Meal Plan: April 29 - May 4

The farmers market opens on Saturday!!!!  I can hardly wait.  Since we made such an effort to ski every weekend, I never made it to any of the winter markets.  I miss my farmer friends.  Along with the onset of market season comes my annual purge of pantry and freezer items.  You'll see what I mean.

Monday:  Tom Kar Gai soup, or at least a version or it, with leftover chicken, coconut milk, a random can of hearts of palm and some fish and chilli sauces that are nearing their birthdays. It's really good.

Tuesday:  Chicken salad in homemade pitas with Romain lettuce

Wednesday:  Pork Chop Pizziaola with pasta.  We'll see how this goes.  It will use some pork chops I've had since we bought our 1/4 pig in October and our store of frozen tomates.

Thursday:  Mystery Block of frozen chili-looking substance over rice with some sauteed shredded zucchini.

Friday:  Taco Night!

Saturday:  Pasticcio (or lasagna with beschamel instead of ricotta) using the leftover pork and tomato sauce.

Sunday:  Some manner of roasted, fried or grilled chicken and vegetable sides from Saturday's market.  Suggestions welcome.

Meal Plan: October 23-29

Sunday:

Oven-fried chicken, roasted potatoes, Brussels sprouts

Monday:

Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans with rice and leeks

Tuesday: (Kate traveling)

Pumpkin risotto

Wednesday: (Kate traveling)

Leftovers

Thursday: (Kate traveling)

Pasta Pesto!

Friday:

Pizza

Saturday:

Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork Roast with roasted potatoes, vegetables from the farmer's market

Meal Plan: The New Auto-pilot plan

Today is the school year's equivalent of January 1. We've had the one last hurrah after the elongated holidays of summer, we've enjoyed the lazy days, the pajama mornings, the late bedtimes, but tomorrow.....

In appreciation of the "other new year" and the frenetic pace we know we'll be keeping once I am back on the road and we enter into the public schools system (read: the world of soccer) for the first time, we have created a secret weapon. Our new "Auto-pilot Meal Plan" can be pulled out and slapped into place at a moment's notice. Whether we are hit with an epic stomach flu or find ourselves driving back late from a weekend trip that "seemed like a good idea at the time," or just a case of too much work-travel and not enough time to plan, we will be able to activate six (count them, six!) dinners in a row.

The methodology at work for each meal in this plan is one of ease, frugality and attractiveness (to our kids). We chose this recipes based on what we typically stock in our pantry and freezer, the ability to use similar ingredients in multiple recipes, therefore having to stock or purchase fewer items and those that would let us use the slow cooker as often as possible.

I encourage you to keep track of how many times we hit this "emergency button" between now and June 30...

Here's the plan:

Monday:

Vegetable chili, brown rice, side vegetable (this week: broccoli)

I will use beans that I've soaked, cooked and frozen, a bag of frozen shredded zucchini and half a can or jar of stewed tomatoes. The remaining half can will be used in the pasta on Wednesday.

Tuesday:

Crock Pot Layered Dinner with chicken from the freezer, stored fingerling potatoes and a side vegetable (this week: new Brussels sprouts!)

Wednesday:

Pasta with tomato sauce (fortified with bean stock), Romano cheese

The second half can of Monday's tomatoes will be used here to make the sauce. I usually save and freeze the stock from cooking dried beans and add it to sauces and soups later on.

Thursday:

Broiled fish, leftover potatoes from Tuesday and side vegetable (this week: kale)

This fish is the first new thing I will have had to buy for this week's worth of dinners. Everything else is part of our normal stocked pantry or freezer.

Friday:

Homemade pizza

Using a second can or jar of tomatoes

Saturday:

Slow Cooker Ravioli Lasagna

I will use a leftover pizza sauce and turn it into the meat sauce for the "lasagna." We will probably have a salad, since we will have a chance to go to the Farmer's market or will hopefully have recovered from whatever it was that made us activate the Auto-pilot plan in the first place.

