Lunch and Dinner Dilemma.

Seems like I've finally reached my breaking point in the lunch and dinner menu department. Frequent trips to the grocery store (like 4 per week!!), too many meals at the restaurant, and scrambling to make something quick before the whole family melts down...this has been my life for the past couple of months. It's driving me to insanity!!!

So after a meal of leftovers and cheese pizza, I decided to get my life back on track in the cooking department. I've always done menus and it has been a wonderful help to me. I'm a BIG buyer and believer of organic and natural foods, so planning my shopping trip is important if I want to buy the kinds of foods we eat and save money. Believe me, buying prepared meals at Whole Foods is not cheap!

I began by taking a look at some of our favorite family meals for both lunch and dinner. I love allrecipes.com and I have most of our favorite dinner recipes stored through their Recipe Box feature. My next step was to download an empty dinner menu planner from Donna Young's website. Finally, I just filled it in for the whole month. (I did the same for a lunch menu.)

I started with our Friday meals, since we don't eat meat on those days. After that, I planned our Wednesday meals since we have faith formation on those days and having slow cooker meals is most convenient. The rest just fell into place. Leaving the weekends open for leftovers or family trips to the restaurant works well for us too.

I opted for doing a whole month of planning in advance. I think this will prevent my weekend rushing around of trying to come up with something. And once the month is over, I can just start at the beginning again...maybe switching some recipes for others. But at least I don't have to think about what's for dinner (or lunch!) for a whole month!!

My grocery shopping trips are now being planned for every two weeks, with perhaps a small trip in-between for fresh produce. This will give me so much more time for when I have our babysitter watching the kids...and I'm sure she'll appreciate knowing what to make for lunch whenever she is here!

I have included a link to both my dinner and lunch menus. All my lunch meals don't require a recipe, I just make them off the top of my head. If you want the recipes for my dinner menus, a quick search at Allrecipes.com will help you find what you need! If not, just drop me a comment and I'll send it over!!

Monthly Lunch Menu

Monthly Dinner Menu

It feels good to go back to having a plan, especially now that I have a new baby on the way in less than 2 months! Now to start organizing other parts of my life...... :)

Homemade Bread.

I like to make homemade bread. The smell your home fills up with, the anticipation of a warm slice of bread with honey. It's all worth the amount of time you need to invest to make a loaf. I don't use a bread machine and like to watch the bread baking in the oven. Unfortunately, I was finding myself making a loaf of bread only about once a week. I was sticking to usual store bought brands. Lately, however, I've been making a loaf from every day to every other day. I've been spoiling not only my taste buds, but those of the kids.

Yesterday, we ran out of homemade bread. I had to substitute with our usual store bought replacement. As we sat down to lunch and I took a bite out of my turkey sandwich, I almost threw my sandwich in the trash. I could taste the preservatives or at least what seemed to be something most unnatural. Needless to say, I force fed myself what was supposed to be a yummy sandwich...good mustard and all!

I immediately cleared the table and set out to make a loaf of bread. After about 2 or so hours, it was done! Piping hot from the oven, we gathered around and had a delicious slice of heavenly homemade bread. Is it possible that I may never again enjoy store bought bread?? I never thought I would turn into a bread snob!

I usually follow a couple of recipes for oatmeal bread, white sandwich bread, and Italian loaves. Here is my most used recipe...good for making sandwiches or just enjoying with a bit of butter. It is one of the very few recipes I have memorized!! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!!!

White Sandwich Bread

3 1/2 cups flour (I am partial to King Arthur or Gold Medal)
2 tsp. salt
1 cup warm whole mile (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
1 packet fast acting yeast

*I use my Kitchen Aide mixer with the dough hook attachment.

1. Mix flour and salt in mixer.
2. Combine milk, water, honey, butter, and yeast. It's important that your liquids aren't too hot, otherwise you might kill your yeast and your bread won't rise. I always use a thermometer and get great results!
3. Slowly pour liquid mixture into bowl with flour.
4. Mix on low until well combine. If your dough is too sticky, you can add more flour...about 1 tbsp. at a time, but no more than 1/4 cup.
5. Once combined, mix dough on medium speed for about 10 minutes.
6. Take out dough and knead into a smooth ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
7. Place dough in a warm place to rise. My house is always cold so I like to warm the oven to about 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. I then turn off the oven and place my dough in the warm oven.
8. Wait for the dough to rise and double in size; about 45 minutes.
9. On a lightly floured surface, shape your dough into a rectangle and roll. Pinch the seams and ends together and place in an oiled loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap.
10. Let dough rise again until it doubles in size...about 20 minutes.
11. Bake in 350 degrees oven for about 40 minutes or until the internal temperature is 195 degrees.
    
12. Let your bread cool a bit and then enjoy!!!
    

All Souls Day.

The Feast of All Souls is celebrated on the 2nd day of November. I write this today mainly because of my failure to celebrate the day yesterday (2 sick kids with fevers means we stay home!). Growing up, Dia de los Muertos was something that I remember many families celebrating. There were phone calls with "feliz dia de los muertos," special foods, and trips to the cemetary to visit departed loved ones. In the past, I have celebrated merely by praying for all the deceased.

This year is no different, although I would have liked to make Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead) and sugar skulls with the kids. I'm posting a link to recipes that you can make in commemoration of the deceased. If the day passed you by, much like it did in our family; perhaps next year will be a perfect time to try it out! In the mean time, I'll be taking the kids to the Museum of Anthropology later this week in order to check out their "Dia de los Muertos (Days of the Dead)" exhibit.

Check out these informational links. All have links to recipes.
*Catholic Culture
*Catholic Cuisine
*Fish Eaters (includes recipes)

French Toast Casserole.

I found such a yummy recipe for French Toast Casserole one day, that I had to make it for our Saturday Breakfast. Since I've been on a baking streak, I decided to make my own challah bread instead of buying one. The results? DELICIOUS!! I posted the recipes to both the bread and the casserole below. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Baking the challah bread.

A beautiful, golden braid!

Preparing the casserole the night before.

The final product!!

French Toast Casserole

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 loaf challah, sliced 1 1/2" thick
8 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
pure maple syrup

1. Combine butter and sugar in bottom of baking dish in a nice, even layer.
2. Arrange bread slices on top, squeezing them into all the spaces
3. Whisk eggs and add all ingredients except pecans
4. Pour over bread
5. Top with pecans & cover with plastic wrap
6. Refrigerate 3-12 hours (can make the night before and leave overnight)
7. Set out at room temperature for 20 minutes
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, until lightly browned
9. Remove and serve with warm maple syrup