South Main Avenue

This Weeks Menu: December 3 - December 9, 2012

2012-12-03T16:29:00.001-08:00

I had the most wonderful weekend. My husband and I finished Christmas and Hanukkah shopping and went on a lunch date on Friday. We finally got our tree and decorated the house on Saturday. I even found time to make a menu before Matt went grocery shopping on Sunday.

Matt taking the lead on grocery shopping let me prepare for a wonderful canning lesson with my friend Randy. We made pear and cranberry jam and jalapeno jelly. More to come on that soon.

Breakfast
Yogurt, granola and fruit
Hard boiled eggs and sliced pear
Oatmeal x 2
Pancakes and fruit
Breakfast with family x 2

Lunch for the Adults
Leftovers
Soup from the freezer
Deli

Lunch for the Munchkin
Broccoli nuggets, hummus and chips and pear
Alphabet pasta and fruit x 2
PB& J, cheese stick and fruit
Cheese sandwich, fruit and chocolate chip cookie

Dinner
Slower cooker tikka masala over rice
Chicken Tetrazzini
Cheeseburger Meatloaf with sweet potato mash and veggie
Homemade Pizza
Potato Leek soup from the freezer
Dinner with family x 2

2012-11-28T10:11:00.003-08:00

My husband and I were trying to shove our free ham into the freezer the other day when we realized that we had too much food jammed in there already! I often cook double batches of meals and single portion them out for future lunches and dinner, but I guess I have gone overboard. Luckily I planned our menu this week to help clear the freezer out.

Breakfast
Yogurt and Granola x3
Fruit smoothies (using frozen strawberries and banana's from the freezer) and Toast
Hard boiled eggs and fruit
Pancakes x 2

Lunch for the kiddo

Broccoli nuggets and fruit
Mac & Cheese x 2
Grandma's homemade pasta and meatballs
Veggie Pancakes from the freezer with homemade apple sauce

Lunch for the adults
Veggie Lasagna from the freezer
Cream of vegetable soup from the freezer
Split pea soup
Leftovers for the adults

Dinner
Black bean, chicken and rice from the freezer
Pulled Pork from the freezer
Split pea soup using Thanksgiving ham leftovers
Roasted chicken and veggies
Leftovers x 2

Post Thanksgiving Comma + Recipe

2012-11-25T15:17:00.001-08:00

We are finally home after two Thanksgiving dinners. Yes, you read that correctly. We celebated Thanksgiving on Thursday with my family and then Saturday with my husband's family. Honestly, this is not a big deal because the only thing that was the same between the two meals was the turkey.

My mother served homemade pasta with tomato sauce, ham, mash potaotes, sweet potatoes in brown sugar and butter, peas and mushrooms, a stuffed pork loin (which my hubby made), stuffing and corn. I should also mention that she was making food for 27 people.

My mother-in-law served butternut squash lasagna, bourbon pecan sweet potatoes, green beans with shallots and mushrooms, chorizo and chestnut stuffing and brussel sprouts with pancetta.

I brought the cranberry sauce for both dinners. I experimented with a rhubarb and candied ginger cranberry sauce. Are you wondering where I got rhubarb in November? Well, my husband was trying to stuff a 20 lb turkey in the deep-freeze when he discovered that I had hoarded three ziplock bags full of rhubarb (and 30 Bananas, but that's another story). He promptly dropped them on the counter and said "Do something with this, it's taking up too much space in the freezer."

I quickly googled and found the aforementioned cranberry sauce. I toned down the candied ginger from 1 cup to about 2 tablespoons and both families still thought it had too much ginger. Personally, I loved it. I reduced the sugar because I liked the tartness of both the cranberry sauce and rhubarb. You could reduce the sugar a bit more, it was a little sweet for my taste, and level of ginger is obviously subjective. Regardless, it was definitely delicious and there was none left over at either family meal.

