Thank goodness for mothers

Hi all!

CONGRATULATIONS Ann Marie and Steve!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Joey!
HAPPY 20th Kathy!  I am on the fence to attend mine this October since most of my friends won't be attending.

Truth be told:  I did no planning in advance this week.  I'm a little discombobulated from the trip and was very blessed to have help from my mom.  We picked her up on the way back down from Tahoe and she had a cooler of goodies that have helped with our dinners the last few nights.  She did the meal planning ...

Monday:  I don't know what to call it but my mom bakes a salmon with chopped garlic and ginger, then tops it with herbs (this time:  cilantro), then pours hot oil on top + Pancit + stir fried Chinese brocolli & Japanese eggplant (how political!)

Tuesday:  Chicken adobo + stir fried brocolli & peppers & green beans

Wednesday:  Leftovers ... uber late day for both Mark & me

Thursday:  Potstickers + Farmer's Market salad

Friday:  Out for tavern food to celebrate a friend's birthday.

Saturday:  Gonna try grilling a pizza!

Sunday:  Not sure yet!  Day will likely include roasting a chicken and seasoning meat and tofu.

Tonight is a Farmer's Market night and I hope to use this weekend to re-stock and plan meals for next week to include Monica's daycare meals. Transitions...

This weekend's planning dream:
I like the idea of making a giant quinoa salad for next week's lunches and investigating this new trend of making zucchini and cucumber "pasta" noodles.

Love,
Jennifer

PS:  Kathy-- How do you like the Eating Well magazine?  A colleague was going to give me the last 2 issues to review.

Grayslake Eats

Another week of meal planning . . . yippee skippee.  Happy Anniversary, Ann Marie (and Steve) and Happy Birthday to Joey!  I can't wait to see the cake!!  :)  :)

Wed:  Fish Tacos
Thurs: Out to Dinner (We are pulling the kids out of a half day of school to do *something*.  Long story, but it is the school fundraiser assembly, which is always terrible, so we were planning on taking them out to go to the museums downtown.  Unfortunately, we have a mandatory First Reconciliation meeting at 7 PM, and are worried we might get stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home and miss it.  It is also supposed to be 75 and sunny . . . not a museum day!  We may just take the train downtown to walk around Millennium Park and have a picnic, or something.)  
Fri: My 20-year high school reunion!  Babysitter's coming . . . mac and cheese casserole and fruit
Sat: Kale, sausage, and white bean stew, thanks Ann Marie for the idea
Sun: Hamburgers, grilled butternut squash, oven roasted potatoes, salad
Mon: Pesto pasta ala fridge, to include brocolli
Tues: breakfast for dinner or leftovers

Pretty straightforward week with a lot of "in a rut" meals . . . hamburgers, pesto pasta, tacos . . . hope to do better next week!  (Maybe my new Eating Well magazine will appear . . . )

Love,
Kathy

P.S.  If I can make it to the Farmers Market after Sean's orthodontist appointment this afternoon, you can add fresh corn on the cob to Friday's meal as well as a nice big bowl of my favorite summer quinoa salad for my lunch all week!  :)

Birthdays, Anniversary, galore

It's a celebratory week at our house, so hopefully the menu will not disappoint.  Steve and I took our semiannual date night last weekend and went to dinner and a play to celebrate our 9th year.  We seriously need to get out more often, but it did make it that much more sweet to have a night to ourselves.  We saw "Of Mice and Men" and the acting was great.

Speaking of getting out more, we are so lucky to have found a church here with a plethora of activities for young families.  We're starting a marriage series by Damon Owens titled "God's Plan for a Joy Filled Marriage."  Ever heard of it?  I wish you were all close and could come too, especially to take advantage of the child care 2x per month:-)  I'll let you know if it's good!

On to the menu for the week:

Tuesday:  Chicken tacos, veggie, salad
Wed (Anniversary!:-)  Tri-tip and grilled eggplant and squash
Thurs: leftovers
Friday: Kale, Beef and White Bean Stew
Saturday: Chili Tilapia, butternut squash, veggie, salad
Sunday (Joey's 5th B-day): Hamburgers with homemade buns!, corn on the cob, veggie, salad,
"Lego men rowing across the Mississippi River Cake"  Got to love random creativity (let's hope I have some to design this thing!)

Have a great week!

