Menu Plan Monday
Due to a late evening of fellowship with my wonderful parents, I was unable to post my menu plan until now! Thankfully, I had hastily drafted it out on some paper earlier yesterday, so I wasn’t “without a plan” for tonight’s dinner!
This week’s menu was created around the principle of “use what you have” which is still a significant amount of purslane, lettuce, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, cauliflauer, chicken, and eggs! I have been striving to eat fresh, local, and seasonally so “using what I have” is the only way I can be thrifty and resourceful!
I’m also excited for “Indian feast” on Tuesday night because we got several potatoes from our CSA (even though I suspect potatoes might not agree with me) and I need to use them. I love indian food!
Monday:
To do: Debone roasted chicken, make stock
Breakfast:
Scrambled Eggs w/ Basil Pesto & Cantaloupe
Lunch:
Veggie Salad topped with l/o roasted chicken
Dinner:
Green beans w/ shallots and mint
Zucchini, Sweet Corn, & Bacon Saute
Tuesday:
To do: Defrost rice, breakfast sausages, bake muffins, soak almonds
Breakfast:
Power smoothies & Breakfast Sausages, Cantaloupe
Lunch:
Blueberry Coconut muffins , Cucumber/Purslane/Mint salad
Dill-Cream cheese and Salmon
Watermelon
Dinner:
“Indian Feast”
Aloo Muttar (Potatos and peas)
Chicken Curry
Rice
Dessert: Something w/ Rhubarb!
Wednesday:
To do: Defrost fish stock, go to farmer’s market, dehydrate almonds
Breakfast:
Soaked Granola w/ berries
Chicken & Creme Fraiche for Jonathan
Lunch:
Veggie Quesadillas
Dinner:
Kale & Seaweed Saute, Miso Soup, Ginger Carrots
Thursday:
To do: Start Sunflower sprouts
Breakfast:
Eggs w/ Fresh Dill (& Feta ?)
Watermelon
Lunch:
“Peasant Lunch” (crispy nuts, raw cheese, lacto-fermented pickles)
Dinner:
Zucchini Quiche w/ Teff flour crust
Salad
Friday:
To do: Soak Lentils in morning
Breakfast:
Soaked Granola w/ fresh berries
Turkey Sausages for Jonathan
Lunch:
Leftover curry
Dinner:
High Enzyme Salad, Lentil Soup
Saturday:
To do: Thaw chili
Breakfast:
Eggs, Fruit
Lunch:
Leftovers
Dinner:
Healthy Chili Cheese Nachos (post forthcoming)
Sunday:
Brunch:
Leftovers, hot dogs
Dinner:
Rice/Amaranth Waffles
For more menus to inspire you, visit The Organizing Junkie!
Bieler Broth: A simple detox remedy
“Dr. Henry Bieler, the author of Food Is Your Best Medicine, in over 50 years of
practice proved that high levels of toxicity in the body was very often the root
cause of most common diseases and ailments. This includes conditions such as the
common cold, flus, hayfever allergies, asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome,
fibromyalgia, food allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, digestive disorders,
skin conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headaches and others.
fibromyalgia diet, constipation diet, diarrhea diet, adrenal
fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, diet, irritable bowel syndrome…”
4 med. squash (zukes, yellow or summer)
1 lb. string beans, ends removed
2 sticks celery
2 bunches parsley, stems removed
fresh herbs, such as thyme or tarragon, tied together with a string. (optional)
fresh whey, not powdered!! (optional)
“Henry Bieler recommended this broth for fasting, for energy, and overall health. He felt that this combination of vegetables was ideal for restoring acid-alkaline and sodium-potassium balance to organs and glands, especially the adrenal glands. Bieler brother is highly recommended for those under stress or suffering from stress-related conditions.
Place water, vegetables, and optional herbs in pot. Bring to a boil, skim, lower heat and simmer, covered for about 1/2 hour. Remove herbs. Eat as is or blend.
Thrifty Oreganic Thursday: Homemade cleaning part I
Everywhere we turn, it seems like we hear about going “green” or being sustainable. I very much agree with these notions, however I roll my eyes a little bit when businesses boast all of their “greenness” just to make a few extra dollars. And extra dollars you will pay, because if it’s “all natural” and free of all the “bad stuff”, it’s sure to cost you more!
