weekly eating 10/25 - 10/31

Kinda a crazy week and I didn't update each day like I've done for the last two posts. Soooo, I don't quite remember our lunches. It was most likely tortillas with cheese or pb&j with fruit and vegetables for the kids and salads of some sort for me.

Sunday - Pumpkin Waffles and fruit

Monday - Pinto beans & rice, corn muffins

Tuesday - pancakes (with a bit of pumpkin stirred in) and fruit

I topped mine with chocolate coconut butter - heavenly!

Wednesday - I made this white bean, ham, corn, potato and carrot soup again. My little girl ate 4 bowls and kept saying it was the best soup I make. I served it with a loaf of bread.

Thursday - Bree's Lentil Soup. Such a good recipe.

Friday - Sunday- My in-laws were in town and we ate out a lot. I did make pumpkin scones again, as well as a couple of new recipes, like sweet potato chickpea burgers.

Weekly Eating 10/16 - 10/24

Saturday

lunch: at California Pizza Kitchen (eating out is a separate budget for us)

dinner: black bean burgers - new recipe for me to try - pretty good

although they look like cow patties.....

Sunday

lunch: Kids and Husband had Taco Cabana breakfast tacos, I had collard wraps

dinner: Penne with Tomato Cream Sauce - sorry, no picture

Monday

lunch: kids had black bean and cheese tortillas, almonds, triscuits, mangos, cucumbers, celery. I had a green smoothie, some nuts and mango

dinner: BLTs with the rest of the bacon I bought last week. This was the first time I tried Applegate Farms (thanks to a coupon). I usually buy the Hormel Nitrite Free version, but really liked this one. I also made baked potato chips and the kids devoured them. I'll be making them again soon.

Tuesday

lunch: Chick-Fil-A with a friend

dinner: Black Bean Soup, tortilla chips and fruit

Wednesday

lunch: Kids had turkey, cheese, cucumbers, grapes and red peppers. I had a big salad with a jalapeno tahini dressing.

dinner: Buttermilk Pancakes (I make a half recipe) and fruit. My little guy ate more than my daughter and I combined and woke up Thurs morning asking for more.

Thursday

lunch: muffin tin lunch for the kids,a big salad for me, actually 2, I was hungry.

dinner: Vegetable Soup - a kind of clean out the fridge soup - this one had celery, kale, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes and diced potatoes - and bread. I intended to make bread bowls, but the bread turned out rather flat and would be not much of a bowl. :)

I ended up forgetting that I had the soup on heat and left to go to the playground with the kids. When we got back, the soup had almost no liquid left and ended up tasting like pot roast vegetables - not the greatest. The husband and I ate it, but the kids pretty much ate bread, butter and fruit for dinner. Not a great night. I drowned my sorrows in a 2nd dinner of steel cut oats with bananas (cooked in) and chocolate.

Friday - Saturday

Friday lunch - Kids had PB& J, peanuts, cashews, cucumbers, grapes and carrots. I had another salad with the jalapeno tahini dressing.

My folks were in town, so we ate out for most meals. I did make a batch of pumpkin scones. These are so good. Make them!!!

Pumpkin Scones

I started with this recipe and, well, de-veganised it. Not because I have anything against the vegan version, but because I didn't have any vegan butter spread on hand.

Pumpkin Scones

1/4 c milk

1/2 c pumpkin

1 t lemon juice

1 c whole wheat flour

1 c white flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 c sugar

1.5 t baking powder

1/4 t cream of tartar

1/2 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1/4 t ginger

1/2 c butter, chilled

Preheat oven to 350

1. Mix together milk, lemon juice and pumpkin. Set aside

2. Mix all dry ingredients together. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until thoroughly incorporated.

3. Mix in wet ingredients - batter will be very thick and dry.

4. Knead lightly and form into a circle.

5. Cut into 8 wedges and carefully place each wedge on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

6. When cool, glaze with the following two glazes:

Sugar Glaze

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 Tbsp milk

Spice Glaze

1/2 c powdered sugar

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t ginger

1 Tbsp milk

Often times I leave out the glaze in cookie and muffin recipes, but this recipe needs the glaze. The scones aren't very sweet on their own and the glaze add just the right amount of sweetness.

