Meatless Monday: Cabbage

I’ve mentioned before that I am the only one in my household who likes eating cabbage, including sauerkraut — which if there is a more perfect food with mashed potatoes, I don’t know it. I was asking Dan about this dislike of cabbage, and he said, “Well, I like coleslaw.”

Which, ew. If we’re talking about mayonnaise based coleslaw, anyway.

I happened to stumble on a cabbage recipe at Slate that I thought I would try. I asked Dan to try it too. Maybe, I thought, the issue is cooked cabbage.

Turns out he liked it “okay”. He wasn’t ecstatic about it, but he ate cabbage and didn’t hate it (my ILs both liked it very much).

Red Cabbage Salad

1/4 head of red cabbage, shredded
2 oz gorgonzola, crumbled
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup raisins
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper to taste

Mix everything together and serve. I let it sit for about an hour, and it held up fine, and I am eating some leftovers today, so we’ll see how it’s held up overnight. The cabbage hasn’t gotten salty or soggy. And it tastes a lot better than mayo-based coleslaw, IMO.

I “shredded” the cabbage by simply slicing it with my chef’s knife. You could probably shred it more finely with a mandoline or food processor.

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As much as I love my haluski recipe (butter! noodles! cabbage! what could be better?), I may have found another cooked cabbage recipe that I love even more. This recipe for roasted cabbage with lemon is simple and tasty. You could find a million recipes like it. If you are a fan of cabbage at all, and you haven’t tried roasting it yet, I encourage you to do it.

I think that cooked cabbage is very much the issue in my household. Yes, it has a distinctive odor. So does cooked broccoli, so do boiled eggs. And my family like those things, so I have hope that (the kids at least) will come around to cooked cabbage, too.

Got a vinegar-based or other non-mayo-based cabbage salad recipe I can try for Dan? Link me up in the comments!

Project: Food Budget, Week 17

Actual $ spent this week:

Grocery: $320
Costco: $156
CSA: $34 (beef was sold out! Hope to get on the order next time.)
Eating out: $62

As simple as that, we were under budget overall, by $62. We ended up spending less at the grocery store because of planning, planning, planning, list making, and making menus. Of course, conversely, we ended up spending more at Costco because we put off shopping there (for weeks), and kept running out of our Costco staples. By the time I went last night, the list had gone from “bread, chocolate milk for lunches” to about 20 items.

It seems simplistic, but sometimes we run on auto-pilot when it comes to eating and feeding. I know as a busy, work-outside-the-home mom, this is particularly true. For a few months, I am sure I was shopping off the same list, throwing together the same meals, and wasting a bunch of food, especially produce — which is a particular shame, because I get some damn tasty produce from my CSA — and, as a result, stressing about feeding my family.

Joining this project has made me aware, again, of the importance of menu planning and using the food in my kitchen. I’ve become mindful of my shopping list again, mindful about what I want to teach my children about eating healthy food and liking it. I feel very fortunate to have kids who will try everything, and like almost anything (cabbage being the current exception to the rule!).

Let’s see how everyone else did!

* Emily Levenson
* Dairy-Free Cooking
* Test Kitchen Tuesday
* Acquired Tastes
* Fit Flexitarian
* Warm As Pie
* Katy Rank Lev
* My Inner Healthy
* Little Blue Hen
* xox, b
* What da Health?
* Project Food Budget 2.0
* Fresh…A New Chapter
* Chandeleah
* Two Eggs Over Easy
* That’s Just Me
* Eat Whole Be Vital
* Four Happy Violets
* Naturally {Un}refined
* Pgh Dad
* yogabeautylife
* Charmingly Modern
* NaMAMAste

Project Food Budget: Weeks 12 and 13

As I expected, we ate out quite a bit over the holidays, to the tune of more than twice our usual budget: about $125. Of course, as I had expected we would do that (mama didn’t cook very much because of traveling for Christmas), I had actually budgeted for that.

There were odds and ends at the grocery store to get, mostly convenience food — and coffee. I went with no ground coffee in my house for almost five days. It was torture. Between Giant Eagle and Target, spent $114.97.

