my menu

I am really enjoying having a menu plan this week. Now dinner feels more like a normal part of the day. Like washing jeans or Mondays and towels on Thursdays (not that I'm so organized with my laundry! lol) I did decide to just do leftovers last night since Aleena and Trey had to be at the school at 6 and hubby didn't get home until around 5:30. No one starved! And because I had an easy dinner planned (or no dinner at all really), I baked bread yesterday.

I was looking at one of the other blogs I've been reading a lot $5 Dinners and saw that she had hew whole menu for November planned out. I am not that ambitious. But after I thought about it for a while, I also realized that the way we do our produce impacts that too. If we get spaghetti squash in our farm share one week this winter, it will be on the menu. Right now I have an excess of potatoes, so I really need to find more things to do with them. Potato Leek soup will be on the menu again soon. In the summers, we really tend to go with what we have on hand. Another great thing about that is that we pay a flat fee for an abundance of food. Jars and jars of tomato sauce, pickles, frozen corn and cauliflower and broccoli. That's how things stay economical for us.

Now, it's almost time to make my soup for tonight. A friend is bringing over beer cheese soup, so I am going with veggie noodle. Maybe I'll even add some chicken.

I can't wait to roast that turkey tomorrow! It will really feel like fall then.

the turkey!!!

My plan will only work if I remember to defrost the turkey in time for Saturday! ARGH!

Acorn squash was so delicious last night. I think winter squash is about the world's most perfect food. Starchy, slightly sweet, full of vitamins. YUM! I can't wait to cook up some butternut this weekend to go with the turkey.

why it works

One of the best things about having a menu plan for the week is a day like today. I am tired and uninspired. I would really rather be in my bed, but I have 2 children that need some supervision. But I planned ahead last night and pulled out my whole chicken to defrost. It's in the crockpot now. And I have planned to have acorn squash too. So while I was in the kitchen and moving, I cleaned my squash and got them in the baking dish and EVEN in the oven. Later this afternoon I can turn the oven on and they will be ready in no time. I think I will make some biscuits later and cook some orange and purple cauliflower and that's dinner.

Last night's dinner was really good. I haven't made meat loaf in a while and it's a favorite with everyone. I got it ready about 3;30 just before I had to take Trey to his guitar lesson. I put it in the oven with the time bake thing on and it was ready at 5:30 without me stressing. I also put some diced purple potatoes in with the meatloaf to roast alongside it. They did need a few more minutes at a higher oven temp to finish. I got the corn going and decided it didn't look like enough so I pulled out the rest of a bunch of organic spinach I had got for our soup last Sunday. I sauteed that with some garlic and olive oil and made a salad out of the remnants of a bag of lettuce, red bell pepper, apple slices, sunflower kernels and some parmesan cheese. I pulled some rolls out of the freezer to reheat and it was dinner.

My kids felt much better with a full table. Monday they were all a little disappointed to see just a casserole on the table for dinner!

Menu Plan Monday

This is a new thing for me. I've been reading some new blogs this fall that participate in this and decided to join in. One of the reasons I haven't been posting much is that I have gone back to working a few nights a week as a postpartum doula. I love the work, but it does make my days a little weird. I find that I have to have small goals for each day and a PLAN to get me through when I am operating on less sleep than usual. I've been planning menus for a while, and I've posted them in my sidebar, but I decided to make a big production (and actual blog post) out of it this time.

The Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Organizing Junkie. Go check it out. There are lots and lots of ideas there.

Monday-stuffed cabbage casserole

Tuesday-meatloaf, roasted potatoes, corn

Wednesday-whole roast chicken, acorn squash and ???

Thursday-squash and ground beef skillet (I'll be totally improvising!)

Fiday-chicken veggie soup before trick or treating

Saturday-roast turkey (from last year's sale and still in the freezer) with mashed potatoes and veggies

Sunday- Left Overs!

eggplant recipe

Apparently my hubby is sending friends to this blog for recipes that I haven't even posted here. I'll just post the link here for the baba ghanoush recipe I use. I use more garlic, less lemon and little to no olive oil. I put it all in a big bowl and just use my hand blender on it. Totally easy.

baba ghanoush

blanching

That's what I was thankful for yesterday. Whoever thought of that one I am forever indebted. I had about 40# of tomatoes to put up yesterday. I canned a big batch of stewed tomatoes, and then froze the others to use in place of diced canned tomatoes. No easy put it through the kitchen aid attachment this time. I had to actually peel those things. I was so thankful to be able to blanche them and have the skins come right off. *sigh*

I still have a mountain of apples in my kitchen. Duane brought me some more yesterday, and these are really tasty even for eating. I think I need to make some pie filling with the other tart ones.

