I was happy with the menu:

• Grapes
• Chicken Breast with Maple Chipotle Glaze and Savory Cranberry sauce
• Chili Lime Corn
• Dinner Rolls
• Blue Corn Muffins
• Double Apple Cake

I am going to be posting each of the recipes individually this week but I have a backlog of images to deal with (again!) and I wanted to have a reference point. So….here is what you can look forward to this week. Ladies and Gentleman, Get Your Ovens Ready!

Caramelized Pear Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

I loved this salad and so did everyone else.  I poached the pears in a light maple syrup mixture and laid them on a bed of baby greens.  Nuts, dried cranberries and homemade cranberry vinaigrette were great but I needed something to balance the flavors. When I saw the white, sharp New York Cheddar I knew I had found the balance. I liked the balance of flavors and textures in this…and it was pretty!

Dorie’s Double Apple Cake

I am not sure I got any great images of this. Dorie’s Double Apple Cake from her My Home to Yours Cookbook was the perfect finish for the dinner. I had originally wanted chocolate but as the menu unfolded I decided to maintain the pattern of harvest foods. I changed the cake up, as I will show you when I blog it, but it was amazingly rich, moist, and flavorful. Served it with a Granny Smith Apple to cut the sweetness and a smear of dulce de leche.

Blueberry Lime Muffins

I have made blueberry lemon, blueberry orange, and blueberry white chocolate muffins before. I had some limes left and wanted to see how this worked. I loved the play of flavor between the blueberries and the tangy lime. It was a nice balance of flavors.

And finally:

Beer Batter Onion Rings

Let me just say, completely unbiased and all, I make the best onion rings in the entire known universe. Once I post these recipe along with my hints for amazing onion rings you will make the best onion rings in the universe, too. Pinkie swear.

So…go ahead and do what you need to do while I get my images together and I will see you back here…ohhhh….tomorrow?

images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I dislike modern society. We have lost the ability to relax in a hammock in the back yard with a book, because it is too hot to do anything in the house. We don’t relax as all anymore. We have created a year ’round climate that allows us to work ourselves to death.

Today make a decision to put it aside for a bit. Enjoy your kids. Enjoy your family, savor the last few weeks of summer as much as you can. Make a choice to learn to relax more, live more, work less. I know that I am right there with ya.

In light of that, here are some recipes that I found that are quick and support our new, kicked back lifestyle!

• Double Tomato Bruschetta just serve it with a slice of honeydew and a salad
• Garbanzo Bean Salad with Red Onion, Parsley, Cilantro and Feta and a loaf of black olive bread and some sliced tomatoes.. Just have yogurt over fresh fruit for dessert
• Green Tea Blueberry Smoothie This would be a great quick breakfast or afternoon refresher
• Homemade Toaster Strudel – Make up a batch of these in the cool of a morning and breakfast all week.
• Cheddar and Gruyere Gougeres -   Serve with your favorite  salad and have ice cream for dessert

Have a great weekend!

Post from: Baking Delights

I wanted to get this recipe up in time for you to consider it for Fourth of July though.  I know, I know, you always have the same potato salad and it is tradition…well yeah! Me too, but you have to try this because it is addictive. Have I ever lied to you? I am telling you that this potato salad is absolutely my favorite now, and although I grew up on the traditional Midwestern style potato salad with a tiny touch of mustard, boiled egg, and celery, THIS blows my Mom’s potato salad out of the water. Sorry Mom.

Unlike classic potato salad this shouldn’t sit around very long. The hot peppers tend to get hotter as they sit… so what seems to be mild at 10 a.m. is spicy at 4 p.m. and three-alarm by day 2, if it lasts that long. The warm flavors of the Southwest are highlighted and this is perfect with the classic burgers and hot dogs, or a brisket.

I used organic red skinned potatoes for this but next time I plan on using a combination of organic heirloom potatoes; for color an flavor. The thin skinned potatoes are important to use in this recipe for their flavor, texture, and color.

I saw a recipe in Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook and decided that I wanted to try it…but as usual I could not follow directions and had to go off on my own tangent. I think you will agree that it is an awesome tangent.

You might want to cut back on the spicy peppers. The chipotles will be the hottest and the poblanos the mildest. The potato and mayo tone down the spice but still….

Southwestern Potato Salad

• 4 lbs heirloom, thin skinned potatoes, cut and boiled until tender but not mushy
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, roasted until soft
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 Poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2-3 canned chipotle peppers in mole, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 2 cups Hellmans (yes, Hellmans) or homemade mayo
• 2 tbs Guldens brown mustard
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon agave, turbinado, or local honey
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin (I used a tablespoon)

Mix the mayo, mustard, agave, cumin, and lime juice. Squeeze in the soft insides of the roasted garlic and mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, and chopped garlic until well mixed.

