Fat Tuesday

I had no idea what to make for dinner so I swung through Target after a long shift...

I grabbed steaks, vegetables, strawberries and creme brûlée for my Fat Tuesday celebration.

My total bill came to $25.92.

- 4 small Angus steaks, $10, regularly $15.98
- fresh express iceberg garden salad, $1.47
- Green Giant fresh asparagus $2.49, regularly $3.49 (and was not in as good of condition as I thought when I bought it... Sad face)
- fresh strawberries, 1 quart, on sale for $2.49
- archer farm steam-in-bag broccoli, on sale for $1.89
- 2 boxes of Archer Farm creme brûlée (each with two servings), $5.99 each

Subtotal: $30.32
Team member discount: - 3.04
REDcard savings: - 1.36

What did I do with it?

When I got home, I touched off my enormous pépé mug with chai, and washed the asparagus. While my husband cooked the steaks with just a little garlic pepper and Italian seasoning, I cut some slits into the asparagus and spread some extra virgin olive oil and garlic pepper on them on the cookie sheet. I preheated the oven to 450 and really roasted that asparagus to a golden brown.

Then I split two raspberry Chobani "bites" with dark chocolate into three bowls and garnished with fresh strawberry slices.

That was the first course. The second course was a big old plate of salad. Third course was the asparagus.

Husband prepared the fourth course, the steam-in-bag broccoli drizzled with sesame oil and the steaks.

Dessert is the creme brûlée prepared by the child.

The wine is local apple wine from Stroudsburg.

January fancy dinner

I went to two stores with a plan. First stop, Forks Mediterranean Deli. I wanted medjool dates to make more fruit protein snacks. Child wanted calamata olives.

I left with those, about a pound of Bulgarian feta, 2 packages of homemade zaatar bread, halawa, chocolate halawa, a block of homemade dark chocolate and 53 fluid ounces of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil from Lebanon.

Then I stopped at Giant, for bread and something for dinner. Spent $40. Purchased:
- arugula
- spring mix
- personal watermelon
- fresh pineapple
- 4 avocados
- 2 baguettes
- salmon (for 3)
- a roaster chicken
- 3 croissants
- Pirate Booty veggie snack

So we came home at 4:45 and had a snack of zaatar bread, feta and olives.

Dinner became a four course affair.

Salmon with spinach-garlic cheddar sauce and a side salad of spring mix, arugula and carrot ribbons.

Brie and baguette.

Fresh pineapple oat crumble.

Dark chocolate and decaf coffee.

Happy bellies tonight.

Sunday Reflections

Food is such a vital part of our lives, and since I'm finishing school, interning at USAID, trying to be productive on the library board, and laying out the GLVWG newsletter, I'm stressed. Oh, I forgot my job at Target and the job hunt. Two interviews this week.

I decided that since I'm stressed, I'm making an extra effort to eat more whole and less processed food. I have a tendency to eat less healthy when I'm stressed and then my physical performance suffers.

This week I ate a lot of salad wraps. Homemade apple butter. Fresh feta from our favorite deli.

Today I stopped at Nature's Way for some funky flours-- some gluten free, others not. My family doesn't have gluten issues but many of the gluten-free recipes incorporate a better balance of carbohydrates/protein than wheat.

I have a long history if requiring a certain blend of carbohydrates and protein with lots of good veggies to keep from self-destructing. I experience incredible weakness if I skip meals that can't be fixed without hearty protein. Testing my blood sugar reveals that it's "fine," but that I feel ravenously hungry with a blood sugar of 90.

Anyway, my adventures with flour hopefully will start with multigrain biscuits.

Then we went to Kline Farm where I got yogurt, dill Colby, a huge pumpkin, apple cider, ground beef, sausage and pork chops.

I planned to make a "quick" 4 course meal before I go to work, and realized I must be delusional.

We started with a salad and big glass of water.

Next I heated my spiced apples in my skillet with pecans and butter and served with vanilla ice cream.

Now I'm frying pork chops in the same skillet I warmed the apples to capitalize on any apple flavor. I'm also heating corn we froze off the cob this summer.

Valentines Feast

I got my stitches out today. I'm almost back to where I was before this whole debacle started-- toothless for the #29 slot but healthy-- thanks to my diligent periodontist. We try again June 14, giving my jaw plenty of time to heal.

In the meantime, I have a healing hole on the right side of my mouth and a molar that needs repair on the left. Doesn't leave me much options for chewing, but that back left molar is my dentist's project for next Tuesday.

My husband had suggested picking out a cake from Wegmans for Valentine's Day. So, armed with the remaining $37 on the Wegmans gift card from my mom and a $50 gift card I had hanging around I decided to find something to cook for dinner.

What did I get?

Keep in mind, today was a splurge day, and it was cheaper than going out to dinner since we didn't eat all of it tonight.

