Weekly Menu
Monday: Leftover Pizza
Tuesday: Rice Bowls
Wednesday: Salad Rolls
Thursday: Dhal, Naan and Raw Veggies
Friday: Ranchos Heuvros with Tortilla Chips and Salad
Saturday: Portobello Burgers with Corn on the Cob
Sunday: Halibut, Mango Salsa, Orzo and Aparagus
Weekly Pantry List
Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, nutritional yeast, soya sauce, yeast, flour, sugar, egg (1), tumeric, vegetable oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fresh garlic, ground coriander, sesame oil, Hoisin sauce, sunflower seeds, almond slivers, mayonnaise, oregano, red wine vinegar
Grocery List
Halibut
olives
cheddar cheese (or Imperial)
Provolone Cheese (large round slices)
Eggs
Plain yogurt
Zucchini
Tofu, extra firm
1 onion
1 red onion
Romain lettuce
Asparagus
Carrots
Peppers ( red, orange and yellow)
Avocado
5 tomatoes
2 cucumber
Pea pods
2 green chilies
3 limes
Corn on Cob
Portobello mushrooms
Wild mushroom mix (or regular for bowl)
Fresh mint
Fresh basil
Cilantro
Fresh ginger
Whole wheat buns
Pesto
Edamame beans
Salsa
Tortilla chips
Rice wraps
Bean thread noodle
14 oz canned tomatoes
1 cup of dry red lentils
Leftover Pizza
I have to say being a stay at home mom when the weather is this nice is a pretty good gig. The girls ran around today squealing with delight while chasing bubbles. I watched as I waged war on the dandelions that cover our front yard. Every year it's the same, they grow and I feel pressure from my neighbors (let's be clear not actually from them, it's all from me, I feel bad when my dandelion seeds float over to their manicured lawns) to get rid of them. If only we could all unite and decide that they are beautiful and the more the merrier or if the province would ban using chemicals (like many other provinces) we'd all be in the same boat, I too could chase bubbles! But instead, they work hard to infest my lawn and I become strangely obsessed and addicted to plucking them out...well for now. Soon I will wave my white flag and run with the girls as the dandelions multiply exponentially!
Recipe
There's no recipe, we had so much pizza leftover that there was simply no choice but to eat it again. I also froze two full pizzas, they're already haunting me.
The Bowl
Life really is different for the older child. I had to miss Hannah's soccer game tonight and I think that this may have been the first time that I've had to miss one of her games or lessons. Dave has missed the odd thing here and there because he's had to work late but for the most part we both attend everything. I understand that once Harper gets older and also has activities there will probably be a divide and concur agenda but for now we are able to all attend. Dave worked late last night and Harper was already losing it by five so I called my parents and asked them to come and take Hannah to soccer. I was a little concerned that Hannah would be disappointed that I wasn't coming to watch and asked her if she would be alright with me staying home with Harper her response was, "Yeah, like I'll be playing soccer." Alright, so not only does she not need me there but she talks like a thirteen year old!
Recipe
In the Appetite for Reduction cookbook she has a small chapter on bowls. She stipulates that a bowl is made up of four main components and the rest is up to you. The four main components are a grain, a veg (usually steamed), a protein and a sauce and these all must be combined in a bowl, of course, to make it an easy casual meal. She has many suggestions as to what you could throw together to make up your bowl and some different sauce recipes to go with them, check them out if you're interested. I just put together some of our leftovers with one of my new favorite sauces.
Yellow pepper, green pepper, red pepper, chopped
Wild mushroom mix, sauteed
Edamame beans
Zucchini, (steamed)
sunflower seeds and almond slivers, toasted
There's no real amount for each ingredient, it's just as much as you need depending on the number of bowls you're making. I left the peppers raw because I like the added crunch.
The sauce is one that I got from my cousin and posted in an earlier week. We had a lot left and you could probably half this if you don't want any left but it is also a yummy salad dressing so a little extra probably won't go to waste.
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup soya sauce (Bragg's is best)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (health food section of grocery store, health food stores or bulk food stores)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup olive oil
Put all the ingredients, except for the oil, in the blender and add the oil as it is mixing.
Once everything is ready load it into a bowl and pour your desired amount of sauce over top. Hannah declared this was a nine.
Salad Rolls
I need to brush up on my wormology. This is how the afternoon passed today. I sweated my butt off digging up sod at the back of the yard to make a veggie patch while Hannah sat on the edge and picked up worms, played with them while asking me a million questions about worms, each series of questions ending with, "and then they grow up and be snakes?" I realized that I know nothing about worms, except that they don't grow up and to be snakes. I answered every question through gritted teeth as I lifted sod (that stuff is super heavy), carried it to another part of the yard and wondered why is it that I know so little about worms, and why does that surprise me?
So here are some facts you may not have known (if you believe wiki answers) they do not have eyes but have cells that are sensitive to light on their outer skin that detect light and changes in light intensity, they are more sensitive to the chemical and temperature in the environment. They do actually have tiny mouths and will take extremely small bites of things like bacteria, fungi and pretty much anything they come across. If you cut a worm in half it will die, it does not become two worms but they can regrow their tail. My question is how do you know which end is the tail end? I suppose I don't really need to know, I don't plan on cutting a worm's tail off, it does seem a little cruel.
Recipe
Salad rolls are a little like pizza in the summer we tend to eat them often, mostly because Hannah loves them, their simple and there's almost no cooking involved. The recipe for salad rolls can be found here.