Pour the mayo mixture over all and blend gently. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 8

images:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

BBQ Chicken Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

Monday nights are hectic because the kids have activities as church. Wenesday nights they have youth so that is another hectic night. Try to allow for those types of things by making as much ahead of time as possible. Learn to use your kids as prep coooks. Cooking is a great way to build relationship and I have heard more “secrets and confessions” from my prep cook of the day than you can imagine. Have a child that has trouble releasing emotion? Give them some onions to chop so they have an excuse to have a good cry.

The more you make yourself, the less you depend on prepared items, the more you will save on your bill AND reap the reward of better, healthier eating. I try to stay away from corn syrup as an ingredient, unless it is in a recipe I am making myself and I use non-GMO. If you have big appetites in your family like I do then do what our grandmothers did. Create healthy meals and depend on whole grain breads for filler. I really want to encourage you to pick up Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I love this book and there is just not an excuse to not have fresh, homemade bread.

So, here is the menu for this week. I will be back later with the budget damage. I have these marked one through seven because I am still not sure of the days I am serving the different things.

One

• Grilled Steak (I picked these up yesterday, marked down from 28.00 to 7.99)
• Wheat Berry Salad
• Banana Caramel Tart

Two

• Lasagne
• Tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette
• Garlic bread
• Stacked Blondies- blondie, cheesecake, mango cream? puree? gel? still working on this (it will be pineapple on top..mangoes were $$$ and pineapples were ripe and on sale!)

Three- (adapting from Mesa Grill)

• Turkey with Chipotle Maple Glaze  (got turkey medallions on clearance yesterday for 2.25!0
• Sweet potato- pecan gratin
• Brussels sprouts with orange chipotle butter
• Pumpkin- pecan ice cream

Four

• Pizza! Not sure what I am using for toppings yet. I did BBQ Chicken Pizza last week and it was awesome.

Five

• Whole wheat fettucine w/ black beans, corn, zuccini, chilis, cilantro and Jack cheese
• Sliced tomatoes
• Corn bread..(switching to some other bread, not sure yet..maybe rosemary..I forgot cornmeal and I am out of dry corn to grind.)
• Lime Vanilla Creme Brulee (working out of Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook)

Six (this is probably today since it will be easy and I have errands)

• Taco Salad
• Homemade tortilla chips
• Rice Krispie-Ganache bars (working on this recipe) (While I was getting the Rice Krispies I happened to see the Golden Grahams and had an inspired moment..)

Seven

• Cooks choice

—————————–

O.k…I am back from the store. My grocery bill came to $174.03 and according to my reciept I saved 55.00 with instore savings.  Whatever. This amount includes chicken breast  (2 big packs) that I picked up on sale for 1.99 a lb and strawberries that I wasn’t planning on that were on sale. I also got enough ground beef to use in more than one meal, even though it is only on the menu one night. I made some substitutions as noted above.  Keep in mind that I cook for 8 people. This amount includes 3 meals a day for 7 days, with some things to carry over. I figure I wont know exactly what I am spending until a month has gone by and I can average it. There will be no “running to the store to pick up xyz” unless I have to do it for a specific post, like Daring Bakers.   Wow…what an adventure here, right?

image:MaryeAudet

Post from: Baking Delights

Marc has had a horrid cold, which he passed to Matthew (17) and Nick was sniffling and sounding stuffed up. I was not going to argue with him. I don’t like taking the kids out when they are sick, even a little. It exposes other people to what they have and, with their immune systems all ready compromised it adds to the likelihood that they will pick up something else.

My kids are a pretty healthy bunch, we get maybe a cold or stomach bug once or twice a year. I usually treat it with herbs and natural items, plenty of rest, and isolation from the germy public. Since I work at home, and we homeschool we don’t HAVE to be out and about the way others do..Just one more way that I am blessed.

Nick and Bella

Anyway, so Kyrie (5) decided since I was staying home she was going to stay home to “amuse Nicky because he is sick”. Matt had overslept and was still dealing with the residue of his cold..so he opted to just relax today, too.

I kissed Marc bye and headed into the sunroom to watch Maisie with the Bug (kyrie) and Matt. We heard the clamor of everyone leaving, Shiloh (who looks like a teen model, by the way) couldn’t find her BLACK flipflop to go with her pink gypsy skirt and black tank top..and was forced to wear blue flip flops. Ethan was trying to get her to go see UP with him today and was plying her with promises of cokes, popcorn, and even paying for her…It was the usual chaos getting out the door.

Then the house was totally quiet and Matt, Kyrie, and I were just kicked back, chatting and watching t.v. I was checking email and twitter and Facebook…you know, leisure time.

All of a sudden I said, “Hey, where’s Nick?”

We looked everywhere in the house for him, out in the barns, in his fort…No Nick.

