Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Guest Post: Weekly Meal Plan by Cousin Jessica, Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday – “Finally together as a family” – Crockpot Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes



When Dexter heads to our house for his time with us, I try to have hearty, healthy kid friendly meals that can be ready quickly. Josh and I both have a long commute home and using the crockpot allows us to spend more time playing with legos vs cooking in the kitchen.

This recipe is a mix between what my mom told me, what my grandma suggested, and what I’ve found works for a long day in the crockpot. 

Ingredients:
·       A large roast – any kind – I’ve been using tri tip and it’s wonderful
·       1 can cream of mushroom soup (Amy’s organic is wonderful)
·       1 package Lipton onion soup
·       1 can roasted tomatoes – whole or diced, with liquid
·       6-10 red potatoes (washed) depending on your family size
·       6 – 10 pealed whole carrots
·       1 onion – cut into chunks

How to build:
·       Potatoes on the bottom of your crock pot, followed by carrots
·       Place roast on top
·       Lipton soup – sprinkle throughout
·       Cream of mushroom – on top
·       Can of roasted tomatoes
·       Stuff the onion chunks into any nooks and crannies
·       Set crock pot for 8 hours on low

Tips for a busy family:
·       Build the night before and place in the fridge
·       Freeze your roast, let it thaw a bit in the crock pot overnight – adjust cooking time to 10 -12 hours depending on how long you are out of the house during the day
·       Buy a crockpot with a timer and a warmer – this way you can set for 8 hours and keep on “warm” until you get home

Serve:
·       The roast will be very tender, use tools to remove from the crock pot and place on a cutting board to slice
·       Scoop out potatoes and carrots and some onions if you desire
·       I don’t love gravy, so I don’t make it . . . but you can use the juices to make a gravy if you like! Strain, add a roux and I’m sure it’s delicious!

·       We eat ours with sour cream and BBQ sauce because we love sauces J

Thursday: “It’s time for leftovers” – Eat up!
Suggestions for serving:
·       Grain bowl:
o   Use leftover veggies, add some cheese and stuff in a tortilla for a hearty burrito
o   Add another egg and eat up just like before!
·       Stuffing:
o   Serve up with some cheese and crackers
o   Add an egg and eat up!
·       Pot Roast:
o   Pot roast heats up great as is – throw in the microwave and serve
o   Pull roast apart, add some bbq sauce, heat up and make sandwiches
o   Potatoes – these potatoes make great potato pancakes! Smash them up, add some onions and spices, and fry! You can also smash in the carrots for some extra flavor. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce
·       Mix and match!
o   Mix any combo of the above together, add some scrambled eggs and bacon – makes great hash!

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Guest Post: Weekly Meal Plan by Cousin Jessica, Tuesday

Our dear "Cousin Jessica" (as kids, we only referred to her by her full "title", and it has since stuck) has written a series of posts for our blog this week, walking through a week of cooking for a new family amidst the busy-ness of life. We're posting it over several days this week, but will include the grocery list at the top of each post for ease of use.  Her posts are filled with great tips along with great recipes, so happy reading!

Weekly Grocery List and Budget – Weekly budget including what we need for breakfasts and lunches - $150 for a family of three.

I have a lot of the spices in these recipes already, along with some staple items. Please double check your cupboards and the recipes to make sure you have all ingredients!

Brown Rice
Whole grains (any)
Acorn Squash
Onion
Celery
Ground sausage with sage
Flat leaf Parsley
Apples
Cranberries
Butter
Chicken stock
Rosemary
Avocado oil
Sage
Carrots
Brussel sprouts
Radishes
Butternut Squash
Beets
Lemon
Thyme

Shallot

Tuesday “Let’s entertain on a week night” – Acorn Squash stuffed with Sausage, apple and cranberry stuffing; Sweet treat: Paleo Bon Bons



Let me start off by saying, entertaining on a weeknight is totally doable even if you both work.  The key is to PREP.  This stuffing is still amazing if cooked the night before. Bon Bons can be prepped up to a week in advance.

