July Week 4 Menu

Another Monday, Another Menu.  I seem to never make everything I plan.  Either someone changes their mind, the weather is too hot, or my normal is to make too much food and have a fridge of leftovers.  I wish I could freeze more leftovers.  But, everything I freeze seems to end up a strange texture.  I did just repeat breakfast and lunch this week.  I need some things to be automatic. 

Breakfasts this week are cold cereal or oatmeal or hashbrowns, tea

Lunches are green smoothies, nut butter sandwiches or leftovers
Monday 7/30 It looks like tonight won't be too hot.  Canned or frozen soups with Bread and Earth Balance.
Tuesday 7/31 Falafel, flatbread, hummus, garlic sauce and whatever veggies I can scrounge

Wednesday 8/1 Pasta and veggie meatballs

*I need to work on cupcakes for tomorrow, as well.  I am officially Vegan for the month of August.  Which makes all store bought cakes and treats out.  I have Vegan Cupcakes take over the world.  I think I am going with the cookies and cream, tiramisu, and maybe some white cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles. 
Thursday 8/2 This is my birthday.  So, we are going out for Thai Food.  I know it is probably boring but I am getting the orange tofu.  It is not that sticky overly sweet orange sauce.  It is a light and thin orange sauce with fresh orange slice and deep fried tofu.  What is not too love!

Friday 8/3 I imagine leftover cupcakes for breakfast are probably in order today.  Dinner should be homemade pizza with whatever veggies I find around the house.  I am really craving a barbecue pizza.  So, I might do that with gardein.  The sauce is half barbecue and half marinara.  The toppings are gardein, jalepeno, red onion, and your choice of cheese. I use Follow Your Heart or Daiya. 

Getting ready for a new year

I consider my new year to start on my Birthday.  Shouldn't everyone?  I have been thinking, praying, wondering, and conspiring over my birthday wishes.  

I plan to spend the month of August following The 30 Day Vegan Challenge.  Which I am sure you have seen me posting about already.  I have been desiring to go Vegan again.  I have felt drawn towards it.  Then Colleen posted about her challenge.  And, I thought.  "Wow, that would be the perfect birthday present to myself!"

I am working on joining a group of ladies who have larger or really big families.  We are married and single, rich and poor, main stream and hippie, homeschooling and out of homeschooling, working and moms at home.  It is a varied bunch but we all have one thing in common.  It isn't something we see often in larger families.  The one thing we have in common is we are all committed to being Gentle Christian Mothers.  None of us claim to be perfect.  We are just centered on the gift of Jesus, Grace, and a job well done.  It isn't always easy.  Sometimes we have to extend the Grace to ourselves.  I will hopefully be announcing where to find us soon. 

July Menu

I thought I would share my menu plans for this week.  I ran out of greens this morning.  So, I need to make a shopping trip.  I figured I might as well make a menu.  I have been terrible about menu making lately which leaves a bunch of cranky kids and a tired mama around 4pm. I tend to leave our weekends open.  It is a good chance to try something new or just eat up all the leftovers in the fridge and freezer.  During the winter I often toss leftovers in the crockpot on Sunday and pray for soup!

I have been faithfully drinking green smoothies daily and I feel wonderful.  Plus, I am actually meeting my nutrient goals.  They are usually two kinds of fruit, Kale and water.  I sometimes throw a couple of dates in there.  Not exciting. But, it tastes good and keeps me full.  The dates have way more calories than I thought, so I have been laying off those. 

And, don't forget to sign up for The 30 Day Vegan Challenge. I don't get anything for letting you know about it.  Well, I get the satisfaction :) Early Birds pay only $20 dollars for a whole month of support from a really great speaker.

7/23 Monday (recalling this one from my perfect memory)

B: hashbrown patties, cold cereal

L: Green Smoothies and nut butter sandwiches

D: Black Bean Burgers, homemade fries, tarter sauce

Snacks were fruit, half a sandwich, or leftovers from Sunday's Dinner

7/24 Tuesday (Happening as I type.)

B: Cold cereal, Veggie Sausage patties, toast and someone may have had leftover banana cake.