Recently I had the epiphany that “less” shouldn’t always cost more; especially where cleaning products are concerned. Even though I love products such as 7th Generation and the like, I’m learning that it’s not too difficult to make one’s own cleaning products.
I will save all the details for a future post (as I’m learning more, I’ll share!) but I will offer a few useful ways to use items you probably have around the house in ways that you may not have thought of:
Cleaning
As the box says, there are lots of ways to use baking soda to clean. I like to mix a few drops of tea tree oil with a cup or two of baking soda to scauer the sink or bathtub.
Hydrogen Peroxide is an excellent disinfectant for countertops, shower curtains, cutting boards and toilet seats. Hydrogen Peroxide does not contain harmful toxins that other disinfectants have, which makes it safer to have around kids (although don’t drink it!) Do a 50/50 mix in a spray bottle and have it handy under your bathroom and kitchen sinks.
Corn Starch, according the the _Encyclopedia of Country Living_ can be used as an “extra-fine polish that imparts a sheen to glass and other surfaces”.
Vinegar (white) can be mixed with warm water to remove mildew in the shower or tub (2T vinegar to 1 quart of warm water).
Old Tee-Shirts and/or flannel receiving blankets ( www.freecycle.org) can be cut into cloths perfect for cleaning. (This one’s rather obvious)
Lemons smell wonderful and contain citric acid, which is known to oxidize. It can be rubbed on a wood cutting board to clean and disinfect.
To clean a toilet, lower the water level in the bowl. Sprinkle baking soda around the inside of the bowl. Pour in enough vinegar to dampen the baking soda and scrub with your toilet brush to remove stains. If you wish, you can always add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
For more ideas, visit Metro’s sustainability webpage!
What are your thrifty household cleaning tips?
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays: Sneaky Liver Tips & Tricks
Growing up, I used to hear adults sometimes say:
“What am I? Chopped Liver?”
I never understood the reference, but when someone says that, they usually mean “what am I? Nothing special? Not a standout? A wallflower?”
As I was planning for tonight’s meal, I noticed that I needed to defrost some liver to chop and blend into the ground beef for tonight’s sloppy joes. The whole point of doing this is to add more nutrition and all the benefits of liver without compromising the taste for picky eaters!
Then, it hit me! I get it now! Chopped liver! It’s not supposed to be a standout! It’s supposed to be a “wallflower” of sorts! Now the reference totally makes sense!
Kitchen Tip Tuesday: Easy Sneaking Liver Tips
I buy whole beef livers farm direct, and they come frozen and they’re just large. I never use a whole liver in one meal, so I thaw the liver partially and cut into ice-cube sized chunks, so they are roughly 2 oz each. I refreeze these chunks on a tray, and then transfer them to a freezer bag so that they are always accessible. That way, if I need to thaw 1/4 cup of liver, I’ll just take out two cubes and thaw them so that they can become chopped liver!
Here are some other ways to use your frozen liver chunks:
- Blend 1 cube into your morning smoothie (make sure your beef liver is from a clean, reputable farmer, and that it’s been frozen for 14 days or more). I promise you won’t taste it, and you’ll get the benefits of raw liver!
- Cut the raw liver into pea sized chunks and swallow them whole, like pills. Chase down with your favorite juice or kombucha.
- Grate frozen liver onto scrambled or fried eggs (this is especially good for toddlers!)
- Conveniently pop 1 in the blender for every cup of chicken broth you use to enhance the nutritional value of blended soups.
- Make liver rice.
So, why in the world would you want to eat raw liver?
Mainly because raw liver contains all of the nutrients that are lost during exposure to high heat, particularly heat-sensitive B12. B12 is so important for overall health, both physical and mental. It’s known as the anti-depressant vitamin. It’s only available in raw animal foods, such as dairy and meat.
Other benefits liver:
- An excellent source of high-quality protein
- Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
- All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
- One of our best sources of folic acid
- A highly usable form of iron
- Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
- An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
- CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
- A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA.
I highly recommend trying some of these sneaky liver tips, especially if you are pregnant or nursing. Liver is great, but because it’s so nutrient dense, you need only eat it about once a week.
For other Kitchen Tips, visit Tammy’s Recipes!
It’s Menu-Time Again! Week of July 20
This weeks post could have been cleverly titled “Weed: It’s what’s for dinner”, but I thought that might turn some people away! But the reason that slightly edgy title spewed forth out of my creative mind was because a weed, purslane to be exact, is the theme for the week.
