Menu for the week - Part I

Since our CSA Produce share arrives on Tuesdays, I have learned not to meal plan past that day or else it all has to be re-written anyways....So, here's Part I of the menu for the week

Sunday: Leftovers (pizza from the party, veggies with hummus, squash saute and salad)

Monday: Scrambled eggs with grilled salmon, onions and peppers, fried potatoes from CSA, toast

Tuesday: Rataouille (or something similar) with eggplant, tomatoes, green pepper and onions - probably served with brown rice



Rest of the week - TBA!

Baby's Second Birthday!!!

We just finished up our Glamour Dog themed birthday party for my 2 year old (she chose the theme all by her "own self" as she says....) I tried to be as good as I could with the party fare, but having just come back from a week long vacation and having multiple family members still staying with us, it was hard to do! Here's what we had:

Take and bake pizzas (clearly not local or organic)
Strawberry lemonade (organic lemons, fresh strawberries pureed)
Water (from the tap)
Veggie tray (with all veggies from the Farmer's Market yesterday)
Homemade hummus
Cantaloupe and Blueberries (also from the Market)

Superbly delicious cake (from a friend who has an awesome local baking business....check out http://www.bittersweetbaking.com/ for more info!) it was triple chocolate with a strawberry cream filling and it also used local strawberries.

I'm not counting these in the "budgeting" cost as the cake alone would put me over, but.....hey, it's not everyday your baby turns TWO!

Food on a Budget Challenge

I was invited by the local Green Salem group to participate in a challenge of sorts...

Here are my self-imposed and self-developed rules (warning: I have always liked to change the rules as I go though.....):

$60 a week budget for the household ($15 per person for a household of 4- 2 adults and 2 kiddos)
On hand supplies do not count (all those frozen and pantry items will come in handy!)
Big long-term purchases do not count (as in the 1/2 a pig I have ordered for Sept/Oct....and I don't have the time or desire to figure out per piece cost, etc)
Buy local (first choice) organic ingredients whenever possible
Buy whole foods - not processed junk

So......that being said, it's hard to start this right now as we have been vacationing at a beach home for the past week and currently have 5 extra bodies to feed staying in our house. We went to the Farmer's Market today and stocked up on lots of fresh produce (peaches, blueberries, eggplant, green beans, tomato, cantaloupe, green pepper, cauliflower, and more that I am forgetting....) We're having a 2 year old birthday bash for my youngest tomorrow so have to feed 25 bodies lunch that day. I think we'll be starting the official challenge later this week!

Tonight we had some yummy salmon filets, sauteed zuchinni squashes with onion and garlic (from the meager garden we have), tomatoes, green salad and some delicious olive bread from (my personal favorite) Cascade Baking Company. You can never go wrong there!

Challenge Continues....

Last night was a bit of a success.....I made some Mexican "Pizzas" which consisted of a corn tortilla topped with a homemade black bean dip, shredded cabbage, chopped tomatoes and some cheese. The kids had burritos with the same shells, beans and cheese. (Oh, and they ate leftover Chuck E Cheese pizza.....hee hee)

Preserving up a STORM!

I wanted to inventory the canned goods that I have made thus far so I can see how many I use up before next year (basically so I can keep track of what I needed more of/less of/etc.) Here's what I have got so far (in cans, this doesn't account for the frozen goodies.....I'll get to posting about those later!)

7 Jars Blackberry Sauce
6 Raspberry Jam
3 Whole Blueberries
1 Gooseberry Jam
1 Currant Jam
7 Strawberry Syrup
6 Strawberry Jam
8 Apricot Halves in Light Vanilla Bean Syrup
2 Apple Slices in Light Vanilla Bean Syrup

Challenge Day 3

Well, I am going out to dinner AGAIN tonight without the kids (this is a rarity, believe me!) But for lunch we were at the local art fair and B1 and I split a bean burrito from the Oregon Peaceworks booth that was quite tasty. B2 decided she didn't like the whole wheat tortilla and "spicey" beans so she ate off of the pistachio nuts, blueberries and Pirate's Booty that I packed for snacks.

Dinner will, once again, be from the leftovers in the fridge, so no rating again tonight.

Boy, I am getting off to a great start, huh?

Challenge Day 2

So......I went out tonight : ) to Mexican food with friends, leaving husband with children and thus absolving self of all responsibility feeding them! I did make them nice plates of grilled chicken breasts, whole wheat spaghetti with butter and steamed cauliflower. I don't know that they ate much of it though -- especially since I discovered a newly made (but not eaten) bowl of mac-n-cheese in the fridge when I got home.

As I wasn't home, there is no rating for today!