How i plan menus...

menu planning
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Look at that horrid handwriting. I usually write much better but anyway. Recipe book, note pad, printed recipes. I go through until have about 10. I do 10 because that's enough for two weeks. I don't always eat in order of the menu but eventually i make it all. I always cook the things first that have veggies that may go bad etc.

Then i plan snacks, a dessert or two, LD's lunches. Breakfast i tend to wing. I ask him two things and make him choose one.

Then, I write my grocery list putting a note next to anything i may have or not sure if i have it, I put down if i need to look up a substitution like alcohol or something like that. I also note page numbers of books that i get recipes from so i can find them quick when needed. I keep the printouts that i need that week hooked on the fridge on the side.

For LD's meals...often from books i just put the initials of the title and then the page number.

Sometimes if I'm really motivated i'll collect coupons but since i don't get the paper i don't do this often.

This habit keeps everything organized. I don't feel pressured to figure what is for dinner as long as i've done my homework and have the shopping done. When the shopping isn't done it's annoying to stick to a plan. I also like that i don't make myself stick to a day. For instance, last night we had leftovers instead of beef bulgogi because i didn't have the apple juice i thought i did. Tonight i'm making the beef bulgogi. Instead of nihari nachos which my husband totally stuck his nose up to, i ate it for lunch. This is a guide, more than a strict plan. It helps immensely but make it work for you...don't make it more work. Hope that helps someone.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Thank you Farhana! Thought you might like to see the pic! (I didn't make this...it was a surprise gift from a sweet friend).

Last night's salad

yummy salad
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Yum!

last night's dinner

israeli chicken, zucchini gratin/casserole, salad
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

salad, israeli spiced chicken and zucchini casserole

Recipe for Zucchini casserole:

I just drizzled some olive oil in a casserole dish, put in some sliced onions, then sliced zucchini, a lot of pepper, a little salt, a drizzle of butter and then mozarella cheese and italian flavored bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so.

Israeli spiced chicken is real good - gotta try it! It's a Rachael Ray recipe and it totally rocks. Nice and spicy if you smother it like i do. Husband gave it two thumbs up. This was his first time having it.

Menu

Monday

Breakfast - Pumpkin muffins
Lunch - Wagon wheel pasta with broccoli, cauliflower and cheese
Dinner - Israeli spiced chicken (this stuff rocks!), zuccini bake and mediteranean salad

Tuesday

Breakfast - pancakes
Lunch - chicken nuggets and homemade fries for him, soup for me
Dinner - Beef Bulgogi

Wednesday

Breakfast - oat date bars
Lunch - zuchini and hummus, raisins
Dinner - Cous Cous, chicken tangine (morrocan chicken) in the crockpot, spinach salad

Thursday

Breakfast - eggs and sausage
Lunch - spaghetti
Dinner - Keema, daal, carrot halwa

Friday

Breakfast - waffles
Lunch - sweet and sour veggie stirfry
Dinner - Nihari nachos (Gulnarita's great idea!) - we'll see if my husband goes for it.

Back on Monday

I'll be back here on Monday. With that trip, a deadline and Thanksgiving and no school break i haven't been able to post but I have a heck of a menu for next week. Was going to be this week until i realized it was thanksgiving and we know what i'll be eating the rest of the week.

Little Dude's dinner

Freezer meal
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I wasn't ready with dinner yet but LD was. This is how you can make your freezer really work for you. I had some frozen cooked pasta in there, some crushed tomato's with basil and frozen peas and carrots. The tomato's were put into an ice cube tray and then popped out and into a bag. I warm this for 60 seconds, add ricotta or mozarella cheese (this day it was mozarella) and warm for another 45 seconds and your good to go.

Leaving town...

Pomegranite ready for the freezer
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

When you leave town, take all the veggies and fruit you have and cut them up and freeze them. Here's a pomegranate i took apart before leaving town this last week. Now it's ready for me to use however i want, i can put some seeds in a salad or cook with it, however...and i didn't waste it. I do this with everything before leaving town if it will spoil before i get back.

$27

That's how much this last trip was...we're going over the $200 mark but not by much. And there were extras this month...pumpkins, squash, etc.

Safa...for baby stuff...are you wanting recipes, tips, let me know what you want mostly and I'll dedicate a post to it next week. In the meantime, see if your library has the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. If they do, get it from them.

I've been bad this week at posts - i knew it was going to be a lot to commit to this but i am liking it and will keep on doing it - each week i'll post once or twice of variety stuff. I'll keep posting recipes and menu's. Maybe even $ - dunno. I'm not getting a lot of comments so I know there's not very many reading but there's a few of you I know really like and want this so i'll keep at it.

