Menu & Grocery List for 3/30-4/4

I end up eating some weird stuff when I’m home alone. Last week everything seemed to involve pasta, so you won’t see any on this week’s menu!

Split pea soup: my favorite recipe is from Laurel’s Kitchen and includes barley but no ham. We eat it with cottage cheese, which sounds weird but isn’t.

Lamb sausage with fresh mint, feta, and garlic: seems like we should eat this with pita bread, and probably some raita.

Coconut Tofu: with rice, of course.

Chicken with Roasted broccoli and raisin vinaigrette: not sure which part of the chicken yet, but probably thighs unless I can find some breasts that aren’t insanely expensive.

Spicy stewed potatoes and spinach with buttermilk: again, with rice.

Roasted asparagus and shiitakes with fried eggs and Parmesan: this is from the March 2008 Everyday Food magazine–there’s a section in front of 50 no recipe meals and this is #40.

Grocery List:
eggs
chicken
ground lamb
tofu

buttermilk
feta cheese
1/2 & 1/2
yogurt
cottage cheese

mint
cilantro
lettuce
spinach
asparagus
shiitake mushrooms
broccoli
carrots
cucumber (?)

raisins
coconut
rice flour
dried red chilies (2)

coconut milk

For breakfast, snacks, and lunches I’ll also pick up bread, peanut butter, corn chips, oatmeal, and fruit.

Pantry: spices, split peas, barley, celery, onions, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, rice vinegar, miso, soy sauce, garlic, potatoes, rice

ZOMG! Trader Joe’s!

I have to admit, when we moved here almost four years ago from Seattle we did bemoan the absence of Trader Joe’s. I made it a point to visit one whenever we hit Eugene or Portland, usually making it my last stop so that I could tote home frozen potstickers and Greek yogurt along with my dried fruit and cans of coconut milk. At some point, the novelty wore off. I still go occasionally, but I’ve pretty much stopped using it as a way to bond with all the other people who have just moved here.

I’m going to assume it’s a general lack of local excitement that has made Trader Joe’s front page news in Bend, as they are today, for almost two years. (update: I just looked at the paper version of the paper and it appears that the story is not on the actual front page, just featured on the website.  Sorry for the hyperbole. But still.) An article from the Bend Bulletin on April 21, 2006 reported that the Cascades Village Shopping Center had submitted plans that included a Trader Joe’s although at the time a spokeswoman for the company “declined to confirm” the news. While I’m all for cheap wine, I think I can safely say the build up on tomorrow’s grand opening has been (well) over the top.

This is not to say I won’t shop there. It seems like they’re a great company that deserves their reputation for treating their employees fairly (unlike, say, REI.) They do have some things that have been difficult or even impossible to get locally without mail order (oh please tell me they have pomegranate molasses, I’ve become addicted to the stuff and can’t find it anywhere in town.) But you won’t find me there peering in the windows tomorrow morning. I’ve made it this long without easy access to Baked Jalapeño Cheese Crunchies and Flax & Honey Flatbread, I’m not going to wait in a traffic jam to get them now.

Continued By: Travels With Snacks

Don’t adjust your dial, you haven’t been phished or redirected or anything. I was just ready for a new and improved title.

I don’t write about library stuff very often, but I couldn’t resist a little library-ese in the title of this post. I’ve never been very happy with the title of my blog (this is actually the second time I’ve changed it,) but until my post about the cooking show I forgot all about how Jeff and I used to joke that my trail name should be “travels with snacks.” He and I are always the ones who make sure everyone has food when we’re hiking, skiing, climbing, etc., and I even gave him a mushy card once that said something about snacks, back when we were first dating and did things like give each other mushy cards.

Travels with snacks. I like it.

Movin’ to Foodsville

It’s not often that my contribution to infodoodads could have just as easily been a post here, but the site I reviewed, Foodsville, is pretty sweet if you’re at all interested in the history of food.

Countdown to Halloween

Kidding, kidding. Sort of.

You see, Sunday marks the last candy-based holiday until October. While I have no desire to rush through spring and summer, this early Easter has caught me a bit off-guard. I think we’ve only eaten one bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs (two? Maybe two.)

Perhaps the arrival of the Easter Calorie Calculator in my email this morning was intended to make me feel better. 1 Creme Egg, 5 Peeps, and 25 jelly beans will power a nearly five-mile walk. I’m ok with that.

Menu & Grocery List for 3/17-3/22

I’ve been out of town and Jeff is headed out of town so that always throws the meal planning off a bit. This week I’m going to focus on using stuff from the fridge, freezer, and pantry since it seems like some food “clutter” (like bulk rice, half-finished packages of pasta, and frozen beans) is starting to pile up. No question about what we’ll have tomorrow though, authentic or not….

Corned Beef & Cabbage: cooked in the crock pot, in beer and onions, with the cabbage, potatoes, and carrots added at the end. There several more interesting Irish-ish dishes on epicurious’ St. Patrick’s Day menus that would be fun to try. Maybe next year.

Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes: I planned to make these a few weeks ago, but didn’t, so they’re back on the list since I still have most of the ingredients (including the broccoli I meant to fix on the side.)

Spaghetti with Fried Eggs: I’ve been enjoying Mark Bittman’s blog Bitten and expect this won’t be the last meal I find there. If the salad greens look good we’ll probably have salad with this, otherwise maybe cooked greens like spinach or kale.

