Meal Plan Monday!

I know you've seen it on other parts of the Interwebs - blog posts written on Monday that have a list (usually with links to recipes if you're lucky!) detailing what the blogger is feeding their family for the week. Generally, I'm not that organized. HOWEVER, I did just make myself that schnazzy Household Organization Notebook, and it does have a nice tab for menu planning. Therefore, I can now do Meal Plan Monday post because the pages I printed start on Monday. This means I have to have my plan done before then so I should be able to blog about it. Before, I just sort of started my week whenever I decided to get around to meal planning, and that was if I even did it.

You all know how much I like to fall back on "winging it," right?

Will this be a regular thing? I dunno. Nothing ever is around here for long. One thing about having been blogging for as long as I have, it's easy to go back and see how my interests have shifted and changed in the past six years. I do love this about journaling!

Here's the plan for this week:

Monday - Chicken Soft Tacos with Mexican Rice

I found some pre-cooked shredded chicken in the freezer when I was cleaning it out in preparation for meal planning/grocery shopping, so I decided to use it up! I will heat this with a little chicken stock, some seasonings (I have homemade taco seasoning in the pantry and it's GOOD), maybe a little onion and cilantro... mmm. I'm going to make a whole mess of tortillas in the early part of the day. Some will get frozen for later use and some will be made into tacos for dinner.

The rice is easy - Soften a half cup of onions with a tablespoon olive oil in a heavy pot. Toss in a cup of long grain white rice and cook until toasted, stirring constantly. Puree a can (or jar, in my case) of tomatoes in a blender. Add water or chicken broth to make 2 1/2 cups. Pour into rice, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Ta da!

A little rice, some chicken in a tortilla with a little lettuce and cheese, and there is dinner.

Tuesday - Beef, Mushroom, & Green Bean Stir-Fry over Rice Noodles.

This recipe was clipped from a magazine. I'll let you know how it is!

Wednesday - Chicken Linguine

I found this recipe on Pinterest. It says it's a Weight Watchers recipe, and since I'm trying to get the skinnies, as Mrs. Monologues says, I figured what the heck.

Thursday - Curry-Spiced Shrimp and Rice

This was also clipped from a magazine. Can I just get a WOO HOO for free magazine subscriptions???

Friday - Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas with Tortillas and Mexican Rice

Confession: Monday's meal was actually supposed to me Sunday's, which would have fallen on last week's meal plan. Unfortunately, Sunday saw us up early for a birthday party, after which no one had any energy and long naps may or may not have been taken. Making of tortillas, which is an important component of tacos, may have been forgotten because of those factors.

This means that Monday's tortilla-less dinner (Grilled Chicken with Asparagus Risotto, from here, made by my sweet husband while I slept) may have had to be eaten on Sunday. Sunday's dinner had to get pushed to Monday which means that I had two "rice and tortilla" dinners scheduled in the same week. ACK.

I'd never make it as a Taco Tuesday, Fish Friday, Meatloaf Monday kind of person, obviously. I need some variety!!! That being said though, I was thinking I should try to have Fridays be Slow Cooker days since I have knitting club at 6pm those days and I hate feeling rushed. I found this pork carnitas recipe on Pinterest (sounding like a broken record here) and it sounded like a winner. This won't be as tasty as real pork carnitas, I'm sure, but it should be okay for tacos.

Saturday - Italian Sausage and Spinach Marinara over Orecchiette

The only reason I'm using orecchiette for this is because when I served it to the boy last week he ate a TON of it. I guess he liked the shape. He kept calling them "pasta chips." If it gets him to eat, I'll take it!

The marinara sauce recipe was clipped from a magazine. It had a basic marinara recipe and then a bunch of stuff you could add to it for five different meals. True; the one I picked did happen to be served over orecchiette, but I feel like most pasta is interchangeable.

Sunday - Chipotle Plum Glazed Pork Tenderloin with quinoa and broccoli

A few months ago I found plums on sale really cheap so I bought a bunch of them to make jam. I ended up with a Chipotle Plum jam that was smoky and reminiscent of the chili-covered Mexican candies we used to eat when I was a kid. I don't know if I'm down with putting this on toast, but it's FANTASTIC on a pork roast. I just dump the little 4 oz jar onto my tenderloin, smoosh it around with a silicone basting brush, and pop it into the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

I'll serve this with a side of quinoa and some steamed broccoli. That rounds out the week!

I want to make some bread to stick in the freezer in addition to the tortillas I want to stash in there. I keep thinking about grilled cheese sandwiches for some reason lately, and for that I need bread! I read that I can just bake them until they're mostly done, then freeze them so I won't have to worry about the yeast not wanting to work like I would if I froze unbaked dough. Then, when I want a fresh loaf all I have to do is pull one out and pop it into the oven to brown.

