Menu Plan Monday

This is a little late! I was not motivated to get a plan together last night. But when I sat down today to do it, I had more ideas than I had days!


I will be out two nights this week! I am very excited, but can't leave my men hungry. It is best to do my meat meals on the nights I am not home that is why you don't see my veggie and meat days alternating like I usually do it.


I am also excited to start some Christmas baking since this is our last week of school! Thus the "to-do" list at the bottom.

Sunday, December 13, 2009
Eggs, toast, green drink
Mimi’s house
V-leftovers from Mimi’s house!

Monday, December 14, 2009
Creamy cinnamon/raisin oatmeal
Almond butter/jelly, carrot sticks, tangerines
M-Chicken Noodle Soup and homemade bread
(Me-mushroom and barley soup)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Cereal and green drink
Lentil/spinach soup in crockpot
M- Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken and beans, rice and salad
(me- Cumin Lime Tofu)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Pumpkin Pancakes, milk
Quiche, salad, tangerines
V – Spaghetti w/ broccoli and carrots, garlic/basil muffins, salad

Thursday, December 17, 2009
Toast w/apple butter, green drink
Chick pea and pasta soup
M-chicken cutlets, maple pecan sweet potato mash, corn

Friday, December 18, 2009
Pumpkin bread w/cream cheese
Bean burrito’s, carrot sticks
V- crock – corn chowder, salad

Saturday, December 19, 2009
Eggs/toast (Dad makes breakfast on Saturday morning)
Pizza, pepper slices
V – Chick pea pot pie

To make/do:

Whole Wheat Bread
Kids dynamo hummus (LOVED this last week!)
Granola bars
Tortillas

Sesame cookies
Nutty party crunch
Crunchy chocolate treats


What do you have planned this week? I'd love to know!


For more menu planning ideas check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/

From Our Home to Yours,
Jennifer

White Bean and Barley Risotto

I am going to try to start sharing a new recipe from each menu plan.

Last week, we made a family favorite, White Bean and Barley Risotto. We all love this recipe and so I need to double it if it is our main course. It is a pantry meal for us as I always have everything on hand.

White Bean and Barley Risotto
1 large onion chopped
2 1/2 c. broth of your choice
1/2 c. pearl barley
1 can or 2 cups white beans
parm cheese

1. Saute onion in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes
2. Stir in broth and barley, bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat, cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 40 minutes.
4. Stir in white beans and season with salt and pepper. Heat the beans through, about 5 minutes.
5. Add parm cheese to taste.


From our home to yours,

Jennifer

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday, December 6, 2009
Eggs, toast, green drink

Leftovers
V-Tofu stir fry w/rice, cut up cukes and tomatoes

Monday, December 7, 2009
Pumpkin bread, green drink
Spinach rice casserole, apples
M-beef stroganoff, salad

Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Vanilla soy yogurt, granola, oranges
lentil soup in crockpot
V- veggie pot pie, salad

Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Pumpkin Pancakes, Green drink
Pizza, veggie sticks, pears
M-chicken parm, spaghetti, salad, bread

Thursday, December 10, 2009
Toast w/apple butter, milk
grilled soy cheese (tuna) sandwiches carrot sticks, fruit
V-garlicky broccoli, corn, and bean burritos, cilantro rice

Friday, December 11, 2009
oatmeal, orange juice
spinach, rice casserole, fruit
M- chili, corn muffins, salad

Saturday, December 12, 2009
Eggs/toast

Leftovers
Chicken nuggets, cut up veggies and ice cream (Date Night for Mom and Dad, postponed from last week!)

For more menu ideas check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/

From our home to yours,

Jennifer

Yogurt Yeast Rolls

As I mentioned in a previous post, when I go on vacation, I like to completely clean out my fridge. The week before we left for Thanksgiving vacation we ended up with a gallon of regular milk. We needed some for a cooking project for our homeschool International Fair. Unfortunately, our family does not drink regular milk, so drinking it was not an option.



So I began the search to figure out what to do with all this milk, as I don't waste ANYTHING! You can imagine my amazement when I found a recipe for making yogurt in my crockpot!!! Check it out at this great blog! There is no need to repeat the instructions here as she does a great job.


The recipe worked great and left me with about a 8 cups of yogurt. Unfortunately, my boys ended up with some sniffles and little coughs that week, meaning that giving them the yogurt was not going to happen. What was I going to do with all this yogurt! I could have frozen it, but the boys don't like frozen yogurt. And so began the second search.....


I found a recipe for Yogurt Yeast Rolls modified it. They loved the rolls and I made a ton! Most of them went into the freezer to use as a side for soups.



Anyway....all that being said, here is the modified recipe. I only made a few small changes.


