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

Make Your Own Tortilla Chips

Recipe from Savory Sweet Life

I can't wait to do this! The warm, handmade chips are what always lure me into my favorite Mexican restaurants!

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.

Meal Plan: November 2 - 8

We are making five new recipes this week in an attempt to get ahead of the winter drudgery by getting comfortable with some fresh dinners!

Monday:

Fannie Farmer Chicken Pot Pie

I used Earth Balance instead of butter and rice milk in place of cream. I also added halved cherry tomatoes and oregano to the filling.

Verdict: This was delicious! I would make it again in a second and I am so glad to have learned to make a pie crust.

Tuesday:

Baked Fish with Herb Breadcrumbs and Broccoli, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 102

Use seasoned breadcrumbs in pantry in place of Portuguese roll. Omit thyme Serve with reheated beets and potatoes from Sunday.

Verdict: This was okay, but too buttery. I think I will go back to broiling fish with a slight touch of EVOO.

Wednesday:

Spice-rubbed pork loin with acorn squash, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 105

Roasted cauliflower with herbed breadcrumbs, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 141

Use seasoned breadcrumbs in pantry instead of sandwich bread.

Verdict: All of this was delicious! The pork was juicy and the squash had a lovely brown carmel coating. The cauliflower was crunchy and spicy. This is worth a repeat!

Thursday:

Winter Vegetable Soup, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 106

There are a bag of kale and a carton of chicken broth in the fridge. Use half of the cannellini beans. Use 1 teaspoon rosemary in place of thyme.

Verdict: I loved this soup! It had this lovely orange broth from the squash and the kale was crunchy. It needed a sprinkle of Romano cheese and then it was perfect!

Friday:

Sauce

Saturday:

Cubano Sandwiches, Everyday Food November 2009, p. 107

Verdict: So good, so good, so good, so good! We have a new reason to drag out the panini press!

Sunday:

Leftover buffet

Cranberry Farms

Cranberry Hill in Plymouth

I plan to buy 10 lbs+ for canning and freezing

This was a wonderful experience! Christine and her husband run the operation out of their garage. She couldn't have been nicer! You have to call ahead and she takes cash and check. She told us that this was a low-yield season, but what they harvested were very high quality. Cranberry Hill is an organic cranberry farm. They flood the bog in April and May to wash out eggs of cranberry fruit worms. In growing and harvesting season they use bug lights to deter predators.