Food Nerd

I have not posted anything in a long time.  I have continued to plan a menu every week and strive to provide fresh, healthy food for my family on a shoestring budget.  While the economy continues to be hard on many families, we have been fortunate and things have improved for us.  Budget cooking has turned from absolute necessity into a personal challenge and I still try to have fun with it, but I am now bored.

I love to read and I am currently engrossed in the Game of Thrones series. G.R.R. Martin beautifully describes lavish meals served in the great halls as well as the meager scraps savored by refugees of the fictional war-torn countryside. The Hunger Games series has many similar descriptions of exotic and simple dishes throughout the series.

So being the giant nerd that I am, my family will be subjected to strange food experiments while I re-create recipes from these books.  There are several cook books that have their interpretations, but I think it will be more fun to try to figure them out myself.

I did happen onto this fun blog by the authors of the official Game of Thrones Cookbook.  They have done a great deal of research about medieval food.  None of the recipes from the cookbook are involved and it is just kind of fun to follow.

The DVD for both The Hunger Games and The Game of Thrones will be released in the next month or two. I hope to have some recipes for a great DVD premier dinners.

Wild Dog Stew sounds interesting!

How to Plan a Menu

I'm always surprised when I mention dinner plans, or someone overhears the daily "what's for dinner" phone call from my husband, that so many people have no plan for shopping or cooking. Many of my friends tell me they don't know how are don't have time. Planning is something I take for granted. I love to plan. I write lists for everything and think planning a vacation is as much fun as actually going on vacation. The time it takes me to plan and shop for a week or two week menu plan is easily saved later in the week when I am not stopping at the store or staring aimlessly into the refrigerator, hoping for inspiration.

My planning has changed a bit recently because I pick up my produce basket Saturday morning. In the past I had my plan done Friday evening, or early Saturday and tried to hit the stores early before things get too busy. Now I have a bare bones plan in place Saturday. Mostly things that need to get used up immediately and family meal requests.

After I receive my basket I come home and inventory the contents. This week, I received broccoli, cabbage, apples, bananas, kiwis, watermelon, pears, blackberries, fennel, tomatoes, red bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, eggplant, garlic, onions, parsley, basil, rosemary, and sage.

I still have green beans, carrots, cucumbers and peppers in the produce drawers that need to get used up. I've noticed that tossed salads are not as popular as they were when the weather was warmer.

The berries and bananas will get used up in breakfast smoothies. Some of the apples will get eaten in bag lunches and as snacks.

Once I know what I have for perishables I look to the freezer. I have about a half of a pig left and a whole beef. I also have a few packages of chicken breasts. When I don't have two freezers full of meat, I browse the grocery adds to look for "big buy" sales to keep the freezer well stocked.

The next step is finding ways to use the things I have on hand.

Monday: Oven Baked Ribs (freezer and pantry items plus onions) Coleslaw (cabbage, carrots and pantry items for dressing) Fried Apples, Watermelon slices and biscuits leftover from Sunday dinner.

Tuesday: Eggplant Parmigiana (eggplant, zucchinis, herbs and home-canned marinara sauce) Tossed Salad (cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and pantry items for dressing) rosemary foccacia

Wednesday: Beef Stroganoff (onions, mushrooms and noodles form the pantry) Steamed Broccoli and Pear and Apple Crisp

Thursday: Minestrone (cabbage, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, rosemary) and Paninis (leftover foccacia)

Friday: Beef and Vegetable Potpies (zucchini, carrots, onions, and mushrooms)

Saturday: Pork chops

Sunday: Chicken Normandy

Saturday I will pick up another basket and will determine sides for Pork Chops and Chicken at that time. I'm not sure what to do with the fennel. My daughter asked for the ingredients for fruit pizza to use the kiwis, but she did not make it over the weekend, so I'm not sure what to do with them yet. Hopefully, I will find uses for them during the week. I don't like to throw away food, so if I have not used them by Wednesday, I'll call my mom to see if she wants them or take them to work and share them.

