Menu Plan Monday: August 1st

Fried Zucchini

We are back from a week at the beach, and it's so nice to have a stash of meals to choose from in the freezer, and some vegetables to harvest from the garden. Aside from some fresh fruit, I don't need to go to the grocery store right away, which is nice!

• Monday: Marinated Flank Steak (from the freezer) with brown rice pilaf, fried zucchini, and salad
• Tuesday: Soup from the freezer (boys' dinner out) a choice of Kale White Bean Soup, Minestrone, or Quinoa Vegetable Soup
• Wednesday: Lasagna (sauce is already made and in the freezer) with bread and salad
• Thursday: Leftovers
• Friday: Dinner Out
• Saturday: Family Get-together
• Sunday: Baked Chicken Tenders with Whole Wheat Couscous with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes
• Monday: Creamy Enchilada Casserole, steamed broccoli

Find more meal planning ideas at orgjunkie.com!

Decluttering Paper in 3 Steps

I have to confess that I've been taking a lengthy break from decluttering projects this year. I was really on top of decluttering last year, but since then I got distracted and off track, and I'm only now (in July!) returning to the project, which for now is to just attack the piles of paper and miscellaneous items that have accumulated in my house. I'm decided to approach The Piles with a 3-Step approach:

1. Consolidate

First I went around the house and collected all the various paper piles in a laundry basket. (Confession: I filled the laundry basket twice!)

I cleared the dining table so that I would have plenty of space--and also for motivation to get the project done before dinnertime.

2. Sort

I set up an empty paper grocery bag for recycling paper, and sorted everything into piles. It occurred to me that this is really challenging work, because you have to make a decision about every piece of paper: keep? recycle?

I ran into a bunch of papers from an unfinished project that I need to refocus on, and also a few photographs and a recipe that triggered some memories. The biggest bulk of paper were the things that my son brought home from first grade at the end of the year. It takes a lot of energy to decide to recycle your child's artwork! I did save a few things that stood out.

Whenever I started feeling overwhelmed or unable to make a decision about something, I walked away and worked on something else for a while, then came back later. It helped that I needed to shuttle the kids around, and my mom stopped by for a little while. Sometimes I would just go switch the laundry to clear my head so that I could return and continue to make decision after decision...

3. Distribute

After all the piles were sorted, I found a place for each set of items. Some things were easy--obviously the two full bags of discarded papers went to the recycling bin, and the saved artwork went to a box in the basement designated for that pupose. Other things were more challenging to put away, and I admit that a small pile of those random items are sitting in a pile on my desk right now, still to be housed. Similar to the sorting, I did a few piles at a time in between other activities.

The good news is: I finished! I think that focusing very specifically on Paper Only helped me to avoid distraction, and setting a specific space and steps helped as well. I even got the dining table set for dinner, hours in advance. I think I will use this technique again on the disturbing number of Random Items scattered around the house--you know, the what-is-this-and-why-are-we-keeping-it stuff (I hope I'm not the only person with this problem!)

Find more declutter and organizing inspiration with 52 Weeks of Organizing at orgjunkie.com!

Peach Berry Crisp (Topping)

What I should do is follow The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook and make a lightly sweetened, healthier topping for my Peach Berry Crisp Filling. But, I don't.

Here is what I do instead--based on this Summer Fruit Crisp Recipe:

For an 8 x 8 size pan:

• 3/4 cups flour (I use winter white whole wheat)
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons sugar (or sweetener of choice)
• pinch of salt
• 5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or more to taste

Combine flour, sugars, and salt. Add cold butter chunks and blend into the mixture with a pastry blender, add vanilla extract and nuts. After adding the nuts, I just use my hand to further blend the mixture, which will be sandy and chunky.

After blending for about 30 seconds (it will still be not fully mixed) sprinkle handfuls of the mixture over your Peach Berry Crisp Filling, breaking up the larger buttery lumps. (If you are freezing the crisp topping, put the mixture in a quart-size freezer bag and freeze.) Empty the remaining flour and sugar over top of filling, covering fruit mixture evenly.

I tripled this recipe so that I could freeze two portions of topping to use on future fresh fruit crisps. I'm hoping for some nice peaches and raspberries at the produce stands on the way to the beach in a few days!

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Serve warm over ice cream OR a healthier choice would be fat-free plain or vanilla yogurt. I've been enjoying Trader Joe's fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt with it for breakfast. You could dust the top with powdered sugar, but I consider that to be overkill. :)

Linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap!

Wordless Wednesday: Library Jackpot!

Linked to Wordless Wednesday

10 Reasons and Strategies to Avoid Grocery Shopping At the Beach

We are heading to the beach next week for our annual extended family vacation! I am trying to get some things ready in advance so that I can avoid going to the grocery store the entire 8 days that we are there, yet still enjoy lots of delicious food! Here's why:

1. My kids are particular. I've learned that my kids are happy to eat nutritious foods so long as we stick with certain brands they like. My son is especially sensitive and notices when the bread or yogurt is different from the brand he prefers. Rather than take the risk of the beach grocery stores not carrying his favorites, I'll just bring along what I know he likes.

