menu plan august iv

Where have I been!?  What's going on?  I haven't posted in over three months!  Almost four.  Sorry.  There's been a bunch of stuff, but let's just skip it and get to the food.  That's what I'm here for.

The biggest, most amazing development in my food life has been the arrival of this book:

It's been changing my life.  I decided to cook my way through it, making one or two cheeses each week.  It's really been taking things to the next level.  Anyway, I will do a separate post (or maybe series) on all that.  Suffice it to say:  cheese.

Other than that, it's the same old deal:  local produce, animals whose origin is identifiable, grass-fed dairy, wholesome grains, plenty of good fats.

Sunday

Breakfast:  I was gloriously alone, as in, my children stayed other places.  So I had some coffee and a zucchini bread muffin.  

Lunch:  I totally binged on fried fish and hush puppies from Captain D's.  What!?  I keeps it real.  And I freaking love that nasty hydrogenated oil-based tartar sauce.

Supper:  It was Julie's birthday choice at Family Dinner.  She made some superb choices.  She requested this appetizer, a florentine lasagna, an arugula-fennel-red onion-Parmesan salad, and a chocolate dessert.  I made the appetizer.  I used my homemade ricotta, herbs from Memaw's backyard, tomatoes from the CSA, and baguettes using this recipe.  The baguettes were quite easy!  Easier than I was expecting, and easier than my standard sandwich loaf.  I'm definitely making more.

Hi baguettes.  I'm going to eat you.

Monday

Breakfast:  pancakes with butter and syrup, coffee and milk

Lunch:  leftover baguette with avocado and chopped tomato

Supper:  ham, pepper, and onion quiche with sauteed zucchini

Tuesday

Breakfast:  eggs, toast, jam, butter, coffee and milk

Lunch:  leftover quiche and zucchini

Supper:  cheeseburgers and fixings (buns, mustard, ketchup, pickles, tomato), roasted potato wedges, watermelon-lime water kefir soda

Wednesday

Breakfast:  eggs, toast, jam, butter, coffee and milk

Lunch:  corn and potato chowder, baguette

Supper:  grilled salmon, rice, sauteed peppers and squash

Thursday

Breakfast:  pancakes, butter and syrup, coffee and milk

Lunch:  out with my clergy friends!  I'm excited.  Sushi!

Supper:  ham and white beans, cornbread, tomato

Friday

Breakfast:  toast with peanut butter and honey, grapes, coffee and milk

Lunch:  leftover ham and beans

Supper:  eggplant pizza.  I think I will also add some ricotta dolloped on top of that.

Saturday

Breakfast:  bread pudding, home-canned peaches, coffee and milk

Lunch:  picnic at the pool!  Bread, cheese, boiled eggs, mango spears, more watermelon-lime soda.

Supper:  roast chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob, sliced tomato

What are you all eating out there?  Any good recipes to share?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 8/24/15.]

menu plan may i

Spring has sprung!  Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow (baby Todd was due on May 5, as well - two years ago!), the weather is lovely, and the kids had their inaugural dip in the kiddie pool last night when friends came over to cook out.  Hooray for Vitamin D.

This week something out of the ordinary is happening:  because I'm going to be gone for much of the month, I've canceled our milk order for May!  So, no cream, no eggs, and only the milk we have now to finish up.  I know I could always go to the store and buy more (and I might, if I need to!), but it's sort of a fun challenge to see if I can make do without my usual staples.

So, here's what's on the menu, as we finish up what's left of the winter CSA produce, work without the normal dairy, and try to use up odds and ends before I head to Memphis for my Doctor of Ministry unit next Monday.

Sunday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, sausage, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  spaghetti marinara with chicken breast, crescent rolls
-- supper:  Family Dinner!  We cooked out in the backyard - brats and burgers.  I made an old-fashioned pasta salad with peas, radishes, cheddar cheese, green onions, and celery, dressed with a mayo-mustard-chopped pickle dressing.  We also cut up a watermelon to share.

Monday
-- breakfast:  granola and milk, coffee and milk, watermelon and oranges
-- lunch:  leftover barbecue from a church dinner on a roll plus a pickled boiled egg from my coworker Tina :)
-- supper:  black bean and corn tacos with home-canned salsa, avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, pickled jalapenos

Tuesday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, sausage, pumpkin bread, coffee + milk, fruit
-- lunch:  leftover pumpkin soup, crackers, jerky stick, blackberry water kefir soda
-- supper:  Korean beef on steamed rice with stir-fried cabbage

Wednesday
-- breakfast:  soaked oatmeal with home-canned apples, cinnamon, coconut cream, and honey; coffee + milk
-- lunch:  leftover Korean beef, rice, and cabbage, kombucha
-- supper:  creamy polenta with shrimp and tomatoes, green beans

Thursday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, sausage, watermelon, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  leftover Korean beef, rice, and cabbage, kombucha
-- supper:  Breakfast for Dinner!  Biscuits, sausage gravy, fruit salad.

Friday
-- breakfast:  granola, milk, fruit, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  out somewhere!  Maybe to Calypso?
-- supper:  pizza night.  I'm thinking BBQ chicken:  sourdough crust, leftover shredded chicken, homemade BBQ sauce, green onions, shredded cheddar cheese.  Topped with some vinegar slaw?

Saturday
-- breakfast:  soaked pancakes, sausage, fruit, coffee + coconut milk
-- lunch:  leftover pizza
-- supper:  roast chicken, pumpkin halves stuffed with couscous and olives, green beans

What are you eating?  Tell me.  I love talking about food.

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 5/4/15.]

menu plan april iv

We are deep into the stormy, confused weather of April.  Hot, cold, and when they intersect too rapidly - tornadoes.

Neither here nor there - but I found this at Hobby Lobby and really want to hang it in my living room!