Purslane is a common weed that happens to be edible. I am very interested in edible weeds. They make me very excited because what could be more thrifty, organic, local, and sustainable than weeds??!!!
Unfortunately, I was not the forager, unless you consider my finding the second to last bunch of this curious weed at Gathering Together Farm’s market stand a forage….but for $2.50 a bunch (and let me tell you, it was a BIG bunch!) I think this was a Thrifty Oreganic find!!!!
So when I arrived home, I endeavored to research and create a menu that incorporated purslane. What is purslane? A whole post could be written about this weed, but I’ll direct you here to learn more. And I must add thanks to Cheeseslave for inspiring me to try this weed!
Ok, so on to this week’s menu, in the spirit of “use what you have”:
To do: Defrost skirt steak, marinate in morning, start lentil sprouts, make coconut candy
Monday: B: fried eggs with cortido
L: chicken & veggie quesadillas with purple cauliflower & purslane
D: oriental red meat salad and dessert: rhubarb crisp
To do: Defrost ground beef, defrost beef liver
Tuesday: B: blackberry smoothies w/ hidden “surprises” and quinoa porridge
L: chicken sausages, carrot sticks, and purslane cucumber salad
D: Kerry Ann’s sloppy joes with brown rice (make a double batch for Friday)
To do: Start sunflower sprouts, roast chicken in crock pot, soak navy beans
Wednesday: B: meusli & berries, chicken for Jonathan
L: l/o sloppy joes, veggies
D: High Enzyme Salad and Minestrone Purslane Soup
To do: Soak oats for another batch of granola, go to Wednesday Farmer’s Market
Thursday: B: Scrambled eggs w/purslane and cortido and fresh tomato
L: Chicken purslane pasta toss (inspired by link)
D: KerryAnn’s BBQ meatballs w/ pattypan squash
Friday: B: soaked granola & berries, salmon & creme fraiche for Jonathan
L: leftovers, salad
D: Spinach-Lentils-Rice w/ Purslane instead of Spinach
Saturday: B: millet-rice waffles (this is a new link to an easier version of the recipe)
L: leftovers
D: US Wellness Hot Dogs, veggies, raw sauerkraut, salad
Go to the farmer’s market, begin planning next week’s meals!
Sunday: L: leftovers
D: green popcorn, chicken fingers, cheese, and fruit
Thrifty Oreganic Thursday
Well, technically it’s still Thursday! I am going to start a weekly feature with the aforementioned title, and it’s simply a snippit in keeping with the priciples of this blog. I will share something Thrifty that I think might be helpful to others striving to live in this ever-more-expensive world.
I try to eliminate the “middle-man” as much as possible; I find that is saves the most money. Whether that’s buying farm-direct, or through buying clubs (watch for more on these on future Thursdays), I find it’s not as complicated as one might think, and it saves bundles.
Another way I’ve saved money on the summer’s bounty of produce is to find “U-Pick” farms. Even though I love to go the the farmer’s market, there is often a bit of a mark-up there to cover the cost of transport, set-up, and operation. For instance, I used to work at a farmer’s market and we had to be there at 6 am, and the farmers were there even earlier! All that is to say that going directly to the farm often affords much savings. Many farms have “farm stores” or stands at which they sell their bounty, and those are almost always cheaper than farmer’s market prices.
I have found that the BEST deal, however, is U-Pick farms. Most U-pick farms that I know of feature berries and tree fruit, but there are those out there that offer the full spectrum of summer produce available for picking. And if your favorite farmer’s market farm doesn’t advertise U-Pick, you might try asking about it anyway. If you are the picker, that’s one less person they need to pay for labor! If it’s fresh milk or eggs you’re after, why not offer to barter work for food? It’s worth a try, anyway! I know some farmers pay their workers partially in food to ensure that they are getting healhty nutrition.
Anyway, in this spirit, I found a very helpful website called Pick Your Own. It’s a very helpful resource (and a dot org) that lists U-Pick farms by state. I was surprised to find many farms right in my backyard that I was not familiar with! I found a place right around the corner practically that sells pastured eggs (and delivers them!) for cheaper than I was paying! It even lists the farms by county, so you can really hone in on the local farm scene near you.
Read about The Foodbank Farm that’s doing great things for the hungry, and that offers a U-Pick CSA. I don’t doubt that there are others around the country with similar programs.
