Menu plan for 3-29 to 4-4

My favorite cookbooks of all time.

So here's the menu plan for the week:

Last week several meal plans got changed. We had a couple of sandwich and/or leftover nights that I didn't actually "cook" dinner.

Friday night: Sausage and tomato pasta (from Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely)

Saturday lunch: Leftovers and or/sandwiches

Saturday dinner: Pork fried rice (carry over from last week)

Sunday lunch (eat out or leftovers) Being Easter, I'm not sure what restaurants will be open so either way, I'm prepared.

Sunday dinner: Pizza We are getting together with some family that evening and they are ordering pizza so I'm bringing some little frozen Glutino pizzas. I was NOT a fan of the Trader Joe's so I'm glad I did a trial run last weekend. Also, I am contributing the dessert to this gathering: the ubiquitous "flourless chocolate cake". I might make something else for the gluten-eating contingent but it kind of stinks when you can't sample your own baking before putting it out there for consumption.

The flourless cake (more like brownies) recipe is all over the internet in variations and I can't remember where I initially found it but this one is most like it:

Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe at Epicurious.com

I add a teaspoon of vanilla to mine and my recipe says to bake at 300 rather than 375 but I notice I always have to bake it longer so I'll try the higher temp.

Monday dinner: Mexican cheese soup This is a random recipe from a fundraiser book. This soup mostly consists of opening cans and therefore feels like cheating but Monday will be a busy day so I'm taking it.

Tuesday dinner: Stroganoff Finally making this. I think this has been in the rotation for a good three weeks now. This will be the week it gets made!

Wednesday dinner: Hash brown quiche (from another of the Saving Dinner author's cookbooks)

Thursday dinner: Garlic lime fish (from Saving Dinner)

Veggies are non specific to meals, except the avocado which goes with the Mexican soup. I got carrots, broccoli, salad, spinach, peas, cauliflower and zucchini.

Breakfast is cereal and yogurt with frozen fruit. I might make some gluten free pancakes to have for a couple of meals.

Lunch is leftovers or sandwiches, same as last week.



Cost breakdown:

$16 at Meijer
$83 at Aldi

Why I renovate

Before I got married, I had used a hammer a couple of times. I had no idea how many different types of saws were out there. I remember being so proud of myself the first time I learned what a hex key was and how to use it. I think I used that word in a couple of conversations just to show off.

I grew up in a home where my dad did the repairs and, while I would sometimes watch and help him, it wasn't something I particularly cared about or thought would ever come in handy. I should have paid more attention but, then again, try telling that to a teenager.

We were married in 2005 and moved into our first fixer upper 18 months later, after graduation and our first "real" jobs. We were all about location at that point: wanting something close to my husband's job. Proximity to mine was important as well, but not as essential since we knew we wanted to have a family and that I would be able to stay home and raise kid(s).

That house taught me a lot about patience and ownership. I once had a month long battle with our apartment complex over whether or not they should replace or fix our dryer (that we were paying for in the terms of our lease) in the middle of January (They eventually did, although they were sadly unswayed by the documentation of my husband doing homework beneath a makeshift clothesline. Too bad because I put a ton of energy into setting up just the right shot with the perfect background lighting to soften their hardened hearts.) but I was unused to dealing with burst water pipes and electrical wiring problems myself.

Sidenote: when I say "myself" I am actually referring to my husband. I did not actually touch the plumbing and wiring, but I did watch and learn a lot. Something my teenage self wouldn't have done. See, I am constantly improving.

One thing about this house: it had a LOT of cabinets. Ask me how I know...

Removing the old tile

Bathroom pre-everything

Even though the house was pretty bad when we took ownership, the work didn't take long. Of course, there were some things that never got done. We had planned to install french doors in place of the big picture window in the living room so there would be access to the backyard other than through the garage. We wanted to install new tile in the bathroom to replace the dated, somewhat chipped, vinyl sheet flooring. But the house's value wasn't worth it, and in time, we had to move on, leaving it less than perfect but still much improved.

New tile in progress

Even after this, for some crazy reason I bought into the HGTV concept: start with a falling-down shack and in 46 minutes (allowing for commercials), you have a million-dollar mansion.

Yes, I knew they had crews of expert carpenters, painters, plumbers, and electricians. And yes, I knew from first-hand experience that it took at least two years even with our house that we bought with all the walls intact.

So why did I decide to take on another project?

Moving in weekend. Carpet and tile has already been ripped up from this room.

