I know some of you are counting on me to post my Summer Week 2 Challenge Recipes and Shopping List information. However, due to a family death, week 2 has been pushed off a week, but expect to see the information soon! Food is essential.
In the interim, I will again encourage everyone to look into a local co-op, such as The Neighborhood Garden. Salad and fruit are always easy, and that is what we have had a lot of this week and I didn't even have to think twice about what to buy or anything. With the co-op, I knew I had a bag of produce coming that would be AMAZING, and this past week, that is exactly what I needed.
Meals From Scratch
A blog about a typical American on-the-go family starting a healthier, preservative free diet regiment.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Week 1 Recipes and Shopping List
Week 1
Below is the first week’s shopping list and the recipes - some of the ingredients you may have on
hand, and others you may not, so I am listing them all. Sorry I’m a little late in posting it!
Shopping List:
2 boxes Rice Chex
Wooden Skewers
Bread Flour
Baking Powder
Vegetable Oil
Yeast
Chocolate Chips
All-Purpose Flour
Sugar
Shortening
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz can pureed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
vegetable stock
1 can tomato paste
vegetable stock
2 small bags or one large bag chocolate chips
2 dozen corn husks
1 bag frozen corn
1 large package corn tortillas
1 bag frozen corn
1 large package corn tortillas
2 Sweet Potatoes
Baking Potatoes
Broccoli
Baking Potatoes
Broccoli
Ingredients for Salad or Salad Kits from the grocery store. I use the
items I get from The Neighborhood Garden
Co-op and buy any desired additional items,
such as green onions, carrots, etc. and usually one salad kit
Apples
Garlic – 2 bulbs
Baby carrots
2 Onions
1 jalepeno
Stew Vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onion, celery)
Blueberries
Skim Milk 2 gallons
1 lb. Mozarella Cheese
Heavy Whipping Cream
Eggs
Ricotta Cheese
1 package cream cheese
American Cheese for grilled cheese
Monterey Jack Cheese
Provolone Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Cheddar Cheese 2 lbs
Pepper Jack Cheese (if desired)
Vanilla Greek Yogurt (1 per 4 blueberry skewers)
Greek Yogurt (Chobani?)
Pinto beans
Refried Beans
corn tortillas
Refried Beans
corn tortillas
Long-grain white rice
Pre-packaged Lasagna Noodles, or make them yourself (we do, and we love
them!)
Raisins
Olive Oil or Canola Oil or both –
we usually use Canola Oil
Butter (Unsalted)
Table salt
Pepper
Cinnamon Powder
Dark Brown Sugar
Ketchup
Corn Starch
Baking Soda
Xanthum gum
lard
chili powder
kosher salt
paprika
smoked paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
cayenne pepper
black pepper grinder
cumin seed
Vegetale Oil
Italian Seasoning
Poultry seasoning
1 can green chiles (can purchase at most WalMarts or order online ahead
of time!)
1 can cream of chicken soup
Honey
2 lbs beef
2 packages chicken (3 boneless skinless breasts)
1 Bottom Round Roast
1 pound Boston Butt Meet
Steak
Your favorite ice cream
Your favorite ice cream
Recipes:
Cereal & Milk is self explanatory as is yogurt, ½ apple, cheese (I
normally try for 1 ounce portions), baby carrots (I normally eat about 10 per
snack), raisins (I used individually packaged raisins), steak, baked potatoes
(just add your favorite toppings like butter, chives, sour cream, cheese, bacon
bits, etc. – just make sure if you are counting calories to watch how much you
add…) and last but not least ice cream.
In other words, anything that isn’t listed below should be easy enough
for you prepare – if you need a recipe, please feel free to message me.
Bread:
Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 tbsps olive oil
3 cups bread flour (I normally
use 1 ½ cups whole wheat bread flour and 1 ½ cups white bread flour or 3 cups
White Whole Wheat. My favorite brand of
flour is King Arthur, but Pillsbury
works great as well and is usually less expensive).
2 tsps sugar
½ tsp salt
1 pkg active dry yeast (or equivalent – I buy bigger container since we
use it ever week)
Cornmeal
Directions:
Heat water to approximately 100 degrees. It should feel warm to the touch, but not
hot. Add sugar to water, and stir. Then add yeast to water.
While yeast is becoming nice and active, measure flour (*tip, spoon
flour into measuring cup and don’t pack in, and you won’t have to worry about
measuring sifted flour). Combine the
flour and salt. Add the oil and yeast
mixture to the flour and knead dough until smooth on a lightly floured
surface.
Place dough in lightly greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap and then
put a towel over it, place in microwave or someplace warm and let rise for 30 – 40 minutes.
