February 1, 2012
Last night I went with a friend to a free herb growing seminar. The evening was pleasant and I learned a few new things. When she brought me home we sat and talked awhile about menu planning and Master Mixes. I drug out my stack of make it from scratch cookbooks that I start many of my recipes from. I of course tweak all the recipes to meet my family needs and personal tastes.
That is the great thing about making all your own mixes. It allows you to adjust for allergies and intolerances, special medical needs, taste preferences and much more.
Going through the cookbooks as we talked I saw many delicious and useful recipes I had forgotten all about due to being in a rut of cooking the same few meals over and over.
That is one of the great things about long term menu planning. You can climb out of the rut because with long term planning you can see very quickly what rut you are falling into.
Take cookies, those of us who bake cookies tend to make the same one or two over and over. Chocolate chip, sugar, Snickerdoodles, repeat. But my family loves all sorts of wonderful cookies. It’s just so easy to stick with the same three or so and repeat making them. But with menu planning and striving to stay out of the rut each week is different. In fact I’m trying to see how long I can go without repeating too much. Already in the first weeks Coconut Macaroons have reappeared. My husband dearly loves macaroons, but I very seldom make them. They aren’t hard, it’s just they aren’t part of my basic rut. In the weeks to come expect to see gingersnaps, refrigerator nut cookies and many, many more.
While I do tend repeat the sides of meals often I’m even going to try and switch those up. Instead of plain corn watch for corn relish, corn fritters, Mexicorn, corn on the cob, fried corn, corn nuggets, corn chowder and much more. I will also be working at breaking from the norm on what sides go with what meals.
My mother in law once went on a trip to Walt Disney World with us, during the trip I made meatloaf. She became upset because the vegetable of the night was green beans instead of peas. She said she could not eat the meat loaf without peas. I didn’t have a single can of peas in the camper so she had to muddle through. It’s not that she was being difficult it was she was so set in her rut that meatloaf required peas that she simply couldn’t be satisfied with the meal. I refuse to be in that rut. That’s where long term menu planning can be a tremendous help to get out of the rut and stay out of it.
So here’s the menu plan and recipes for week #3.
WEEK #3: BREAKFAST OPPORTUNITES
Waffles: leftover from the double batch cooking on Sunday
Serve with syrup, molasses, honey, butter etc.
Spread with peanut butter, chop a banana and add cinnamon sugar
Spread with other nut butters
Top with fruit in simple syrup
Hot Cereal:
Rice, reheat leftover rice from the previous dinner menus
Farina
Multigrain packets
Cold Cereal:
Corn Pops (store brand, but a guilty pleasure of mine)
Corn flakes
Fruit:
Kiwi
Dried fruits, bulk purchased or home dried—great in the cereals
Beverages:
Apple juice, from frozen concentrate
Milk
Hot tea
Hot cocoa, from homemade mix
LUNCH OPPORTUNITIES: WEEK #3
Sandwiches:
Egg salad, made from our farm fresh eggs
Toasted raisin bread with cream cheese
Deli ham
Salad ingredients:
Spring salad mix: bulk purchased
Feta cheese
Bacon bits, homemade or freeze dried
Shredded carrots
Red onion
Salad dressing:
Pecan vinegrette, homemade
French, homemade
Soups:
Navy bean, from making the Navy bean master mix
Gumbo
Pasta Fagoli
Fruits:
Kiwi
Assorted dried fruits
WEEK 3 DINNER MENUS—GROUND BEEF WEEK
Monday 1/23/2012
Bacon Cheeseburgers—on homemade buns
French fries , frozen—bought on sale
Sweet Potato Fries, frozen—bought on sale
Chocolate Pudding—made from Master Mix recipe
Pepsi—bought on sale
Tuesday 1/24/2012
Pioneer Woman Chili—use leftovers later in the week
Tortilla chips or Crackers—either homemade crackers, or on sale chips
Cheddar cheese—grate from the bulk purchase block
Onions—from the root cellar
Lime wedges—from the root cellar (bulk purchase)
Milk—bought at Sam’s to save $.50 per gallon
Coconut macaroons--homemade
Wednesday 1/25/2012
Hot dogs—wieners bulk purchased on sale and frozen, homemade buns
Baked beans—homemade from dried beans
Corn on the cob—frozen bought with coupon on sale
Pepsi—bought on sale
Leftover desserts
Thursday 1/26/2012
Sausage Rolls with Marinara—homemade, bulk purchase sausage and homemade marinara
Garlic noodles—homemade noodles from bulk cooking last week.
