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Menu for a Vacation 5

Filed under yum food
Written by Annie on 29th Jun -09

birthday1First things first: today is my birthday. I am celebrating by 1) having another cup of coffee, 2) playing around instead of getting work done before the kids wake up, 3) spending time with my sister-in-law and niece today!, and 4) packing to go on VACATION to see my family! I cannot wait!

Since we will be leaving Tuesday, my menu plan consists of, well, not much:

  • Monday: eat whatever is left in the fridge so it won’t get icky while we’re gone. Mmm. Since I didn’t cook much over the weekend (I got in vacation mode a little too soon) it will probably be a slim meal. Oh well. We’ll make up for it while we’re down in MS.

Since I don’t have a great menu plan, I will put up some recipe links of food I want to make soon. Maybe this will help inspire me when vacation is over and it’s time to come home and start cooking again. Or maybe I’ll cook some while I’m at my Dad’s house. They have a nice big kitchen… :)

Recipes… and be sure to visit OrgJunkie for more menus, links, and recipes!

  • Homemade Granola Bars (my recipe, good, and I need to make some again. Should make some to take with us for snacks on the road but that’s probably not going to happen…).
  • Thai Chicken Salad with Peanuts and Lime – sounds delicious. Love this site, too.
  • Honey Wheat Bread… because I need to quit making all-white bread but I don’t love completely whole wheat bread. This recipe sounds like a good compromise for me.
  • Hummus and Tomato-Avocado-Mozzarella Salad and Hashbrown Quiche and Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins (with suggested tweaks, maybe add dried cranberries too?). Love this site; wonderful recipes and I love how she has a pic of each plus a little “Results” section at the bottom to summarize the recipe and how good it was or what needs changing. A new favorite on my Bookmarks list.
  • Smoked Beef Ribs. Um, yes. Oh, yes. Goodness, yes. I am drooling. I love barbecued anything (okay, almost anything). I’m thinking I should institute a weekly “Joe-cooks-on-the-grill” night and I’m thinking this should be our first recipe.
  • Jamaican Chicken. Yum. Yum. Yum.
  • Snack Basket. Not exactly a recipe, I know, but this is a great idea for Moms. I think I will set one of these up when we get home next week.

Image courtesy of Pink Sherbet Photography.

Death machine, I will conquer you! + This Week’s Menu 1

Filed under sister who?
Written by Annie on 22nd Jun -09

conquerwomanOver the weekend, Joe and I decided that the “taking family walks in the evening” plan wasn’t working. Okay, actually, it was more like this:
Annie: “I’m melting! I’m melting! It’s soo o ooo o ooo hot! I can’t walk in this heat. I will die. I will surely die. and If I don’t die, then I will kill you for making me come out in this horrible horrible weather.”
Joe: “Um…okay…would you like to join the gym, maybe, inste-”
Annie: “YES! Air conditioning! YES! Gym! YES! I like! Oh, sorry, hon, were you saying something else?”

This morning I got up and went to the gym and worked out in the beautifully air-conditioned space. It’s one of those 24/7, let yourself in deals. I was the only one there at 4:45am (weird, don’t more people just love getting to the gym at 4:45 am? No?) and so it was like I had my own private air-conditioned gym. I still couldn’t change the channels on the televisions, though…

Another lady got there while I was mid-way through my graceful cardio huffing-puffing-nearly-keeling-over-20-excruciating-minutes-on-the-elliptical-death-machine portion of my work-out. I didn’t mind sharing my gym space by that time. I was just glad someone else was there to pour a little water on my face in case I fainted and fell off when the demon machine upped the resistance again.  Beauty is just so painful sometimes.

So, in unrelated news, here’s my menu for the week.

  • Monday: fish curry, brown rice, strawberries & pineapple. I’m a little nervous about this because our neighbors are coming over for dinner and Shema (the Mr.) is from Sri Lanka. He’s Hindu, so he doesn’t eat meat, which is no problem since we like fish anway. But 1) I’ve never made curry with fish before and 2) I’m cooking curry for a man who knows what REAL curry should be like and makes it and consumes it regularly. I have a strong suspicion that my Americanized version of curry is nothing like Shema’s authentic curry… oh well. It’s the thought, right…?
  • Tuesday: Stuffed pitas + clean out veggies in fridge: corn on the cob, green beans, and salad. I’m not sure what I’ll stuff the pitas with yet: maybe this or maybe something more substantial, though with ground beef or turkey instead of lamb. Don’t have much lamb sitting in my freezer these days… weird. :)
  • Wednesday: Joe’s day off! Big brunch mid-morning (sausage or bacon, pancakes, eggs) then veggie stirfry and noodles for dinner.
  • Thursday: Pasta carbonara…some kind of side…
  • Friday: Broiled tilapia, oven fries, marinated carrots.
  • Saturday: Zugu & meatballs (and pasta to eat it on, of course).
  • Sunday: We’re either doing fellowship lunch at church or birthday dinner at the in-laws; I’ll grate some cheese to make quesadillas for supper in case we’re home by then and hungry again.
Visit the host of Menu Plan Monday!

Visit the host of Menu Plan Monday!

Image Credit: jynmeyer on stock.xchng. Yeah, I’m not quite ready to put up a picture of myself, post-workout. Maybe someday…

Four Foods on Friday #80 4

Filed under sister who?
Written by Annie on 19th Jun -09

fourfoodsfri

#1. bestmomma’s question. If you could copy the cooking expertise and ability of one person, who would it be?

It would either the Frugal Gourmet (I don’t remember his name right now. oh wait, yes I do:), Jeff Smith, or Sally Fallon who wrote “Nourishing Traditions” cookbook which is huge and has more helpful information about food, nutrition, and how to eat basic, healthy, good food than any other cook book I own.

#2. What’s the first red food that comes to your mind?

Strawberries.

#3. How do you eat your strawberries?

Plain. Oh so good. Wash and put in bowl; put bowl on table; sit; devour. My 2nd favorite way is in home made strawberry jam on a piece of toasted home made bread. Oh. Heavenly. Bliss.

#4. Share a recipe that uses cherries.

Oooh. I don’t ever cook with cherries. I eat them like I eat strawberries. Oh, wait, that’s not entirely true; I make scones and granola bars with dried cherries. Here’s a granola bar recipe:

Home made, Not really healthy but really yummy Granola Bars

1 box of plain granola cereal
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1/2 stick butter
1 – 2 cups dried cherries
1 – 2 cups almonds or pistachios
12 oz. dark chocolate chips or pieces
Melt the butter and marshmallows in a sauce pan on the stove. Use low heat so the marshmallows don’t burn, and stir frequently. Combine the granola, dried cherries, nuts, and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the granola and mix well (easiest if you use your hands). You want all the granola mix to be coated with marshmallow. Grease a 9×13 pan and dump the whole bowl of granola in there. Spread out and pat down with your hands. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Slice into bars and munch away. These will stay good in airtight containers for about a week. But at my house, they don’t last longer than a couple of days…

Best laid (menu) plans of mice and men 1

Filed under sister who?
Written by Annie on 15th Jun -09

Fresh corn and cheese quesadillas. Mmmm.
p9280008Sometimes (often, in fact) the best food is the simplest. Shear the corn kernels off the cob, grate some cheddar, sprinkle onto tortillas and cook about 4 minutes per side in a hot skillet (watch that they don’t burn). Let cool for a couple of seconds, then slice with a pizza cutter into triangles. Eat them hot and melty with salsa and sour cream, or fresh mashed avocado, or diced cilantro, a squeeze of lime, or black bean salad, or all of the above…

The menu for this week:

(Ironic, isn’t it, that cheese & corn quesadillas aren’t even on here. But we’ll probably have some for lunch. Yeah. And please note my amazing attempts at healthiness via the salad/fruit with every meal. continue reading…

Menu Plan Monday {08 June 09} 2

Filed under sister who?
Written by Annie on 8th Jun -09

It’s like they “expect” me to “feed” them dinner or something “every” night. Sheesh.

p1060024

I’ve neglected this whole “menu planning” concept (picture Chris Farley, SNL) for “a few days” and “now” I realize that was  “bad idea” if you “know” what I mean… It’s very “helpful” to have a “menu plan” in place at the “beginning” of the “week.”

Okay. (“Okay.”)

The menu plan -

  • Monday: fried catfish (bought in pre-breaded at the grocery store, yahoo-easy for me), cole slaw, baked hushpuppies continue reading…
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