What We're Eating This Month

yes, that says Month up there! This week I'm cooking for the entire month of December. Last time I cooked for a month, I had a specific plan to make five building blocks that could be turned into 20 separate meals with the addition of some fresh ingredients. This time I wanted to make my own menu for dinners, plus include some lunches, breakfast and snacks into my cookday. Here are the dinners I plan to cook on Thursday:

• BBQ Turkey Meatballs and Turkey Parmesan Meatballs
• I have made both of these meals before and I am recruiting Deputy Handsome to roll the meatballs for me this time around
• we'll eat the Parmesan ones on rolls with marinara and melted provolone
• BBQ Meatballs will be served with potatoes and veggies
• Sesame Chicken and filling for Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps
• both from the Flat Belly Diet cookbook
• will be fully cooked and stored, ready to reheat
• plus five ready-to-cook crockpot meals
• three from the mama and baby love blog (look under the bulk/freezer tab)
• BBQ Chicken, Chicken and Cherries, Orange Chicken
• two from the six sisters blog (look under freezer meals)
• Taco Soup, Pizza Bake

These meals will be supplemented by pasta bolognese that I already have in my freezer. 

Here's the plan for the other food I plan to make for meals other than dinner:

• smoothies
• chop all the fruit so it's super easy to just throw everything in a blender
• Barley Risotto
• Deputy Handsome wouldn't touch this if I made it for dinner, but I think it sounds good so I'll eat it for lunches when he's at work
• Romesco Sauce
• From the Flat Belly Diet cookbook
• Last time I made this, I served it over chicken. Deputy Handsome didn't like it, but I thought it was so good. In the recipe notes, it says this makes a good dip for veggies, and I need to eat more veggies as afternoon snacks instead of chips/cookies/other crap. Having this dip already made will be yummy motivation.
• BBQ spiced Edamame
• never have eaten soybeans any way other than straight out of the pod, so this should be interesting!
• Cheesey Breakfast Muffins
• to grab and go on our way out the door to church, park playdates, etc.

Make-Ahead Holiday

today I cooked the majority of my food for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast. I am pretty excited about this as I have never attempted turkey dinner before. I am thankful that my table will be just for two (Deputy Handsome is working all day, so we'll have a turkey date night meal when he gets home), which takes some of the pressure off, but I really wanted to be able to enjoy the day with Little Miss and Mister Man while their daddy is at work and not be stressed out in the kitchen all day. So, here's what I cooked and/or prepped today:

• Caramel Apple and Sweet Potato Casserole
• covered in foil and ready to stick in the oven tomorrow
• croutons made and set aside 
• Maple Cornbread
• I think I cooked this a few minutes too long. Hopefully the butter/syrup topping helps moisten it up a little for tomorrow. I'll reheat a few squares quickly after taking the potatoes out of the oven just before we sit down.

ready to brush the top with melted butter and pure maple syrup

• Apple Almond Cranberry Relish
• smells so good. I could have sat down and ate the whole batch during naptime. 
• almonds toasted and set aside for tossing in just before serving to retain crunch
• Maple Flan
• not sure how this will be received by Deputy Handsome, but it was a fun challenge for me to make and I think it will taste great. Might make this apple crumble if I have time tomorrow, just in case.  

cranberries in the back, bread croutons
for the sweet potato casserole in the front

So for dinner tomorrow, all I need to do besides reheating, is put the turkey in the crockpot (I bought a seven-pound breast!) and also prep some green beans. 

return of the cook day!