Not only is U-pick more affordable, it’s totally a fun family activity. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, and I “drag” them out about once a week for picking and they love it! It’s amazing how much you can get in just an hour’s time. I have done mostly different types of berries in hopes that I’ll have a nice freezer stash for smoothies. It’s an incredible savings, considering what a flat of berries will cost you at the store or farmer’s market.
Have fun visiting the Pick Your Own website. It’s packed with info. But don’t delay! Fruit/veggies don’t last forever (like they do at the grocery store) so you need to get those blueberries while they’re here!
Beef Tallow: How To, Uses, and Where to Buy
Rendered Beef Tallow
This one’s for my mama: Peanut Sauce
Recently, my dear mother and I had the priviledge of attending one of the open-air concerts at our local zoo. We brought the kiddos and I had to pack a quick dinner that was tasty and transportable. The result? Thai lettuce wraps with a peanut sauce dip.
I basically made indian liver rice but cooked it in 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup water with a TBS of Thai Red Curry paste and threw in some sauteed frozen scallops at the end. I wrapped this in fresh romaine and served it with this peanut sauce from _Nourishing Traditions_ and garnished with cilantro and chopped scallions.
My dear mother loved this and has been asking me to post the peanut sauce. Here’s hoping you’ll like it too!
Peanut Sauce (adapted from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon)
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
1 T extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup natural peanut butter OR freshly ground roasted peanuts (I used the former)
1/2 cup minus 2 T of soy sauce or tamari
3 T rice vinegar
1/2 to 1 cup whole coconut milk or warm chicken stock (I think I used coconut milk!)
Place ginger, garlic, and cilantro in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add all remaining ingredients except stock/coconut milk, and pulse until well blended and transfer to a saucepan. Gradually mix in stock or coconut milk, whisking thoroughly.
This could also be thinned by more water or stock and made into a peanut soup!
Enjoy!
This is fast becoming our Sunday night “supper of choice”. My critical taste testing panel included one picky 3 year old and a somewhat finicky 18 year old. Both were licking the bowl when finished and asking for more! This is sure to please!
Sally Fallon writes “Popcorn is a nutritious snack enjoyed by young and old; but remember that it is prepared without the all important soaking or fermenting process, so don’t overdo!”
Here’s my “updated” version. Combined with the good fats in coconut oil and grass-fed butter, popcorn (rich in fiber) is enhanced by parmesan cheese, spirulina, and vegetable broth powder (such as Herbamare).
Green Popcorn
Makes 8 cups
1/4 cup popcorn
2 T coconut oil
sea salt to taste
1 Tbs Herbamare or Gaylord Hauser Vegetable Broth*
1 tsp spirulina
2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan (or other favorite cheese)
2-4 Tbs melted kerrygold butter to taste!
1) Melt coconut oil in large, heavy saucepan with tightly-fitting lid (or popcorn maker).
2) Add corn and cover tightly, cooking over medium heat, and shake constantly until popping starts.
3) Lower heat slightly and cook, shaking, until popping dies away.
4) Pour popcorn in large bowl. Add sea salt, herbamare, spirulina, nutritional yeast, cheese, and melted butter.
5) Mix well and enjoy!
We usually serve this for Sunday dinner with slices of cheddar and apples or other seasonal fruit! This also makes a great homemade snack; perfect for taking to the zoo or other places where overpriced junk food abounds!
*Note: Hauser’s vegetable broth contains soy flour, which should be used sparingly due to concerns over soybean over consumption.
Have I mentioned that I LOVE the book _Nourishing Traditions_?
In a fascinating post by Ann Marie, one of her readers, “Craig” makes a very astute and somewhat disturbing comment that really brought it home for me:
“Our politicians fake their sympathy for the cost of health care, “food” and
the price of gas, yet over 70% of all the costs of health care are related to
industrial food sources, regulations and restrictions have forced local farmers
out of business and dried up support for them in favor of industrial
agricultural companies (same ones mentioned above, who now have the power and
money to lobby for anything that they want), and 50% of the gasoline
used in this country is used for fertilizing, growing and transporting
industrial food (what’s wrong with locally grown food?).
Wow! That last point is particulary disturbing for me. It makes me realize that striving to purchase local, organic food isn’t some elitist, food snobby thing to do. It seems like the most socially responsible way to vote with our dollars and begin a grass-roots revolution that will truly begin to solve our nation’s health care crisis and our world’s energy crisis. Just think! I could go on and on, but I will save that for another rant!!!
