Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Weekly menu for 28 March 2009

Organized Junky Weekly Menu Plan Icon


This week is already off to a bad start. What I planned for Saturday I cancelled (as my plans were cancelled), so we had Monday's meal instead. Sunday got rained-out, so we're having that dinner on Monday night. Fortunately I have a few quick-meals in stock. Unfortunately, many of them are not that healthy. This week I'm trying to cook a bit more than I need to refill the freezer.


Saturday


Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, tomatoes, fruit, 2 pieces brown toast, peanut butter


Lunch: Chicken, mixed green salad with and italian dressing


Dinner: Steak sandwiches on ciabatta bread (with cheese & salad)




Sunday


Breakfast: 2 crepes, roasted ham, 1 egg


Lunch: Cold cuts sandwich on ciabata bread (with cheese, salad and olives)


Dinner: Hamburger helper with a mixed green salad and italian dressing


Monday


Breakfast: Cranberry granola with skim milk. 1/2 banana.


Lunch: Shrimp & mixed green salad with italian dressing. An apple and diet coke.


Dinner: BBQ Chicken with steamed vegetables


Snacks: 1 apple, sessame whole wheat crackers





Tuesday


Breakfast: McDonalds breakfast trio

Lunch: Beef Pho with egg noodles, diet coke


Dinner: BBQ pork chops with steamed vegetables


Snacks: 1 apple, 1 pear




Wednesday


Breakfast: Cranberry granola with skim milk. 1/2 banana. Tea.


Lunch: Chicken atop a crunchy salad with italian dressing, diet coke


Dinner: Chicken Quesidias


Snacks: yogurt & flax seed, cheese & crackers





Thursday


Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit and skim milk


Lunch: salmon furikake & crackers, pb & celery, diet coke.


Dinner: Spiced chicken with couscous & stirfry vegetables

Snacks: fruit, yogurt & flax seed




Friday


Breakfast: Cranberry granola with skim milk. 1/2 banana. Tea.


Lunch: Spiced chicken with couscous & stirfry vegetables, diet coke


Dinner: Out -- White chocolate peanut butter cups


Snacks: crackers & cheese, yogurt
& flax seed

Friday, March 20, 2009

Weekly menu for 2009-03-21

Weekly Bento planner


Source: Just Bento


This week I'm back to trying to count the calories; which means small lunches and as much protein (and as few carbs) as I can manage. My Bentos are exceedingly western in all ways except 2: the portions, and the colors. Each lunch has as many different colors (lots of greens, some yellows, a bit of red) as I can afford to shove together. I find the colors (along with anything crunchy) really helps keep my lunches interesting. The fun part will be trying to kick the soda-habit (again), reduce the amount of cafeein in my diet (again) and drink more water. Nothing revoluntionary here folks -- just simple rules to eating well.



Saturday
Breakfast: Toast & nut butter, skim milk, fruit
Lunch: Roast chicken, goat cheese, whole wheat bread
Snack: cheese crackers, fruit, yogurt, popcorn
Dinner: Lemony Lentil soup

Sunday
Breakfast: Pancakes, skim milk, fruit
Lunch: Rice paper spring rolls with hunan sauce (Healthy p57)
Snack: pain au chocolate, chocolate cookies, diced veggies
Dinner: Pasta Bolonaise with a mixed green salad and Italian dressing

Monday
Breakfast: 1 egg, 2 sausages, breakfast potatoes, tea
Lunch: Vegetable spring rolls with huanan sauce and shrimp
Snack yogurt, fruit, crackers & goat cheese
Dinner: BBQ Honey Garlic chicken breasts with steam vegetables

Tuesday
Breakfast: Kashi go lean, skim milk, fruit
Lunch: Vegetable spring rolls with fusion garlic sauce and shrimp
Snack: crudite & hummos, fruit, cottage cheese
Dinner: Chicken satay (GI p158) & green salad

Wednesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal & fruit, skim milk
Lunch: Walnut olive quesidillas (Healthy p45)
Snack: yogurt, fruit, crackers & goat cheese
Dinner: out

Thursday
Breakfast: Kashi go lean, skim milk, fruit
Lunch: Chicken curry with chickpeas and peas on rice
Snack: crackers & goat cheese, crudite & hummos, fruit
Dinner: Oatmeal buttermilk pancakes (GI p213) & breakfast sausages

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal & fruit, skim milk
Lunch: Polenta & bolonaise sauce, green salad & dressing
Snack: fruit, yogurt, shrimp & sauce
Dinner: Chicken schnitzel(GI p163) and buttered spatzle, steamed green beans

Cookbooks used


  • Healthy - Better Homes and Gardens diabetic living Healthy Snacks. 2007. ISSN 1550-2597. published by Meredith Corp, 1716 Locust Street, Des Moins LA 50309-3023.
  • GI - the g.i. diet cookbook by Rick Gallop. Copyright 2006. Green Light Foods. published by Random House Canada.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Weekly menu for 14 March 2009