Rhubarb Candied Ginger Cranberry Sauce
(modified from food.com)

Ingredients

4 cups fresh cranberries
1 (20 ounce) package frozen rhubarb
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger (I used about 2 tbsps so I modified it some more)
1/4 cup grated lemon, rind of two lemons

Directions

Combine all ingredients in large saucepan.
Cook over med-low heat until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally
Increase heat and boil until cranberries pop, about 10 minutes, stirring
Remove from heat.
Cover and let stand 15 minutes.
Refrigerate until well-chilled.

This Weeks Menu: November 12-18, 2012

2012-11-14T13:50:00.004-08:00

Have you missed my weekly menus? Well, I have! I feel like we have been so disorganized without a weekly menu. Honestly, we have eaten more boxes of Annie's Mac and Cheese than I care to admit :)

I recently read a Facebook post from a Money Saving Mom reader that asked how a working mom can plan a menu, coupon, clean the house, save money and spend time with their children and husband. Many of the responders said "You can't do it all." That is so true. You need to pick and choose and then give yourself grace when it doesn't work out.

I have decided to be ok with eating Annie's Mac and Cheese and not planning a menu this last month. Instead, I did a lot of activities with my son and organized the house instead. Sometimes, you gotta pick and choose.

I can finally breathe again, so I have added menu planning back into the mix. Here is our menu this week:

Breakfast
Yogurt and Fruit x 2
Fruit smoothies and Toast
Hard boiled eggs and fruit
Pancakes x 2
Pumpkin Bread and fruit

Lunch
Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup
Broccoli nuggets and fruit for Max
Mac & Cheese
Leftovers for the adults

Dinner
Black bean quesadilla and fruit
Butternut squash lasagna
London Broil with mash potatoes and veggies
Grilled steak and roasted acorn squash
Roasted chicken, sautéed Swiss chard and orzo
Leftovers x 2

Fall can't be over already...can it?!!

2012-11-05T09:10:00.001-08:00

I can't believe fall is going by so quickly! We have been busy racking up leaves and purging our home of excess junk that I have not had time to share all the fun things we have been doing this fall.

Even though some photos are from Halloween there are few recipes at the bottom that you can still make with fall ingredients.


I can'tt help myself...my little astronaut! (Max 3.5 yrs old)

Martha Stewart Shrunken Heads in Cider

Beautiful spread of food at a friends Halloween party.

The pieces to my Lego Halloween costume

Bats from egg cartons and ghost leaves

I roasted pumpkins whole. So easy!


Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Spice Syrup for coffee

Soup it is!

2012-10-10T15:56:00.001-07:00

When it is cold and rainy in the fall I think about caldo verde soup. Mainly because my garden is usually full of kale, but also because I love a good spicy soup on a cold day.

Caldo Verde
(Slightly adapted from Leite's Culinaria)

1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
10 ounces chouriço, diced
6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups cold water
4 cups chicken stock
1 pound kale chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent. Add the garlic and half the chouriço and cook for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, cover everything with the water, bring to a boil and lower the heat, simmering until the potatoes are almost done, about 15 minutes.

2. When the soup is cool enough to handle, purée it in the food processor (or use an immersion blender and make this a one pot meal) and return to the pot. Add the greens, bring everything back to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls, and garnish with the remaining cubes of chouriço.

This soup freezes well. I make a double batch and freeze a couple of servings for lunch.

This Weeks Menu: October 1 - October 7, 2012

2012-10-01T08:50:00.001-07:00

I have frozen so much food from the garden that I can't fit another thing into my freezer or deep freezer. This week we are Eating From Pantry.

Breakfast
Baked Oatmeal
Chocolate Banana Muffins and fruit
Apple Pancakes
Yogurt Smoothie
Waffles

Lunch
Roasted Potato Leek Soup
Swiss Chard Quiche
Leftovers x 3

Dinner
Turkey Chili Soup (Except I will use my own recipe for taco seasoning, not the packet)
Grilled Steaks and fall garden salad
Roasted Pork Loin with brown rice and sauteed swiss chards
Pulled Pork with homemade rolls
Vegetable Stew
Camping with friends

My 7/27 Price Chopper Steals & Deals - Woohooo!