I told Duane last night at dinner that I had decided I was a little of an overachiever. Just when it comes to the kitchen, mind you. Monday I canned tomato sauce and peaches and made chicken divan for dinner. Yesterday I canned stewed tomatoes and froze more tomatoes. I made a pork roast and German red cabbage for dinner along with some whole wheat noodles (because I knew the kids wouldn't fill up on cabbage prepared like that) and then we had a peach pie with dried cranberries and streusel topping. Tonight I am planning on a veggie filled pasta sauce with some penne and frozen meatballs.

So why do I think I am an overachiever? Because I would normally feel apologetic for making such slim meals the past two days even though I was busy in the kitchen putting things up for later. I have been reading some of my friends' blogs and am surprised to see that a casserole can pass as dinner. WHAT? Or they may make a meat entree, a veggie side dish and a starch. And that's all. Only 3 things? Is that really a meal?

Now I'm not saying that I don't prepare meals like that too, but I feel guilty about it. Like I should prepare a banquet every time we have dinner. I do really like to cook. And my family really likes to eat. But I'm learning that it doesn't have to be like that every time. Wow.

My future daughters in law really are doomed anyway, though because my big boys think I could make anything and it would be wonderful! LOL

thankful

Last week, Duane my husband came home from work with 2 huge bags of peaches. He had been at an empty house that day with a bountiful peach tree. We have eaten quite a few but today I decided to can what was left.

As I stood peeling my blanched peaches and filling quart jars, I was so thankful. I am thankful for the peaches, very truly free food. I am thankful for the know-how to be able to save these fruits for later. I am thankful that I know we will enjoy these special peaches and remember this season of our lives.

Am I funny for getting nostalgic over a bag of backyard peaches? maybe so...

an excess of melons...

...has led me to making melon bread. Right now I have a lot of musk melons and white honeydew and orange honeydew. I have frozen some in chunks for eating in winter (when it will taste sooooo good), but yesterday I tried something new. Well new to me anyway. I have a friend that uses melon purees a lot like this apparently.

Melon Bread

Mix
3 eggs beaten
1/2 c turbinado (or more if your melons aren't as sweet)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

stir in
3 cups melon puree

Sift together
3 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 ground ginger

Then add dry ingredients to wet ingredients just until moistened. Stir in
1 c chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Pour into 2 prepared 8x4 pans. Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes.

Next time I make this, I think I will add a couple Tbsp of flax meal too. Trey called this bread "absolute yumminess" and he is my least carb/bread inclined child. It has a different flavor that is hard to describe. But we really liked it here!

I was looking online for recipes and saw where someone had replaced the oil in their recipe with some extra melon. Then I thought about how sweet our melons are and realized that I could add much less sugar than the recipes I was looking at called for. That led me to think about using melon puree in all kinds of recipes just as added sweetener. Like you would use applesauce I guess, but this adds sweet as well as the moisture. Personally I have nothing against things being sweet. I'm not militant about no sweets. Quite the opposite in fact. But I do like to use natural sweeteners whenever possible. And I like that this also adds a healthy dose of vitamin C and vitamin A (for the orange melons) and a host of other nutrients I probably don't even know about.

Somebody try this and let me know what you think!!!

bread

I haven't baked bread in nearly a month it seems. I finally baked a batch last night. So good. And for those of you who feel daunted by it, it is really easy with a stand mixer. That does all the work for you.

neglected

It's not that we haven't eaten or haven't had kitchen time, but life has been busy between school starting and my getting ready for a new job. I pickled a week ago Saturday. A few days before that I made plum jam and plum preserves. Last week I froze some corn and melon cubes. I have frozen cauliflower. I have canned green beans. I have some tomatoes that I need to do something with.

My goal for this week is to use up as much of the produce we have on hand as possible. Beets, turnips, cabbage, squash, peppers, eggplant. So I have some menu planning to do. I'll keep you posted.

chile relleno casserole

I was looking for a casserole idea yesterday afternoon that I could put together and leave it to bake while I took Clay to his drum lesson. Little did I know it would also have to wait through my trip to after hours trauma with Jack E. Thank goodness for time bake on the oven!