Organized Junky Weekly Menu Plan Icon


Saturday


Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, tomatoes, fruit, 2 pieces brown toast, peanut butter


Lunch: Chicken, mixed green salad with feta and italian dressing


Dinner: Take-out sushi




Sunday


Breakfast: Kashi go lean cerial & skim milk, 1 small glass OJ


Lunch: 2 cajun chicken wraps with emmentaller, lettuce & tomato


Dinner: Cheese burgers with pickles, green salad with red wine vinagrette dressing


Monday


Breakfast: Kashi go lean cerial & skim milk, 1 small glass OJ


Lunch: Sweet and sour shrimp, vegetables and white rice


Dinner: Out


Snacks: black plum, 1 cajun chicken wrap with emmentaller





Tuesday


Breakfast: 2 breakfast burritos, 1 nectarine, 1 small glass OJ


Lunch: 2 cajun chicken wraps with lettuce & tomato, giant salad (with crab & feta), diet coke


Dinner: Steamed chicken with ginger and shallot sauce over spanish lentils


Snacks: Yogurt, Samosa (2)




Wednesday


Breakfast: Kashi go lean cerial & skim milk, 1 small glass OJ


Lunch: Crab hard-shell tacos with feta cheese, diet coke.


Dinner: Sessame beef, brown rice & mixed vegetables


Snacks: yogurt, granola bar,





Thursday


Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit and skim milk


Lunch: Crab hard-shell tacos with feta cheese, diet coke.


Dinner: BBQ steak, baked potatoes, steamed vegetables

Snacks: fruit, yogurt




Friday


Breakfast: Kashi go lean cerial with skim milk, 1 small glass OJ


Lunch: Chicken curry in a hurry with peas over brown rice, fruit, diet coke


Dinner: Out


Snacks: fruit, yogurt

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Homemade Pistashio ice cream

A Thrify Thursdays post that fails.

Pistashio ice cream is a rare treat for us. Me, because I'm diabetic and shouldn't eat such things, and him because it's really hard to find locally. I got a Kitchen Aide ice cream maker for Christmas and I've used it once before to make the triple chocolate ice cream from their recipe book. The results were great, but didn't taste as good as I thought they should. This time around, I was determined to try a straightforward and simple recipe.

The websearch for the recipe took some time. I finally settled on the Epicurious version (Originally published in Bon Appétit January 1999), because it had very few ingredients and seemed simple to make.

The Kitchen Aide ice cream maker resides in my freezer, so it was ready to be used.
I started by toasting some pistachios on the stovetop. It's a slow process. They went into a cold and un-buttered pan, and I turned the heat to high. As soon as the pan got hot, I cranked the temperature down to almost nil and gave the pan a good shake. To my surprise the nuts stayed in the pan. I shook the pan every few minutes that I stood at the stove.

I used a food processor to grind the pistachios down, but I goofed and used all the sugar. I took out 1 1/4 cups of the grind, and set the rest aside. The grind went into a pot with 2 cups of 15% cream. The first time I made ice cream I let it boil, and it was ruined (we had really good chocolate milk that night though). So this time I watched the milk carefully, standing over it and stirring it gently with a spatula.

When the first hint of bubbles began to form on the surface, I took it off the heat and added the vanilla. The original recipe calls for almond extract. I had some, but I have way more vanilla (and prefer its flavour in most things).

I divided 4 eggs from their yokes, and stored the egg whites separately (we eat them as egg extenders in the morning). The eggs seemed a bit small, so I divided a fifth one. Then I whisked the eggs with the amount of grind I previously set aside. It thickened really quickly. I added a splash of the cooling milk mixture, whisked again, then repeated the proceedure until all the milk was in the egg mixture.

Everything went back into the saucepan and back on the heat. Once again, I watched it, stiring gently. This time I waited until the liquid began to shimmer. I then dragged the back of the spoon across the top. When I held the spoon up vertically, the liquid clung to the back of the spoon. The sauce came off the heat and I poured it through a very fine sive into a metal mixing bowl.

The remaining grind looked too good to throw away, so after mashing it relentlessly agains the sive, I put it in a small bowl and set it aside.

I covered the metal bowl with saran wrap and put an elastic around its outter edge. The bowl then went out onto the back porch to cool (it was -14C outside). When I came back in I turned off the heat under the pistashios. They were darker than when I started, had almost no crunch left to them when eaten, and smelled amazing.

I set the timer for 2 hours, and went off to make dinner. (Chicken Curry in a Hurry by Cheap, Healthy, good).

After dinner (the timer had gone off a while back), I brought the bowl in and removed the cover. I added 1 cup of whipping cream and the toasted pistashios, and whisked the contents together. I forgot to chop the toasted pistashios, as the original recipe called for--but in the end it didn't really matter.

