Menu & Grocery List for 12/7-12/13

I’m focusing on vegetables this week, I think we’ve been a little short on them in our diet lately.

Veselka’s Cabbage Soup: it’s funny Veselka’s should show up again–I mentioned it offhandedly in my post about beets, and then I noticed today this recipe was featured at the Smitten Kitchen, and just when I was really wanting to make something with cabbage too. Veselka’s is a Ukrainian restaurant that was close to my dorm at NYU. I think I ordered pirogies and/or borscht every time we went though, so I never tried this soup.

Multi-grain Pasta with Sicilian Salsa Verde, Cabbage, and Haricots Verts

Stir-fried Cauliflower with Ginger and Oyster Sauce (from How to Cook Everything): we’ll add tofu to this and eat it over rice, of course.

Swiss Chard Gratin: this kind of seems like it will need something else with it, but I’m not sure what.

Corn & potato chowder: no recipe here, just a basic potato soup with some corn we have in the freezer

Grocery list:
milk
1/2 & 1/2 (will use for heavy cream)
gruyere
Parmesan

tofu
pork (will probably substitute ground for the pork butt)

cabbage
savoy cabbage
Swiss chard
spinach
onions
garlic
green beans
parsley, other herbs?
cauliflower

whole wheat pasta
bread (enough to make bread crumbs too)

capers
sauerkraut

Pantry Items: potatoes, carrots, celery, green onions, corn, ginger, stock, anchovies (!), rice, butter, spices

Menu & Grocery List for 11/23-11/29

More cooking with what we have for dinners this short week:

Mushroom barley soup: I’m really looking forward to more barley!

Noodles with broccoli and peanut sauce, pickled radish salad: I’ll mix both leftover whole wheat spaghetti and a bundle of soba noodles (cooked separately) with the broccoli stems and green onions that have been waiting patiently in my refrigerator. Some hearty radishes will finally find their calling too.

Migas: even after last week’s tortilla soup we still have a surplus of corn chip detritus but this perennial favorite should take care of some of it. We also have half a leftover avocado that needs to be eaten right away.

Grocery list

dried porcini mushrooms
fresh mushrooms (1/4 lb.)
daikon
ginger
salsa

I do have a big list of ingredients for the pies and other side dishes I’m bringing for Thanksgiving dinner, but my dinner grocery list is refreshingly short this week. Even shopping carefully we eventually seem to end up with enough odds and ends to make something edible. It will be nice to use up many of the things that look forlornly at me every time I open the refrigerator. Aside from the big day, the rest of the week will probably involve a burrito stop on our way out of town, leftovers, leftovers and more leftovers, and at least one meal that involves crabs, clam chowder, or other beach-worthy foods.

Menu and Grocery List for 11/9-11/15

Pizza with Greens and Goat Cheese: chevre is one of the only things leftover in my refrigerator this week!

Curried Potato and Spinach Soup with Onion Salsa and Minted Yogurt

Meatloaf and Baked Sweet Potato Fries: I saw the sweet potatoes on this post over at the angry chicken and knew I wanted to make some too. I don’t use a recipe for my meatloaf, I just mix ground beef with an egg, some (unsoaked) bulgar, and whatever veggies and spices seem right.

Squash, Chickpea, and Red Lentil Stew with rice

Baked Apples with Barley (chorizo) Pilaf: I’m replacing the chorizo with mushrooms. I love barley and should make it more often–the texture is so wonderful!

I think I’ll also make a big pot of vegetable stock today since several of the above recipes call for it in quantity.

Grocery List:
red onions
yellow onions
green onions
spinach
parsley
mushrooms
apples
sweet potatoes
butternut squash
carrots
cilantro
limes
kale

Greek yogurt
blue cheese dressing

tofu
ground beef

barley
hazelnuts
chickpeas
red lentils
peanuts

spices: nigella seeds, yellow mustard seeds, curry powder, curry leaves (I doubt I can find these in Bend), saffron

Pantry items: chevre, flour, yeast, olive oil, potatoes, cauliflower, chicken broth, lemon, tomato paste, bulgar, egg, spices

Tools I Use: the no-excuses notebook

We have a plan for dinners most weeks (yup, even when I don’t get it posted here.) I figure out what to make and what to buy, and I usually do the cooking too. This is not because Jeff can’t or won’t cook, but because I like to do it (and also, I’m much faster. Sorry babe.)

