taste of what we've been eating this week:
Kabocha squash, roasted
Sauteed green beans (originally frozen) and mushrooms in a garlic-soy glaze.
Here's the squash alongside chicken, potato, and pea curry. So I discovered this red curry sauce from Trader Joe's...yum!
Roasted red potatoes.
I also roasted the red potatoes last night with broccoli and carrots. Today I was home sick (but working). My husband came home early to take a nap. Because he was home, I was able to cook dinner (or we'd have been SOL!) I made skillet pasta (except I don't have the right kind of skillet anymore, so I use my dutch oven) and a salad. We now have enough pasta for dinner for the next two nights - score!
The first thing I got a gander at was kabocha squash, marked down to $1/lb. Man, this stuff is so good. The same stall had these beautiful heads of delicate lettuce, so I snagged one of those. And some pistachios made their way into my bag too. But they were up a buck from last week. Ouch.
I've really been trying to up the produce intake lately. I generally eat a lot already. But it's cold and flu season, so I figure that more veggies will help with keeping the immune system strong. Alas, I caught the cold my husband had, so it's my third of the season. There are several folks out at work with the flu, so here's to hoping I don't get that. The whole family has gotten the flu shot, but the baby only got his less than a week ago, and it takes 2 weeks to take effect. I'm a little bit paranoid about the flu, mostly because some people are stupid and they go to work sick. But I digress...
A taste of what we've been eating this week:
Kabocha squash, roasted
Sauteed green beans (originally frozen) and mushrooms in a garlic-soy glaze.
Here's the squash alongside chicken, potato, and pea curry. So I discovered this red curry sauce from Trader Joe's...yum!
Roasted red potatoes.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Crockpot Vegetable Barley Soup
I continued on this new trend of "Crockpot Wednesday", aka "I don't have time to cook after I get home with two kids and I'm out of leftovers Wednesday". This week I looked in the fridge and pantry and decided "how about a soup with barley and vegetables."
I googled and found this recipe and just used the veggies that I had, which were:
frozen tri color peppers
onions
garlic
canned tomatoes
frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, carrots, lima beans)
carrots
tiny bit of butternut squash
I also added the spices and homemade chicken stock, water, and a bouillon cube. As usual, I forgot the salt and it needed it badly.
Night 2 was better (I salted it). And I topped it with crackers and a little feta. We ate the soup for three nights with toasted rye bread and bruschetta topping.
The soup was good, but not awesome. The carrots were crunchy the first night. I think the key to awesome soup is really to saute the onions and garlic first. I didn't do that. If I make it again, I will pre-cook the onions, garlic, and carrots.
I googled and found this recipe and just used the veggies that I had, which were:
frozen tri color peppers
onions
garlic
canned tomatoes
frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, carrots, lima beans)
carrots
tiny bit of butternut squash
I also added the spices and homemade chicken stock, water, and a bouillon cube. As usual, I forgot the salt and it needed it badly.
Night 2 was better (I salted it). And I topped it with crackers and a little feta. We ate the soup for three nights with toasted rye bread and bruschetta topping.
The soup was good, but not awesome. The carrots were crunchy the first night. I think the key to awesome soup is really to saute the onions and garlic first. I didn't do that. If I make it again, I will pre-cook the onions, garlic, and carrots.
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