- 4 of Wegmans perfect portion sirloin steaks, organic and grass fed, 2 per pack, one pack $10.26, the other $9.90
- 90-10 ground beef, $5.15
- club pack of boneless chicken breasts, $11.02
- port salut cheese, $4.20
- medium Brie, $6.37
- 9 croissants: 3 plain, 3 chocolate, 3 almond, $1.25 each
- baguette, $2.25
- Wegmans ultimate white cake (the small one), $6.50
- watermelon chunks, 10 ounces, $3.49
- French blend bagged salad, $2.50
- baby red potatoes, $3.99
- one pound organic carrots, $1.19
- Wegmans raspberry cherry vinaigrette dressing, $3.29

Total $81.36

THE MENU
1st course: watermelon
2nd course: pan-seared sirloin with roasted potatoes and carrots
3rd course: salad with mandarin oranges, dried blueberries, dried strawberries and the cherry raspberry dressing
4th course: cheese platter of baguette with port salut and brie
5th course: ultimate white cake

Pesto chicken, summer salad & honey corn

Today's dinner contains one stick of butter. Only one!

My dad and his wife are coming for dinner to bring my daughter her birthday presents. I had my husband get sine chicken out of the freezer. I thought I had three packs of 2 breasts but when my husband thawed them all, I realized each pack had three whole breasts which = a heckuva lot of chicken.

My husband and daughter picked some lettuce and herbs from the garden.

First course:
SUMMER SALAD
- greens (from the garden)
- French sorrel (from the garden)
- 2 strawberries for each salad
(one sliced, one whole)
- one cucumber, sliced
- choice of dressings: Newman's own raspberry walnut dressing

Homemade biscuits
Honeyed corn
Leftover rhubarb cobbler
Chocolate Berry Earl grey iced tea

PESTO CHICKEN:
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
- about 4 cups basil
(mix in food processor to form a sauce)

Slather chicken breasts with sauce and brown in butter.

Pineapple crumble and vanilla ice cream

The recipe for pineapple crumble suggests serving it warm with vanilla ice cream, so we're trying it tonight... for dinner... Our daughter went to her mimi's this weekend.

The dinner party went great. The company was wonderful. I don't have much too say, so I'm posting photos...

Oh, I could add that I kept the zucchini cakes and croque monsieur warm in the oven for a LONG time and the zucchini wasn't as moist and yummy as usual but had a different texture. It worked adequately.

And I have a friend who gave us a plethora of Frito-Lay return stock... so if you see some recipes with Cheetos and Funions that's why.

Brought to you by the letter P: Pork with raspberry sauce

I didn't intend it, but dinner became "brought to you by the letter P."

I got home from work and prepped some peas by thawing them in the microwave. Then I sliced about two tablespoons of fresh spearmint from my garden and added it to the peas. I stirred it up, covered it, and set it in the fridge. (Great picnic item, originally from Eileen Breslin's vegan cooking class at Northampton Community College.) Serve the peas chilled.

Then I made some green tea, also with loads of spearmint and poured it over ice in my Princess House glasses. I also got out a bottle of Italian sparkling raspberry wine. I even allowed by daughter to have a small taste for a special post-birthday toast. That was our apéritif.

First course was canned pears (packed in juice, juice reserved for recipe) with some of the sauce from the meat, served over yogurt. (See below for recipe.)

The pork recipe is a variation of Pork Chops with Raspberry Sauce from Allrecipes.com.

Pork with Raspberry Sauce, Angel-style

4 thin pork chops
Mysterious herb seasoning packet from Aldi spinach rigatoni

pinch of fresh ground course sea salt

pinch four-color peppercorns

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons juice, reserved from a can of pears

4 tablespoons champagne vinegar, a gift from my mom at Christmas

3.5 tablespoons Chambord

almost 1/4 cup organic raspberry jam from Wegmans

1. Preheat oven to 200. In a skillet, melt butter and olive oil.

2. Combine seasonings, salt and pepper. Rub on pork.

3. Cook pork in skillet on medium, about four minutes per side.

4. Place on plate and keep warm in oven.

5. In warm skillet, with meat juices still present, combine the juice, jam, vinegar and Chambord. Cook until the sauce reduces significantly. It will thicken when it cools. I put about have the sauce on the meat right away and left in in the oven as I served the first course. Then when I served, the sauce had thickened and I placed more on each.

My daughter ate TWO.

For dessert, we had some pumpkin roll. I didn't make that, Gayle brought it for my birthday. Her friend makes it.

Our Six (plus?) Course Meal

I don't buy much meat, but I probably spend the meat portion of my budget on fancy cheese. It was very hot today (again) so, inspired by last night, I opted for a "fancy dinner" presented in my own special way (with a tad of French influence.) Each course was served on its own, with the next not even being prepared until after everyone finished. We got through everything in about ninety minutes (compared to our typical 15-20) and our daughter did well, both in what she ate and how she stayed at the table. And I skipped the entrée. The whole point was to avoid turning on the oven.

1. apéritif: for the adults: Vouvray with raspberry lime seltzer (my attempt to stretch one glass of wine into enough for two and make it a tad more refreshing on a nasty hot day). For the daughter, I substituted white grape juice for wine.

