February 20th - Day 20

Tacos for dinner tonight. Or nachos. Or burritos. Or whatever else one can come up with this pile of stuff I have set out on the counter:

Homemade guacamole (avocado, red onion, roma tomato...all from OTY bin)
Remainder of Nancy's sour cream
Home preserved salsa from this summer
Corn tortillas
Kettle chips blue corn chips
Shredded lettuce (OTY)
Black Beans (rancho gordo midnight black)
Chicken (leftover from freezer)
Shredded Tillamook Cheddar
Sauteed Red and Yellow Bell Peppers (from freezer) and Red Onion (OTY)

Seems like a good "get-rid-of-stuff" meal.....tomorrow night I am planning on a breakfast scramble with fried potatoes. Next week will be a challege as DH will be out of town, so the girls and I will be on our own....in other words, I can't plan anything with leftovers because no one will eat them!

February 19th.....

So, I missed a few (who's counting?) days here.....we were all sick with this cold thing from hell. Then family was in town. Then life has just been crazy. There, we're all caught up now.

In a recap, I did cook up a ham from the hog we bought while the fam was here. Everyone agreed it was quite tasty and didn't need any accompaniment. I served it with a bunch of oven roasted root veggies, some sauteed greens and a salad. And there was even a bit leftover to make a ham and bean soup.

Last night I made Mark Bittman's easy salmon burgers (basically a paste of raw salmon, diced shallots, dijon mustard, capers, fresh breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, etc) and then they were pan fried. Mmmm......

The night before was Portabello Burgers (we commented that this is more "burger" than we typically eat in months!) with home oven fries with a whole buncha toppings....blue cheese, avocado, lettuce, onion, tomato, etc.

Tonight's agenda is a bean soup from the freezer (from ye ole soup exchange) and some baked russet potatoes. An easy dinner since I am baking 2 loaves of whole wheat bread and cooking up some black beans for the kids right now too....

February 11th - DAY ELEVEN

Tonight's dinner was scheduled to be a shrimp and feta bake, but I didn't feel like making it. So I decided to go the easy route and use a bag of soup from the soup exchange I hosted last month (Split Pea and Ham) and some frozen cornbread wedges. However, late this afternoon I decided to change it up again and save the soup and cornbread for tomorrow when I will be running from activity to event all day long and have absolutely NO time to make any dinner. So.....tonight we are having salmon and avocado spring/summer rolls (the kind in rice paper, not the fried ones) with an Asian cabbage slaw.

To make dinner I made some rice noodles and marinaded them in a soy sauce/sesame oil/garlic/ginger mixture in the fridge. (I think it helps to season the noodles a bit.) I also put some precooked chunked salmon marinating in a similiar mixture.
When I go to assemble them I will soak the rice papers and then put a small piece of lettuce in the center of the wrap, top with a bit of the noodles, salmon and a slice of avocado. If I have them I also sometimes use sprouts, shredded carrots, red bell pepper slices, etc. Also I often sub shrimp for the salmon or strips of fried tofu - depending on what I have on hand.

I'll serve them with this homemade peanut dipping sauce (although you could easily sub almond butter for the peanut butter in this recipe I use.....)

Satay Dip (adapted from Barefoot contessa):
1 tablespoon good olive oil

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

2/3 cup small-diced onion (1 small onion)

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2-3 tablespoons good red wine vinegar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup ketchup

1-2 tab water

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice


Cook the olive oil, sesame oil, red onion, garlic, ginger root, and red pepper flakes in a small, heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat until the onion is transparent, 10 to 15 minutes. Whisk in the vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, peanut butter, ketchup, water, and lime juice; cook for 1 more minute.


Yield: 1 1/2 cups

(Leftovers freeze well too)

February 10th - DAY TEN

Due to sleep deprivation, chronic illness in our house and just general laziness....today was a big day of leftovers. I am not even sure what anyone ate. Nothing that is worth reporting about, that's for sure....