The Hawaiian room. My 4 year old took this picture but honestly it looks almost as good as one of mine.

Well, for one thing, I love the hardwood floors and the abundance of mature trees. But I feel sorry for houses that have potential that hasn't been fully reached yet. I want to be able to look at the before and after and know that my inspiration and hard work made that after 100% a reality. 

Plus, I already have an education in miter saws and drywall screws and it would be a shame to put that to waste.

Mrs. Cheapskate in the Nursery with a Lint Roller

Alternately titled "There's More Than One Way to Vacuum a Floor"

We have exactly one carpeted area in our house: a big area rug in the nursery. For this reason, I don't really have a need for an elaborate vacuum. I've been using my 9 year old one for awhile with no problems but over the past few months it has had several issues. I have a little handheld vacuum that's better at picking up crumbs on hardwood and tile.

So what to do when the vacuum breaks? I've already called around for repairs and it turns out they are about twice the original cost of the vacuum itself.

Menards, usually weekly, has items that are free after rebate. One such item a few months back was lint rollers. For some unknown reason, I bought three. If it can serve some remote purpose, and it's free, I figured why not? Although, let's be honest: with an 8 month old, lint is hardly my issue.

Today I found a great use for those free lint rollers. Although I'm definitely in the market for a basic vacuum now.

Has anyone else found a great alternate use for a product? Also, what vacuum would you recommend for a 10x8 area?

Day of rest

Last night at 11 p.m. Little Girl woke up with a fever and was up approximately 5 times afterward. She, and subsequently I, finally fell asleep for real around 4 a.m.

Today was definitely a day of rest in many ways. I have such a hard time letting go of my need for perfection even when everything is obviously pointing me in a direction of slowing down. Case in point: at 5 1/2 months pregnant I came down with a stomach virus and called my always helpful in a pinch (and any other time you need it) sister in law to ask if she could possibly watch Big Girl for awhile since I could barely move without feeling like I was falling into a black hole.

Two and a half hours and half a box of rice crackers later I started to feel guilty: "Oh, I'm just taking advantage. I feel SO much better now it's cheating to leave her with a babysitter when I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself." I don't think my sister in law was convinced by my miraculous recovery.

So I'm trying to learn that it's okay to give myself a chance to rest and not beat myself up over it. On today's calendar: reading, card games, rest, reheated leftovers for lunch, pancakes for dinner, and lots and lots of Dinosaur Train. You know what, it was a great day!

Menu planning for the week

This recipe box was a hand-me-down from my grandma. It says Eureka Springs on the top. I'm not sure how old it is but I love it and use it nearly every day.

Menu plan for the week:


Baked macaroni with carrots as side dish (from the book Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. Highly recommend this book because even though it's not GF, a lot of the recipes are easily converted. Organized by season so as to optimize fresh food when possible.)

Pizza and salad
Husband is eating mini pizzas on Ezekiel english muffins. Big Girl and I are trying the frozen TJ's gluten -free pizza for the first time.


Quesadillas, avocado, and some vegetable. Maybe finish up the salad.

Another recipe-less recipe. Chicken, Monterrey Jack cheese, and corn tortillas. Apparently the Aldi corn tortillas are made with corn flour which is off limits on the no flour no sugar diet, but I have some from Walmart that aren't made with corn flour.


Stroganoff over rice spiral noodles and zucchini

My mom gave me this recipe from a book compiled by La Leche League members several decades ago. I have modified the original quite a bit to accommodate allergies. I'm using cubed steak because it was on sale and regular steak wasn't, cornstarch instead of flour as thickening, and leaving out mushrooms. I'm a little nervous about this one because it sort of stretches the bounds of substitution more than I'm comfortable with.

Pork fried rice and broccoli

This is the recipe I posted last week (see: How gluten turned me into a foodie)

Parmesan fish and asparagus

Fish+egg wash+parmesan cheese. Grill. The end.

Tacos, refried beans, and carrots (veggie subject to change depending on what's left in the crisper)

Those La Leche ladies of the 80's were some awesome cooks. Just saying. This is ground beef with a can of tomato sauce, onion, cumin, marjoram, salt and pepper. I find mixes way too salty and that a lot of them contain wheat.


Breakfasts: pretend rice chex from Aldi, frozen berries, plain yogurt (also with frozen berries), TJ's gluten free granola (cut with something less sweet). I might make some muffins.

Lunches: leftovers, peanut butter or lunchmeat "sandwiches" on rice cakes. Lots of fresh fruit (love that this is coming back in season!)