Our schedule is slightly back to normal and this week whole chickens were on sale for just 69 cents a pound so I bought three and yesterday I finally had a cook day! I was so excited about it that I skipped my morning run to cook, cook cook - though remind me to never do this again. I can cook during naptime, but I can not leave my children alone in the house, even while sleeping, to go run. However, I did make great use of the morning and am fully prepared with tons of baby food for Mister Man and precooked meals to get us through Deputy Handsome's work week.  Here's what I made yesterday:

• Red-wine poached chicken
• in the crock pot
• yummy, garlicy, citrus wine sauce infuses a ton of flavor in to the whole chicken
• strained the sauce and put it in the fridge overnight to let fat rise to the top. tonight I'll thicken it and serve it over rice with the reheated chicken
• Lemon garlic roasted chicken
• our dinner last night, served with mashed potatos
• so glad Deputy Handsome was home to help me butterfly a whole chicken! 
• Chipotle corn chicken soup
• made with meat from the THIRD chicken I cooked yesterday
• used frozen corn instead of hominy because I already had some in my freezer
• Sweet Potato sandwich filling
• from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld
• spread on whole wheat bread and toast in a panini press for Little Miss
• Mac and Cheese with hidden veggies
• from Deceptively Delicious 
• triple veggies for Little Miss:
• pureed cauliflower in the cheese sauce
• veggie pasta instead of macaroni
• also, I stirred in some frozen peas and carrots when I combined the sauce and pasta because I always add peas and carrots to her mac and cheese, even when it's straight out of the box
• Mini Minestrone
• for Mister Man from 100 Best Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel
• lots of veggies that he has already eaten, plus something new - pasta!
• Lovely Lentils
• for Mister Man from 100 Best Baby Purees
• sweet potatoes and other veggies cooked with lentils for some protein now that he is almost 8 months old! big boy!

Ambition

it's been a few weeks since I've had a big cook-day and my fridge and freezer are sad and empty. Of course, it isn't all bad - we've been keeping busy with vacations and birthday celebrations and other end-of-summer activities and I've been glad for my fully stocked freezer and pantry many times over the past few weeks. But now those stocks are down so I am gearing up for another cook-day and it's my most ambitious one yet. I'm planning to cook the majority of the food for 20 dinners in one day. The plan is from the September issue of Rachel Ray and I'm so glad it's also posted on the website so you can see it too!
I'm not quite ready to cook all this yet. Buying 10 pounds of pork shoulder and 8 pounds of chicken all at once is quite a blow to my shopping budget so I'm easing my way in. Today I bought the chicken on sale and also used coupons for meat that I got for purchasing another product a few weeks ago. Now I'm crossing my fingers that pork shoulder will come out for a good price on Wednesday, but if it doesn't, I will freeze the chicken I bought today until I can get all my ingredients on sale. Bell peppers were also on sale this week, so I bought a bunch of them, knowing they will keep for quite a while in the fridge.
But in order to feed my family today I'm making a big pot of chili using turkey from my freezer stash. Yum. Stay tuned for news on the jumbo cook-day. I'm so excited at the thought of having the building blocks for 20 meals all ready to go in my kitchen that I'm even more giddy than usual at the thought of the new grocery sale papers coming out tomorrow.

Take Me Out

birthday boy outnumbered 3-to-1

on Saturday we celebrated Deputy Handsome's birthday with a baseball-themed backyard party. For dinner we served only food that you would find at a MLB stadium (well, and watermelon, because what good is a Labor Day-weekend BBQ without watermelon?) and I was able to make most of it ahead of time. I got my menu inspiration here!

• Day Before:
• grill hot dogs and store in an oven-proof container
• make an enormous pot of chili (I made the recipe linked above but used dried beans instead of canned. Tomorrow I'll share more about that.)
• Day of:
• pop popcorn and make cinnamony-delicious caramel corn
• slice watermelon
• make lemonade
• turn on the crock-pot to reheat the chili
• put soda and beer on ice
• 5 minutes to go:
• open a jar of nacho cheese and a bag of chips
• set out bowls of candy and peanuts
• During the Party:
• reheat hot dogs in the oven
• cook frozen fries according to package directions and make a yummy garlic/parsley oil to toss
• after dinner, set out ice cream and toppings for sundaes!

Even the during-party tasks were pretty easy, just had to pop inside between conversations to keep an eye on the fries and dogs in the oven. Thanks to Mrs Harmony for giving me a hand in the kitchen while the rest of our guests enjoyed ping-pong, wiffle ball and beach-ball soccer. Everything was so yummy and I think the birthday boy felt sufficiently celebrated and welcomed to this new decade of life! Thanks to all the friends and family who came out to play with us! xo.

