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: January 2-8

After a long hiatus from posting, not meal-planning, I am glad to be back on the stick in a brand new year!

Monday: Thanksgiving Casserole made from vacation-week roast turkey leftovers

Tuesday: Leftover Thanksgiving Casserole.

Wednesday: Leftover New Year's Day Hoppin' John from Simply Recipes with sautéed cabbage

Thursday: Turkey Chili in the Slow Cooker with leftover turkey

Friday: French Toast, bacon and strawberry preserves for 12the night

Saturday: Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese from A Year of Slow Cooking.

Sunday: Slow Cooker Orange Apricot Pork Chops from A Year of Slow Cooking with rice, roasted squash and broccoli.

Meal Plan: September 25-October 1

Sunday:

Pancakes for dinner!

Monday:

Pasta with sauce and meatballs

Tuesday:

Slow Cooker Shepherd's Pie (our own recipe - vegetarian with sauteed eggplant, onions, celery, carrots tossed in leftover tomato sauce and a Romano Cheese, topped with mashed sweet and white potatoes.

Wednesday:

Slow Cooker Boston Baked Beans with Rice steamed cabbage

Thursday:

Zucchini fritters and Borsht from the freezer

Friday:

Oven Fried Chicken, leftover beans and shepherd's pie

Saturday:

Paella?

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.

Food Storage Inventory as of June 26, 2011

Frozen

Vegetables:

6 Gallon Bags Broccoli

30 Pint Bags Frozen Spinach

Blueberries:

1 Gallon bag

Cranberries:

1/2 Gallon Bags

Zucchini:

54 Pints Shredded

Meats:

1 Quart Pork Fat Back

1 Quart Suet

10 Chicken Breasts

10 Chicken Thighs

10 Chicken Drum Sticks

10 Chicken Wings

3 Half Chickens

4 Chicken Stock bags

Pesto:

7 muffin cups

Pantry

Jams/Fruit:

4 Half-pints Blueberry Jam

2 Pints Apple Jelly

2 Quarts Apple Pie Filling

3 Pints Peach Jam

1 Pint Peach Applesauce

3 Half Pints Apple Butter

5 Half Pints Orange Marmalade

3 Half Pints Strawberry Jam

4 Half Pints Strawberry Preserves

Pickles:

4 Pints Radishes

3 Pints Red Cabbage

12 Pints Cauliflower and Carrots

45 Pints Bread and Butter Pickles

48 Pints Dilly Beans

Sauces:

2 Pints Barbecue Sauce

2 Pints Sweet and Sour Sauce

3 Half-pints Chutney

Meal Plan: April 17-24

We trying to eat down some of our heavier stores this week because that means less to move!

Sunday:

Leftover roll-ups

Monday:

Bacon Sandwiches with Tomato Soup

Tuesday:

Broccoli, Cauliflower, White bean casserole with coleslaw on the side

Wednesday:

Sauteed Swiss Chard with Bacon over rice

Thursday:

Pizza

Friday:

Pesto with Zucchini over pasta

Saturday:

Easter Dinner (menu to be posted later)

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

Meal Plan: March 20-26, 2011

Sunday:

Black bean and zucchini quesadillas and coleslaw

Monday:

Corn Pudding

Leftover corned beef hash and broccoli

Tuesday:

Ricotta and swiss chard gnudi

Wednesday:

Chicken, barley soup with cabbage, celery and adzuki beans

Thursday:

Corn Chowder with bread

Friday:

Zucchini parmesan

Saturday:

Pasta with creamy pesto sauce

Next week:

Sunday:

Meat loaf and tomato gravy with roasted potatoes and beets

Meal Plan: February 13-19

Sunday:

Pizza

Monday: Sandwiches on the way home

Tuesday:

Crock Pot Chicken with broiled zucchini and brown rice

Wednesday:

Chicken breast with roasted (and reheated) potatoes, beets and celeriac

Thursday:

Chicken, Broccoli, Cheese bake with leftover rice

Friday:

Tacos

Saturday:

Dinner for Mom

Meal Plan: January 16-22

Sunday: Pasta with meatballs and salad

Monday: Crock Pot Butternut Squash Soup with homemade breadsticks

Tuesday: Pasta with meatballs and salad

Wednesday: Broiled Haddock with Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes and Broccoli

Thursday: Zucchini Lasagne

Friday: Zucchini Lasagne

Saturday: Maggie and Adam visiting

Meal Plan: January 3-8

Sunday:

Garlic rubbed roast chicken with oranges and onions from Martha Stewart Living, January 2011 with roasted squash, beets and cranberry-fig chutney.

