Come Have a Ball with Us!

We're always so fun here.
Hah.
Actually, I just saw this picture I took the other day and decided to post it.
I love the old blue jars, don't you?  I keep my baking soda, baking powder and salt in them and keep them out handy for baking.  So much cuter than the boxes or tins they come in, don't you think?  As you can see, I written what's in each jar on the lids so I don't mix them up.  Scones with one tablespoon of baking powder are delightful.  Scones with one tablespoon of baking soda are not so much.  Or so I've heard.  ;)
Oh, and the title of this post is the theme for our fair this year based on a picture I did for their art contest.  I actually won.  Who knew?  Of course, I gave them the only copy I had so I'll have to wait to post it.
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And here is a link to the BEST picture on the Internet:  Joanne cooking!!!!  Well done, my friend.  Well done.  And in case you missed her latest post click here.  I can't imagine the pain of it all, but I dearly love the sound of hope in her voice.

Cold Days

The snow is lightly falling today. We are staying inside where it is warm. Dumpling is such a big help with the baking. ;)

I made seven quarts of granola this morning. Don't know what I was thinking. We all like it, but I am thinking I will need to be sharing or freezing some of this bounty. I usually make just half the recipe, but it sounded good so I just made the full batch. Guess I won't have to make it again until the baby is born. In September.

We were planning to head out and pick up some more wheat and grains to have on hand, but have moved that plan out until Thursday. We get our serious bulk (50 lb. bags) from Nadine at Family Baker.

I have discovered Quinoa and been making a ton of it these last few months. While paying so much at once seems crazy, it lasts well and cost only half of what it would buying in in smaller bulk amounts at the store. I love Quinoa in a variety of dishes. For breakfast, I love this recipe for Warm & Nutty Quinoa. It is so flavorful and keeps me feeling full a lot longer than oatmeal because it has so much protein. For a savory salad option, there is this recipe.

I have also just made a big batch of it plain early in the week and then had some for breakfast with the berries and pecans and other meals adding it to my own salads. In the salads, it is sort of like couscous.

One thing---you MUST rinse it a ton!!! If you do not rinse it enough before cooking it, it will be bitter and gross. Ask me how I know. I know soak it and rinse it a bunch before cooking it. Keeping rinsing/soaking until the water is clear and there are no bubbles.

Quinoa is great because it is a huge protein source. It is rather flavorless on its own, so it is very adaptable. It is also gluten-free which is helpful as I have several friends now not eating gluten. It is like a grain, but technically isn't.

Wow. I wasn't planning on an entire post on Quinoa. I am just happy to be awake while the boys nap to get a chance to write at all!

What else...flax seeds. I added them to the granola and had them on my oatmeal this morning. I've been adding them to all sorts of things and even just munching on a spoonful plain. They have a nice, nutty taste and lots of goodness in them.

I will be making up some yogurt cheese/quark as soon as I can pry myself off of this chair. I basically strain plain yogurt for a long time and then use it in place of cream cheese and sour cream and as a spread base. I had only made it with herbs and spices for flavor, but may dish out a bit and add some fruit juice for a sweeter spread.

There are sprouts soaking on the windowsill today as well. Those will get added to the next Quinoa Salad. :) We also like to just eat them plain out of the jar! We being Pumpkin and I. Sweetheart & Dumpling don't care for them.

Gee, I must be hungry. I haven't written this much on food in quite some time!

I also worked ahead on menu planning as per Rachel Anne's challenge today. I did this for the first time when she posted it in January and did it again for February. Since I am trying to be a good Company Girl I figured I needed to forged ahead on March. So, we are all planned through April 1 at which time I will probably collapse and order take-out pizza for a week. Just kidding.

It went pretty well as far as the planning as I took out my new cookbook, Tosca Roma's Eat Clean, opened up to the entree section and just starting plugging recipes that sounded good into my weekly plan. I was able to full up most of March. I skipped a few recipes that just didn't seem to be anything we'd eat, but overall really like the book.

No, I am not dieting while pregnant. And yes, the first recipe I made from it was her brownie recipe. I just needed some help cleaning up our meals a bit. I am a great Comfort Food Cook. I love cooking and baking from scratch. It means virtually no preservatives, which is good, but a lot of butter and other yumminess that might not be as good for us. Balance is good.

Well, I need to clean up the disaster that is my kitchen after cooking away today. And I think I need a snack. Hmmm....granola anyone?

Dinner

I know I am not the only one to struggle with planning meals. With cooking everything from scratch, using whole foods, and cooking with food that is in season, it has become even harder. Add to that being pregnant and the whole question of what sounds good at the moment :) I am lucky we have dinner.

Yesterday I focused on meal planning. It started writing down ideas while on the treadmill. Really. Then I looked through a few extra healthy cookbooks for ideas and came up with all sorts of dinners and put them into a handful of categories. I included an abbreviation for the cookbook and the page number for dinners that require a recipe to save time later.) I included lists of side dishes and vegetable dishes so I don't just serve everything with brown rice and a salad. :) That page was such a mess that I copied it later neatly into my current Everything Book. Should make next month's work go a lot faster.

