Meal Plan: November 18 - 24

Sunday:

Zucchini Apple Quiche

Monday:

Butternut Squash Soup and Bread

Tuesday:

Crock Pot Chickpea Curry Pelican over rice

Wednesday:

Pasta with Red Sauce

Thursday:

Baked Acorn Squash with Apples and Cranberries, Broiled Fish

Friday:

Pizza - some with soy Cheese

Saturday:

Leftover buffet/date night dinner

Meal Plan: January 9-15

Monday:

Slow Cooker Apple Sauce Chicken and Company's Company Potatoes Au Gratin from A Year of Slow Cooking with shredded zucchini

Tuesday:

Asian-style orange pork with brown rice and broccoli

Wednesday:

Slow Cooker Squash Soup from A Year of Slow Cooking with chicken salad sandwiches

Thursday:

Left over Split pea soup with cheddar shallot toasts

Friday:

Pizza

Saturday: Visit with the Andrades!

Our own Slow Cooker chili, cornbread and salad

Sunday:

Franks and beans with homemade sauerkraut

Easter 2011 Menu

Easter truly is my favorite holiday. It reminds me of my grandmother, whose birthday is around this time. I cling to the tradition of buying new "Easter outfits" for my kids, I make sure to have a hyacinth every year to make my apartment smell like her living room and I try to incorporate as many colors as possible into our holiday meal, they way she did.

Spring in the Upper Valley is later than in the rest of the country (did I mention it was snowing this morning?!?), so I had to make some serious changes to my original concept. I had envisioned making Deborah Madison's infamous Asparagus and Morel Bread Pudding that appears in Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but that will have to wait until May or so. Our menu will rely mostly on storage crops and what we have canned or frozen, with two ever so important, though non-local treats. Can you guess what they are?

We bought our ham from On the Edge Farm in Woodstock, VT and will be glazing it with a mixture of the the apple jelly Scott made from leftover cores and peels last fall and the maple syrup we bought during Vermont Maple Open House Weekend at Center Hill Maples Farm. Though it will be several weeks before we have that quintessential spring opening meal with local asparagus, morels, rhubarb and an abundance of greens we are grateful to celebrate the oncoming spring and the mere fact that we made it through our first winter in the Upper Valley eating locally most of the time.

Easter 2011 Menu

Appetizers:

Deviled Eggs

Carrot Soup

Main Course:

Maple and Apple Glazed Ham

Roasted Beets, Celeriac and Asparagus, sauteed Swiss Chard

served with Hesser House Macaroni and Cheese

Dessert

Cranberry Apple Crisp (variation on our Cranberry Rhubarb Crisp)

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

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: 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

Meal Plain: November 28 - December 3

Sunday:

Pizza

Monday:

Turkey and Dumplings

Tuesday:

Turkey Soup

Wednesday:

Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie with cranberry on the side

Thursday:

White bean and Apple Chili with added turkey if some leftover

Friday:

Pasta with pesto and turkey

Meal Plan: Aug 21-27

Saturday

B: Dutchboy, Cast Iron Skillet Cooking p. 6

L: Sandwiches

D: Pasta with tomato sauce

Sunday

B: Overnight french toast with peaches

L:

D: Meatloaf, baked squash, salad

Monday

B: Yogurt, granola, oatmeal

L: Meatloaf sandwiches

D: Apple, Noodle and Cheese Casserole, HCNE P. 299

Tuesday

B: Yogurt, granola, oatmeal

L: Leftover Casserole

D: Meatloaf hash, tomato salad, Boston Globe recipe

Wednesday

B: Yogurt, granola, oatmeal

L: Pasta with leftover meatloaf and tomatoes

D: Corn salad with bread, HCNE p. 07

Thursday

B: Yogurt, granola, oatmeal

L: Leftover corn salad with rice

D: Pasta with remaining vegetables

Friday

B: Yogurt, granola, oatmeal

L: Leftover pasta

D: Pizza

Meal Plan: November 17 - 29

These two weeks are like onebigblendedweek! With a big event at work and then a short week before we are off on our Thanksgiving travels, it is hard to keep up with the meals.

Tuesday:

Turkey Noodle Soup, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 65

This was wonderful! I love egg noodles. It was a great way to use up our leftovers

Wednesday:

Fish with Lemon Parsley Relish, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 82

I loved fish cooked in this folded-over method. It looked beautiful on the plate and the greens were delicious.

Thursday:

Turkey Noodle Soup Leftovers

Friday: PA Dinner - Sauce

Saturday:

Tomato and Shrimp pasta with Feta, Everyday Food, November 2009, p. 47

This was DE-LI-CIOUS! I have not cooked shrimp myself much before, but I think it is going to become a staple protein in our house. I soaked the tails and shells in boiled water to make seafood stock.

