Eat Like a Hobbit Day

I should have posted this a bit ago, but better late than never right?
The family and I love to geek out, as you can probably tell from everything I post. We decided to have an Eat Like a Hobbit Day on the Saturday that we would see the newest Hobbit movie. It was a lot of work, and a lot of dishes, and a lot of food, but it was sooo wonderful!

For those of you who may not know, Hobbits eat a lot!
7 meals to be precise.

First breakfast- Blueberry scones
Second breakfast- "Hobbit Holes" (jalapeno bagels fried with an egg in the hole) with sausages
Elevensies- Apple pastries with grapes
Luncheon- Assorted meats (chicken, salted pork, beef) cheeses, breads, pickles, carrots, tomatoes
Tea- Seed cake (caraway, pumpkin and sunflower), Honey cakes, and teas
Dinner- Mushroom, Kale and PoTaTo soup
Supper- Beef with a salad

I know there are a few things most people would add, like fish but I'm allergic, so it just isn't happening in my house. Lots of fun, but I may need a year to recover before we try it again!

Menu Plan 4/16/2012 - Yogurt slow cooker recipe

I have to admit planning meals has become quite a chore. My husband has been gone since the first of the year only coming home for about a day each weekend. My boys are all tween/teens and are spending far less time home at meal time. We do try to eat together every night, but honestly it's becoming far more of starting with 2 or three of us, then some leaving early and others coming in late. I am also realizing I'm in real trouble when the boys move out. I cook for an army! I cook for extra leftovers, lunches, freezing, etc.. I really don't need to be planning as many meals as I do. We have been consistently skipping at least one of these meals if not two just trying to use up enough leftovers. So here's the plan.

Monday- Chicken Ravioli with Alfredo sauce, lettuce salads, garlic bread
Tuesday- Swedish Meatballs, steamed green beans with almonds, garlic noodles
Wednesday- Chicken Lo Mein w/Vegetable Eggrolls
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Kids & hubby gone, out with friends
Saturday- Kids & hubby gone probably junk food!
Sunday- Cranberry Kale, Macaroni and cheese (with bean puree)

I am planning on making some cookies this week to freeze for the boys' lunches. I haven't done that in awhile, and they've noticed!
Last week's biggest success was I made yogurt for the first time. I made it in the crock pot, and I will NEVER buy yogurt again! It's amazing. The recipe I used was from a website that I can't seem to find at the moment (I will update when I do find it.) But it couldn't have been easier.



Slow cooker Yogurt
Large slow cooker - Mine is 7qt.
1 gallon whole milk
1 cup yogurt (you need this for the bacteria, I also read you can use whey also)Plain with live cultures and no added pectin
Coffee filters or something for straining (I have special flour sack towels for this)
Large towel (I used bathtowel)

Sweeteners/Vanilla etc.. if desired (I made plain, because that's what I buy)

Place milk in slow cooker cook on low for 2.5 hours.
Turn off and unplug for 3 hours.
Whisk in 1 cup of yogurt, cover slow cooker with large towel for 8 hours or overnight. Strain whey from yogurt. I put my flour sack towel in a colander over a large bowl. It took some work and time. I had to scrape it frequently to get the whey moving. I tried to use coffee filters, but they kept breaking, so I went to the towel. I made mine nice and thick, greek style.
It made 48oz thick yogurt and a large canning jar of whey. This can easily be halved (it was on the original recipe I used.) Times stay the same.

I am currently finding lots of things to do with whey. I've been throwing it in juice and smoothies. My kids are enjoying it because they love YoJ, but I never buy it for them, and they think the juice with whey tastes like YoJ.

The Prarie Homestead has lots of uses for whey. I'm working my way through them slowly.

Menu Plan 4/4/2012- Do you hide nutritious food?

Do you hide food from your kids? I do and I don't. Growing up my mom always stretched ground beef by adding oatmeal. I do that too. I have always added chopped veggies to everything. I don't really hide them, it's not a secret from my children though. At least not until yesterday.

Our biggest weakness as a family is queso dip. By far not good for you. It's like crack for us. I'm just as guilty. Last night I had an epiphany, white bean puree! My eldest son HATES beans of any kind. He grumbles and argues. He feels I ruin most foods by making them better for him. I am now one of those sneaky moms. I pureed a cup of white beans, mixed it with what was left of the evil queso dip, and NOBODY KNEW!! Yes, we're still eating evil queso, but it's at least a little bit better for us right?

