What's Cooking?

I have one major problem with menu planning. It's a biggie. I'm afraid that it all boils down to a struggle with delayed gratification. You see, every weekend I sit down and make a menu for the upcoming week. I drool over recipe books and web pages. I scrutinize the flyers to find the best deals. And in the end I (along with handy assistants!) come up with 6 dinners and an assortment of lunches.

Here's where the problem arises.
I get so excited about each one of the meals that while I'm sitting at dinner thoroughly enjoying the meal in front of me I can't help but think about what's for dinner tomorrow, and the next night, and the next. So while my ham loaf, carrots, and fresh bread are steaming hot and absolutely delicious - I'm thinking about Rainbow Trout and Couscous.

Serious problem here.
Probably a sign of some deeper problem.
I may need help. Intervention anyone?

Silliness aside, there is a lesson to be learned. I do need to learn to be satisfied and fully present in the present. Although I'm a planner I need to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground and not just looking forward to the next step. I need to love the moment while being ready for the future.

Here's what I'm drooling over this week:

Monday
Ham Loaf (Gram's Recipe, I just posted it on All Recipes - my first attempt at listing my own recipes)
Carrots (cooked with dill, butter and brown sugar)
Mini potatoes
Homemade Bread (from the Bread in Five Minutes A Day cookbook - loving it!)
* my recipe makes three ham loafs ... so I now have two in the freezer for a rainy day!

Tuesday
Chicken and Leek Stroganoff (Jamie Oliver - have I mentioned how obsessed I am with Jamie Oliver??)
Noodles
Caesar Salad
* actually used leftover turkey that I had in the freezer instead of the chicken

Wednesday
Rainbow Trout with Oats (another Jamie Oliver recipe - yep, he's my buddy)
Couscous
Broccoli
* this recipes is not found on the web, BUT if you click on the photo at the top you might be able to make out the directions. or just call me and i'll read it to you!

Thursday
Roasted Chicken (on sale at Superstore - super cheap)
Potatoes
Salad

Friday
Chicken Quesadillas (with leftover chicken from Thursday)
Refried Beans

Saturday
Steak and Cheese Pie (ok stop me - this is another Jamie Oliver recipe!)

Sunday
Justin's Birthday
- he's working on his requests for birthday meal, should be interesting!

Lunches
Tuna Melts on English Muffins
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Mac and Cheese
Waffles with Fruit

Good Eats ...

Big "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" sale at Metro suckered me in again.
But this is the last time - I really strongly dislike that grocery store, except for the sales it is WAY too expensive. So here's my question, why is the most expensive grocery store in town within walking distance of one of the lowest income neighborhoods in town. And why is the cheapest grocery store in town within walking distance of no one? Makes no sense to me.

Enough complaints though, I came up with some yummy meals for this week.
Heavy on the chicken since they were "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" at the notorious Metro.

Sunday (today)
Chicken Taco Salad
perfect for football watchin'

Monday
Mango Chicken Pasta
HINT: add a little lime juice and a pinch of cayenne pepper (the recipe is a little bland)

Tuesday
Ham, Perogies and Broccoli

Wednesday
Steak and Cheese Pie
from Jamie Oliver's book "Jamie at Home", see recipe above
NEW: this is my new recipe of the week, I like that you can make the filling way ahead of time and put it together just before you eat - I'll give the report on this one later in the week.

Thursday
Herbed Chicken on Cornmeal Waffles
NOTE: we usually have this after Thanksgiving with leftovers, I had a hankerin' for it so we're having chicken and waffles in January!

Friday
Pizza Night
BBQ Chicken Pizza (bbq sauce, red onions and chicken)
Ham and Mushroom Pizza
TIP: before I make the chicken sauce for Thursday night's waffles I'll pull aside some of the chicken to use on the pizza along with some of the red onion from Wednesday night's Steak pie, use some of the leftover ham from Tuesday and some of the mushrooms from the Steak pie ... so you see, this is a creative version of left-over night

Saturday
White Bean 'n' Ham Soup
Amish White Bread

What's Cooking?

Busy week ahead of us. The menu is really simple.

