This Weeks Menu: December 3 - December 9, 2012

I had the most wonderful weekend. My husband and I finished Christmas and Hanukkah shopping and went on a lunch date on Friday. We finally got our tree and decorated the house on Saturday. I even found time to make a menu before Matt went grocery shopping on Sunday.

Matt taking the lead on grocery shopping let me prepare for a wonderful canning lesson with my friend Randy. We made pear and cranberry jam and jalapeno jelly. More to come on that soon.


Breakfast
Yogurt, granola and fruit
Hard boiled eggs and sliced pear
Oatmeal x 2
Pancakes and fruit
Breakfast with family x 2

Lunch for the Adults
Leftovers
Soup from the freezer
Deli

Lunch for the Munchkin
Broccoli nuggets, hummus and chips and pear
Alphabet pasta and fruit x 2
PB& J, cheese stick and fruit
Cheese sandwich, fruit and chocolate chip cookie

Dinner
Slower cooker tikka masala over rice
Chicken Tetrazzini
Cheeseburger Meatloaf with sweet potato mash and veggie
Homemade Pizza
Potato Leek soup from the freezer
Dinner with family x 2

My husband and I were trying to shove our free ham into the freezer the other day when we realized that we had too much food jammed in there already! I often cook double batches of meals and single portion them out for future lunches and dinner, but I guess I have gone overboard.  Luckily I planned our menu this week to help clear the freezer out.
 


Breakfast
Yogurt and Granola x3
Fruit smoothies (using frozen strawberries and banana's from the freezer) and Toast
Hard boiled eggs and fruit
Pancakes x 2


Lunch for the kiddo

Broccoli nuggets and fruit
Mac & Cheese x 2
Grandma's homemade pasta and meatballs
Veggie Pancakes from the freezer with homemade apple sauce

Lunch for the adults
Veggie Lasagna from the freezer
Cream of vegetable soup from the freezer
Split pea soup
Leftovers for the adults

Dinner
Black bean, chicken and rice from the freezer
Pulled Pork from the freezer
Split pea soup using Thanksgiving ham leftovers
Roasted chicken and veggies
Leftovers x 2
 

Post Thanksgiving Comma + Recipe

We are finally home after two Thanksgiving dinners. Yes, you read that correctly. We celebated Thanksgiving on Thursday with my family and then Saturday with my husband's family.  Honestly, this is not a big deal because the only thing that was the same between the two meals was the turkey.

 

My mother served homemade pasta with tomato sauce, ham, mash potaotes, sweet potatoes in brown sugar and butter, peas and mushrooms, a stuffed pork loin (which my hubby made), stuffing and corn. I should also mention that she was making food for 27 people.

My mother-in-law served butternut squash lasagna, bourbon pecan sweet potatoes, green beans with shallots and mushrooms, chorizo and chestnut stuffing and brussel sprouts with pancetta.

I brought the cranberry sauce for both dinners. I experimented with a rhubarb and candied ginger cranberry sauce. Are you wondering where I got rhubarb in November? Well, my husband was trying to stuff a 20 lb turkey in the deep-freeze when he discovered that I had hoarded three ziplock bags full of rhubarb (and 30 Bananas, but that's another story). He promptly dropped them on the counter and said "Do something with this, it's taking up too much space in the freezer."

I quickly googled and found the aforementioned cranberry sauce. I toned down the candied ginger from 1 cup to about 2 tablespoons and both families still thought it had too much ginger. Personally, I loved it. I reduced the sugar because I liked the tartness of both the cranberry sauce and rhubarb. You could reduce the sugar a bit more, it was a little sweet for my taste, and level of ginger is obviously subjective.  Regardless, it was definitely delicious and there was none left over at either family meal.

Rhubarb Candied Ginger Cranberry Sauce
(modified from food.com)



Ingredients

• 4  cups fresh cranberries
• 1 (20 ounce) package frozen rhubarb
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger (I used about 2 tbsps so I modified it some more)
• 1/4 cup grated lemon, rind of two lemons 

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan.
2. Cook over med-low heat until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally
3. Increase heat and boil until cranberries pop, about 10 minutes, stirring
4. Remove from heat.
5. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.
6. Refrigerate until well-chilled.

This Weeks Menu: November 12-18, 2012

Have you missed my weekly menus? Well, I have!  I feel like we have been so disorganized without a weekly menu. Honestly, we have eaten more boxes of Annie's Mac and Cheese than I care to admit :)

I recently read a Facebook post from a Money Saving Mom reader that asked how a working mom can plan a menu, coupon, clean the house, save money and spend time with their children and husband. Many of the responders said "You can't do it all."  That is so true.  You need to pick and choose and then give yourself grace when it doesn't work out.

I have decided to be ok with eating Annie's Mac and Cheese and not planning a menu this last month.  Instead, I did a lot of activities with my son and organized the house instead. Sometimes, you gotta pick and choose.


I can finally breathe again, so I have added menu planning back into the mix. Here is our menu this week:


Breakfast
Yogurt and Fruit x 2
Fruit smoothies and Toast
Hard boiled eggs and fruit
Pancakes x 2
Pumpkin Bread and fruit

Lunch
Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup
Broccoli nuggets and fruit for Max
Mac & Cheese
Leftovers for the adults

Dinner
Black bean quesadilla and fruit
Butternut squash lasagna
London Broil with mash potatoes and veggies
Grilled steak and roasted acorn squash
Roasted chicken, sautéed Swiss chard and orzo
Leftovers x 2
 

Fall can't be over already...can it?!!

I can't believe fall is going by so quickly!  We have been busy racking up leaves and purging our home of excess junk that I have not had time to share all the fun things we have been doing this fall. 

Even though some photos are from Halloween there are few recipes at the bottom that you can still make with fall ingredients.

I can'tt help myself...my little astronaut! (Max 3.5 yrs old)

Martha Stewart Shrunken Heads in Cider

 

Beautiful spread of food at a friends Halloween party.

The pieces to my Lego Halloween costume

Bats from egg cartons and ghost leaves

I roasted pumpkins whole. So easy!

 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Spice Syrup for coffee

Soup it is!

When it is cold and rainy in the fall I think about caldo verde soup. Mainly because my garden is usually full of kale, but also because I love a good spicy soup on a cold day.

Caldo Verde
(Slightly adapted from Leite's Culinaria)

1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
10 ounces chouriço, diced
6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups cold water
4 cups chicken stock
1 pound kale chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent. Add the garlic and half the chouriço and cook for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, cover everything with the water, bring to a boil and lower the heat, simmering until the potatoes are almost done, about 15 minutes.

2. When the soup is cool enough to handle, purée it in the food processor (or use an immersion blender and make this a one pot meal) and return to the pot. Add the greens, bring everything back to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls, and garnish with the remaining cubes of chouriço.

This soup freezes well. I make a double batch and freeze a couple of servings for lunch.

This Weeks Menu: October 1 - October 7, 2012

I have frozen so much food from the garden that I can't fit another thing into my freezer or deep freezer. This week we are Eating From Pantry.

Breakfast
Baked Oatmeal
Chocolate Banana Muffins and fruit
Apple Pancakes
Yogurt Smoothie
Waffles



Lunch
Roasted Potato Leek Soup
Swiss Chard Quiche
Leftovers x 3



Dinner
Turkey Chili Soup (Except I will use my own recipe for taco seasoning, not the packet)
Grilled Steaks and fall garden salad
Roasted Pork Loin with brown rice and sauteed swiss chards
Pulled Pork with homemade rolls
Vegetable Stew
Camping with friends