A Week's Menu of Real Food

After the debacle that's holiday eating, it's time to get back on the bandwagon! There's a ton of random recipes that I want to try out and we also need to use up some of our random food. So this week's menu:

Sunday

• Breakfast: We're planning to take Sydney to Creekside Restaurant for their Sunday breakfast. It's supposed to be yummy and inexpensive. I don't think this is a 100 Days of Real Food-approved place (not sure where they get their eggs, bacon, grits, etc.), but it will all be a good Southern-style breakfast!
• Lunch: Whatever we can scrounge from the refrigerator. Maybe a PB&J (I do have Real Food-approved bread, peanut butter, and preserves!)?
• Dinner: Leftover Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole (I made the cream of chicken soup from SCRATCH)

Monday:

• Breakfast: Sydney has been eating a TON of breakfast lately. I'm going to make sure to offer her lots of fruit Monday morning while I make these: Ebelskivers. You have to have a special pan to make these, and I managed to catch a good one CHEAP on Amazon 2 weeks ago!
• Lunch: Whatever we can scrounge from the refrigerator. Dinner leftovers?
• Dinner: The easy crock pot chicken from 100 Days with a casserole from the freezer (probably squash)

Tuesday:

• Breakfast: More fruit. Maybe some banana pancakes? I might make a full batch this time and freeze the other half
• Lunch: Whatever we can scrounge from the refrigerator.  
• Dinner: Monday's leftovers

Wednesday:

• Breakfast: Back to reality from the holidays. Fruit, yogurt, cereal (speaking of, I really want to try the Nature's Path O's and see how they are!)
• Lunch: Whatever we can scrounge from the refrigerator.  
• Dinner: Turkey pot pie - I have to scrounge up my recipe and see if I can figure out some easy alterations for the bisquick topping - maybe these?

Thursday:

• Breakfast: Fruit, yogurt, cereal
• Lunch: Whatever we can scrounge from the refrigerator.  
• Dinner: Turkey pot pie leftovers

Friday:

• Breakfast: Fruit, yogurt, cereal
• Lunch: Whatever we can scrounge from the refrigerator.  
• Dinner: Clear-Out-the-Fridge Night

Snacks: I want to try a couple of easy snack recipes:

• Easy Cheesy Crackers
• Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I also have a pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe I've been meaning to make for WEEKS. Maybe I'll finally get to that!

Dinner

We had an interesting mix of good and bad for dinner tonight. We're trying to cook more from our freezer, fridge, and pantry this week (I still spent a ridiculous amount at the grocery store this week).

Tonight and tomorrow's menu looks like this:

Chicken nuggets
Butternut squash soup
Turnip fries

Yes, you read that right - we had TURNIP fries for dinner tonight. We have had turnips in our last couple of CSA boxes. One of the recipes the CSA sent out was for turnip fries. Basically turnips (cut like fries) with Parmesan cheese, onion powder, and paprika baked in the oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes. I don't know that I have EVER had turnips before (I think Stephen has). I can tell you that I will NOT be having them this way again. I can't decide if they didn't actually cook all the way or what, but the fries weren't particularly enticing (dipped in BBQ sauce they were edible, but that's not a selling point).

The chicken nuggets and the soup, on the other hand, were DELICIOUS. I did half the nuggets by "frying" them in the pan and baked the other half. The fried ones were wonderful, and I'm sure the baked ones will be good too. Not all the ingredients were truly "real food" approved because I used what I had on hand like frozen chicken breasts and bread crumbs (I did a mix of Panko and regular), but the goal was to cook a good meal using what we had on hand. Moment of honesty: I did try to make my own real-food approved bread crumbs, but I managed to burn the bread! Oops! Next time :)

Thursday and Friday I'm making a stirfry with pork tenderloin (already in our freezer) and whatever veggies are in our vegetable drawer!

Cooking and Adjusting Recipes

Exciting real food moment today: I found a simple, five-ingredient whole wheat bread today at 14 Carrot - Rising High :)

On to the "meat" of the post:

I have a huge pot of vegetable and beef soup simmering away on the stove and it smells delicious already. I made a few minor adjustments to my mom's recipe - I added some leftover quinoa, kale, and butternut squash (trying to empty some things out of our fridge). It was already a mostly "real food" recipe. One change I made was to sub organic beef broth for beef bouillon; however, looking at the ingredients on the broth reminded me of all the weird stuff in beef broth. I've successfully made chicken and vegetable broth, so beef broth is next on the list. Unfortunately it's not quite as cheap and easy as the chicken and veggie broths, but I'm going to figure it out! I also couldn't find a source on my side of town for organic beef bones, so it's just conventional ones in the soup (part of the problem with making my own stock too...)

I'm making cornbread tonight, using this recipe: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/11/15/recipe-whole-grain-cornbread/. I made it the first time with medium grind cornmeal and mild cheddar cheese (I got to excited about the organic, grass-fed label without realizing it wasn't sharp) - that was not very good. I found some finer cornmeal (blue!) and sharp cheddar the last time, and it turned out much better!

