So one huge thing happened to us this month which interrupted the Plan It--Don't Panic blogs for a few weeks!
We welcomed Autumn Shalom Redman into our lives! :D I gave birth to her at home on October 10, 2011 at 11:00 am. It was wonderful. Later on in the week I will try to post the whole story for those of you who would like to hear it. We love her so much!
Now for the final week:
October 31st to November 6th--
Monday--Breakfast: cold cereal & eggs
Dinner: beef enchiladas
Tuesday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: ham and navy bean soup
Wednesday--Breakfast: eggs & toast
Dinner: chicken Pad Thai
Thursday--Breakfast: hot cereal & eggs
Dinner: chili w/ cornbread muffins
Friday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: turkey salad sandwiches
Saturday--Breakfast: pancakes & eggs
Dinner: tatertot casserole
Sunday--Breakfast: oatmeal w/ fruit & nuts
Dinner: Harvest Dinner @ church (make/bring stuffing)
Confession: Most of these meals are pre-made freezer meals I made when I was pregnant so that I wouldn't have to worry much about making meals the first month after giving birth. I have been thankful I did this. I have also been very grateful for 2 weeks of meals that our church family has so graciously brought to us. God has blessed us so much!
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
Plan it--Don't Panic! Week 2
All righty here's the plan for this week...
October 3rd-9th:
Monday--Breakfast: oatmeal w/ fruit & nuts
Dinner: steaks, cornbread stuffing, green beans
Tuesday--Breakfast: fried eggs & toast
Dinner: Mediterranean meatballs
Prep: soak rice, get out re-fried beans
Wednesday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: Southwestern style casserole (because I didn't get around to making it last week!)
Prep: get out roast
Thursday--Breakfast: fried eggs & hot cereal
Dinner: Pot roast w/ potatoes, carrot curry
Friday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: leftovers
Prep: get out bacon, soak pancake flour
Saturday--Breakfast: pancakes, bacon, & eggs
Dinner: chicken breasts, tortellini in Alfredo sauce
Prep: soak oatmeal
Sunday--Breakfast: oatmeal w/ fruit & nuts
Dinner: spagetti & salad
P.S. My first week of planning breakfasts went really well! I love having less to think about early in the morning, lol.
October 3rd-9th:
Monday--Breakfast: oatmeal w/ fruit & nuts
Dinner: steaks, cornbread stuffing, green beans
Tuesday--Breakfast: fried eggs & toast
Dinner: Mediterranean meatballs
Prep: soak rice, get out re-fried beans
Wednesday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: Southwestern style casserole (because I didn't get around to making it last week!)
Prep: get out roast
Thursday--Breakfast: fried eggs & hot cereal
Dinner: Pot roast w/ potatoes, carrot curry
Friday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: leftovers
Prep: get out bacon, soak pancake flour
Saturday--Breakfast: pancakes, bacon, & eggs
Dinner: chicken breasts, tortellini in Alfredo sauce
Prep: soak oatmeal
Sunday--Breakfast: oatmeal w/ fruit & nuts
Dinner: spagetti & salad
P.S. My first week of planning breakfasts went really well! I love having less to think about early in the morning, lol.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Meal Planning & "Plan It--Don't Panic" Week 1
A few weeks ago I was talking with an unmarried friend and she asked me what one of the hardest things I've had to learn while being married. I had to think about it for awhile, but then I realized that learning to be a better time manager has been a huge struggle for me! When you are single, disorganization doesn't wreak quite as much havoc on your life as when you are caring for another person who is depending on you. (I'm sure here in a few weeks I am going to find out how REALLY true that with the birth of our baby!)
I still have a long way to go, but one of the most helpful things I've done to keep life organized is plan out meals. I've tried both weekly and monthly meal plans. Neither totally matters, both are beneficial.
Here are some benefits I've found to making a meal plan:
1.) Knowing each day what your family will be eating. It prevents rushing around 30 minutes before you want to eat like a chicken with your head cut off. You can make nice meals because you've had time to prepare. It adds a peacefulness to cooking.
2.) Being able to plan nutritious meals. It helps me make the time to soak my grains, etc., things that don't happen if I don't plan ahead.
3.) It saves us money! Meal planning allows me to make out a monthly/weekly grocery list and stick to it. I try to only go to the store for food once a week. It has been proven that the more trips you make to the store, the more money gets spent on impulse shopping. It also helps me budget out how much money we might need for groceries that month.