What We're Eating This Week

this week is what I call a "pantry week," because we're eating mostly out of the pantry and using up odds and ends of things. Here's what we're eating:

• Scrambled Eggs
• spinach, shredded zucchini and parmesan mixed in. Little Miss will eat anything in eggs with cheese and this is a good way to get some extra veggies. I make a triple batch and reheat for quick lunches for her.
• Beans and cornbread
• served with homemade nectarine pickles that have been chilling in the fridge for a few weeks
• Pasta (double batch)
• jarred sauce enhanced with shredded zucchini and parmesan leftover in the fridge and some ground beef from the freezer
• Banana Bread
• when Little Miss called me out on the black bananas, I figured it was time to do something about it
• Peanut Butter
• my favorite lunch (pantry week or not) is peanut butter and honey sandwiches and potato chips. doesn't get much simpler or yummier than that.

So, it's not too exciting, but sometimes saving money trumps exotic menus. 

What We're Eating This Week

this week I'm doing a combination of make-ahead and quick day-of dinners. As of this morning Deputy Handsome is back on day shift for four months so this allows me a little more flexibility. I still want to make ahead as much as possible to make evenings run smoother, but there are some things that taste better right away (pan-seared steak) and some things that taste better after a day or two (lasagna!), so it's nice to have the option.

Here's what's on the schedule for cook-day today:

• White Veggie Lasagna
• not really a recipe, but based off a suggestion in a vegetable cookbook I got from the library
• good way to use up some leftover produce in my fridge and just calling it "white" makes it seem more appropriate for summer than traditional heavy, cheesy, gooey (delicious) red-sauced lasagna
• Meatloaf
• a recipe I haven't tried before from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pan in Your Kitchen
• it has cheese in it ... I have never seen cheese in a meatloaf recipe before and I am super intrigued
• Sweet Potato Pancakes
• making a big batch! store leftovers in the fridge and pop in the toaster all week
• Granola Bars
• to use up the leftover almond-cherry granola I made last week. recipe for the bars comes from the current issue of Runner's World magazine
• Filling for Chicken Pitas
• cook and shred a couple chicken breasts
• make a sun-dried tomato and pepper puree
• recipe designed to be an ideal post-run meal. You can check out this and other no-cook recipes for runners here

What I'll be making on the same day we plan to eat it (both recipes from the August 2011 issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray):

• Ruby Plum Chicken 
• Latin Steak with Pan-Roasted Corn and Salsa Verde

This weekend is bachelorette weekend so I'll be leaving Deputy Handsome alone with both kiddos for two nights. I'm hoping that there will be enough leftovers from these dishes to last them until I get home again. If not, my husband is quite possibly the best mac and cheese chef on the planet, so they won't starve. 

Make-Ahead for Little Miss

today I made-ahead with Little Miss in mind. She is a great eater - loves pizza, yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, graham crackers and all kinds of fruit but is (like most toddlers, I think) adverse to vegetables. I serve veggies with dinner every night, and she does reluctantly eat some of them, but I figure it couldn't hurt to have some extra "veg-surance," so each of the recipes I cooked today have a little hidden produce.

• Carrot and Cheese Muffins from Top 100 Finger Foods by Annabel Karmel
• a more savory approach to carrot muffins. Little Miss loves cheese, so I knew these would be a hit!
• they smell and taste like the best salad croutons ever
• Oatmeal Blueberry Bars from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld
• fresh blueberries pureed with spinach makes up the filling. once the bars cool, you can't even taste the spinach. Not sure if Little Miss will even get her hands on these - so good!
• Chocolate Cupcakes from Deceptively Delicious
• with hidden avocado! cakes are dense and super-chocolaty.
• basic cream cheese frosting - yum.

Little Miss knows there's something yummy up
there for her!

I kept a few of each out for the week, but I also loaded up the freezer with the extra treats. Muffins are one of my favorite items to have in the freezer because they're so easy to defrost - just pull one out and leave it on the counter for an hour! 