Grocery List for this meal plan:

2 28 oz cans (or 2 qt jars) crushed, stewed or pureed tomatoes (on hand)

1 can or 3/4 C frozen pinto, kidney, rosada or navy beans (on hand)

1 T chili seasoning (on hand)

2 cup shredded zucchini (on hand)

1 cup brown rice (on hand)

1 chicken breast/4 thighs, drumsticks or whatever (on hand)

2 lbs potatoes (on hand)

3 meal's worth of vegetable sides (on hand)

Romano cheese (on hand)

garlic (on hand)

EVOO (on hand)

1 box pasta (on hand)

4 cups Mozzarella cheese (on hand)

1 lb ground beef, turkey, lamb, pork (on hand)

2 lbs of fish fillets (purchased, though I am likely to buy two meal's worth at a time and freeze one)

1 lb frozen ravioli (purchased)

We hope not to pull this trigger too often because even though we like these meals, we would get tired of them. What we are trying to accomplish is a baseline for maintenance. As long as we keep these items in the house and, in the event of "disaster" one of us can make it to the store and pick up a few items (in addition to milk, eggs flour and COFFEE) we'll be okay. Well, at least we'll eat.

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash Recipe

Ingredients:

4 Medium-sized patty pan squash

4 scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated

1 shredded carrot

6 cloves green garlic or 3 cloves aged (regular) garlic, minced

1/3 C crushed almonds

1/3 C creme fraiche, butter milk or plain yogurt

4 T shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

4 T olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 375. Wash and trim both ends off of each squash. Stem for about 15 minutes, until middles can be pierced deeply with a fork. Set aside to cool. When they are cool enough to handle scoop out enough of each squash to make a nice deep cup, without going through the other side. Drain and chop squash innards. Coat a baking dish with olive oil and arrange squash cups in it. Saute white of the scallions and garlic until transparent. Add carrot, chopped squash, salt and pepper. When carrot is bright orange, add the almonds. Turn off heat and add creme fraiche. Stir to combine. Fill each squash cup to slightly over flowing and bake for 25-30 minutes. Add shredded cheese to the top of each and bake for another 5 minutes to allow cheese to melt.

Meal Plan: July 10-16, 2011

Sunday:

Garlic Scape Lamb Chops with Baby Artichokes, Pan-fried Potatoes, Sliced Tomatoes and Tzadziki

Monday:

Vegetarian Chili with Rice and Broccoli

Tuesday:

Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Salad

Wednesday:

Broiled Fish with Roasted Cauliflower and Rice tossed with Garlic Scape Butter

Thursday:

Steak and Egg Salad

Friday:

Pizza

Saturday:

Market-inspired dinner with Grandpa and Ya-ya

Meal Plan: June 27 - July 2

Thymeless Herbs Farm had fresh free-range chickens this week! I bought 10 and my mom and I cut them up and froze them strategically for meals over the next six months or so. I roasted one today and I think I finally got it right. It was moist and flavorful and the kids loved it! I also reserved a quarter share of a hog, which I will receive in December.

Sunday:

Roast chicken, red cabbage steamed in cider vinegar and brown sugar, red potato salad with fresh peas, scallions and garlic scapes

Monday:

Risotto with peas and green beans

Tuesday:

Creamy chicken salad over roasted cauliflower and beets tossed with garlic scape butter over sauteed beet greens with pita bread

Wednesday:

Swiss chard, broccoli with shredded chicken, topped with scallions and diced tomatoes and cheddar cheese

Thursday:

Pot pie

Friday:

Pizza

Saturday:

On Vacation!!!!

Meal Plan: June 19 -25

Sunday:

Burgers, pasta salad and strawberry shortcake

Monday:

Slow-cooker navy beans with chutney, brown rice and broccoli

Tuesday:

Pasta salad, beet greens with chickpeas

Wednesday:

Zucchini, carrot, chickpea pancakes with pesto sauce

Thursday:

Leftovers from Monday with spinach

Friday:

Homemade pizza

Saturday:

Steak salad or burgers (after Farmer's Market)

Meal Plan: June 11 - 18

Sunday:

Spinach Quiche with red leaf salad

Monday:

Slow Cooker Cowboy Beans with rice and spinach

Tuesday: (K at 1769 Reception)

Tortellini with tomato sauce

Wednesday:

Leftover Quiche and salad

Thursday:

Spinach tacos with leftover Cowboy Beans

Friday:

Pizza

Saturday: (K at 1769 Reception)

Pancakes for dinner

Meal Plan: June 5-11

Sunday:

Lamb and Rosemary Sausage pie with tossed salad (recipe to come)

Monday:

Fresh pasta with broccoli and garlic sauce

Tuesday:

Leftover sausage pie with salad and stewed rhubarb

Wednesday:

Pasta with pesto and garbanzo beans

Thursday:

Roast beef wraps with hummus, zucchini tzatziki, red leaf lettuce and radishes

Friday:

Homemade pizza

Saturday:

"Market dinner"

Meal Plan: May 23- May 29

Monday:

Spinach Nudi with sliced tomatoes

Tuesday:

Rice and beans with chutney and radish greens

Wednesday: (Annie makes dinner)

Pasta pesto!

