What do with 1,000 persimmons and leftover turkey?

Braver souls would put them together in a cold salad with spinach, but salad, when it is cold, is the last thing I want to eat! It is a perfect early winter scene outside my window this morning, so my grocery planning involves warming comfort food with inexpensive/on sale items (it's the end of the month, and the bank account as well as the larder is empty).

I realize my ambitious weekly post went by the wayside as soon as midterms hit. I thought about posting (we still did eat the last few weeks), but any moment of free time, I spent "resting" my eyes. And, now at the end of a long weekend with a stack of journals behind me, I am spending a moment to post. Trying to eat fresh and in-season food at this time of year becomes a challenge...a challenge that I accept! Not much is growing in the garden (at least not to edible size) except kale which one can pretty much throw into any recipe, and I'll be throwing it into at least three below. Oh kale, how I love thee. Let me count the ways...1...2...3...

But what about the persimmons, you ask? Well, our persimmon tree put out a bumper crop this year. I may be exaggerating when I say 1,000, but I have three boxes full and have given away two bags full, yes sir, yes sir. Persimmons are an acquired taste; you either love them or hate them. I grew to love them in France--not because I ate any, but because it was late October, and the lovely B&B, Le Cadran Solaire, had a giant tree in front of the breakfast room. I equated the gorgeous orbed fruit to the crunchy croissant smothered with autumnal orange-colored jam (was it "Kaki"?--French for persimmon--I do not know) that I ate each morning alongside a bracing cafe au lait. Upon returning to the U.S., I scoured grocery stores for the strange fruit to concoct my own Kaki preserves. It didn't turn out so well, and ever since then, I have been concocting persimmon recipes every November and December hoping I will land on the right one. My husband does not like them...unless I dry them in the food dehydrator. Actually, drying them turns them into a candy, and sprinkled with cinnamon, they are a delicious munchie treat to eat on a long hike. Besides dehydrating many, I will be trying a persimmon tart, brandied persimmons, and maybe another jam recipe.

As far as the turkey goes, having leftover Thanksgiving turkey is not a problem in my house. Each year I make up turkey pot pies to stick in the freezer for a cold winter's night...best eaten after a long snow-shoe trek. We also enjoy them in non-traditional dishes such as curries and enchiladas. One year, after a bumper crop of tomatillos, I made salsa verde turkey enchiladas. Yum. No such luck this year--just plain ole enchiladas.

This week's menu:

Sunday: Turkey Enchiladas (Use my own recipe, but this one looks good)

Monday: Turkey Pot Pie (Recipe from a cookbook called, Farmhouse Cooking)

Tuesday: Coconutty Peanut-Buttery Yam Stew (A combination of a recipe from here and here)

Wednesday: Potato-Bacon-Kale-Spinach Fry with Eggs (This is what I call a "Eat what is is in the pantry and garden and top it with eggs for protein recipe. Husband calls it "Breakfast for Dinner".)

Thursday: Spaghetti with Homemade Pesto Sauce (All those summer days spent in the kitchen blending up basil come in real handy at the end of the month meals.)

This Week's Spooktacular Menu

Yes, it is almost time for the most wonderful holiday (next to Thanksgiving). Why is Halloween wonderful? Well, it means it is time for the pumpkin patch. I love pumpkins: pumpkin soup, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones, pumpkin spice lattes...if it has "pumpkin" in the name, it's guaranteed to taste good. Will I be including pumpkins in this week's menu? What a silly question! Yes, of course, I will be.

What happened last week? Well...midterms and parent conferences happened which means I had less time for cooking (although I did manage to make, to this date, the world's best meatloaf, according to my husband). This week I am going for ease, because frankly, my eye is twitching indicating that my fatigue level is dangerously high, so I need to take it easy on myself and not plan five course meals, etc.

Sunday
Chicken Taco Chili in the Crock Pot
I have so many dried beans in my pantry that I would like to use them up, so I can start using my homegrown dried beans which are far superior to any store-bought beans. I know I have said it before, but I'm going to say it again, "I love my crock pot. Oh, let me count the ways..."