In a taste-test this evening, Little Miss loved the carrot and cheese muffin and was opposed to the cream cheese frosting on the chocolate cupcakes, but she's running a little fever today, so I'll try again with the cupcakes when she's back to normal. And if she still doesn't like them, that's okay with me - I think they're delicious!

On deck for tomorrow, veggie balls from Anabelle Karmel and I'm also planning to try Jessica Seinfeld's sneaky way of getting sweet potatoes into grilled cheese.

What We're Eating This Week

with the beautiful
bride-to-be!

although the last few weeks may have been convenient, they weren't exactly the healthiest and Saturday's bridal shower reminded me that in just three months I will be standing alongside a bunch of beautiful ladies (who haven't yet had to take maternity leave from the gym) in matching dresses and so it's time to kick up the running routine and eat a little healthier. As a result of that realization, unless indicated otherwise, meal selections this week will come from the Flat Belly Diet! Family Cookbook. I don't usually like "diet" foods, but everything I've made from this line of cookbooks has been yummy and satisfying in flavor. The next step will be controlling portion size. ha ha.
Anyway, here's the list  of what I'll be cooking today:

• Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
• whole chickens are on sale at Vons this week! I love when this happens! For more of my favorite things to do with whole chickens, check out this post and this post.
• Chicken Tortilla Casserole
• a different recipe than I am used to. Includes black beans and corn! yum!
• Rosemary Pork & Rice
• boneless pork loin chops are on sale all over town this week, but the best price I found for them is at Albertson's
• Mexican Pork Stew
• the chops are only available at the cheap price in the max pack, so I needed to plan on more than one dish to use them all up
• Chicken Salad
• no recipe, just trying to remember the version that was served at my baby shower for Mister Man. I've been craving it ever since. 
• Almond-Cranberry Granola
• a new combination from my usual
• Oatmeal
• we do instant every morning for Little Miss, and sometimes I want to sneak bites of it myself! this version uses whole oats and has walnuts and dried fruit for more heft.
• Banana Bread
• recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens red checkered cookbook
• I always buy more bananas than I think we'll go through in a week. if we do use them all, it's a great surprise, but if not, I get to make my favorite snack!

Make-Ahead Party

this was my first time hosting an activity party for lots of little kids. I was a little nervous about keeping the pace moving along so I wanted to have as much done for lunch (the last "activity" of the party) as possible ahead of time. Before I get any farther I have to give a huge shout-out to my mom who was the kitchen manager for the duration of the party and helped me out so much by doing all the last minute food preparations while I was playing camp director outside with the kids. Thank you Mom!! I could not have pulled this off without you.

Grandma relaxing with Little Miss after lunch.

so here is what we ate at the pirate party: 

• teriyaki chicken skewers with pineapple
• I cooked all the meat and pineapple in the teriyaki sauce the day before and stored separately to free up fridge space. the morning of the party I skewered everything and laid them out on cookie sheets. then Mom brushed the skewers with fresh marinade and popped them in the oven to heat up. 
• oriental slaw salad
• to make this ahead, but keep crunch to the nuts and ramen, I prepped everything ahead of time but stored it in three separate containers (veggies, dry ingredients and dressing) so all Mom had to do to serve was dump it all together and stir. look for the recipe after the jump.
• almond butter and jelly sandwiches
• for kids not ready to handle food on a stick.
• strawberries
• some I left plan and on some I put some leftover frosting from the cake on the ends and dipped it in colored sugar. yummy and cute!
• jello jigglers
• used the blue color and cut it into star shapes
• sandcastle cake
• to see my inspiration for the cake, click here. I pretty much followed the directions exactly except I also frosted the cones and dipped them in the crumbs so the whole thing looked sandy. It was pretty messy to make, but so adorable. And the kids really loved eating the empty, frosted ice cream cones! who knew?