Thursday:

Zucchini fritters with sliced tomatoes, ricotta and sweet and sour sauce

Friday:

Split pea soup with fresh bread

Saturday: (market day!)

Big vegetable combination with deviled eggs and bread

Sunday: (Memorial Day cookout)

Barbecued meats from market with potato salad and grilled vegetables

Monday: (parade day!)

Roast chicken and vegetables from market

Meal Plan: May 8 - 14

Eight days post-move and we are a fully functioning household. We will be unpacking "non-essential" belongings throughout the summer, but for now we can cook, dress, wash clothes, park our car in the garage and play with our full range of Legos and other toys. This Saturday, as I may have mentioned, was the first outdoor market of the Norwich Farmers Market season. The kids and I spent the morning there getting reacquainted with friends made last year and dancing to the live music and snacking on our weekly treat of "choco-doodles" made by Susie at Timeless Herbs Farm in Woodstock, VT.

One of my favorite farms is Hurricane Flats in Royalton, VT. Their produce is beautiful, delicious and plentiful. This week we found ramps (wild leeks), fiddleheads, arugula, radishes, spinach and chard. It is a pity I will be traveling this week, so I couldn't buy everything that I wanted. This week's meal plan consists mostly of meals I have already prepared ahead to make the week go more smoothly with one less set of hands in the house. You may notice that this is a meat-heavy menu for us, but we are trying to use up some very generous meals that were made for us over our moving weekend and a steak I bought for next week ended up in the refrigerator and not the freezer, so there you have it.

Sunday:

Mother's Day Steak Salad

made with pan-fried New York Strip steak from On the Edge Farm, Yukon gold sauteed potatoes, mesclun and arugula greens, browned ramps (the bulbs and greens) beets, radishes, deviled eggs and a chili, scallion yogurt dressing.

Monday:

Split-pea soup with swiss cheese toasts

Left over from last week and made with the end of our Easter ham!

Tuesday:

Beef and broccoli stir fry with Swiss Chard and leeks.

Made with the end of a delicious roast beef aged by my Dad and served over our moving weekend.

Wednesday:

Pasta with creamy pesto sauce

Thursday:

Reuben Casserole

Made with a beef corned by my Dad also for the moving weekend and "horsey-kraut" and homemade Russian dressing.

Friday:

Zucchini and Scallion frittata

BEST EVER Bacon and Tomato Sandwich

I just have to gush about the most AMAZING sandwich we had the other night. I can see that a bacon and tomato sandwich may not sound that exciting to most people, but if that's the case, they can't possibly have eaten a bacon and tomato sandwich at the Hesser House. This one was made on Scott's multigrain bread that was still warm and smeared with our homemade mayonnaise. We were lucky to find some thick cut maple-cooked bacon from On the Edge Farm in Woodstock, VT who sources most of our meats. I don't like to play favorites among my farmer friends, but I was quite smitten with the organic tomatoes from Long Wind Farm in Thetford, VT. They specialize in tomatoes and sell their products at the Coop Food Stores. This sandwich was perfect beside the tomato soup we are still making from the juice we canned over the summer. Only 18 days until the start of the outdoor markets. Here's to a healthy growing season!

Cranberry Rangoon Recipe

Happy Thursday! I know, this may sound gross to you, but you probably don't have a surplus of cranberries in you freezer. Or maybe you do.... I realize this is another recipe for fried food, but I don't go for sweets, we hardly ever eat out and we really don't have any other vices. Once a week we make something fun that is outside our normal whole-grain-local-vegetable-based regimen. Sue us!

I found this recipe on the Cranberry Growers Association website. Incidentally my favorite cranberry grower is Cranberry Hill Farm in Plymouth, MA. If you are down that way this fall you should pay them a visit.