I then got out my calender for the rest of the month and drew a grid for the rest of the month on a separate paper. I wrote in the upcoming activities that will affect our dinners: my dinner out with a friend, Bunco, the Whole Heart Conference at the end of the month. I then wrote in a categories of dinners at the top of the chart according to the days of the week.

For now:

Sundays- Soup
Mondays- New Dish/Fish
Tuesdays - Crockpot
Wednesdays- American/English/Grill/Misc.
Thursdays- Mediterranean or Chinese
Friday- Easy or Leftovers
Saturday- Italian or Mexican

I seem to have difficulty with Tuesday night dinners. For quite awhile I would end up having Sweetheart just pick something up on the way home. Now that I know it is a tougher day for me, usually because we are gone that day, I have decided that's when it makes the most sense to use the crockpot/slow cooker. This is also good because Tuesday is when my Bunco group meets once a month and I hate rushing around cooking and trying to get out the door as soon as Sweetheart get home. :) Took me long enough to figure this out.

Friday night is Movie Night here and the end of the week, so I have decided to take it easy. Smart move since the boys are usually so excited to watch a movie that they don't care what they eat. Easy dinners include leftovers, Bakeovers, hot sandwiches, or breakfast for dinner.

The New Dish/Fish idea is so that I don't fall in a rut cooking. Twice a month I will try something new and the other times we will have fish. The boys and I like fish, but it isn't Sweetheart's favorite. Twice a month should be a good balance.

The next step was to just fill in the blanks in my chart. I actually had enough recipes in each category to make sure that we were alternating red meat, chicken, pork and fish and not having chicken five nights in one week, which has totally happened. I like chicken, what can I say! I especially like it when it is $1.88/lb. I was even able to study what should go with the main dish and use a variety of side dishes and vegetables. We'll have brown rice, barley, quinoa, couscous, pasta, polenta, beans and grain salads.

I did add an extra crockpot dinner for when I am at the Whole Heart Conference. I will prep it before I leave on that Friday morning and Sweetheart will be able to just dish it all up that evening. I planned enough for the Saturday dinner since I doubt I will want to cook that night. I also marked a night for Chickfila for dinner one other night when I will be gone. I have lost the taste for it, but the guys will all be happy.

After reviewing the rest of the month, I wrote each meal onto the weekly planner on the fridge. I then wrote out the grocery list. I was able to do the bulk of the shopping for the rest of the month this morning. I stocked up knowing what I will need for the rest of the month. I am tired now, but glad most of the work, and thinking about the work, is done.

I need to go prep out the meats according to the meals and get them all into the freezer. I plan to also prep my veggies. Outside of three apples and a bunch of bananas, the fruit we eat this time of year is stuff I put up this summer and fall, dried or frozen. The fresh veggies last quite awhile when they are washed and wrapped right. I also have a lot of veggies I canned and froze to supplement.

Wish me luck!

Good Morning!

Before

I happened upon Jewel's blog, "Eyes of Wonder"via a link from Brenda's blog, "Coffee, Tea, Books & Me"recently where Brenda highlighted Jewel's journals. Amazing. Now, I stop in and visit Jewel's world regularly.

The other day she had a post on quiches and asked people to comment on their own. I was up early enough this morning to exercise and make a quiche. As it was baking, I had my cup of tea and read my devotions. What a nice morning!

I liked how Jewel's described assembling her quiches. Of course, her quantities are much larger as her family is much larger! I really measure anything myself, unless I'm baking, so I just rummaged through the fridge for ingredients and adjusted accordingly. It all went to together quickly, especially without worrying about a crust. I love quiches, but rarely make them unless it's for company since Sweetheart always eats the same. exact. thing. for. breakfast.everyday. Simply skipping the crust made it a lot faster to assemble and bake, and since most of the fat is in the crust, it's healthier, too.

I mixed five eggs with 1/2 cup of half and half and a half a cup of milk. Then I sautéed about a teaspoon of onion with a handful of spinach leaves and two diced mushrooms. I remembered I had bacon, so I microwaved two slices of that and added it to the veggies. I then spread the veggies and bacon around in my greased pie plate and poured on the egg mix. I topped it with swiss and cheddar cheeses and some spices, then popped it into the oven at 365 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. I stuck a fork in it and it came out clean, so I decided it was done.

During Baking

I served myself a slice with some cinnamon bread I made the other day, and gave Pumpkin a sliver to try. Surprisingly, he didn't like it even though he likes everything that was in it. He ate just a few bites and let me finish it off for him. Trust me, it didn't go to waste. Oh, how I wish you could pull up a chair, pour yourself a cup of tea, and join me!

Yum! It's finished! Time to eat!
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