Next, sprinkle a cookie sheet or piece of stoneware if you have one
with some cornmeal. Punch the dough down
and cover with the bowl you just had it in and leave on counter for 15
minutes.
Finally, shape the dough into a loaf.
Cover it with the towel you used earlier and let it rise for 30 – 40 more
minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, make a large deep slit diagonally in
three places evenly spaced across the width of the loaf. Sprinkle with a little bit of water (wet your
fingers and flick water over the top 2 or three times) then bake for 25 – 35 minutes.
Note – if going to use later in
the week or need multiple loaves – be sure to make the bread and freeze
it. It preserves the freshness!
Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup shortening
¾ cups granulated sugar
¾ cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients. In a separate
bowl, beat eggs well. Add remaining wet
ingredients to bowl of eggs. Add dry
ingredients until mixed well. Spoon
cookies on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. (Makes 2 – 3 dozen).
Pot Roast with Stew Vegetables:
Put Roast, one can French Onion Soup, and stew vegetables in a crock
pot (I normally quarter an onion, chop up the celery and carrots and use small
red potatoes and leave them whole) in the Crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
**Vegetarian Option** Set aside some vegetables and either prepare them
in a separate Crockpot (I have a couple) or put them in the microwave for 10
minutes while you are preparing everyone else’s dinner plates. I chop them up and drizzle the veggies with a
little olive oil, minced garlic, butter, salt, dried thyme and pepper! If you cook them in the crock pot, add a
little vegetable stock to make sure they don’t dry out or burn up!
Brownies:
My favorite brownie recipe is the Toll House brownie recipe. It is so easy and VERY delicious. Follow this
link for the recipe.
Spanish Rice:
Ingredients:
2 TBSPs canola oil or olive oil (I usually use garlic infused Canola
Oil)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
3 cups vegetable
stock
2 TBSPs tomato paste
1/2 cup of diced fresh tomatoes cooked and strained (usually 1 decent
sized roma tomato)
¼ tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
½ tsp garlic salt
Directions:
In a large skillet brown rice in olive oil, medium/high heat. Add onion and
garlic. Cook onion rice mixture, stirring frequently, until onions are
softened. In a sauce pan bring stock to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer, add tomato sauce, oregano, and salt. Add rice to broth. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes.
Tamales:
My favorite Tamale Recipe is Alton Brown’s – follow this
link to view and use his recipe (that man is AMAZING!). I usually halve his recipe and sometimes even
quarter it.
Frozen Blueberry Yogurt Skewer:
Place blueberries on wooden skewer (I use the longer ones). Place Vanilla Yogurt (I use Chobani Greek
Yogurt) on a plate. Roll each skewer of
blueberries to coat the blueberries.
Place the skewer on parchment paper and then place the skewers on the
parchment paper in the freezer. Let
freeze for 2+ hours. I usually let
freeze and then place them in a Ziploc bag to use throughout the week.
Lasagna:
First, I always start off by making a homemade sauce.
Sauce:
1 large (28 oz) can of tomato sauce, 1 can of tomato paste and then
season to taste. I add about 4 cloves
fresh minced garlic, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp Italian Seasoning, ¼ tsp garlic
salt and 1 ½ tsp onion powder. I let the
sauce cook while I then prepare what I call the Lasagna Guts
Guts:
Mix together 1 large package Ricotta cheese, ½ lb. Freshly Shredded Mozzarella
Cheese[i]
and 1 cup bread crumbs (the best bread crumbs are the ones you make yourself – to
make bread crumbs, use stale bread or toast fresh bread in the oven on 350
until slightly crunchy, put in the food processor and process until desired
crumb size – I like fine!).
If you desire a meat filling, my husband loves to use sliced Italian meatballs,
and I highly recommend this.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Line the bottom of your lasagna pan with a little sauce. Cook your noodles and place a layer on the
bottom. Next, layer in some sauce and “guts”. Repeat until your dish is almost full, then
top with remaining sauce and ½ pound shredded mozzarella cheese.
Bake covered for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15 more
minutes.
Flan:
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups
sugar
2 cups
heavy whipping cream
1 tsp
vanilla extract
3 eggs
Directions:
Preheat
oven to 325 degrees.
Pour 1
cup sugar in warm pan over medium heat. Constantly stir sugar until it browns
and becomes caramel. Quickly pour approximately into a baking dish, I use a
large round corning ware piece, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the
sides.
