Sunday Food for Thought...Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Well, it would seem that we have all survived the Holidays, and my jeans still fit!  And we seem to have come through without anyone succumbing to any sort of gastro bug or cold...now to see how long it lasts...
I am bringing some changes to the blog in the coming weeks that I am excited about, but that is for tomorrow.  For today, I thought I would get you going with a bit of a meal plan for this week.  Our kids go back to school and activities this week (I realise that some of you out there still have another week off, so enjoy!  Take advantage of every minute.), so it is time to get back to routine, and that means groceries, meal plans, lunches...

• Sunday: Leftovers...We had friends in to ring in 2012 and say good bye to 2011, so there is leftover chili, hot dogs and  even some delicious Moroccan Chickpea Stew.  And of course, buns and bagels and veggies and dip
• Monday: since it is still a day off, Monday is filling in for Sunday this week...Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, spinach salad and roasted veggies.
• Tuesday: Back to work, back to school and back to the rink means homemade chicken vegetable soup with leftover spinach salad, and a little homemade bread.
• Wednesday: Pork stir fry with black bean sauce and brown rice. I like to use a couple of boneless pork loin chops for this.  Cut into strips and cook in skillet with a little bit of grapeseed oil and a couple of cloves of garlic.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Stir fry sliced red onion, a couple of bell peppers cut into strips, in a couple of tablespoons of oil, when peppers are bright add the pork back to the pan and add 1/4 cup of black bean sauce.  Cook for 4-5 more minutes.  Serve with brown rice.
• Thursday: Sausage and Peppers with linguine and salad.
• Friday: First week back?  I am really hoping for take out tonight...Maybe even from Saigon kitchen...salad rolls, pho, and some of their curry chicken.
• Saturday: Recipe test day...It's a surprise...come back and see what we make!

The kids are going to make the lunch menu tomorrow, since school goes back on Tuesday.  Don't worry, we won't forget to share...

Happy New Year!

Kim

Christmas Countdown

At this point, December 10th, I would say we are officially in "Countdown mode" in our house.  Especially since everyone (except for me) is off for a two week Christmas Break as of this coming Friday.  So they are all walking around the house, counting down, "5 more days"..."5 more days"!
   Argh!  Five more days and they are all off and then I am tripping over them for full week while still getting ready for Christmas.  Not sure why the school district couldn't have kept them in until the 23rd.  That would give us a week to recover, after the holidays, before sending them back to school.  Maybe next year.

Rather than wasting any more precious time complaining, it is time to get on with the list!  There is still so much to be done, and I am really hoping there might be someone else interested in doing it...I have enough to do.   The Dance show (finally!) is today, but there are still skating practices, the Bethlehem walk, a skating Christmas party, Christmas cards for school and skating friends, Teacher presents, Family Christmas cards (and I discovered this past week I have misplaced the kids' school pictures)...Oh well, I still have next weekend to get things in order.....No, I don't...Somehow Grandma's Christmas party got left off the calendar.  So, that means there are officially no weekends left before Christmas to get things done...Okay, Rob, get ready, your list is gonna be long!  Typically, he gets the Costco Run and the Seafood Market Run and the Liquor store run...I think there just might be some Christmas Card writing on that list, as well as at least a dozen other things I cannot remember at this very moment...
   In the midst of all this chaos that is approaching, we still need to eat!  I have to say, this is where the Freezer comes in handy!

• Sunday: This is Dance show day...I am really hoping we are going out for dinner!
• Monday: Cheese tortellini and spaghetti sauce(all from the freezer!) with spinach salad
• Tuesday: Vegetable Soup and sandwiches before heading off to the Bethlehem Walk
• Wednesday: Ginger Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry (except for the little kids, who will be having hot dogs at the skating club Christmas party!)...such a great and easy recipe, I had to share
• Thursday: Slow cooker Chili and salad
• Friday: Sushi, Pizza and Brownies (the only homemade item on the menu) and the first sleepover of the Holidays!  Welcome, Tracy and Hailey!
• Saturday: Skating show day...do we get to go out two nights in one week? 

However, the last week of school before the Christmas holidays deserves some fun lunches...

• Monday: Turkey, spinach and cream cheese pinwheels , with fruit salad.
• Tuesday: Spaghetti sauce Shepherd's pie
• Wednesday: Eyeball soup (because my 10 year old asked) Your favourite meatballs in any clear soup, but its fun to use Udon noodles or rice noodles that are really long as it makes the meatballs look like they are "peering" out of the bowl.
• Thursday: Buffalo Chicken wraps with lettuce and ranch dressing (instead of blue cheese)...This is an Eating Well recipe, and the only change I make to it, to make it more kid friendly is replacing the cayenne pepper with Chili powder and a tbsp of brown sugar.
• Friday: Appetizer Lunch (what we used to call "bits and pieces"), inlcuding veggies and dip, rice cakes and salsa and perogies.

