Monday Plan day 4/20

I've given up on Sunday plan day. Especially since we don't get our orders or do our grocery shopping until Tuesday, this seems like a far more feasible option. So Monday plan days it will be.

Organic delivery this week: Bananas, apples, grapefruit, pears (x2), cherry tomatoes, arugula, yams, zucchini, red onions, potatoes (x2), snow cucumbers

Dairy delivery this week is our standard 2 half gallons of 2% and a pint of cottage cheese

Tuesday - Chicken and vegetables Stir fry.  We got off our schedule last week due to extra dinner engagements and never made this dish, so this uses the bok choy from last week's order, chicken from our freezer, and a number of ingredients we purchased last week.

Wednesday - Penne, andouille, arugula and goat cheese pasta.  Wow that needs a new name!  This will use sausages from our freezer and cherry tomatoes and arugula from our organic delivery.

Thursday - Leftover stir fry

Friday - Pork tenderloin, baked potatoes, and asparagus, all on the grill.

Saturday - Leftover pasta

Sunday - Curried pork on rice with some of the leftover pork.  Also uses some of the frozen organic veggies we have on hand.

Monday - leftover grilled pork (the tenderloin will feed us at least three nights), potatoes, and zucchini

Grocery list - our dinner list this week includes penne, goat cheese, white wine, and cannellini beans for the pasta.  If the penne is on sale I will buy additional to keep in stock, and I will also be looking to replace our frozen organic veggies, but will wait to find them on sale.  For lunches it is almost time to replace our peanut butter so I'll be watching for a sale, and we need more yeast and whole wheat flour for bread.  Jon is requesting Cheerios for breakfasts and of course we'll need more OJ as usual.  I will be making bread and english muffins on Wednesday as usual so the only other items on our lists are a few cleaning supplies we need to replace (7th Generation is what we always buy).

Have a happy week of spring!

IBC: Something all women should know about (and I don't mean the root beer)

I try to be informed about my health, at least as much as the next person, and I make it my business to research important health issues affecting my home and my loved ones. This, however, was a complete surprise to me. Have you ever heard of IBC, more lengthily known as Inflammatory Breast Cancer? I had not until I received a video emailed to me by my mom. This is a sneaky and deadly cancer, perhaps so many times over because so few women know that it exists and know what to watch for. I know how to look for a lump in my breast, but I had no idea that a spot looking like a bug bite could be equally devastating, if not more so. If you have never heard of this, or even if you have, please watch this video, learn about the signs, become your own educated advocate, and then pass this information on to all the women you love. Lack of information is the biggest killer out there.

The video will not embed in our site, so please click on the link below to watch it on YouTube, or on the link below that read a written article.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P5JpnLRFsk

http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4132526.html

Plan day 4/13

We're off by a day again!  It happens.  With yesterday being the holiday we were too busy celebrating to thing much about meals for the remainder of the week so that fell to being a Monday chore this time around.  The bad part about that?  When I plan on Monday, I have to plan all by myself.  Thankfully, this is going to be an easy week to plan.

Organic delivery this week:  Bananas, kiwis, apples, blackberries, green peppers, carrots, red onions, yellow squash, potatoes, snow peas, and bok choy

Monday - Leftover Easter dinner.  While I don't usually serve leftovers the very next day, this is a meeting night for me, plus being the day after a holiday I plan on it being the kind of day that drags, so not having to worry much about dinner is going to be a real blessing.

Tuesday - dinner at my parents' house!  My dad is trying a new recipe for a venison stew and we are getting to play along!

Wednesday - leftover Zuppa Toscana with a yellow squash, mushroom, and onion mixture on the side (using the squash from our new order, and onions and mushrooms that are left from last week).

Thursday - Tofu stir fry.  This is our vegetarian meal for the week and will use onion, snow peas, and bok choy from this week's order.

Friday - Mediterranean burgers on the grill (better known as Juicy Low-fat burgers, served with a slice of provolone, tomato, fresh basil, and a drizzling of peppered olive oil), potato salad, and carrots.  Yum!  It's burger weather again!  Or at least it is supposed to be on Friday of this week.  We'll see.  This recipe will use the carrots from our order, plus the potato salad I will have made earlier in the week.

Saturday - leftover stir fry

Sunday - Stuffed green pepper with potatoes and cheese (using ground beef we got on sale and froze, peppers and potatoes from our order, and cheese we have on hand thanks to an organic sale a couple of weeks ago).