So all that said here is my "Plan It--Don't Panic!" post for meals for the week of September 26th-October 2nd. I'm not sure if I will be able to participate in all 6 weeks because of the baby coming but I love that this is gathering women together to encourage this helpful practice! Plus it's given me some meal ideals already for next month. And usually I don't plan breakfasts but in honor of the challenge, I am trying it!
September 26th-October 2nd
Monday--Breakfast: eggs, toast, yogurt
Dinner: steaks w/pineapple chutney, baked potatoes, & coleslaw
Prep: soak 1 1/2 cups navy beans
Tuesday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: ham & navy bean soup
Prep: thaw hamburger
Wednesday--Breakfast: fried eggs, hash-browns w/onions & peppers
Dinner: hamburgers w/ frybread buns, fresh veggies
Prep: thaw hamburger
Thursday--Breakfast: scrambled eggs, leftover frybread, fruit
Dinner: lasagna
Friday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: potato soup
Prep: soak pinto/black bean mix; thaw stew meat
Saturday--Breakfast: pancakes & eggs
Dinner: Chili w/ cornbread
Prep: soak oatmeal & rice; thaw re-fried beans
Sunday--Breakfast: oatmeal w/fruit & nuts
Dinner: southwestern style casserole
To see more about the challenge, check out this link!
I still have a long way to go, but one of the most helpful things I've done to keep life organized is plan out meals. I've tried both weekly and monthly meal plans. Neither totally matters, both are beneficial.
Here are some benefits I've found to making a meal plan:
1.) Knowing each day what your family will be eating. It prevents rushing around 30 minutes before you want to eat like a chicken with your head cut off. You can make nice meals because you've had time to prepare. It adds a peacefulness to cooking.
2.) Being able to plan nutritious meals. It helps me make the time to soak my grains, etc., things that don't happen if I don't plan ahead.
3.) It saves us money! Meal planning allows me to make out a monthly/weekly grocery list and stick to it. I try to only go to the store for food once a week. It has been proven that the more trips you make to the store, the more money gets spent on impulse shopping. It also helps me budget out how much money we might need for groceries that month.
So all that said here is my "Plan It--Don't Panic!" post for meals for the week of September 26th-October 2nd. I'm not sure if I will be able to participate in all 6 weeks because of the baby coming but I love that this is gathering women together to encourage this helpful practice! Plus it's given me some meal ideals already for next month. And usually I don't plan breakfasts but in honor of the challenge, I am trying it!
September 26th-October 2nd
Monday--Breakfast: eggs, toast, yogurt
Dinner: steaks w/pineapple chutney, baked potatoes, & coleslaw
Prep: soak 1 1/2 cups navy beans
Tuesday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: ham & navy bean soup
Prep: thaw hamburger
Wednesday--Breakfast: fried eggs, hash-browns w/onions & peppers
Dinner: hamburgers w/ frybread buns, fresh veggies
Prep: thaw hamburger
Thursday--Breakfast: scrambled eggs, leftover frybread, fruit
Dinner: lasagna
Friday--Breakfast: smoothies & toast
Dinner: potato soup
Prep: soak pinto/black bean mix; thaw stew meat
Saturday--Breakfast: pancakes & eggs
Dinner: Chili w/ cornbread
Prep: soak oatmeal & rice; thaw re-fried beans
Sunday--Breakfast: oatmeal w/fruit & nuts
Dinner: southwestern style casserole
To see more about the challenge, check out this link!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Venison Bourguignon
I have been having fun trying out new recipes from a book that Luke got me this Christmas, Nourishing Traditions. This past week I tried their "Beef Bourgignon" recipe with venison instead because we have a lot of that right now. Here is the recipe (with my additions in parenthesis) with some pictures that I took of some of the steps along the way. The recipe is found on page 336 of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.
Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients:
3 pounds stew beef (or venison), cut into 2" pieces
2 cups red wine
4 cups beef stock
6 tbsp butter
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)
1/2 cup unbleached flour
several small slivers of orange peel (didn't use)
several springs of fresh thyme tied together (used 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp dried green peppercorns, crushed (used red)
1 lb fresh mushrooms
2 pounds medium boiling onions
sea salt and pepper
Marinate beef in wine for several hours or overnight.