Monday we made a Costco run for stuff I will need to pack lunches again next week. That came in at $153.82.

Other purchases included wine and beer (not including the port wine I gave to Dan for Christmas — it was a theme gift; he also got a decanter, port wine slippers, or pipes, and a book on port) at $58, and a CSA pickup, which is costing $34 a box this winter.

Looking ahead, I have a grocery list for some New Year’s Day cooking I plan to do and another state store run for champagne and possibly some Grand Marnier. There’s a Maker’s Mark cocktail (one of my Christmas gifts from Dan) I want to try, also for New Year’s Day.

Grocery store should come in around $200, and (providing my husband behaves himself) state store shouldn’t be more than $50.

I’m doing some good cooking over the weekend, plus trying a couple new cocktails, so I will have plenty of foodie fodder for next week.

Let’s see how the holidays were for everyone else!

* Emily Levenson
* Dairy-Free Cooking
* Test Kitchen Tuesday
* Acquired Tastes
* Fit Flexitarian
* Warm As Pie
* Katy Rank Lev
* My Inner Healthy
* Little Blue Hen
* xox, b
* What da Health?
* Project Food Budget 2.0
* Ignition Nutrition
* A Nice Heart and a White Suit
* Fresh…A New Chapter
* Whole Living Gal
* Chandeleah
* Two Eggs Over Easy
* That’s Just Me

Meatless Monday: A Quick Link and a Holiday Loaf

I mentioned on Twitter that I was making Pretzel Dogs (with soy dogs, or as we call them at my house, not dogs) this weekend, and got a lot of “Those sound delicious!” and “Do you have the recipe?”

Yes, and I got it here. And they were delicious.

++

I made the following recipe for Thanksgiving, and it might be perfect for Christmas, too.

Nutty Lentil Loaf
(adapted from The Vegetarian Times Cookbook)

1 cup dry lentils
3 cups water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2/3 cup chopped carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
1/3 cup chopped celery (about 1 stalk)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unsalted raw cashews, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1 tsp. dried thyme

In a medium saucepan, cook the lentils in the water until soft, about 45 minutes. Set aside. Saute the garlic in oil; add carrots and celery. Simmer, covered, until the carrots are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the lentils, vegetaable mixture, remaining ingredients. Spoon into an oiled loaf pan. Bake until firm, 30 to 40 minutes.

This makes a nicely flavored not-meat loaf, in my opinion. Of course, it is delightful smothered with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. But what isn’t?

Meatless Monday: Soft Pretzels

The great part of being part of an on-line project with other writers, especially those that write about health and food (some almost exclusively), is you find a ton of great recipes. I want to try them all.

This weekend my goal was to try making soft pretzels. I followed the recipe at Dairy Free Cooking. They came out funny looking — I definitely need to work on my pretzel-folding technique — but they are very tasty. The girls and Dan had some immediately upon coming home from running errands, and then I had to hide them so I could pack them in lunches.

I think the pretzels are going to be popular, and next time I hope the schedule works out that one or both of my girls will be around to help me play with the dough.

And — with apologies to Ashley at Dairy Free — I think these would be stellar with cheese sauce dip. I may have to look into that possibility next time I plan to make these. And maybe eat them as we watch a football game!

What’s a recipe you want to try? And why haven’t you tried it yet? Next up for me is baked oatmeal — which I’ve only just heard of — and I really want to try homemade granola bars. Still looking for a recipe for that one.

Project: Food Budget 2.0: Week 4

I am off to a rocking start!

Of course it helps that I started with a fully stocked larder and refrigerator.

My first goal this week was to spend under $50, including meals out.
My second goal this week was to use stuff up.

We did well on both counts, though not perfect, as we went over by $12.91.

Snacks and drinks at Patrick’s Moon Township: $21.42
Grocery shopping: $29.24
Farmers market: $12.25, for apples, apple cider, a butternut squash, sweet peppers, four garlic bulbs
Total: $62.91

What I made in my kitchen: guacamole, lentil soup, applesauce and apple muffins, marinara sauce, beet and feta salad. We had a friend in from out of town, and although we talked about ordering a pizza on Saturday, when I looked in my refrigerator, I decided against it. Instead, we had veggie chili burritos, salad, and the aforementioned beet salad. Sunday we had lentil soup and grilled cheese for lunch.