Monday
Rainbow Trout, Broccoli and Perogies
I doubted the pairing of perogies and trout, but George claims that perogies go with everything and anything. Plus they are cheap and so easy (4 minutes!).

Tuesday
Pot Roast, Carrots, Potatoes and Onions
Another PW recipe. In the dutch oven. Slow cooked all day. Extreme ease.

Wednesday
Spaghetti & Meatballs with Salad
Frozen meatballs ... I told you it was easy street this week!

Thursday
Crockpot Beef and Bean Dinner with Cornbread
Thanks to Leslie Johnson for introducing me to this one when we had our Tuesday casserole club! Love it. Recipes are on the side-bar.

Friday
Chicken Stir Fry
AKA - clean out the vegetable crisper!

Saturday
Chicken Taco Salad
See the recipe on the side bar for Taco Seasoning. It is SO good and so much cheaper than the little packets of seasoning at the grocery story. I make a huge batch at a time (quadruple the recipe - or more!).

Sunday
Left-overs


Notes:
Rainbow trout is on sale at Metro this week as is lean ground beef - therefore I shopped at Metro. Simple - find which grocery store has the meat you want on sale. Plan your menu around that meat and plan your grocery shopping around what else that store has on sale. If you pick the recipe then do the grocery shopping you end up paying a lot more. Find the deal then plan your menu around it. DON'T SHOP AROUND - you don't have time. Pick one grocery store for the week. I may go to a different one next week, but this week it's Metro.

I froze a package of boneless, skinless chicken breast when they were on sale last week. I will use them Friday and Saturday. I'll cook it all up on Friday. I'll use some for the stir-fry and then use the rest the next night for the taco chicken salad.

Lunch ideas:
Mac and Cheese (on sale at Metro)
Tuna Melts
French Toast
Wraps

Oh - and as a bonus I added a link to the Starbucks Pumpkin Scones recipe. It is AMAZING! And so easy that Eden made them ALL by herself yesterday. You won't be disappointed!

Come Dine With Me

I have to say that I'm surprised to see how many Canadian/American shows are knock-offs or spin-offs of British programs. A "new-to-Canada" show has been airing on the W channel - Come Dine With Me. It's a quirky cooking show where 5 contestants prepare and host a dinner party for each other one person at a time. They are then rated by the other contestants on the quality of the party. Winner gets 1000 British dollars - or whatever they call them there. If there was ever a reality show that I would want to be on - that would be it. Hopefully it comes to a Canadian city near me.

I love to host dinner parties. I'm not claiming to be a phenomenal cook - but I do love coming up with a menu, cooking it all up and hosting a real, grown-up dinner party. (Yes, we make the kids eat at the "kids" table - they gobble their food down and are promptly sent to the basement to play!).

Saturday I had a hankering for Thai food. I've never really cooked it - but with the internet I feel invincible - I can try anything. (For the record, George did electrical work in the house merely following the directions on YouTube.) I googled Pad Thai, called Mike and Meghan, invited them to dinner and started chopping. You know, it was relatively easy and I had most of the ingredients in the house - just needed some fresh limes and bean sprouts. I chopped it all up early in the afternoon and threw it all together just before they got here.

The timing was a little touchy. I kind of stressed out a little in the end - trying to get it all ready at the right time but not over cooked. Note to self: don't try two new recipes for the same meal. But I have to say that I woke up this morning craving MORE Pad Thai. It was SO good I'll gladly make it again next weekend! The recipe is on my side-bar. I did trade the shrimp for chicken and omitted the shallots (they're kind of like onions, and I know someone who doesn't like onions!).

Tips For Pulling Off A Dinner Party
While Having Five Kids Running Around The House
1. Don't invite persnickety folks who care about fine details.
2. Chop early in the day then go play with those kids running through the house.
3. Clean only the areas your guests will see. #1 main floor bathroom - it's the only room in the house where guests are alone with the door shut. Clean the floor, mirror and hang fresh towels.
4. Have your husband or child vacuum 10 minutes before your company is expected. No earlier - it will NOT stay clean.
5. Large closets. At the last minute toss it all in the large closets.
6. Run the dishwasher and empty it before your company arrives. That way they CAN help with clean up by loading the dishwasher. (Unloading is too personal - so get that done)..
7. Remember #1 - don't invite persnickety folks.