Our winter CSA has wrapped up, and I have to say I'm a bit relieved.  Toward the end of each CSA season, I get a little bit of fatigue as I try to deal with the regular stream of produce coming into my home.  In the summer, it's easier to can and freeze extras.  Winter produce keeps longer at room temperature, but I have some pumpkins that have been staring at me for months from the dining room table!  We are down to just onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, turnips, radishes, and a couple horseradish roots (that might be too dry to even mess with at this point).  Oh, and those pumpkins.  :)

The spring CSA will start in late May, so I have from now until then to work through what's left on the counter and in the fridge and freezer.  It's kind of a fun time to get inventive.

This week is pretty quiet in terms of events, meetings, and traveling, so let's get on with the food!

Sunday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, bacon, sourdough toast with honey, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  barbecue chicken drumsticks, green beans, macaroni and cheese, fruit, crescent rolls
-- supper:  Family Dinner!  We are bringing a chocolate meringue pie.  Basically you take my pudding recipe, put it in a pie crust, and top with meringue from the leftover egg whites.

Monday
-- breakfast:  Todd and I totally ate leftover chocolate meringue pie for breakfast.  With coffee and milk, so it was a balanced meal, obviously.
-- lunch:  a couple of grass-fed jerky sticks, leftover couscous with sauteed carrots and sweet potatoes
-- supper: lentil soup (I'm going to do the roasted garlic version!), sourdough bread

Tuesday
-- breakfast:  soaked oatmeal with home-canned apples, honey, crispy walnuts, and coconut cream.  Coffee + milk.
-- lunch:  black beans and salsa on corn tortillas with cheese, kombucha
-- supper:  cheeseburgers on sourdough buns with ketchup, pickles, onions.  Sweet potato fries.

Wednesday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, bacon, sourdough toast with honey, satsumas coffee + milk.
-- lunch:  leftover lentil soup and bread
-- supper:  soy-sesame salmon fillets, Asian slaw, steamed rice with scallions

Thursday
-- breakfast:  soaked granola with milk and raisins, coffee + milk, satsumas
-- lunch:  Vicki and I are going on a Field Trip to TPAC!  We are seeing a play with her Encore class, and then we will lunch like ladies somewhere downtown.  I'm really excited.  She will probably want pizza.
-- supper:  leftover ham salad on sourdough toast, sliced radishes with butter and salt

Friday
-- breakfast:  oatmeal and fruit
-- lunch:  steamed rice topped with steamed pumpkin and green beans
-- supper:  no supper.  I'm doing a gallbladder cleanse.  Don't even ask. Just don't.

Saturday
-- no breakfast
-- lunch:  pumpkin soup (thinking something like that link, but without the chestnuts!) with soaked crackers and cheese
-- supper:  we are having a BBQ potluck honoring our intern at church, who will be leaving to take on his own congregation this summer in Kentucky!  I'm bringing whatever he says his favorite dessert is.  :)  (I'm secretly hoping it's another chocolate meringue pie!)

What's up with y'all?  Any good eats?  Or just interesting happenings?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 4/27/15.]

menu plan april iii

I'm back!  DC was amazing.  I really enjoy it, as a city.  It's like a nice compromise between New York and Nashville - large enough to not really need a car, but not quite so dense.  The Metro is like a happy little miniature subway (although the Brutalist architecture can be a little overwhelming).  Also, I had some really great food.  Highlights:

Republic:  local, great seafood (had oysters), sustainable, beautiful inventive drink menu (Takoma Park).
Matchbox:  wood-fired pizza, great salads, oysters were also lovely (14th Street).
Ted's Bulletin:  adult milk shakes, homemade pop tarts.  Need I say more?  (14th Street).
ShopHouse:  think Chipotle but with Thai/Vietnamese food.  Ridiculously good, cheap, fast.  Nashville needs one of these stat.  (Chinatown, but there are tons of locations).

Wonderful friends and colleagues pretending to listen to me tell some story.  ;)

After all that beautiful food and fellowship (and learning), I was ready to get back to some of my home cooking.  And my kids - I like them too.

Here's what's up in the kitchen this week:

Sunday
-- breakfast:  soaked oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, home-canned apples, and honey; coffee + milk
-- lunch:  pork ribs with barbecue sauce, ravioli, salad, rolls
-- supper:  breakfast for dinner night with my Family Dinner peeps!  We brought sweet potato hash.  Soooo much good food:  waffles, eggs, biscuits and gravy, fruit salad, and the hash.

Monday
-- breakfast:  we were in a rush!  Granola, yogurt, honey.  Coffee + milk.
-- lunch:  I'm still pondering.  Do I grab something while out visiting?  Or do I eat the leftover chicken and rice with lentils that I brought?
-- supper:  this bulgur wheat salad, I think.  I will add roasted cherry tomatoes I froze last summer, and some soaked and cooked chickpeas for heft.

Tuesday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, bacon, sourdough toast, jam, satsumas, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  leftover bulgur salad, kombucha
-- supper:  Korean beef with broccoli, rice, kimchi

Wednesday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, bacon, sourdough toast, jam, satsumas, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  leftover Korean beef and rice, water kefir
-- supper:  Shrimp Fra Diavolo (recipe coming soon!), fettuccine, green beans

Thursday
-- breakfast:  soaked pancakes with butter and maple syrup, home-canned apples, sausage patties, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  out somewhere between two Bible studies - probably Panera for a big salad?
-- supper:  grilled bratwurst on sourdough buns with mustard and sauerkraut, sweet potato fries

Friday
-- breakfast:  blackberry-banana-yogurt smoothies, crispy walnuts and chocolate chips, coffee + milk
-- lunch:  leftovers of whatever
-- supper:  we are cooking out at the home of one of my great friends from my clergy covenant group!  Can't wait to get all the families and kids together.  I'm bringing a German potato salad.