This week I have to use two small eggplants, whatever is in my CSA box (pickup is Thursday evening), potatoes, a ton of carrots, butternut squash, the rest of that marinara sauce.

I had to throw out half a head of cauliflower. I tried really hard to get over the slug I discovered on it — it comes directly from a farm, after all — and I couldn’t do it.

Recipe ideas:
Carrot soup
Eggplant parmesan
Strawberry and banana muffins

Next week’s goals:
Grocery budget (not including formula): $125
Formula: $25
Costco food budget: $100

Let’s go see how everyone else did!

* Emily Levenson
* Dairy-Free Cooking
* Test Kitchen Tuesday
* Acquired Tastes
* Fit Flexitarian
* Warm As Pie
* Katy Rank Lev
* My Inner Healthy
* Little Blue Hen
* xox, b
* What da Health?
* Project Food Budget 2.0
* Ignition Nutrition
* A Nice Heart and a White Suit
* Because Hobbies Happen
* Primary Focus Health Coaching
* Chicken Tender
* Fresh…A New Chapter
* Whole Living Gal
* Chandeleah

Meatless Monday: Apples to Applesauce

Until this weekend, I had a lot of apples sitting around my kitchen.

Having fruit just hanging around my house is highly unusual. We all like to eat fruit, and apples are a favorite of the girls. The apples I get from my CSA leave much to be desired from a cosmetic standpoint. They aren’t grocery-pretty: they are bumpy, and lumpy, and splotchy. Sweet inside, but with a facade that is hard to get past when you are used to acres and acres of shiny happy produce.

An additional problem is that apples are hard to pack in lunches. The girls eat more of an apple if it is sliced than if it is whole. A sliced apple is just going to brown in a lunch bag unless (apparently) lemon juice and rubber bands are used. Please, I barely have time to pack lunches. Plus, with Flora losing a tooth every other day, a sliced apple is just easier to eat. (I refuse to peel apples for my girls’ consumption, though.)

So: about 30 apples sitting on my counter, splotchy and going soft. Apples for eating should be crisp and juicy, and these apples were past their prime in that regard. Some apples I did have to toss due to brown, rotten spots or clear insect invasion. But many of them were fine, just unpretty.

I bet I could make applesauce from those apples, I told myself.

Now some people would have that thought, and just throw a bunch of apples in a pot or slow cooker and see what happened. Not me, I have to ask the Internet and find a recipe.

My query on Twitter for an applesauce recipe got a lot of responses, and that was where I was originally pointed toward a slow cooker. A follow up question (“Do I really have to peel all these apples?”) got a similar rate of response. (“YES!”) I also found a recipe in my vegetarian slow cooker book. (Der, should’ve looked there first.)

Applesauce
Adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker and every recipe that was emailed my way

3 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and cut up
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
juice from one lemon
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Throw everything in a slow cooker, and turn it on low for five to six hours. I used an immersion blender (I love that thing) to turn the soft, cooked apples into sauce. Let cool. Spoon into a jar.

It’s heavenly.

I gave Dan a taste. He wanted more. I gave him a bowl. He loved it. (Kate, also, LOVED IT.)

“What’s in this?” he demanded.
“Apples, water, brown sugar, and cinnamon,” I said.
“You’re lying. Nothing that tastes this good doesn’t have something in it that’s bad for me.”
“Okay. I’m lying.” I did forget to tell him about the lemon juice.
“I think I should take this jar to my office,” he said. “To protect everyone.” He’s a giver, that one.

++

Even after using three pounds of apples (about 12 medium and small apples), I still had 8 left over. So I peeled some more, chopped them up, and threw them in my trusty muffin recipe (one substitution of note: instead of vanilla extract, I used caramel-flavored extract, a whole teaspoon). The girls ate the peeled apples I didn’t use.

Kate helped me with the muffins, and she was quite critical of the result.

“These are pretty good,” she said, eating a still-warm muffin. “Pretty good. Next time, we should use bananas.”

