Sunday, November 28, 2010
Menu Plan: First Week of Advent
The children's godfather ended up making us some curry coated leg of lamb, squash and rice for us for dinner, after Thanksgiving, so we shifted our meals a little. The lamb was delicious! I have frozen some of our Thanksgiving meal to bring out at other times, and in other ways.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Pie, Brie and French Bread, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: : Turkey Tetrazzini, The Last of the Desserts - Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raisins and Brown Sugar, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: After Thanksgiving Soup, Sweet Potato Rolls - Tuesday
Breakfast: Rice Pudding with Diced Pears and Dried Cranberries, Milky Tea
Dinner: Ranchero Beans and Rice - Wednesday
Breakfast: Fried Eggs and Toast, Applesauce, Milky Tea
Dinner: Macaroni and Cheese, Baked Squash, Carrot Sticks - Thursday
Breakfast: Squash, Potato, Onion and Poblano Hash with Eggs Poached on Top, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: King Ranch Chicken, Frozen Fruit Salad - Friday
Breakfast: Granola, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Pasta e Fagioli, Garlic Bread - Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes with Maple Syrup, Fried Eggs, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce, Roasted Squash and Onion Wedges, Cabbage Salad
Labels: Advent, Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Menu Plan: Thanksgiving Week
We have a repeat tonight. I was so busy yesterday that I shifted gears on dinner so we moved it to today.
This week is going to be cold. It is cold. Our low temperature forecast for Tuesday keeps dropping. It is -7 now. Our high for Wednesday is now looking like 14. Temperatures are supposed to rise the following week to closer to freezing and above freezing, but this week is frigid. We are working very hard to stay inside as much as possible.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Cold Cereal, Satsumas, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Calzones filled with Meat Sauce and Cheese, Sliced Apples - Monday
Breakfast: Bacon, Fried Eggs and Toast, Oranges, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Beef and Cabbage with Mashed Potatoes (from the freezer), Sliced Fruit - Tuesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raisins and Brown Sugar, Satsumas, Milky Tea
Dinner: Loaded Baked Potatoes, Sliced Fruit - Wednesday
Breakfast: Rice Pudding with Diced Pears and Dried Cranberries, Mint Tea with Honey
Dinner: Cream of Poblano Soup (from the freezer), Artisan Bread - Thursday THANKSGIVING!
Breakfast: Pepper & Sausage Brunch Strata, Milk, Coffee and Tea
Relish Tray and Hors d'Oeuvres: Mixed Olives, Veggies and Dip, Cheese and Crackers, Deviled Eggs*, Chex Mix
Dinner: Herb Roasted Turkey, Bourbon Gravy, Wild Rice Dressing, Bread & Cornbread Dressing, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Horseradish Relish (made by our children's godparents), Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Pecans, Sweet Potato Rolls, Green Salad, Corn of Some Sort, Eggnog, Sparkling Cider, Wine, Hard Cider, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Pecan Pie, Cranberry Cherry Pie, Nantucket Cranberry Pie, Apple Pie, Pear Pie, Gingerbread with Sweetened Whipped Vanilla Cream, Coffee and Tea - Friday
Breakfast: Leftover Pie, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Turkey Tetrazzini, Fruit and Leftover Desserts - Saturday
Breakfast: More Pie and Gingerbread, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Leftover Casserole, Fruit and Leftover Desserts
Labels: Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen, Thanksgiving
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Weekly Recipes: November 20
It's bonus week for you who check my Saturday recipes. I have an easy macaroni and cheese recipe we tried for lunch last week, lentil and sausage soup, spelt biscuits and pear pie along with the promised taco skillet recipe.
Easy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
This is easy and quick. It takes probably five minutes more than the box stuff, but doesn't involve any powdered cheese or orange powder. It is not as good as making a bechamel based cheese sauce and baking with buttered crumbs on top, but it also doesn't take 45 minutes and does taste good. I started with this recipe, but found it to be a bit too bland for us, so I added some elements of my own baked macaroni and cheese and this is what resulted.
1 pound elbow macaroni
6 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese
2 tablespoons prepared mustard (we used dijon)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Put macaroni, milk and salt in a heavy pot and heat over medium high heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in cheese, mustard and hot sauce until cheese is melted. Serve.
Lentil-Chorizo Soup
This is very good with bread or biscuits and some fruit for a nice, hearty meal.
