Weekly menu

This week has been all about leftovers. Sounds like a lot of turkey, doesn't it? But it was all so good that stretching it out to last has been really nice.

• Turkey shepherd's pie, salad (turkey meat, gravy, broth, and cooked vegetables with mashed potatoes over the top and baked til golden), glazed carrots
• Turkey stuffing bake (spoon stuffing into a baking dish, cover with sliced turkey, pour gravy over the top and bake, covered, until hot), leftover green beans
• Turkey and sausage gumbo with rice
• Chicken stir fry, broccoli with garlic, and steamed rice
• Cheese pizza, salad
• Pho (asian beef broth with noodles, fresh herbs, and thinly sliced beef on top)
• Scrambled eggs, toast, mixed fruit

Weekly menu, recipes, and a few pictures

I'm not sure, but I think Tabby likes her new bed. At least, this is where I'm finding her most of the time now, usually curled up against the side of the bed, blissed out asleep. Wish I'd made the sides a little taller and the rest a bit smaller - might toss this in the washer again and see if I can reshape it. But definitely a success. It warms my heart to see her so comfortable and happy, especially since I was able to help her feel so good. Warm fuzzies all around.
This over on the right is a really bad picture of something new I started. I used some of the sock yarn that I got in the DyeORama swap that's been waiting ever so patiently to be used for something special. Thought of something I actually need and want, did some figuring, cast on, and I'm beyond happy with the results so far. Too bad my camera disagrees! Anyone want to guess what I'm working on?

Here's the menu for this week, followed by two comfort food recipes that should be perfect for colder weather. I'm not hosting Thanksgiving for the first time in many, many years, which makes me a bit sad since I love all the planning, cooking, and arranging. Well, more to the point: I love having people come over and eat my food! This year, we'll be going to a pot luck T-day with my cousin and his wife and her family. I'm doing a small turkey meal the next day so we can have all of our favorites and leftovers to pick at (isn't that the most important part of Thanksgiving? Stuffing to pick at the next day?)

• Potaju - a simple soup with vegetables and bacon I got from a Japanese cookbook - recipe to follow, fresh bread (extra for stuffing on Friday)
  
• Channa dal with herbs and garlic, basmati rice, cauliflower with mustard seeds
• Three cheese pizza (mozzarella, parmesan and romano), salad (I make pizza dough constantly, freezing half once the dough is frozen. This leaves another batch of dough ready at any time I want to make pizza without extra work. I make the sauce, too)
• Grilled chicken, sauteed cabbage with garlic
• Thanksgiving day - I'm bringing my Grandma's rolls (these are so good! I'm making 2 batches, 64 total, so we'll have enough left over), mashed potatoes, and Cranberry Jezebel Sauce
  
• Our own T-day spread: roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green beans wtih nutmeg and walnuts, some of the rolls, some of the Jezebel sauce, Martinelli's and wine, and Tirimisu (this was at the request of both boys)
• Leftover feast pickings the next day :-)

And now, recipes. Both for warming, comfort in a spoon of one sort or another.

Potaju
This is a soup recipe I got from a book called Japanese Country Cookbook. It was interesting to find that this is considered a Japanese dish, even the name (which surely comes from the French potage). Any way you look at it, it's warm and simple and delicious.

4 0z. bacon or fatty ham (can use a little more if you like), sliced into bite sized bits
1 medium onion, diced
6 cups water
4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
salt and pepper to taste (give it a good bit of pepper)

Saute bacon or ham in a large pot over medium heat until most of the fat has separated. You don't want the bacon or ham to crisp. Add onion and saute until transparent. Add water slowly so it doesn't splatter. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or so. Add potatoes and cook until potatoes have come apart, around 30 minutes. Add carrots, salt and pepper and cimmer until carrots are soft. You can serve the soup as is, or mash the vegetables a bit to thicken.

Conjee (or Jook)
This is comfort food at it's simplest and best. Rice is cooked in a lot of water until it forms a thick, delicately flavored soup, perfect for topping with just about anything.

3/4 cup short or medium grain rice
5 1/2 cups water
salt to taste (I use around 1 tsp.)
ginger, grated fine - optional

Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Combine with water and salt (this isn't traditional, but I like it) in a heavy pot, then bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, cover, and cook for at least an hour, though two is better. If you like, add some ginger to the rice before it cooks to add a bit of flavor and comfort to anyone with an upset stomach. Once the congee is ready, you can eat it plain or top with any number of things. Leftover meats or fish go well here. A splash of sesame oil, soy sauce, and some green onion is good. Shot of hot sauce can be nice. Vegetables are nice on top, or you can add them to the congee as it cooks so they end up tender at the end. Play with this until you find your own favorites - congee is a wonderful blank canvas.

Weekly Menu

Saturday found me sick. Very sick. Lay on the couch, hacking up a lung sick. But the menu needed to get made, so I tried to plan things that were easy and that might appeal to me and Dan (starting to get sick) and the boys (on the fringes of sick). Nothing exciting or brain bending this week, no new recipes or challenges, just comfort food on the quick. (note - I'm feeling mostly better now, but was very glad for the simpler meals so far this week)

• Leftover pork with chipotle, cabbage slaw
• Scrambled eggs, bacon, sliced oranges
• Black bean burritos, sauteed corn (I just cook frozen corn in a pan with butter, salt and pepper until it gets a bit caramelized at the edges - really good and easy)
• Congee with chicken and bok choy (lots of ginger in this, for upset stomachs)
• Chicken stir fry with broccoli, steamed rice
• "Rice Stuff" (Dan's specialty: chicken in a spicy peanut sauce that is the ultimate comfort food), stir-fried greens with garlic, more steamed rice
• TJs easy meal - here I just wandered Trader Joe's, looking for something super simple. Ended up with 4 cheese ravioli that I tossed with caramelized onions in lots of butter, along with some frozen "vegetable melange" with herbed butter. Ahhh, butter.
  