Everything was then poured into my ice cream maker, I set up the blade, and turned the device on for 20 minutes, and set the timer. When the timer went off, I turned off the device, removed the blade from the bowl, covered it with saran wrap and and put an elastic around its outter edge. It then went outside for the night.

In the morning, before going to work, we brough the ice cream maker bowl inside and put it in the freezer. Both of us were tempted, but we didn't try a taste or even peak under the well-frosted saran wrap.

After dinner (BBQ steak, baby potatoes, grilled asparagus & green beans--the temperature was -8 by the way), I took the ice cream out of the freezer and served us each a scoop or two. I then transferred the remaining ice cream into a smaller plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid.

The result was fantastic. Smooth, creamy and full of pistashio flavour.

The recipe says the ice cream can be made up to 3 days ahead, but I strongly doubt the resulting 3 cups of ice cream will last anywhere that long in my house.

Ingredients & Instructions:
1 cup pistachios, unsalted shelled
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1. Finely grind 1 cup pistachios and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor.
2 cups 15% cream
2. Bring milk and ground pistachio mixture to boil in heavy large saucepan. Remove from heat.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract3. Mix in vanilla extract.
4 large egg yolks4. Whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl.
5. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture.
6. Return custard to saucepan.
7. Cook over low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes (do not boil).
8. Strain into large bowl.
9. Chill until cold, about 2 hours.
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup pistachios, unsalted shelled, toasted
10. Stir 1 cup whipping cream and chopped pistachios into the custard.
11. Process mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
12. Transfer to container and freeze.


Price:
So, what was the result of this frugal experiment?
Pistachio's (shelled and unsalted)2 cups= $8.50 = $08.5000
15% cream
= $2.9900= $02.9900
whipping cream
= $4.29 (used half)= $01.4950
Eggs(12)= $1.89 (used 5)=$00.7875
Total cost:


= $13.7725

Considering that this process made only 0.70 liters of ice cream (3 cups); and the most expensive store-bought is about $9 for a similar amount--there really was no savings in making this at home. I don't really want to call this experiment a failure because it tasted so good; but it wasn't thrifty.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Eating down the Fridge

The Washinton Post's blog A Mighty Appetite with Kim O'Donnel has announced an interesting challenge. Eating Down The Fridge starts on March 9th. The goal: Eat from your staples and your pantry rather than running out and buying fresh.

This is a problem I've struggled with for quite some time. I hate throwing away food; but due to a lack of planning (or an inability to follow the plan once made) I often do throw out food. And I often have a pantry full of small bottles of strange sauces, odd mixes, and ingredients I never eat.

Civil Eats posted today about the challenge, and Jerusha Klemperer posted about her own struggles of the leftovers in her pantry that she's not sure how to cook, or once cooked even how to serve them.

I haven't decided yet if this challenge is for me. About once a month I try to eat from my pantry; and it usually reduces my grocery bill significantly. My tools for this sort of thing include the Food Blog Search Engine, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and a healty dose of imagination. Some weeks I do quite well, like at the end of January where I was able to use up the last cup of couscous and three kinds of rice, tinned shrimp, and a very old bag of frozen strawberries. I didn't quite finish the bag of frozen cranberries though, and I never got to the can of chickpeas or jar of artichoke hearts. And then there's that old bag of dried chickpeas.

Maybe I should take up the challenge again.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Menu for the week of 2009-02-28



Saturday
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, tomatoes, fruit, 2 pieces brown toast, peanut butter
Lunch: Salami, cheese curds, crudités
Dinner: Homemade sushi

Sunday
Breakfast: Fruit yogurt
Lunch: Salami, cheese curds, crudite
Dinner: Leftover everything soup & grilled monterey jack cheese sandwich

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Crab (3 legs), sesame tofu, broccoli, plum, diet coke
Dinner Chicken & black bean questioned with mixed green salad
Snacks Cottage cheese & a small apple, celery sticks &
peanut butter

Tuesday
Breakfast: Kashi cereal, fruit & skim milk
Lunch: Samosa (2), Lemon-pepper tuna on rice crackers, asparagus spears, plum, diet coke
Dinner: Chicken curry in a hurry over brown rice & steamed green beans
Snacks Crackers & cheese & salami, Green pepper sticks & hummus

Wednesday
Breakfast: Musli, yogurt, fruit
Lunch: Crab legs (3), Crackers & cheese & salami, broccoli, diet coke
Dinner: BBQ steak, steamed vegetables
Snacks: Yogurt & flax seed, celery sticks &
peanut butter

Thursday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit
Lunch: Samosa (2), Lemon-pepper tuna on rice crackers, asparagus spears, strawberries, diet coke
Dinner: Hungarian Goulash (Crock pot)
Snacks: green pepper sticks & hummus, taco chips & salsa

Friday
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, tomatoes & bacon
Lunch: Hungarian goulash & rice crackers, yogurt & flax seed, strawberries,
Dinner: Out
Snacks: Hummus & leftover veg, Sesame tofu