2. fruit: watermelon, cubed and served in bowls

3. meat: (my American nature will show through on this one) turkey breast and lebanon bologna rolled and held together with a piece of uncooked spaghetti (I didn't have toothpicks.) I purchased $3 worth of meat at the deli counter and still have enough lebanon bologna leftover for lunch tomorrow.

4. salad: Dole Asian Island Crunch. Yeah, a bagged salad. On sale for $3.50, normally $4. Iceburg lettuce, carrots, snow peas, dried (and sugared) pineapple, crunchy Asian noodles, sliced almonds and ginger dressing. Served the three of us and still enough for a small salad or a wrap tomorrow.

5. cheese: the last homemade baguette from the freezer with nearly a half-pound block of Port Salute cheese (imported French, $8). Luckily, we loved it and we hardly put a dent in it so I will be enjoying it for several more meals. My daughter had at least three if not four slices of bread and cheese.

6. dessert: black raspberry ice cream with yesterday's fruit salad on top.

7. coffee: decaf with flavored non-dairy creamer

Mme.'s French Dinner

I had a special opportunity for dinner tonight. I ate at the home of one of my former French professors. She has an annual tradition of cooking for some of her students. A French meal, or at least a simple one with as many French touches as Americans can put together.
She invited me this year, because I came back to Moravian last semester and we've kept in touch. I made her a CD of some of my favorite French songs, brought her some black cherry French jam, and she asked me to bring a first course... noting that she would have meat, vegetables, bread, cheese, salad and dessert.
That, of course, leaves fruit or pâté. The earlier entries detail my adventure making my $40 fruit salad. Which was a hit. Mme. even asked me for the recipe.
I came to dinner early so I could help, and Mme. also had the help of her stepdaughter and her friend. Of course, as a mom and a frequent host myself, I tried to anticipate Mme.'s needs. When she prepared the next course, I cleared the table. I did dishes as needed (it's amazing how quickly you can run out of forks).
But Mme. did a fabulous job. I love big multi-course dinners. With the modest portion sizes, you eat slower and since you usually have to sit and talk while the next course is prepared... it keeps you from overeating. And it's such an experience, especially when you have a great group around the table. We had nine tonight.

The courses:
1. Fruit- My honeyed Vouvray fruit salad
2. Main Course- Pan Seared Steaks and potato/green beans au gratin
3. Salad- Green salad with vinaigrette dressing
4. Cheese and Bread- Brie, goat cheese, and some other yummy cheese with baguette
5. Dessert- Chocolate mousse cone and fruit tart from wegmans
6. Coffee- expresso

Fancy Dinner: Chicken Français

As I sit here typing, my house is filled with ricanant (giggling) as my husband gets my exhausted and overstuffed four-and-a-half year old to bed. We had "fancy dinner" tonight, as we call it.

I'm usually happiest on these nights. It means I'm putting an effort forth to do our favorite and our most elaborate foods. It means we're using the linens, the silver, the china... Even my pre-schooler gets a champagne flute, usually of apple juice but today we had Orangina.

I initially planned chicken for dinner, but I hadn't given much thought to exactly what recipe. I wanted chicken with grape nuts, but without the cereal I could not. I knew it would end up being chicken français or chicken with rosemary and pepper (both French style cuisine). Then I thought about adding a simple sautéed broccoli. And I noticed the Vouvray, all alone in my wine rack, the quality $10 a bottle Vouvray I can afford these days. If you're breaking out the table wine, might as well call an impromptu "fancy dinner."

And so it goes.

Now before you criticize my table setting, keep in mind, my kid did it. She set the table, selected the table cloth and even the napkins. We use cloth napkins every meal, so we've got quite the collection. The point of fancy dinner is to use the "good stuff" because my stepmother has instilled in me a sense of "what's-the-good-of-having-it-if-you're-not-going-to-use-it." That applies to everything except her living room rug. Family legend still tells of the day my husband spilled Coke on the sacred rug and my dad thought my stepmom would go get his gun(s).

Fancy dinner also reminds us all of our manners, makes us all slow down and enjoy the process of our food, and hopefully gives my daughter a sense of occasion, which should not be reserved for days labeled special.

I started this endeavor with about 1.25 pounds of chicken breast tenders, boneless and skinless. Yeah, I know that's not the cheap way to do it but meat is gross to me and the only way I can cook it is to pretend I'm a French chef.

Chicken Français from Cooks.com
1.5 pounds chicken;
2 eggs, lightly beaten;
3/4 cup flour;
salt and pepper;
2 TB oil;
2 TB butter plus TB more butter
Juice of one lemon

1. pound chicken cutlets until thin
2. dip in egg and dredge in flour, salt and pepper. (I skipped the egg and sprinkled fresh ground sea salt on one side, then ground peppercorn medley on the other, then dredged in flour.)
3. In large skillet, heat 2 TB butter and 2 TB oil. Cook chicken on both sides. Remove to platter and keep warm in oven.
4. Add TB butter and lemon juice to skillet. Combine and pour over chicken. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Now, I reserved some of the sauce. I tossed in about 1/2 a clove of sliced garlic, sautéed for a minute, and then added blanched broccoli. It tasted incredible.