Sunday: Baked Chicken with Fennel and Apples, Everyday Food, November 2009, p. 146.

Finally getting around to this....I am going to make it in the slow-cooker and add some potatoes I have hanging around.

Monday: Red beans with sausage, Everyday Food, November 2009, p. 55

Rice and broccoli

Tuesday: Eat up leftovers

Wednesday: In CT

Thursday: Thanksgiving!

Friday: In CT

Saturday: Pasta dinner at Trattoria Hesser

Sunday: dinner at home, TBD

Baked Chicken with Fennel and Apples Recipe from Everyday Food, November 2009

Serves 4 ~ Prep time: 10 min ~ Total time: 1hr

• 1 whole chicken (3 1/2 lbs), cut into 8 pieces and breasts halved crosswise
• 2 fennel bulbs, fronds removed, bulbs cut into wedges
• 4 shallots, halved lengthwise
• 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves
• 3 T EVOO
• 2 T cider vinegar
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 Gala or Fuji apples, cored and quartered

Preheat oven to 450 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. On two rimmed baking sheets, arrange chicken, fennel, shallots and sage. In a small bowl, whisk together oil and vinegar and drizzle over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Roast 35 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Add apples to sheets and roast until fennel is browned and chicken is cooked through, 15-20 minutes more.

per serving: 567 cal; 31.3 g fat (7.2 g sat fat); 43.9 g protein; 27.7 g carbs; 5.7 g fiber.

Meal Plan: November 9-15

Since we will all be home on Wednesday and we travel for Thanksgiving, we decided to spend our day making our own Thanksgiving meal. We have never done it before, so we have decided to stick by the experts for most of it.

Monday:

Salsa and black bean chicken from freezer with rice

Tuesday:

Macaroni and Cheese from freezer with broccoli

Wednesday: Veteran's Choice ~ Thanksgiving dinner

• Salt and Pepper Turkey, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 119 ~Very good! The turkey stayed moist and flavorful. Butter rubbed under the skin will do that!
• Bread stuffing with sage, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 120 ~ Solid stuffing. I think next time we would use a recipe with more add-ins.
• Bourbon Sweet potatoes, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 122 ~ A total winner! We would definitely make these again!
• Our own Roasted brussels sprouts with leeks and rosemary ~ We just didn't get to adding the leeks and rosemary, so we just had them roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper. They were great.
• Green Bean Casserole, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 125 ~ We made this with rice milk, so it was definitely healthier than the norm. We both agreed that it is worth it to fry your own shallots, but we might just use the canned soup next time... if we make it. It doesn't really say "Thanksgiving" to either of us.
• Balsamic-glazed pearl onions, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 126 ~ These were amazing! I am still dreaming about them and they were definitely healthier than the traditional creamed variety.
• Martha Stewart Cranberry Fig Relish ~ Very good. We make this every year. I am not sure I really notice the figs. I may be just as well to leave them out from now on.
• Luxurious Masshed Potatoes, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 24 ~ We didn't get to these and we didn't miss them. Neither of us care too much about mashed potatoes.
• Fannie Farmer Apple Pie ~ We didn't make this until Friday. It was good enough. We used a little too much shortening and not enough apples. We'll know for next time.

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Leftover sandwiches/wraps on way to Cape

Saturday: on Cape

Sunday: On Cape

Monday:

Baked Chicken with apples and fennel, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 146

Roasted fingerling potatoes

Cranberry Applesauce Bread Recipe

1 C. Oil

2 C. Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

2 C. Chopped Cranberries

1 t. Vanilla

3 C. Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 t. Baking powder

1 t. Baking soda

1 t. Salt

3 t. Cinnamon

1 Generous Handful Chocolate Chips

1/2 C. Applesauce

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two standard loaf pans. Combine oil and sugar in mixer. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, cranberries, applesauce, chocolate chips. Mix in dry ingredients. Bake for one hour or until top puffs up and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

It's in the oven right now. I have no idea if it will be any good! UPDATE: It is delicious! The applesauce helped to lighten it up.

Apple Recipes

Apple Butter

Apple Turnovers

Meal Plan: October 26 - November 1

Monday:

Sauce

Tuesday:

Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash with rice and steamed or roasted vegetables

Wednesday: Potage Parmentier with salmon bruschetta on homemade bread

Thursday:

Family dinner at Mosaic

Friday: HallowAAD Party

Crock pot barbecue chicken with cornbread and roasted or steamed vegetables

Saturday: Halloween!

Pizza with a monster face

Sunday:

Chicken Pot Pie