Saturday
-- breakfast:  I'm positive Vicki will want pancakes.  :)
-- lunch:  pumpkin soup, crackers, cheese, pickles, kombucha
-- supper:  this will be the wedding I'm doing for my dear friend and brother-in-law Chase, and his fiance Carly.  So excited for us to be a part of it!  Vicki will be a flower girl, too.

So, what's up with y'all?  What are you doing?  Or eating?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 4/20/15.]

menu plan april ii

Heyo!  This week feels like a bit of a cheat, because I'm going to be out of town for most of it!  I have the final meeting of my Lewis Fellows cohort in DC.  I'm hoping and praying that my children won't be too insane as their father, grandmother, and great-grandmother take care of them this week.  And that I can get some quality sleep in a hotel and not miss them too much.  And not get bedbugs.  Ya know - normal stuff.

On Saturday we had Vicki Jo's fourth birthday party.  It was so fun.  We had a pinata, good times in the backyard, and chocolate raspberry cupcakes (her request).  I love all the spring birthdays that me and my children have.  It makes for such lovely outdoor parties, as long as it's not pouring.

Birthday cupcakes!!  Chocolate raspberry cupcakes with raspberry buttercream.  It was my first time making buttercream, and it turned out a little grainy.  But I didn't hear any complaints!

Okay:  the food.  Like I said, this week is a bit of a cop-out, as I'm traveling.  Wish me luck with that!

Sunday
-- breakfast:  soaked oatmeal with hemp seeds, dried cherries, bananas, and honey
-- lunch:  pork tenderloin, roasted sweet potatoes, green beans with bacon ends
-- supper:  Family Dinner!!  It was Sean's birthday choice this week.  He wanted burgers, and we delivered!  Grass-fed goodness for all, plus cheddar, mustard, mayo, lettuce, and onions.

Monday
-- breakfast:  gonna try to have something quick-fast before I have to be at the airport by 5:40!  In fact, I'm thinking I may just pack trail mix with crispy walnuts, dried cherries, and chocolate chips to munch on once I get through security.
-- lunch:  in DC somewhere!  I'm meeting my best friend's sister Maria for a happy lunch - unless her overdue baby comes first.  :)
-- supper will be with the cohort.

Tuesday & Wednesday
Meals are provided as part of my program, and we will go out Wednesday evening somewhere awesome in the area!  (I have received a zillion recommendations from friends!  Oyamel, Jaleo, Luke's Lobster . . .)

Thursday
Breakfast is with the cohort, and then lunch will once again be somewhere between Silver Spring Metro and Reagan National Metro.  Supper I'm still undecided about.  My flight leaves at 5:30 and arrives at 6:35, so I might just have a snack on hand and then wait until I get back to Nashville to eat.

Friday
-- breakfast:  soaked oatmeal with coconut cream, raisins, canned apples, and honey
-- lunch:  probably just a big old salad from somewhere like Panera
-- supper:  Pizza Night!  I'm thinking it will just be pepperoni and mozzarella.  I will try to make a sauce from scratch with some canned tomatoes, but the rest of my game will be off from having been gone all week.  :)

Saturday
-- breakfast:  soaked oatmeal with coconut cream, raisins, canned pears, and honey
-- lunch:  carrot-ginger soup, raw cheese, sourdough toast
-- supper:  roast chicken, mashed potatoes, turnip greens, radishes with butter & salt

menu plan march v

Welcome, my friends, to the busiest week in the life of a pastor.  The time between Palm Sunday and Easter is called Holy Week, and we really double down on the activities and worship this week.  It's all amazing and wonderful.  But it gets to be a little overwhelming.  So, I'm writing my weekly menu plan post as a little distraction.  :)

My favorite Holy Week infographic.  Blow it up if you want your mind blown.

It also happens to be my baby girl's FOURTH birthday this Thursday!  Wow.  To think how much life has happened between then and now.  It's unreal, actually.  Moving from Topeka, buying our house, starting my ministry at City Road, pregnancy and birth of Todd, separation/divorce . . . it's just a lot to contemplate.  She has put in her special menu requests for her birthday, which of course you will see reflected on Thursday.

Here's the food!

Sunday
-- breakfast:  eggs mixed with a little leftover crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, and green onions, scrambled.  Garlic toast.  Satsuma mandarin.  Coffee and milk.
-- lunch:  baked potato soup, more garlic toast
-- supper:  it was finally my birthday dinner!!  (A week late since all my teacher friends were out of town for Spring Break last week.)  My requests were a mushroom risotto with peas, spinach salad, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, and a lemon meringue pie.  It was completely delectable.  Every bite.  Best friends ever.

Monday
-- breakfast:  granola, raw milk, bananas, coffee and milk
-- lunch:  leftover turnip greens with bacon ends, corn muffin
-- supper:  chicken enchilada casserole, using soaked black beans, some leftover pulled chicken, and the last of some enchilada sauce I made last month.  Topped with avocado and sour cream.

Tuesday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, bacon, garlic toast, satsuma, coffee and milk
-- leftover mushroom risotto, kombucha, pickled carrots
-- supper:  chickpea and yogurt salad, pita bread, roasted sweet potatoes

Wednesday
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, bacon, sourdough toast, strawberry jam, satsumas, coffee and milk
-- lunch:  leftover enchilada casserole
-- supper:  tuna salad sandwiches on sourdough, carrot sticks, potato chips

Thursday (Vicki's birthday!)
-- breakfast:  pancakes, butter, syrup, pineapple, strawberries, coffee and milk
-- lunch:  whatever leftovers we still have!
-- supper:  cheeseburger macaroni, peas, green beans, chocolate cake

Friday (Good Friday - office is closed and both kids' schools are closed - don't ya love living in the South!?)
-- breakfast:  scrambled eggs, sausage patties, sourdough toast, raw honey, home-canned pears, coffee and milk
-- lunch:  leftover cheeseburger macaroni and veggies
-- supper:  pizza on sourdough crust (ricotta, cubed sweet potato, caramelized onion, rosemary, roasted garlic, kalamata olives)

