Menu Plan Monday is hosted by orgjunkie.com.
Last week I felt positively gross. I had just been to so many New Year's parties, and we'd had youth over from church all day, and I had consumed copious quantities of finger food--spring rolls, sausage rolls, etc. etc. All those hors d'ouevres that you serve at parties. I had practically lived on them for several days.
And boy did I feel ill. So I did something I thought I'd never do. I decided to just eat fruit & vegetables for a few days to try to bring my system back to normal. I'm not a health food addict. I don't go in for natural remedies (please no comments about how well they work! Trust me; I've heard it). But I do believe that there are times we need to be jolted, and I did feel better. Of course, I only lasted a weekend, but it was something.
When we were in Africa staying at an orphanage there, we hardly ate any meat at all. Everything was veggies and beans. But it tasted so good! Even my kids loved it (though I had lectured them back and forth and up and down on how they had to eat what was served them, even if they hated it, because we were in Africa for Pete's sake, and they better realize that people are starving, so my girls should be grateful for what they have!). Anyway, my daughters did great!
But the reason it tasted so good was that the food was literally picked and then put in the pot. Everything was so fresh.
We can't do that here. But we can imitate it as closely as possible. They just didn't use canned goods, and when I make my menus, I try to steer away from canned goods, too. At times I use a lot of cream of mushroom soup in the slow cooker, etc., but I'm slowly trying to replace that.
I find that fresh tomatoes are much nicer than canned ones. And the best liquid for almost any dish is just chicken stock. So I made a ton of turkey stock after Christmas with our turkey bones, and I'm all ready to go.
Last night my youngest daughter and I had our favourite meal. It was just the two of us, so we indulged in shrimp with angel hair pasta, fresh tomatoes, fresh green onions, garlic, lemon juice, and a bit of chicken stock. It was heavenly. Doesn't take very long, either.
I need to do more things like that, and fewer sausage rolls! And not just because I don't want any more rolls on my tummy. Mostly because I want to feel better!
So here's what I'm going to eat this week:
Monday: Crockpot Stew. I'm cooking a stew with carrots, potatoes, beef stock, an onion spice mix I have, and onions and garlic. I'll add peas at the end of the cooking time.
Tuesday: Baked Potatoes. The kids love them, and I have some green onions and salsa to use up! I put out butter, salt, cheese, bacon, green onions, salsa, and sour cream. I just use green onions, bacon, and salsa. The kids use practically everything. Add a salad and a glass of milk, and its a fairly balanced meal which is really quick to make!
Wednesday: Asian Chicken Drumsticks. I've got the recipe here, and we love it!
Thursday: Salmon. It's our weekly fish dish, which my family manages to eat. I have a white bean salsa I use with my own salmon. I used to marinate it in yummy soy sauce with honey, etc., but my oldest daughter doesn't like that. I think she was switched at birth. So now I just add my own salsa topping, and she eats hers plain.
But the white bean salsa is fresh, too! So that's all good. I don't think I'm using any canned goods this week, and it's my goal to try to minimize those in 2009!
Friday and Saturday we have something special going on, so that's my menu. What's yours?
Labels: cooking, Menu Plan Monday |
Stumble It!
great menu plan today! Have a blessed week, Annie