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!