Menu this week

Dessert for the week: Apple Pie, double ka meeta (maybe)

Monday:

Breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes and fruit
Lunch - pizza (we go out for pizza whenever we go to the post office - LD requests and i can't refuse)
Dinner - Eggplant parmesan and bread (was already in the freezer)
Snacks - Pomegranite for 1, goldfish for 2

***(i like to introduce LD to whole foods this way...letting him look at the thing (pomegranite and pineapple this week) for a few days, touch it, then sit him on the counter and let him watch me cut it and then eat it right there on the counter...we've done this with lots of foods....he'll try anything on the counter).

Tuesday:

Breakfast - eggo for LD (i do buy eggos...they are a quick convenient breakfast). I don't have a waffle maker...i need one so i can make him really good waffles.
Lunch: Tuna casserole
Dinner: Nihari (from the freezer)
Snacks - Fresh cut pineapple - a treat because we usually get this in the can and he loves pineapple

Wednesday:

Breakfast - "fried egg" - yogurt spread into the shape of a fried egg and half of an apricot round side up in the middle to be the yolk. Fun food. Toast with jam.
Lunch - Pasta with veggies
Snack - Toddler sushi
Dinner - Beef and potato curry (from the feezer), dahl on the side.

Thursday:

Breakfast - cereal or oatmeal
Lunch - chicken pot pie (from freezer)
Dinner - Butter chicken
snack - fruit and yogurt

Friday

Breakfast - french toast
Lunch - out to lunch
Dinner - Sag Paneer and biryani (freezer)

You can see how easy "cooking" can get when you freeze leftovers.

Recipes

There was a request from Safa for baby food - i'll do a whole post on that this week or next week.

Also requested was the brussel sprout meatballs and sadly i didn't get to it because LD was sick and then i got sick etc etc. It was a recipe in Taste of Home and i'll try it soon and post the results. There was the toddler sushi request and i'll post that. I made it again today and took pictures. And the green bread recipe. I'll post that whole meal here because it was fun together. I think that was all wasn't it?

Penne wise Pumpkin Pasta

I added sausage to mine and I'm glad i did because it would have been missing something i felt if i hadn't. Both hubby and i thought so.

Green Gobble-'Ems Garlic Bread Chunks - i didn't cut them up though and i used regular bread.

will post soon

Been sick and just can't seem to get computer time. I'll hopefully catch up early this week.

Eating in season

Fruit
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Eating in season is natural. There are lots of websites that give you a guide to what's fresh when. Get to know it...you can usually tell but get to know it anyway. Eating in season always tastes good and is always cheaper.

cleaning with vinegar

Vinegar is a wonderful cleaner. I use it for cleaning the air too. After cooking pakistani or indian food it stinks, i filled a bottle with vinegar and a few drops of essential oil (i use eucalyptus or lavendar) and spray around the room. It really freshens the place up naturally.

Cleaning with vinegar

1001 uses for vinegar

More vinegar cleaning tips including pesticides etc

Tips on first time of using vinegar...getting rid of the chemical residue

boy the time flies

I really don't know where it goes sometimes. Well, we are actually on the last week of this project (the $ spent on grocery test) but i've decided to keep part of it going. I will continue to post tips, my menu each week and recipes. I don't know how often i will post but i'll definately do the menu each week since it's something i do anyhow.

Okay, we left off last week with how much i spent. I spent $53 something but that included meat for the next week or two and also halloween candy which was like $10 on it's own but i'll include $50 in my total anyway because my husband did stop for me a few times for milk or bread so that'll buffer the total. I'm not shopping this week and i'm only cooking for LD because our freezer is too full and I'm still real sick and don't feel like cooking.

So, the total for this past week is $53 which brings our grand total to ($136 + $53= $189). Not bad right? There's a few things i need from the store for this current week so i think i'll be right on target for $200. I didn't go out of my way to hit that target either. This is the typical month for us. It really is about not wasting food, using fresh food and always always having a list and staying focused on that list.

I'm going to backdate these posts so it's consecutive and isn't confusing.

Menu

Whew, busy week! Sorry I'm late...it seems only 1 or 2 people are actually reading these anyway...

Monday:

Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - Ravioli's and sauce
Dinner - Black pepper chicken and fried peas and corn. Salad on the side.

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Waffles - it's his favorite these days
Lunch: Orange, grapes, goldfish - yeah healthy one that day eh?
Dinner: Scary pasta (spinach pasta i forget the name of but it looked like eyeballs to me with pumpkin sauce and green bread (spinach and garlic). Fun scary looking meal.

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Boiled egg and cheese
Lunch: Chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries
Dinner: I skipped it, leftover biryani for husband, leftover chili (and candy) for LD

Thursday:

Breakfast: Sweet potato hash (onions, garlic, spices, sweet potatos, apples and sausage) and fried eggs. Healthy to make up for yesterday.
Lunch: leftover green pasta
Dinner: biryani and butter chicken

Friday:

Breakfast: pancakes
Lunch: turkey and cheese sushi rolls.
Dinner: Brussel sprout filled meatballs. My husband is excited about this one lol.