2012-09-28T07:51:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday I won a few great coupons from A Super Savvy Saver and could not wait to use them when they arrived in the mail yesterday. I did not need to go shopping since I barely fit the pizza and ice creams in the freezer. But I could not pass up the opportunity to spend $19.71 and save over $48.29! That is a little over a 70% savings.

How do I pull this type of trip off? I pull/print the coupons when I see a deal I would like to purchase and put them in an envelope to use if I can make it to the store. Sheila over at A Super Savvy Saver helps by posting the deals as she finds them. She posted the deals for the chips and Back to Nature mac and cheese. and then she sweetened the deal for me when I won the coupons for the free ice cream and $3.00/2 off the pizza. The rest was all in the mailer I got earlier this week. I little bit of organizing can save you a lot of money.

2- Back to Nature Mac and Cheese - Free

-$.75 from Coupons.com

2 -DiGiorno Pizza - $7.00

-$3.00 coupon I won, but I also found a few outside of the freezer case

2-Helava Good cheeses -$2.25 for 2

-$.75 blinkie and

-2/$3 Bethlehem grand opening mailer coupon

2-PC Butter - $3.45 for 2

-$.55 Real California doubled (5/13 SS insert) - expires 9/30

-$.55 Real California Cow coupon - http://www.realcaliforniamilk.com/products/coupons/ (does not double)

PC pasta - Free

-Bethlehem grand opening mailer coupon

2-Garden of Eatin Chips $1.00 for 2

-2/$3 Bethlehem grand opening mailer coupon

-$1.00 from Coupons.com (zipcode 75204)

Top Round London Broil -$3.91

-used $1.88 coupon in Bethlehem grand opening mailer coupon

Earthbound carrots $.50

-$.75 Coupon from Earthbound (Must sign up. I highly recommend it. I am getting weekly coupons)

5lb bag of white potatoes -$.99 ( I needed these to use up the rest of my leeks!)

-used Bethlehem grand opening mailer coupon

Edy's Ice cream - Free

-coupon buy 2 DiGiorno pizzas get free ice cream

Ben and Jerry's Ice cream - $1.99

-used Bethlehem grand opening mailer coupon

Bacon from the butcher counter- $4.64 (Because my husband came shopping :-)

It was a good thing my husband came shopping, because the cashier rang my $5 off $25 last. I was actually $.50 short and she ran it through anyway :)

-$5 on $25 Save a lot competitor coupon.

-$1 cat my husband found that someone left behind :)

Harvesting the last bits of the garden....

2012-09-26T17:17:00.001-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I last wrote. Sadly, I am still without a laptop and have come to accept that it has gone on to a better place. Oh well, at least I have the desktop.

That being said, my lack of access to the laptop does not mean I have not been busy. So much has happened since I last wrote. Mainly, I have been trying to figure out what to do with the last few bits of our garden.

I was able to blanch and freeze another two servings of kale, swiss chards and leeks. I also threw tomatillos in the freezer and whipped up some chile verde base for sometime in the future. Finally, I froze the last few tomatoes in ziplock bags. I have never frozen tomatoes before, but I bet they will work great in a chili.

I even had some time to made a wonderful Zuppa di Porri e Bietole (Leek and Swiss Chard Soup) last week. It was so delicious and super easy to throw together on a week night. I think I am going to make another batch and freeze it before the frost takes the rest of my swiss chard.

If you don't have a garden or did not grow swiss chard and/or leeks you can still find these great veggies at your local farmers market. Give it a try. I bet you will like it.

photo credit

This Weeks Menu: August 27-September 2, 2012

2012-08-28T19:31:00.003-07:00

Figs from my grandparents garden. We are already down to to last three!

We are back after a wonderful family vacation and much needed blog-cation. Missed me? I missed you guys :)

We were absolutely spoiled by my husband's family for the past two week. We ate decadent and delicious meals with his sister and enjoys late afternoon happy hours with his father. The kids got to play together which is always nice to see and we even got to see Shamu! I hope to share more about our vacation later this week, but for now, we are trying to get back to our normal schedule.