February 9th - DAY NINE

Today's dinner was a work in progress....it morphed twice as I was making it from what I had intended....really, the only thing that stayed the same was that I used a pack of halibut fillets from the freezer and a bit of leftover homemade coconut milk. First I intended to make a new recipe, a Thai-inspired halibut dish from the Ellie Krieger Cookbook, but I decided it was too similar to our soup last night (which only rated in the "OK" category to me). Then I was going to just poach the halibut in the coconut milk, but as I went to do that there didn't seem to be enough liquid, so I diced up my last frozen tomato and added it to the pan. I then poached the fish and added 1/2 of a delicata squash that I had previously baked, diced up. It seemed to be missing something then, so I added a healthy amount (read: spicy!!) of Penzey's hot curry powder. I am serving it over a bed of brown rice (previously cooked, from the freezer). It is really quite delicious!

**Upon eating a few bites of the dish as I typed the above, I decided I was a little too heavy-handed with the curry spices...I shall be adding a bit of plain yogurt to cool it down a bit and make the sauce creamy**

As a side, not in the photo, I did a saute of zuchinni, mushrooms, tomato and onion.

February 8th - DAY EIGHT

I am cooking my first recipe from the above book for dinner tonight....I'm excited because it has been on my "to try" list since I got the book (probably because it is one of the few color photos in the book) AND I have just about everything in the freezer for it, so it's great for my month of pantry/freezer clean out! Here are the things I am using from the freezer: chicken stock, coconut milk, chicken, red bell pepper, lime juice and everything else is in the fridge or pantry. Requires NO grocery shopping. Yippee!!!

I did go to the grocery store today, but limited myself to milk, half and half, whipping cream (because I am making some ice cream for this weekend when relatives are in town), apples and bananas and some tylenol for the kiddo. I did my weekly menu before going to the store and was happy to see that I didn't need anything at all for any of my meals this week....yep, we're well stocked!

Thai Chicken Soup with Chinese Black Rice
- makes 4 servings -

Ingredients
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can (15 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
2 to 3 teaspoons Thai red or yellow curry paste
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, including liquid
1 1/2 pounds bone-in, skinned chicken thighs or split breasts
4 scallions, thinly sliced (keep white and green parts separate)
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked basic Chinese black rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or basil
2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Thai fish sauce or soy sauce (optional)
Lime wedges, to serve at the table

Procedure
1. In a 4-quart pot, blend the chicken broth, coconut milk, and curry paste to taste. Set the pot over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, chicken, scallion whites, and bell pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked, 20 to 30 minutes, depending upon size.

2. Remove the chicken. When it is cool enough to handle, shred or chop the meat and discard the bones. Return the chicken to the pot and stir in the rice. Add the cilantro, scallion greens, lime juice to taste, and fish sauce, if needed to perk up the flavors.

3. Before ladling out each portion, stir well to bring the rice up from the bottom. Serve with lime wedges.

February 7th - DAY SEVEN

Although most of our day has been spent eating half-eaten yogurts and leftover pieces of bread from the fridge (since the half-eaten kid items has taken over!) I did make myself a lunch that was tasty and SO simple...the kids had scrambled eggs with cheese and toast. I heated up a corn tortilla, put in a few of the leftover scrambled eggs, a handful of the vallarta beans from last night, a sprinkling of cheese and a couple slices of avocado (some salsa would have been great too!).

For dinner I am FINALLY getting around to making Moosewood's Navajo Stew (from Simple Suppers) which I got the sweet potatoes for a week ago. I also have dough to make whole wheat naan bread from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Baking book that is fermenting in the fridge.