Monday:
Leftovers from Sunday

Tuesday:
Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday:
Soup

Thursday
Leftover Soup

Friday:
Pasta with Pesto

Sat:

Lunch- Crock Pot Baked Beans with Apples and cornbread
Dinner- @ JR birthday party; Chinese food for mom

Next week - Sunday:
Lunch- Leftover buffet

Dinner-Meatloaf with potatoes, broccoli and carrots

Meal Plan: December 4 -10

Saturday:

Orange Chicken, Broccoli, Crab Rangoons, Leftover Pork Fried Rice

Sunday:

Pizza (Cheese and Hawaiian) with Arugula and Beet Salad

Monday:

Acorn squash "mac and cheese"

Tuesday:

Crockpot Barbecue Chicken Wings, Roasted Potatoes with beets and arugula

Wednesday: Egg stir-fry with left over arugula, carrots, onions and sweetened rice

Thursday: Crockpot Sausage-Apple-Potato bake with broccoli

Friday: Veggie Quesadillas with zucchini, corn relish and cheese

Oatmeal cookies

Made King Arthur's Rolled Oatmeal Cookies and they were delicious. We have about dozen in the freezer for Christmas baking!

Blueberry picking... and picking and picking

We added 9 half pints of blueberry jam to our pantry today with more to come. I used the low-sugar recipe from PickYourOwn.org and it is INCREDIBLE. You just can't go wrong with their instructions. We spent the latter half of the morning at the Darling Farm in Canaan, VT. The Darlings have been in their home and blueberry farm for 14 years and raise 15 varieties of blueberries and produce their own maple syrup. I had no idea there were some many different kinds of blueberries! Mrs. Darling encouraged us to "mix it up" when picking for for pies, jams and freezing because a hodgepodge of Patriots, Blue Jays, Spartans and the like would enhance the overall flavor. But, she cautioned, only pick Northlands for muffins or scones. They are smaller and will hold baked goods together better.

We arrived with each of us outfitted with our own yogurt container necklace ready to fill them up. Mrs. Darling smiled and handed us 2-quart cans with strong plastic twine. I am sure she could tell that we have mostly been "recreational" harvesters up until now. Well if that were the case, the Darling Farm is a professionally maintained playing field. There were rows and rows of bushes perfectly spaced and the berries were SO abundant. In two hours we picked over 11 pints of berries, half the amount we ultimately want for eating, canning, freezing and baking between now and next season. They're falling fast so we plan to head out again tomorrow.

One thought on harvest-outings. I have realized that fruit-picking should be approached much like a trip to one of the north side beaches on the Cape: pack your lunch the night before and head out as soon as you wake up. It's not as much fun to be out there in the hot sun as you think and you will probably need a nap and definitely a shower when you get back.

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.

Basil into Pest

Purchased 12 bunches from Hurricane Flats Farm (Royalton, VT) at Norwich Farmers Market.

Cost: $10

Used 1 1/2 cups pine nuts.

Cost: $20

We had everything else and will add the Parmesan or Romano cheese when we defrost and prepare to serve.

Recipe/instructions: http://www.pickyourown.org/pesto.php

Yield: 30 1/2 cup portions flash frozen in muffin tins which will feed the four of us over pasta for one meal.

Meal Plan: April 5- 11

Monday:

Spinach Salad with Ham and Eggs, Everyday Food Iphone Ap

Tuesday:

Tomato and Shrimp Pasta, EF Mag, Nov. 2009, p. 47

Wednesday:

Macaroni and Cheese with green vegetable

Thursday:

Broiled Cod, baked potatoes, vegetables from the farm

Friday:

Macaroni and Cheese with green vegetable

Saturday:

Ham, spinach and rice casserole, EF Mag, April 2010, p. 87

Sunday:

Pizza