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
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
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
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
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
Thursday, September 4, 2014
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 . . . ! :)
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 . . . ! :)
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Here's our week, Jennifer! :)
Wednesday - Pesto lasagna, Farmer's Market bread, fruit
Thursday - Grilled salmon, "stackers", brown rice ("stackers" are my favorite summer garden food . . . slice and grill eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, onion, and pepper and then stack with fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato, and basil . . . drizzle with olive oil and balsamic. YUM!)
Friday - Beef and mushroom tacos, melon
Saturday - We are off to Milwaukee for the Meyers' wedding . . . kids get hot dogs, corn on the cob, fruit
Sunday - Farmers Market corn chowder and grilled cheese
Monday - over to Aunt Anne and Uncle Tom's new house for dinner! :)
Tuesday - leftovers or breakfast for dinner
Wednesday - Hamburgers, garden veggies, grilled sweet potatoes
Pretty easy week! You will notice that around this time of year when the garden produce is in full swing, that the menu is basically garden veggies with some twist . . . for example, "stackers" and "garden veggie pasta" are basically the same thing . . . just served a different way. Tacos tend to be "taco meat" with grilled and chopped garden veggies. Rinse. Repeat. The kids get tired of it, but I NEVER DO!!! :)
Good luck with the menu planning!
Love,
Kathy
Thursday - Grilled salmon, "stackers", brown rice ("stackers" are my favorite summer garden food . . . slice and grill eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, onion, and pepper and then stack with fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato, and basil . . . drizzle with olive oil and balsamic. YUM!)
Friday - Beef and mushroom tacos, melon
Saturday - We are off to Milwaukee for the Meyers' wedding . . . kids get hot dogs, corn on the cob, fruit
Sunday - Farmers Market corn chowder and grilled cheese
Monday - over to Aunt Anne and Uncle Tom's new house for dinner! :)
Tuesday - leftovers or breakfast for dinner
Wednesday - Hamburgers, garden veggies, grilled sweet potatoes
Pretty easy week! You will notice that around this time of year when the garden produce is in full swing, that the menu is basically garden veggies with some twist . . . for example, "stackers" and "garden veggie pasta" are basically the same thing . . . just served a different way. Tacos tend to be "taco meat" with grilled and chopped garden veggies. Rinse. Repeat. The kids get tired of it, but I NEVER DO!!! :)
Good luck with the menu planning!
Love,
Kathy
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Back to the blog!
Back to work! Back to school! Back to the blog for dinner ideas!
Here's to hoping we can make a plan and stick to it ... and minimize last minute trips to the store on an empty stomach that inevitably end in gelato purchases and forgetting to purchase the ingredient that was the reason for the trip.
All recipes subject to change if it is too hot to cook in the kitchen.
Love,
Jennifer
Sunday: Out to dinner
Monday * Labor Day * Must grill on the "last (HOT, HOT ... we hope) day of summer"!
Chili pork tenderloin with charred corn and okra salad (ala Sunset September 2014 p.96)
Tuesday
Spicy scallop salad with green beans, bok choy and red peppers
Wednesday * School Night * Our official Crock Pot Night
Black bean and chicken tostadas
"Extra" chicken for chicken salad with kefir or hummus, grapes, olives and walnuts/almonds/chopped celery for lunch sandwiches
Thursday
Miso cod with stir fried brussel sprouts, mushrooms and Japanese eggplant (if the squirrels haven't taken them)
Friday
Grilled pizza with whatever veggies are left in the kitchen
Saturday
Grilled shrimp with pesto pasta salad OR Burgers
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