I've been making bread using the Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes a Day method for a couple of years now, but I think I'm getting a little tired of the slightly sourdough taste. Don't get me wrong - it's really good bread, but I am ready for something new. There's a recipe for a honey white bread by Ina Garten I want to try, as well as a whole wheat one that Jaimee Rose posted. Good stuff!

I also have plans to make up a bunch of Whole Wheat Waffles this week. They freeze beautifully, and since my waffle iron makes little square waffles, it's super easy to pull them out as I need them and just pop them into the toaster for breakfast. Take that, Eggo!

Needless to say, getting back on the bandwagon for healthy eating with drastically reduced commercially processed food is going to mean more time in the kitchen this week.

Twelve of 12 - July 2011

I remembered again this month! Yay! Here's how my twelfth went this month.

1. I found a copy of Finding Nemo for $5 at Goodwill. It came with both a full and widescreen disc, which is awesome! We stashed one so that when the first one inevitably gets scratched and mangled at the hands of our toddler, we'll have a backup. We watched it this morning for the first time and the boy LOVED it. It was a nice break from trains and cars.

2. Orange vinegar! I put the peels from the oranges I used in my breakfast smoothie to soak in some plain white vinegar. After it's steeped for a few weeks, I'll be able to use it for my cleaning recipes.

3. My breakfast smoothie, before it got smoothed out.

4. Um... some of us are still having issues with getting our underwear on the right way. He's better, but this one was particularly funny.

5. Frankenblender! My friend's mom gave me a blender that she didn't use, but it's not really working either. It will blend up the bottom few inches of stuff but the stuff near the top just stays suspended there. I think it's a design flaw in the jar - it's just really tapered near the bottom. You can tell that the motor on this one is better than my old one though so I got an idea. I put the jar from my old blender on the blade assembly of the new one and wouldn't you know - it's a perfect fit!

The lid from the new blender didn't fit the old jar so it got to keep it's lid. Someone *COUGHNOTMECOUGH* melted the little plastic insert that went in the middle though, so I plugged that piece from the new one into the old lid. I'll try it out later this week and see how it works.

6. I spray painted a few things. The little tray with all the compartments was a gift from my friend Suzy. When I saw it the first thing that I thought was that it would be a perfect display/storage piece for Hot Wheels! I cleaned it up and gave it a few coats of fresh red paint.

I also painted a picture frame I found at Goodwill for $3. I have plans for it, hee hee!

7. I went to drop off a few jars of jam to my friend's mom as a thank you for letting me pick apples from her tree. I was able to pick some of the last of her crop which was awesome! Hooray for free, organic apples!
8. This was the scene when I got home.

9. While we ate dinner (leftover enchiladas, of course, and they were better the second day!) we watched Master Chef. Can I tell you how much this girl's sour puss annoys the heck out of me? I saw this graphic a few weeks back, and when I saw this contestant she totally reminded me of it. She suffers from Chronic Bitchface. Seriously, even when the judges were complimenting her on something she did well she looked like this. I didn't even have to struggle to catch her with this expression, because SHE ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE THAT.

Ugh.

10. I changed the quotes on my chalkboards. This is a good reminder, I think.

11. Here is the other one. I'm working on changing up my "mantel" from the patriotic theme it's been sporting the past couple of months. I felt the quote was quite appropriate seeing as how I'm turning 34 (eep!) in about a month.

I found a strand of white Christmas lights with a white cord at Goodwill for just two bucks! I've been looking for one for ages. I stuck it inside my Goodwill birdcage, put some faux moss covered stones from the dollar store into a Goodwill vase, and stacked some books I found at the Goodwill on top of the scale I bought at the Goodwill.

HA! I love that place, truly.

Anyway, it's not done yet. This is just a sneak peek at how it will look until it's time to put out the Halloween decorations. I just had to get it in here since it's one of the things I did today.

12. After dinner I got to work peeling apples and managed to make four pints of applesauce from the apples we picked today. Not too shabby! These should tide us over until fall rolls around and I can get more cheaply.

There you have it - just a quiet day in July. :)

I Be Jammin'

Aw, come on... I know. That was lame.

Last weekend it seemed like EVERYONE had amazing sales on produce. Maybe it was summer, and maybe it was the holiday weekend, maybe it was a combination of the two, but no way was I letting them pass me by! I bought a bunch of fruit and have been canning it. So far, this is what I've made:

Lemon Ginger Marmalade - oh my word this stuff is GOOD. I'll have to charge $7 for an 8oz jar, due to how much work was involved (it took almost three hours to remove, clean, and thinly slice the peel by hand) but trust me, it's worth every penny! My friend Suzy was over as I was finishing this up and even as a self-professed marmalade hater she loved it and bought a jar on the spot!

