What's for Dinner?

Google "meal planning" and you will get 34 million hits. 34 million! To me, this is the height of organization. I mean, your house can be uncluttered, order holiday stuff in July and make it on time to all your appointments. However, if you can do all that and know exactly what you are going to eat, have it be something healthy and have all the ingredients on hand... wow. Just wow.

I actually read one site describing their meal planning site, including keeping an updated spreadsheet listing everything in the pantry. That boggles my mind.

With everything we have to do as a family - working, gymnastics, classes and community events - meal planning falls to the wayside. (Forget about running a spreadsheet to track pantry items.) This also means that I'm having to leave work early to stop by the store or taking the kids with me to the store (horrifying!) or putting together a meal consisting of mac and cheese with canned peas. It's got a vegetable, right? Either way, it is not the wonderful, relaxing and healthy meal I envision making every afternoon.

Unclutterer has printable to help fully plan out your week's meals - including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. That might be a bit more than I need. Our breakfasts consist of cereal during the week, but planning out lunches too might mean I actually remember to take one to school!

This week, I tried to plan out meals for the week. It was going to be especially busy with a huge community event, school conferences and cleaning up from Halloween all on the to do list. This was my plan...

• Monday - Chicken breasts with salad.Burritos from the freezer. Something was going...
• Tuesday - Mac-n-cheese with hotdogs We had the dinner that was planned for Wednesday, because I was going to be gone at work and this babysitter could reasonably handle cooking.
• Wednesday - spaghetti and meatballs Again, working at night and we had a community event fundraiser at a local pizza joint, so they ate pizza. Really, I see it as a win - dinner and charity.
• Thursday - Pork chops and green beans I had planned on being home to cook dinner, until I found out that I had a meeting @ church. Instead we had the mac-n-cheese with hotdogs.
• Friday - Goulash. It's possible that I could actually make this meal! Then again, we might have another community event to attend. 

 While I didn't end up cooking anything when I was supposed to, but I'm not sure I'd call it a total failure. I did not have to stop at the store to pick anything up any time this week and while not haute cuisine, every meal did have something from the protein and vegetable category, as well as whole grains. (except the pizza) In fact, I think I'd call it a win. The whole point of being organized is to carry less stress. Even though it was a super busy week and I barely saw my children, I wasn't stressed out wondering what I could scrounge up up for them to eat.

Saturday Breakfast

This morning we had the best fall breakfast! Pancakes and homemade apple sauce.

Homemade apple sauce is probably the easiest fall treat there is... Peel apples, slice and put in pot with a bit of water. Heat and cook until soft. Drain water (because measuring the water amount is for Mom's with a helper at home) and mash with whatever is handy. A fork will work, but I find that the barely used pastry blender works fabulous! Add cinnamon.

No preservatives, no added sugar (for apples?!? Does anyone need that much sugar?) and it makes the house smell fabulous!



- Posted using my iPad

Better Bread

I believe I may have complained mentioned that I live in a rather humid area. Actually, it’s more like damp.  Damp and cold. Fighting moss and mildew are constant battles.

And I swear, this is the reason I have a hard time making bread. At least, that is all I can come up with. Despite the success of others in the area, it’s what I’m sticking with.

The other day, however, Country Blossom posted yet another photo of yummy-looking, beautiful, perfect bread loaves. I dug into her archives to find the recipe and try it out. Amish White Bread – it has a 5 star rating with over 2,000 reviews. I would say that is has been tested many, many times.

My results were fantastic! The bread was light and slightly sweet. It was not squishy or moldable, like commercial white breads. And best of all, it rose rather high in less than 8 hours, without the aid of a bread maker. That is key! Bread itself isn’t that hard to make, but can take a while with all the rising, punching down and rising again. If I can combine bread making with laundry and writing, while naps are being taken on the weekend, I can do it easily. When it takes all day and in the evening, well… the hassle just isn’t worth it.

It is definitely going to be added to my weekly routine of bread making!

There is also a recipe for homemade noodles that I would like to try one of these days.

New Year’s Day Pancakes

We’re a bit young around here to be celebrating at midnight and two thirds of us have no idea what “Happy New Year!” means anyways. It’s not like you’re suddenly having to learn a whole new finger spread to use when someone asks how old you are.  And there aren’t any presents.

Instead we had homemade pancakes to celebrate waking up ready to face to the new year! It sounds a lot better than starting out with a polar bear plunge, right?

I found this recipe on allrecipes. It had a pretty good rating, so why not try it? It can’t be worse than Bi*qu^k pancakes. I can report that the ratings were spot on! These pancakes are just as quick as a mix and taste much, much better. In the reviews, I saw that several people reported adding vanilla and had success, but that seems a little too sweet. We’re more of a savory family.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

More Cookies!

I know that just a few days ago, I was worried about the state of our Christmas cookie larder. However, thanks to this little baby on the left, the situation has almost totally been rectified. (yes, I really do talk like this… I am an English teacher for pity’s sake.)
In the last 24 hours, we’ve completed a few dozen gingerbread men, a few dozen “exploding cookies” and the buckeye’s are currently chilling in the refrigerator. Honestly, I cannot believe how I managed to make cookies without a kitchen aid mixer. Of course, the best part is that I obtained it completely free.
I can’t wait to try it out in making bread.