(I forgot about this and so mine only marinated for 2 hours. It still turned out well. And don't throw the wine away, you will use it later in the recipe! If I wouldn't have read the directions well, I would've done that probably.)
Remove and dry well with paper towels. This is important. If beef is too wet it will not brown.
Melt 3 tbsp of each butter and oil in a heavy flameproof casserole. (Okay, I guess it might depend on the casserole pan, I used a dutch oven type, but that was way too much oil when I tried this and my meat didn't brown well. My advice would be to only use 3 tbsp of oil.)
Brown the meat cubes in small batches, transferring with a slotted spoon to a plate when done.
When all are browned pour out cooking fat. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of butter to the casserole, let it melt and add flour. Cook the flour in the butter, stirring constantly for several minutes. Add wine from the marinade and the stock.
Bring to a boil, stirring up scrapings from the bottom of the pan and blend well with a wire whisk. Return meat and juices that have accumulated in the plate. Add thyme, crushed peppercorns and orange peel.
Transfer casserole to a 300-degree oven and cook 3 or 4 hours or until meat is tender. Meanwhile (as in 45 minutes before you're going to take the meat out of the oven), brown the mushrooms, either whole or sliced. Peel the onions (there were directions on the package of pearl onions I got, that made this step much quicker) and saute them gently in butter and oil for about 20 minutes.
When meat is tender, remove from the oven. Season to taste.
Remove thyme (unless you are cheap like me and didn't want to buy fresh). Stir in onions and mushrooms and serve. (I also served it with cooked quinoa to add a little more substance.)
Overall it turned out great! It's a time consuming recipe, but delicious. In Luke, my taste tester's opinion :D it was, "Really good. Tell them I loved it. I really like the spicy-ness. And it tasted even better the next day as leftovers!" So mission accomplished! My husband liked it. And he never even knew until today that there was thyme in it (which he usually dislikes and points out right away even if I try to sneak it in, lol!). And I loved it too.
Now it's your turn to try it.
Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients:
3 pounds stew beef (or venison), cut into 2" pieces
2 cups red wine
4 cups beef stock
6 tbsp butter
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)
1/2 cup unbleached flour
several small slivers of orange peel (didn't use)
several springs of fresh thyme tied together (used 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp dried green peppercorns, crushed (used red)
1 lb fresh mushrooms
2 pounds medium boiling onions
sea salt and pepper
Marinate beef in wine for several hours or overnight.
(I forgot about this and so mine only marinated for 2 hours. It still turned out well. And don't throw the wine away, you will use it later in the recipe! If I wouldn't have read the directions well, I would've done that probably.)
Remove and dry well with paper towels. This is important. If beef is too wet it will not brown.
Melt 3 tbsp of each butter and oil in a heavy flameproof casserole. (Okay, I guess it might depend on the casserole pan, I used a dutch oven type, but that was way too much oil when I tried this and my meat didn't brown well. My advice would be to only use 3 tbsp of oil.)
Brown the meat cubes in small batches, transferring with a slotted spoon to a plate when done.
When all are browned pour out cooking fat. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of butter to the casserole, let it melt and add flour. Cook the flour in the butter, stirring constantly for several minutes. Add wine from the marinade and the stock.
Bring to a boil, stirring up scrapings from the bottom of the pan and blend well with a wire whisk. Return meat and juices that have accumulated in the plate. Add thyme, crushed peppercorns and orange peel.
Transfer casserole to a 300-degree oven and cook 3 or 4 hours or until meat is tender. Meanwhile (as in 45 minutes before you're going to take the meat out of the oven), brown the mushrooms, either whole or sliced. Peel the onions (there were directions on the package of pearl onions I got, that made this step much quicker) and saute them gently in butter and oil for about 20 minutes.
When meat is tender, remove from the oven. Season to taste.
Remove thyme (unless you are cheap like me and didn't want to buy fresh). Stir in onions and mushrooms and serve. (I also served it with cooked quinoa to add a little more substance.)
Overall it turned out great! It's a time consuming recipe, but delicious. In Luke, my taste tester's opinion :D it was, "Really good. Tell them I loved it. I really like the spicy-ness. And it tasted even better the next day as leftovers!" So mission accomplished! My husband liked it. And he never even knew until today that there was thyme in it (which he usually dislikes and points out right away even if I try to sneak it in, lol!). And I loved it too.
Now it's your turn to try it.
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