1 pound bulk chorizo
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, scraped and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped roughly
2 1/2 cups lentils (I used French green lentils, and 3 cups because of a certain male adult here who doesn't care for thinner soups)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
1 pound diced tomatoes with their juices, fresh or canned
8 cups chicken stock or packaged broth
salt, to taste (I don't use any, as the salt from the sausage and stock is enough for us)
In your soup pot, cook the sausage over medium heat to brown and render fat. Remove sausage and reserve. Add onions, carrots and garlic to the pot and cook until onions become translucent. Add lentils, oregano and bay leaf and stir to mix with vegetables. Add tomatoes and juices along with stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until lentils are done to your liking. Return sausage to the pot to heat and taste for seasoning.
Spelt Biscuits
We liked the spelt biscuits we tried before, but we found it to be too wet of a dough, even for spelt, so here is how I changed it.
4 cups spelt flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Whisk together spelt flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Rub butter into flour mixture until you have a mixture resembling corn meal with larger pieces of butter the size of peas and beans dispersed throughout the mix. Pour all of the buttermilk into the flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a little. Pat out to 1/2 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or a glass and place on an ungreased baking pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until risen and golden brown.
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Pear Pie
Here is a simple, tasty pear pie. You can eat it with a caramel sauce or with vanilla ice cream or both or neither.
pie pastry for double crust
8 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
unsalted butter to top filling
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and make sure the rack is in the lower third of the oven.
Mix pears with sugar, corn starch, nutmeg and lemon juice. Pour filling into lined pie pan. Dot with butter and cover with top crust. Flute edges and cut vents into the top crust.
Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
Taco Skillet
2 pounds ground beef (or 1 pound beef and one pound bulk chorizo)
2 large onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 cans black olives, drained and roughly chopped
24 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups chile based enchilada sauce (or one 16 ounce can)
1 pound bolitas or pintos, cooked and drained (about six cups of cooked beans)
salt, to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup shredded pepper jack
sour cream (optional)
salsa (optional)
guacamole (optional)
Cook beef with onions and garlic, until meat is browned and onions are translucent and limp. Mix in ancho powder, cumin, oregano and chipotle powder. Add tortilla pieces, enchilada sauce and beans. Combine and cook over medium heat until heated through. Taste and add salt if necessary.
Sprinkle with cheese and serve with sour cream, salsa and guacamole if you like.
Easy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
This is easy and quick. It takes probably five minutes more than the box stuff, but doesn't involve any powdered cheese or orange powder. It is not as good as making a bechamel based cheese sauce and baking with buttered crumbs on top, but it also doesn't take 45 minutes and does taste good. I started with this recipe, but found it to be a bit too bland for us, so I added some elements of my own baked macaroni and cheese and this is what resulted.
1 pound elbow macaroni
6 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese
2 tablespoons prepared mustard (we used dijon)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Put macaroni, milk and salt in a heavy pot and heat over medium high heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in cheese, mustard and hot sauce until cheese is melted. Serve.
Lentil-Chorizo Soup
This is very good with bread or biscuits and some fruit for a nice, hearty meal.
1 pound bulk chorizo
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, scraped and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped roughly
2 1/2 cups lentils (I used French green lentils, and 3 cups because of a certain male adult here who doesn't care for thinner soups)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
1 pound diced tomatoes with their juices, fresh or canned
8 cups chicken stock or packaged broth
salt, to taste (I don't use any, as the salt from the sausage and stock is enough for us)
In your soup pot, cook the sausage over medium heat to brown and render fat. Remove sausage and reserve. Add onions, carrots and garlic to the pot and cook until onions become translucent. Add lentils, oregano and bay leaf and stir to mix with vegetables. Add tomatoes and juices along with stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until lentils are done to your liking. Return sausage to the pot to heat and taste for seasoning.
Spelt Biscuits
We liked the spelt biscuits we tried before, but we found it to be too wet of a dough, even for spelt, so here is how I changed it.
4 cups spelt flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Whisk together spelt flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Rub butter into flour mixture until you have a mixture resembling corn meal with larger pieces of butter the size of peas and beans dispersed throughout the mix. Pour all of the buttermilk into the flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a little. Pat out to 1/2 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or a glass and place on an ungreased baking pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until risen and golden brown.
Pear Pie
Here is a simple, tasty pear pie. You can eat it with a caramel sauce or with vanilla ice cream or both or neither.
pie pastry for double crust
8 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
unsalted butter to top filling
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and make sure the rack is in the lower third of the oven.
Mix pears with sugar, corn starch, nutmeg and lemon juice. Pour filling into lined pie pan. Dot with butter and cover with top crust. Flute edges and cut vents into the top crust.
Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
Taco Skillet
2 pounds ground beef (or 1 pound beef and one pound bulk chorizo)
2 large onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 cans black olives, drained and roughly chopped
24 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups chile based enchilada sauce (or one 16 ounce can)
1 pound bolitas or pintos, cooked and drained (about six cups of cooked beans)
salt, to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup shredded pepper jack
sour cream (optional)
salsa (optional)
guacamole (optional)
Cook beef with onions and garlic, until meat is browned and onions are translucent and limp. Mix in ancho powder, cumin, oregano and chipotle powder. Add tortilla pieces, enchilada sauce and beans. Combine and cook over medium heat until heated through. Taste and add salt if necessary.
Sprinkle with cheese and serve with sour cream, salsa and guacamole if you like.
Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Menu Plan: November 14 - November 20
I doubled everything right off the bat. I probably used more like two pounds of squash and one and a half pounds of potatoes. We didn't have butternut, so I used some other winter squash we did grow and used our own French fingerling potatoes. We didn't have leeks, and I wasn't interested in a trip to the store, so I used one red onion and one yellow onion. I didn't have fresh thyme, so I used dried with much success, just reducing the amount I used. I used our Kamut bread to make the breadcrumbs. Since we are out of fresh corn season, I used Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn kernels. I almost always buy bacon ends, rather than slices, when we buy it separately from getting a whole hog, because it is cheaper and has a higher meat to fat ratio. We can pick up local, pasture raised bacon ends for $2.39 a pound and the sliced for $2.89 a pound. So, I used the bacon ends in this, which put a little more meat in the dish. Also, because I had been running shy of time, I put the squash and potatoes with the butter in the oven to start cooking while I prepared everything else. Because I had precooked the squash and potatoes a bit, when I layered everything else in the pan and put it in to bake, I left it uncovered and baked it all for 30 minutes. It was a huge success and was loved by our family and our neighborhood families at the harvest dinner.
We had a happy accident this week, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to recreate it. I've made copycat recipes for grape nuts which are one of the two dry cereals Rich really loves. They tasted good, but not like the cereal. Well, this week, I was banging together a loaf of bread with a mix of white whole wheat, kamut and spelt flours. I used milk for the liquid and honey for the sweetener, with normal amounts of salt and yeast. However, I had too much flour in at first, for the liquid, so I added some olive oil and more milk. Then realized I added too much liquid, so added more flour, and so on and so forth. I started and started that loaf of bread four or five times and it was probably a four pound loaf by the time I was finished. It tasted fine, but it was dense and heavy. We still used it for toast. Rich, meanwhile, toasted several slices a bit more and crumbled them up in a bowl with milk and brown sugar. It tasted exactly like grape nuts. Now, to see if I can make it again. Without burning out our bread machine.
I am so pleased, because I am almost completely finished with my Thanksgiving shopping (and our groceries for the next two or three weeks). We used our Fred Meyer rewards rebate, the extra coupons that come with it (one for $5 off produce, one for $5 off frozen foods and a 40% off clothing coupon that I used to get a nightgown, pj bottoms, socks for the boys and tights for Amira), the store coupons for a free turkey, butter, some coupons we found in the store on canned tomatoes and diaper wipes, some butter coupons I had in my purse and our reusable bag discount to get $313.79 worth of groceries, the clothes and a fat separator for $87.99, including tax on the clothes and housewares. It would have been $87.89, but the fellow forgot to count two of the bags, which he noted and apologized for and I certainly wasn't going to insist he give us a dime. This included a 20 pound turkey and an 18 pound turkey. I have a few things to pick up in town, three things I forgot to get at Fred Meyer and order the milk and we should be all ready. My goal is to get it all by Friday, so I can beat the weekend mobs. One of our neighbors has turkeys ready to butcher, also, and if we can buy one from him, we'll keep these frozen ones in our deep freeze for other meals and use the fresh turkey from down the street for our Thanksgiving bird. We've been hearing his turkeys calling to ours, but ours are not quite ready for butchering, so we were resigned to using the frozen one from the store until we saw the sign outside his house on our way to the harvest dinner.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Cherry-Pomegranate Toaster Pastries, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: : Leftover Indian Summer Gratin, Sliced Pears - Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raisins and Brown Sugar, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Italian Sausage Bake, Artisan Bread, Baked Apples with Muscovado Sugar - Tuesday
Breakfast: Fried Eggs and Toast, Applesauce, Milky Tea
Dinner: Skillet Tacos*, Sliced Apples - Wednesday
Breakfast: Cubed Cheese, Sliced Apples and Pears, Artisan Bread, Mint Tea with Honey
Dinner: Potato, Pepper and Onion Frittata, Biscuits, Pomegranates - Thursday
Breakfast: Sweet Potato and Poblano Hash with Eggs Poached on Top, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Sloppy Joes, Warm Cabbage Slaw, Potato Wedges, Apple Sauce - Friday
Breakfast: Yogurt, Granola and Honey, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Autumn Vegetable Soup, Spelt Rolls, Vanilla Pears - Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes with Maple Syrup, Fried Eggs, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Calzones filled with Meat Sauce and Cheese, Creamy Herbed White Beans, Apple Cake
Labels: Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Menu Plan: November 7 - November 13
I am starting to prepare for Thanksgiving again. We will be able to see our children's godparents, but their son is away in Paraguay for a year and we will miss him. We may be able to have some local friends with their children over as well. Still no day after Thanksgiving party this year. Maybe our house will be ready enough by next year.