L: nut butter sandwiches, leftovers from the last two nights which include baked squash, pasta, Trader Joes veggie meatballs and homemade fries

D: Curry red lentils, rice, potato samosas

7/25 Wednesday

B:Oatmeal, green smoothies

L: Salads with Goddess Dressing

D: Canned or frozen soup and Grilled Cheese with Follow Your Heart Cheese

 

7/26 Thursday

B: Pancakes, green smoothies

L: nut butter sandwiches or left overs

D: Tacos and Rice

 

7/27 Friday

B: Leftover pancakes or toast, green smoothies

L: nut butter sandwiches or leftover tacos

D: Homemade Pizza, Bunny Love Carrot Chips, Soda

The Vegan Challenge

I am so excited about August.  Mostly because it is my birthday.  A bit because August is my favorite month of the year in the Pacific Northwest.  

My birthday present to myself is The 30 Day Vegan Challenge. I will let Colleen speak for herself.

Eating in July

My mom dug out the hand cranked ice cream maker for the fourth.  It was a lot of fun.  The last time my kids had hand cranked ice cream, we only had the older three.  I think they were 2, 5, and 8 at the time. 



We had our very first bakery cookie this month.  Around here all the grocery stores give the kids a free cookie.  He hasn't been able to really handle one yet.  He was just shoving everything in his mouth and not taking bites.  But, he was very patient and sweet and took wee little bites as we shopped.



Here she is making her strawberry shake.  She loves adding everything to the vitamix on her own.  The boys tried to correct her.  But, she was very certain it was a shake.  Of course, I told them all they were wrong.  She was definitely correct!




This was an awesome salad made of everything I could find in the fridge.  Lettuce, red onion sliced super thin, jalapeno and garlic stuffed olives, bunny love carrot chips, tomato, avocado, and sprinkled with spike and pepper.  We had Goddess Dressing with it. 



And, dessert. We love peach crisp.  I use fresh or frozen peaches if  I can find them.  But, I admit I keep canned peaches in my pantry just for crisp.  We love to make up extra to eat for breakfast, too. 

Cornbread with jalapeño, cilantro & daiya cheddar

Cornbread with jalapeño, cilantro & daiya cheddar, a photo by OakBlossoms on Flickr.

Yummy! Yesterday was a cold and rainy day in Washington State. I know you are thinking, well that sounds normal. But, it hasn't been. We have had a lovely winter. And, our weather has been summery and short loving for the last month.

So, a few days of rain (albeit not too cold rain) left us yearning for chili and cornbread.

This version was made from the recipe on the Bob's Red Mill Cornbread bag. I made it vegan by using egg replacer and melted Earth Balance. I added some Daiya cheddar and chopped jalapeno because my kids love jalapenos. We buy huge jars from Costco and they can eat 1 a month. My favorite tip for making cornbread in a cast iron pan is to put a glob of coconut oil in the pan.  Then put it in the oven while the oven preheats.  you get a good rise on your cornbread and a yummy crust.

November Meal Planning

 I always find things I want to make.  But, then I look in my pantry and I am missing stuff.  Sometimes, when I work on my weekly plan there just isn't room for a few ingredients.  In September, I started planning for October. I made a folder to save the new recipes for October.  When it started looking a bit too much, I think around 20, I started November.  This worked so well for me.  I looked through them all and added those staples to my first shopping list.  I was able to do most of them for October.  It really helped to mix up my normal go to recipes like chili, enchiladas, tacos, homemade pizza, pasta and sauce.  So, here are my picks for November. 

 Breakfast

If I can actually get up in the morning and make something for breakfast.  SURPRISE!  My crew will wake up early, too.  They are so much happier with something to eat.  If I remember I will set out stuff the night before. I can mix up dry stuff and put them in the mixing bowl.  The bright green one that has it's own lid.  The one that used to seem so big before I had a teenager. 

Mocha Coconut Banana Bread

Orange Glow Muffins

Protein Porridge

Soup
It is starting to get cold.  I love soup. It is cheap.  I can usually make it in the crockpot.  When put in the crockpot at breakfast time, it is usually read for lunch.  Hot lunch makes homeschooling just a little bit better.  Already prepared hot lunch makes me feel like I almost have a maid or cook or mother's helper.  
 
Gluten Free Goddess's Mulligatawny soup with Jasmine Rice

Humboldt Soup

Dinner

For some reason dinner is the hardest meal of the day for me.  I don't really like dinner.  Everyone in my house likes something different for dinner.  My husband and the 14 year old man er boy...whatever he feels like that day...think they need meat and man food.  My 11 year old is a staunch vegetarian. My 8 year old wants to eat and run.  My toddler wants to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The baby wants to slap my spoon and nurse at the same time.  I could eat chili and rice or stir fry and rice EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.  If I was feeling warm I might eat a smoothie. Oh, and the budget. Our budget is tight.  My compromise?  They don't get to complain unless they help. I buy meat maybe once a month and it is usually I really good sale.  Our local store often has B1G1F.  I can usually get nice chicken or roasts in a family pack.  So, I can get a lot of meals out of those.  I am totally digging on the lentils, too.  