Grocery list - our dinner list this week includes tofu, ginger root, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots for the stir fry (who can have stir fry with out those???), and a tomato and buns for the burgers.  I will also need to replenish my supply of stocks, since I used those up over the last few weeks and will need beef stock for the stuffed peppers.  I will need celery and radishes for the potato salad (I had to find a way to use all those Easter eggs, so this is what we are eating with lunches all week!), and the usual staples for our breakfast meals, like OJ.  We need more yeast as well, and I will be making the bread and English muffins on Wednesday as usual.  And, of course, I will be scoping the sales as usual!

Hope you all have a great week!

Plan day 4/5

This is a soup week all around!  It just kind of happened that way...

Our organic order this week includes: bananas, Fuji apples, red pears, baby carrots, zucchini, green onions, kale, fingerling potatoes, and yams, and I added beets to the order (for naturally coloring Easter eggs)

We also boosted our dairy order this week.  Usually we receive a gallon of milk (as two half gallons) and this week we added two dozen eggs (some for coloring!) and 2 pints of heavy whipping cream.

Sunday - Leftover pizza from Saturday night

Monday - Vegetarian chili and sesame seed bread (I already know this will be a busy day so this is a meal we will purchase pre-processed, but it is both locally produced and organic, and is available at our Bush's, a Michigan local store)

Tuesday - Bot Bie (using an organic chuck roast we bought on sale and froze, green onions from this week's organic delivery and potatoes from a previous delivery, homemade noodles, and beef stock we have on hand since we don't have a soup bone), and green beans (organic frozen, a bag which we need to use from our freezer because I don't like to keep them too long)

Wednesday - Zuppa Toscana (using chicken stock we opened last week and need to use up, kale and potatoes from this week's organic delivery, and a pint of heavy whipping cream, which I ordered from the dairy)

Thursday - Leftover Bot Bie with zucchini (from the organic order)

Friday - Dinner with Jon's parents

Saturday - Leftover Zuppa Toscana

Sunday - I'm planning next Sunday ahead because it is Easter and we are hosting a family dinner here.  My mom is bringing ham, which we will do in the oven, and I will be making scalloped potatoes (something she needs to show me the secret to while she is here!) and we will also be preparing a nice citrus salad.  The organic strawberries are on sale again this week at Meijer so I am hoping to make strawberry shortcake as a special dessert treat (using the second pint of whipping cream for the homemade whipped cream)

Grocery list - We will visit the store twice this week - once on Tuesday and again on Friday for our Easter dinner items.  Our main dinner list will include 1lb uncased Italian sausage (for the Zuppa), and that's it.  I will be making bread and english muffins on Wednesday, so our breakfast and lunch list includes only OJ, oatmeal (which we ran out of) and either tofu or sushi for our special shopping day meal (a new tradition for Calvin and me).  Additionally we will be looking to replenish our stores with beef, chicken, and/or veggie stock (when we find it on sale), and frozen veggies (most notably beans).  Our Easter list, for shopping on Friday, includes organic spring mix greens, grapefruit, and almonds (for the salad), strawberries, and Bisquick for the shortcake (which I will learn to make from scratch sometime SOON, but not with company coming over), and bulk potatoes (for the au gratin, and I will also be making potato salad next week since I will have all the hard boiled eggs on hand).

Happy Holy week to you all!

Thai curried chicken

This is a recipe I got from my Healthy Cooking magazine (love that magazine!) a while back and have saved for the kind of night when a warm crock pot recipe was warranted.  Tonight was that night - it's chilly, we're all tired, and I feel like I'm coming down with a cold.  Unfortunately, this dish lacked the kick I was hoping for.  The only real alteration I made was adding carrots to the crockpot for the last 20 minutes in order to make it an all in one meal.

• 2+ lbs chicken breast halves, ~ 6 breasts at 6oz each
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 14 oz. light coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 pieces green onions, sliced, divided
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 1-2 tbsp lime juice
• 3 cup hot cooked rice

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with salt and brown both sides in a large nonstick skillet. Place in a 5qt slow cooker.
Combine the coconut milk, curry, turmeric and cayenne; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with half of the onions. Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours or until chicken in tender.
Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Stir in lime juice. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Sprinkle with remaining onions.