You guessed it. HE decided at the last minute to go to church with the family.

So, having a few hours that are not accounted for I decided to work on a menu that I had been thinking about for awhile. It seems to me to be perfect for Father’s Day or 4th of July. I will be posting the recipes this week IF they work but here is what we are having for dinner today

• Spicy Apricot Glazed  Grilled Chicken
• Grilled corn on the cob with cumin butter
• Sliced locally grown tomatoes with a splash of balsamic
• Whole grain rolls with pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• Red Velvet and Cheesecake Cupcakes (am thinking about a nuance of citrus in these..not sure)

I briefly considered an apricot and white tea flavored muffin but since I am thinking of this for Father’s Day I want it to have a masculine feel. I plan on serving sweet tea, made from our custom blend (blackberry, rose, and lemon) and coffee with the dessert. I have some flavored Bourbon Pecan from my local roaster that I am eager to open up.

So, the other plan I have for today is to finally get back to writing menus rather than the Oh-My-Gosh-It’s-5:30-What’ll-I-Make? method. With food prices skyrocketing, and money tight it is important to keep a tight rein on the food budget. More so when you feed 8 people. And, when you are a food writer  you have an image to uphold, right? I mean, I can’t exactly blog hot dogs and boxed mac and cheese, can I? I might get into a legal battle with a certain Food Network star. (in case you didn’t recognize that as being snarky.. let me make that clear with a !Snark Alert!)

I am going to post my menu for the week tomorrow and I will post links to the online recipes I am using, as well as post the recipes that I use. We can be cooking buddies!

I don’t use coupons because most of what I buy does not come with coupons. Let’s face it, I don’t buy a lot of prepared and convenience foods. It try to pick up meat on clearance when I can, and I have had to scale back on organic meats because they are significantly more expensive. I do try to go with all- natural. I hate that I am, to a certain extent, supporting factory farming with my food dollars but in the area where I live, and with prices, locally raised, grass fed beef is out of my range. I am still looking though.

I will also update the menu post with the cost of my groceries. I am not going to list them individually because that would be long! Also, you have to figure that I use milk from our goats and eggs from our chickens so that is a savings. I think that I may have my writing account start buying the eggs from my farm account, but if I do that is it illegal to sell myself raw goat’s milk?  I buy organic white flour in 50 lb bags, and I buy wheat berries to grind, also in 50 lb bags.

I think that’s all. I will post my menu later today or tomorrow. Until then, have an awesome weekend!

Oh…Erin took that picture of Nick and her daughter Bella. Nick loves babies, and he is enraptured with Bells. In fact, when Erin walks in with the baby there is a melee surrounding her until one triumphant person walks away with Bella….usually Shiloh but not always.

Yes, he does need a hair cut. But he likes his hair long and I see no reason to force that issue when there are so many others that I could be focusing on. Matt also has long hair…obviously they get their hippy tendencies from their bohemian mother.

Erin is very talented photographer you can see more of her work at Mamas Castle. She also has work for sale at this online gallery Erin’s Images.

Images:Erin Audet Myers

Post from: Baking Delights

I always find the day after Christmas a bit of a let down.  It’s funny, this year I was battling the blues going in to Christmas so the Day After thing hasn’t been so bad.  I am not sure if that is good OR bad!

I don’t cook the day after a big food holiday.  I generally just leave the fridge door open (figuratively) and let everyone graze on whatever is left.  That means that Kyrie is probably high on sugar right now, Nick has eaten  nothing but fruit salad, Marc hasn’t eaten at all, and everyone else is somewhere in between their fourth helping of M&Ms and the left over ham.

I got a gift certificate to Amazon from one of the companies I write for and so I have been trying to decide on exactly what I want to get.  It is so hard!  Cookbook? Gadget? Gourmet salt? I can’t make a choice.

For me, the holidays are over.  New Years is not a big deal here.  I don;t enjoy the late night glitz and boozing that so often seems to be a part of it.  So, for this year anyway, I am ready to get the Christmas stuff put away, the house cleaned up, and move on into 2009.

The fact that it is nearly 70 degrees today is not helping!

So, how was your Christmas? Do you cook the day after or do what we do and just graze?

image;marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Fourth of July is coming up and I thought that I would put together a few menus from our past holidays.

When I was growing up we had a pool and my parents did a big July 4th bash every year.  One year that I remember especially well was themed “Christmas in July” and they strung lights around the landscaping bushes that were around the deck.  They wrapped small gifts and had “Santa” deliver them to the guests. It was great fun, wonderful memories, and I think that they may have gotten through that entire day without one arguement.  Amazing.

Anyway.  Our holidays have been less dramatic.  We generally have a cookout and invite everyone we know.  If that does not seem like enough we invite people we don’t know.  You think I am kidding, don’t you?

