Food: Day 3

Today, I would like to include a few notes about what works...and doesn't work for me/us in the kitchen. Everyone does things differently and everyone is at a different life phase, so understand that this can be taken for a grain of salt. For myself, these things hold true and I need reminders that some things really are important. As I go along on this journey (that may continue, because it is really helping me), I will be including some notes each day or just as they occur to me.

The problem with cooking: never ending dishes. But isn't the kitchen cute?

Note #1: Meat doesn't have to be the star. In fact, meat should not be the star too often. Growing up in the Midwest is pretty ubiquitous with growing up in a meat and potatoes sort of family. Or, typically meat/starch/veggie. This works for some digestive systems. I think it superbly works for people who are doing manual labor all day. I do not do manual labor all day. For me, and even for my meat loving husband, having meat every day ends up making me feel a bit bloated. Also, heaping on the grains and starch does the same thing. Bloated. Sometimes, meat is the star. A perfectly cooked salmon, a beautifully grilled steak, a roasted chicken with brown crackling skin. On those days, meat is the star of the meal. However, during a typical day, while there might be meat on the plate, it is not the star. Meat becomes more of a side dish than a main event. This saves money, especially if one is buying high quality meat, and it reminds the body that vegetables are truly sustaining. Vegetables and fruits are so important. So important. There are so many of them, many more than there are meat options...vegetables don't have to be boring. 

Note #2: Meal planning is essential to unfrazzled, healthy, nourishing food. Where there is no meal plan there is a thrown together meal. Spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, etc. While these things are obviously fine to eat sometimes, they really aren't the most nourishing of feasts (especially when using the boxes and cans...a slow roasted spaghetti sauce, in contrast, is divine!) and you definitely would not want to eat them every day. Meal planning in our house falls to me. I like to do it and I can do it fairly quickly. Kennan gets lost in the details. We talk together about what we'd like to eat or what sounds particularly appealing that we haven't had in awhile, I run the new recipes I may have found by him, but I make the final list. 

The menu board. It lives on the kitchen door. When I wrote on this for the first time after the fire Kennan said, "Now it feels like home". I still love that.

I first make a note of what I have in terms of fruit and vegetables that need to be eaten. I tend to do about a two week cycle at a time. If I go into grocery stores too often we end up having no money. Grocery stores to me are what shopping malls seem to be for others. Then, I think through what we have the pantry and freezer and take note of how many times we would like to eat beans and meat during the week. I look at the weather so I don't plan a bunch of soup if it is going to be hot. Then, I start writing down menu options and mentally noting what veggies/fruit I am using up. I don't like wasting food, so I try to come up with options that will use the whole head of cabbage during the two weeks. In this particular cycle, I am making borscht, which takes about 1/3 of my huge head of cabbage. Therefore, cabbage will be sauteed at some point as well so that it doesn't rot. Vegetables might be cheaper here, but I still don't believe in waste. Meal planning helps with the waste issue because there is a plan.

After this, I look at each recipe and write down any ingredients we need that we don't already have. I am in a bulk buying group, so I have all the essential grains, beans, butter, nuts, fruit, etc. I list any other ingredients (this time it was mushrooms, bacon, chicken broth (my chickens will be ready next weekend!, and milk). I also make note of a farmer's market list during that season so I know what I will want to buy there. 

The ice cream ingredients. That is homemade vanilla in the vodka bottle...so easy. All you need is vodka, vanilla beans, and about 2 months for it to brew. Yum!

Then I shop. And I attempt to force myself to not go back to the store unless we run out of milk until the menu plan is done. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. But at least I try.

The other thing about menu planning is that it can change. I know I have the ingredients for everything on the list, so if I have less time than I think, I make a faster meal. If I don't feel like eating something that day, I make something else. As long as it is on the list, it is fair game. This causes a bit of a convoluted menu board, but it helps us actually eat what we have. This particular idea was really helpful when both of us were working full time jobs. If you come home exhausted, there are still easy meal options. For now, it really isn't an issue because I have the time. Therefore, our meals are *slightly* more complex than they would be otherwise. They aren't that much more complex, just slightly. Like the curry from yesterday...if you have the ingredients, that is a 30 minute meal. Easy, easy, easy. It tastes phenomenal, but the work is minimal.

If you want to save money and eat better, plan a menu. It doesn't work for everyone, 
but try it. In my experience, it works...when I actually follow the plan. 

One of my favorite cookbooks, which houses the crisp recipe, and our ice cream maker churning away.

The camera ate the pictures of my pear/apple crisp and homemade vanilla ice cream as well as our supper. Ah, well.

For breakfast, we ate granola with yogurt and pears. We took the usual supplements and drank the usual coffee. For supper we had Portabello, Potato, and Kale Bake. I had never made the recipe before and it was so incredibly good. A major plus: it took less than 30 minutes start to finish. The mushrooms gave it a deep and rich flavor. Yum. For dessert we had pear/apple crisp with homemade vanilla ice cream. Typically I wouldn't make dessert in the middle of the week, but the pears were losing their ripeness and I had planned to make a crisp this weekend anyway. We have an ice cream maker, so ice cream gets made in 30 minutes. We also drank a bottle of wine. Whole darn thing. I am trying to keep it real. Kennan worked all day and is now working all night doing notes. Sidenote: Sometimes I abhor the medical profession and the idea that you shouldn't get paid to do something that the company cannot get paid for unless you do it. No notes, no money. But you don't get paid for the notes. This is the same everywhere, so it isn't a condemnation of any particular place, just a fact that is cuss worthy about my husband's profession. Hate. It.

Links: homemade vanilla, homemade vanilla ice cream (major disclaimer here: do NOT agree with most of what this woman says, but it is interesting for sure!), Kale, Portabello, Potato Bake (This isn't a link to the recipe, but it is from this blog. I am currently taking her Whole Food Kitchen class, and the recipe is from there. She is great.)

Oh cooking, I am remembering just how much I love you. Sitting with my husband, at a table, eating food that actually tastes like food. Wonderful. Also, people have been asking if they can come over for supper. Anytime friends, anytime.