My first task was taking an inventory of deep freezer. Before we went on vacation I stuffed our deep freezer full of garden veggies, so much so, that I could barely close it. My plan for the next two weeks is to use some of it to make room for more that needs to go in.

After that, I planed our menu for this week. I find that having this planned out helps me transition back to work. I hope you have a great rest of the week!

Breakfast
Yogurt, homemade granola and grandma's canned peaches
Whole Wheat Waffles from the freezer x 2
Bagels with cream cheese and a side of fruit
Scrambled eggs and fruit x 2
Toast with fruit smoothie

Lunch
Veggie lasagna from the freezer
Squash soup from the freezer
Leftovers

Dinner
Pulled Pork and homemade dinner rolls
Grilled steak with garden salad and roasted acorn squash from the garden
Grilled chicken, roasted potatoes with a garden tomato salad
Slow Cooker Chicken with sauteed leeks
Grandma provided dinner when we arrived from vacation and made us meal to take home (my grandma is the best :)
Leftovers

Preserving Projects
Roasted tomato sauce
Salsa
Peach butter in the slow cooker
Slow Cooker chicken broth (I plan to use the bones from this weeks chicken)

This Weeks Menu: August 12 - August 18

2012-08-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

I am loving that my garden is in full swing right now. I don't have to think about my sides for dinner. I just work with what I pick!

Breakfast
Banana peanut butter swiss chard smoothie
Bagel and fruit
Baked oatmeal x 2
Whole-Wheat Waffles x 2
Scrambled eggs, fruit and English muffins
Breakfast with family

Lunch
Roasted beet and goat cheese salad
Leftovers

Dinner
Grilled Polenta, grilled zucchini and tomato cucumber salad
Roasted pork loin with swiss chard and potato salad
Pizza with leftover grilled veggies
Lemon yogurt grilled chicken and zucchini spaghetti
Grilled steak with tomato and cucumber salad
Mish-Mosh leftover dinner
Dinner with family

Preserving Projects
Roast beets and freeze
Blanch and freeze kale, swiss chards and squash
Roasted tomato sauce and freeze
Black and blue Jam

photo credit

This Weeks Menu: July 22 - July 28, 2012

2012-07-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday folks! It was a wonderful and busy weekend. I got in some much needed preserving and fit in a family afternoon at the baseball field to see the Tri-City Valley Cats. The Summer is flying by so fast, I can't believe July is almost over!

After a two week hiatus of menu planning, we are back! I really can't explain why we did not plan a menu. I just think my husband and I needed a break from thinking :) Also, it has been so incredibly hot in NY, for what seems like forever, we have barely cooked. We ate a lot of garden salad and grilled a bunch of steaks. I heart my grill :-)

Breakfast
Bagels and fruit
Baked Oatmeal
Waffles x 2 (these are Max's favorite)
Breakfast with family x 2
Zucchini bread and fruit

Lunch
Squash soup and buttered horn rolls
Snacky lunch (cucumbers with hummus, cheese and fruit)
Turkey and cheese sandwich with cucumbers and hummus and fruit
Leftovers

Dinner
Zucchini Fritters and sour cream
Swiss Chard risotto
Chicken Tomatillo lasagna
Steaks and roasted beets and potatoes
Dinner out with family x 2
Leftovers

I need a soft kitchen mat ASAP!

2012-07-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

My legs are so incredibly sore after spending several hours in the kitchen on my feet this Saturday. I honestly have a love-hate relationship with this time of year. I love the fresh vegetables coming out of my garden. However, I hate standing over a hot stove canning and freezing it all. But then again, I love opening a jar of something in January and remembering summer. See my dilemma?

TADA! All in the freezer or canned for the future.

The list included:

Roasting Garden Peppers I read that you can freeze roasted peppers. Who knew?
Squash and dill soup for the freezer (froze 3 containers) - Not in the picture. It tasted ok, but I think it needs a bit more garlic and herbs.
Zucchini Bread - I attempted to remove the vegetable oil from the recipe by using applesauce and coconut oil, as well as substituting honey for sugar. It did not turn out well, so I am back to my favorite recipe. I made 6 loaves...but we could not wait and dug into 1 :)

Gingery pickled beets (3 jars) I am love with canning beets. They make for a beautiful vibrant red jar. Aren't they beautiful?!