Yogurt Yeast Rolls

4 to 4 1/2 c. all purpose flour (I used WW Pastry flour)
2 packages yeast (4 1/2 tsp.)
2 tbs. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt (you could use soy yogurt)
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. butter or Earth Balance


1. In a large bowl whisk together 1 1/2 c. flour with the yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda.

2. Heat the yogurt, water and butter, but do not simmer.


3.Add yogurt mixture to the flour mixture and blend well.

4. Beat with a mixer (I used my kitchen aide) for about 4 minutes, gradually adding the remaining flour until you get a stiff dough.

5. Knead on a floured surface until the dough is smooth.


6. Place in a greased bowl and let rise for about 30 minutes. It should be doubled in size.



7. Punch down the dough and divide into the size rolls you want. We did some sandwich size and some dinner roll size.


8. Let rise on a greased cookie sheet for another 20 minutes or doubled in size.

9. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until brown.

10. Remove from pan and brush with melted butter.



All that from just a gallon of milk...

From our home to yours,
Jennifer

Freezer Day Results

Freezer Day has come and gone and I am just now getting to post the results. Sorry about that.

We had a crazy week with C1's birthday, unpacking, a broken oven and art classes. Now that I finally have a few minutes I wanted to share with you what I was able to accomplish. It wasn't everything I had on my original list, but what I got done will certainly make things easier in the coming weeks.

Here goes...


With some help :), I was able to roast a large pumpkin and puree it.

We ended up with 20 cups of pumpkin! Most of it was frozen in two cup portions.

But some of it went into 4 loaves of yummy vegan pumpkin bread (Chuck said it is the best bread he's ever eaten!)and three batches of vegan pumpkin pancakes.

We also roasted up the seeds and snacked on those all week.

I also make 8 cups of soy yogurt in the crockpot. I turned half the batch into chocolate yogurt and we ate it for breakfast with the coconut granola seen below.

Beans, beans, and more beans. Beans are super easy to make in the crockpot and then put in freezer containers. I ended up doing 3 containers of white, 3 red, and 5 pinto (1 is missing from the picture because I used it for the veggie burgers pictured underneath.

I love this recipe for Veggie Chili Burgers from my friend Ruth. I made this whole batch and then froze them individually for when the family is having a meat dish.

2 Rye breads...

I also made 2 batches of whole wheat corn muffins, but I didn't get a picture of those.

We are loaded up with breakfast for a while now.

Did you do any baking this week?

From our home to yours,

Jennifer

Freezer Cooking Day

One of my favorite blogs is http://www.moneysavingmom.com/. She shares tons of tips for living frugally and shares all the great deals. She is hosting a blogging event and I am participating. It is a Freezer Cooking Day. She is pairing up with http://www.lifeasamom.com/, another great blog.

I love to fill my freezer and as mentioned in last week's menu plan, I depleted it getting ready for our Thanksgiving trip. I hardly cooked last week, except for one gem I discovered, which I share later this week. It was a blessing not having to worry about cooking all week. But now, my freezer is pretty empty.

This Freezer day will cover mostly baked goods and beans. I actually have no beans in my freezer and that never happens, since beans are a staple in my diet. It will take place over two days. I will post pictures of what I actually get done at its conclusion.

Here is my plan so far:

-homemade veggie burgers (Thanks Ruth!)

-vegan gingerbread

-roasting, pureeing a large pumpkin

-vegan pumpkin pancakes

-granola

-granola bars

-pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

-rye bread

-beans- white, black, kidney, chick peas

-refried beans

Wish me luck!

From our home to yours,

Jennifer

Menu Plan

We were out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday, so sorry this is a bit late.

Below you will see what we are having this week. As you can see we are having a special birthday this week. Our oldest son is turning 10! He is very excited. What you see on December 3rd are all of his special requests. I am not sure I can replicate my mom's mashed potatoes, but I'll try. I've tried so many times to make them like she does, but I just can't. I wonder if you have a recipe that only your mom can make?

Anywho...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Creamy raspberry oatmeal, pineapple juice
Chick pea/pasta soup, tuna sandwiches
M- meatballs, baked sweet potatoes, white bean/barley risotto, roasted broccoli

Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Pumpkin Pancakes, Green drink
Corn Chowder (made in Vitamix), kiwi
V-Toasted Garlic and Sweet Pea Pasta, salad, bread

Thursday, December 3, 2009 (Birthday Dinner for Boy #1)
Toast w/apple butter, pineapple juice
Pizza, carrot sticks, oranges
M-cheeseburgers/homemade veggie burgers, Nana’s mashed potatoes, corn, cake

Friday, December 4, 2009
Vanilla soy yogurt (made in Crockpot), granola
Kid’s Dynamo Hummus w/veggies and crackers, apples
V- Pepperoni/Cheese Pizza, salad

Saturday, December 5, 2009
Eggs/toast (Dad makes breakfast on Saturday morning)
Leftovers
Mac/cheese, carrot sticks (Date Night for Mom and Dad!)

For more menu ideas check out http://www.organizingjunkie.com/

From our home to yours,

Jennifer