I started with a large white onion and a pound of ground beef. After that was mostly browned, I added 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 2 cups of shredded zucchini (I feel guilty not serving some farm veggies with every meal these days) and let that cook down. I sprinkled in a good dose of salt and pepper and about 2 Tablespoons of chili powder. When it was cooked through, I stirred in about a dozen roasted green chiles. (I freeze my chiles in bags of 3 chiles per bag, so I defrosted 4 bags to use.) I probably could have gotten away with less chiles, but it was quite tasty as it was.

I poured that into a prepared 9x13 baking dish and topped it with cheese. Then I poured over that a mixture of 6 beaten eggs, 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp flour and 2 cups milk, seasoned with salt and pepper.

It baked at 350 for about 50 minutes, until it was bubbly and brown on top. We served it with a dollop of sour cream on top. That was the only offering for dinner and there was NONE left after half the family had seconds.

So here's the recipe in a little more readable format.

Chile Relleno Casserole

Brown together
1 large onion, diced
1 pound lean ground beef

when nearly done, add
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 cups shredded zucchini
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chili powder

Then stir in
diced green chiles, 6-12, to taste

Pour into prepared 9x13 pan.

Top with 1 1/2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese or jack cheese...more or less to family preference

Combine
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp flour
2 c milk
salt and pepper

Pour egg mixture over meat and cheese. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

more zucchini ideas

I really love this time of year in my kitchen. The abundance of fresh produce makes last minute meal planning really simple. If I had the foresight to thaw some kind of meat, I can go from there, and if I didn't, then I quickly defrost a pound or two of ground beef, grab my big skillet and start throwing stuff in.

The last couple of weeks I have tried to have more of an idea in place. Did you see the new thing in my sidebar that says what's for dinner this week? Really that's there for me. I have a place to write down my plan that won't get misplaced or colored on or thrown out. Friday I was going crazy looking for my grocery list. I couldn't find it and had to make a new one. I did finally find my list. Duane had taken my notebook with my list to drawn some plans for his dream bathroom. lol

I am starting to dread Sunday nights. Since Duane has been doing construction, I pack a lunch for him in the mornings. And I like to send him out the door with some kind of breakfast thing too. That means on Sundays I need to make sure that I have all the stuff I need for that ready. Baking bread, mixing up chicken salad or tuna salad, and getting an egg casserole ready is on the list. By Sunday night I just want to sit down and relax. Not the plan these days.

Today we are going to some friends' after church to brew beer. (That sounds kind of odd doesn't it? That's the oddity of my life!) I am taking some crock pot meatballs. I found the easiest thing. I take the frozen meatballs, add a jar of chili sauce and a can of cranberry sauce. Yum. Totally easy too. I need to go get those in the crock pot come to think of it.

I am also taking zucchini brownies.

Oh, back to the title about more zucchini ideas. This week I was looking at recipes online and found an Italian type of zucchini thing. I sauteed onion, zucchini and garlic, mixed it with some spaghetti sauce and baked that with a little cheese on top until it was nice and bubbly. It was a nice side dish that was different. I also thought it had a lot of possibilities. Adding ground beef or TVP or pasta.

Friday night we had a similar dish. I cooked some cheese tortellini and put that in the bottom of a casserole dish, Then I covered that with the onion, zucchini, garlic and bell pepper mixed with spaghetti sauce. Again with the cheese on top. It was a nice casserole to eat while we watched the Olympics.

OK, have to get to baking now. More later.

wow, it's been almost a week

It's not that we haven't been eating or that I haven't been baking. I guess I have just been busy. I have made a couple of new baked items that I'll post soon. And I'm making a veggie and tortellini casserole for dinner that looks promising. I'll get that up soon too.

leftover mashed potatoes

When there are leftover mashed potatoes, it always inspires me to make shepherd's pie. I can't believe we never had it when I was growing up. Really....meat and gravy-ish sauce topped with mashed potatoes. What's not to like? I only started making it here a couple of years ago, but it's easy and always a winner.

Since we have an abundance of zucchini right now, I did add that to my meat mixture. And it was really hot, so I just put the hot skillet, topped with mashed potatoes, under the broiler for a second to melt the cheesy top. It was a little runny, but still disappeared quickly.

Tonight, we're not going to the BBQ so I am making a big skillet of sauteed veggies and some pasta. Yum. And Aleena says we have to use the "good cheese".

good food is just good

Lame title, but last night for dinner we had the first of the season's corn. I'm an Iowa girl. I love my corn on the cob. Not the kind that's at the grocery store and has been sitting around for days or even a week. That's the stuff that is starchy and gross. I always think of that as feed corn. No, I grew up getting corn off the back of some guy's truck on highway 5. Corn that had been picked that day. Corn that was fresh. Our farm corn now is a very close rival, let me tell you.