The base of this recipe was not my idea. Last year, I had a craving for stuffing and squash and I went hunting for recipes.  I knew I wanted apples and cranberries to give some sweetness, but I also knew that I didn’t have a ton of time.  I found this recipe on Happily Unprocessed (great site!) and tweaked to make it work for us.  Tonight I’m adjusting to make everything mostly paleo for my dear friend who is coming over for dinner.

Bon Bons:
Ingredients:
·       Almond butter – 1 cup
·       Coconut flakes – ¼ cup
·       Almond extract – a couple drops
·       Honey -1/2 cup
·       Dark chocolate (to be paleo, 85% or above. To be creative, use fruit infused chocolates – like orange or raspberry)

What to do:
·       Mix everything but the chocolate into a bowl. You want the consistency to be thick – add more coconut if you needed, but make sure it’s not crumbly.  The mixture should still be damp. 

·       Melt the dark chocolate. Form the above mixture into balls and put into a small cupcake paper.  Pour the dark chocolate over the top. Freeze for 30 minutes or up to a week.


Squash and Stuffing:
Ingredients:
·       Two acorn squash
·       Half onion – diced
·       Diced Celery – ½ cup or so
·       1 lb ground sausage with sage – I used spicy Italian sausage for kick – if you can’t find with sage, just add some extra sage in your cooking process.
·       ½ teaspoon dried sage (more if your sausage does not have sage)
·       ½ teaspoon fresh thyme
·       Two cups whole grain brown rice - cooked
·       1 apple cut into chunks – Skin on – any variety (honey crisp is my fav)
·       I cup dried cranberries
·       Butter – two or three pads – grass fed if you can find it



Cook it up!
·       Bake up the squash -  preheat oven to 350 – cut in half, brush with olive oil, place face down on a cookie sheet.  Cook for 15-20 minutes. If your squash is thick, cook for 25 – you want it mostly done
Cook the stuffing – this can be done the night before and saved in the fridge
·       Cook onions, celery in olive oil until translucent. Add the sausage and cook until cooked through. Add the spices. Add apples, cranberries and some butter.  Add the brown rice and mix.  
o   Note: This will not “set” like traditional stuffing because there is no bread. Expect it to be crumbly
Stuff the squash
·       Pull squash form the oven and flip over – use a fork to break up squash – it will be a little stringy. Add some butter to preference.  (In this stage, I always add a little goat cheese to make the squash extra creamy, completely up to your own taste)
·       Stuff the squash with as much stuffing as it will hold. It’s ok if a little bit falls on the pan or the sides, it will get crispy and it’s amazing.
·       Bake another 20 minutes – careful not to burn the top. The stuffing is cooked – this baking is only to add more flavor to the squash, finish the squash baking, and crisp the sausage.
·       Leftover stuffing – put in a glass pan and bake until crispy. Great for leftovers or to supplement if you have hungry guests!

Eat! Take everything out of the oven – it will be VERY hot.  I like to top with a little goat cheese or parmesan. My friends added siracha and it was delicious.  

Dessert: Bon bons are eaten frozen – do not thaw!

Tip: if you want more of an ice-cream consistency, mix in some ripe banana during the creation process and lessen the amount of almond butter by about half.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Guest Post: Weekly Meal Plan by Cousin Jessica, Monday

Our dear "Cousin Jessica" (as kids, we only referred to her by her full "title", and it still sticks) has written a series of posts for our blog this week, walking through a week of cooking for a new family amidst the busy-ness of life. We're posting it over several days this week, but will include the grocery list at the top of each post for ease of use.  Her posts are filled with great tips along with great recipes, so happy reading!

Welcome to a week in the life of a new wife, new step mom, new homeowner and full time employee. 

