Penance

Well, I'm still working through last week's menu.  The coming week's has not yet been determined because I haven't ordered our produce this week, and there's still plenty left from last week.

We went away to Austin and San Antonio for a sibling-sponsored holiday during Spring Break (more in another post) and vegetarianism went out the window with bedtimes, naptimes and limited tv for J!  We didn't specifically look for non-carnivorous eating places while we were away, but there sure wasn't much choice for a vege-lover in amongst the other offerings, usually only one token choice on a menu.  Having said that, I did have the best falafels ever, and when we shopped the food carts in San Antonio's El Mercado (Market Square) the best of our finds was a bean and cheese gordita.  However, we ate a LOT of meat in four days.  More than we usually would in a week, even when we're not fasting meat.

So now I am doing penance!  My digestion still isn't back to normal, and I will have to be creative in the kitchen to use up or store the remaining produce that was abandoned for four days.  Add to that, the need to rest from our hectic holiday schedule, and the J is all out of routine (thankfully not too grouchy today but took much persuasion to get to sleep), and that C had his (late) 4-month check up today with shots and it looks like a long night ahead.

Now that my moan is over, let me assure you that we had a great time, today is good, and tomorrow will likely be better.  I promise photos soon.  Just need to relocate the cord somewhere on the kitchen counter with all the unpacked holiday detritus that needs 'filing'.

Doomed and Delighted

This week's menu is doomed before we finish it!

First, the chilli I defrosted on Tuesday night from our freezer was mislabeled "vegetarian" so we broke our fast unintentionally.  As my brother put it, "This eggplant tastes really meaty!" (wink, wink)

Second, I have no idea what veges I'll be picking up in our food co-op produce tomorrow, so I may have to rethink half of it.

Third, we hope to do an overnight trip sometime this coming week as N is on Spring Break, so that will throw meal planning out the window anyway.

But for what it's worth, here's the plan:

Wednesday: Homemade Fish'n'Chips with salad

Thursday: Cheese Burritos

Friday: Sweet Potato (Kumara) cakes with Mango Salsa

Saturday: Crunchy Chicken Casserole with seasonal veges

Sunday: Pasta with tomato and vegetable based sauce

Monday: Baked Salmon with seasonal veges

Tuesday: Corn Chip Casserole (yes, more Tex-Mex!)

The good news is that we've been enjoying the company of guests this week: my brother and our friend, Kristen.  A few late nights talking so far.

J also took delivery of an 'I-Spy' quilt that Grandma had sent over.  He has had lots of fun finding all sorts of things on it, especially stars and kiwifruit and vehicles.  He's had it on his bed for the last two nights and naps, and we are delighted that he slept through the night both times (for the first time in ages).  Yay!

Why You Should Visit the Library Regularly

In the six months we've been here, we've visited the local branch of the Dallas Public Library at least once a week.  (I think we've been more regularly than we've made it to church!)  Anyway, the upshot of having J and C charm the librarians each week (and shuffle the kids' DVD section) is that one of those gracious ladies handed us complimentary tickets the other week (and a second gracious librarian made sure we'd been given them when we checked out our books).  We're either well-loved or notorious!

And today N took J for a Dad and Son outing to "Big Bird's house" (a.k.a. the show Sesame Street Live) in Grand Prairie.  God really blessed us, because not only were the tickets free but while he queued to enter the parking lot (for $15) a woman approached the car and handed N a parking pass to the VIP parking area that she didn't need.  So it only cost them the gas to get there and back!  (There was a side trip to the Scottish restaurant for a kiddo meal on the way home, since the parking money wasn't used).

There was a play area in the foyer before the show.

The characters were pretty true to the tv version.

J was entranced as soon as the music began.

He cried at intermission, but just said, "Bye bye Elmo.  Bye bye Big Bird..." when the final curtain fell.

It's a Matter of Taste

I cooked the Jerusalem artichokes from our produce basket the other night.  I had trawled the internet for recipe ideas, even finding this site dedicated to lovers of this particular tuber. They have a similar nutritional value to potatoes, I discovered.

I ended up roasting them because it seemed the simplest method to prepare (i.e. hands off, yes, I can deal with whatever you need for the next half hour, J).  They were easy enough to cook, and only discoloured a little (a bit like how kumara does when you cook it).

And the verdict?  Well, N and I weren't that excited.  It reminded me of some other taste/smell I can't pinpoint.  Not disgusting, I'd eat them if I was served them, but I won't be going out of my way to buy some.  Having said that, J was quite happy to eat his serving and some of ours.  This is the boy who will generally only eat potatoes in the form of chips or wedges.  Believe me, we've tried lots of other ways too!  So I guess that if we end up with these little nuggets again, J will be feasting on them.