I had 4 ears last night.

And our melons are on at the farm too. We brought home muskmelon and red watermelon. I woke up this morning and could smell their flowery fragrance all through the house. mmmmm

We ate a watermelon for dessert last night. I think we have enough melons to have one a day until we go to the farm next week.

When we eat the food that is in season...locally in season, not in season a few thousand miles away, it just tastes better. I really think it's OK to gorge on corn and melon now. After all, the fresh corn will be over in about a month. We will most likely have melons for about 6 weeks. Just long enough to really get the taste and enjoy it before fall and apples and pears come into the daily rotation again.

Good thing zucchini season lasts all summer! :o)

need to change my zucchini bread recipe

I'm not sure what's different lately but I don't like how it's turning out. I am going to update it now by reducing the amount of flax meal and maybe a little more oil?

Zucchini Corn Casserole

My neighbor gave me the recipe yesterday. I had to make some adjustments based on what we had on hand, but we really enjoyed it.

Zucchini Corn Casserole

saute
1 onion in 2 Tbsp olive oil til softened

stir in
4 c sliced zucchini
2 cloves minced garlic

allow that to cook down a little

add 1/4 c chopped peppers (I used anaheims, the original called for chiles that I didn't have defrosted)
4 c frozen corn, defrosted (the original was a can of creamed corn, but I used what I had)

allow that to cook and reduce about 10 minutes

remove from heat and stir in 4 beaten eggs and 1/2 shredded sharp cheddar cheese

pour into prepared casserole, cover with another 1/2 c shredded cheese

bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until hot and bubbly

the long awaited....

Peanut Butter Oat Bars with Chocolate Chips and zucchini


Cream together
1 c natural peanut butter
1/2 c butter
1/4 c sucanat
1/2 c turbinado

Add
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3 c shredded zucchini

Stir in until combined
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Then stir in
1 1/2 c rolled oats
1 c chocolate chips

Spoon into prepared 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes

This recipe comes from combining my favorite peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie with my zucchini oatmeal cookies. I made them as cookies and didn't really like them. They were a little cakey. So I tried them as bars. I didn't used butter in that try and had more oats. My friend Lorrie suggested more moisture. I am running low on peanut butter so i decided to add the butter that was in both original recipes. My reason for butter and not another fat comes from my desire to use what is most natural and adds more nutrition. Did you know that butter has Vitamin A? Check here for more info on butter. And click here to see the nutrition on margarine.

I didn't use as much oats this time simply because I ran out. I added all the oats I had.

Let me know how you like them!

cucumbers

mmmmm...that was a new thing this week from our farm share. We got "slicers" this week. Those are what we typically think of as eating cucumbers. I like pickling cucumbers to eat too, but they weren't ready yet. I don't know that I plan on making many pickles this year. I made soooo many pickles last year and we still have quite a few. That way I can hopefully focus my energy somewhere else.

I took advantage of the cucumbers by making a big batch of my Grandma Joy's cucumbers and onions. It's one of those things that everyone has their own way of making. I like this version because the cukes and onions soak in salt water for 24 hours first. That really helps them to last a long time. My Grandma uses a lot of sugar in hers, but I don't add nearly that much. The bad part of that recipe is that it's 48 hours before we can eat them.

I made a batch of cucumber sunomo to eat in the meantime. It's the Japanese version of the recipe I guess. Here's my recipe for it.

Cucumber Sunomo

In a covered contained put
2 large cucumbers, sliced

Pour over the cucumbers
1/3 c rice wine vinegar
4 tsp sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
about an inch of shredded gingerroot

Chill for 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.

I use white sugar here because I want it to totally dissolve. More natural sugars would work too, I just use white here. And for my ginger, I buy a gingerroot, peel it, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it. That's a trick from Rachel Ray. I like to do it that way because the ginger just kind of melts into whatever it's going into.

where have I been this week?

D (my hubby) has been out of town this week. I have taken advantage of that and just not done as much in the kitchen. In fact, I have been going to bed earlier and enjoying not get up to make his coffee and lunch and see him out the door. (Although at this point in the week, I'd rather be getting up than being a single mom!)

I did some baking on Tuesday. The same banana zucchini bread and zucchini chocolate oatmeal muffins. I also tried my cookie/bar thing again. I'm not sure I like it yet. I'll post a recipe soon, promise!