Roasting Coffee....the EASY way!

After month's of roasting my own coffee in the oven and creating a plume of smoke (that, for some reason didn't set off the smoke detectors.....which means we need to check their batteries) and a strong aroma in the house that lasted for hours, we decided to upgrade to a coffee roaster. After MUCH online comparisons and reviews I settled on the i-Roast2 as it seemed to meet all our needs and was in our garage sale money budget. I just finished my first batch and it is so glisteny and smells great. I have to wait until tomorrow to try it out!

Day #1 of My Challenge

Day # 1

Dinner Meal: Scrambled Eggs with cheese (Mommy/Daddy version also had bell peppers, greens and onions), Milton’s Whole grain English muffins or toast, Morningstar sausage patties, yellow cauliflower that B1 picked out at the Farmer’s Market this morning.

Mommy rating: Breakfasts are usually a hit with the kids, so I thought I started out easy. However, I had a moment of inspiration when I was cooking the kids’ eggs and I added some sautéed beet and radish greens to theirs. This was a mistake as B2 picked them all out and I had to feed B1’s to her so she didn’t see the “green stuff”……arrgghhh! So much for trying to be healthy!

Kid review (from eldest child (B1)): “I loved it. I didn’t like the green stuff. I would like to have it again without the green stuff. And my sister didn’t like the green stuff either. She said “Blech stuff” and spit it out!”

Locavore rating: 2/5 ingredients were local: eggs, cheese and veggies in scramble. English Muffins and Sausage patties were not local.

New focus on life (perhaps)

Okay, meal planning is a bit of a passion (read obsession) of mine. BUT after a horrible day yesterday and the kiddos not eating ANYTHING that I made I was more than a bit frustrated. I have been trying really hard to eat locally, enjoy whole foods instead of food products and processed items and preserve food for the fall/winter when we don't have access to luxuries such as fresh berries. However, making 3-4 meals at each meal time to appease everyone is NOT working for me. So......here is new focus on my meal planning/life in general. One word:
S-I-M-P-L-I-F-Y. It is my newfound goal in life to make a dinner meal that everyone will eat (at least part of). I realize that I might have to sacrifice some of my previous food goals to achieve this nirvana, but I am hoping to make a slow transition to the healthy locavore-themed lifestyle I would like to live while also cooking meals that we will all eat.

So, without further ado.....here is the menu for the next few days:

Today (Wed): Scrambled eggs with Tillamook cheese (adult variety with spinach, green peppers,
onions - all from our CSA produce share)
Morningstar sausage patties (from freezer Costco stash)
Milton's English Muffins (also from freezer Costco stash, although I think these are
the last ones!)
Thursday: I am going out to eat for the night with some girlfriends so the husband and kids will be on their own with whatever is in the fridge/freezer

Review of previous weeks' menu

Falafels were delicious as usual and KAF WW Pitas were great with it. Froze really well to take dough out and cook.

Enchiladas with a green sauce were really good. Have another can of sauce, so will remake and freeze for an easy meal (had made with leftovers from a rotisserie chicken)

Whole Wheat Penne with Toasted Almonds, Chard and Raisins - definite repeater! So easy and so good. Served with roasted asparagus and it did need a side veggie to be really filling.

Turkey Burgers with Avacado Slices and all the Fixins' -- my FAVORITE for the week....Costco turkey patties ROCK!

Chard and Potato Red Curry....uh, no!

Menu Week of June 2- June 8

Monday
Falafels (leftover pitas)
Grilled Zuchinni
Spinach

Tuesday
T: Enchiladas from Freezer
Leftover beans/rice
J: out Kwan’s

Wednesday
Chard Dish – Blackeyed Peas, Sausage, etc.

Thursday
Whole Wheat Penne with Toasted Almonds, Chard and Raisins

Friday
Turkey Burgers with Avacado Slices and all the Fixins'
Oven Roasted Beets, Carrots and Potatoes
Green Salad

Saturday
Chard and Potato Red Curry

Sunday – Gomsruds
Chicken Parmesan
Green Veggie
Spinach-Artichoke Dip with Olive Bread
Smoked Salmon
Salad
Deesert – ice cream pie with choc crust (vanilla with oreos layer and choc layer with fudge between)

Sunday and Tuesday did not fare so well for my attempts at buying locally and eating well. Stops at Costco and Target netted much mass produced, large quantities of non-local, non-organic, non-sustainable items. I will slap myself on the wrist and try harder!!!

Tomorrow (Wed) looks more promising as there is a Farmer's Market downtown so I plan to stock the fridge so I am not tempted to big-box shop for a week (we'll see about that!) I also have a loaf of locally made bread on the "to buy" list this week so we can make some tasty BLTS. Mmmmm, mmmmm.......

My new challenge....

Okay, for some time now I have been trying to buy more locally, make more myself and make our household in general more sustainable and earth-friendly, but specifically in the kitchen (although I did throw out all cleaners in exchange for some good ole baking soda and vinegar!). Anyway, I just began Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" Book and took a Green Cuisine Class recently, so am feeling really stoked for this! With the first week of our Farmer's Market beginning this week I am energized!!

Here's what today looked like:

Farmer's Market trip this morning garnered -
Strawberries
Asparagus
Rhubarb (which I already sliced and froze)
Lettuce Mix (which we had at lunch and will again for dinner)
Cauliflower

Roth's Trip (local grocery)-
Jalepeno
Bananas
Watermelon (kids)
Turkey meat (for kidlet)
Blue Cheese (for salad tonight)
Milk and buttermilk (which I made some cheese with today)
Cheesecloth (see above)
Local yogurts
Bob's Red Mill Barley Flour (to make homemade graham crackers)

In addition to the cheesemaking escapades of today (I made a fresh cheese and a ricotta....which are currently hanging in the kitchen) I also made a loaf of flaxseed bread. Can't wait to try it all!!!

And for dinner.....drumroll please......
Roasted Asparagus from the Farmer's Market
Salad (lettuce from Farmer's Market, pears (grocery), blue cheese and local hazelnuts)
Pork Chop (from a local farm) marinated and pan fried