Chipotle Plum Jam - I know this sounds weird. I wasn't a hundred percent sure about it when I started, but figured at the very least, it would be great brushed over meats for roasting. My mouth is watering just thinking about doing a pork tenderloin with this! Turns out, this tastes a lot like certain Mexican candies that combine fruit and chile powder. It's sweet, but smoky with just a teensy (barely perceptible, really) kick. I only made the 4 oz jars of this, and they will be the usual $3.

Bourbon Blackberry Vanilla - You know, I never really liked jams, jellies, preserves, etc. until I started to make my own. Sure, you can run down to the Walmarts and pick up a jar of organic strawberry jam even these days, but what fun is that? Commercial processing has killed all the flavor! Once you try homemade jam, you won't really want store bought anymore.

Out of all the jams I've made so far, this one is my favorite. I was kind of worried when I started this one because man, bourbon stinks. I mean, my kitchen smelled like a wino had been in there! It was awful and I had one of those "OH CRAP I hope I didn't just waste three pounds of blackberries!!!" Those things aren't cheap!

The thing is, as the jam cooked down and the alcohol cooked out, that bourbon smell completely went away. When you taste the jam, all you taste is the blackberries - at first. After you're done you're left with this slight, almost perfume of flavor from the bourbon and vanilla. I guess it's almost a bouquet? Either way, it's completely subtle, it tones down the sweet/tartness from the berries, and it absolutely wonderful.

Unfortunately, since this was my first time making a jam without pectin, I accidentally overcooked it so even though the flavor is okay, the texture is WAAAAAY thick. Whoops! For that reason, this one is not for sale at this time. More for me. :)

Finally, I leave you with a picture of my pantry:

Isn't it lovely?

I still have lemons and strawberries in the fridge, so there are more plans for jam and marmalade coming this week. Hooray!

Apples and Cinnamon

Poor apples. Ever since the whole Garden of Eden thing* they've suffered from bad PR. Sure, they've got that whole "apple a day" thing going for them. Unfortunately, now we know that if you are going to have an apple a day, it had better be organic. Apples are the most pesticide contaminated produce that you can buy.

Of course, if you are lucky, someone you know will have an apple tree in their back yard and they will be begging their friends and neighbors to take some off their hands. Apple trees aren't very common in the desert where I live, but sometimes you get lucky. We went to a friend's house for a Father's Day barbecue last Sunday. His mom had brought over a bag of apples from her backyard tree and invited anyone who was interested to come over and pick some.

No way I'm passing up an opportunity to pick free, homegrown, organic apples!!! Bubba and I made arrangements to be there the following afternoon and I picked my own apples for the first time in my life. Bubba even helped. I was glad because he wanted nothing to do with picking peaches a few weeks ago. It's funny, because you tend to think of picking apples as something you do in September, not June. They were ready though. You'd pull one down and two more would fall and hit you in the head.

We took home twelve pounds of apples. I ate one in the car and it was fantastic - halfway between sweet and sour with the perfect amount of crunch. I hate mushy apples!

Today, I started peeling, coring, and chopping some of those apples. Yup - I do it by hand. No fancy unitaskers here.

After I had prepared enough for one batch of jam, I realized I had barely made a dent in the bag! I actually ended up making about three batches of jam and still have about half of the apples left. The website on which I found the recipe had a glitch in it's code or something, because I swear to you the line in the ingredients graphic that said White Sugar was NOT THERE when I made the first batch. I thought it was strange, because jam normally calls for a LOT of sugar. Also, the recipe tells you to stir in the sugars, plural. I looked at the list and all I could see was brown sugar. I looked it over again and again and there was nothing else, so I figured maybe it was a typo. The finished jam was tart, but not bad.

Well, then I lost my internet connection. Sometimes this happens on my laptop and the only way to get it back is to reboot. Thank goodness for Google Chrome and how it remembers the last tabs you had open! When I checked the recipe to start my second batch, darned if that line for the white sugar hadn't reappeared! I ended up dumping the first batch of jam back into the pot, adding the missing sugar, bringing it back to a boil and then re-canning and processing it. It tastes fine and is just a little darker than the other batches. Still, I won't be selling those jars. I'll make a notation on the label so I know those are just for us to have at home. :)

This stuff tastes just like apple pie filling! My husband commented that if I were to put some into a little folded over pie crust, it would be like having homemade Hostess pies at home. I plan to have some on fresh baked bread tomorrow while cranking the AC and pretending it's fall already.

I have eleven 8oz jars ($5) and six 4oz jars ($3) available for sale, if anyone is interested! Just let me know.

*yes, I know that the fruit Eve tasted was probably more likely to have been a pomegranate, but popular legend blames the apple even though the fruit in question was never actually named.