Monday
Roasted Pumpkin Sage Soup
This morning I hesitantly let my chickens out: out into the yard, that is. This means that my sage is not long for this world. For some reason, they make it their personal mission to scratch up my sage. I suppose I could protect it, but that would require time and effort, one of which I do not have much of  and the second I do not have much energy to create. At any rate, I had best use my sage while it still exists, and this is a recipe that works perfectly with sage.

Tuesday
Leftover night!
Hubby has darts (he's in a dart league, and his team is in the running for first place), so it is easier to enjoy leftovers than try to quickly make a meal.

Wednesday
Witches' Brew
The one and only time I found myself in trouble at school was the day my school cafeteria served a soup called "Witches' Brew". Yes, it was Halloween, and yes, I was super excited to be served up some Witches' Brew. So excited in fact that as my first grade class lined up for lunch (we were supposed to wait quietly as the teacher led us to the cafeteria), I could not contain my excitement and sang over and over "Witches' Brew, gonna eat Witches' Brew", etc. My teacher must have been having a rough day altogether (he was typically a mild-mannered guy) and reaching his breaking point; he harshly told me to stop singing and go and write my name on the board (a serious punishment for a first grader). I was so taken aback and upset that I wrote my name as large as I could so that no one else could write theirs. So there! Take that! I bet it took every ounce of his being not to laugh out loud and keep his stern look. At any rate, I serve up Witches' Brew every Halloween (it ends up just being a soup of my choosing, and this year I choose tofu coconut curry with veggies with my own modifications, of cours).

Thursday
Spaghetti Squash with Marinara  and Sausage
I grew spaghetti squash this summer, and my two vines produced 30+ pounds of spaghetti squash much to my husband's chagrin. I love the stuff--he doesn't understand why we don't just use pasta instead. Silly man! I like the novelty of creating noodles from squash!

Shopping List
Once again, I do have many ingredients on hand:

• dried beans (pinto and white, 16 oz each...or canned if you prefer)
• chicken breasts (in freezer, thank you Costco)
• chilis in adobo sauce (to spice up the chili)
• chopped tomatoes (still have some fresh from the garden)
• sage
• chicken stock
• pumpkins
• garlic
• shallots
• spaghetti squash
• marinara (have some canned I made myself)

From the grocery store, I will need:

• cilantro
• sour cream (or cream fraiche)
• onions (finally used up all our garden onions)
• frozen corn
• avocado
• red curry paste
• coconut milk
• tofu
• yams
• sausage

Boo Appetit ooooo!

Dinner Hiatus but a Recipe

Well, instead of planning a worthwhile menu, I did this:

And then drove home alongside this the next day:

Which means, that this week's menu is BOR-ing and mind-numbingly easy, because I knew that my week would be full of grading and birthday celebrating, thus making dinner secondary.

It doesn't mean I didn't plan a menu; I did. I'm meticulous that way, but it's not worth sharing...except, my soup.

I received this recipe in college and have since modified beyond its original so much that the original is a faded memory.

I call it "Butternut Squash Soup". I know, real original. It's easy, healthy, and makes enough for a couple of dinners/lunches.

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash, peeled, gutted, and cubed
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 apple/pear peeled, cored, and cubed.
32 oz of soup stock (chicken or veggie)
1 cup of apple juice (the good stuff, not the concentrate...or leave out if you want a more savory soup)
2 Tbsp of curry powder

Throw onions and garlic into a pot with some olive oil. Saute for a minute, then throw in the curry powder. Be careful not to burn the powder--keep stirring. After 5 minutes, throw in the rest of the ingredients or if you have crockpot, throw it all into the crockpot (cook on low all day for soup in the evening...that's what I did). Simmer until squash is soft. Blend up soup adding water until you like the consistency (I never do, but if you like a less thick soup, you'll need water). I use an immersion blender which is the best invention EVER! It makes blending soups so easy. Trust me, once you use it, your old blender will only be brought out for smoothies and margaritas!

Before serving taste for salt and pepper. Add accordingly.

Optional toppings: pesto swirled in, pumpkin seeds, croutons, shredded choice of cheese.

Non-optional: serve with crusty bread...you're going to want to sop up the rest of the soup in your bowl.

Bon appetit!