Lentil and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers.

Crockpot Pizza Potatoes

Eggplant Veggie Burgers

Spaghetti and Red Lentil Balls

I made the lentil balls and they were awesome.  No one complained.  Well, at least not the annoying kind. But, everyone ate.  No one said they had a stomach ache.  I even made some Vegan Parm.  I used half raw almond and half nutritional yeast. I whizzed that up in my vitamix very carefully.  I was afraid of making nut butter.  I ended up adding salt to taste. I felt like it needed some saltyness.  I feel like such a dummy mummy for waiting so long to make Vegan Parm.  It is so expensive and the jar is so little.  I think I spent maybe 2 or 3 bucks and the jar is huge.  It is so yummy and full of protein and B12.  What isn't to like about that?

From the Joy of Vegan Baking

From the Joy of Vegan Baking, a photo by OakBlossoms on Flickr.

These were delicious bars. I doubled the recipe, used canola oil instead of Earth Balance, and Marionberry preserves instead of raspberry. These would be a great breakfast bar for on the go mornings. The jam gets a bit gooey, but it sets up nice by the next morning. Of course, I only had one bar left to enjoy by the next morning. So, you might consider making them after the kids go to bed.

Eating in June

This month I decided to start freezing foods.  I really wanted to do it before our last baby was born.  But, I never got down and did it.  I wish I had.  

This month my plan is to at least double all our meals.  I made up a plan and I'm trying to add to my grocery list as I go along.  I'm hoping I might at some point get enough energy to do it all at once.  But, don't hold your breath.  But, maybe one of my readers will get all excited and give it a go.  I have been getting really frustrated at the end of the night.  I do not like having a dirty kitchen.  We just all get tired and no one wants to clean up.  It feels good to have a clean kitchen in the morning.  There are other dinner snafus that are driving us crazy.  So, I took all of it into account.  I realized I need to be able to throw something in the oven or have things my husband can heat up when he is hungry.  

We are not casserole eaters.  We hardly ever have meat and some of us are vegetarians.  I never wanted to do this because I hate using plastic.  But, my husband will spend 25 bucks at Papa Murphy's and get a cheese loaded, greasy pizza covered in plastic wrap.  I can make a whole lot of cheese light and cheese less pizza and put them in plastic bags for a lot less.  A good freezer bag can be rewashed and reused.  I'm not planning on doing any meaty items. 

So far I made frozen pizzas and a batch of white chili.  It wasn't any harder than making my usual dinner or pizza or chili.  Next time I'll just have to heat those up when we need them. 

I figure on days I'm busy I'll have frozen food.  On the days when I feel like baking or cooking I can stock the freezer with foods or baked goods.  I asked my husband what he thought.  He said he didn't care what it tasted like. He just wanted food he could cook.  My husband was a baker in a rustic bakery.  He used to cook when we were first married.  But, somewhere along the line he got tired.  I started to teach myself how to bake and cook.  But, somewhere along the line I got burnt out on being an excellent cook.  I hope the things I make don't taste too bad.  I figure they will taste better than mac and cheese.  

Ani Phyo Makes Baja Fresh Taco Boats at Mom Tri's Villa Royale Workshop ...

Talk about yummy raw food. We love anything mexican and I came across this today. It doesn't seem too complicated. I like raw foods, but I hate it when it seems complicated.

Bulk Tea

Bulk Tea
Originally uploaded by OakBlossoms

When we moved here, I couldn't find bulk tea anymore. In Seattle, I just walked up to the store and bought what I needed for the week. I liked getting different ones each week. But, my husband purchased me a tea set this Christmas. It has a tea container for bulk tea. See the cute little wooden scoop!

I'm trying to trim our food budget down this year, as well as build up a pantry for lean times. I'm not sure how long one pound of tea will last me. The container holds about half a pound.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

Thanks to my gal Punkie I have yet another book to add to my list. Occasionally I push one up to the front and this is definitely it.


Thank you Punkie! I'm so very fortunate to have become friends with you and go through some very similar journey's at the exact same time.

HLL