Making Do Without Missing A Thing--6 weekly meal plans in 6 posts--week 5

   I have a chuckle-kind-of story to share with you today. This morning was my twin daughters' WIC appointment in town, and since their 2nd birthday is only a few weeks away, this is the one where they get weighed, measured and the nurse asks about a million and a half questions about their eating, their development, their habits, etc.

   I normally don't go to these appointments because my husband has taken it on himself since they were very young to make it a "Daddy and Daughters" morning off for Mommy. Today though, with our oldest diligently doing her schoolwork at Grandma's, and it being a big occasion, I was graciously invited along for the visit.

image courtesy of work-girl.blogspot.com

   Now if you dont know anything about WIC it is a program that exists to train, encourage and provide healthy food choices and nutrition training for parents. If I remember my information right, everyone is eligible for it when their children are born, and since our daughters were adopted at around 4 months old, we had been offered it, and accepted. It has been one of those things that we have gone back and forth on participating in for the last two years of their life, for many reasons. We feel that we provide a healthy food life for our kids at home anyhow, even without the WIC food. We also have stopped getting so much of the food that is offered because I can make better and healthier alternatives at home (such as wheat tortillas, the girls only drink apple juice once a week let's say, etc). We go through a tremendous amount of milk around here though, and since WIC grants us 7 gallons of milk a month, we have kept on with it until we can find a way to barter for that or supply it from a local source (all things in good time, right?) More than anything else, though, we want to make sure that we are not taking a spot for someone else who might not be in the situation we are in, and therefore needs it more.
   ANYHOW, today when we got to the questions and answer section of the food part, the nurse started grilling me on why we did not use all our vouchers, what did we feed the twins, etc. I calmly listened to her explain how important good food is to health, and finally, told her exactly what and how I feed my family.
   I don't think she knew what to do with me. Instead of trying to explain to someone how to cook and then use dried beans, she is instead asking me what some of our favorite meals are. Personally, at first, I think she was grilling me to really see if we did it or not. When I told her that we did not fill all our vouches because we felt we could make better alternatives at home, it piqued her curiosity so much that she wanted to know how I made them, when I made them, and what meals we used it in. She had previously handed me two simple cookbooks on using basic foods, and laughingly said "I guess you dont really need those, do you?! Why dont you give me the address to your blog and I think I am going on there to check it out!" I walked out of the office grinning ear to ear because I am glad I was able to have that kind of discussion with someone who tries to encourage others to eat and live the way we already do. So dear nurse, if you are here, and you are reading this---Welcome to the Welcoming House, and I hope you walk away with some great stuff to share! :) :) (by the way, I read those cookbooks, and believe it or not, I DID find a couple recipes I didnt already have and will eventually be working into our meal planning!)

   OK, since a conversation with my dear brother a couple days or week ago, I have a confession to make. In writing this week's worth of posts, I want you to know that I pulled out six weekly meal plans out of my binder, not just used the six that are the only ones I have. I have ten meal plans I use during the winter, and normally around 6-8 for the summer depending on which meals strike my fancy and how busy I am with gardening and preserving. Using only six has made it possible for me to pull what I think is most appropriate for the mood of the post, and show you how wide is the variety of foods that you can make out of simple ingredients. The possibilities are so enormous that once you step outside of the comfort zone you have previously been in, you will begin finding ways to adapt recipes that catch your eye into fitting what is in your pantry. Another dear friend laughingly said to me this week: "OF COURSE  you have a recipe for that! You have a recipe for everything!". Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)
   As this is the last post for the week, I want you to know how much I have enjoyed this week and sharing with you how to pull it all together. Next week, starting with each post, I am going to expand just a little on each week that we have already passed, giving more recipes, tips, links, and ideas for each main theme. I hope you check back very very soon!
   A reader sent me a private message a couple days ago with the suggestion that I should put all of this into an e-book for those of you who would be interested, especially if it meant I would be adding more recipes to the different sections we have focused on. Is there any interest for something like that? I dont know much about it, but I am sure I could figure it out. Thanks for taking the time to respond at the bottom of the page.