Budget Eating - 10/11-10/15

Monday

my lunch - sprouted quinoa and grape salad (recipe link to my raw food blog)

kid's lunch - randomness: boiled eggs, cucumbers, pumpkin bread, celery, red peppers, cashews and apples. This is pretty much how and what they eat every day.

dinner - Oven Baked Lentils and Rice with Bread Machine Butter Rolls.

Tuesday

my lunch - more sprouted quinoa, this time over greens and without grapes (sadly was out of grapes)

kid's lunch - like Monday.

dinner - pasta from a box and sauce from a jar. No picture - just pretend you are seeing Barilla Plus rotini with Bertolli Olive Oil and Garlic jarred sauce.

Wednesday

my lunch - raw 'pizza'

kid's lunch - more randomness: sliced turkey (costco), boiled egg for the girl, cucumbers, celery, peppers, carrots, apples and go-gurt

dinner- Black Bean tacos and fruit

Thursday

my lunch - raw 'pizza' again

kid's lunch - McDonalds drive through eaten at the park: hamburger for each and split a small fry. Keeping it real. :)

dinner- Eggs, Bacon, Fruit and Bread/Toast

Friday

my lunch - collard wraps

kid's lunch - black bean & cheese quesadillas, strawberries, cucumbers, carrots and celery

dinner- Chicken Pot Pie (frozen from this day of cooking) and fruit

Budget Eating - 10/8 - 10/10

Friday

Wontons (from costco) in soup for the husband and me (sliced up green onions, red pepper and bok choy and simmered with the frozen wontons in chicken stock and water). I pan sauteed some wontons for the kids.

Saturday

I was inspired by this vegan version on Peas and Thank You. My version is not vegan. I used the whole wheat pretzel recipe from my bread maker manual and some frozen Coleman Organic hot dogs from Costco. My son, who would live on junk if I let him, ate the hot dog out. My daughter, who likes junk but also good stuff, ate only the bread. Jack Sprat, I tell you.

kids plate - yogurt dip, fruit, veggie, pretzel dog (on a stick!), cheese

my plate

Sunday

lunch - black bean and salsa quinoa 3 ways using some frozen black beans

Kids had the quinoa, some black bean nachos and a black bean and cheese quesadilla:

I had the quinoa atop greens with some crushed up tortilla chips and diced avocado:

Husband had quinoa with avocado, more salsa and tortilla chips:

Dinner

Out of a box for the kids - we love Annie! My daughter ate a couple of bites and then told me she wasn't really in the mood for mac & cheese. She ended up eating cucumbers, red peppers, pears, cashews and a boiled egg. Random, but healthy.

I had a green smoothie and husband had leftovers.

White Bean, Ham and Corn Soup

My entire family really liked this, which tends to be a rare occasion these days. 3 out of 4 I can do, but 4 out of 4? Quite a victory. I served it with bread and butter.

Crockpot White Bean and Ham Soup

2 c cooked white beans

1 c frozen corn

1/2 - 3/4 c diced ham - used mostly for flavor

2 carrots, diced

1/2 onion, diced

2 c chicken broth - I used the broth from this post

1 potato, cubed

1 c water

Mix all in crockpot and cook on high 2-3 hours

1 chicken - 4 dinners

I don't eat much chicken anymore, mainly because I don't want to eat traditional, factory farmed chicken and organic, free range chicken is really expensive. But, this week I was at Costco and they had organic (not free range - which isn't ideal) whole chickens for $2.99 a lb. They were bundled in twos and my two birds cost about $20, so roughly $10 a bird.

I roasted the chicken using this Cooking Light recipe:

We had it for dinner with a salad. We had about 2 cups of shredded chicken left over.

I used the carcass (hate that word) and put it in the crockpot with ~6 cups water, celery, onions, carrots, bay leaves and peppercorn and cooked on high for a couple of hours. I got about 6 cups of stock.

I used the chicken, 4 cups of the broth (froze the other 2 cups for later use) and about 6 cups of cut up veggies to make Chicken Pot Pie. I got enough filling for 3 pies and froze the 2/3 of filling.

So - 1 chicken got us 4 dinners and an extra can worth of chicken broth. Not bad for $10!

Remember me?

Hi- I've been awful about posting to this blog in the last month. I've been doing a lot of raw food eating and preparing (can't say cooking) and have a blog set up for that:

www.rawhousewife.wordpress.com

I eat a cooked dinner most nights. Here are a few of the things I've made recently.