Saturday
-- breakfast:  sourdough cinnamon rolls, sausage patties, coffee and milk
-- lunch:  we will be at my grandmother-in-law's house for an Easter lunch.  She has requested that I bring my Asian cabbage slaw!  It's similar to this recipe, but I make a lot of swaps such as using shredded cabbage and carrots instead of bagged slaw mix, sucanat instead of white sugar, a combo of olive and sesame oil instead of vegetable oil, and I add dried cherries.  Okay, it's not really like that recipe at all!  Lol. I should probably just write up my own recipe.  I'll try to take some pictures when I do it this weekend.
-- supper:  roast chicken, stewed turnip greens, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots

What are you eating this Holy Week?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 3/30/15.]

menu plan march iv

Birthday weekend was a resounding success.  The weather on Saturday was perfect.  We enjoyed the day outside as much as we could - walking, eating, walking, playing, walking.  I bought a record player.  That was the one purchase I wanted to make for myself this birthday.  So - if anyone has their vinyl collection up for grabs, I'll take it!

I started with the classics:

We are still eating our way through Nashville; Amanda will be here until Tuesday.  I'm so excited about tonight!  We are taking a break from our regular Family Dinner with friends (many of them are out of town as they are teachers or school administrators and this is Spring Break).  Instead, Amanda and I will be hitting Husk.  This is a celebrated new-ish restaurant in Nashville that I've been wanting to try for years.  Finally, I have the proper occasion.  :)

Okay - on to the food!

Preamble
We literally always have one of three things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or mandarins (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

3)  --soaked oatmeal with raisins, shredded coconut, coconut cream, honey
     --seasonal fruit or preserves

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  It's getting warm enough for popsicles finally!  I'm thinking basil and lime this week.

Sunday
-- lunch:  Fish Fry fundraiser at church!  Everything fried.  So good, so bad.  Fish, hush puppies, tater tots, white beans, etc.
-- supper:  Husk.  (Update:  it was good.  Not amazing.  I preferred the birthday dinner we had at Lockeland Table the night before.)

Monday
-- lunch:  meeting the BFF somewhere for lunch where we can sit outside and soak up the sun!
-- supper:  I think we will spatchcock and grill a chicken.  And do some roasted veggies like sweet potatoes, carrots, and turnips.

Tuesday
-- lunch:  grilled chicken and roasted veggie leftovers
-- supper:  bacon cheeseburgers, sourdough buns, oven-roasted sweet potato fries, sauerkraut and pickles

Wednesday
-- lunch:  turnip greens with bacon ends, cornbread
-- supper:  I jotted down a new Shrimp Fra Diavolo recipe while watching America's Test Kitchen on Saturday.  I think I'm gonna try it out!  If I get inspired, I might even make my own linguine.  We will have something green with this, like roasted broccoli.

Thursday
-- lunch:  leftover greens and cornbread
-- supper:  Breakfast for Dinner!  Biscuits and gravy.  Fruit.

Friday
-- lunch:  I'm going to be at a day-long training at our Conference office, and I'm just hoping there will be lunch involved.
-- supper:  I want to try to re-create this pizza we had at Lockeland Table.  It was ricotta, butternut squash (I will use pumpkin), kale, red onion, grana padano (I will sub Parmesan), and chili oil.  So freaking good.

Saturday
-- lunch:  whatever leftover roasted veggies + chicken stock soup, crackers, ricotta-herb dip
-- supper:  chicken enchiladas (homemade enchilada sauce, leftover chicken, grated cheese, black beans, corn - all rolled up together and baked under more enchilada sauce and cheese), Spanish rice, chili-spiced roasted pumpkin

What's on your menu this week?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 3/23/15.]

menu plan march iii

Birthday week!  Birthday week!!

Guys.  This week, I will be . . . THIRTY.  Thirty years.  I remarked to my dear Memaw last night that if the next thirty years held as much heartache as the first thirty, I didn't know if I could stand it.  But then again, if they have half as much joy as the first thirty, then it will all be worth it.

All I wanted for my birthday this year was for my very best friend to visit.  She will be here all weekend, and we have some killer birthday meals planned.

This was my birthday dinner last year - surrounded by nine of my closest friends.  Excited for a repeat this year!

Preamble
We literally always have one of three things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or mandarins (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

3)  --soaked oatmeal with raisins, shredded coconut, coconut cream, honey
     --seasonal fruit or preserves

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  This week I made pumpkin muffins.  The recipe is pretty good, but I think all the spices need doubled.

Sunday
-- lunch:  we had chicken and rice, roasted broccoli, and radishes with butter and salt
-- supper:  it was my friend Emily's birthday choices (I know, I know - confusing - two Emily's, birthdays both in March).  She wanted bruschetta, fettucine alfredo with chicken, roasted brussels sprouts, and apple cobbler.  I made the fettucine.  I bought a pasta roller and tried my hand at making pasta from scratch.  Total disaster.  I will have to try again!!  But I used this recipe for the alfredo.  It was perfect.

Monday
-- lunch:  leftover chicken & fettucine alfredo, roasted broccoli
-- supper:  couscous and chickpeas (subbed turnip greens for spinach), baked sweet potatoes

Tuesday
-- lunch:  out with my lady friend colleagues!  Noshville.
-- supper:  St. Patty's!  Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes.

Wednesday
-- lunch:  leftover corned beef and vegetables, Irish soda bread
-- supper:  shrimp fried rice, soy-sesame turnip greens

Thursday
-- lunch:  leftover fried rice and greens
-- supper:  pork carnitas tacos with pickled cabbage, homemade salsa, corn tortillas, sour cream, avocado

Friday
-- lunch:  out with the Covenant Group!  Mexican.
-- supper:  Jeff is taking me and Amanda out for a birthday surprise dinner!?  No idea what that entails.