Freeze swiss chards (made 2 bags)

Freeze zucchini and squash (made 2 of each)

Cilantro lime cubes (made 4 cubes)

Basil Pesto for the freezer (made 2)

I think I started making the zucchini bread around 10:00 am and was done with everything around 1:30 pm. Yep.That's why I need one, maybe two, of those fancy smanzy kitchen mats! The happy and sad thing is that I am no where near done preserving for the summer.

Feeling the "community" of community gardening

2012-07-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how hot it is right now in New York. I headed to the garden at 7:30 pm thinking it was going to be a bit cooler but, man, was I wrong! My husband said that a thermometer on the highway read 100 degrees.

A wonderful head of bok choy

While at the garden I met a fellow gardener, Pete, who was quite nice. We exchanged some pleasantries on how our gardens are performing this year. We both happened to be leaving the garden at the same time, when I notice his beautiful bok choy. I have to admit, I was envious. For some reason, Matt and I have not had success with growing bok choy... maybe next year?

To my surprise he offered it to me. I felt like I couldn't just take it without trading something from my own garden, so I offered two fists full of swiss chard, which happened to be something he did not grow. There are moments that I wish our garden was in our backyard, but it's instances like this that make the "community" aspect of our garden special.

I cannot wait to make a large bowl of Asian Green Salad tomorrow.

ZUCCHINI!!!!

2012-07-11T18:04:00.001-07:00

Ever hear of "Sneak Zucchini onto your neighbor's porch" day? If not, mark you calendars for August 8th if your garden looks like ours. My husband planted 24 zucchini & squash plants in our garden. Yes, I said 24 for this family of 3. I'm not entirely sure what he was thinking... maybe he really loves my zucchini bread, and this is his way of asking without asking??

Honestly, I have not idea why he thought that this family of three would need to eat that many zucchini and/or squash. I see squash soup, pickled zucchini and whole bunch of the zucchini bread in my future.

My favorite way to prepare these is by tossing them with olive oil, salt & pepper, chopped fresh oregano & thyme and grill them up.

I can't wait to pick more! (and by more, I mean, 2 or 3 a day just to keep up)

SAVING MONEY TIP:

One way I save money is by putting soup in the small round Ziploc Twist 'N Loc Containers to use over the next six months. The containers are the perfect single size serving for lunch.

This Week's Menu: July 9 - July 15

2012-07-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

After a much needed break from being responsible and planning everything, I am now back and ready to tackle the next few weeks. We took a well deserved family vacation to the Poconos, PA and found time to stop in Scranton, PA to take Max to the Train Museum at Steamtown National Historical Park. He loved it far more than we anticipated, and I highly recommend it, especially if you have a young child who loves trains. Every turn was another question or another "woooooow." Watching the joy of him taking it all in made the adventure that much more special.

With that said....back to life. I recently took an inventory of our pantry and freezer and discovered that, with a little creativity, we have enough stocked up to eat out of them for weeks. So instead of spending money at the grocery store, I am going to do my "shopping" in the pantry this week. Who knows... maybe next week too.

Here's this week's menu.

Breakfast
Baked Cherry Oatmeal
Homemade yogurt, granola and fruit
Eggs, english muffins and fruit x2
Homemade yogurt smoothie and hard boiled egg
Waffles and fruit x 2

Lunch
Leftovers x 5
Garden salad with grilled chicken

Dinner
Matt's Mac & Cheese
Grilled steak, grilled polenta and garden salad
Grilled chicken with rhubarb chutney, garden swiss chards and brown rice
Garden Kale Curry
Pinto beans TBD (I started soaking them and my husband said "I will figure it out." That makes for a happy me :)
Stuffed zucchini boats and garden salad
Homemade cheese ravioli

Recipe: Peanut Butter Sesame Noodles

2012-06-26T06:54:00.002-07:00

This is a super easy to make and takes almost no time at all.