In addition to tons of help from my mom, Deputy Handsome was also an amazing co-host for the party! He cut jigglers, hung streamers, kept the kids occupied so I could cook the day before and got into character with the party guests. I am consistently blessed by my family and am beyond thankful. *Pause for reflection.* 

Ok, no more sappy stuff. I know you're anxious to get your hands on this salad recipe!

Week In Review

this was a successful week - everything was delicious, inexpensive and used up items in my fridge!! Just a few thoughts on our menu this week:

Citrus Ricotta Pancakes and Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Frosting were both to die for. Especially the pancakes with fresh strawberries and maple syrup. yum.

Parmesan Biscuits were really tasty, but a little dry. I would make them again, but will look up ways to keep the finished product moister next time.

Korean Beef Wraps rivaled PF Changs. so so so good.

Mediterranean Veggie Pie is going to be my new go-to recipe for using up odds and ends of veggies and cheese in my fridge. It was so good and one 9-inch pie makes just four servings, so you get a large, filling portion but it's mostly healthy. I changed the recipe enough when I made it myself that I wouldn't feel in violation of any copyright laws by posting it here. Look for my version after the jump.

what we're eating this week

today is my cook-day for the week and it's going to be a doozy as I plan to cook not only dinners, but also snacks and some breakfast items too. Here's what's on the schedule (along with nursing Mister Man, singing E-I-E-I-O with Little Miss and sitting down for a quiet lunch with Deputy Handsome while the kids are napping):

• Cuban Black Beans from the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook
• just reheat and make "fried" bananas on the day we want to eat
• Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Frosting from the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook
• should have made these over the weekend when my Dad was in town - carrot cake is his favorite!
• chocolate-oatmeal bars from the Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook 
• I checked this cookbook out from the library, but I think I need to add it to my home collection! 
• Parmesan Biscuits from Giada At Home
• these will make fantastic sandwiches with all the extra lunch meat in our fridge from the super sale at Albertson's last week
• Mediterranean Vegetable Pie from epicurious
• dinner for me while Deputy Handsome is working night-shift 
• Citruis Ricotta Pancakes from Eat Me by Kenny Shopsin
• you can store pancakes in the fridge or freezer and then just pop them in the toaster when you're ready to eat
• the filling for Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps from the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook
• also will have to shred some veggies to top the wraps
• Braciole (thinly pounded beef with stuffing, slow-cooked in red sauce)
• sort of making it up on my own but influenced by the Everything One Pot cookbook and also Rachel Ray
• this will be dinner tonight with orzo and steamed broccoli and we'll have lots of leftovers

These meals will take us through to the Independence Day holiday! We have only one free evening between now and then and all this cooking ahead will make for easier nights when Deputy Handsome is gone and will allow more family time on that one night we have all together. 

looking ahead

due to VBS, everything is a little behind and scattered this week (I didn't even have a chance to post another unbearably adorable photo of Little Miss and Mister Man), but never fear! This morning everyone is sleeping in thanks to the late nights at church so I'm using the borrowed quiet time to plan my meals for next week. I think I'll be taking some ideas from this menu. Stay tuned ...

what we're eating this week

this week is a little different since it's VBS week at church and we'll all be gone every night, so I am focusing on cooking ahead for lunch and we'll have leftovers and sandwiches for dinner. We still have some bolognese left over from the weekend (I told you it made a lot!) so I'm just cooking two new meals today. And, since I'm using meat that I bought on sale last week, our grocery bill this week is next to nothing ... just milk, bread and some fresh fruit. Everything else is from my pantry.

• Southwestern Fried Rice from the Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook
• to be served with taco-seasoned turkey burgers
• Buffalo BBQ Chicken with Cornbread Topping
• using the meat from one of the whole chickens I bought last week

What We're Eating This Week

This week is a little different than normal in that Deputy Handsome is taking the week off work to play in a soccer tournament which means he will be home for dinner every night! (yay!) This changes my usual routine a little bit and also gives me more time to cook during the week with supervised children so I don't have to cook as much ahead as usual. So while the kids nap this afternoon, I will be making tonight's dinner and prepping a few other things, but it won't be a huge blow-out kitchen session.