Dinner for Oct 7 - 11

Despite succumbing to the "school" cold, I preserved, canned, and pureed food all morning in my kitchen. The end result is a whole lotta pesto, tomato sauce, and green salsa...also, a slight burning sensation on my finger from a hot pepper. Now, I'm pooped and want to nap for the rest of the day. I think I can nap/work on curriculum planning at the same time, right?

This week's menu reflects a more-than-normal fatigued cooking couple, plus I wanted to use what I have on hand and save some money.

Sunday October 7
Tortilla Pie
Not exactly inspired, but would you believe it? We still haven't had those tacos from two weeks ago (nor last week), so I have a stack of corn tortillas that really need to be eaten. I have never made a tortilla pie, but it looks less involved than enchiladas. I plan to smother it in my green salsa (roasted tomatillos pureed with cilantro, cumin, some onion, a dash of salt and pepper, and one finger-burning hot pepper).

Monday October 8
Beef Stir-Fry
We are the king and queen of stir fry. We don't really use a recipe, and actually, I have been making stir-fry since my college days, so I am sure at the beginning I used some sort of recipe, but now it is a "what's in the refrigerator/garden" recipe. Plus, beef is on sale and "in season". So, here's Monday's recipe:

thinly sliced beef (happens to be rump roast this time)
garden green beans
red onion from the farmer's market
strange claw-like hot pepper from the farmer's market
garden carrots
leftover rice noodles

sauce: chili-garlic sauce, soy sauce, a bit of brown sugar, fresh ginger, garlic, a wee bit of rice vinegar (all ingredients to taste)

Stir-fry beef, then vegs, then throw in softened rice noodles, then the sauce. When heated through, eat.

Tuesday October 9
Tortellini Soup
Tortellini happened to be on sale last week, so I purchased a couple for easy meals later down the line. I'll be substituting fresh tomatoes from the garden and maybe kale if the spinach at the grocery store doesn't look that great. I have frozen chicken broth in the freezer--or do I? Better check.

Wednesday October 9
Pasta with homemade pesto
When quality pasta is on sale, I buy in bulk, so I typically have at least a couple of packages on hand...and I do this time too.

For pesto:
- Fresh basil...a whole bunch of it
- salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil
- garlic cloves

Puree alternating between olive oil and basil to create a smooth, thick sauce. Add garlic, salt, and pepper gradually tasting along the way.

Note: I do not use cheese nor pine nuts in my pesto to cut down on fat, but most people do add it. I figure I throw on cheese after the fact anyhow.

Thursday October 10
Lazy Chicken with Costco Simmer Sauce
Yes, I am opening up the freezer for this one, grabbing a pack of chicken breasts, throwing in some of the simmer sauce from Costco, and a head of broccoli. Put some rice in the rice cooker and call it good. Easy peasy!

Shopping List
Avocado
Ginger
Beef
Spinach
Parmesan
Broccoli
Maybe some sort of meat for the tortilla pie
Jack cheese

Already on hand:
Tortillas
salsa
black beans
string beans
rice noodles
hot claw pepper
carrots
red onion
four-cheese tortellini
chicken stock
tomatoes
pasta
pesto sauce
chicken breast
Indian simmer sauce
Basmati rice

Sheesh. This is a pretty lazy week. I am not ashamed; sometimes, we need to just chill out and not spend hours in the kitchen, right?

Bon appetit!

Dinner for September 30-October 4

I have been slaving away in the garden this week harvesting all that it has to offer. I am still not done with putting the garden to bed before the rains hit, so this week's menu is intended to be super easy allowing more time to garden in the evening. (Hopefully, I will have the energy to do so.)

September 30 - Sunday
Homemade Pizza 
Everyone has their go-to dough recipe and mine is a simple whole wheat dough. I simmered down some tomatoes today to make my own sauce, and well...let's just say, that if I had a larger stomach, I'd have less pizza to eat right now. We threw on some bell peppers from the garden plus olives, pepperoni, and mushrooms.Yum! The great thing about pizza on Sunday is that it provides lunch for at least two days which is always a plus when you must pack your own lunch.  I also have an apple pie baking in the oven right now; I had to use up the remaining apples from my tree.

October 1 - Monday
Turkey Burgers with Blue-Cheese Broccoli Slaw
I never did use the broccoli I purchased from the Farmer's Market last week, and well, blue cheese and broccoli sound delicious to me!