Navajo Stew
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 red or green bell peppers
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 (15 oz.) can of tomatoes
1 Tbsp. canned chipotles in adobo sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15 oz.) can of butter beans of black beans, drained
flatbread (tortillas, lavash, or pita)
plain yogurt, sour cream, or Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Stem and seed the peppers and cut into 1-inch pieces. Peel the onion and cut it stem end to root end into thin wedges. In a bowl, toss the vegetables with the garlic, oil, cumin, salt, and pepper. Spread on the prepared baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 10 minutes. Stir and continue to roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender but not mushy.
While the vegetables roast, puree the tomatoes, chipotles, and cilantro in a blender until smooth. Set aside. When the vegetables are tender, put them into a 2- to 3-quart baking dish, stir in the tomato-cilantro sauce and the beans, and return to the oven until hot, about 10 minutes.
A few minutes before serving, warm the bread in the oven. Serve the stew in bowls topped with yogurt or sour cream, with warm flatbread on the side.

February 6th - DAY SIX

Day two of no school for my oldest due to her being sick. This has NEVER happened before, so it is quite unexpected that she would be home again today. Her fever has dropped from "scary high" to "low grade" but she hasn't been able to keep any food down for the last 2 days, so there is no way she is fit to go anywhere. She layed in her bed or the couch bed yesterday and didn't move other than going to the bathroom. I had hoped today would be better, but we'll see....

As a result, I have lowered my expectations on cooking today and will be using a new pack of my heirloom beans (www.ranchogordo.com), Vallarta, I think...and serving them with some sauteed red chard (from Organics to You) and possibly some cornbread if I get around to making some....Oh, and a zuchinni dish of some sort. The Navajo Stew will have to wait yet another day!

February 5th - DAY FIVE

One word about today: leftovers. We pretty much ate only fresh produce and leftovers today. I did make up an Asian style cabbage slaw (adapted from a recipe from a friend) that was fabulous and that I will enjoy today as well, but the rest of the day was just eating whatever was close by. That's what happens when you are stuck at home with 2 sick kiddos!

For the cabbage salad I used the following ingredients:
shredded cabbage
orange slices
dried cranberries
slivered almonds, roasted
red onion, diced
red bell pepper, diced
black sesame seeds
rice vinegar
apple cider vinegar
sugar
sesame oil

New Favorite Yogurt

I went on a yogurt buying spree this week and got a whole bunch of new ones to try. Unfortunately, most of them are still in the fridge and I have gone back to buy this one again already! It is just THAT good! and the little cup of honey....Mmmmmm! It's fairly expensive, but is so rich I use 1/2 of the cup as a treat, so it lasts for 2 servings.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Last night I made what my husband declared the best pork chops ever. I discovered the recipe online and apparently it came from Cooks Illustrated (perhaps another magazine that I "need"???) I made a few necessary changes: I didn't brine the pork chops even though they were natural and I used the last of my Panko bread crumbs from the cupboard. I also baked them in a lightly oiled pyrex baking dish instead of the wire rack. Oh, and I used a whole egg in place of just the egg white. The topping was so good that we literally were eating the pieces that fell off and were in the pan. And I appreciate the "do ahead" tips....I didn't use them this time, but certainly will in the future.

I served it with roasted brussel sprouts and purple potatoes (yes, they were purple in the middle!) and another yummy pecan-lettuce-oregon blue cheese-pear salad. This recipe is going in the "to repeat again" folder!

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops
Cook’s Illustrated

Serves 4

CI notes: This recipe was developed using natural pork, but enhanced pork (injected with a salt solution) will work as well. If using enhanced pork, eliminate the brining in step 1. The bread crumb mixture can be prepared through step 2 up to 3 days in advance. The breaded chops can be frozen for up to 1 week. They don’t need to be thawed before baking; simply increase the cooking time in step 5 to 35 to 40 minutes.

Table salt
4 boneless center-cut pork chops, 6 to 8 ounces each, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
3 large egg whites
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Lemon wedges

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve 1/4 cup salt in 1 quart water in medium container or gallon-sized zipper-lock bag. Submerge chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rinse chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

2. Meanwhile, pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about eight 1-second pulses (you should have about 3 1/2 cups crumbs). Transfer crumbs to rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. (Do not turn off oven.) Cool to room temperature. Toss crumbs with Parmesan, thyme, and parsley.