There are those nights, however, when I don’t get home until later, nights when it would be nice to have dinner at least started, if not ready to go. I say “Can you please get dinner started? The recipe is online.” and Jeff says “Ugh. Online?” Yes, my system has a minor flaw.

Starting with tomorrow’s menu we’re trying something new. We’ll have a three-ring binder in the kitchen with all the recipes we need (or notes about which books and which pages if we’re using something from a cookbook.) That way Jeff has the plan for the week readily available for those nights when he needs (or wants) to cook and we’ll also have a good way to keep track of any printed recipes we might want to use again. We’ll see how it goes.

Menu & Grocery list for 11/2-11/8

There are several things on this list I meant to make *last* week, so I have pretty much all the key ingredients already. I seem to be about a week behind these days. We’re headed out of town mid-week so we just need a few things to get us to Wednesday….

Cabbage and white bean soup: made with bacon instead of ham since we already have bacon.

Spicy enchiladas with pumpkin sauce: I made these once when I was headed out of town overnight, and when I came home they were totally gone. Apparently they’re good!

Swiss chard and chevre crustless quiche: I don’t know how this is any different than a frittata or a (Spanish) tortilla, but it sounds good no matter what it’s called. I found it last spring in one of those free magazines you can pick up at the natural foods store.

All I need to pick up at the store is a baguette for the soup and some milk and cheese for the “quiche”.” It almost seems silly to go!

Novemberfest

Lucky for us we have some organized friends who thought it would be fun to start a dinner party club. We kicked off the group with a Cuban dinner a couple of months ago (for which I made the most complicated dessert I have ever attempted, but I’ll save that post for another day,) and then chose German food for our next get-together. You know, for Octoberfest.

While meal planning is definitely one of my areas of interest, if not expertise, event planning is definitely not. Since we were hosting the party at our house this time, we ended up with Novemberfest. Luckily German food tastes just as good a day late.

The Menu: (I made the *starred items)

Beet and Cucumber Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing

*German-style stuffed Kholrabi: this was new for all of us, and it was really, really good! It was a little labor-intensive, but worth it. I used a few tablespoons of arrowroot powder in place of the eggs since one of our friends is very allergic to eggs.

Birnen, Bohnen, Speck

Quick-braised Red Cabbage & Apple

Black Bread

*Apple Strudel: this recipe was a little short on directions, but by the time I realized I had no idea how to put the thing together I had everything ready to go and was running late. I just rolled out the dough, piled everything on top, covered it with more dough, and stuck it in the oven. It was tasty (Jonagold apples worked perfectly for this,) but I’m going to search out a recipe with more thorough directions the next time. On the bright side, I got to use my new digital kitchen scale (thanks Loretta!) since all the measurements were listed in ounces.

Everything was so. good. I think I’m going to have to whip up some of that cabbage for myself (who craves cabbage at 11pm?) and I’m excited there are a few stuffed kohlrabi waiting for me in the refrigerator.

Up next on the dinner party rotation? Raclette!

Menu & Grocery List for 10/12-10/18

Still working on using up veggies this week

Vegetarian Lasagne: I can’t seem to find a recipe that seems right, so I’m starting with this one but adding broccoli, leaving out the carrot, and adding tomatoes as well as the béchamel sauce. Salad with this for sure.

Indian spiced rice and Potato-filled flatbread: the rice recipe is from Vegetarian Planet, and the flatbreads from How to Cook Everything, the cookbook with the best. index. ever. We’ll need some kind of veggie with this, maybe I’ll get some extra broccoli?

Scallion-Tofu stir fry with rice, of course. Again, from HTCE.

Roasted chicken with parsley and lemon: yup, HTCE. We’ll roast veggies along with the chicken, and probably have salad too.

Chicken noodle soup: no recipe needed here, but I’ll make the noodles.