Weekly Menus

Last week was incredibly busy, so no time to post the menu. Had friends from out of town visiting for three nights - Anna and her husband came out to take a closer look at Portland, and we all had a wonderful time. This meant lots of running around and getting things in order. Plus a special meal while they were here. I did have a menu planned out, however, so I figure I'll just add it to this weeks and do two weeks at once.

• Sesame noodles, stir fried nappa cabbage
  
• Ooey Gooey Witches Fingers, salad from the garden (the fingers were a HUGE hit on Halloween, using half a string cheese per "finger")
  
• Cheese omelets, home fries, sliced apple (breakfast for dinner)
  
• Spiced red lentil soup
  
• Fried rice with egg and vegetables (this is a great clean out the refrigerator meal)
• Vegan dim sum: scallion cakes, tofu siu mai (the filling on these was wonderful, but the wrappers didn't steam properly), curry puffs, bok choy with garlic (from the garden), sticky rice, and coconut ice cream with ginger and lime
  
• Fast Food - not on the list, but I was out late enough Sunday night that we decided to just go out.
  

• Pasta with broccoli (fast, easy, and an entire meal)
  
• Dal with garlic and cumin, carrot salad with mustard seeds, basmati rice
• Vegetable soup, grilled cheese sandwiches
• Chicken curry, more basmati rice, sliced pineapple
• Potstickers, stir fried asparagus, steamed rice
• Spaghetti with marinara sauce (made from the last of our tomatoes), salad
• Pork with chipotle, roasted tomatoes and red peppers, arroz rojo, corn tortillas

I'll be back with a full report of Anna's visit very soon, I promise!

Weekly Menu

Full disclosure - the gumbo didn't get made last week at all. This happens sometimes - when life gets really crazy I'll grab something easy out of the pantry or we'll (gasp!) go do fast food one night. But I still had all the ingredients on hand, so I made gumbo tonight. Also baked two loaves of potato bread. This week is going to be really hectic, so I planned in leftovers, sandwiches, congee (basically just rice with a lot of water, cooked for an hour, with toppings), and pizza (another easy, made it lots of times meal for me). I picked a bunch of tomatoes from the lone plant we got into the ground after we moved, and figured I'd plan them into the menu to take advantage of them and use them up in the process.

• Gumbo (from this recipe)
  
• leftover Gumbo (we have parent/teacher conferences tomorrow night for both boys with a whopping 40 minutes in between, giving just enough time to drive home and eat leftovers)
• BLTs with potato bread and tomatoes from our garden, salad
• Vegetarian siu mai, stir fried nappa cabbage with garlic, steamed rice (the siu mai is a new recipe that hopefully will be perfect for a friend who will be visiting soon)
• Congee with bok choy
  
• Beef stew (making enough to take a dinner to my cousin's family as his wife will be having back surgery on Thursday)
• Pizza with more of the tomatoes, salad
  

Weekly Menu

Every week I sit sit down, usually with a big cup of milky tea, and figure out what the heck we're going to eat for the next seven days. Sometimes I enjoy the process, sometimes it's the very last thing I want to do, but it always ends up getting done one way or the other. I love how much money I save by getting everything needed for a meal all at once. I love the lack of waste, since I don't buy anything extra that isn't going to be used during the week. But most of all, I love not having to think on days that are long and hard, knowing that dinner is all planned out and I won't have to figure out what on earth to make at 5:00 when I'm starting to get hungry.

Taking a cue from my friend Danielle, I'm going to post my menu here each week. Not promising anything extraordinary or too exciting - this is food for a family with small children done on a budget. Hope you find something interesting here, or at least get an idea of what to make for dinner!

Oh, I don't assign days to any of the meals I plan. It's too hard to know if today is going to be a really late day for Dan, or my oldest will melt down completely in the afternoon and need constant attention (gotta love Aspergers!) or if life will somehow get in the way of that stew that takes four hours to cook. I take it one day at a time and pick whichever meal seems to make the most sense. I also plan in several fast and easy meals (usually ones I've made many times and can do in my sleep) for days that seem to have no extra time at all. Like, oh, today.

Our menu this week:

• Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots (I've got a whole chicken in the freezer and felt like comfort food)
• Chicken and sausage gumbo
• Fried rice, stir fried greens with garlic - this one is really fast and a great way to use up leftovers
  
• Hoisin chicken buns, steamed rice, bok choy with oyster sauce (the buns are made with the leftover chicken from the roast)
• Megadarra (lentils and rice with caramelized onions), mashed zucchini with onions, garlic and mint
  
• Chicken and broccoli stir fry, steamed rice - also quick
  
• Multigrain pancakes, sausage, cinnamon apples, and yogurt (I often do breakfast for dinner - cheap, appealing to the boys, nutritious, and easy to make)

One last thing. I can't wait to see the first episode of The Hungry Detective on the Food Network tomorrow night! I met Chris Cognac a while back through some of my food-loving friends, and he's one of the nicest and most fun to be around people I've ever met. It's sure to be a great show, so check it out if you get a chance.