Tomato Basil Soup with fresh tomatoes instead of canned

Steak and Pepper Noodles - this is one of my husband's top 5 favorite dishes

Peanut Noodles. These were phenomenal!

CSA - Week Eight

Tomatoes - I've dehydrated at least half. We've eaten several raw and mashed up with avocados.

Eggplant - I'm going to try a dehydrated raw eggplant 'bacon' tomorrow. Should be interesting at least....

Okra - Sitting in the fridge, waiting for the husband to do something with it.

Figs - dehydrated. Yum! Like little candies.

Potatoes - going to roast into oven fries for the kids.

Banana Peppers - cut up over salads and pizza.

Bell Peppers - eaten raw

Butternut Squash - not sure what I'm going to do with these yet.

Peruvian Beef Kabobs and Tomato Basil Pizza

I used some of last week's produce in the following two dishes:

Peruvian Beef Kabobs

Magherita Pizza

Eggplant, Zucchini and Tomato Tian

I used this recipe from Cooking Light which used tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini from the CSA produce. I slightly modified and here is my version:

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb eggplant, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/2 pound zucchini, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 pound large beefsteak tomatoes, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 3/4 c Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp dried Italian Seasoning
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Arrange eggplant and zucchini in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat vegetables with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes. Arrange half of eggplant in a single layer in an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with half of zucchini and half of tomato. Drizzle 2 1/4 teaspoons oil evenly over vegetables. Sprinkle vegetables evenly with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.

3. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese and next 3 ingredients (through garlic) to processor. Sprinkle half of breadcrumb mixture evenly over tomato. Repeat layers with remaining eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, oil, salt, pepper, and breadcrumb mixture. Pour butter over top. Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender and topping is browned.

CSA - Week Seven

More Tomatoes - they are all canned already. We canned them the same day we got them.

Bell Peppers - will eat raw and maybe use in a pasta dish this week.

Figs - eating raw

Eggplant - looking for something to do with this

Okra

Jalapeno Peppers

Squash

Canned Tomatoes

The canning continues. I am a bit obsessed. I just love seeing the jars in my pantry and knowing they are waiting for me! The husband and I have become a good team and I am enjoying having a new hobby/job for us to do together. Although, as we canned last night, he asked "what, are we 70? Spending our Saturday night canning?" Maybe we should get some other hobbies, huh?

From the following website:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/dj1097.html

Procedure
Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Then dip in cold water, slip off skins, and remove cores. Trim off any bruised or discolored portions and quarter. Heat 1/6 of the quarters quickly in a large pot, crushing them with a wooden mallet or spoon as they are added to the pot. This will exude juice. Continue heating the tomatoes, stirring to prevent burning. Once the tomatoes are boiling, gradually add remaining quartered tomatoes, stirring constantly. These remaining tomatoes do not need to be crushed. They will soften with heating and stirring. Continue until all tomatoes are added. Then boil gently 5 minutes. Add citric acid to jars. See instructions under Acidification. Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart to the jars, if desired. Fill jars immediately with hot tomatoes, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process.

Recommended Processes
(Crushed Tomatoes Without Added Liquid)

1. Boiling Water Bath:
   • Pints, 40 minutes
   • Quarts, 50 minutes

Vegetable Soup

aka use up the farm box produce.

There isn't really a recipe per se - I just chopped and cooked lots of vegetables and simmered for a bit. This soup had the following: onions, green peppers, carrots, garlic, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans and parsley. I served it with bread and butter and some fruit.

CSA - week six

Running late on this post....

Lot and lots of tomatoes - we canned about 80%. I used this method (and found citric acid at whole foods, in case you're wondering).

Green Beans

Red Potatoes

Bell Peppers

Figs

Okra

See the little hands grabbing for the green beans? My four year old took a plate of raw green beans and tomatoes up to her room for her afternoon snack. My two year old, well, he doesn't share her love for either of those things.

Bruschetta

I like any combination of tomato and basil.

Ingredients:

1 c chopped tomato

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/3 c basil, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

loaf of crusty bread

Directions:

1. Slice bread and toast slightly in warm oven (I like my bread crispy, so it doesn't get too soggy with the tomato topping)

2. Mix tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper.

3. Put tomato mixture on top of toasted bread.

4. 0ptional - broil for a few minutes to warm up spread and bread.