October 2 - Tuesday
Taco Tuesday
I have a confession to make. Sometimes we are too tired to cook and we get take-out. Last Tuesday was one of those days. Plus it was our anniversary, so it seemed slightly more romantic to treat ourselves to Thai. Now, this week, I can use up the tortillas that I didn't use last week. We have tomatillos coming in fast, so I think I will whip up a quick salsa verde: grill tomatillos, then blend with some cumin, salt, and a hot pepper.

October 3 - Wednesday
BLT Sandwiches
What better thing to do with fresh tomatoes than BLT? On a diet? Well, if you make sure your bacon is nice and crispy, it isn't too much of an indulgence with only two slices on your sandwich.

October 4 - Thursday
Curried Squash/Carrot Coconut Soup
I pulled at least five pounds of carrots out of my garden yesterday and probably 20 pounds worth of squash. This is one of my favorite recipes and one of the easiest to put together. I discovered this recipe at a potluck; I can't remember where or who gave me the recipe, but I've used it many times over.

Steam or bake squash (pumpkins/butternut/acorn and even carrots...whatever floats your boat) until soft.
Puree squash.
In a pot saute minced garlic and ginger along with a tablespoon (or more to your taste) of curry powder. Add two cans of coconut milk and squash. An immersion blender comes in handy here, but some vigorous stirring will also do the trick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

October 5 - Friday (Happy Birthday Laura!)
Family dinner? Going out?


Shopping List:
Squash (or carrots)
1 1/2 lbs of ground turkey
Blue cheese crumbles (already have some in the fridge)
Broccoli (Thank you Farmer's Market)
Bacon
Bread (for turkey burgers and sandwiches and soup...)
Tomatoes (Garden, hello)
Mozzarella
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
Olives (thanks fridge)
2 cans of coconut milk (one "lite", one full-on coconut)
Avocados
can of beans
salsa (we'll make some from the garden)

Bon appetit!

Dinners September 23 - 27

Happy Autumnal Equinox! Fall is my favorite time of year for, oh, so many reasons. It is finally cool enough for me to wear all the knitwear I make myself throughout the year. My birthday is coming up. The leaves change. The crisp blue skies make my weedy garden look fantastic. Outdoor adventures beckon...ah, Autumn!

Autumn also means that it is harvest time.

And, harvest time means that I have a lot of picking, plucking, drying, slicing, canning, etc. to do. Last weekend we did pick our apples, juiced them (it took over five hours for this part), and "racked" it up in a carboy for cider. I can't wait to taste the results. As for dinner, I have many options to choose from--vegetable-wise, that is. If only, I had a herd of cows, pigs, etc., then I'd be in business. Throw in a field of wheat, and I'd never have to do the dreaded trip to the grocery store again! Ha, I wouldn't be doing much else besides farming then either.

After much deliberation, here is this week's menu.

Sunday
Summer Squash Lasagna with a few modifications
I think we have eaten all our zucchini (I know, shocking, right?), so I'll use up our yellow crookneck squash. And, I'll skip buying the crushed tomatoes and make my own from my tomatoes in the backyard. I grew some excellent "sauce" tomatoes that are coming on strong right now.

Monday
Grilled Salmon with Garden Veg
No recipe here, but my favorite grilling marinade is this:

- Lime juice
- Cilantro
- Sesame Oil
- Soy Sauce
- a wee bit of brown sugar

Chop cilantro, mix equal parts of the liquids, mix in sugar, pour over fish/meat about an hour in advance. Reserve some for dipping after it is grilled, if you so desire.

As for the garden veg, I have a huge crop of yellow wax beans. My husband is not a huge fan, but when they are grilled, he devours them. They are a good replacement for french fries when grilled.


Tuesday
Tacos with Leftover Fish
This will be an easy meal which is a good thing, since my husband plays in a dart league and their games occur every Tuesday. It is usually a rush at home trying to get him fed and out the door on time, so tacos are an easy choice. We have enough vegetables to make our own salsa, and I'm hoping that our tomatillos are ripened enough to throw into a salsa as well.

Wednesday
Baked Chicken with Pesto
Again, I'll be modifying this recipe. We have a chunk of feta left, so I'll bake the chicken with that. Yum.

