Menu for 10/20 - 10/26

Monday - Burritos
Tuesday - Potato Soup
Wednesday - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Thursday - Roast Chicken with potatoes
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Going to soccer potluck - bringing chips and salsa and a salad
Sunday - Enchiladas

Here's our plan for the week. Nothing vegan on the menu because we're trying to use up some things in our freezer and pantry. The Mac and Cheese Hot Dogs from the Martha Stewart Show were a hit. Even my very picky dh liked the mac and cheese. ;)

We've fallen off the wagon

Errrr. We've had a rough couple of weeks. Since my last menu post, we've slowly been getting farther and farther away from our goals. I think part of it had to do with how busy we've gotten in the last 2 months. But still - no excuses. I got lazy and didn't feel like cooking. I need to get back to menu planning. That seems to be the only thing that keeps us away from fast food and on track to eat better food. I just renewed our CSA box this week so that should help too.

Here's my plan for the rest of the week:
Wednesday - Macaroni and Cheese with Hot Dogs (Saw it on the Martha Stewart Show)
Thursday - Baked Potatoes (in the crockpot) with all the fixings
Friday - Enchiladas (not sure what kind yet)
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Homemade Pizza

Ok this should get us through the end of the week. Hmmm, everything on this menu is full of cheese. Just noticed that. Oh well, it will have to do for now, since that's what I have stuff for. I'll have to think about that for next week. I'm thinking of adding an additional goal to the 80% vegetarian meals of at least one vegan meal a week. I'm not sure how that will go over, but I think it would be a good direction for my family.

Menu for 7/27 - 8/3

Sunday - French Bread Pizza and salad
Monday - Breakfast for dinner
Tuesday - Manicotti, Salad and Garlic Bread
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Hot Dogs and Baked Beans
Friday - Leftovers/Out
Saturday - Burgers on the grill
Sunday - Pizza

Last week we ended up having tons of leftovers from Sunday, so I moved the manicotti to this week. It was nice not having to cook for a few days, although I was started to get tired of burritos. lol Not my dh though. It's nice when he likes something I make! :)

Menu for 7/18 - 7/28

Friday - Either Leftovers or a Zucchini Fritatta from Deborah Madison's cookbook Local Flavors
Saturday - Pizza or Caprese sandwiches (if my first attempt at sourdough bread turns out ok)
Sunday - Company is coming so I think I'm going to do a taco/burrito bar with chicken, beans, cilantro lime rice and all the fixings
Monday - Burgers on the grill
Tuesday - Manicotti
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Chicken & Rosemary Potatoes
Friday - Takeout or Leftovers
Saturday - Stir-Fry
Sunday - Homemade Pizza

Menu for 6/22 - 6/27

Monday - Pasta with Pesto, Garden Salad and French Bread - Not sure what kind of pasta since the tortellini I bought yesterday was moldy. :(
Tuesday - Grilled Chicken, Veggie Kabobs and Couscous
Wednesday - Cheese Enchiladas, Spanish Rice and Beans
Thursday - Burgers on the grill, Carrot Salad and Fries
Friday - Leftovers

I'm trying to make Friday leftovers night since I don't usually feel like cooking and Sunday homemade pizza night. It seems to be working out pretty well.

Interesting Article

An interesting article in the New York Times about ways to eat less meat.

Menu for 5/12 - 5/25

Monday - Homemade Pizza
Tuesday - Sweet Potato Chili recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker
Wednesday - Pasta with Broccoli and Pine Nuts
Thursday - Honey Mustard Chicken, Roasted New Potatoes and Salad
Friday - Grilled Cheese
Saturday - C's 5th Birthday Party
Sunday - Leftovers
Monday - Lasagna with Breadsticks
Tuesday - Leftover Lasagna
Wednesday - Bean Burritos
Thursday - Stir-Fry
Friday - Out
Saturday - Homemade Pizza
Sunday - Burgers on the Grill

Omnivore's Dilemma

I finally got around to reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It was a really great read! I don't think there was a ton of new information in it for me, but the way he laid it out was definitely powerful. I wish I had marked the few quotes that I thought were particularly thought-provoking...but I didn't.

A couple of things stood out for me. One was the brutality and high-cost of industrial farming to the earth and our personal health in order to save money at the supermarket. I really don't consider myself a "local-vore" or whatever the label is, but I do see value in knowing where my food is coming from. I'm kind of getting sick of the "don't tell me, I don't want to know" mentality. And believe me, I was one of those not so long ago. I think my point of view started to change when I had kids. Then it wasn't just what I put into my body but what I was putting into my babies' bodies.

Another thing that stood out for me was the fact that organic industrial isn't all that much better than conventional industrial especially for animals. Yeah, there are no chemicals in the ground. That is a benefit, but is it enough? Not sure yet how I feel on that one. Is it inevitable in our country that we can't get away from the industrial mindset?