Pasta E Fagioli: Whenever I cook beans (usually on a Sunday) I always cook more than we’ll eat and freeze the extras. It’s almost as convenient as canned beans, but cheaper and more tasty. Right now I have a quart of white beans that will be perfect for this.

With the travel and the leftovers this should be plenty for the week.

Grocery List:

corned beef
chicken broth

shallots
cabbage
canned tomatoes
celery
carrots
garlic
potatoes
lettuce/greens

Pantry: rice, pasta, white beans, cheese, eggs, pecans, spices, olive oil

I’ll also pick up fruit, bread, yogurt and probably some chips and maybe salsa for snacks and lunches as well as coffee and 1/2 & 1/2.

From now on I travel with snacks

I know I’m hungry when I briefly contemplate mugging a defenseless woman for her taco meatball ring. While it’s true those three words should never be in such close proximity to one another, if I’d had the strength left, I might have tried it.

Honestly, I knew the Taste of Home Cooking School probably wasn’t going to be exactly my style of cooking, but I figured it would be fun since I knew I would be in good company. I wasn’t wrong; I actually had a blast, since snark is by far one of my favorite activities and there was even more good company than I expected. What I didn’t expect, however, was the complete lack of food in evidence at this cooking event. I (foolishly) came snackless and straight from work for an event that started at 6pm. I watched Kristi, our culinary specialist, truss game hens, cut out fondant flowers, and promote paper towels. I learned helpful information like “fresh lemon juice is better than bottled,” and “tomatoes don’t belong in the refrigerator.” There was probably even more good information as the night wore on, but for about the last hour or so I was too hungry to take in any more.  I was too famished to snark. Had I been handed a two-hour old Buffalo chicken lettuce wrap I would have snarfed it down right there, cooked cucumbers and all.

Perhaps that was the point, but since they really weren’t selling anything (a la Pampered Chef) I’m not sure whose interest a crowd of ravenous door-prize crazed people serves. I called Jeff as I headed home: “did you eat yet?” “Ok, can you put the bacon in the oven right. now.?” I didn’t even know I narrowly missed waiting behind a train until I read Jen’s far more thorough review of the evening.  It’s probably a good thing they *didn’t* have wine–I don’t think I would have made it.

Menu & Grocery List for 3/8-3/14

Holy cow, I’m ready for spring.

We have been having some spring-like weather recently but I never let myself get too used to that since I know we’ll have snow a few more times before Memorial Day comes along. That I can handle. What I’m getting antsy for are new peas, asparagus, rhubarb and real strawberries.

Mostly cooking by feel this week so there aren’t a lot of recipes….

Spinach Quiche: I have a crust in the freezer from the last time I made quiche.

Pad Thai: from the recipe on the back of the rice noodle box.

Hamburgers: I’m going to be out of town at the end of the week so I’m leaving these and Angel Hair pasta with Bacon and Peas up to Jeff.

Black Bean Tostadas: brushing flour tortillas with oil and putting them under the broiler makes a tasty tostada shell

Grocery List:

butter
milk
1/2 & 1/2
cheese
eggs

burger buns
tortillas
angel hair pasta

black beans
ground beef
bacon
tofu

mushrooms
frozen spinach
avocado
frozen peas
cilantro
scallions
lettuce
bean sprouts
lime

salsa
pad Thai sauce

For breakfast and lunch I’ll pick up coffee, bread, yogurt, fruit, raisins, hummus, sprouts, and corn chips. Also, by special request, ramen.

Pantry Items: pie crust, sour cream, rice noodles, Parmesan cheese, onions, garlic

Kitsch-en

Menu & Grocery List for 3/1-3/7

And now back to our somewhat regularly scheduled programming.

Risotto with butternut squash and leeks: I surprised a friend recently with my admission that I’d never made risotto. Time to reconcile that I guess. I actually bought the ingredients for this last week, but then we used the rice for something else. I’ll use 1/2 & 1/2 instead of cream since we have plenty.

Pirozhki: I have cabbage. I have potatoes. Let’s have pirozhki. Maybe with some borscht?

Chicken Piccata: I somehow have two half-used bottles of capers in my fridge. This should be a good way to remedy that. We’ll eat this with pasta, probably angel hair.

Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes: I think these sound pretty tasty, though I’ll probably substitute onions for some of the shallots. Those things are spendy! Updated to add: I realized this morning that I forgot to add vegetables to this meal.  I think I’ll go for broccoli, unless asparagus is starting to come in.  We’ll also eat this on some salad greens, as the recipe suggests.

Pizza: this seems to be our most frequently repeated meal. I have some kalmata olive spread, some leftover anchovies(!), and probably enough capers (even after the piccata recipe) to make a “puttanesca pizza” so that should be an unusual combination at least.

Grocery List
milk
mozzarella cheese
sour cream

chicken breasts
chicken broth
vegetable broth
flour
pasta
arborio rice
brown rice
shallots (3)
onions
parsley
dill
beets
carrots
lemon
sage
broccoli
greens

canned tomatoes (1 lg.)

pecans

coffee
cheap white wine

I’ll also buy milk, bread, fruit, oatmeal and peanut butter so there will be food for breakfast and snacks.

Pantry Items
butternut squash, leeks, olive oil, parmesan cheese, eggs, cabbage, potatoes, butter, capers, feta cheese (subbing for goat)