Thursday
German Beef Roulade with Bavarian Red Cabbage minus the fancy rolled beef and substituting sausage and potatoes
I am a fan of German food. It's not always the healthiest choice, but it is such a tasty fit for an autumnal day. The original recipe looks delicious, and I may come back to it for a Sunday meal, but it is too fancy and complicated for a dead-tired Thursday meal. Despite it being an un-fancy meal, I will do a little bit of fancifying (yes, that is not a word) and make my own mustard. I hear it is super easy, and I do love a good mustard.


You may, or may not, have noticed, but there is no Friday. That is because that will be reserved for family dinner night, and who knows where we'll go and what we'll eat. I vote Thai.

Happy Autumnal Feasting!
May your days be crisp, sunny, and leafy.


Oops - forgot the shopping list
from home - FH, from store = FS, from farmer's market = FM

• summer squash FH
• crushed tomatoes FH
• 15oz ricotta FS
• 16oz mozzarella FS
• Parmesan Reggiano FS
• 1lb ground beef/pork FS
• Coho salmon FS
• cilantro FH
• soy sauce FH
• sesame oil FS (need more)
• lime juice FH (leftover from last week's shopping trip)
• broccoli FM
• beans FH
• corn tortillas FS
• tomatillos FS
• jalapeno FS
• chicken FH (in freezer)
• pesto FH (I have plenty of basil in the garden)
• feta FH
• pasta FS
• cabbage FH
• potatoes FH
• mustard FH (and mustard seed and tumeric from store)
• sausages FS

Dinners September 16-21

Well, my husband and I made it through our first full five-day week of school. We also managed to eat healthily (just don't count the cupcakes in the staff lounge yesterday) and used plenty of homegrown produce (thank you whomever left the tomatoes for the taking in the staff lounge). We also managed to keep our sanity. Now I am facing a weekend of a long, long to-do list that includes housework as well as "homework", and despite the incredibly enamel-thinning coffee I am consuming, I don't exactly feel perky. Thus, the lazy list of dinners below.


Sunday
Pizza from the grocery store. Seriously, they make the best pizza EVUH! (Well, not as good as homemade, but it is pretty darn good in a pinch.) We'll get fancy and make a accompanying salad.

Monday
We never ate our Vietnamese Noodle Wraps, so we're going to eat them on Monday. I have some excellent wax beans from the garden to throw in.

Tuesday
Arepas with Avocado and homemade Salsa
When I helped move my friend out of her house (she moved to Mexico with her husband to be closer to his family), I inherited many items from her pantry one of which was an unopened bag of Pan. It is basically corn flour and when mixed with water and salt becomes heavenly corn cakes. I'm going to throw in some corn kernels from fresh-picked garden corn, make a salsa from some tomatoes and our one-and-only jalapeno, and slice up some fresh avocado (not homegrown, although we do have a sizable avocado tree in a pot which has never fruited). They are super easy to make and super quick: perfect for a tired Tuesday.

Wednesday
Grilled Summer Veg with feta and grilled Sausage
I have no recipe to link to, because this is so simple, I don't think a recipe is necessary. Anyhow, in case you really, really want a recipe:
Ingredients
- Picked vegetables from the garden
- Feta
- Sausage links of your choice

Chops vegetables into sizable strips/chunks large enough that they wouldn't fall through the grill. If you have a grill basket, even better. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on medium-high heat until done.

Drizzle 1/2 inch slice of feta (or more) with olive oil. Toss on the grill and flip after a minute. Watch it carefully; otherwise, you'll have a serious disastrous mess on your hands.

Grill sausages to your liking.

Chop sausages and feta into bite-size chunks. Toss with vegetables. Throw in about a tablespoon of fresh rosemary. Eat.

Thursday
Open House - no that's not a meal. We have Open House which means we won't be leaving the school building until 8pm. It also means we'll be dead tired on Friday which means...

Friday
Going out! Where? I don't know...