Grocery List:

tofu
whole chicken

canned tomatoes

milk
ricotta
mozzarella

bread
basmati rice

spinach
broccoli
mushrooms
peas (probably frozen)

Pantry Items: potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, lemons, scallions, salad fixins, spices, flour, oil, lasagna noodles, rice, lentils

Menu & Grocery List for 10/4-10/11

We have a lot of veggies in our refrigerator that are threating liquefication so many of this week’s ingredients are on the pantry list rather than the grocery list. It’s kind of a rough in-between time for menu planning. The fall vegetables aren’t quite ready yet, but summery choices like vine-ripened tomatoes are fading fast. Several of these recipes are new choices though, and I’m pretty excited to try them.

Southeast Asian Squash Curry

Beans & Greens: this is a recipe from my new How to Cook Everything cookbook, but it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. We’ll eat this over buttered toast.

Potato Leek Soup: some local baby leeks inspired this menu choice. Like many of the reviewers, I’ll doctor it up with some dairy and maybe some bacon, since there’s some in the fridge. We’ll have salad as well.

Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Pasta: I’m skipping the tarragon in this since I’m not really a fan.

Zucchini Fritters with rice.

Middle Eastern Meatballs: though the recipe calls for lamb, we make it with our local grass-fed ground beef instead. It’s cheaper and flavorful enough to be an adequate substitute. We’ll eat these with couscous, roasted cauliflower, and yogurt.

Grocery List
zucchini
parsley
winter squash
mint
spinach
sweet potato

eggs
goat cheese
milk

cashews
whole wheat pasta
coconut milk

ground beef

Pantry Items: potatoes, leeks, red pepper, lettuce, cucumber, onions, cauliflower, collard greens, red curry paste, garlic, couscous, rice, olive oil, spices, fish sauce, white beans

Menu and grocery list for 8/31-9/6

Jeff’s back from a 30-day trek in the Yukon Territory and starting a new job on Monday (yay! and yay!) I sometimes neglect lunch planning since we both like leftovers, but since we’re both going to be brown bagging it regularly I’m going to try to pay a little more attention to making sure there are good lunch choices available like some doctored-up tofu “chicken” salad and some of our favorite oatmeal cookies.

Grilled Lemon Chicken and Moroccan Couscous Salad: this is the only thing I’ll make from an actual recipe this week. Many reviewers said the chicken was bland–it looks like it could use some garlic to me.

Salad Rolls: yes, again. Jeff is craving vegetables and rice noodles after 30 days of eating endless pasta on his NOLS course (Apparently that is as boring as it sounds, the poor guy lost 10 lbs.!)

Black bean tostadas: we made a pot of this soup yesterday and I saved some beans out for simple tostadas. Martha taught me to brush the tortillas with oil and stick them under the broiler for a bit–easier and healthier than frying them up and only slightly less tasty. We’ll just pile beans, cotija cheese, avocado, tomato, green salsa and sour cream on top.

Grilled pizzas: I’ll cook up some zucchini and onions on the stove first since these don’t stay on the grill long enough to cook toppings. We’ll top it with some mozzarella, hopefully fresh.

Stuffed burgers: I think I’ll stuff these with salsa and cotija cheese, then top them with avocado and tomato. We’ll have corn chips on the side if there are any left–they seem to disappear quickly at our house!

Grocery List:
milk
yogurt
eggs
cotija cheese
mozzarella cheese

salt
peppercorns (yes, I’m out of salt and pepper!)
cinnamon
coffee

bread
buns
corn chips

oats
couscous
brown sugar
raisins

zucchini
bean sprouts
cilantro
green onions
avocados
red peppers
tomatoes
fruit

tofu
chicken breasts (I’ll get one or two, not six as the recipe calls for)
ground beef

Pantry Items: tortillas, salad roll wrappers, rice noodles, lettuce, carrots, mint, limes, lemons, green beans, salsa, sour cream, almonds

Brunch was the second best part of the day

We had a little celebration here recently and I had quite a lot of fun planning the brunch menu.

Pictured, clockwise from the top:

• Orange Layer Cake with Buttercream Frosting
• Salad with shelling peas and Easter egg radishes (our farmers market is just getting started)
• Mixed nuts and butter mints (really, can you have a wedding without them?)
• Quiche made with pastured eggs from the farmer’s market, local cheese, spinach, and this crust
• Galia melon and prosciutto
• Strawberry Rhubarb Compote with Mint

Also, not pictured, was roasted asparagus. Oh, and champagne.