I don't think planning a menu is difficult to do or stick to. I freeze leftover soups that I can use in the event I forget to pull meat out of the freezer or an unexpected kids' activity keeps us from getting home in time to cook dinner.

Having this plan in place is very comforting. I do not have the stress of figuring out each night's meal at the last minute and I'm saving money by not making a daily trip to the store.

More Baby Steps

Two of the first changes I made when I cut back on processed foods were eliminating bagged salads and pasta/potato side-dish mixes. For months, whenever I set a salad, loaded with fresh vegetables and tossed with homemade dressing, on the table, my children would cry in despair, "When can we have Caesar salad?" The bagged salad kit includes romaine, some Parmesan, 6 - 8 dry croutons and a calorie rich dressing. On a busy evening recently, I "pressed the easy button," and picked up a salad kit and a box of Alfredo style noodles to go with grilled pork chops. At the end of the meal, the salad sat, barely touched. My husband asked what I did wrong to the noodles because they were "sticky." I didn't have the heart to tell them, they were just used to eating real food.

Good Mornings

I am not a morning person. I'd really like to be, but I don't expect that will ever happen. To get ready for back to school, I've tried to find ways to make school day mornings a little less stressful. Muffins will do for a quick breakfast in a pinch, but I prefer fruit, yogurt, or an egg. As hard as I try, I can't seem to make the time to fix a hot breakfast, and often finding a minute to sit and eat a container of yogurt is beyond me.

I have had a surplus of fresh fruit from my co-op basket so I used some of it to make advance preparations for back to school.

I cut up a banana, some mango, nectarines, and strawberries and put them in individual baggies and stashed them in the freezer. I can use these portions to make breakfast smoothies in a snap on busy mornings. With a little planning ahead, I can even put everything into the blender in the fridge the night before. With minimal effort on busy school day mornings, I'll have a healthy, portable breakfast.

Menu for Two Weeks and a Very Short Grocery List

My last co-op basket was loaded with all kinds of goodies, and I did my best to put them all to good use.

Apple Pie with Ginger Crumble

I love apple pie and this is one of my favorites. It is not overly sweet and the crumble topping adds interesting texture.

Insalta Rustica

This simple salad combines sweet fruit and salty prosciutto and Romano cheese. The lemon and olive oil dressing is a perfect compliment.

Cauliflower and Radish Salad

This salad was a summer staple. My mother made it with ranch dressing mix. I use my homemade ranch dressing instead. It's just like a vegie tray in a bowl.

I love picking up my basket. It's just like Christmas morning. I can't wait to get home and discover what surprises I'll find.

This time, the contents included: strawberries, nectarines, cantaloupe, bananas, mangoes, plums, baby heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes (I think), onions, celery, romaine and green beans. I also picked up corn and flour tortillas.

I'm trying to keep my grocery budget low and make some room in my freezer. I planned the next two weeks menus relying mainly on the things I had on hand.

Saturday: Pork Roast, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans, Apple Cheddar Beer Bread

Sunday: Bacon, Onion, and Mushroom Pizza with Homemade Whole Wheat Crust, Strawberry Shortcake

Monday: Summer Garden Tortelloni, Fruit Salad. Baguette

Tuesday: Jerk Chicken with Mango Salsa, Red Beans and Rice

Wednesday: Picnic Dinner Chicken Caesar Salad Bagels

Thursday: Noodles with Roast Pork and Almonds (using leftovers from Saturday)

Friday: Grilled Steak Sandwiches, French Fries

Saturday: Chicken Marinated in Garlic Oil, Parmesan Noodles,

Sunday: Pork Spareribs, Corn on the Cob, Baked Beans

Monday: Chicken and Corn Tacos, Mexican Rice

Tuesday: Pork Chops, Apple Sauce, Vegie, Sour Cream and Thyme Rolls

Wednesday: Burgers and Chips

Thursday: Soup (Minestrone from the freezer) and Sandwiches

Friday: Steak, Foil Potatoes, Vegie, Apple Crisp

Saturday: Carne Guisada Burritos

I only needed a handful of groceries, mostly replenishing staple items like butter, brown sugar, and milk. I also needed a few fresh produce items that weren't in my basket. My grocery bill should be less than $100.