Saturday
-- lunch:  Amanda will be with us, so we will probably just roam the neighborhood until we find something good that will also be kosher with two little kids.  :)
-- supper:  my actual birthday supper at Lockeland Table.  Favorite special-occasion restaurant that is just a couple of blocks from my house.  (Same place as picture above from last year!)

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 3/16/15 and Fat Tuesday 3/17/15.]

menu plan march ii

The cheese board(s) I brought to Family Dinner last night!  So freaking good.

Are you crawling out from under winter yet, wherever you are?  Things are pretty gorgeous here today.  We spent the day outside yesterday, and I got the first light sunburn of the season.  So wrong, so right.

Also - chickens!  I bought 8 chickens from Field of Dreams farm on Friday.  We have eaten enough of our half-cow and half-hog that we had room in the deep freeze to store them.  By working directly with the farmer, I was able to get them for $4/lb!  And that is for chickens raised on pasture with non-gmo non-soy supplemental feed.  I seriously love finding deals like that.

In other big food news in the Reeves Grammer household, we are switching up our CSA for the summer.  I found a much cheaper option than the collective we've been with, and they work with the same Old-Order Mennonite community that provides our milk and eggs.  I pretty much trust that community completely.  And I convinced the CSA to host an East Nashville drop!  So excited about it.

On to the food.  Always the food.

Preamble
We literally always have one of three things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or mandarins (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

3)  --soaked oatmeal with raisins, shredded coconut, coconut cream, honey
     --seasonal fruit or preserves

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  I made some cranberry-orange gelatin that the kids love.  Super-simple:  just heat 2/3 cup each orange juice and cranberries until all the berries burst.  Throw it in the blender with a few spoonfuls of honey.  Pour it back into the saucepan and whisk in 2 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin.  Pour into the mold of your choice and refrigerate until set!  It jiggles just like the stuff from the box.  :)

Sunday
-- lunch:  creamed chicken over cornbread, steamed broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes
-- supper:  Family Dinner!  We had appetizer this week, and I brought a cheese board!  I made a blue cheese-pecan spread and an herbed ricotta dip.  For accompaniments I had mini Gherkins, sliced apple, cucumber spears, roasted pecans, toasted baguette, homemade garlic-herb crackers, and homemade cranberry jam!  A feast.

Monday
-- lunch:  Staff Birthday Lunch!  We went to Thai Phooket and I had Thai iced tea, shrimp summer rolls, and chicken panang curry.
-- supper:  black bean and corn quesadillas with avocado, home-canned salsa, homemade tortillas, raw cheddar, sour cream, and pickled cabbage salad

Tuesday
-- lunch:  chicken salad on yogurt-dough crackers, carrot and cucumber sticks
-- supper:  Asian-style ground beef over peanut rice noodles with Asian slaw

Wednesday
-- lunch:  leftover beef on peanut noodles
-- supper:  beer-battered fish and chips, pickled cabbage salad

Thursday
-- lunch:  out somewhere before Pastor's Bible Study!
-- supper:  pork roast with turnips and cabbage, roast pumpkin wedges

Friday
-- lunch:  leftovers
-- supper:  BBQ pork pizza (homemade sourdough crust, homemade cider vinegar BBQ sauce, pulled pork leftover from Thursday night, green onions, cheddar cheese.  Top with vinegar slaw after it comes out!)

Saturday
-- lunch:  creamed squash soup with crackers and cheese
-- supper:  roast chicken, mashed potatoes, sourdough rolls, roast pumpkin

What's cooking with you all?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 3/9/15.]

menu plan march i

We are scheduled for more snow this week!  Unbelievable.  This is the length of winter I was used to in New York, not here in temperate Nashville.

It's interesting how nature marches on, though, despite what we humans have to say about it.  I drove up to beautiful rural Kentucky yesterday to fetch our milk for the co-op, and saw all the little calves that were just born.  They were snuggled up with their mamas or on straw bales, soaking up the sunshine.  Can you imagine being born in an open field during an ice storm?  Animals amaze me.

Here's what we are eating this week:

Preamble
We literally always have one of three things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or mandarins (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

3)  --soaked oatmeal with raisins, shredded coconut, coconut cream, honey
     --seasonal fruit or preserves

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

We also have a metric half-acre of bulk breakfast sausage from our recent half-hog purchase, so we have some sausage patties with whatever other breakfast we have.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  This week we are loving chocolate pudding pops.  These are a huge favorite with the kids, even though they make a God-awful mess.

Sunday
-- lunch:  Swedish meatballs, egg noodles, roasted turnips
-- supper:  Family Dinner!  We got a pass this week on dessert, since Stephanie had won a gift basket from the Dutch Maid Bakery at a silent auction.  We had lasagna roll-ups, loaded mashed cauliflower, and jalapeno jelly and cheese wonton quesadillas.  It was fantastic.

Monday
-- leftover pasta with pumpkin sauce, salad with red onion and pickled beets, kombucha
-- supper:  BBQ hamburger (this is an old-timey recipe from my grandmother-in-law that's basically ground beef with ketchup, mustard, vinegar, and Worcestershire.  Then you eat it on a bun like a sloppy joe.  I'll do a recipe soon!), roast potato wedges, pickled cabbage salad

Tuesday
-- lunch:  leftover Swedish meatballs and turnips
-- supper:  cabbage, noodles, and bacon; kombucha

Wednesday
-- lunch:  couscous and chickpeas with turnip greens instead of parsley and spinach
-- supper:  pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, braised turnip greens

Thursday
-- lunch:  leftover couscous and chickpeas
-- supper:  sesame/soy-glazed salmon, Asian cabbage slaw, sauteed green beans, scallion rice

Friday
-- lunch:  I'm going to a clergy tax seminar at the Conference Office and I'm fairly sure lunch is included!  If not, I'll just bring a sandwich of some sort and some veggies.
-- supper:  gonna try this pumpkin, sage, and apple pizza!  Holy moly it sounds good.  We will use our homemade mozzarella, of course.