There's a verse in the book of Romans (chapter 12) that says "Practice hospitality." Too many people think they need to be Martha Stewart in order to invite someone into their home. But that verse doesn't say "Be perfect hosts" it says "PRACTICE hospitality". Let's practice. Let's be gracious with each other as we practice. Let's say to one another "Come dine with me" - 'cause it's fun and 'cause it's biblical. Who needs a reality show to get us to dine with one another - let's just do it.

If you want to practice your hospitality feel free to practice it on me. I am very gracious. I promise, I won't even notice if the bathroom towels are fresh or not!

What's Cookin?

What's happening in your kitchen this week?
I'm looking for favorite family friendly recipes. Things your kids will eat. Things that make you go MMMMMMM. Please share ...

Here's what's happening in my kitchen:

Monday: Breakfast for dinner
Eggs Benedict (healthy version)
Muffins
Smoothies

Tuesday: Adults OUT, kids only!
Ham and Mac&Cheese w/some frozen veggie

Wednesday: Summer in January
Hamburgers (PW Style)
Crashers
Caesar Salad

Thursday: Cheap Night (beef on sale less than 1/2 price at Superstore, peppers from the garden preserved in the freezer)
Steak Fajitas

Friday: Family Ski Night at Boler - Late Lunch, Early Dinner
Shrimp Creole (still using up the frozen shrimp from Christmas!) *recipe below

Saturday: Company's Coming
Thai Chicken Curry

A little story about the shrimp creole. Back in 1995, before it was in vogue, Marcia Everett started a woman's book club and invited me to be a part of it. I loved every minute of it. I was working in campus ministry at the time, living in a dorm, on the verge of dating George and living on $250 dollars a month. She had a cute little house, a real kitchen and an amazing family. We shared a dinner of soup, bread and salad and kind of talked about books.

Whether Marcia knows it or not - that group had a huge impact on my life. As the country singer says it best, "I learned a little 'bout livin' and a lot about love." I learned about hosting, mentoring, and family life - just by watching her live her life. I learned about cooking great food when she invited us into her kitchen, threw us an apron and a knife and told us to start chopping. And when her husband Steve died of a heart attack at 35 years old (1998) - I learned a lot about loss, grief and compassion. Book club stopped for nothing - we gathered the Tuesday after Steve's funeral. We cried, actually we wept, as we tried to eat our Shrimp Creole and corn bread. I'll never forget that meal. Marcia's Shrimp Creole has been in regular rotation at our house since then. And every time I serve it I whisper a prayer for Marcia and her family.

Shrimp Creole
½ cup butter
2 cups celery
1 large sliced green pepper
1 large sliced onion
SAUTE the above ingredients until soft

ADD:
2 large cans stewed tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes **
2 cups chicken broth
SIMMER for ½ an hour

ADD:
1 pounds peeled shrimp
1 small cans mushrooms
SIMMER for 10 minutes

Serve over rice.

**If you live in Canada you won't be able to buy Rotel - you need to run across the border, Target has some. I have a few cans in my pantry - I'll sell you one for about a hundred bucks! It's worth it - or you can just add an extra can of diced tomatoes and a small can of chopped green chiles (Mexican section).

Karis and Hannah's latest creation - melted chocolate chips spread on pretzels. They asked me to take a picture and post it on my blog!

What's Cooking?

I'll blog about this later - but my word for the year is FINISH. I am aiming to finish what I start. More about that another day.

Today - I am continuing with what I started. I am posting another week of menu planning.

In answer to a couple of questions that I received last week: I do not cook everything at one time, I do sometimes prep things ahead - for example if I know that I need a lot of peppers chopped for a few different recipes I will do it all at once early in the week. But typically I cook every day. And a questions about fridge space: In Ontario we are "blessed" with cold winters so I have extra cupboards hanging in my garage (which is conveniently off of my laundry room) so I can store extra food in there if the fridge is full. In the summer we eat a lot more fresh fruit and veggies and grilled meat so I don't find I cook as much.