I have 2 new chili recipes that I also want to try soon: Crockpot Turkey Chili and Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

The turkey chili looks like it's real food ready; I'm going to use my homemade chicken stock from the freezer. I already have a can of organic pumpkin puree on the counter, but I also have 2 small cooking/baking pumpkins. Not sure which I'll use for the pumpkin puree!

The chicken chili is going to require some adjustments. Here's the recipe (from my friend Angela):

Ingredients:
*1 can of black beans
*1 can of corn, undrained
*1 can Rotel, undrained
*1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
*1 8 oz pkg light cream cheese
2 chicken breast halves
* indicate things I'll discuss below!

Directions:
Drain and rinse black beans. Place chicken at bottom of crock pot, then pour in whole can of corn (undrained), rotel (undrained) and black beans. Top with seasonings and ranch mix. Stir together. Place cream cheese on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir cream cheese into chili. Use 2 forks to shred chicken together. Serve.

So onto adjustments:

One thing I've been trying to consider is how to use fewer canned vegetables. Until I decide to start canning my own (which will generally have to wait until summer), I'll have to compromise here. The first three ingredients here are canned. I'm probably least concerned about the beans because there is an organic brand that has BPA-free cans. I'll probably use those for ease. One "real food goal" I have is to start using dried beans to make my own. Until I decide to tackle that, canned beans are no biggie.

Canned corn bothers me a little more, but also has an easier (maybe?) fix. Even though it says undrained, I think I'm just going to sub organic frozen corn into the recipe and maybe add a little water.

Rotel is tomatoes, so I'll probably use a can of organic diced tomatoes. Canned tomatoes are getting to be my biggest pet peeve though. First of all, there are always some additives in canned tomatoes (usually citric acid, wherever that comes from). Second of all, tomatoes seem to be one of the more concerning vegetables (fruit?) to buy canned because of the acidity and BPA in the cans combining for wonderful slew of chemicals leaking into our food. Canned tomatoes might be the first canning project I attempt this summer! I'm always getting a ton of tomatoes, so I think I'm going to attempt to do a variety of canning/freezing things with them.

The package of ranch mix is actually pretty easy to replace; 100 Days has a recipe link to homemade mix:

• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp pepper

I'll just have to make sure that I know how much is in a "mix" and I'll be good to go there!

Cream cheese is also problematic because most of them, including organic brands, have additives (usually carrageenan for consistency). Carrageenan is considered food-safe, but there have been several studies that suggest it might be better NOT to eat it. As a result, I've been trying my best to avoid it! There is one brand that definitely doesn't - Nancy's. 14 Carrot and Publix both don't stock it. I need to see if Rosewood Market, Whole Foods, or Earth Fare does or if Publix could get it for me. Until then, I'll stick to organic cream cheese. At least then I can avoid the growth hormones and antibiotics! 100 Days' opinion is to stick to full-fat dairy products. It definitely tastes better and is more filling when you use the real stuff (plus the whole milk is better than the skim at stopping heartburn)! I'm not a stickler for this "rule" and since low-fat cream cheese is a different type of cheese altogether, I don't have an issue with that.

So quick summary: I will change out the canned corn for frozen, use homemade ranch dip, and try my best to find the no additive cream cheese!

Real Food Journey #2

I went to the Farmers Market at the Flight Deck. Clearly the last week was a bad choice for trying it for the first time. There were TWO food vendors there and maybe five or six total. The vegetables didn't look bad, but I didn't need anything right now, plus our CSA basket comes Thursdays. What I was looking for was the meat and fish vendors they sometimes have. No such luck. I'll have to try again when it reopens in March! And I do plan to try the All Local one in downtown Columbia. I just need to figure out a Saturday when I'm home to go. Plus you have to get there early when it opens at like 8, which is early, so... But I will make it!

I also started working more on Goal #4 (looking for more sources of local meats, eggs, and dairy products, especially meats right now). I found a source for grass-fed beef and pastured poultry in Georgia that ships. They actually have reasonable prices ($5.99/lb. for grass-fed 90/10 ground beef - that's not much more than regular priced grocery store 90/10 ground beef) and shipping isn't outrageous. I want to do a little bit more research on them, but I think we might go that route for some of our meat! It's called White Oak Pastures. Supposedly they stock them in Publix supermarkets, but I haven't seen it in ours. I'm going to look again and then ask about it. If I can get it here for a reasonable price, then I'd rather do that. I also need to check out Earth Fare, the new Whole Foods, and Rosewood Market to see what their meat selection/prices are like. I have seen some local meat at 14 Carrot, but haven't priced it. I'm assuming that the shipping might be negated if I take into account the supermarket mark up. So lots more work to do there!