Next Sunday’s muffins will be banana strawberry (I have a few cups of strawberries in my freezer). I am quite excited. So is Kate.

Project Food Budget 2.0: Getting Started

I’ve signed on to a project that started with Emily Levenson at the {Custom Made} blog. A number of other bloggers are on board, too, and I’ll be linking to them at the end.

The project started Oct. 6, but since I was in the midst of planning for and traveling to my sister’s wedding, Emily gave me a pass and told me to start when I could.

That’s today.

At this point, I do not have a dollar amount that I am trying to buy to, but I plan to develop one over the next few weeks. (This is a year-long exercise.)

As well as reining in the Food Budget for the RPM household, I have some other goals I want to meet.

1. Cook more. As a mom of three who works full time, cooking meals every night of the week is simply out of my ability. However, I do want to cook more on the weekend, with the intention of serving leftovers during the week.

2. Use everything. Part of cooking more is using everything I buy. No more rotten vegetables or fruit to toss; no more moldy leftovers; no more “extra” cans of stuff (or dried goods) in my pantry.

3. Shopping better. I need to make better shopping lists, and pay more attention to what I already have to hand before I send my husband to the store. (I make meal plans and lists; he usually does the shopping. God bless that man.)

4. Bake more. I’m tired of buying “night time treats” for my children, or packing lunches full of pre-packaged goodies. I really need to find the benefits of using my oven.

5. Helping my husband lose weight. I am going to shop, cook, and bake in such a way that my husband will eat more healthfully, learn about appropriate portions, and be satisfied with homemade food and packed lunches.

I’ve been looking at many of the other blogs participating in this project. My household of five includes four ovo-lacto vegetarians, and one omnivore (my husband), with (knock on wood) no known food allergies. Along with my husband Dan (age, 42; weight, undisclosed, but on the heavy side) and myself (age, 41; weight about 130 pounds — we don’t own a scale), I prepare meals for Flora (6, about 48 pounds), Kate (4, about 40 pounds), and Michael (10 months, about 20 pounds).

Here are some things to know about my shopping and cooking habits:

1. I lean heavily on what I refer to as meat analogs, primarily from Morning Star Farms, Yves, and Quorn. I have to examine this in the weeks to come.

2. We belong to a CSA, Krestchmann Farms. We divide our standard share with my SIL. I also shop weekly at my local farmers market, primarily because it’s in the parking lot of Kate’s daycare on Mondays. My kids LOVE it.

3. There are some foods that I don’t buy: pasta sauce and lentil soup, for example. Although it takes time to cook these things, it’s much more preferable to me and to my family that I make them fresh from scratch.

4. We seldom shop weekly, more like every two weeks. We shop at Market District and Costco.

5. I use coupons as often as I can. It’s tough, because aside from the frozen “meats” I buy, we don’t buy a lot of processed food.

6. I obviously have to buy special stuff for the baby (Stage 3 foods, formula). As this project continues, that will slowly be phased out, and I expect my budget to drop accordingly. Formula is expensive, yo! I can’t wait to start weaning him to whole milk from a sippy cup rather than formula from a bottle.

7. The children and I seldom dine out. Dan, on the other hand, often grabs lunch out (I have a work cafeteria that offers free lunch, and I bring leftovers often). I will have to show him the tally of his purchases, and maybe help him rein it in. We’ve talked about it, but I don’t think we’ve seen it in black and white, so to speak.

I think that sums it up! Let’s just go to last week’s expenditures, and work from there.

Eating out total (wow, this is low this week. Dan must not have eaten out!) = $27.07
Thursday’s CSA box: cauliflower, apples, acorn squash, tomatoes, broccoli, green beans, potatoes, CSA cheeses (I am paid up on the CSA for the year. Including the annual deposit, one or two “winter” boxes, and cheese and coffee, it’s about $900 a year — which breaks down to about $32 a week for 28 weeks)
Sunday, trip to Market District: $179.51. (This was a small shopping trip — our usual amount for a big trip can be over $400.)
Sunday, trip to Costco (food total only): $217.89
Monday, farmers market: $16 (2 carving pumpkins, beets, green beans, and sweet peppers)