3. Place 1/4 cup flour in pie plate. In second pie plate, whisk egg whites and mustard until combined; add remaining 6 tablespoons flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

4. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in rimmed baking sheet. Season chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, coat with egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of chop with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so that thick layer of crumbs adheres to chop. Transfer breaded chop to wire rack. Repeat with remaining 3 chops.

5. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of chops registers 150 degrees, 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on rack 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges.

February 4th - DAY FOUR

First: I need to stop grocery shopping or I am going to defeat the whole purpose of this month, which is to decrease the amount of food in my freezer/pantry! I go into the store for one lousy thing that I forgot yesterday and I come out with a whole bag of goodies....all the greek yogurts, I finally found quinoa flakes, the avocados that were on sale.....it goes on and on! Yesterday my grocery shopping splurges included the above cheese, which I declare is the best blue cheese I have ever tasted. It's one of those cheeses that you shouldn't smell though! Whew! I bought it once and vowed I would never spend that much on it again, but I keep coming back to it because it really makes the other blues seem very inferior!

Tonight our dinner meal is going to consist of a couple pork chops from the freezer (the pack I had pulled out to thaw actually had 3 in it, so that's why we had a pork sweet and sour stir fry last night) I found a breaded pork chop recipe that used bread crumbs, shallots, garlic, thyme and a couple other herbs, so I am going to do that and bake them up. I am also going to roast some brussel sprouts and potatoes (both from our Organics to You delivery) and we are going to have a salad with lettuce from the OTY bin, some pecans that I carmelized with sugar last night, sliced fresh pear and that fabulous Oregon Blue cheese from Rouge Creamery.

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

Upon request, here's our family's favorite recipe for these muffins....we always have muffins on hand in the freezer for quick snacks, additions to the lunchbox or breakfasts in a hurry. I usually alternate between these and the Ellie Krieger Pumpkin Muffins, although sometimes I sneak in a blueberry or strawberry one!

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
2 teas baking powder
1/4 teas salt
1 cup (or 2 bananas) ripe bananas, mashed (I often freeze sub-prime bananas and simply thaw them for such purpose)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup applesauce or oil
1/3 cup milk
1 teas vanilla
about 1/3 cup chocolate chips (to taste)

Whisk flours, flaxseed, baking powder and salt.
Combine bananas, eggs, sugar, oil (or applesauce), milk and vanilla.
Pour liquid into dry, stirring until moist.
Stir in chips.
Spoon into mini muffin tins and bake about 15 minutes at 350 or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

February 3rd - DAY THREE

Well, good thing that I got a head start on dinner prep for tonight LAST night, because this day has not turned out like I thought it would! The main reason is that my littlest one has an atrocious cough (that kept me up intermittently all night and from 3 am on....) So, we did not attend our regularly scheduled events today (instead running such errands as Costco and getting squirrel food to keep her occupied) and this afternoon we shall be visiting the dr's office to check and make sure that her cough isn't due to anything other than the pesky cold she has had for going on 3 weeks now.

So, on to dinner.....tonight's plan is a sweet and sour pork stir-fry. Last night I prepped all the veggies: bell pepper, mushrooms, onion, fresh pineapple, etc. and have a pork chop in the fridge thawing. When we get home I'll slice up the pork, brown it in the skillet, add the veggies and stir in a jar of homemade sweet and sour sauce. It will be served over brown rice, which is already prepared and in the fridge. Sure hope it's good!

Martha Stewart's Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Here's a previous recipe that my daughter chose to make from the MS Cookie Book. These cookies turned out perfectly (I am just a bad photographer!) They were perfect little glittery circles. And they tasted as good as they looked! (Another cookie I wouldn't have chosen to make, but they were worth it!)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened
2 large eggs
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.
Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

February 2nd - DAY TWO

Today's dinner will be a sort of "leftovers" meal.....I am NOT good at using leftovers. They are usually just send with DH to work or put in the freezer to be send with DH to work at a later date. I admit it, I am not a fan of leftovers...and neither are the kids! This can lead to quite a pile up in the freezer since I cook a new dinner (or 2 depending on how kid friendly the entree is) every night and my husband sometimes goes a week without needing to pack his lunch.