Dhal, Naan and Raw Veggies
Something about getting ready to go out in a quiet, empty house that is so strange and yet so decadent. Dave took the kids to soccer tonight (suddenly it's easy to miss here and there) and I went to the movie Bridesmaids (which by the way I cannot say was classy, but I laughed until I cried). I ran around getting the kids fed and ready, Dave ran in from work to change and take them to the game, it was a whirlwind of activity and then it was quiet. You never really appreciate a quiet house until you don't have one. There's a difference between every else asleep quiet (which is good too) and no one else home quiet (which is better). It was only half an hour but I soaked up every minute of it.
Recipe
Clearly I'm in love with homemade naan bread, this dhal recipe will make another appearance as well. It's from maameemoomoo and 1/2 a food blog and it's simple, cheap and delicious.
1 cup split red lentils, rinsed
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups water
14 oz canned tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Put the lentils in a saucepan. Add the chilies, turmeric, onion and water and bring to boil. Partly cover the pan and simmer, without stirring for 30-35 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Stir in tomatoes.
Heat the vegetable oil in a small pan. Add the rest of the ingredients and fry over moderate heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add to the lentils and cook, stirring until thick. Season.
We just had some naan with it and some nice crunchy raw veggies.
Huevos Rancheros, Tortillas and Salad
We've had 3 yards of dirt sitting on our lawn since Monday. The plan was to spread it on the lawn, seed and fill up the front garden and back veggie patch. The girls have been playing on the skirts of it and digging in it a little all week but today they went all in, and by all in I mean literally. It's suppose to rain over the next couple days so we decided that today was the day to spread the dirt. I spent the whole day plucking dandelions to get the yard ready to seed. Since it was the last day of the dirt pile I really just let the kids go to town, Harper looked like a brunette who bleached her hair because her head was so black under her blond wisps of hair and Hannah's feet looked like they would never some clean. People passing by seemed to have expressions of equal glee and horror watching my kids literally burying themselves in the dirt. At the end of the day the dirt was spread and moved, the girls had been scrubbed, Dave and I were showered and changed. We ate a very late dinner in our comfies as a calm rested over the house from a day of hard work and hard playing. We finished with a little treat that Dave brought home from Cakeology, put the kids to bed and finished the day with a nice cold beer. It was actually the perfect day.
Recipe
This is really simple to throw together and usually a pleaser, especially since we often have ours with tortillas chips but, it would be great with a Mexican style rice.1-2 cups of salsa
eggs
cheese, grated (cheddar is best or this time I used a McLaren's Imperial and it was even better)
Tortilla chips
Heat salsa in a skillet when it starts to bubble make a little well with a spoon and crack your egg in it. Poach egg for three minutes and then sprinkle with cheese put the lid back on and poach for another couple of minutes (until the cheese melts, the yoke is soft but the white not runny).
Serve with tortilla chips on the side and I just put the following together for a salad.
1/4 red pepper, chopped1/4 yellow pepper, chopped
1/4 orange pepper , chopped
Corn of one cob, raw
Tomato, chopped
Avocado, chopped
3 Romain leaves, torn
1/2 lime, the juice
3 times the amount of olive oil
salt and pepper
Portobello Mushroom Burgers and Corn on the Cob
It's dreary and rainy today, normally this would make me sad but it's raining on the grass seed, yay! We decided to go do some shopping as a family to get some summer clothes. There were lots of families out pushing strollers and stopping to let their kids play in the indoor play zone at the center of the mall. We were not quite so put together. We spent the time chasing Harper trying to stop her from pulling everything off the shelves like a little tornado. I was sweating, frazzled and bribing my children with Cheerios to sit on a bench just for a moment while Dave tried something on. We then dragged them past the play area as I exclaimed (a little too loudly), "No, you can't play in there it's full of germs." The thing is, in hind site it seemed like a crazy trip to the mall but while it was happening it seemed completely and totally normal...and it was, for us.
Recipe
These are quick to throw together and can be done solely using the BBQ (not great for a rain day but perfect for any other day).
4 Wholewheat buns
4 large slices of provolone cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup pesto
2 tomatoes, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced (raw or caramelized)
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
4 cobs of corn
Heat BBQ. Drizzle mushroom caps with olive oil and vinegar. Trim the husks of the corn so that there are no strings hanging out and place on BBQ with mushroom caps. Turn the corn a quarter turn every 5 minutes and flip the mushrooms halfway through, about 7-10 minutes a side depending on thickness, melting the cheese on them towards the end.
Mix together pesto and mayonnaise adding more of either to your taste.
Slice buns, spray with olive oil and toast on the BBQ.
When all is ready pile the mushroom, tomato, onion and pesto on the bun and enjoy!
Grilled Halibut with Mango Salsa, Greek Orzo, Asparagus with Birthday Cake
It's Sunday morning of the long weekend and we're heading out to the lake today for the night. I'm hoping to get this up before we go but it is starting to get late. We haven't been out yet and normally go out on Friday nights when we go but, we actually let our yard take priority this year, which is really not like us at all. The girls are very excited to go and Hannah had packed both their bags by seven this morning. I suppose at some point before we pack up and head out I should check and see just what she packed but part of me just wants to let it go.
Recipe
We're going to have a very simple supper tonight I'll drizzle the fish with a little lime and olive oil and make the mango salsa from here. The orzo recipe is as follows:
2 zucchini, grilled and cut in chunks
1/2 red, yellow and orange peppers, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup feta
1/2 cup olives
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (leftovers)
2 cup orzo, cooked
olive oil
red wine vinegar
oregano
Toss all ingredients together and then drizzle with oil and vinegar and sprinkle with oregano.
Have a great week and I hope the sun shines down on you!
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