Meal Plan #6
Monday:
   breakfast: potato pancakes with sausage gravy, and poached eggs
   lunch: Spaghetti with meatballs, snickerdoodles--scroll down to comments for the recipe added to master cookie mix
   snack: apples and Peanut butter,
   dinner: Cheesy Chicken Crepes
Tuesday
   breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (old fashioned oats cooked with dried apple bits and cinnamon)
   lunch: leftover crepes from yesterday, salad
   snack: ants on a log, snickerdoodles
   dinner: Taco Cornbread Skillet Bake
Wednesday
   breakfast: scrambled eggs with english muffins and cheese sauce
   lunch: pizza pockets
   snack: orange slices, smoothies and garlic parmesan popcorn
   dinner : Slow Cooker Calico Bean and Bacon meal
Thursday
   breakfast: Brown Sugar Pumpkin muffins
   lunch: baked potatoes with canned sloppy joe topping and sour cream
   snack: carrot sticks with ranch, muffins
   dinner: Chicken Pot Pie, fruit salad
Friday
   breakfast: strawberry scones with cream
   lunch: sandwich melts, carrot sticks
   snack: grapes and cheese slices, roasted chickpeas with lime juice and salt
   dinner: White Chicken Chili, bread sticks and salad
Saturday
   breakfast: oven baked french toast
   lunch : pigs in a blanket using WW dough
   snack: whatever fresh veggies I have on hand, and pear tart
   dinner: deep dish Chicago style pizza--YUM!
Sunday
   Breakfast: eggbake
   lunch: Cranberry Pork Roast with oven roasted Rosemary potatoes, glazed Ginger carrots, and black bottom cupcakes
   snack: any veggie or fruit or snack item still left in the house is up for grabs
   Dinner: leftovers or waffles

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cranberry-Pork-Tenderloin

   I can almost smell that roast cooking right now. Love love love cranberry pork roast. Makes for incredible sandwiches too the next day or for leftovers that night, just so you know. Please remember that large cuts of meat are rare around here, and I buy that knowing that a: I got it on a sale so paid much less than normal and b: we are going to get at least two meals out of it anyhow, so a big purchase can go a long way. There was a time where things were too tight for us to even purchase something like that more than once a month. A tip for you if you are there: make sure when you serve something like this you only bring part of it to the table, and you supply a large amount of other things on the table that people can fill up their plates with. I am talking veggies, fruit salad, rolls, pickles, etc. If you have only carrots in the house, then cut some up and make some carrot sticks and stick them on the table. If you only have cans of green beans in the house, drain 'em, pop them in a brownie size baking pan, make some cream soup, and top it with bread crumbs. If you have one banana and leftover fruit from other things, then for Pete's sake, make up some smoothies and make everyone feel special at the table with a small serving of smoothie instead of milk or water. It doesn't take much to feed a lot of people, it takes creativity to use what you have and not let it go to waste. :)
   I hope that you have really enjoyed this week. It has been so much fun for me to write this down and show you what can be done with a little nudge in the right direction. I am looking forward to next week and wrapping up this series, not because I am tired of doing it, but because I know what I want to do next, and my mind is already spinning around on it. I hope you are doing as some other readers are: making up binders with their favorite meal plans, the things that they have learned here, and putting it with your other cookbooks. :) Its like having an old friend just a phone call away when you need them most.

Many blessings to you and yours,

Heather

Monday: Crepes are not hard to make but the mess and clean up are easier with a regular blender vs a stick blender. I put all the ingredients in, blend for 3 minutes, let it sit for 20 minutes or so fr the flour to absorb, and then start making crepes. You will need a smaller, nonstick fry pan, preferably with curved sides, although you don't have to have curved sides and can just use the bottom of the pan. Pour in a small amount of the batter (pan must be hot, if you flick a water droplet on it and it dances, then its ready), and immediately swirl to cover the bottom of the pan. It takes a little learning practice, but soon you will be a pro. As it bakes the edges will begin to look dry, and curl away from the pan, slip a fork under there and slowly pull it away from the pan, then with your fingers and fork, flip it over to cook the other side. If you have ever made homemade tortillas or pancakes, it is a similar process, just a little more delicate to work with. Crepes: 1 cup ALL PURPOSE flour (whole wheat does not work very well), 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup warm water, 4 eggs, 4 Tbs of melted butter, 1 Tbs sugar, pinch of salt. Filling: one pint home canned shredded chicken in stock, or two cups leftover chicken, shredded, or frozen, 2 cups cornbread crumbs or one pkg cornbread stuffing, one cup very hot water, 2 Tbs of butter, 1/2 cup diced celery, 1/2 cup minced onion, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp rubbed sage, and crushed basil. You can add one carrot shredded if you want. If you are using packaged stuffing, prepare as directed and mix the chicken and veggies into it without adding the other items. Next add 1/2 block of cream cheese, and 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt. This is what you will put in each crepe, tuck ends, roll up and place in the baking pan. These freeze really really well, so if you are making enough for two meals like I do (I double everything and it helps me plan ahead) then let these cool, cover well, and freeze for up to a month. You can put the sauce and cheese on them right before you cook them next time. To top what you are making for tonight, make a batch of simple white sauce, using the magic mix from the first week and after topping the pan with shredded cheese of your choice, pour it thinly over the chicken crepes. Bake for 25 minutes at 350*, and serve.

