A giveaway for the preK to 1st grade crew

I just wanted to share a giveaway hosted by one of my homeschool bloggy friends. It's a fantastic set of resources for the K-1st grade crowd. She came up with a very creative way to use pocket binders. Check it out!

This is to enter the giveaway –

http://roomforatleastonemore.com/2012/09/30/giveaway-time/

and this link http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ldimom takes you to her store where you can buy it or preview the pages.

Self Rotating Can Rack, Food storage ideas

Warm Months Menu

I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but right now we've been (not) enjoying temperatures above 100 degrees EVERY DAY.  Most of the time it's 105 or higher with the heat index taking it up another few notches.  It's hot.  Crazy hot.  So hot I miss the Texas heat.

And because it's hot I'm trying to avoid turning on my oven.  Ever.  Once it's on my kitchen feels like a, well, oven, and I'm miserable.  So, I've come up with a Warm Months Menu.  One that we will use while the weather is hot.  It tries to incorporate recipes that don't require the oven and instead relies on the crockpot, stove top (quickly) and/or lots of fresh fruits and veggies.  Basically we'll use this for 5 to 6 months out of the year and then we'll switch to our Cold Months Menu (yet to be written).  By switching only twice a year, I'll be able to stock up on those items I truly need.  I can also do one big grocery shop for all the canned/frozen goods for the month.  Or for 6 months!  I'll only need to make quick trips for produce now and then.  Yippee!

We're trying to cut down on our meat consumption so we've scheduled it twice a week, for a total of 10 meals in the month.  Most of the recipes I have listed, we've already tried and liked.  Some are new and will (hopefully) become a part of our regular rotation or they'll get booted and I'll try again next month. For some meals I have multiple recipes - like 4 recipes for black bean burgers.  We'll try the first one and if we like it we'll stop there.  If it's blah, we'll try a new one the next month until we find one we like.  I'll try to post the new recipes we like so this index stays current with the actual recipes we're using.

I'm working on a master shopping list as well.  I'll post that when it's done.  It will mostly contain the canned/frozen/meat items that can be stored longer term (freezer or pantry).  The produce will not be listed since it will depend on quality and season and which week we'll be eating that certain meal.

Pretty much every dinner meal we serve includes fruit and at least one veggie, usually 2.  I may or may not go back and add those in to each meal plan....I may just go by what's available at the store and (hopefully) my garden.

Meat recipes:
1.  Tacos - ground beef w/taco seasoning, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, sour cream, avocado or guacamole, salsa, sweet hot chili sauce

2.  Hamburgers (or other "fire" foods - we have a Friday Fire every week) - we will probably try various different kinds of burgers

3.  Cafe Rio Salad (made in crockpot and rice cooker)

4.  Pasta Salad - we'll vary what meats we put in as well as the sauce we use - Italian, mayo-based, chicken, pepperoni, etc.

5.  Make Your Own Rice Bowls (rice cooker and meats either in crockpot or stove top - can also make up a large batch of meats and freeze in meal-sized portions for later months, or freeze leftover meats from other meals)

6.  Enchiladas Verdes

7.  Banh Mi Vietnamese Sandwiches (we may vary this with other types of sandwiches)

8.  Pad Thai - I actually have several recipes for Pad Thai to try.  I'll post the one we like best once we find it!

9.  Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad (we may alternate other types of restaurant knock-off salads - Asian, Southwestern, Shrimp & Bacon, etc)

10.  Eat out or Birthday Dinner - we have 6 people in the family, on the non-birthday month we'll go out to eat, on a birthday month we'll have a special birthday dinner chosen by the birthday person

Vegetarian recipes:
1.  Fried rice (make rice in slow cooker then finish on stove top or try a crockpot version) - use whatever veggies available

2.  Lo Mein

3.  Bean Tostadas - same ingredients as tacos listed above, with possible additions of rice, corn, whole beans, can use refried pinto or black beans

4.  Falafal (stove top, crockpot or toaster oven) - I have a bazillion falafel recipes Pinned.  Will post our favorite when we've tried them all.

5.  Make Your Own Salad with corn on cob or other "big veggie"

6.  Baked potatoes (in crockpot), salad

7.  Black Beans and Quinoa

8.  Breakfast (pancakes/waffles/french toast/toast w/eggs, smoothie, fruit, etc)

9.  Quinoa burgers - Again, I have a ton of recipes Pinned.

10.  Quinoa salad w/black beans, avocado and cumin-lime dressing

11.  Peanut Butter Noodles

12.   Out Chinese Spring Roll salad

13.  Navajo Tacos - I'll try to get this recipe posted soon.

14.  Smoothie with fruit to eat on the side, raw veggies and non-baked treat like homemade Lara Balls - we'll have this twice in a month

15.  Leftovers

16.  Black bean burgers (stove top or toaster oven) - several recipes to try

17.  Quesadillas, salsa, chips, Texas Caviar

18.  New recipe - two times a month, until we find our "keepers"

Breakfast Salad

I had the most delicious salad for lunch the other day.  And even though it's a "breakfast salad" I could happily eat it any time of day.