2. The stores at the beach are expensive! I don't even need to explain this.

3. Grocery shopping takes time away from vacation. At our family beach, the grocery store is always crowded, day and night. On top of that, the beach house we rented last year was over 20 minutes away from the nearest grocery store. Just needing a few items meant at least an hour trip. I would rather be relaxing!

4. You often end up buying more than you need. I prefer to avoid wasting food, even condiments and/or bread, and it seems that we always have so much stuff left over at the end of a week at the beach house. I really hate to see it thrown away and wasted! By bringing just what we need from home, I'm hoping to eliminate at least some of the excess stuff left over at the end of the week.

5. You'll end up cooking less at the beach by using food from your freezer cooking stash rather than groceries from the store. I'm going to bring a variety of items from my freezer cooking stash, including Marinated Salmon to serve for dinner one night, banana bread for breakfast, and a few other items, possibly even ingredients for cocktails. My mom is bringing a lasagna and a ham. (I hope she'll give me the hambone to bring home and make into soup!)

Here are my strategies for staying away from the grocery store next week:

6. Make a Meal Plan. By the end of this week, I'll have a clear idea of what we're planning to eat and on which day, therefore I'll have a clear picture (and a list) of what foods to bring, and how much to bring.

7. Pack a cooler and some grocery bags with your favorite foods and ingredients. After making a list, you'll know what you would like to bring.

8. Bring Open Condiments. There's no rule that you need to bring a brand new bottle of ketchup to the beach house each year. Try bringing the open bottle from your fridge/pantry. If you time it just right, you can use it up at the beach house and avoid the need to bring it back home!

9. Shop at the local produce and seafood stands. Not only will you find the freshest ingredients for your seafood meals and your fruit and vegetable salads, you will also support local small businesses in your beach community. I'm hoping we find some fresh okra to fry up, and also some nice ripe juicy peaches.

10. Take it all back home with you. By bringing a cooler, you'll also have a place to stow left over perishables on the way home. Cleaning out the fridge on the last day will be easy!

The Exception: I (or somebody) will need to make an ice-cream/popsicle run late at night one night. Those items don't travel well in the cooler.

Linked to Top Ten Tuesday!

Vegetarian Freezer Cooking Report: Using up Produce

Pictured: 2 servings Summer Squash Frittata, one 8x8 Fruit Crisp, 3 meals of Kale White Bean Soup, 3 meals of Eggplant Stew. Also pictured are 5 servings of Quinoa Vegetable Soup that I made several weeks ago.

In addition to the produce I already had, I received a vegetable box from a local delivery service, so I had even MORE produce to work with! This meant a few revisions to the freezer plan, as well as a cheat recipe--I added Kale White Bean Soup to the plan--it's non-vegetarian, but uses a large quantity of kale.

Thursday Evening (2 Thursdays ago!): quickly cut and peeled peaches for Peach Berry Crisp (filling) while dinner was cooking, added the extra ingredients, and froze it in the freezer. I place the freezer bag inside the pan that I will use to bake the crisp so that the mixture froze in the shape of the pan. I still need to make a few batches of Crisp Topping...

Friday Morning: Started making White Bean and Kale Soup in the crock pot. (If you used a replacement for the ground sausage, it would still be vegetarian... but mine includes hot Italian sausage. :)

I also whipped up the Summer Squash Frittata, topped it with tomato and basil from the garden, and ate a piece for (second) breakfast. I put several pieces in the freezer to test and see how well it freezes (not too well. It gets very watery when I go to reheat it) The rest we ate for breakfasts the next few days.

Monday: I made the Eggplant Stew and doubled the recipe to use up all of the eggplant! It was wonderful as usual, despite the fact that I quadrupled the tomato sauce rather than doubling it. Rather than add cannded diced tomatoes, I used fresh (skins and all). I also left the skin on the eggplant even though the recipe said to peel it (I never peel it). I ended up with three meals left over for the freezer.

 I also made and served Sesame Baby Bok Choy with leftover Baked Chicken Tenders--not cooking for the freezer, but fitting in with my need to use up produce.

Now it's a new week and I just need to use up this by Friday:

Today's Harvest

Ack!

Peach Berry Crisp (filling)

Peaches and Blueberries, defrosting before adding Crisp Topping

I have an amazing recipe for Summer Fruit Crisp that makes a 13 x 9 pan of pure heavenly delight... except it sure has a lot of sugar in it! To cut down on the sugar, I revised the filling portion of the recipe to follow the crisp recipe from the cookbook The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook: Whole Foods To Nourish Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women - And Their Families. The result is tart fruit with a sweet crisp topping that goes well over vanilla ice cream. (I only make this a few times each summer for obvious reasons--calorie counters beware!)

I also reduced the size of the recipe to fit an 8 x 8 pan because my husband and I have very little self control around this dessert. Just double the quantities to make enough for a 13 x 9 pan.

Ingredients:

• 7-8 fresh peaches, quartered, pitted, and peeled
• 1 cup berries (I like fresh raspberries, or frozen blueberries if I don't have anything else on hand, or just add a couple more peaches)
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (or juice of 1 lemon)
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional: better for apples and pears)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, stir gently to combine. To freeze, dump the fruit and all the juices in a gallon size freezer bag and freeze until needed. To bake immediately, place the mixture in an 8 x 8 pan and top with Peach Berry Crisp topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Serve warm over vanilla ice cream. Try not to eat the entire pan in one sitting!