Cooking and entertaining are a huge part of my life, but in order to pull it off, I have to be incredibly organized, plan our meals, make our grocery list, and try to stay on budget! This week, I am creating a fall inspired menu – one night just the two of us, one night of entertaining, and one night together as a family.  Followed by creative use of left overs to save some cash and clean out our fridge before we head out for the weekend.  

Growing up, I was always the kid who never cooked and broke a wooden spoon trying to stir chocolate chips into my first batch of cookies . . . however . . . I knew how to eat. As an adult, I’ve found that I have a unique skill of craving what is in season, and designing recipes with complementary flavors. I almost always start with googling ingredients that sound good and combining recipes or substituting items to create something unique and healthy for our family.  My food doesn’t always look the prettiest – I’m not skilled with knife work and sometimes I don’t time things perfectly – but it almost always tastes good J

Everything below can be adjusted to suite your personal tastes.

Grocery List and Budget – Weekly budget including what we need for breakfasts and lunches - $150 for a family of three.

I have a lot of the spices in these recipes already, along with some staple items. Please double check your cupboards and the recipes to make sure you have all ingredients!

Brown Rice
Whole grains (any)
Acorn Squash
Onion
Celery
Ground sausage with sage
Flat leaf Parsley
Apples
Cranberries
Butter
Chicken stock
Rosemary
Avocado oil
Sage
Carrots
Brussel sprouts
Radishes
Butternut Squash
Beets
Lemon
Thyme
Shallot

The plan:

Monday “Just the two of us” – Whole Grain Bowl with roasted veggies, a fried egg, and lemony walnut dressing





When it’s just Josh and I at home, I tend to experiment. I went to lunch at EVE in Fremont here in Seattle and had their Hot bowl – they use seasonal vegetables, and I decided to try and recreate the experience with my own dressing and vegetable combination.

Ingredients:
·       Whole grains – any you prefer! I used a combination of multigrain rice mixed with whole grain wheat.  
·       Brussel Sprouts – sliced  (Best guess for two people – 5)
·       Radishes – 10-12 cleaned, stems cut off, halved
·       Delicatta squash – one squash, diced with skin on
·       Beets, peeled and cut into ¼s (3 total)
·       Carrots – 3 large, halved length wise and cut into chunks
·       Pine nuts
·       Goat Cheese
·       Egg* – one for each dinner eater
Dressing:
·       Walnuts – 1 cup or so
·       Fresh lemon juice from one lemon
·       ½ Shallot - diced
·       Thyme – to preference, I used about 1 tablespoon
·       Olive oil – half cup
·       Avocado oil – ¼ cup
·       Lemon zest
·       Salt and pepper to taste – be generous!



Time to get cooking!
·       Heat up your oven! 375 Degrees
·       Roast your walnuts – about 10-12 minutes – until they start to smell fragrant
·       Toss vegetables in any oil – I used avocado oil
·       Add your own spices! I used lemon pepper, but if I did it again, I’d use tarragon as well.
·       Roast veggies for 20 minutes, stir, flip, whatever it takes to get the other side. Roast another 15 minutes or until you reach your desired tenderness.
·       While veggies are cooking – cook your grains according to the packaging

Dressing:
·       Add walnuts, shallot, thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice,  olive oil into the food processor and pulse.  Try a magic bullet if you have it!  Add salt and pepper (generously) –
o   Note: This dressing does not look appealing – the walnuts give it a thick brown texture, but close your eyes and taste it, because it really packs some good flavor!

When everything is cooked – fry up two eggs, or poach if you know how!


Build:
·       Grains – Mix dressing directly in
·       Veggies
·       Egg
·       Goat cheese
·       Pine nuts

Feel free to toss in some siracha, or whatever gets your taste buds going!  EAT! Make sure you cut into the egg to get the yolk mixed in with the grains.

* Added bonus if you can get farm fresh eggs. Check out the yolk color in ours – those are eggs from our friends who are very happy chickens. They are so delicious and healthy!