Here you go. The week at the Saylor house (feel free to pop in for a meal if it sounds particularly good!).

George and Justin give the thumbs up to the Fish Tacos (with a little extra hot sauce of course!).

Monday:
left-overs - including the Sweet Potato Burritos (a last minute addition to the menu for today), chicken pot pie, pumpkin soup, and tortellini
ps George is still looking for investors in his restaurant called "Left Overs" where everything but the bread is guaranteed to be a day old (soup, lasagna etc)

Tuesday:
Fish Tacos (I cheat and use Jane's Frozen Fish Fillets instead of breading my own - the sauce is amazing!) and rice

Wednesday:
Chicken and Shrimp kabobs (shrimp - bought too much for Christmas parties, still using it up; chicken - on sale at the Superstore this week)
The Rice Squad - rice salad recipe from Crazy Plates Cook Book (I will make tons of rice on Tuesday and use half Tuesday night and half Wednesday night)

Thursday:
Calzones with sausage and pepper (using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe)
Salad

Friday:
Aussie Chicken with Perogies and cooked carrots

Saturday:
Tacos (Karis requested a buffet of some kind every week - this week it will be a taco buffet!)


And as an added bonus here is a website that you should avoid at all costs.
How people come up with these things, I'll never know!

What's Cooking?

I'm a planner. I can't help it. I think it's in my blood. I've been a planner since I was a wee one. And now I see it's hereditary. My kids are planners.
As a planner I plan my meals for the week.

This post may be dreadfully boring for some of you - so skip it.
BUT - I've been asked on numerous occasions to share my menu planning tips. So here you go. I'm also including a link to the recipes I'm cooking on the side-bar. You're getting it all today!

1) I sit down on Friday afternoon with my pen, paper, and weekly flyers. I check out the grocery sales for the week. I take inventory (mentally) of what I have in the fridge, freezer and pantry. I consult my Google calendar for extracurricular events and meetings for the coming week.

2) Once I've done ALL that I make a menu for the week - considering sale items and what we currently have in the house. Most weeks I include breakfast, lunch and dinner in the menu. I find that I waste less food and spend less money if I plan out all of our eating. (I told you I'm a planner!).

3) Next step is obvious - I make my grocery shopping list, do my groceries and then my least favorite task, putting away the groceries - I wish I could hire someone to do that for me.

Now - this was probably a bad week to post start my weekly menu posts since we have a holiday and a birthday thrown in there. But here you go, our menu for the week.

Monday:
dinner at the Kuikens (told you it was a weird week to do this!)

Tuesday:
Crock Pot Chicken (threw a whole chicken and two extra breasts in the crockpot with some salt, pepper, paprika and fresh rosemary - on high for 1 hour, on low for another 6 hours)
Crasher Hot Potatoes (loved this one - keeping it in rotation)
Edemamas and Corn

Wednesday:
Rainbow Trout (grilled)
Spinach Tomato Tortellini

Thursday:
New Years Party
Cowboy Nachos - complete with the beef brisket, pinto beans and pico de galio
(all the recipes can be linked to from the Cowboy Nacho link)

Friday:
Eden's birthday
Pizza and Caesar Salad

Saturday:
Chicken Pot Pie in Bread Bowls
(already made the filling with the left-over chicken and broth from tonight's crock pot chicken)

Sunday:
Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Leek and Coconut Milk Soup
Homemade Bread (I'll double the bread bowl recipe and make mini-loaves of bread for Sunday's meal)

Plus I'm counting on having loads of left-overs from the beef brisket used for the Cowboy nachos. I'll freeze some and use some for lunches.

Breakfast and lunch menu are kind of boring since it's mostly cereal or muffins for breakfast and french toast or quesadillas and a smoothie for lunch. I'll let you imagine that I feed my family hot breakfast and three course lunches when the truth is that I tell them what their options are and they fend for themselves.

Happy cooking! I truly love menu planning - so if you want a little advice let me know.