Ingredients
1 pound of spaghetti
1 - 2 cups of mixed veggies (We toss whatever we have in the fridge that needs to be used up)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 medium garlic cloves
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy)

Preparation
1. Saute veggies in a couple tablespoons sesame oil. (You could also add the veggies to the pasta water after you boil the pasta, but I like the flavor the veggies get from being sauteed)
2. Cook pasta.
3. Blend all other the ingredients to make the sauce.
4. Add veggies to pasta and mix the sauce over everything.

Image credit

Preserving Projects for 2012

2012-06-21T07:00:00.001-07:00

Completed 2012
Apple Sauce
Apricot Jam
Annie's Salsa
Blackberry & Apricot Jam
Bloody Mary Mix
Blueberry Jam
Chive Blossom Vinegar
Garlic Dill Pickles
Gingery Pickled Beets
Ketchup
Mustard
Peaches in a light syrup
Peaches in Honey
Pickled Garlic Scapes
Plum and Anise jam
Rhubarb syrup
Rhubarb chutney
Roasted Tomato Sauce
Spiced Apple Butter
Strawberry jam
Strawberry Vanilla Jam

Freezer Preservation
Corn
Kale
Peaches
Soy Beans
Strawberries
Swiss Chards
Tomatillo

Dehydrator
Apples

Canning Projects for 2012 - Not happening this year.

Apple Rhubarb Chutney

Apple Jelly Pectin- Oops. I forgot I wanted to make this after making applesauce.
Crabapple Chutney
Dilly Green Beans - Never got green beans from this year. Maybe next year :(
Jalapeno Jellly

Lemon Curd

Pears in a light syrup
Pickled Jalapeno
Raspberry Jam
Relish
Salsa Verde

Sweet and Spicy Zucchini Pickles

Photo credit

This Weeks Menu: June 18-22, 2012

2012-06-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, we've been recently flying by the seat of our pants in regards to menu planning and what we have been eating. My husband has been warning me for the last two weeks that we were running low on food, but since I never bothered to check, I chose to ignore his advice. So finally, after looking in the freezer and seeing the bottom, I realized my husband was right...we in fact needed food.

That was a sign for me to get cracking and start filling it up again. I spent my two days off making ravioli using spinach from our garden, throwing pizza dough in the bread machine, baking English muffin loafs and stocking the fridge and freezer with groceries after doing 1 round of shopping (with another coming in a day or so). We added fuel to the fire by going strawberry and rhubarb picking last Thursday, which forced myself to make a strawberry jam and rhubarb chutney, which both came out pretty darn tasty.

After many hours of cooking, I finally feel "caught up" and am thankful that I have the evening to myself and a fridge full of food. {Insert sigh}

As you will see below, our garden is out-producing us in salad. Oh, how I can't wait for some diversity :)

Breakfast
Strawberry Grapefruit smoothie and homemade whole wheat bread with strawberry jam
Scrambled eggs and English muffin bread slice with strawberry jam
Baked Oatmeal x 2
Waffles and fruit x 2
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Brunch out for Father's Day

Lunch
Chopped Chicken Taco Salad
Healthy Chicken fingers with mustard dipping sauce and carrot sticks
PB&J on homemade whole wheat bread and carrot sticks
Snacky lunch (chickpea and pepper dip with crackers, cheese and fruit)
Turkey sandwich and fruit and carrot sticks
Leftovers

Dinner
Leftover steak fajita and garden salad
Lasagna with garden spinach and garden salad
Parmesan Chicken Pillards with cherry tomato sauce and orzo and garden salad
Lamb loin chops and garden salad
Sesame Noodles with mixed veggies (My sister-in-law introduced us to this quick recipe last year. We love it in our house. The recipe is below).
Leftovers

Galic Scapes & Beet Greens

2012-06-13T06:32:00.001-07:00

I am totally not ready to start canning yet, but that does not stop my garden from producing!