Saturday
-- lunch:  soup of cabbage and leftover scallion rice in pork and chicken broth
-- supper:  roast chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted turnips, pickled cabbage salad

What's on the menu for y'all?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 3/2/15 and Fat Tuesday 3/3/15.]

menu plan february iv

We survived Nashville ice-pacolypse last week!  My Northern and Midwestern neighbors will be chuckling as they read this, but middle Tennessee is completely paralyzed by an ice storm.  School was cancelled all week, roads went unplowed and untreated, the mail was not delivered, and my office was closed for at least two days.  We went sledding and trekking in the ice and snow, and I nearly killed my children a number of times.  We have a very small house and we depend on being able to go outdoors a lot, in order to have plenty of space to roam and play.  Being without all that space for a week, and trapped at home, was pretty hard on everyone.

But we were able to do some amazing home cooking!  I have never been so thankful that I both love and know how to do things like make butter and bake bread.  When we couldn't get out to the grocery store, I was still able to make sure we had plenty of delicious food to eat.

Preamble
We literally always have one of three things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or mandarins (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

3)  --soaked oatmeal with raisins, shredded coconut, coconut cream, honey
     --seasonal fruit or preserves

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  I made some standard old-fashioned chocolate chippers with coconut oil in place of the butter and shortening, and man are they good!  The coconut oil keeps them very chewy.

Sunday
-- lunch:  I had made a lasagna ahead of time, so we ate lasagna, broccoli, and berries with angel food cake.
-- supper:  it was Stephanie's birthday choices for Family Dinner!  She chose an amazing chicken and sundried tomato pasta, cheesy jalapeno garlic bread, this broccoli (which we made and is SO good). and some kind of unbelievable dessert with cake, caramel, chocolate, bread pudding.  I don't know what was even in it.  But it tasted unreal.

Monday
-- lunch:  leftover creamy tomato soup, bread, cheese, pickled beets
-- supper:  lentil curry with basmati rice

Tuesday
-- lunch:  leftover lentils and rice, home-canned pearsauce, kombucha
-- supper:  cheeseburgers on sourdough buns with lacto-fermented dill pickles and sweet potato fries

Wednesday
-- lunch:  our District Clergy meeting from last week was postponed to Wednesday, so I imagine I will grab lunch with some friends/colleagues afterwards!
--supper: fish tacos with corn tortillas, avocado, home-canned salsa, and a cabbage slaw, and lime

Thursday
-- lunch:  more leftover lentils and rice and a mandarin
-- supper:  pork chops, fried cabbage, roast pumpkin, pearsauce

Friday
-- lunch:  tuna salad on yogurt dough crackers, leftover roast pumpkin
-- supper:  I'm making supper for a group of homeless guys that will be staying at a church in the neighborhood.  The kids and I will be bringing a big pot of chili and corn muffins, and some of those chocolate chip cookies I talked about earlier.

Saturday
-- lunch:  leftover chili and corn muffins
-- supper:  we are postponing pizza night to Saturday since we are taking the meal to the guys on Friday!  I'm excited about trying a breakfast pizza:  sourdough crust, breakfast sausage, cheddar cheese, and eggs cracked over the top.  Yum!

What are you going to be eating?  Any recipes to share?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 2/23/15.]

menu plan february iii

What's up, world?  We are just chilling over here.  No big happenings, which is just fine with me.  It's good to be calm for a little while.  I am ready for spring, though, and the advent of nice fresh green vegetables.  Eating locally and seasonally gets hard this time of year, when the main vegetable staples are potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, squash, turnips, onions, and so on.  There are only so many ways to eat cabbage!  A spear of tender asparagus will taste so good in late March.  :)  And our annual strawberry-picking trip at the first of May is just the best.

Preamble
We literally always have one of three things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or mandarins (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

3)  --soaked oatmeal with raisins, shredded coconut, coconut cream, honey
     --seasonal fruit or preserves

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  This week, we are still eating up the chocolate cake I made for Valentine's Day.  Yummmmm.



Sunday
-- lunch:  salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, mustard greens gratin, sourdough rolls
-- supper:  Family Dinner!  We are bringing an old favorite - cabbage and noodles.

Monday
-- lunch: leftover cabbage and noodles, kombucha
-- supper:  black bean tacos with homemade tortillas, taco seasoning. cheese, home-canned salsa, sour cream, and shredded cabbage salad

Tuesday
-- lunch:  we have a District Clergy meeting, so I will probably grab lunch with some colleagues/friends after that
-- supper:  chili & cornbread (and making some extra to take to our dear friends who are in need - pray for them if you are into that kind of thing!)

Wednesday
-- lunch:  tuna salad, crackers, cut-up veggies
-- supper:  sesame-soy salmon fillets, rice, steamed carrots

Thursday
-- lunch:  leftover black beans and tortillas
-- supper:  we are eating with our sweet friends the Allens.  I think we will bring bread or salad or some such.

Friday
-- lunch:  leftover something
-- supper:  margherita pizza on a sourdough crust with homemade mozzarella (and skip the basil since it's winter), roasted pumpkin wedges

Saturday
-- lunch:  tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread with lacto-fermented pickles
-- supper:  pork ribs, mashed pumpkin, roasted turnips, cabbage slaw, cornbread

What's happening in your kitchen this week??

menu plan february ii

Ah, Valentine's Week.  Am I the only kid who was so bugged when the other kids in elementary school called it Valentimes Day?  I'm still irked about that 25 years later.  Anyway, we have some fun stuff in the works for this week.  Both kids have parties in their classrooms, and Vicki and I are going to make some cookies on Wednesday to take to hers!  We already made paper valentines for Todd's class.  (Todd colored, Vicki cut.)