Turkey and Cream Cheese pinwheels are kind of fun... Basically a roll up, but because they are cut, they look "different" and somehow with kids, when things look different, they taste different.  If your kids don't like spinach, you could use regular leaf lettuce.

• 1/2 of 1 package (3 ounce) cream cheese
•  1 teaspoon cream-style horseradish 
• 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
• 1 green onion sliced lengthwise and then chopped fine
• 1/2  cup spinach leaves
• 3 (8 inch) whole wheat tortillas
• 6 slices Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

1. Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, green onion and  horseradish in a small bowl.  Mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture onto tortillas.
2. Cover each with 2 turkey slices. Spread the spinach leaves on top. Roll up jelly-roll fashion. Refrigerate 2 hours or until serving time.
3. Slice each tortilla into 8 pieces.
   
   This makes enough for 3 lunches.
   
   Happy Packing!
   
   Kim
   

U is for...Unanimous

   When the liking of a food is unanimous in our household, I cheer!  Up until a year or so ago, the list was very short...Spaghetti & meatballs and chicken & black bean stir fry with broccoli and noodles were about it.  Yes, there were other things that my children would eat and loved: macaroni and cheese for example, or baked chicken with rice and peas, chicken quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches...But when I say Unanimous, I mean all of us, and while I will eat those things, they are the foods I make so that everyone eats, not necessarily because I like them. 
   As the parent primarily responsible for the food in our house (I am not saying Mother, because I know that in many homes it is the father or the grandmother, or the big sister who takes on this roll, and not necessarily the Mother), it isn't very often that I make something just because I like it.  I make steak when it is on sale and we haven't had red meat in a while.  Seafood however, I make because I am craving some.  And tonight, we will be having Seafood!  Again though, not because I am craving it or because it is what everyone likes, but because my Mum is here visiting from Montreal and she loves seafood. She is heading home in a few days and it would be nice if we could have it once while she is here. 
    The rest of the week, however, I am shooting for a "unanimously popular"  (where is my English teacher husband?  can I even say that?) menu....
-Spaghetti and turkey meatballs on Tuesday (Turkey Tuesday, don't you know!)
-Caesar salad and baked chicken pieces on Wednesday (I can make both ahead of time and then we avoid the baseball game/dance class/soccer practice rush)
-Chicken Pot Pie (that I am making this afternoon) on Thursday (another silly day: Skating, baseball practice and gymnastics all requiring that folks be somewhere by or before 6pm and then some not home until 7 or 8pm).
-Pizza (frozen for now) and salad on Friday.

 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunches will all take care of themselves with leftovers, which means I really only have to "think" for tomorrow's lunches.  But now, I am off to check the fruit situation for the week...Might just be heading to the grocery store AGAIN before the long weekend comes to an end.

Happy Packing!

F is for ...Food Network Favourites

I have to admit, I am a bit of a Food Network Fan.  I have three favourite shows: Chef at Home (Michael Smith), Chuck's Day off (love his lobster tattoo) and of course, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (huh, that would have made a fun D post).
What I love about the first two shows, is that they are cooking for their friends and families.  And on Chef at Home, you get to see inside the Pantry cupboards (a secret passion of mine, I love other people's pantries!).
My all time favourite episode of Chuck's Day off, was the one where he made Chicken Nuggets for his little cousins (along with a few other yummy things).  We tried the recipe and they were a hit.   My kids love chicken in all forms, especially nuggets and strips, so it was a nice change to be in charge of the amount of "stuff" going into them and knowing what "stuff" is in there to begin with.  Especially after some of the things I have read and heard about what goes into "other" chicken nuggets and just how little actual chicken there is, nevermind how they treat the chickens!

Make a double batch as they go really well into lunches with rice or noodles and some veggies for a well rounded meal!

Happy Packing!

A link for today: Content for Foodies  so that you can check out more of the A to Z blogging challenge!