So, in an effort to use up food, not accumulate it, we will be having the leftovers from the nacho dinner last night for burritos tonight. There is still a bit of chicken (after I froze 4 bags of it for future meals and made a huge batch of stock which I will freeze up today). We also still have guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, salsa, pinto beans, corn and whole wheat tortillas and some stir-fried green peppers and onions. Oddly, I am kinda almost looking forward to these leftovers!

That being said, I am going shopping at our local organic grocery today, so hopefully I can avoid stocking up too terribly much. In a weak moment I did place a Rancho Gordo order yesterday, so more beans and grains will be arriving soon, which I will have to find a place on the pantry rack for!

Cookie of the Week

A couple weeks ago I started letting my 5 year old choose a cookie recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookie Book. Just to note, I am not generally a Martha fan, although I am mildly entertained by the Whatever Martha! TV show where Martha's daughter and her friend mock past MS episodes....anyway, I got this cookie book on a book buying binge and it has not disappointed! It has am amazing Table of Contents that not only divides recipes into sections such as "soft and chewy" or "crisp and crunchy" but also has a lovely color photo of each cookie for easy reference. I have made about 5 different varieties so far (most not of my own choosing) and all have been quite delicious!

Yesterday's recipe was for Chocolate Cut-outs, which I suspect was chosen because the cookies were rolled and cut out into shapes and topped with sprinkles (all a favorite for a 5 year old!)

Here's the basic recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Penzey's)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used Penzey's Vietnamese)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Nonpareils, for sprinkling (optional)

Procedure
1. Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon into a bowl.

2. Put butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. mix in egga nd vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or overnight.

3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Chill in freezer 15 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, quickly cut out shapes from dough (if dough begins to soften, chill it in freezer 3 to 5 minutes). Reroll and cut scraps. Transfer shapes to prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Brush flour from shapes. Sprinkle with nonpareils, if using. Chill in freezer until firm, about 15 minutes.

5. Bake cookies until crisp, about 9 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Cookie can be stored betwween layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

February 1st - Day ONE

So....Upon attempting to complete several online challenges (Eat Local, Grocery Budget, Weekly and Monthly Cooking Challenges, to just name a few) I have discovered a few things about myself - one being that I simply do not have the time or dedication to complete such challenges. I have appreciated each of them that I have done and have gained a lot of personal insight as well as some very positive lifestyle and household changes from these. However, I find them too limiting/restrictive and don't prioritize the blog postings required for the challenges. That being said, I am attempting to challenge myself this month. I might not post every day or ever step of the way, but I am going to use this blog as a means of accountability for me in one way or another.

So, on to today.....(oh, and the goal is to do menu planning and cooking that will decrease the amount of food in our (1) freezer and (2) pantry. Including all the self canned and frozen items as well as the large meat purchases I have recently made (1/2 lamb and 1/4 hog to name a couple!)

Today we ate lunch from the fridge and freezer remains instead of making
"new" food.....one kid and hubby ate spaghetti with homemade marinara and broccoli and sourdough bread. The other kiddo and I ate homemade tomato basil soup and bread.

For dinner we are having nachos/burritos/taco salads depending on what member of the house you are. I roasted a chicken (from the freezer) so people can put that on their Mexican entree, as well as a pot of black beans (Rancho Gordo from the pantry) are boiling away right now.....I have lettuce, homemade guacamole, will stirfry up some green bell peppers and onions, have home-canned salsa and some local organic sour cream to top them with.

For the leftover chicken, in no particular order, I have the following plans (some of the meat will get frozen and used later for these ideas, some will be this week)....Oh, and I will also be making some homemade chicken stock with the carcass.

**Pumpkin Sauce Chicken Enchiladas
**Thai-style Chicken Soup with Black Rice
**Asian salad with cabbage and chicken