In addition to the ingredients I had left in the pantry and fridge, I spent $25 at TJ's and $70 at Aldi. It's not as low as I'd hoped for but with two somewhat different diets to accommodate I feel like it's okay. Two kids ago and before special diets, I used to get our groceries for $70-$75 and I have this fantasy that I'll somehow fall into a price time warp and spend closer to that amount again.

The color yellow and some project updates

"I've been thinking about it for a long time and I've decided to start liking the color yellow"--the Big Girl

I love my first child's optimistic attitude. On the contrary, I tend toward worst case scenario thinking. For a few months after my (self) diagnosis, I tended to wallow and complain. Then I realized this was my life and I could embrace it with all the optimism I could or I could be pessimistic and make it that much harder on myself. I want to look at my gluten-free loaf as half-baked instead of half-raw. Or to mix metaphors, I want to just make up my mind to like the color yellow.

In other news, it's time to choose my projects. Apparently spring began yesterday (since when do the seasons not change on the 21st???) so I'm a day behind.

The reading and renovation projects have begun (I'll update next month) and in addition, I want to make this month's focus the meal planning and budgeting.

Off to squeeze as much as I can out of the remaining 20 minutes of quiet time (Big Girl) and naptime (Little Girl)!

More spring resolutions

So back to my list of resolutions:

5. Organize our medical history. This has been bugging me for awhile. Any time I need quick access to records, I have to dig through tons of irrelevant stuff to find what I'm looking for. I want to have a file for each member of the family, organized by date, with the unnecessary weeded out. I think what's held me back is the fear of throwing out something important. I need to take time to find out what I should have as a hard copy and what can easily be obtained online.

6. Make more of my own bath products. I have to confess that I get fired up about doing this whenever I read a book/blog about green living, then I get swayed by finding a bottle of 25 cent conditioner. I love doing good things for the planet but especially in the early newborn days, my sanity and function as a mother seemed more immediate. As proud as I am of how nice and organized this is, I would love to be able to gradually replace with homemade. I made my own laundry soap a few weeks ago and it even gets cloth diapers clean so I think that's working out better than I hoped.

7. Be better about grocery budgeting. So here's another confession: I don't budget. I do have a set amount that I withdraw every month and use for "frivolous" things (kind of like an allowance). But on things like groceries, I've just been operating under the assumption that frugality is so ingrained in me that I'll instinctively spend within appropriate guidelines. I'm probably right, but I want to verify for my own peace of mind. Plus, I think this might help me be able to make meaningful splurges. For example, I have wanted to buy some chocolate covered gluten free pretzels for the longest time. But every time I saw them I would think, "oh, I'll just get those next time since I'm not sure where I am in the budget." Having no budget, that day never came. It might turn out I'm saving enough every week to justify spending $5 on pretzels every now and then. 

Hmmm while I'm at it, I can probably ditch the glutenated boxes of pasta. I have been GF since May of 2011. I wonder how old they are? I'm pretty sure the macaroni moved cross-country with us.

8. Speaking of cooking, I want to organize my recipes and menu plan. My husband occasionally goes on a no-flour, no-sugar diet which involves further restrictions than my everyday diet (most GF stuff has some kind of flour, whether corn or rice, and he can't eat either on this diet). Ideally, I would have 25-30 "regular" meals (meaning GF meals) and an additional 30 or so NFNS that I can swap in when needed. Some of these could definitely overlap. 

I really wanted to have 12 resolutions and focus on one a month, but since some of them are quite large and ongoing (reading and major renovations) I think I'll leave it at those eight. T-minus 3 days!

P.S. After previewing this, I think maybe I will go ahead and add a ninth: learn how to take good pictures! I took a photography class in college and really think I would have failed if not for a generous professor taking pity on me. 

How gluten turned me into a foodie

I used to be known as the cookie queen. In fact, at my wedding shower, I ended up with three cookbooks totally devoted to cookies. Every potluck, I knew what I was bringing and everyone else knew as well. 

I didn't have quite the same passion for cooking. I think I liked to bake because of the joy it brought to people to bite into a fresh baked cookie or brownie. Let's face it, nobody's eyes lit up at cauliflower casserole. 

I was a good cook (definition: I only burned one thing a month) but I just saw it as yet another chore to check off my list. I looked forward to pizza night not so much for the pizza itself but as a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.

Enter gluten stage left. 

My first thought: I'm going to have to cook every meal. Now I know that to be untrue, but when I was first navigating the wilds of gluten-laced-everything I knew I didn't know enough to face a dinner out.

We ate a lot of gluten free pasta and tacos in corn tortillas in the early days and I tried to covert all my favorite recipes. That went over something like this:

1 can cream of chicken soup. (Okay, I can use cornstarch and chicken broth--oh, by the way, check labels on the chicken broth, especially if using bouillon--and make this well enough in advance)

1 package stuffing (bake a loaf of gluten free bread, let it cool, cube it, toast it, season it)

2 cups cooked turkey (no problem, I'll just have my slow cooker going alongside my oven baking bread and my stovetop cooking cream of chicken soup)

2 cups grated cheese 

Quite frankly, it was the grated cheese that broke the camel's back on that particular recipe (Thanksgiving Casserole, by the way, and if any of my gluten-eating friends want the recipe, it's actually quite delicious without all the substitutions). I was okay with chopping, dicing, and grating, but not in addition to spending two days making substitutions for everything.

So I learned to cook around gluten. I very rarely need to swap ingredients out, and when I do, I don't even notice. My mind just fills in "gluten-free pasta" or "gluten-free soy sauce."

The other night, I made pork fried rice completely off the top of my head with only a bare bones outline for inspiration. It was delicious, substitution free, and a lot tastier than anything I used to make. I felt I had finally arrived as a chef, and what's more, I enjoyed it!

My fried rice recipe:

3 pork chops

about 3 cups cold cooked rice

green onion

corn

soy sauce (gluten-free of course)

sesame oil

mushrooms

eggs

Dice pork chops very finely and cook until done. I used a little sesame oil. Add more sesame oil to pan and add in rice, green onion, corn (I thought these were peas until I opened the freezer but the corn tasted good too), and sliced mushrooms. Shake soy sauce over everything until it looks right. Stir fry everything and then add eggs and cook some more. 

Next time, I would use peas instead of corn and maybe leave out the eggs. The recipe that inspired me said to use them but honestly I couldn't tell a difference. Also, I was a little heavy handed with the soy sauce so I would use less. 

Also, next time I will remember to take a picture before devouring this. :-)

Some spring resolutions

Unlike most people, I like to start resolutions at random times throughout the year. With the upcoming arrival of spring (?--my thermometer says 36, but anyway) I made a list of goals to begin on March 21st and continue through the spring of 2014.

I read the book "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin last year and am in the middle of reading the sequel: "Happier at Home." I was struck by the goals she set for herself with the end goal of attaining happiness. I realize that a lot of things that will ultimately make me happy won't actually be all that fun during the process (organizing medical records) but will bring me a sense of peace which will equal happiness. 

So without further preamble, here are my goals for the upcoming spring to spring year: 

1. Be more up to date on current events. Last night at church, I realized how woefully behind the times I am on the topics that polarize our country. I can tell you the top five ways to calm a crying baby or the arguments for or against "Ferberizing" or "attachment parenting" but I honestly could not discuss foreign policy with as much knowledge. I always said I didn't want to be a mom that completely lost herself in her kids to the point where she had no outside interests. So, while politics doesn't really interest me all that much, I think I need to know enough to be able to carry on a conversation that doesn't revolve around the best place to buy/method to wash diapers. 

2. Shop my craft closet. I have a habit of buying all the materials for a project, starting, then either losing interest, finding a substitute at a garage sale for some ridiculous price like a quarter, or moving on to another more pressing project and forgetting to go back. I want to finish up all those projects in my closet like the twin size quilt that was supposed to be a Christmas present, then a birthday present. Maybe it will be a Christmas present this year. Other than fill-in-the-gap supplies, I want to challenge myself not to buy any new supplies until my birthday (which is approximately six months from now and an easy way to remember).

3. Read one fiction and one non-fiction book a month. I kind of have a head start on this as I have been doing it since January, so this should be easy for me to follow through.

4. Complete one major renovation project a month. Notice I did not say one ROOM a month. At a different time in our lives, this might be possible, but for now I would like to set a goal to just finish one big thing. Our goal is to be completely finished by the end of 2014. So, toward this end, I've already started this goal as well. Past "big projects" have included painting my kitchen, removing 12x15 feet of old tile from our guest bedroom, and fixing damaged drywall in the same room and painting the walls gray (see previous post about my $12.50 paint). 

There are more resolutions but I'll save those for another post. These are definitely the more interesting of my goals, while the others revolve more around budgeting and organizing.