When we were preparing the community garden plot we thought we were dealing with wild onions, but when Matt saw the garlic scapes growing he realized that we were in fact dealing with wild garlic. Sadly the garlic was all bunched together which does not make for healthy bulbs of garlic. Hence Matt pulling out two large bunches and leaving them on the counter for me. (Sigh) And so the season begins :)

I quickly searched and found two canning recipes: pickled scapes and a fridge asian scrapes. But here is a great site for many other ways to use garlic scapes - Michigan Garlic Farm

What I liked most about this canning project was that I was able to can just one jar and put one jar in the fridge. It took me about 1/2 hour from start to finish.

But my garden bounty did not end there. Monday, I went to thin out our beets and was left with a large bowl of beet greens. I sauteed them with olive oil, two pieces of garlic and salt and pepper.

Tada! BBQ chicken, sauteed beet greens and tomato salad. YUM!

Now I have to figure out what to do with all the immature garlic. Hmmmm......

Got Milk?

2012-06-07T08:11:00.002-07:00

There are a lot of ways to you can save money. Yes, you can coupon, cut your personal expenses and if circumstances allow, drive one car. But all those decisions are time consuming and include some sacrifices. I have found that the easiest way to reduce our grocery budget is by making food from scratch. I realize this takes effort too, but you have to eat, right? So, why not make it yourself and control what you eat.

One way we save money is by making waffles at home. The deal I found the other day really made this practice worth it and it did not require any coupons which made it an even sweeter deal. I always keep my eyes peeled for the orange discount/mark down "peelie" stickers found on food that is about to expire. I have read many money saving blogs where folks have found really cheap milk at their grocery store this way. I had never been so lucky, until recently. I got both containers of organic milk for $1.23. I saved over $7.25.

Granted they were expiring within two days, but you know as well as I do that the milk will not expire on the date listed on the carton. But honestly, I was willing to take the chance of it spoiling for $1.23. Fortunately for me, I had just read a post from Money Saving Mom on How to Use Up Three Gallons of Milk in One Day, so I knew I could use it up quickly.

When I got home the little peanut and I mixed up a double batch of waffles that we froze and plan on using over the next couple of months (or not... he loves his waffles). I used the quick waffle recipe from the How To Cook Everything cookbook.

Quick & Easy Waffles Recipe
from How to Cook Everything

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour (I use 1/2 white flour & 1/2 whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sugar (I substitute honey sometimes)
3 teaspoons baking powder
11/2 cup milk
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter (and little more to grease up the waffle iron)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation
1. Mix all dry ingredients.
2. Mix all wet ingredients and then add to dry. Mix well.
3. Pour a large spoon full onto the waffle iron. My iron takes about 5 or so minutes to cook a waffle.

How to Freeze Waffles

Cook waffles according to recipe directions. Allow the waffles to cool completely on a cookie sheet. (I put parchment paper between the layers).
Place the cooled waffles on the baking sheet making sure that they do not touch each other..
Place the baking sheet into the freezer. Allow the waffles to freeze for at least 6 hours.
Once the waffles are completely frozen, stack them in a zip top freezer bag or freezer-safe container.
Use a marker or tape label to add the date to your storage container.

How to Reheat Waffles

Option 1 for Reheating Waffles:
Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Line the desired number of waffles on the baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until they are heated through.

Option 2 for Reheating Waffles:
Stack waffles on a microwave safe plate and heat on high for 1 ½ – 2 minutes or until the waffles are heated through. Then place them in the toaster oven for 1 or 2 minutes to get their crunch back.

Brown Rice Pudding

I also made some brown rice pudding. I usually make it with white rice, but since we have moved away from white rice over the last couple of years I experimented with brown rice. It was OK. It was not as creamy as I like it. Maybe I needed to use cream instead of just milk. Oh well. I ate it, so it wasn't that bad.

I only had 1/2 of the second container left after making the waffles and rice pudding but that was gone within the next day since my son is a milk hound. This may not ever happen again, but if it does I will be prepared to use the milk up and now you are too!

Break it Down!