The last thing that struck me was that you don't want to read this book if you're trying to move to a vegetarian lifestyle. lol He gives really good arguments as to why it's ok to still eat meat, especially if the animal is raised humanely. And honestly, a lot of his questions (in the very short section on vegetarianism) are the same questions I have about becoming a vegetarian. I don't think it changed my mind at all and I still don't feel much need to eat meat. But, I also don't consider myself a vegetarian even though I have rarely eaten meat in the last month. In fact, the longer I choose this way of eating, the less I miss meat at all. I do think it helped me reconcile where my husband is coming from and what I need to do to feel better about the meat we do eat. Hmmm, I'll be interested to look back on this and see if I still agree in a year or so.

Menu for 4/12 - 4/25

Here's my tentative menu plan for the next two weeks -

Saturday - Grilled Portobello Burgers
Sunday - Pizza
Monday - Veggie Stir-fry with Fried Rice
Tuesday - Bean Burritos
Wednesday - Grilled Cheese, Roasted Vegetable and Couscous Salad
Thursday - Roast Chicken, Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Green Salad
Friday - Some kind of peanut noodle dish. Still need to find a recipe
Saturday - Creamy Rice with Chicken and Parmesan (using leftovers from the Roast Chicken)
Sunday - Lentil-Walnut Burgers from Everyday Food cookbook
Monday - Vegetable Quiche
Tuesday - Baked Ravioli
Wednesday - Tacos
Thursday - Breakfast for Dinner
Friday - Out!!!

Happy April Fools Day!

This was what was for dinner tonight. This grilled cheese is made with pound cake and frosting. My oldest and youngest were afraid to say anything because they liked the sweet version. lol But, my middle child was gagging and spitting. You'd have thought it was made of spinach or something. Once they realized it was an April Fools joke, they all thought it was pretty funny. I've been wanting to try one of the recipes from Family Fun Magazine for a couple of years. I finally was able to do it this year. I think menu planning has really helped. April 1st didn't sneak up on me like it usually does and I was able to add the ingredients to my list so I was prepared today. Oh, and I fixed real grilled cheese too. :)

Menu for 3/31- 4/11

I had to do 2 weeks of meals since I was trying to get my shopping done for both weeks. I'm trying to use up some of the things in the cabinet and almost everything is kid-friendly since I'm pretty sure the husband will be working late a lot this coming week or two.

Monday - Breakfast for Dinner
Tuesday - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries and April Fool's Dessert
Wednesday - Stir-Fry
Thursday - Tacos
Friday - Risotto with Roasted Veges
Saturday - Hamburgers (Might try to make lentil walnut burgers for me or just a Boca Burger)
Sunday - Burritos
Monday - Homemade Pizza
Tuesday - Hot Dogs and Vegetarian Chili
Wednesday - PB & J's
Thursday - Snobby Joes
Friday - Going out to eat!! Yay!

Success!

This week is turning out to be a good week in the meal department. Easter went well. The bunny salads were a hit (although I didn't think they looked much like bunnies. lol) Those eating meat ate the ham and I ate the veggie quiche. It was my first quiche and even though I want to tweak it a bit for next time, it turned out really yummy. Also, it was the first time I've made hot cross buns and they were yummy too. I remember my mom always made them for Easter when I was growing up. I know that they are traditionally a Good Friday treat, but we always had them on Easter morning.

Monday night we made homemade pizza. I finally have a great bread machine pizza dough recipe! It was in the recipe book for my bread machine. Duh. I don't know why I didn't try that one before. I made it with white flour this time, so next time I'm going to try half whole wheat and half white to see how it turns out. We all had our own individual pizzas so everyone was happy. Cheese for the kids, ham for my husband and I made the yummiest chard, mushroom and onion pizza. I saw the recipe online at the Vegetarian Times website. Instead of putting the tomatoes into the chard mixture, I made it like a regular pizza - pizza sauce, chard mixture and shredded mozzarella on top. Definitely will use that combo again.

Last night was my own recipe for Enchilada Casserole. Again, I'll probably keep tweaking it, but we're off to a good start. Even my husband liked it. He did eat around the zucchini though. ;-) I layered flour tortillas with cheese and canned enchilada sauce, black beans and zucchini. Definitely a keeper. I also made spanish rice and a salad to go with it. It looked so good on my plate I had to take a picture.

And I'm so excited...strawberries in our CSA box next week!

Menu for 3/23 - 3/29

Sunday - Easter Brunch - Ham, Veggie Quiche, Bunny Salads, Hot Cross Buns and Green Salad
Monday - Homemade Pizza
Tuesday - Potato Soup and Green Salad
Wednesday - Black Bean and Zucchini Enchilada Casserole (My own concoction. I hope it works!)
Thursday - Marie's Cheater Mac & Cheese and Roasted Asparagus
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Breakfast for Dinner

Yay! My first CSA box!