Love,
Ann Marie

Back into the swing of things

I know I just posted, but here is this week's menu!  :)

Tonight: TACO TUESDAY!  :)
Wed: Whatever I can find at the Farmers Market . . . my plan is sausage or brats of some kind, corn on the cob, and watermelon
Thurs: Beer Can chicken, roasted butternut squash (from the garden, I'm excited!), sauteed chard or kale, steamed brocolli
Fri: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad
Sat: We'll be up in Monroe for the 100th Cheese Days Festival!  :)  If we are home for dinner, I'll throw together chicken salad sandwiches with the leftover beer can chicken.
Sun: Ham (I have one in the freezer, thanks for reminding me Ann Marie!), sweet potatoes, garden greens, whole wheat popovers
Mon: leftovers or breakfast for dinner
Tues: Risotto with shrimp

Have a great week!
Love,
Kathy

P.S.  Have a nice trip this weekend, Jennifer . . . good luck to Mark! 

Bun Recipe

Hello all,

I am a little behind in my posts because of my quick trip out to Lemoore . . . but I am very glad to have this blog back for ideas for the coming week.  :)  Here is what we did last week.  (Liam chose nights Thursday through Saturday when I was gone!)  Now I have until tomorrow's trip to the store to plan the coming week . . . I think I will just pick one or two things from each of the last posts . . . :)

Wed: Beef brisket in the crock pot, homemade buns (I'll have to share my newly found recipe for homemade hamburger and hotdog buns.  It is so easy, and so much better than the bagged versions, that I may never go back!)  :)   carrot and apple slaw, sauteed chard

Thurs:  Tortillini soup, Irish brown bread
Fri: Lasagna, leftover bread
Sat: Hamburgers, garden veggies
Sun: leftovers or breakfast for dinner
Mon: grilled fish, homemade mac and cheese, beans, caprese salad

Good luck with your crazy day, Betty!  I see you make homemade rolls a lot.  Do you have a "go-to" recipe?

Love,
Kathy

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Using a stand mixer with a bread hook attachment makes this even simpler, but you can easily follow these same directions using a wooden spoon to combine everything and then knead the dough by hand.

4 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
3-1/2 – 4 cups all-purpose flour  (I substitute at least 1 cup of whole wheat flour, sometimes more . . . if I have white whole wheat flour I just use 100% of that . . . )

In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let sit for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and 3 1/2 cups flour, and mix on low speed with the dough  hook attachment to form a soft dough.Continue kneading in the mixer on medium-low speed until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes.  Divide into 10 pieces; shape each into a ball. (To make hot dog rolls, roll each ball of dough between your palms until you get it to the desired length.) Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets, and using the palm of your hand, flatten each ball into a flattened disk.Cover and let rest for 20-25 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes
or until golden brown. Remove from pans and let cool on a wire rack.

PDX menu

Hello ladies,

Thanks for reviving this blog!  I missed it and like Ann Marie, this will give us an indication of someone growing their family 😀

This is what I'm feeding my crew this week. Since school started, I am finding myself needing to be super-organized.  Especially Mondays...Nathan in school by 7:55, Elizabeth at her preschool at 8:30, Erin in gymnastics at 9, Elizabeth pick-up at 11:30, Nathan pick-up at 2, swim lessons at 3, and soccer at 5 with dinner at 6:45.  Oh and naps in there for good measures too.

Now I see why we must limit our kids' activities!

Here goes:

Sun fish tacos with homemade fresh salsa, grilled eggplant,
Mon spaghetti and meatballs, breadstick, salad
Tues stuffed chicken breasts, Mexican bean salad, spinach salad
Wed stuffed peppers and tomatoes, lemon pasta, homemade crusty bread, salad
Thurs leftovers
Fri roast lamb kabobs, grilled veggies, garden salad, fruit salad
Sat steak fajitas, garden fresh salsa, corn dip,
Sun grilled salmon, risotto, salad, oatmeal herb rolls


Love
Betty

Chiming In

Hi ladies,

No promises I will be able to post anything weekly, but I will chime-in as much as possible .  I often plan my meals on the fly after seeing what meat is on sale in the store.  But, this often ends up drab and I enjoy adding in your ideas.  However, I am definitely going to start wondering the minute Jennifer stops posting....HA!

Jennifer, I would love your Chili Tilapia recipe.  I was sold on the 15 minute part, and I can never think of any exciting way to cook Tilapia!  Please share when you have the time.

Kathy, we eat char and kale weekly here.  Mostly because I am lazy, I usually saute with garlic and chicken broth.  Easy and the kids actually like it a lot.  I know, my kids are not normal!:-)  Did I mention I don't feed them anything else?

My recent shopping gripe is the exorbitant price of lunch meat that I often throw out because it goes bad before a week.  So, tonight I am cooking a ham (1/3 the price per pound) with the hopes of lots of sandwich-making leftovers!

Monday: Ham, rosemary dinner rolls, sauteed kale, salad

Tuesday: Lentil and rice stuffed peppers, salad

Wednesday: Teriyaki pork with Asian slaw

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: Brazilian Black Bean Stew over rice, salad

Saturday:  Pizza ala Kathy's dough recipe

Have a great week!

