So, in clearing our pantry, we've found a few things we'd forgotten about, a few things we're not sure why we purchased in the first place, and it's almost a week 'til payday. Time to use and recalibrate! I hate to admit this, but I really enjoy the occasional shopping moratorium. I learn a lot about our family's eating preferences (vs. the habits, which are mostly under my control).
Some examples:
-our pasta stockpile is inordinately large. Why? It seems that since we've found rice sticks, which Zorak will also eat, we just aren't getting many requests for things like egg noodles or spirals. Well, let's use those up, and when I do the shopping again, I won't be replenishing them (except for the egg noodles - those are for me, and late at night, when all the small ones are asleep, I do love a big, hot bowl of wavy egg noodles slathered in butter and salt.)
-coconut cream and coconut milk - it's reasonably priced at the asian market, but I haven't found a good use for it, other than baking. Perhaps we could delve into more Thai recipes?
-we do fly through the veggies, and we're very low on canned veggies. Lessons learned, there: I need to keep up with those; nobody wants the beets (or the whole cranberry sauce), so I need to find recipes that will incorporate the cans we do have; and I think everyone is thoroughly sick of canned green beans.
So, here's our Quick 'n Dirty menu for the next few days (we have water with meals, unless specified in the menu, and I didn't include snacks, because we just grab whatever sounds good for a nibble):
Today:
Breakfast - sopapillas, bananas, and milk
Lunch - baked beans and cheese biscuits
Supper - salmon patties, brussel sprouts, and rice
Monday:
Breakfast - grits, eggs, bacon and sliced apples
Lunch - quesadillas, peaches, milk
Supper - potato soup and yam rolls
Tuesday:
Breakfast - oats, peaches, toast w/ cactus jelly
Lunch - leftover soup, oat bread
Supper - rice and beans w/ burnt onions and bread
Wednesday:
Breakfast - crepes, bacon, milk
Lunch - oat bread, fried cheese, bananas & peaches in milk
Supper - pork stew w/ rice sticks
What's on your menu for the week? Or, if you don't do menus ahead of time, what did you serve your family this past week? I'd love to hear about it! And I may be back w/ some pleas for suggestions on the few stray items I've yet to figure out what to do with (beet recipes, anyone? other than borscht?)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
9 comments:
We eat spagetti (sometimes with meatballs, sometimes without), pizza, meatloaf, hot dogs, hamburgers, and more spagetti. Sometimes chicken breasts, but we're currently out.
What I am interested in is beans & rice. I've never cooked beans (except for Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans, which probably don't count), and I'd love a recipe for beans & rice that your boys eat with enthusiasm!
Let's see, last week, hmmmm. My family ate anything I could dig up that had absolutely no smell, while I ate crackers. Inspiring, no?
Melora, we live off of beans. I don't know if it's habit from growing up in the SW, or from being broke for so long, or just good, common horse sense, but we do love beans. Mostly pintos - those are our staple beans. Black beans and red beans also go well w/ rice.
Beans are easy-as-pie. Probably easier, considering I have trouble w/ pie crusts, actually. Sort the beans, pulling out rocks, dirt clods, and general nasty miscellany that gets in there. Rinse well, and soak (either overnight, or just boil for half an hour and call it good - you can guess which way I do it), drain, fill to cover again and then put the beans on (covered) to cook. Add seasonings to taste. If you like to season your beans w/ pork, this is the time to throw in your bacon or hambone.
There's one point in the cooking process where there is a ton of water and then, *poof*, just a couple minutes later, the beans suddenly suck it all up. No clue why that happens, but it does. So keep an eye on them and add water at that point. Or start out w/ more water. I like really soupy beans, so I start out with a lot of water.
The boys are all a little different in their tastes, so while I *love* the beans and rice and meat (usually kielbasa) all mixed together in a big pot, served in a thick bowl with a slab of buttered bread on the side *mmmm*, that makes the boys cringe and whine. What works well with kids is to make a pot of beans, a pot of rice and serve them up separately on the plates. Meat on the side, if you'd like. Serve it either rolled up in tortillas (as burritos) w/ salsa and other yummy burrito trimmings (sour cream, perhaps), or with a choice of seasonings that the kids can add themselves (pepper, chile powder, garlic & salt, etc.) I think if you haven't fed them beans and rice regularly, the burritos are a great way to go. Just heat your tortillas beforehand so they're easy to fold. :-)
HTH,
Dy
We've been eating good lately. Thursday I tried a new recipe with a basting sauce that I picked up the other day...Cabernet chicken. Basically, it was sauteed chicken with mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and the sauce served over brown rice pilaf, and steamed brocoli on the side. Friday was the fast meal: I usually keep a small ham in the fridge for ham steaks or sandwiches or lentil stew. We had hamsteaks, canned green beans and corn. Saturday was beef stew in red wine sauce ( my absolute favorite recipe ever, it is so good!!!)with crusty bread and butter on the side. Leftovers of the stew today for lunch with our standard fruit and cheese platter with boiled eggs for dinner tonight. Tomorrow will be lasagna which will feed us on tuesday too, and then we will finish off the ham in lentil stew. We usually eat beans or lentils every week, and I rotate the kind of bean presented. Currently on the rotation: Pinto beans and sausage, Black beans and rice, White beans and ham, and lentil stew. I serve all with corn bread, except the black beans, which get salsa, cheese, and sour cream on top. I keep a can of salmon in the pantry at all times so I can make salmon patties if I need to substitute.
I could live on beans, and be pretty content.
Hi DY,
IF I don't call you tomorow, you try to call me, ok? I have some rockin' easy Thai recipes for you- good ways to use up the coconut milk.
Yesterday we had Phad Thai, and a curied coconut milk soup. Yummy. My mom loved it!
LB
I had my week's menu all planned out, but then didn't have the energy to go shopping. I found a recipe for chicken and rice soup to use up some leftover chicken and also made broccoli salad to use up the ton of broccoli I keep buying. I also made homemade bread. That was my creative meal. The night before I pulled out the frozen oncor and made instant mashed potatoes (shame on me). Today.. hmm... gotta go dig in the freezer and see what I find.
I love eggnoodles with butter, salt, and broccoli,Yummmy
Excellent! Thank you, Dy! T. does like tacos (K. only eats the crunchy shells, but, then, she doesn't really eat anyway), so the shells are a great idea to get him used to the idea.
When I'm cooking the beans, what sort of seasonings do I add to create a boy-friendly flavor? Tomato sauce? Or just some salt & pepper? Sorry to be such a dunce, but my mom never cooked beans (except green beans) and I'm clueless, but KathyJo's book lists have me especially eager to cut the old grocery budget!
We're doing the Menus4Moms menu for this week, surprisingly without any substitutions. The crustless quiche was deeeelicious tonight! Next week was a little harder -- Christmas dinner of course, then spaghetti night, chicken and stuffing night, leftover night, and pizza night. MMMMMmmmm good.
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