The recipe can be found here.  I think it would also be lovely to add some avocado, tomatoes, dried cranberries, and matchstick carrots.  Maybe even some kale.  I used mixed baby greens instead of spinach and really, any salad greens would work well.  You could skip the croutons (I did) and make it gluten-free and omit the bacon (but who'd want to?) to make it vegetarian.

So, so yummy.

Lomo Saltado

This is not a vegetarian recipe.  This is an authentic Peruvian recipe, made on Mother's Day by my adorable Peruvian sister-in-law with some help from me and our two husbands.

Start your rice.  It's made in a similar fashion to the Brazilian rice, only with 3 to 4 cloves of garlic and no onion.  She used a ratio of 1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups water....and we made it for 16 people so it was a HUGE pot.

Next, cut your beef into strips (think stir fry) and place in a bowl.  Add some chopped garlic, soy sauce and salt.  Stir it around until it's all mixed together and then, when nobody is looking, swipe your finger into the blood on the side of the bowl and taste if it's salty enough.  Or not.  You can be 'truly authentic' or not.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  We used almost 3 lbs of beef for 16 people, 7 of them being children so make your best guess on how much you'll need for the number of people you're feeding.

Start peeling potatoes like crazy.  Enlist the help of the whole family.  As you peel them, put them into a bowl of cold water so they don't get all brown and yucky looking.  When you have a few pounds peeled, slice them into french fry sizes and lay out on towels to dry just a tiny bit.  Heat some oil in a skillet then start the never-ending process of frying the potatoes.  Remove them to a pan/bowl/whatever with some paper towels to absorb some oil.  Salt.  We used almost 10 pounds and ended up hating potatoes by the end.  To make this for my family of 6 I'd probably used 2 to 3 pounds.

While you're frying the potatoes, start chopping some red or green peppers and slicing some onions and tomatoes.  You want the peppers in medium sized chunks, the onions in medium-ish slivers (cut from top to bottom, not across the middle) and the tomatoes in wedges (Romas work well for this).  Chop up a bunch of cilantro while you're at it.  You can also use zucchini cut into slices.

Fry the meat you had marinating in the fridge.  You may have to do this in batches in order to get it browned on the outside.  You want to sear the meat, not boil it.  Remove it to a bowl when done.

Once the potatoes are done, remove any extra oil, leaving a thin layer across the bottom.  Add the peppers and cook for a few minutes until medium soft.  Add the onions and stir them around for another 2 or 3 minutes.  You want them tender crisp, not soggy.  Add the tomatoes and cook for a minute or two.  Now dump the meat and fried potatoes into the skillet with the vegetables.  Throw the cilantro on top.  Make sure it's a big skillet.  Stir around and turn off the heat.

To serve, put some rice on your plate then top with the beef/potato/veggie mixture or lomo saltado as we call it.

Heave a big sigh that you're finally able to get out of the hot kitchen.....then enjoy some seriously delicious food.  Then go back for seconds.  And feel free to grab a bite of food from the skillet every time you walk through the kitchen.  Hug your sister-in-law and try to convince her to move to Nebraska.  Then snitch another bite from the skillet.

Menu for May - 5th to 12th

In trying to maintain our "meat twice a week" idea (now that we've reached the warmer months), this is the planned menu for the week:

Tacos - grass-fed ground beef with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, cucumbers, avocados, sauerkraut, salsa, and sweet hot chili sauce

Vegetable Lo Mein, fruit

Lasagna, lettuce salad, fruit

Main dish salad with roasted potatoes - we'll probably include the following in small bowls and each person can add what they want:  carrots, tomatoes, avocado, feta cheese, olives, sauerkraut, croutons, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, sweet peppers, craisins/raisins....there are TONS of options, these are just the ones we like

Bean tostadas - with the same toppings as the tacos above, fruit

Brazilian Black Beans and rice, lettuce salad, fruit

Indian-spiced Lentils (without the chicken), rice, naan or tortillas, raw carrots, fruit

Vegetarian Lo Mein

We made this for dinner yesterday and it was super yummy.

Add whatever veggies you want to a large skillet/pan and sauté until just barely cooked or soft, it depends on how you like them.

I used:
broccoli
shredded cabbage (a mixture of red and green)
onion (sliced thin)
matchstick carrots

other great ideas would be:
zucchini
mushrooms
snow peas
yellow squash
asparagus
greens - spinach, chard or kale
bell peppers
bean sprouts
garlic
green onions
Napa cabbage
Bok Choy

I cooked the onions until rather soft, then added the rest and cooked until a littler softer than crisp.  I used a combination of coconut oil and water to keep them from burning/sticking.

When they were done I added cooked, drained noodles to the pan (any kind will do....and for my family I used the full package).  To this I added half a bottle of Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce and stirred until heated through and the veggies were mixed in.

We had enough to feed everyone (with a few seconds) and two helpings of leftovers for lunch the next day.

This was super fast, super easy and very tasty.  Not to mention mostly healthy.