Well, I assumed it was a fluke, but necessity reared it's head today. I was making Lasagna Soup (recipe coming soon) my boys don't care for ricotta, they prefer when I make lasagna with cottage cheese, but I was low on cottage cheese, so I pureed about 1.5 cups of navy beans with the cottage cheese I had, some salt and pepper, and some Parmesan cheese. Again, NOBODY KNEW! It really got me thinking of all the creamy cheesy foods that the kids and hubby love. What if I replace some of the evil with pureed beans? More protein and fiber, less fat. I will be trying this out and I'll let you know how it works out.

Menu Plan
Monday- Meatloaf, baked potatoes, steamed asparagus, lettuce salad
Tuesday- Lasagna Soup (recipe coming soon)
Wednesday- Rotisserie Chicken (got a new rotisserie so we'll have to give it a try), grilled potatoes, broccoli & cauliflower
Thursday- Pot roast sliders, spinach salad, quinoa pilaf
Friday- lunch- chicken pot pie supper- Pizzas
Saturday- lunch- leftovers supper- cabbage rolls
Sunday- brunch out supper- cheese fondue w/spinach salads

Menu Plan Monday 2/27

Well, some hits and some misses last week. The squash lasagna, which I thought was amazing, my kids didn't like at all. I wrote the recipe down, but I'm looking for someone else to try it before I post it, cuz who wants to post a cruddy recipe?!? My hubby will be home for a day this week, so I'll try to get him to taste it.
Cottage pie is always a hit with my family. Meat with gravy and veg smothered in potatoes. Yep, it's what my family would always eat if they had the choice.

Here's this week's menu;
Monday- Orange Chicken with quinoa and a steamed stir fry vegetables
Tuesday- Scrambled Eggs W/French toast made out of English Muffin Bread
Wednesday- I'm bringing a huge batch of Sausage, Kale & Bean Soup to church for our Lenten Soup Supper.
Thursday- Turkey Burgers or Bean Burgers w/potato salad
Friday- Beef Stroganoff


For more meal plans check out http://orgjunkie.com/blog

Meal Plan Monday 2/20/2012

Last week we did pretty well sticking to our meal plan. Let's hope we do again this week!
Monday- Spaghetti w/ meat sauce and garlic bread
Tuesday- Cottage Pie from freezer
Wednesday- Squash Lasagna
Thursday- Tacos
Friday- Homemade Pizzas
Saturday- We have chess tournaments all day and so we'll bring chicken salad, veggies, grapes, popcorn, Liam's "crack" (it's ranch oyster crackers) and pickled carrots.

Meal Plan Monday 2/13

Sausage Bean & Greens Soup, a photo by ezri_b on Flickr.

Ok, so I normally meal plan once a week anyway, I figured why not share it here. I love getting ideas for my meal plan from other blogs, and it's a way for me to keep track of our eating habits.

Monday- Sausage Bean & Greens Soup (recipe below)

Tuesday- BBQ Chicken Legs with Roasted Beets

Wednesday- Reuben Ravioli (winging it, no recipe yet)

Thursday- Crustless Quiche

Friday- Homemade Pizzas

Saturday- Orange/Honey Chicken on rice

Sunday- Potluck at Church

Before I post the recipe I feel the need to explain how I cook. I don't follow recipes. I don't measure, and I rarely make the exact thing twice. I use what's in my fridge or garden. I taste and see if it needs a "little of this or a little of that." So all of these "recipes" are guidelines. Don't feel limited, just use what you have.

Sausage, Bean, & Greens Soup (sort of recipe) Serves: about 12 main dish
1 large diced onion
3 diced celery stalks
2 diced carrots
2 large handfuls of diced hearty greens (today I used beet greens, but I use kale frequently too)
1 T coconut oil (any oil/butter that you like works) * only if you go vegetarian or have a very low fat sausage
1 diced sausage (we had a large smoked beef sausage that I diced up, but I've used turkey sausage with great results.)
2 15 oz cans great northern beans drained and rinsed
48 oz chicken broth
2 T flour
1/4 c milk/cream *optional
salt and pepper
favorite herbs (I used thyme and marjoram)

Brown up you sausage in large pot, then set aside. Cook vegetables in drippings until soft (if you don't have drippings add a bit of oil/butter)
Once vegetables are soft add flour and cook on low. Add milk/cream and broth. Bring to a low boil. Add remaining ingredients. Continue cooking on low until everything is warm through.

This is great because you can use up pretty much any veggies you have laying around. Also if you have some leftover barley, rice, etc... go ahead and throw it in.

http://orgjunkie.com/blog