Vegetarian, here we come!

So as Lent continues, here is my meal plan for the coming week:

Wednesday: Salmon quiche with pear & cucumber salad and roasted Jerusalem artichokes.  (Yes, they're still hanging around waiting for me to do something with them! And now our produce basket this week has an excess of pears and cucumbers.)

Thursday: Pasta and vegetable-based sauce (since we missed out last week)

Friday: Baked potatoes and salad

Saturday: Pork chops and veges (in the freezer from last week, too)

Sunday: Eggs of some description (omelet, poached, scrambled... I'll see what we feel like)

Monday: Pumpkin and chickpea casserole (a new recipe I am trying)

Tuesday: Vegetarian chilli (also in the freezer)

We've done meal planning on and off all through our marriage, so it's nice to be back in the habit.  Having said that - I've learnt that it's always just a plan.  I don't think I've ever set up a week of meals and done every single meal on the day I'd planned to do it!  I'm trying to be smarter about leftovers though, so I can take it easy some nights during my boys' "witching hour" (usually 5-6 p.m.) by just pulling out something from the fridge or freezer that's all ready to be heated.

It has been a dull day outside, and the blokes are all a bit snuffly or croaky with a cold going around, so I made these cookies as a treat with the cranberries I'd frozen at Christmas time.  Yum!  They won't last long around here.  I think I've already had five (instead of lunch).  It makes 3-4 dozen.

My modifications: I prefer ordinary chocolate chips over the white ones, and no more than a cup.  Today I had lime zest rather than orange.

P.S. 1 cup butter = 8 oz = 2 sticks = @250g
P.P.S. There is a lot of sugar in these to offset the tartness of the cranberries.  You could easily use less.

Homemade: Tomato Relish

So far, we've kept to the Lenten fast.  Yes, we did end up having fish (tuna casserole) for Saturday's dinner, and leftovers for Sunday too.  J wasn't so keen on fishy pasta!

But back on Friday we had corn fritters.  Now the best part about corn fritters is that you can eat them with virtually any accompaniment.  N's favourite is hot or sweet chilli sauce.  I often have them with tomato sauce (ketchup, for the North Americans).  But my new favourite is with homemade tomato relish.  Funnily enough, it is on the same page as corn fritters in my handwritten recipe book.

I made a batch of relish recently because I got a good deal on tomatoes.  You only need 3 pounds of fruit for the recipe and you get about three jars of relish.  Yum!  Mine caught a bit on the bottom of the pot when I got distracted (imagine that!) but it didn't affect the flavour, and it is the best consistency I've ever achieved with this recipe.

Grandma T always used to have this on hand, so here is her recipe.

Tomato Relish
Slice 3 lb tomatoes
         4 medium onions
Add  3 breakfast cups vinegar
Boil 5 minutes, then add 1 lb sugar

Mix together with cold vinegar: 1 oz salt
                                                   1 heaped Tbsp curry powder
                                                   1 dessert spoon dry mustard
                                                   1 1/2 oz flour
                                                   1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Add spice slurry to vegetables and stir until boiling.  Boil about 45 minutes.  (Stir occasionally.  More frequently than I did!)  Pour into warm, clean jars.  Screw lids on tightly.  Seal will 'pop' down when cooled.

A Different Season

Wednesday marked the beginning of the church season of Lent, a time of preparation and reflection before Easter.  We didn't attend any Ash Wednesday service this year, but I hope to make it to more in Holy Week.

As we have for the past couple of years in community, this year we are having a Lenten fast of meat.  We're also using the tradition of 'breaking the fast' once a week (Saturday most times this year we've decided).  I find this makes the other six days easier (for any meat lovers and for the menu planner) and we'll still have fish (mostly for the nutritional needs of a toddler and breast-feeding mother!)

So here is the menu for our week so far:

Wednesday: Pasta with tomato & vegetable sauce Well, my planning didn't quite work here.  We still had a mile of Santa Fe Chicken Casserole left over from the night before.  It had already been frozen so we needed to eat up the leftovers.  Guess we've broken the fast already!

Thursday: Spinach & chickpea curry (Alison Holst recipe, very yummy)


Friday: Corn fritters and green salad

Saturday: Pork chops (maybe fish instead!) & seasonal veges (we have cauliflower, yellow zucchini, and Jerusalem artichokes in the fridge, plus frozen veges too)

Sunday: Eggs (as they come) and leftovers

Monday: Vegetable stirfry (maybe with Thai curry paste?) on rice

Tuesday: Tex-Mex beans & rice