This is a cute idea too, huh!?  Anything can become Valentine's themed with a heart-shaped cookie cutter.  :)

Enough about Valentine's Day.  On to the food!

Preamble
We literally always have one of three things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or satsumas (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

3)  --soaked oatmeal with raisins, shredded coconut, coconut cream, honey
     --seasonal fruit or preserves

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.  Also, this week we have delicious bacon from our CSA, so I've been making bacon to go with our pancakes or eggs and toast, as well.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  This week, I made a lemon-lime sherbet that is so ridiculously easy it seems impossible.  I love a good citrus frozen dessert.

Sunday
-- lunch:  grilled pork tenderloin, roasted broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, macaroni & cheese, biscuits
-- supper:  Family Dinner!  We are having Indian food and it's our turn to bring appetizer, so I made some cucumber raita and bought some veggies and naan to go with it.

Monday
-- lunch:  at Panera for a business meeting.  I've been loving this Cobb salad.
-- supper:  bacon, cabbage and egg noodles

Tuesday
-- lunch:  leftover chicken and noodles from last week
-- supper:  Shrove Tuesday!!  Pancakes and sausage are the traditional fare for this night.  :)

Wednesday
-- lunch:  me and my girl are taking a field trip to Radnor Lake with her Encore class.  I'm thinking we might do a special lunch somewhere on the way back, just the two of us.
-- supper:  meatloaf, roasted broccoli and turnips

Thursday
-- lunch:  going out somewhere with my dear mentor and buddy from our Staff-Parish Relations Committee
-- supper:  sweet potato and onion hash with fried eggs over top and sausage patties

Friday
-- lunch:  leftovers!
-- supper:  bacon cheeseburger pizza (this is one of my favorites!  Sourdough crust, tomato paste, cooked ground beef, cooked chopped bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and I like mine with a little homemade sauerkraut or chopped dill pickle on top after it gets done baking.)

Saturday
-- lunch:  going to do a beef and cabbage stew along these lines, but with some tweaks
-- supper:  our special Valentine's Dinner!  We will have steaks, baked potatoes, spinach (or greens, depending on what we get in our CSA box that day) gratin, Caesar salad, and a chocolate cake with strawberry jam filling (I think I will skip the frosting and just do whipped cream on top, and maybe also just do two layers?  I'm not sure.)

What will you be eating this week?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 2/9/15.]

menu plan january i

Happy New Year!  I'm glad to be settling down a bit from all the holiday travels and celebrations.  It's a fun and festive time, but it also makes me feel a little bit stretched.  As a true introvert, lots of small talk and interactions tend to exhaust me.

Also, I'm glad to have a week of semi-normalcy before I dive into two weeks of intense study to start my Doctor of Ministry program!  I promise a full post on this later this week, so I can explain the details.

Some notes:  we literally always have one of two things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or satsumas (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  I made this cranberry upside down cake (with some substitutions) for Family Dinner last night and we have been enjoying it at home, too.

So, here's the menu for this week.  We have been enjoying the heck out of the half-hog purchase we made, and I'm getting excited to try to make a country-style pate out of the liver soon.

Sunday
-- lunch:  roast chicken, roasted acorn squash and brussels sprouts with a sorghum/cider vinegar glaze, mashed potatoes, pickled beets, and bread
-- supper:  Family Dinner!  We had spinach-artichoke dip, chips, a skillet ravioli lasagna, salad, and afore-mentioned cranberry upside down cake.

Monday
-- breakfast:  don't tell!  We had leftover cake with homemade yogurt for breakfast.  :)
-- lunch:  going out with an old friend who's visiting from Detroit.  (Hi Julie!)
-- supper:  black-eyed peas with ham hocks, chow-chow, stewed kale

Tuesday
-- lunch:  egg salad on sourdough toast, cranberry sauce, kombucha
-- supper:  shepherd's pie with sweet potato topping

Wednesday
-- lunch:  leftover acorn squash soup, sourdough toast, cheese, cranberry sauce, kombucha
-- supper:  clam chowder, sourdough rolls, apple slices

Thursday
-- lunch:  leftover chowder, sourdough toast, cranberry sauce, kombucha
-- supper:  soy-sesame pork chops, Asian-style slaw of cabbage, green onions, and carrots, rice

Friday
-- lunch:  leftovers
-- supper:  margherita pizza with homemade mozzarella, assorted pickles (beets, cucumbers, carrots)

Saturday
-- lunch:  grilled cheese on sourdough, pickles, apples
-- supper:  roast chicken, green beans, roast turnips, sourdough rolls

Have the week you have, my friends.

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 1/5/15, Fat Tuesday 1/6/15, Real Food Wednesday 1/7/15, Pennywise Platter 1/8/15, and the HomeAcre Hop 1/8/15.]

menu plan december v

Did you survive the holidays?  We did - just barely.  :)  Here are the kids enjoying my big Christmas present from my grandmother-in-law:

Isn't it just like "parenthood" that within one day of getting an awesome new present, your kids think it's theirs?  Ha!

We are traveling to my sister's once again this week, just as we did over Thanksgiving.  My niece Sloane was born on New Year's Day (first baby of the new year at their hospital!), so her birthday party every year is a New Year's Day party.  We are going up to spend some time with my sister, my brother, my stepdad, and others!  Exciting.  I'm also excited to pack our own food for travel, once again.  That felt like a major triumph to me.  So, here are the eats I have planned this week:

Some notes:  we literally always have one of two things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves (green rhubarb lately - yum!)
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or satsumas (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  The kids and I made some coconut macaroons over the holiday, so we are eating those up!  

Sunday
-- lunch:  we had hamburgers and fixings, homemade sourdough buns, and sweet potato fries,
-- supper:  Calypso!  My favorite neighborhood take-out.  I have a post coming soon all about their callaloo.  The kids and I shared a half dark chicken with jerk sauce, callaloo greens, black beans, rice, and fruit tea.