I ordered 4 weeks of CSA boxes and picked up my first box today. My dh bought me a month worth for a Christmas present back in Dec. of 2006. But, we didn't continue with it because of a crazy year financially for us. So with our new eating goals, I thought it was a good idea to try it again. Even the kids got excited opening the box today. Here's what came:

Pink Lady Apples
Royal Mandarins
Bunch Broccoli
Greenleaf Lettuce
Bunch Yellow Carrots
Red Onions
2 lbs Sweet Potatoes
3 Kiwis
Cheddar Cauliflower (orange heads)
Bag LPO Baby Spinach...1st cutting

I didn't eat any of it tonight because I was trying to clear out a few things that were leftover from last week. Tomorrow I'm planning a big green salad to go with baked potatoes. Yum!

Banana Bread

I tried a new recipe for banana bread this morning. It was really yummy and healthy! I switched out the nuts for chocolate chips. My kids looooove banana bread with chocolate chips. It was a little under done so next time I'll let it cook longer - maybe 50-60 minutes. But, I think it's a great alternative to the recipe I was using that had a ton of sugar in it. Here it is.

Menu for the Week

Ok, so I know it's a little late, but here's the menu for the week. I had to move a few things from last week to this week because we ate out a few times.

Tuesday - Hamburgers and Green Salad
Wednesday - Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
Thursday - Stir-Fry
Friday - Baked Bean, Rice and Cheese Burritos
Saturday - Homemade Pizza
Sunday - Cornflake Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower and Green Salad

Menu Plan

I didn't stick to the menu plan at all this week. I think partly because of not feeling well and also because I was a little too ambitious with our meal choices. I checked out Veganomicon from the library because I saw all the vegetarians raving about it on different internet sites. We're just not there yet. I think I need to go back to what I said earlier about taking it slow and sticking to flavors that are already familiar for awhile. So, I will return the cookbook to the library and check it out again in a couple of months. Instead of Baked Pumpkin Ziti, I made plain baked ziti without meat. Still had tons of dairy, but it's going to be awhile before I tackle that one. Tonight we're having leftovers and tomorrow I'm planning on cheese enchiladas with spicy pinto beans.

Meanwhile, I've been downloading vegetarian starter packs all over the web. lol So far I have one from Vegetarian Times, from PETA's site - vegcooking .com and Compassion over Killing's website - TryVeg.com. I'm planning on reading through them to see if there's any good tips.

Harder than I expected

I've had a rough couple of days. I really didn't think that this would be a tough change for my family. I thought that it would be pretty simple, especially for me and the kids. I knew it would be a challenge for my husband. I really didn't think I would struggle. I was feeling blech on Sunday and then fighting a migraine on Monday and Tuesday. When I feel yuck, I don't want to cook or clean at all. So, what did we do? We ended up getting takeout and fast food. That's probably our biggest stumbling block. It's way too easy to grab a burger, fries and coke. The worst thing for our bodies. Today, I started the day off well though. I had a breakfast burrito with eggs and MorningStar sausage. (I can't believe that I'm beginning to like vegetarian sausage! :-P) I keep telling myself that this is a process. It's not going to change overnight. Deep breath.

Beautiful Roses

My beautiful "Two Days After Valentine's Day" roses.

Broccoli with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Last night, the kids (well my middle child in particular) talked me into making hot dogs for them. Dh was gone to a movie and my oldest was with a friend, so I gave in. I decided that I would make a recipe from the Jan/Feb issue of Vegetarian Times for myself. It was Mollie Katzen's Broccoli Dipped in Wonderful Peanut Sauce.

It was really yummy. I think it would be a great recipe for kids. Of course, I couldn't get my kids to touch it. I ended up adding some red pepper flakes to make it a little spicier.

Menu for the Week

Sunday - Pumpkin Baked Ziti from Veganomicon (Page 194) with salad and sourdough bread
Monday - Grilled Cheese with fruit salad
Tuesday - Hamburgers (might make myself a veggie burger)
Wednesday - Louisiana Beans and Rice with biscuits
Thursday - Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa Stir-Fry from Veganomicon (Page 175)
Friday - Cheese Enchiladas with spicy pinto beans
Saturday - Leftovers

2.14.08

Happy Valentines Day! Last night was the first night that I've eaten meat in a week. I made tacos for the family with organic ground beef. I just threw in my usual spices, but they just tasted really good this time. I made these taco shells. It was so good. Meat hasn't appealed to me in a week, but it sounded really good last night. Everyone was very happy with something familiar after a week of new vegetarian meals. I have to admit to being frustrated with this whole thing. The advice that a friend gave me (she's a vegetarian) was that maybe I needed to go back to our familiar recipes and just omit the meat or change it a little. Then the flavors would be familiar. I think I'm going to try that this coming week.

This morning I made heart shaped pancakes and scrambled eggs. I made the pancakes with some white whole wheat flour I just bought. It seems like it's a lot like whole wheat pastry flour except maybe ground a little less fine. For lunch, the kids and I had nachos with vegetarian refried beans. Yum! The kids only had cheese on theirs and apple slices on the side. Tonight, I'm not sure what we're going to do. I think we'll probably have leftovers then take the kids out for ice cream to celebrate Valentine's Day.

More Veggies, less Meat

I've made a decision to move toward a diet with less meat. My goal is 80% vegetarian meals and 20% omnivore meals. More later...