- Sunday
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Peppers, Onions and Cheese, Sliced Pears, Orange-Carrot-Mango Juice and Coffee
Dinner: Nachos with Chorizo, Olives, Scallions, Cheese and Salsa, Apple Pie (I never got around to making it yesterday) - Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Leftover Apple Pie, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Arugula, Tomatoes and Prosciutto (using the last of our tomatoes, bacon in place of prosciutto and spinach instead of arugula), Apple Cake - Tuesday
Breakfast: Yogurt, Granola and Honey, Sliced Asian Pears, Milky Tea
Dinner: Garlic and Herb Fried Eggs on Toast, Bacon, Roast Beet and Squash Wedges, Spinach and Chard Salad - Wednesday
Breakfast: Feta Cheese, Za'atar and Olive Oil, Kamut Toast, Sliced Pears, Mint Tea with Honey
Dinner: Quesadilla Pie, Carrot Sticks, Pomegranates - Thursday
Breakfast: Fried Eggs and Toast, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Lentil Soup, Spelt Biscuits, Sliced Pears - Friday
Breakfast: Cherry Pomegranate Toaster Pastries, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Rio Zappe Beans and Rice, Sliced Apples with Cinnamon Sugar - Saturday
Breakfast: Waffles with Maple Syrup, Sausage, Milk and Coffee
Dinner: Indian Summer Gratin (using our winter squash and potatoes), Nantucket Cranberry Pie
Labels: Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Weekly Recipes: November 6
Tuscan Bean Soup
Here is my attempt to recreate the lovely soup I ate and Visconti's. It turned out pretty well and everyone seemed to like it.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound pancetta, finely diced
1 large onion, peeled and cut into slivers
8 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into slivers
1/2 cup rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 pound cannellini beans, cooked (about six cups)
8 cups water
3 cups tomato puree
4 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup thinly sliced scallions, green parts only
salt, to taste
1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
juice of one lemon, optional
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Toss in diced pancetta and onion slivers. Cook until onion starts to soften in spots. Add garlic and rosemary and cook a minute or two more.
Add cannellini beans along with water and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce temperature and keep at a simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add tomato puree, diced tomatoes and scallions just long enough to heat them. Taste for seasoning and salt as necessary. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving. Add lemon juice, if desired.
Sloppy Joes
Here is how I make sloppy joes. This is probably one of the few typical American children's meals I cook. This makes enough for at least eight people.
2 pounds ground beef
2 onions, chopped
2 sweet peppers, seeded and chopped (I like to use one red and one green)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 dill pickles, diced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mustard (whichever kind you have or like)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons celery salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
buns, toasted to serve
Brown ground beef with onions, peppers and garlic. Add diced pickles, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, celery salt and ground pepper to the cooked meat and vegetables.
Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls.
Here is my attempt to recreate the lovely soup I ate and Visconti's. It turned out pretty well and everyone seemed to like it.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound pancetta, finely diced
1 large onion, peeled and cut into slivers
8 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into slivers
1/2 cup rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 pound cannellini beans, cooked (about six cups)
8 cups water
3 cups tomato puree
4 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup thinly sliced scallions, green parts only
salt, to taste
1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
juice of one lemon, optional
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Toss in diced pancetta and onion slivers. Cook until onion starts to soften in spots. Add garlic and rosemary and cook a minute or two more.
Add cannellini beans along with water and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce temperature and keep at a simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add tomato puree, diced tomatoes and scallions just long enough to heat them. Taste for seasoning and salt as necessary. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving. Add lemon juice, if desired.
Sloppy Joes
Here is how I make sloppy joes. This is probably one of the few typical American children's meals I cook. This makes enough for at least eight people.
2 pounds ground beef
2 onions, chopped
2 sweet peppers, seeded and chopped (I like to use one red and one green)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 dill pickles, diced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mustard (whichever kind you have or like)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons celery salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
buns, toasted to serve
Brown ground beef with onions, peppers and garlic. Add diced pickles, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, celery salt and ground pepper to the cooked meat and vegetables.
Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls.
Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen
