Menu Planning

I often wonder how much of our day we waste in asking ourselves and deciding on “What’s for dinner?” And how much frivolous money do we spend because we often don’t know or don’t have what we need to make what we want for dinner?

About 16 years ago (yes, about the time our second son came along) I decided that whatever amount of time I was spending on it was too much. I didn’t have that kind of time or money to waste. So I started a menu.

This plan is much easier to do in 1-2 week segments. More than that gets a bit overwhelming!

I just write down all the days and meals on a piece of paper and then start filling in the blanks. I always keep in mind our calendar; simple breakfasts on busy mornings, crock pot meals on crazy days, homemade bread on the rare days that I’m home… I also always buy one or two frozen convenience meal for those “I didn’t see that coming” days.

I also make a note of desserts and snacks that I want to make.

I try to incorporate any items (especially meats) that may be on sale that week into the menu.

Sometimes it is hard to think of that many meals. Sometimes I am just not inspired. While it is a BAD idea to grocery shop while hungry, it is MUCH easier to write your menu when you are hungry. There are weeks when I skip a meal, knowing I have to plan our menu later in the day. :o) I also keep a running list of ideas for menu items: recipes I read on my Google Reader or find on FB, things I have a craving for, meals the guys request…

Then I make the shopping list, including any items I need to make the meals on the menu, my convenience foods, any killer deals that I just can’t pass up that may be on sale that week, and of course any staples that we have run out of.

The hardest part of menu planning for me is writing it on the menu every morning. I started doing this to avoid the nearly constant question of “What are we having for….?” It really did work! Eventually they did learn that they could just look at the menu and see what we were eating that day. It helped that I refused to answer and instead just pointed at the menu until they got the hint and went to look. :o)

It may be a little more time and effort in the planning stages but the time you save on a daily basis is well worth it!

Happy menuing!

Cashew Chicken

We love Chinese food! We have been eating so much of it that I have been buying chopsticks and take out boxes at the restaurant supply store! Yes, it is more fun to eat out of take out boxes! :o) So, here is my version of cashew chicken… I’m pretty proud of it!

1 egg white

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 pound cubed chicken breast (boneless, skinless)

Mix egg white, cornstarch and soy sauce. Add chicken and stir to coat. Let stand 15 minutes.

Prep veggies and sauce while chicken sits.

Sauce:

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Veggies:

1/2 cup onion, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces

2-3 carrots, sliced

2-3 ribs celery, sliced

1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1/2 cup whole cashews

1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Drain chicken in strainer. Heat 2 Tablespoons of sesame oil in large skillet. Stir fry chicken until it turns white. Add veggies and stir-fry until chicken is cooked through and veggies are crisp-tender. Add cashews and water chestnuts. Cook until chestnuts are heated through. Add crushed red pepper flakes. Stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and pour into stir-fry. Stir until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and serve over rice.

Vanilla Extract

I made my own vanilla extract! I’ve actually been saving a cute bottle for almost a year for just such a purpose. :o)  It was so easy that I wish I had done it sooner.

Start with a bottle of 80 to 100 proof vodka. I’ve heard you can even go higher proof than that. But only if you can get it in your state…

Then you’ll need vanilla beans. Use 3 beans for every cup of vodka.

Split the beans in half with a sharp knife to about 1-2 inches from top.

Place split beans in a quart canning jar and pour vodka over beans.

Let stand in a cool dark place for at least 2 months.

It will darken in about a day…

After about 2 months it will be ready to use. Vanilla will stay good for years, stored in a cool dry place.

When mine was ready I placed a few of the beans in my cute little bottle and poured in the vanilla.

     Now you’re all ready to do your baking!

Coconut Lime Cottage Cheese Pie

This is a combination of a few recipes I’ve seen and a recipe that was given to me by a friend from church. The result was pretty satisfying! It has a nice blend of flavors and is cool and refreshing. I think it would be just lovely on a hot summer evening… Or as a dessert following a spicy Mexican dish!

Crust:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup coconut

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine ingredients to form the crust. You can use a pastry blender, mixer or food processor.

Then press into a 9” pie plate and set aside.

Filling:

1 3/4 cups cottage cheese

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lime juice

zest of one lime

Put cottage cheese in blender and blend until perfectly smooth. The trick is to blend it until it is very smooth with no lumps.

Add remaining ingredients and blend until well mixed.

Pour into pie crust and bake at 325 for 45 minutes or until center is set.

Topping:

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons sugar

Mix in a small bowl and put on top of the back of the stove where it is warm while the pie is baking.

After removing pie from oven, gently spread topping over pie and bake for another 10 minutes.

   Place on wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Keep in fridge until cool and set.

  Store any leftovers in fridge.

