February 15th & onward for a few days!

Like Jenn, I'm a planner. I look through the grocery flyers every week with great anticipation then systematically compare what's on sale with what I have on hand already and plan a menu and a grocery list for the week that works as economically and conveniently as possible. I have a "message board" near my kitchen with a magnetic white board, peg board and slots and I usually have a running list of the dinners that are possible with the groceries we have in the house.

The one hitch in the system in recent months is that consuming the food seems to be more challenging than planning and preparing it. Mackenzie and I are often hungry at different times and craving different foods. So, when I cook I tend to cook enough for several days so it can be taken for lunches and reheated for dinner when the spirit moves us.

I've tried new recipes in previous Eat At Home Challenges such as this Italian Wedding Soup (http://eatathomechallenge.blogspot.com/2008/09/day-4-at-campbell-household.html) and although the recipe I made this week was also a meatball soup it was easier to make and just as tasty.

So here's Campbell's Hearty Italian Meatball Soup... (recipe can be found here).

My First Food Blog Post

Jenn asked me to participate in this blog. I figured that I better actually get busy with it. This was not really the best month for me as I was on vacation last week. I do enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. The only thing that I don't really like is cleaning up after. I am a big fan of the food network especially Michael Smith. For my birthday Jenn bought me his cook book "The Best of Chef at Home". I have tried a bunch of different recipes and they have all been good. He encourages his reader to freestyle his recipes, allowing us to use our imaginations or leftovers from the fridge. One of my favorite recipes is Orange Ginger Beef. On Saturday we had Jenn, Darryl, Lucas and Nathan over for dinner. I did freestyle it as the first time I made it according to the recipe and found it to be a bit soupy. Here is the original recipe:

Orange Ginger Beef

a splash of vegetable oil
1 lb for stewing beef (I use round steak and dice it myself)
a sprinkle of salt and pepper
2 onions peeled and chopped
a small knob of ginger, thinly sliced (I have no idea what a knob is I used about 10 thin slices)
one 10 oz can of beef broth
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of orange marmalade
a generous splash of soy sauce
1 tablespoon five spice powder
another sprinkle of salt and pepper
10 oz bag of baby spinach
a handful of bean sprouts
1 bunch of green onions (I always seem to forget to add these)
a handful of cilantro leaves ( don't use, I hate cilantro)

Preheat a large pot over medium high heat and then splash in enough vegetable oil to thinly coat the bottom. Season and then sear the meat until it is evenly browned on all sides. Searing the meat first adds lots of rich carmalized flavors before adding the liquids. Remove meat and set aside. Add the onions and ginger to the ban and stir for a few minutes. Then add the meat back. Add the broth, orange juice and marmalade, soy sauce and five spice powder. Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat for lowest setting that will maintain a simmer. Place a tight fitting lid on the pot to contain the tenderizing steam. Simmer for about an hour Taste and season the broth. Divide the spinach and bean sprouts evenly among four - six bowls. Stir the green onions and cilantro into the broth and then spoon onto spinach and sprouts.

I free styled it by using a bit of cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce and then stirred in the spinach and bean sprouts. I served it with rice.

Tonight we had chicken cooked with mushrooms, mashed potatoes and green beans. I found a recipe for a fruit crisp type dessert so I made that tonight for dessert. Sorry didn't get a picture.
I used frozen blueberries tonight but I think you could used the mixed berries as well. What I liked about the recipe is that you could make individual servings and how ever many you want. So I filled each ramekin with frozen blue berries almost to the top. Then I mixed some 1 tsp of corn starch with 4 tsp of water and divided it equally between the two ramekins. (If you were making four you would double the starch and water) I put a little bit of honey on each ramekin. Then I sprinkled granola on top and put in a 375 degree oven for about 35 min. I put the ramekins on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper so I wouldn't make a mess in the oven. Then I served it warm with a scoop of ice cream. Yummy !!!!!

Weekend at the Parks

Hi Everyone,

Well I had a day last week where I ate out. Everything was paid for me, so I saved money that way, but I still failed on this month's challenge. ALthough I'm glad I haven't gone to McDonalds or Wendy's. On a good note I have a couple of pictures and cool ideas.


Tonight for dinner we had Spanish Rice, which I know is also a Campbell favorite. It's Spanish rice a roni and you add ground beef to it. Put a little cheese on top and eat it with nacho chips. It's fast and good. The hardest part is finding the spanish rice a roni.

Last night it was nice enough to barbeque

So we had hamburgers with my favorite flat buns from superstore. (and they are whole wheat). We also had some beets with it, homemade from the garden last summer and some cauliflower. The cool park about the cauliflower is that I had some pesto in the fridge from a meal a week ago and put a dollop of that on. It was delicious.

We also had fish and chips last week.

They are also an easy favorite and the kids eat them and it's a good way to get fish in the diet (even if it is batter coated) My favorite fish brand is haddock and hops from superstore.

How is everyone else doing?

Jenn

Day 24 at the Parks

6 More Days Left!! In a week from now I may be eating...... Wendys...... or Swiss Chalet...... or Chinese Food..... I've learned some things from this month, but more on that later.

Tonight's dinner was fajitas. There are a couple of things that "make" fajitas for me. The first is having good steak. I always like it if there is leftover steak. The other thing I quite like is Bullseye barbeque sauce. Our fajitas have beef, cheese, tomato, rice, black beans (if we have them around) and sour cream. Dad will also be happy to know I use whole wheat shells.

Now that the month is almost over I am getting good at remember to take a picture. Even Lucas is getting into it and wanted to include a picture of Nathans dinner.


Jenn

Susans Roast Beef

Tonight Mom made a great roast beef dinner (as usual). Here's the recipie:

1/2 cup red wine or tomato juice
1 envelope onion soup mix
An eye of the round beef roast,

In her slow cooker it goes for 4 hours on low. I'm sure in mine it would take 6-8 hours. Here is a picture with mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots and beets.



Till Tomorrow

Jenn