*About four hours after posting this, I received a phone call... guess what one of my Christmas presents was? Well, the new one has all of the parts, so maybe all things work out for the best? I just had to laugh.

Thanksgiving

For the holiday, I believe the thing I was most thankful for was a full table for dinner. My brother drove down for the day and my mother and grandmother braved three mountain passes to join us for dinner. And the kids, of course. My table was indeed full of loved ones. Lala and the cuddler absolutely love their uncles, and playing with Uncle J is indeed a good time!

Remember when I said I dislike cooking? That goes aside for the holidays. I cooked the full Thanksgiving dinner! Huge turkey? Check! Oyster stuffing? Check! Garlic mashed potatoes? Check! Green bean casserole? Check! Ok, I was forced into that one. But since I had to have green bean casserole, I went the Marth* St*wart route. Yes, I chopped shallots and fried them for the crunchy topping. I fried the mushrooms in butter and created a lovely creamy sauce for them. I then blanched the green beans – mixed them with the mushroom cream sauce, topped with the homemade onions. I, literally, cooked all day long. Over 7 hours.

But it was so  worth it.

Relaxing

I finished baking and decorating about 10 minutes before my cousin arrived to babysit for the night. We packed up all the muffins and cupcakes into the car and I took off! Sadly, I left the cookies in the freezer.
Or was it good?
The cupcakes were pretty basic, but had a splash of hot pink sprinkles.
From The American Homemaker, I tried out the Simple Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  They turned out very, very yummy! I did add a bit more pumpkin than the recipe called for, as the first batch was a bit dry. Also, if serving to guests, I really recommend frosting them with a thick type of frosting – taste good, look not so good.
I also made Butter Pecan Cake Mix Cookies. These were also quite yummy, especially after being drizzled with melted chocolate. These are the ones I left in freezer – my attempt to get the chocolate to harden before I left. I hope the kids like them better than I do – or at least that they end up eating more than I do.


I think the wreath turned out quite well. Perhaps a few more grizzlies? Or bells? Probably not. My one weakness in creating things is adding too much. I never know when to stop. Anyways, it sold for $40, which all told is probably close to what it cost to make. It’s all for a good cause, right?
I’m spending today recovering. Five hours straight on my feet just killed me. I mean, I’m on my feet all day at school, but I try to plan out time to sit or grab a chair a kneel on for a few minutes. Last night there just was no time to do that at all. I think I sat for about 10 minutes total… at the end of the night while I was doing paperwork and counting money. The total for the night was nearly $1000. About half of our usual haul, but given the local economy and the fact that the football team was away at a state play-off game, it’s not so bad.
At least now I can relax my way into the Holidays. What should I make next?

Confession

This morning I had to finally admit to myself… I am not a good cook. I’m not quite down to ranking with the worst cooks in America, but there are definitely days I feel close.

Case in point, I cannot produce a competent pancake. You would think that this a rather simplistic item… but mine are always bland or burned. My casseroles are bland. My breads are heavy and doughy. I cannot make good mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes! How does that even happen? It’s just potatoes!

The only things I can really do well are baked chicken (put chicken in pan. bake.) and gravy. I do make a good gravy, but that’s really it.

In addition the my June habit of clutter-busting, I’m going to start cooking stuff. Yup, that’s my plan. Cook stuff. Hopefully, the kids won’t starve. Lately there’s been a few dinners where the only thing eaten were Kix and canned green beans. Suggestions to try out?

I’m starting out in one of my favorite cookbooks. “Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression of the 1930’s” by Janet Van Amber Paske. There are several volumes, but the first one remains my favorite. Some the recipes aren’t ones I’ll be using any time like a boiled hog’s head or Wisconsin Gravy (which I can make!), or fried Squirrels. But others are pretty frugal and tasty.

Tonight we’re having Turkey Loaf. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

What Time Do I Put The Turkey In?

For some reason, I’m really excited about cooking Thanksgiving dinner. All the work and planning, and I can’t wait. I’m guessing it’s because I get to chose what to make… you know, the great stuffing debate and all that. My stepmother loves to cook – and don’t get me wrong, she is a great cook – but holidays are not times for experimentation. I’m a traditionalist. To me, holidays are about connecting to your family and your history.

That means we have oyster stuffing, sit on the ‘davenport’ and talk or play games. We don’t watch TV because it’s rude (although given that it’s just us, we may watch the parade). There will be a jell-o salad. If we were at ‘ol homestead, we’d probably be sledding at some point and hoping that there is “store-bought” milk somewhere. And darn it, I think it’s important for kids to have that consistency, so my kids are eating the same Thanksgiving dinner I ate, that my mother ate, my grandmother ate and my great grandmother ate.

I think the other reason I’m so excited is just because I didn’t make it this far with Lala last year. It was the beginning of a very sad and disappointed time. I was planning on going to the Black Friday sales, but ended up buying toys for Lala that are still sitting in the closet – and the thought that they will be given this year is thrilling. Not only those presents, but stockings and cookies… oh yeah. I’m a little excited.