Tuesday:  Taco Cornbread Skillet Bake is a one dish meal made in a cast iron skillet and baked, so one dish to eat out of and one dish to clean! Whooo hooo my kind of meal! In a large pan fry up 3/4 lb of ground beef with onion, salt, pepper, basil, and one clove of garlic, minced. To this add the following: one can black beans (or one cup cooked), drained, one can of   mexi-corn (or 1 cup dried corn with one can green chilies, then refill the chili can with water and add it back in), 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp cilantro (dried) and 1 tsp mild chili powder. If you like tomatoes, add one can Rotel tomatoes that has been drained. Let this mix simmer until it reduces a little, and meanwhile heat oven to 350*. Mix up one batch of cornbread from the Cornbread Master Mix, and pour over the top of the skillet, then place skillet in oven for 20 minutes or until cornbread is done and starting to brown on top. 

Wednesday: Pizza Pockets are just bread dough spread with spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese, edges brushed with water and pinched closed, and baked for 15 minutes at 350*. Slow Cooker Calico Bean and Bacon Meal is a crockpot meal that you will love to serve on a cold night.  In a large bowl, combine all these ingredients and then pour into a greased slow cooker: 8 crisp and diced bacon strips/ 2 medium onions, chopped/ 3/4 cup brown sugar/ 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar/ 1 tsp salt/ 1 tsp dry  mustard/ 1 clove of garlic, minced/ 1 regular size can of pork and beans/ 1 can of dark red kidney beans, drained/ 1 can of butter beans, drained/ 1 small bag of frozen green beans, or one quart jar of home canned, or one cup of dried green beans (plus one cup water), 2 Tbs of ketchup. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Thursday: Using the basic Muffin Master Mix and what wet ingredients to add, for Brown Sugar Pumpkin Muffins blend in one cup of pumpkin, 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, and top with brown sugar crumbled over the top before baking. For the topping for the potatoes, brown 1/2 lb burger, combine with the canned sloppy joe sauce, and pour over the potato. For Chicken pot pie: roll out two crusts and place one in the pie pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese shreds on the bottom of the pie pan. IN a large sauce pan, make up one batch of cream sauce from the magic mix. To this add the following: 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp thyme/ one cup cooked and peeled potato chunks/ two carrots, sliced (or 1/2 cup dried you have rehydrated for five minutes), one stalk of celery, diced/ one onion, diced/ and one bag of peas and carrots, or one cup of dried peas and carrots that you have rehydrated for five minutes) Combine all with the sauce and pour into the prepared pie crust. Top and seal, cut slits and bake for one hour at 350*.

Friday: Roasted chickpeas were all the rage last year, and when we learned how easy it was, especially if you already had the chickpeas cooked or *gasp* broke down and bought some pre-cooked canned ones on sale, it was a big hit with the fam. I was looking today for my basic recipe and remembered I had just seen an amazing basic tutorial on it on FB, and just had to include it so more people could realize what a lovely and healthy EASY snack this is. We drizzle ours with olive oil on the baking pan, and as soon as they are done toss with a dose of lime juice and sea salt. But there are SO MANY different flavor combinations out there that you can certainly find something you like.here is the link to the great tutorial showing you just how easy this snack is!! White Chicken Chili became a favorite of my husband and I after the episode of Seinfeld where Ellen was refused her order of soup from the Soup Nazi. Did you know she was refused a serving of White Chicken Chili? Neither did I until later in the year when a friend gave me the recipe straight linked from the website of the show that week. Take 1 lb of Great White Northern Beans, soaked overnight/ one pint of homecanned chicken cubes or 1 lbs frozen chicken/ 1 medium onion, chopped/ 2 cans of chopped green chilies/ 2 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of coriander, powdered/ one quart of chicken stock or 4 cups stock and one cup water. Brown the meat with the seasonings in a pan with 2 Tbs of olive oil, then add everything to the crock pot and cook on high for 5-6 hours. I often take another cup of white beans and puree them up, then add them into the crockpot for a thicker soup, and I have also been known to throw in a handful or two of dried cherry tomato pieces from my garden