Anyway, I changed the recipe substantially, so here is what I did:

Ingredients:

3/4 C Fresh Cranberries

1/4 C Mayonnaise

10 oz Cream cheese, softened

1 tsp Cholula hot pepper sauce

1 T sugar (I used evaporated cane juice)

3 Scallions, white and green parts, finely diced

1 package Square Wonton Wrappers

1 oil (canola, or peanut) for frying

Directions:

Combine Cranberries, Mayonnaise and Cholula in food processor and blend until almost smooth. Add half of that mixture to cream cheese along with sugar and scallions and mix thoroughly. Drop one tsp full of mixture in the center of each won ton wrapper and seal as desired. I make boats (see photo). Heat oil until it shimmers. Fry rangoons until golden brown. It helps to keep them in a low oven while you finish the whole batch. You should have about four dozen of them when you finish.

The original recipe recommended using the reserved cranberry/mayo mixture as a dipping sauce, but we didn't do that. We set it aside to spread on sandwiches or to make another batch Instead, we dipped them in the sweet and sour sauce we made last summer!

We LOVED these! The insides are delightfully pink and tangy. I can't wait to break them out at a day-after-Thanksgiving-leftover-extravaganza! That said, we've decided to start experimenting with a baked version with the help of this recipe from My Baking Addition.

Meal Plan: April 10-16

There were Swiss Chard, duck eggs and some end of the barrel storage onions at the Norwich Farmers Market this Saturday. We have been so fortunate to have the monthly winter markets.....and the outdoor weekly market reopens in 27 days!!!!! Not that I am excited or anything. We are looking forward to seeing all the farmer friends we made last summer and to visiting more frequently with those that kept us sustained over the winter.

Sunday:

Shrimp stir fry with broccoli, onions and rice

Monday:

Slow Cooker Baked Beans with corn bread and canned apples

Tuesday:

Pasta and marinara sauce

Wednesday:

Tomato Soup and Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday:

Chili with rice

Friday:

Eggs in a Nest with sweetened rice

Saturday:

Pizza

Food Storage Inventory

I just went through and took stock of what is left now that new greens are just beginning to appear at the Farmers Market. Not bad at all! However, if anyone has any inventive recipes for cranberries and barbecue sauce, please send them my way!

Basement Freezer

Beans:

1 Pint Black Beans

Broccoli:

1 Gallon Bag

Cranberries:

1.5 Gallon Bags

Corn:

1 Gallon

Meats:

1 Quart Pork Fat Back

1 Quart Suet

1 Soup Carcass

Pesto:

11 muffin cups

Stocks:

12 1/3 C portions of Adzuki Stock

Zucchini:

7 Pints of shredded

Pantry

Dried Fruit:

1 Pint Dried Blueberries

Jams:

1 Pints Apple Jely

1 Half-pint Strawberry Jam

6 Half-pints Blueberry Jam

3 Pints Peach Jam

1 Pint Peach Applesauce

3 Half Pints Apple Butter

2 Quarts Apple Sauce

6 Half Pints Orange Marmalade

Fruit:

5 Quarts Apple Pie Filling

Pickles:

1 Pint Corn Relish

Sauces:

4 Quarts 2 Pints Marinara Sauce

5 Pints Barbecue Sauce

2 Pints Sweet and Sour Sauce

5 Half-pints Chutney

1 Quart Peach Syrup

Tomatoes:

4 Quarts Tomato Juice

Salsa Verde (for the hot pepper intolerant)

So, I am ready to admit that I have BAD reactions to most hot peppers. I have temporarily lost my eyesight, but most often get swollen lips and burning fingers. It's just not worth it. I have played around with different salsas and think I have finally found something that I love.

Ingredients:

7-8 Tomatillos, husks removed, washed well, sliced in half across the equator

1 small-medium onion, cut into thick slices

2 Cloves garlic

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Lay a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Spread tomatillos, cut side down, on foil along with the onion slices and the whole cloves of garlic. Broil for about minutes or until vegetables are just browned.

Transfer all vegetables along with juices into food processor. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse several times until you get the consistency that you want. Serve with tortilla chips or pour over enchiladas. I am guessing this will can well.

Fresh Chicken and Roasting Recipe

Tonight I had my first ever fresh chicken. What I mean by that is that it was not only free-range, organic and local, but that it had been slaughtered the day or the day before I had purchased it. It had never been frozen. I bought it from a woman at the Norwich Farmers Market yesterday. She owns Thymeless Herbs in Woodstock, VT and she and her daughter were selling chickens, eggs, herbs as you might guess and a wide variety of eye-appealing (and delicious) baked goods. They reminded me of my favorite children's book, Oxcart Man by Donald Hall about a family in the Upper Valley (I think) who send "everything they made or grew all year long that was left over" with the father to sell at the market in Portsmouth.