Hamburgers are a classic to grill.  They are easy, not too expensive and everyone loves them.  Get a good quality burger with a little fat in it but not to much..90/10 or 85/15 is about right.  You need the fat to carry the flavor but too much will make the burgers postage stamp size when they are done.  Season the shaped pattys with some seasoning rub, you can find it in most stores or try this Amarillo Dry Rub recipe.

Let the rub sit on those burgers for about 2 hours then go ahead and grill them.

Serve with:

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Pasta Salad

Sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickles…you know the drill

Easy Earthquake Cake 

Sweet Tea Punch 

Keep an eye out for more Fourth of July Menus as the week goes on.

Image: Erin Audet Myers 

Used by permission

Post from: Baking Delights

Day one is going t be your menu making day. You will choose main courses for as many days as you wish. For the purposes of this article, we will assume 30. One of the ways that I have found to make this part easier is to have theme days every week. For example:

Monday-hamburger based meal

Tuesday- Smoked sausage based meal

Wednesday- Chicken based meal

Thursday- Pasta

Friday- homemade pizza

Saturday- soup

Sunday- Stew or roast

I like to laminate my menus and rotate them monthly, having a different menu for each month but keeping the same menus year in and year out. Variety with out all the work!

With that in mind I will choose my recipes, and keeping track of ingredients. If I need an onion for the pizza sauce and two onions for the stew then I will need 3 onions total. Figure up all the ingredients that you need for the month and make a list.

Hamburger- 25 lbs

Stew meat- 8 lbs

carrots-5 lbs

and on. It will seem like an extraordinary amount of food but you will actually be saving money by shopping this way because you will use everything. You will also need freezer bags in several sizes, and microwave friendly casserole dishes. I like to pick them up at thrift stores when i see them because I can often get casserole dishes for 1-2 dollars each and just freeze the food in the container I plan to serve it in.

You will also need heavy duty aluminum foil.

Plan the steps you will use in your cooking. For example, put stew ingredients in crock-pot, cook all of the hamburger at once and set aside. Cook all of the onions and set aside, cook all of the macaroni and set aside…

Day Two: Shopping and Preparation

Take another adult with you and leave the little ones at home. You will need to concentrate when you shop.

Because you are buying in such large amounts you might want to try Costco I do not shop at Sam’s or Walmart personally, however Sam’s would be another place to get items in bulk. Buy yourself a special snack, a special tea or coffee, and your favorite magazine. Do NOT skip this.
When you get home arrange the food on the counter (if you have space) according to how you are going to use it. Put it away in that order so you can get it quickly and easily.

Chop all of the onions you need chopped and place them in a ziploc in the fridge. Chop all of the green peppers, the celery, the carrots…what ever you can cut up ahead of time do so. If you are going to be using a whole chicken, or a couple of whole chickens, put them in the crock-pot the night before cooking day so they will be cooked and ready to go in the morning.

Day 3: Cooking

Prepare the ingredients according to your plan. Once all of your ingredients are cooked you will begin to assemble the dishes.

1. Assemble all of the hamburger based dishes. Place in the containers you will be using for freezing. Set aside to cool. Take a label and write the name of the dish and short instructions on it and stick it to the top of the container. Also attach any added ingredient for toppings, like shredded cheese, in a separate bag.

example:

1/4/08 to be served 1/19/08

Lasagne:

Thaw over night. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes . Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15 more minutes. Serve with garlic bread, green beans, and tiramisu.

Allow the dishes to cool while you go on to the next thing. Move through the recipes in a logical fashion as much as possible. Assemble all the hamburger meals, then all the chicken meals, etc.

Clean as you go! Keep a sink full of soapy, hot water, changing as needed, to toss dirty utensils in so they don’t stack up. Wipe up spills as the happen.

Take a break after 3 hours. Brew your coffee or tea, put your snack on a nice plate and go to another room, taking your magazine. Set a timer for 20 minutes, sit in a comfy chair and relax.

Return to the scullery and finish up.

Once the meals are packaged for the freezer, cooked, and labeled place them in the freezer with the meals you will use later in the month at the bottom. Save one meal out for dinner.

Now, just enjoy. Post the menu on the fridge and just remember to pull the frozen meal out the night before to thaw. If you are running late, sick, or something comes up you can simply tell someone to pop the meal in the oven and your dinner is done. Clean up is easy, most of the mess has all ready been taken care of. And, if a neighbor becomes ill you can easily take them a meal from your stash.

How cool is that? Here are some more links you may find useful:

Once A Month Cooking World

includes printable menus and grocery lists

Once A Month Cooking

Tips, links and recipes

Menu & Meal Planning

Printable forms

And of course, keep checking Baking Delights where I will be posting recipes and hints weekly!

Post from: Baking Delights