Flower Pot Mud Pie

I hadn’t made this in a while and decided it was the ideal dessert for our April Fool’s Day Craft Nite potluck! I was so so right! It turned out FANTASTIC! The secret… real whipped cream. You can use Cool Whip, but you really don’t want to… :o)

Crush up chocolate sandwich cookies in your food processor to make the “dirt”. You don’t even need to remove the filling. Just process the heck out of them and they’ll look just like potting soil.

Then make your filling.

First whip 1 cup of whipping cream until thick. Stir together 4 Tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1 Tablespoon of instant clear gel (to stabilize cream). Add to whipped cream along with 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Whip until very thick. *You can also use an 8oz tub of whipped topping.

Cream 4 oz softened cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix until smooth

Beat 1 3/4 cups milk with one 3 oz box of chocolate instant pudding mix until thick.

Mix together the pudding and cream cheese mixture.

Fold in whipped cream.

Now begin to layer the mud pie into a small plastic flowerpot (be sure to clean it well before using). First place a piece of parchment, wax paper or plastic wrap in the bottom of the pot.

Cover with some of your cookie crumbs.

Top with some of the filling

Sprinkle with more cookie crumbs. Continue to layer, ending with crumbs on top.

Stick a bunch of artificial flowers (be sure to clean these, too) into the pot for a fun finished look. You can also throw in some gummy worms for fun!

Store in the fridge until ready to serve. This is best if not made too much in advance.  

Salad Rolls

These little tidbits are so fresh and delicious! I think they would make an excellent light summer lunch. This recipe is from my friend Betsy (but was given to me by my friend Lori). I didn’t have all the ingredients, but I think you can be pretty creative with this one. We decided some little salad shrimp with the the perfect addition!

The sauce is also very light and a bit spicy, just what it needs!

3 oz rice noodles, boil for 2 minutes and then rinse in cold water and drain well

2 cups bean sprouts (I didn’t have any and used finely shredded cabbage, but I think a combo of the two would be really good)

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

2 tsp fresh ginger

4 cloves finely minced garlic

spinach or lettuce leaves

rice wrappers

Sauce

Whisk together

1/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon chili sauce

dash ginger

Combine first six salad roll ingredients in a bowl and let sit for about a half hour to let the flavors marry a bit.

Soak rice wrappers in hot water until soft.

Yes, it is in there. You just can’t see it! :o)

Roll 1/4 cup filling into the wrapper. Top filling with lettuce or spinach leaves. (I used a little too much filling in mine, but I was in a hurry…)

Cover prepared salad rolls with a damp towel until serving.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Red Bean Mochi

I LOVE mochi! Mochi is a sweet rice cake made from sweet rice flour. To be more exact, I actually made daifuku “a soft round mochi stuffed with sweet filling, such as sweetened red bean paste”. 

I picked up everything I would need to make a batch back in January in Seattle. When I went back to my Google Reader and looked at the recipe on Just Jenn, I was a little hesitant… She made it sound awful, in fact she advised you just go and buy it instead! :o(  When I read the recipe, it just didn’t sound that difficult.

Thank goodness my sister Theresa made it first and blogged about it. She seemed to even enjoy making them, so I gave it a go…

The one thing both mentioned was the stirring… Apparently you have to stir hard and fast and it ain’t easy! No problem, I have three strapping young teenage sons. I just posed it as a, “I need to stir this but you have to be really strong to do it and I’m not sure I can” and I had an enthusiastic volunteer to do it for me. In hindsight I’m pretty sure I could have done it myself but it was fun to have some help. Thanks Andy!

So, here’s all you need to do to make your very own mochi…

3 1/2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp food coloring

1 box Mochiko (sweet rice flour)

1 bag of red bean paste (An)

potato starch

First dust your cutting board generously with potato starch. Mochi is like glue, you’re going to need lots of potato starch. Then pre-form your red bean paste into little blobs. This will save you a lot of time later. Make bigger blobs if you’re making bigger mochi or small blobs for bite-sized mochi. (I did some of each)

Then put the water into a large saucepan with the sugar and bring to a boil.

Add the food coloring and remove from heat.

Immediately stir in the entire box of Mochiko. This is the part where you stir. Stir hard and fast! It will get really hard to stir but keep stirring… Stir until it is smooth and sticky. This part is kind of like a funky science experiment. I’m pretty sure you’ve never made anything this texture before. :o)

Quickly dump the mochi onto the dusted cutting board.

Dust the top of the pile of mochi with more potato starch.

Scrape the pot as well as you can and then start it soaking in the sink right away!

Cut off piece of mochi with well potato-starched hands.

       Shape it into a flat piece.

Place the red bean paste in the middle of the mochi and wrap it around the bottom.

Shape into a ball.

This recipe makes a lot of mochi! So just keep making them… (I made 50)

Store them in the freezer. Take them out to thaw before eating.