Scald
cream in a saucepan. While waiting on
the cream to get warm, whisk the 3 eggs and ¼ cup of sugar together. When the milk scalds, remove from heat immediately
and stir in vanilla. Then add it slowly
to the egg mixture. Blend till smooth
and then pour into baking dish.
Cook for
45 minutes then check to see if done every 3 minutes after, to ensure you do
not over bake. It should take no longer
than 60 minutes it takes me only 50 on average.
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas:
The
Sauce:
In the
food processor, place 1 onion and 28 oz. or 2 cups worth of green chiles (you
can buy them online direct for Hatch)
in and blend until smooth. Dump into a
saucepan, add 1 cup vegetable stock, ¼ tsp ground cumin, ¼ tsp coriander, ¼ tsp
dried oregano and 2 cloves garlic minced.
Bring to a boil and then simmer while you prepare chicken.
Chicken:
In a 13x9
pan place 2 cups of chicken broth and a pinch of poultry seasoning, stir, then
place and 3 breasts of chicken in the pan.
Place in oven and bake on 350 for about 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and shred the chicken.
Place
the shredded chicken in a skillet with ½ a block of cream cheese cut up into
cubes and ½ a can of cream of chicken soup.
Mix well until creamy and well blended.
The
Whole Enchilada:
Next,
put some vegetable oil in the bottom of a pan.
Heat to medium heat. Get out a 13
x 9 pan (I usually rinse and reuse the one I just cooked the chicken in). Fry corn tortillas on each side until they
just bubble up in the middle (you just want them soft - you are not trying to make them crispy at
all). Remove from oil, spoon some
chicken mixture in and roll tightly. Repeat.
**Vegetarian
Option** replace the chicken with cubes of pepper jack and cheddar cheese.
Final
Preparation:
Preheat
the oven to 350 degrees. Cover the
enchiladas with green chile sauce then top with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake covered for 20 minutes and then bake
uncovered for 15 more minutes.
Sopapillas:
There
are many easy recipes out there for sopapillas.
They are all very similar and I have yet to find one that tastes bad. I frequently use All Recipes to find recipes and try a
few. The sopapilla recipe I use most often
can be found on their directly website using this link, but feel free
to experiment with what you like best. I serve this dessert with honey.
Pizza:
The Dough:
Okay, it’s confession time – I’m in love with Alton Brown.
He is a mad genius in the kitchen!
I use his pizza dough recipe.
Follow this
link to find the most fabulous pizza dough recipe so you can later be
transported to a slice of heaven. I normally follow the recipe but divide the
dough into individual sized pizzas. You
can make this fresh on the day of or make earlier in the week and freeze until
ready to use later.
The Sauce:
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP olive oil
1 14 oz can tomato puree
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsps Italian Seasoning
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
In a large sauce pan, saute garlic in olive oil. Then add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer while you
gather your toppings and round up the family.
Putting it all together:
Have everyone make pizzas and put whatever toppings they want on
them. This is fun, although sometimes
messy!
Apple Pie:
The crust:
For the crust follow this link for a
great recipe or use your own. My
adaptation of this recipe calls for 1 cup bread flour and 1 cup all purpose
flour.
The Filling:
I have found that I really like the filling in this recipe. I don’t always use granny smith apples, but
regardless it always turns out and is super delicious! I also always add 1 tsp of Cinnamon Powder to
this recipe.
Meatloaf:
Meatloaf in my house is really like an oversized hamburger. The recipe is so simple.
Ingredients:
2 lbs beef
1 egg
½ cup bread crumbs
2 TBSPs ketchup
Pepper
Garlic salt
Onion Powder
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Then just take two pounds of beef, 1 egg, ½ cup of bread crumbs, 2 TBSPs
ketchup and mix it up then sprinkle the top with pepper, garlic salt, onion
powder and then mix it up again. Form
into a loaf and baked for 30 – 45 minutes.
Chicken Nuggets:
Cut the chicken breasts into nuggets. In a mixing bowl, stir-up the following
ingredients:
¾ cup corn starch
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp xanthum gum
½ cup milk
2 TBSPs Parmesan Cheese
Dip chicken nuggets in the mixture. Bake on 350 for 20 minutes. Take out and flip them over, then bake for
another 20 minutes.
Sweet Potato Fries:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Peel 1 or 2 large sweet potatoes.
Cut ½ in. to ¾ in. fries from the potato.
Drizzle with Olive Oil or Canola Oil
Sprinkle with Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Place on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes.
[i]
Did you know that shredded cheese, even organic shredded cheese, is packaged
with preservatives? Yuck! Be sure to use fresh cheese and shred it
yourself (and ensure your fresh cheese is preservative free too!) as often as
possible – which for me is ALWAYS!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Meals From Scratch: Meals From Scratch Summer Challenge Meal Plan Week...