Making today:

• BBQ Meatballs from The Pioneer Woman 
• ground beef was on sale in a max-pack last week
• we'll be eating this for dinner tonight and still have leftovers for another meal
• My mom's Italian meatballs to freeze
• with leftover meat from above
• to easily freeze meatballs, I put them on a standard baking sheet as I form them like I would if I was going to cook them right away, then slide the sheet in the freezer until the balls are completely frozen. Once frozen, remove from sheet and store. I use Tupperware FreezerSmart containers because I sell them :) Large zip-top freezer bags would also work, but don't stack as nicely in your freezer. 
• frozen meatballs cook the same as regular meatballs. Just add another 10 minutes or so to the baking time. 
• Romesco sauce from the Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook 
• I will cool and store sauce after preparing, then just pour over chicken and bake for a quick meal later this week.
• Beans and Cornbread from The Pioneer Woman
• dried beans are probably the cheapest form of protein you can buy. I have at least one bag in my pantry at all times! 
• once cooked, the beans will store well. on the day we want to eat this meal, I'll just have to make some cornbread.



mmm ... bacon

• this recipe also calls for a few strips of bacon which is expensive! But with a sale and coupons I bought a couple packs recently for $1.97 each. To easily freeze extra bacon, roll each piece individually into a tight roll and place in a flat-bottomed freezable storage container. Frozen bacon is fairly soft because of the high fat content so it's easy to chop for a meal like this (it's actually much easier to chop frozen than fresh!). Or, if you want crisp-cooked bacon, just place the still-rolled bacon in a cold pan and turn on the heat. As the pan heats up, the bacon will unroll on its own and cook normally. 

Cooking on the day we want to eat it:

• Mediterranean Chicken and Orzo from the Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook
• fresh chicken was also on sale this week in a max-pack. Any chicken I have leftover after this recipe and the Romesco, I will freeze to use another week. 
• since the chicken cooks with the orzo and there are lots of veggies tossed with it, including fresh spinach, this would not be a good meal to make, store and reheat.

How it All Began

about a month ago, I was tuned into Food Network while I nursed Mister Man and saw a commercial advertising a new show with Rachel Ray called "Week In A Day." Her strategy is to cook five meals in one weekend day so that when you come home after a long day at work, you don't have to really even think about dinner - just pull something out of the fridge and heat it up!

no thank you.

This concept is not new - TV dinners have been around since the '50s and many dieters turn to prepackaged frozen meals to help with portion control.

While I wouldn't consider myself a foodie (I'm not fancy enough), I do love to cook and eating food that tastes good is a luxury I will not go without, even when the budget is tight. Prepackaged frozen dinners just can't deliver the same goodness as a made-from-scratch meal.  

So, back to Rachel Ray ... as soon as the commercial was over, I set my TiVo to record her show and later did a little research on the show's website. The episode "It's A Breeze" featured five recipes that all sounded delicious to me, so I decided to try cooking for a full week in just one day. And as it turned out, I needed to do it all in just one morning as the day I picked to cook was already full in the afternoon and evening, but I was able to complete four out of the five meals (all except the Grilled Chicken Caesar Mac, so I froze the chicken and saved it for the next week), take a shower, nurse Mister Man a couple of times, cut up fruit for a salad and make it to lunch on time, bearing that fruit salad! Of course, had I tried to do this on a day that Deputy Handsome was at work, it would not have been possible but between Mister Man's frequent naps and the love that Little Miss has for her daddy's undivided attention, I was able to cook, in just one day, good-tasting, make-ahead meals for an entire week. 

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL COOKING DAY:

• do some organizing on paper first - I make a list of each of the meals to be cooked and the dishes needed to prep, cook and store each meal. This is so I can plan for dish-washing time and also to make sure I have enough of each needed dish or container to go around
• the night before, make sure the kitchen is spotless so you can jump right into cooking and don't have to wade through last night's dishes
• the day you pick as your cook day is as important as what you plan to cook. if you have kids, make sure there is someone else besides you who is responsible for them and for keeping them out of your way for a few hours