Shopping List

From the garden/pantry

lettuce

tomatoes

carrots

cucumbers

string beans

summer squash

beets

potatoes 

peppers

corn

jalapeno

rice wrappers

bean threads

chili sauce

soy sauce

ginger

Pan

feta

rosemary

From the grocery store

avocados

pizza

sausage

Plus a few other items (not dinner related) which will equal to a bill of $30. WOW! I'm sure we'll realize we need other things before we head there, but that's what I'm looking at right now. Not too shabby. Of course, we'll be grabbing a bite to eat on Thursday ($20) and then again on Friday ($40), so...not that inexpensive, but sometimes, you just got to go out and enjoy life!

Bon appetit!

And just in case life isn't interesting enough, I decided to turn this:

into apple cider. I'll let you know how it turned out in about...oh three months or so.

Carebear poop

Although my beet hummus looks like Carebear poop, it tasted quite delicious! And, even though, preparing a meal such as this was the absolute last thing I wanted to do, I eventually got into the zen of chopping vegetables and felt fulfilled by meal's end. Besides, the walk out to the garden to pull up some beets did me good. Sometimes, the only therapy I need is a good homegrown, home-cooked meal. It didn't hurt that Carebear poop a.k.a. beet hummus is close to manna...plus it is such a pretty color.

Dinners September 10 - 14

Yes, this is my first post. Do I know what I am doing? No, of course not. Do I know what I would like to accomplish here? Well, yes, in a way, I do. I would like to keep my shopping list linked to recipes, so that I may remember why the heck I bought a whole pack of sage in the first place when it comes to Wednesday night, and my husband and I are starving and dead-tired from a day of teaching. I also would like to be able to share menu ideas with my friends who help inspire the age-old question of, "What's for dinner?". Plus, at least one friend asked how I organize meals for the week, because she is a teacher and a mother (wow!). Furthermore, I am health-conscious, local-food-conscious, as well as budget-conscious, so I am going to try and tie that all in as well. Right now it is September, and there is a wealth of delicious food in my own backyard to be consumed. Come December, some of my food will come from my pantry of summer stores.

Can I commit to doing this each week? Um, perhaps. I don't have children at home, but I do teach about 120 at school which in my book is just as tiring. (I know, I know...I don't have any late night scream-alarms...) Well, let's see if I do.

Friends, welcome. Please comment. Please share your ideas.

Now, what's for dinner?

Saturday - Sunday (We slum it around here on the weekend.)
Zucchini-quinoa fritters

Monday
BLT Pasta Salad

Tuesday
Beet Humus with Greek Salad and pita bread

Wednesday
Chicken Curry (no recipe...really making it easy with a Costco-bought Indian 3-pack simmer sauce)

Thursday
Vietnamese Noodle Wraps
I recommend you skip the "French-fried onions" and instead put in some fresh scallions. I also recommend you put in whatever fresh veg you have out in the yard. I will certainly do that myself.

Friday
Tofu Fries with Gingered Ketchup and Garden Salad

Shopping List

I already have this at home or in the garden:

zucchini

quinoa

eggs (from our lovely hens)

mushrooms (a lobster mushroom hand-picked from the forest floor)

soup stock (I always have this on hand either store-bought or in the freezer. I make my own whenever I purchase a whole chicken to bake. After we're done eating, I throw all the bones into the slow cooker along with some vegetables, peppercorns, and a bay leaf and let it slowly simmer overnight. Best soup stock ever!)

tomatoes 

pasta (not elbows, but penne will serve just fine)

leafy greens

mayonnaise

beets

tahini

lemon juice

garbanzo beans

cucumbers

feta

chicken

rice

curry sauce

bean thread noodles

carrots

mint

apples

scallions

spicy dipping sauce accouterments

rice paper wraps

ketchup

flour

Now from the store, I will need:

bacon

yogurt (Sometimes I get fancy-pants and make my own...I don't think that's going to happen this weekend since school just started and I have a bazillion things to do, so I will be purchasing whatever plain nonfat variety is on sale.)

kalamata olives

probably some more feta

pita bread (but we do have some whole grain tortillas that I may just substitute instead)

tofu

ginger

And, that my friends, is it. But is that the end of my grocery list? Of course not, don't be ridiculous! I still have to purchase normal things like toilet paper and cat food. But, as it stands, my list only has 13 items which with an average price of, um, let's say $5, that will add up to $65. What!? $65 for only 13 items! What the heck am I buying? 

Bon appetit!