Meals From Scratch: Meals From Scratch Summer Challenge Meal Plan Week...: Week 1 Below is the first week’s meal plan.
Meals From Scratch Summer Challenge Meal Plan Week 1 Preview
Week 1
Below is the first week’s meal plan. Since this is the kids’ last week of school for
us, I am letting them buy their lunch this week. So, if your kids are already
out for the summer or you prefer to prep their lunches, you will have to make
their lunches this week too.
On a side
note, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I made the switch to vegetarian,
so I will post my vegetarian alternatives (which usually just includes a larger
portion of vegetables and elimination of the meats). Also, we believe there are some gluten
sensitivities in our family as well. So,
I will note the gluten free options as we progress as well. For example, cookies can easily be replaced
with baby carrots, raisins and water for the Snack for the whole week (I do
this for myself anyway), or you can follow a gluten free recipe. Apple pie can be replaced with baked cinnamon
apples, ice cream or sorbet, etc. Last
but not least, Marcus is lactose intolerant, so I replace his cheese with Veggies Shreds, if appropriate, or leave it out or replace it (for example, I
give him a whole apple instead of the cheese).
So, as you can tell, everything here is flexible…and since my snacks
change from week to week, you shouldn’t get too bored with things either, even
if you are making substitutions.
Monday - June 4, 2012
Breakfast: Cereal with
milk (Marcus and I use Rice or Soy Milk)
Snack 1: Chocolate
Chip Cookies and water
Lunch: Kids =
School Lunch Adults = Salad
Snack 2: 1/2
apple, cheese, water
Dinner: Pot
Roast with Stew Vegetables
Dessert: Brownies
Tuesday - June 5, 2012
Breakfast: Yogurt
Snack 1: baby
carrots, raisins, water
Lunch: Kids =
School Lunch Adults = Salad
Snack 2: Frozen
Blueberry Yogurt Skewer
Dinner: Tamales,
pinto beans, spanish rice
Dessert: Flan
Wednesday – June 6, 2012
Breakfast: Cereal with
milk (Marcus and I use Rice or Soy Milk)
Snack 1: Chocolate
Chip Cookies and water
Lunch: Kids =
School Lunch Adults = Salad
Snack 2: 1/2
apple, cheese, water
Dinner: Lasagna
Dessert: Flan
Thursday – June 7, 2012
Breakfast: Yogurt
Snack 1: baby
carrots, raisins, water
Lunch: Kids = Sandwich, Fruit, Milk Adults = Salad
Snack 2: Frozen
Blueberry Yogurt Skewer
Dinner: Green
Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Refried Beans
Dessert: Sopapilla
with Honey
Friday – June 8, 2012
Breakfast: Cereal with
milk (Marcus and I use Rice or Soy Milk)
Snack 1: Chocolate
Chip Cookies and water
Lunch: Kids =
Sandwich, Fruit, Milk Adults = Salad
Snack 2: 1/2
apple, cheese, water
Dinner: Pizza
Dessert: Ice
Cream (Marcus and I eat Sorbet)
Saturday - June 9, 2012
Breakfast: Yogurt
Snack 1: baby
carrots, raisins, water
Lunch: Grilled tomato and cheese sandwiches, fruit, kids mik and adults water
Snack 2: Frozen
Blueberry Yogurt Skewer
Dinner: Steak,
baked potatoes, broccolli
Dessert: Apple
Pie
Sunday June 10, 2012
Breakfast: Cereal with
milk (Marcus and I use Rice or Soy Milk)
Snack 1: Chocolate
Chip Cookies and water
Lunch: Chicken Nuggets, sweet potato fries, kids milk, adults water
Snack 2: 1/2
apple, cheese, water
Dinner: Meatloaf,
mashed potatoes, corn
Dessert: Apple
Pie
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Meals From Scratch Meal Planning - June 2012
One of the most gruelling tasks for me following a from scratch lifestyle has actually been the meal planning. I mean, it takes considerable effort sometimes to plan the meals out in which we are going to eat. After that, I have to create my shopping list, and then I have to buy the groceries and find time to cook everything. In my house, we eat 6 times a day which while good for you makes planning and shopping time consuming at times!
Pinterest has become my friend as of late, because it has given me fresh new ideas for summer and reminded me of some old recipes that I know.