Other participants:

* Emily Levenson
* Dairy-Free Cooking
* Test Kitchen Tuesday
* Acquired Tastes
* Fit Flexitarian
* Warm As Pie
* Katy Rank Lev
* My Inner Healthy
* Little Blue Hen
* xox, b
* What da Health?
* Project Food Budget 2.0
* Ignition Nutrition
* A Nice Heart and a White Suit
* Because Hobbies Happen
* Primary Focus Health Coaching
* Chicken Tender
* Fresh…A New Chapter
* Whole Living Gal

Tentative weekend cooking (and tentative menu):
Marinara sauce
Lentil soup (for Soup and Grilled Cheese sandwich night)
Crockpot Applesauce
Beets (for Beet and Feta salad)

Return to School Lunches

So, I’m doing the NaBloPoMo for September, and the theme for the month is “Return”. I probably won’t stick to the theme every day, but in case you were wondering at all about my uptick in posting, or why I am writing about certain things, I thought I would point this out.

I read a blog article on Slate the other day about school lunches. This mother of four outlined her school’s “rules” on lunches, and added some of her own concerns regarding what other people would think of HER because of what is (or is not) in her kids’ lunches.

I was a little taken aback.

I send Flora and Kate with lunches every day (or almost every day). If school or daycare offer cheese pizza (or, in Flora’s case, grilled cheese or mac and cheese), I will ask if the girls want to buy their lunch. They usually also get a fruit and/or vegetable and a dessert with bought lunches.

(Yeah, so much for that “one choice” thing. It’s too ingrained a habit! Curses.)

As far as what I pack, I have not ever received a list of acceptable food stuffs, and I have never worried about what others think of me or my daughters because of the contents of their lunches bags.

Am I just lucky? I know that food allergies are on the rise, but we’ve never received a notice from any classroom regarding nuts or peanuts. A peanut butter sandwich is a regular staple in Flora’s lunch. If it became verboten, I think we could deal, but I have to admit I’m grateful I don’t have to think too hard about it. (Knock wood.)

As far as healthy lunches go — or food in general, really — I don’t think hard about that either. Neither of my girls are extremely picky eaters (knock on wood, again! I’m hoping Michael will be the same). They have their preferences: Kate loves hummus, Flora does not; Flora likes peanut butter, but not PB & J, and so on. Sandwiches are on whole wheat bread or multigrain tortillas. I do buy pre-packaged snack foods, including chips, dried fruit, string cheese, and tubes of yogurt. I seldom pack candy or cookies — sometimes a week or so after Halloween or Easter, they get candy treats. I never pack pop (or soda, depending on where you live). The girls get chocolate milk, water, or 100% juice — usually milk.

Do your schools concern themselves with what your children are eating at lunch? Is this becoming more normal? Should it? I know childhood obesity is on the rise, but I would resent a lot of rules concerning my kids’ lunches. (Yeah, I *still* have problems with authority. What of it?)

I don’t pack healthfully to impress anyone, or to “be better” than anyone. I grew up eating a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, yogurt, and cheese (and Oreos, potato chips, and candy), and I just want my kids to have a normal relationship with food. Nothing is forbidden, although personally I don’t buy foods with high fructose corn syrup in them. I’m sure they get food with HFCS — I don’t control all of their eating 100% of the time, let’s face it — just not from me.

Oh, also, my favorite new development in this area: Flora packs her own lunch. She puts dried mangos in a baggie; she chooses her chips and remembers her chocolate milk. Kate wants to pack her own lunch, too, and I will let her — when she starts preschool on Wednesday. I don’t know if the novelty of packing lunch every night will wear off, but for now I’m going with it. I will try to make it part of their pre-bedtime routine, because, let’s face it, it’s one less thing I have to do! I supervise, make suggestions, and help with sandwiches when needed.

How do you pick your kids’ foods? Do you worry a lot about it? Are you trying to make healthy eating second nature to your family? How’s it going?

Meatless Monday: Pizza, plus Protein Problems

I didn’t realize how much I missed making my own pizza dough until I stumbled onto a new food site: The Smitten Kitchen.