Love,
Ann Marie

Pizza Dough

Hey Jennifer!  I actually do my meal planning based on Liam's schedule . . . I really really hate grocery shopping with kids and I will do anything in my power to avoid it.  I also prefer to shop AFTER our weekly Wednesday Farmers Market, so recently Thursday has been my go-to day.  But it changes all the time!  :)

Here's the dough recipe that I use almost every time.  Its pretty resilient . . . can rise for really whatever amount of time you have!  :)  Then I just plop the dough onto the tray (with a little cornmeal) and spread it out with my hands, no rolling/stretching required.  If I do it on the grill, I just make really small (individual size) pizzas so that I can handle it.  This recipe makes one regular tray of pizza. 

1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup lukewarm water
1-2 tablespoons olive oil

In food processor, combine flours, yeast and salt.  Mix water and olive oil together and add while the machine is running.  Run machine until dough is elastic (2-3 mins).

Knead a couple of times when you take it out until it is a smooth ball.  Put in olive-oil greased bowl and turn so all sides are coated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise til doubled, or whenever you need to cook it!  :) 

Pre-bake at 475 for 7 minutes, add toppings and bake for another 7.  (On the grill, I put it on for a few minutes until browned, then turn it over and add toppings.  It seems to go much faster on the grill!)

Good luck!

Love,
Kathy

Second draft

This attempt is my second for this week's meal plan.  It's probably not Ann Marie China Lake hot, but it has been hot.  This sweet old house collects heat continues to leave us with 85-95 degree temps by 5pm  (and 80-88 degree temps at 8pm).  Opening the doors welcome buggies and flies so I look like a loon trying to keep them away from food.  Needless to say, I have little motivation to turn on the stove, much less to make dinner.  I'm going to see if prepping pasta and chopping veggies on my off day (today) will help reduce my evening cooking.  I am also trying to get clear our fridge and pantry before heading out to Tahoe next week so this week may not be very interesting.  

Sunday:  Thai take out at dinner at the last Coronado Concert in the Park ... sigh

Monday:  Leftover bean thread noodles with tofu and black bean sauce with sauteed veggies

Tuesday:  Chicken salad:  lebne, paprika, olives, celery, lemon and grapes with the chicken ... over greens and tomatoes.

OR:  Chicken with pasta, sundried tomatoes, brocollini and olives ... depends if I can prep the pasta in the morning!

Wednesday:  Chili lime tilapia with rice and Japanese eggplant with mushrooms  - this meal can be cut and cooked in 15-20 minutes.

Thursday:  Hamburgers and salad

Friday:   Leftovers

Saturday:  Pork tenderloin with grilled corn and tomatoes.  Didn't have a chance to do it last week.

Sunday:  Grilled pizzas-- whatever is in the veggie drawer

Kathy-- Can you please share your dough recipe?  We are experimenting.  I didn't realize you meal planned in the middle of the week-- maybe I can try that.  I plan around grocery shopping on my roving day off from work.

We'll see how this week goes!

XO-

Jennifer

More Garden Fare

This was an interesting week . . . I guess I am not back into the swing of making lunches, because we ran out of EVERYTHING by my "grocery store day"!  I resorted to canned mandarin oranges in the lunch boxes . . . and PB&J sandwiches made on hot dog buns.  Ooops!  :)  Out of desperation, I sent Sean to the Farmers' Market (by himself!!) yesterday with 20 bucks and a wagon, and told him to buy some fruit for lunch.  He came home with the biggest watermelon I have ever seen.  :)  So we made it one more day . . .

I also couldn't find the pound of ground beef that I KNOW I HAD SOMEWHERE IN THE FREEZER, so we had to put off our hamburger night until later this week.  Luckily, I had a couple frozen steaks (oh darn) that were very nice with grilled garden veggies.  Not bad!  Here we go for another week:

Thursday:  Shellfish paella
Friday: Hamburgers! Corn on the cob, caprese salad
Saturday: Shish kabobs, sauteed greens, homemade flatbread (good for lunches!)
Sunday: Baked chicken legs/thighs, Greek salad
Monday: leftovers or breakfast for dinner
Tuesday: Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, peas, grilled garden veggies

Have a great week!

Love,
Kathy

P.S.  The kids were NOT impressed with the grilled eggplant/red onion/bruschetta pasta that I made to go along with the steak.  I have a lot of leftovers to eat for lunch!! 
P.P.S.  If you have any good Swiss chard recipes, please share.  We are building a (small) deck off the side of our house (the 2 x 4 "temporary" steps from our addition are rotting away . . . ) and my row of chard is in the way.  We need to eat it before the permit gets approved . . . !  :)