Green beans—home canned
Iced tea
Apple Crisp—homemade from food storage
Friday 1/27/2012
Indian tacos—use Pioneer Woman leftover chili and sopapilla Master Mix to make shells
Mexicorn—bought on sale
Green Beans--leftover
Flan—food storage from the gift given us by a friend
Tea
Saturday 1/28/2012
Italian Sausage Pizza—more bulk purchase sausage from previous menus, homemade crust and sauce, grated mozzarella from bulk purchase
Jarred Salad—vacuum sealed homemade salad mix to preserve freshness, and homemade dressing
Cheese bread sticks—made with some of the pizza crust dough and bulk purchase cheeses.
Pepsi
Leftover desserts
Sunday 1/29/2012
Pasta Fagioli Soup
French bread, homemade
Snickerdoodles
tea
SNACKING OPPORTUNITIES: WEEK #3
Salty:
Popcorn
Soft baked pretzels
Sweet:
Chocolate pudding
Coconut Macaroons after Tuesday
Apple Crisp after Thursday
Fruit:
Kiwis
Dried fruits
Veggies:
Celery with peanut butter or other nut butters
Carrot sticks
So now the menus are up let’s see what recipes I can share today. The hamburger/hot dog bun recipe can be viewed elsewhere in my blog at:
http://cjpattersonontheranch.blogspot.com/2011/05/playing-catch-up-on-garden-and-house.html
I use the same dough, for the sausage rolls, cheese bread sticks and pizza crust as well. It’s truly a versatile Master Mix.
When I speak of the Pioneer Woman Recipes these are recipes from Ree Drummond’s tv show or website. The chili recipe and those in the future can be viewed on her website at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-pioneer-woman/index.html
Last week and this both I used the Sopapilla Master Mix. Recipe can be viewed at:
http://cjpattersonontheranch.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-12-years-later.html
So on to the Navy Bean Soup for lunches, Molasses Baked Beans and Pasta Fagoili Soup. All are made using the
Navy Bean Soup Master Mix.
Yield: 12 cups
2 pounds dried navy beans, or other small white beans
10 cups water
1 large onion, diced
2 tablespoons butter, optional
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1. Wash and sort beans. Place in a large pot and cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes.
2. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour.
3. Drain and discard water. Rinse beans and return pot. Add 10 c water and remaining ingredients.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Simmer for 2 hours.
6. Freeze or can leftovers in 3 to 4 cup containers label and store appropriately.
Once the beans are tender you can eat this as Navy Bean Soup.
Molasses Baked Beans
Servings: 8
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
4 cups Navy Bean Mix
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1. Pre-heat oven to 300 F.
2. In large skillet fry bacon until almost crips. Drain and discard all but 1 tbl of drippings. Put bacon in a lidded 2 qt cassrole dish
3. Saute onions and celery in bacon drippings Add to casserole dish.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
5. Bake for 2 hours until all moisture is absorbed.
Pasta Fagoili Soup
Servings: 8
1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, Minced OR 1 tsp garlic powder
73 ounces chicken broth
3 cups Navy Bean Soup Mix
14 ounces tomatoes, canned, dieced and peeled, undrained
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 teaspoon oregano leaves, dried
1 teaspoon basil leaves, dried
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 whole bay leaves
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 cup shell pasta
salt, to taste
Parmesan cheese, fresh, optional
1. Spray large pan with non-stick cooking spray. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Cook about 4 or 5 minutes until partially tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add Broth, Mix, tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, pepper, bay leaves, parsley flakes and salt. Bring to a boil.
3. Add macaroni. Reduce to medium heat and cook 15 minutes until macaroni and vegetables are tender.
4. Remove bay leaves. Sprinkle with cheese.
Food Storage add ons for this week is the remainder of the 10#’s was used to brown with celery, onion, garlic and seasonings for future casseroles and soup add ins. Then canned.
The additional Navy Bean Master Mix can either be canned or frozen for future meals.
On a side note: You can make all your Hot Roll mix items up at once and then after the first rise freeze the doughs to use later in the week. I have in the past also held it in the refrigerator for a few days. It did develop a slight sourdough taste, which is not a bad thing.
Jan who is all about doing bulk cooking to save time and money in OK
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