Saturday: Were you shocked to see pigs in a blanket on my menu? I rarely rarely rarely let my kids have hotdogs or lunch meat. Incidentally, that seemed to be one of the things the nurse asked me today and that she was concerned about me feeding my kids. Did you know they now recommend heating the lunch meat up for at least 10 minutes to kill any listeria that might be hiding on it before kids eat it? Yikes. So sorry for those of you who abhor the thought of feeding a child a hotdog. Its rare, but it does happen. We buy them on sale in the summer, and keep a couple packages for the winter. I wrap them in my homemade bread dough with a little mustard, mayo and sliced cheese, and give the kids a treat The hubby and I have talked about him making our own recipe and I would be okay with that...occasionally. He is a meat cutter, sausage maker-extrordinare though, and so I know he can do a good, clean job. SO we will see if the Esteys take that plunge here this coming year. Deep dish Chicago style Pizza is a lot of work but SOOOO worth it. Go here for the basic recipe and directions I follow. Our favorite is one made with sweet italian sausage and cheese---but there are so many variations. This one is nice in that you can use just a regular pan and not a 'special seasoned 12 inch deep dish pizza pan' as so many make the point to say. Last time I made this I did top it with another layer of really thin pizza dough and smeared the sauce all over it, then put cheese on top. It was to die for. I hope you try it. :) It is so much more work, though than regular pizza that we get deep dish about twice a year. If you like stuffed crust and want to blow the budget, buy a package of string cheese (can you BELIEVE how much those things cost??) and roll the crust around it all around the edge.

Sunday: for the Cranberry pork roast click on the link below the picture above. I know she uses a pork tenderloin, but all I do is copy the sauce recipe, and pour it over a pork roast in the crock pot and cook on low for six hours between breakfast and coming home from church services. I am planning on putting up some pint jars of my own cranberry relish this coming year when cranberries go on sale in the fall. I have also had good success with drying it in fruit leathers, just plain pureed cranberries, no sugar, nothing, but then it returns to puree when rehydrated and you can use it for anything. :)Oven roasted potatoes with rosemary are two quarts of canned potatoes (or two big cans from the store) that are tossed with olive oil, sea salt and rosemary, and roasted in the oven in a dish for about 30 minutes. I finish them off by broiling them for a couple minutes for a nice color. Glazed ginger carrots are carrots chunked up,with brown sugar and 1 tsp of ginger and cinnamon, baked or cooked in a pan on the stove for about ten minutes until softened. Black Bottom Cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes with a good dollop of sweetened cream cheese placed in the middle of the cupcake after half the batter is put in the muffin cup, then has the remainder of the batter placed on top. For the following recipe, to make your own cake flour, just remove 2 Tbs of Flour from every cup called for, and use All Purpose. Make sure the dough is beat extra fluffy as well, since cake flour is pre-sifted and has an added silicate to keep it from getting heavy again. 1 1/2 cups AP Flour/ 1 C Sugar/ 1/4 c baking cocoa. Whisk those together well. Then add 3 eggs/ 1/4 cup butter/ 1/2 cup water/ 1/2 tsp salt/ 1 3/4 tsp baking powder/ 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. If you want a deeper chocolate flavor, instead of water add 1/2 cup strong left over coffee (we always have a lot of that around here-ha!). Line your muffin tins with liners, spray well with non-stick cooking spray, and fill the muffin cups about 1/2 full. Filling is 1/2 block cream cheese with 1/2 tsp almond extract and 3/4 cup sugar. cream it well, then place a dollop in the middle of each filled muffin tin. Top with remaining batter and smooth over tops. Bake at 350* for 15 minutes or until the batter pulls away from the sides of the tins, and springs back when tapped in the middle instead of indenting. A really nice way to serve this dessert is with hiding a sweet cherry in the middle of the cream cheese and dusting the tops with powdered sugar, but my kids would take it this way any day! :)
Hope to see you all back next week as we wrap all this up!! :)