Making it your own

The one plus to being sick with a kidney infection and sidelined on the couch for a few days was that I got to catch up on my magazine reading!  That, and watching "Oprah" (boy do I miss Oprah).  I pulled out back issues of "Clean Eating" magazine and re-read them.  It is my favourite "new" magazine from the past year.  I bought a few new food magazines ove the last year and some were quite disappointing.  But "Clean Eating", well, I have 5 issues so far, including February 2011.  There is also a website, at least 2 cookbooks, a facebook page and who knows what else.  While I haven't spent too much time on the website, I love the magazine and enjoy the updates that appear on my facebook wall from time to time.  Tosca Reno, the mind, body and spirit behind "Clean Eating" is quite an inspiration. 
One of my favourite parts of the magazine are the menu plans with matching grocery lists.  This has become my "go to" for the holes in our family weekly menus.  Some ideas are as easy as "Clean Tuna salad on whole grain toast with fruit for dessert".  And when the alternative was frozen pizza and popsicles?  Well then, we are ahead on both nutrition and time for those nights when it seems like everyone has to be somewhere all at the same time and we have about 7 and a half minutes to get supper into them.
So, last night, feeling somewhat recovered and hungry enough to feel inspired by my recipe reading, I set about making supper from the February issue.  The recipe, "Clean Chicken and Waffles" calls for making whole grain and grated zucchini waffles (which sounded really good), but I just wasn't up for getting out the waffle maker, so we had Kamut penne noodles with ours.  The chicken and veggies part called for Broccoli Rabe, brussel sprouts and mushrooms.  My crisper had regular broccoli, mushrooms and leeks.  The final change?  Smoked Paprika...
The kids came up from downstairs sniffing the air, "What smells so good?"  
"Your supper", I answered.
"I'll set the table!" my 9 year old grinned.  "Has the cat been fed?" asked my 7 year old.  The older girls began getting plates and glasses out of the cupboard.  Somebody made a jug of orange juice....
...Yes!  Jamie Oliver was right!  Smoked paprika is magic!  (the author of this blog warns readers that these results may not be typical and makes no guarantees that smoked paprika will have this effect on other families)
    And I was in such a good mood, I mixed the bit of leftover chicken and veggies with some leftover brown rice (from another meal) and made "Clean chicken and brown rice wraps" for today's lunches!   Yum Yum yum!  (and cut up melon and pineapple, so not local!, with mixed frozen berries and vanilla yogurt to round out the lunch box).  I love a yummy lunch!
Happy Packing!

Find more yummy clean recipes at www.cleaneatingmag.com

Gone looking for inspiration...

   This past Christmas, I received two gift cards for Chapters/Indigo booksellers.  I was delighted.  My first thought was that I could go out and buy myself a new novel or two...I couldn't wait.  Something to read that was just for me.  Not a parenting book or a children's book, not even a cookbook.  I perused the Globe and Mail best sellers list...maybe I would get the new non fiction...I really wanted to read Stevie Cameron's book...Or perhaps the new Giller Prize book...
   I made a list (surprise!) and off I went, BY MYSELF~  First to the Coffee counter for an extra-hot non-fat half-sweet Chai Latte (I can be as high maintenance as the next customer if I don't have a van full of kids with me), a nice change from my typical long pour Americano with cream.
   The Stevie Cameron book was easy to find, so I picked it up and carried it around with me while I browsed.  I love the feeling of new books in my hands, just waiting to be opened and read, an e-book reader, I am not.  I looked at calendars and flipped through the best sellers, including the Giller Prize winner, but I put that one back, no longer sure that I wanted it.  Then I came upon the middle table filled with cookbooks.  Hardcover ones, with the Boxing Week sign about 30% off.  And there was Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", right on the top.  I had wanted that book for such a long time (yes, even before seeing the movie "Julie and Julia", but that had only made me want it more)...30% percent off, and a gift card...You do the math!
   Within a few moments, I had made my way to the cookbook section in search of Gordon Ramsay books.  There was one I had been wanting to look at.  I spied it, in another woman's hands.  I scanned the shelf and realised that she was holding the only one.  Before I could say anything, she walked away with it, saying something to her daughter (or at least the young girl who was with her) about 30% off, and heading towards the cash line.  Oh well.  I still had Julia Child and Stevie Cameron, Gordon Ramsay could wait for another day.  Maybe I was done looking at books.  I was certainly done with the Chai.  So, I too headed for the line up, and then home to make Quiche.  Mmmmm...

   A few weeks ago, I discovered that "Better Food for Kids" had been released in second edition, and was now for kids ages 2 to 10 (the previous edition is ages 2 to 6).  I went online and found it.  And I still had a gift card left.  So, I browsed (albeit without a tasty chai in hand), and found two more books I wanted.  Unfortunately, for my comfy chair, neither of them were novels.  Nope.  They were (you guessed it) cookbooks.  The Zuni Cafe (a San Fran eatery gone cookbook) and (wait for it!)...Dieticians of Canada, "Cooks!" pub. 2011  (what was it that they were doing in the first five books?)...What?  Were you expecting Gordon Ramsay?  Yeah, well, I would bet that his wife would use the D of C cookbooks.
And I have to tell you, the new D of C "Cooks!" is awesome!!!  And they don't use nearly as much butter as dear Julia.  In ten minutes of browsing through the book, I found four recipes that I could have made right then and there without a trip to the grocery store.  And a few more where I was only missing one or two ingredients.  I made "Greek Chicken" out of it on Saturday night, with some steamed potatoes  on the side and their recipe for Tzatziki.  All gone at one sitting.  Even my fussy 9 year old ate everything (and I don't think that had anything to do with the promise of dessert).
There are great soup and lunch recipes inside it, plus desserts and breakfast recipes as well as dinners and sides.  Healthy eating tips, local eating tips, storing tips for fruits and veggies.  All kinds of great stuff.  And all for under $20.00.  If you are looking for some easy inpiration in the kitchen, this book gets my recommendation!  Five stars!

Happy Packing!