I'm done working until the end of August so I hope to put some meals into the freezer. I'd also like to make some muffins and other handy breakfast items for smoother school day mornings.

I haven't visited the Organizing Junkie in some time, but I will try to remember to link up to MPM on Monday.

Fruit and Vegie Basket Menu

In addition to falling off the blogging wagon, I have been less diligent about menu planning. I have noticed the fallout in my grocery budget, time I waste wandering around the store wondering what to fix for dinner and the ridiculous number off times we are eating at 8:30 or 9:00 because I did not take something out of the freezer in time to get it thawed by 5:00.

Meals have not been a total disaster. We went camping over the Fourth and enjoyed many fabulous camp breakfasts and dinners. We rocked the dutch oven and made cowboy breakfast, chicken and vegies, and apple crisp. The new fridge in our camper has a freezer and we were able to top the crisp with vanilla ice cream. That was the ultimate luxury!

Cowboy Breakfast

Sausage browned in the dutch oven, topped with hash browns, eggs and cheese and baked.

We also fixed one of my favorite campfire meals, braised cabbage. This simple, hearty meal is quick and easy to cook over a campfire. In a really big skillet, cook chopped bacon and onion until the onion starts to soften. Add a head of chopped cabbage and cook until the cabbage softens. I added leftover andouille sausage. You can also add diced tomatoes, roasted green chiles, bell pepper or anything else that you have on hand.

I picked up my co-op basket this morning and started planning my menu around it. This week I received:

6 bananas

1 pineapple

carton of button mushrooms

head of broccoli

head of cauliflower

7 apricots

4 Fuji apples

3 red pears

6 plums

4 large tomatoes

carton of figs

bunch of spinach

I also ordered an Asian basket that included:

big bunch of basil

garlic

napa cabbage

bok choy

snow peas

ginger

green onions

My upcoming menu looks very interesting. One of the most best things about the vegie basket is how excited my husband gets when I bring it home. He goes through its contents and always makes suggestions for dishes he would like. He did not recognize figs and has never had them before, but he was excited to learn how to fix them and suggested the stuffed pork idea. Coming from a man who could live on cheeseburgers and steak and potatoes, I am pretty impressed.

Saturday: Beer Can Chicken, Cauliflower and Radish Salad, Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Sunday: Asian Buffet including Beef with Broccoli and Mushrooms, Chicken and Bok Choy Stir-fry, Pickled Napa Cabbage, Potstickers, Rice

Monday: Chicken Succotash (with leftover chicken from Saturday,) Dinner Rolls

Tuesday: Whiskey Marinated London Broil, Foil Packet Potatoes, Spinach Salad, (Rolls if there are still any left)

Wednesday: Wednesday Night at the Nic, Picnic Dinner TBD

Thursday: Fig and Walnut Stuffed Pork Chops with Apricot Glaze

Friday: Pork Burgers, Potato Salad

Saturday: Western Barbeque at the Rodeo

Sunday: Baked Ziti, Tossed Salad

We don't eat dessert very often, so I'm struggling a little bit with using the plums and pears, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. My next goal is to try to remember to take pictures of these meals and share them here!

Season of Preservation

Rhubarb Salsa

When life gives you lemons; make lemonade. But what do you do when life gives you rhubarb?

After making strawberry rhubarb pie and rhubarb snack cake and canned 7 half pint jars of rhubarb salsa. Made with strawberries and dried cranberries, it's a great snack with cinnamon pita chips (or leftover pie crust pieces.)

I also had a big bag of Vidalia onions to use up so I made Vidalia maple conserve. I canned 7 4oz jars and reserved enough for an onion tart appetizer. I topped frozen puff pastry with the onion mixture and some mozzarella cheese and baked it. This would also be good with pork roast or in quesadillas.

Vidalia Onion and Maple Conserve, before it went into jars

Canning is a relatively simple way to preserve extra fruits and vegetables, but it's important to follow the recipe and canning times exactly. Done properly, the jars are shelf stable for 12 to 18 months, not that they ever go unused that long at my house!