I am clearing out my stock of some things that I have in my pantry and I have planned out my meals for June. I challenge everyone to do the same and to start a from scratch lifestyle this summer. I will post my meal plan, weekly shopping list, recipes, etc., and the bulk of the work will be done for you. All you have to do is go to the grocery store to buy the groceries (something you have to do anyway) and make the meals (making everything from scratch might be a little more time consuming, but I am planning meals which mostly you can prepare and cook in one day and then freeze/refrigerate and reheat for the week). If this seems like a lot of work, grab a neighbor or friend. It makes the time go by faster and the extra hand in the kitchen is always a plus.
I will be grabbing my neighbor and good friend Angie this summer. We are going to try and bake our bread, make and prepare our snacks and meals for the week on Mondays - which I have also conveniently dubbed crockpot day!
So, clean out your kitchen this week, and get ready for a from scratch summer with me! I promise you will feel better if you do it! I will post in the next couple of days the 1st weeks' meal plan, shopping list and recipes.
Pinterest has become my friend as of late, because it has given me fresh new ideas for summer and reminded me of some old recipes that I know.
I am clearing out my stock of some things that I have in my pantry and I have planned out my meals for June. I challenge everyone to do the same and to start a from scratch lifestyle this summer. I will post my meal plan, weekly shopping list, recipes, etc., and the bulk of the work will be done for you. All you have to do is go to the grocery store to buy the groceries (something you have to do anyway) and make the meals (making everything from scratch might be a little more time consuming, but I am planning meals which mostly you can prepare and cook in one day and then freeze/refrigerate and reheat for the week). If this seems like a lot of work, grab a neighbor or friend. It makes the time go by faster and the extra hand in the kitchen is always a plus.
I will be grabbing my neighbor and good friend Angie this summer. We are going to try and bake our bread, make and prepare our snacks and meals for the week on Mondays - which I have also conveniently dubbed crockpot day!
So, clean out your kitchen this week, and get ready for a from scratch summer with me! I promise you will feel better if you do it! I will post in the next couple of days the 1st weeks' meal plan, shopping list and recipes.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
5 Minute Homemade Salsa: Secret Ingredient - Hungarian Wax Pepper
The Hungarian Wax Pepper, is a wonderful pepper. Although it looks a lot like a Banana Pepper, it is hardly the same. The to easiest way to tell a Banana Pepper from a Hungarian Wax Pepper, other than tasting it, is the tip of the pepper. The Hungarian Wax Pepper is rounded. As far as flavor goes, it is considered a mild-hot pepper, not a sweet pepper like the Banana Pepper. This guy, about 6 inches in length, is the secret ingredient to my homemade salsa (recipe below).
Salsa:
3 cans petite diced tomatoes OR 4 cups diced Roma tomatoes
1 Hungarian Wax Pepper
3 jalapenos
1/2 Yellow Onion
6 leaves fresh Cilantro
3-4 cloves garlic
garlic salt, to taste
Dice the peppers, onion and cilantro. Mince the garlic. Add all the ingredients to the tomato, then add garlic salt to taste.
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Magical Fruit - Beans
I can bake and cook a lot of things, but beans has never been one of them. Thanks to my WONDERFUL neighbor, Angie, I now know how to prepare beans. Her recipe, below, was a big hit...
2 bags of beans (or a couple cans)
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato sauce (or make your own - I use Roma tomatoes to make my own)
1 bunch cilantro
Water
Brown the chopped onion and garlic. Remove from heat and put in blender with Cilantro. Blend until smooth. Place blended mixture, tomato sauce and beans in crockpot and add just enough water to cover. Cook on low heat for 8 - 9 hours.
I made this, froze what I thought I wasn't going to use this week and had to go get more out! My boys ate them up after I informed them that beans make them fart. They think farting is was the best thing ever, so they kept asking for more! Gotta love boys - well, at least I do, because I have 4 of them now, sigh! ;)
Things to take from this week - neighbors and friends are always a great source of information and if you inform your young male children their vegetables will make them fart, they will eat them! LOL!!!
2 bags of beans (or a couple cans)
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato sauce (or make your own - I use Roma tomatoes to make my own)
1 bunch cilantro
Water
Brown the chopped onion and garlic. Remove from heat and put in blender with Cilantro. Blend until smooth. Place blended mixture, tomato sauce and beans in crockpot and add just enough water to cover. Cook on low heat for 8 - 9 hours.
I made this, froze what I thought I wasn't going to use this week and had to go get more out! My boys ate them up after I informed them that beans make them fart. They think farting is was the best thing ever, so they kept asking for more! Gotta love boys - well, at least I do, because I have 4 of them now, sigh! ;)
Things to take from this week - neighbors and friends are always a great source of information and if you inform your young male children their vegetables will make them fart, they will eat them! LOL!!!
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