To break it down by time and money - I made 24 Waffles for the rough cost of $1.00 and about an hours time spent in the kitchen making them with my son. Meanwhile to purchase the same 24 frozen waffles in the supermarket it would cost around $6 or more depending on where you shop and if it's not on sale. This is not a huge savings, but all the little savings add up over a month. Plus, I control what goes into my food, which is important to me.

This Weeks Menu: June 4, 2012

2012-06-04T18:03:00.002-07:00

Look at all that food in jars! The top shelf of my fridge is full of last year's canning projects so that I can make room for this year's bounty downstairs in the basement. Look closely and you can see (or take my word for it) relish, bread and butter pickles, salsa, Meyers lemon syrup, hot sauce, mustard, applesauce and yogurt. You can't see the salsa verde, spiced apple butter, garlic & dill pickles and rhubarb syrup. Oh, how I love canning.

I am working all week at a conference so I left my husband plan the menu this week. He would have added more red meat if I had let him.

Breakfast
Toast, homemade yogurt with jam swirl and fruit
Waffles and strawberries x2
Scrambled eggs, toast (maybe english muffin bread) and fruit
Banana peanut butter yogurt smoothie with toast
Oatmeal with honey x2

Lunch
PB&J, fruit salad and cheese stick
Black bean burger and fruit salad
Asparagus Quiche and fruit salad
Leftovers x 4

Dinner
Baked chicken, quinoa, and salad
Marinated London broil, corn and garden salad
Al's Tuna casserole
Baked Pork Chops, steamed zucchini and quinoa
Leftover London broil burritos and brown rice
Leftovers x 2

Experiment for the week:

Breakfast English muffin bread

Recipe: Granola

2012-06-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

I am in love with this granola. I have been eating a boat load loads of granola, yogurt and peaches. It is summer in a bowl!

Homemade Granola

Slightly adapted from 100 Days of Real Food (She adds a lot more nuts to her recipe)

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup raw sliced almonds
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons of spices apple butter (I used my homemade spiced apple butter. You could use plain apple butter)
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, coconut, and spices together in a large mixing bowl.

3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla and spiced apple butter.

4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.

5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.

6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag. Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks (if it lasts that long).

This Weeks Menu - May 29 - June 3, 2012

2012-05-31T04:40:00.001-07:00

Oscar the Grouch?? What do you see?

Happy Thursday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend and began the Summer on a high note. The weather in New York was absolutely beautiful and the weekend was filled with tons of activities and seeing both sides of our family. I think what made it even better was that my son was able to spend time with all three sets of his grandparents and his great-grandparents. This is something that's almost impossible because one set of them moved to California two years ago. It turned out to be a very special weekend.

Breakfast
Homemade Granola with homemade yogurt and jar of my canned peaches x 2 (didn't use these last week)
Whole-Wheat waffles x 2
Scrambled eggs and toast
Zucchini Bread with cream cheese and fruit salad

Lunch
Leftovers for me & hubby
Black bean burger and Apple peanut butter sandwich for Max

Dinner
Angus Beef Burgers and grilled corn
Garden asparagus Quiche
Sausage and peppers with salad
Shrimp scampi over angel hair pasta
Whole Wheat Ricotta Calzones and tomato sauce for dipping
Baked sesame chicken over brown rice

Happy cooking!

For the lova Rhubarb!

2012-05-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

Need some inspiration for all you obsessed with rhubarb just like me? Here are some great links:

Rhubarb Shrub from Well Preserved

Rhubeena from Tigress in a Jam

Rhubarbaritas from Local Kitchen (uses Rhubeena)

Rhubarb Cake from Food in Jars (This is amazing!)

Cranberry Orange Rhubarb Popsicles from Local Kitchen (uses the pulp from Rhubeena)

Rhubarb Prosecco Jelly from Local Kitchen

Rhubarb Snacking Cake from Smitten Kitchen

Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake - from eat, little bird (This is a very pretty cake!)

If all else fails, freeze it! Watch a video on YouTube to learn how. I just froze 6 lbs today!