Monday
-- lunch:  egg salad on sourdough toast, a big sour lacto-fermented pickle, a satsuma, and some kombucha.
-- supper:  breakfast for dinner!  Homemade biscuits, sausage gravy (we are trying the sausage from our recent half-hog purchase for the first time!), eggs, sweet potato & onion hash.

Tuesday
-- lunch:  tuna salad on sourdough toast, pear sauce, kombucha
-- supper:  meatloaf, turnip fries, maple-glazed carrots, sourdough dinner rolls

Wednesday
-- lunch:  on the road!  I'm packing acorn squash soup in a thermos, sourdough bread, raw cheese, kombucha, satsumas, and cookies.
-- supper:  we will be at my sister's - no idea!

Thursday
-- lunch:  New Year's Day!  I'm bringing along some black-eyed peas and ham hocks we have in the freezer and fix this quintessential Southern dish for good luck.
-- supper:  no idea, once again.  Party stuff.

Friday
-- lunch:  we will be back on the road.  If we have any leftover squash soup I will pack that.  Otherwise we may pack leftover black-eyed peas to eat alongside our bread, cheese, and fruit.
-- supper:  we will probably grab a pizza from either 5 Points Pizza or Pizza Real, which tie as our two favorite neighborhood pizza joints.

Saturday
-- lunch:  grilled cheese on sourdough, French onion soup, lacto-fermented pickles, satsumas
-- supper:  roast chicken, green beans, sauteed cabbage, mashed potatoes, sourdough rolls

[Submitted to Menu Plan Monday 12/29/14, the Homestead Barn Hop 12/29/14, Fat Tuesday 12/30/14, the HomeAcre Hop 1/1/15, and Simply Natural Saturday 1/3/15.]

menu plan december iii

Anyone out there?  I'm having a hard time keeping up my motivation to blog.  The one thing that I want to keep doing is the weekly meal plans - mostly for myself!  I love the idea that if I keep this up for a year, I will essentially have made myself a year-long seasonal/local template for menus.  Great resource.

Huge news this week - our order of a naturally-foraging half-hog will be in!  So, I'm anticipating some chops or ribs or a roast later on this week, for sure.  Sometimes I feel like my whole life revolves around sourcing, preparing, cooking, and enjoying amazing homemade food.  And the really crazy part is that I enjoy it and don't feel that it is abnormal.  Lol.  Does this mean it's a calling?

Christmas jammies brought to you courtesy of Grandpa Mark and Grandma Rosalie.

On to the food!

Some notes:  we literally always have one of two things for breakfast if we are at home.

1)  -- scrambled eggs from our Mennonite hens
     -- homemade sourdough toast/English muffins/biscuits
     -- raw butter we have been making from our Mennonite cow cream
     -- local raw honey or homemade preserves (green rhubarb lately - yum!)
     -- seasonal fruit from our CSA or satsumas (in the winter)

2) -- pancakes
    -- raw butter
    -- real maple syrup
    -- seasonal fruit

Vicki usually requests #2.  If we have time, I'm happy to oblige.  If I do any sourdough baking, though, we will use the excess starter to have sourdough pancakes.

Since it is so monotonous, I'm not going to put breakfast on the menu plan.

Lunches are pretty much always leftovers.  If I do some actual cooking for lunch, I will put it in the plan.  If not, just assume it's something unexciting.

For drinks, we always have raw milk on hand.  We also drink Berkey filtered water, kombucha, or homemade soda from our ginger bug.  I would love to start messing with water kefir soon.

Finally, I try to make one dessert-ish item that we nibble on all week for snacks and desserts.  This week I made maple marshmallows from scratch, which we are also using as part of our Christmas gift baskets.  I will post a recipe this week!  Super easy and very satisfying.

Sunday
--lunch:  I made a meatloaf, braised kale, mashed turnips, and sourdough rolls
--supper:  Family Dinner!  It was our week to bring appetizer, so I did a caramelized onion dip.  I'll do a recipe on this soon, too.  Easy and delicious.  Served with kohlrabi sticks and kettle chips.

Monday
--lunch:  leftover kale pizza, home-canned cranberry sauce, kombucha
--supper:  black bean soup (minus chicken) with cheese quesadillas (raw cheese, homemade tortillas), home-canned salsa, sour cream, avocado, etc

Tuesday
--lunch:  Living Word Sunday school class Christmas party luncheon!  Can't wait.  One of the great perks of my job is getting invited to about 134890235 Christmas parties with awesome food.
--supper:  Korean beef with cabbage, steamed rice, homemade extra-spicy kimchi

Wednesday
--lunch:  out with some lady friends at PF Chang's!  Lettuce wraps here I come.
--supper:  salmon fillets with ginger butter, honey-glazed carrots, sauteed kale, sourdough dinner rolls

Thursday
--lunch:  leftover meatloaf, turnips, sourdough roll, kombucha
--supper:  pork chops!!  With home-canned pear sauce, sauteed cabbage, roasted potatoes, and sourdough rolls

Friday
--lunch:  egg salad, sourdough toast, home-canned cranberry sauce, kombucha
--supper:  acorn squash pizza on sourdough crust (sub goat cheese for gorgonzola) with homemade mozzarella cheese, ginger bug sodas

Saturday
--lunch:  tomato soup, grilled cheese on sourdough toast, homemade lacto-fermented chili-garlic dill pickles
--supper:  roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans from the freezer, garlicky kale salad, sourdough dinner rolls

What are you eating?  Anything amazing to share?

[This post submitted to Menu Plan Monday 12/15/14, Homestead Barn Hop #188, Fat Tuesday 12/16/14, Real Food Wednesday 12/17/14, and Pennywise Platter 12/18/14.]