It all started (again) on Twitter, with a call for zucchini recipes. @ClumberKim sent me a link to this one, and I was hooked. It’s so pretty!

Smitten Kitchen’s really simple recipe is, just as Deb promises, really simple. I used the updated version because it appealed to me a bit more. I just doubled the ingredients, and used some whole-wheat flour because I like the texture of whole wheat dough.

3/4 cup warm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more water)

1/4 cup white wine

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (about one package)

1 teaspoon honey

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Assembly

Cornmeal for sprinkling

Flour for dusting counter


Whisk wine, water and yeast in a medium bowl until yeast has dissolved. Add honey, salt and olive oil and stir. Add flour and work it with a spoon and your fingers until it comes together as a dough.

Sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead the dough for a minute or two.

Straight from the Smitten Kitchen: “If you’re like me and always trying to reduce the number of dirty dishes left at the end of the night, wash the bowl you made the dough in, dry it and coat the inside with olive oil. Put the dough in, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise for an hour or up to two, until it is doubled.

“[Easiest way to tell if a dough has risen enough? Dip two fingers in flour, press them into the dough, and if the impression stays, it’s good to go. If it pops back, let it go until it doesn’t.]

“Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured counter and gently deflate the dough with the palm of your hands. Form it into a ball and let it rest on a floured spot with either plastic wrap over it (sprinkle the top of the dough with flour so it doesn’t stick) or an upended bowl.”

I divided the dough into two balls, both of which I wrapped well in plastic wrap and put in a baggie. One of these I put in the refrigerator, and the other I froze. They were in their respective cold places for a week before I actually made the pizzas.

When making the pizza, roll out the dough on a floured surface. This recipe made two 10- to 12-inch thin crust pizzas. Use cornmeal on your pizza paddle or baking pan. I could have sprinkled some on the pizza stone in the oven, too.

Move the dough onto the paddle or baking pan. Top with your desired toppings.

Slide the pizza from the paddle to your preheated pizza stone, or just put the baking sheet in the oven as is.

Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool a couple of minutes, slice and serve.

Saturday for dinner, I made the kids a plain ole cheese pizza (which Dan also liked), and then made the goat cheese and zucchini pizza with my surplus of summer veggies and fresh farmers goat cheese. My CSA is partnering with a couple of local creameries this summer to deliver cheese, and holy cats — fresh cheese is so, so tasty.

I had made a recipe similar to the latter pizza using ricotta cheese instead of goat cheese (and a store bought pizza dough that was too dough-y for me). I liked the ricotta better; the flavor was much milder. The goat cheese overwhelmed the pizza (in my opinion). You have to use a bit more of the ricotta (say 6 ounces instead of 4).

Otherwise, as with all my favorite recipes, you’ve got a palette for your favorite toppings. I’m curious to see if it will hold up to meat toppings (for my husband and BIL-IL). I don’t see why not!

++

The nut aversion continues, and it has expanded. Now I don’t like eating any nuts (cashews, almonds, etc.) or nut butters. Soy products turn me off, but don’t upset my stomach the way nuts do. The only protein sources this baby craves are cheese and eggs. Greek yogurt has been another acceptable discovery. The way I crave eggs scares me a little bit. I made egg salad recently (using about five eggs), and I ate nearly all of it in one sitting. On top of whole grain crackers.

Fortunately, I seem to be craving plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as all the cheese and eggs. High on the list, too, are avocados. On Sunday, I had a lunch of cheese (more farm fresh cheese!) and crackers, plus half an avocado and a tomato. It was heavenly. Between the four of us (well, and Le Bud), we polished off 1/2 a pound of cheddar from the Keswick Creamery.

I’ve also turned to Quorn products to take the place of soy products in my diet. I still eat some soy-based meat substitutes, but they just don’t appeal the way they used to.

These soy and nut aversions feel weird to me, but I am “listening to my body” and avoiding them. I hope it doesn’t mean anything like a baby with nut or soy allergies down the line. I really don’t need life with another baby to be quite that interesting!

Also, Le Bud seems to like ice cream and chocolate just fine. Ultimately, I’m sure we will get along!