I was taken aback by how lovely this bird was. In someways I wish I had taken a picture, but I am mostly glad I didn't. In the end, I realize that it's a chicken. But I took a moment to be thankful for the partnership between the family at Thymeless Herbes and my own. They worked and invested to produce an animal which fed my family and I was able to pay them directly for their labors.

I use something loosely based on Nigella Lawson's Roasted Chicken recipe, or method, really, from her book How to Eat:

After removing the innards, I lay the chicken, breast-up, in a cast-iron skillet and then fill the extra space with chopped vegetables: onions, carrots, whole peeled garlic and sometimes fennel bulb if I have it. I cut a lemon in half and put one half inside the chicken. I sprinkle fresh ground pepper and kosher salt over the top and then pour a dime-sized drop of olive oil on the breast of the chicken and rub the oil, pepper and salt all over the skin. As I am doing this I push as many of the vegetables under the bird as I can. Then I squeeze the other half of the lemon all over the top and drop it into the skillet.

I then roast at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes per pound, plus 10 minutes. Get out your calculator and use the exact weight to determine the roasting time. If you are really on top of things, throw a couple of zucchini breads into the oven with your chicken to leverage the energy used by the oven. Today I was. It was a pretty rock-star day.

The advantage of using the cast-iron skillet is that when your chicken is done (180 degrees in the thigh joint) you can transfer it to a cutting surface, put your skillet on the burner and make your gravy, taking advantage of all the brown bits on the bottom. To make the gravy, transfer all vegetables to a serving dish, discard lemon and then heat skillet on burner and stir all contents, scraping the bottom. When you have a little bit of a simmer going, throw in the gizzard (not the liver!) The gizzard looks like a heart. Then add a little bit of cornstarch and a then a little bit of chicken stock until you get the consistency that you want. Some people strain their gravy. I never do. I also like orange juice labeled "high pulp."

To make "in the moment stock" add your chicken's neck to 6 cups of water in a pot and simmer. You can also add the out layer (not the paper layer) of the onion you used and the ends of the carrot along with some salt and pepper.

Carve your bird and serve with its vegetable roasting companions and your gravy. Tonight I threw together a Summer Harvest Stuffing. Tomorrow we are planning to make Pesto Chicken Pizza. Had I not been so taken by the beauty of this foul and my own self-satisfaction in how I acquired it, I probably would not have used the livers for the stuffing linked above. I typically save them throughout the year to make pate for Christmas.

Summer Harvest Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients:

1 T EVOO

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, diced

1 small zucchini, diced

1 ear of corn, boiled or steamed, kernels removed

1 chicken liver (optional and presumably from the chicken to be served with stuffing)

2 C bread, cubed or torn into small pieces

1 C stock of choice (I made mine by simmering the neck of my chicken in a pot of water alongside my stuffing)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

If you are using the chicken liver from your chicken, dice and set aside. If you are going to make your own "in the moment" stock, add neck to about 6 cups of water and heat on back burner, covered.

Heat EVOO in medium sauce pan. When ready, add onions. When onions are translucent, add garlic, zucchini and corn. If at any point from here forward the mixture begins to stick to the pan or burn, add some chicken stock (think: risotto!). When zucchini is BRIGHT green add chopped liver, if using. When the liver is completely browned add the bread along with a ladle-full of chicken stock. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture is thoroughly combined. You may not need to use all 2 cups of your stock, but it will be good to have on hand depending on the density or age of the bread you are using. At the point when it is just a little too moist for your liking put the cover on, remove from heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Just before serving, open the lid and "fluff with a fork" as our trusty StoveTop box always says and enjoy!

Zucchini Processing

I bought a bushel of zucchini from Cedar Circle Farm in Thetford, VT for $15. I sliced into coins and blanched 6 pints for pasta and risotto dishes. I "planked" two cookie trays worth for broiling and lasagnas. Annie (the rockstar!) shredded zucchinis for over and hour and we bagged it into 26 two cup bags, which is exactly the amount needed for our zucchini bread recipe. We may also use the shredded squash for fritters or in place of pasta.

I still have ~12 zucchini in my crisper which I have been incorporating into our meals. I may put a few of them in the freezer which, I KNOW, is in total violation of the correct processing rules, but I think it will be fine :)

Project Broccoli

Purchased bushel of broccoli from Hurricane Flats farm for $27. In one hour Scott and I trimmed, washed and blanched all 18 pounds. It is currently flash-freezing.