Some might ask about the increased price of this type of meat v. our food budget. Here 's an interesting post from 100 Days about their Week 3 Mini-Pledge on Meat. What I've found is that I feel like I'm using a little less meat than I might have before. The Volumetrics cookbook adds in extra vegetables to a lot of their recipes, so you don't need as much meat for a filing meal. The chili I made this week, for example, only uses 1/2 lb. of ground beef because it uses a base of 3 cups of veggies (green peppers and onions) and then adds beans (I add even more - 1 can of black and 1 can of pinto) and corn. I've made this wonderful Chicken in a Crockpot twice now. We can eat off of the meat for about an entire week. From the last one, I've gotten 6 meals out of it on average. The first night we had chicken pitas with cucumbers, feta, and tomatoes with homemade tzatziki sauce. Then we had homemade chicken noodle soup for 2 nights (with stock from the bones - we did have ham & cheese sandwiches to go with it, but the soup was really filling). I had enough leftover soup for 2 lunches for me. Then I made chicken risotto that gave us 2 dinners and at least 1 lunch for me. Now I'm using the remainder of the chicken (plus another frozen chicken breast for tonight's recipe that will have leftovers for tomorrow! So overall, I think I've bought LESS meat than we were before.

Tonight I'm trying a new recipe from 100 Days of Real Food: Chicken Enchiladas. I'm cutting the recipe in half because I don't want to freeze one yet. If it's yummy, then I'll do the full recipe next time! Rice is cooking now, so it should be fast to throw together later. I'm also making my friend Kaisi's guacamole recipe to go with it (except I'm using store salsa because I want to save that step!):

Pulse 2 avocados in a food processor with 2 tbsps of salsa. Add garlic salt and additional salsa to taste. Super simple!

Real Food Journey #1

Especially up through when I was in elementary school, my parents did a way better than average job of feeding me good, healthy food. My mom made most (all?) of my baby food at home. Treats were limited to once a week (like a 3 Musketeers at the grocery store). They never offered me soft drinks, so when I first tasted one at 5, I hated it. They rarely offered juice, so I primarily drank milk and water. The other food was healthy too - tons of fruits and veggies (my dad had an amazing garden until we moved when I was 7), cereal couldn't have more than 6 grams of sugar, "wheat" bread (not 100% whole wheat, but not white cardboard either), a veggie steamer, and fast food nights were generally spaghetti with homemade-ish sauce (my mom would throw together a variety of canned tomatoes and make a sauce) or tuna salad. So overall, I would say I was introduced to more healthy food from an earlier age than many American children - there were no chips in the Cabinet, no Twinkies, etc. I'm not sure I've actually ever had a Twinkie...  I thought for the longest time that I really didn't like cheese because the place I was most exposed to it was when people offered me Cheez-its (ew). As I've gotten older, I've embraced other healthy choices as well, moving to 100% whole wheat bread and primarily 100% whole grain pasta, for example.

However, as I've been working to feed Little Miss S, it's made me rethink some of my ideas about "good" food. We made the decision to introduce solid foods through Baby-Led Weaning. Basically instead of purees, you introduce baby to a wide variety of real food from the age of 6 months on. One of the positive side effects is that you're supposed to end up with a better, more varied eater as your child gets older. Little Miss is a pretty good eater and does eat a wide variety of foods. If there is ever a Junior Little Miss (or Mister), I would definitely do the same thing again and I would probably embrace offering more of what WE're eating more often, along the lines of the blog I linked above.

I have several Facebook friends who have "liked" various health-conscious pages over the last year or so. Some stuff is still a little too "out there" for me to think about that - juice fasts, pure paleo, etc. But one blog that has particularly affected me has been 100 Days of Real Food. It made me start to think more carefully about what I consider healthy food, not just reading the sugar content, but reading the actual ingredients list, for example. I haven't gone completely nuts - I didn't throw away everything in my house that didn't meet the "Real Food Guidelines", but I have started to read more ingredient lists and start to think more about some of those options. For example, I've started going to the health food store for heavy cream because the ultra-pasteurized versions at the main supermarket have additives, and I've made my own chicken broth twice now in the crockpot (the crockpot is a whole other issue for a whole other post).

I cooked regularly when Stephen and I first got married, but when Little Miss came along, things shifted. We started to more regularly eat frozen meals and I just didn't put as much time into menu planning as I had before. The last couple of months I've been putting more of a concerted effort to make more positive changes in what we eat.

I've been pulling more recipes from 100 Days and also from Weelicious. I've cracked back open my Volumetrics cookbooks. I've been reading labels when I buy things and shopping more at 14 Carrot.

Some more changes that I hope to make soon:

1. Making my own vegetable and beef broth
2. Making Stephen green tea from scratch instead of the bottled teas he's been drinking with all the crazy additives
3. Shopping more at local farmers markets (I have plans to visit one in Lexington on Thursday)
4. Looking for more sources of local meats, eggs, and dairy products (especially meats right now)
5. Trying out lots of other recipes, including sandwich bread, graham crackers, and cheddar bunny-like crackers

This week my goal is to try #3. I'll let y'all know how the Lexington Farmers Market is!