Food – Page 15 – a hippie with a minivan

Meal Plan for the week…

This week’s meal plan includes one of the Turkeys that I bought last week and will be made into three of the weeks meals, so with a few staples that needed to be bought (coffee, 10 kilo bag of flour, a few pounds of butter that were on special etc) I was still able to keep the total lower than usual at about 110$.

So here is what we are eating this week..

Sushi/Cheese Fondue (Simon is not a big Sushi fan so he has the latter and the boys have both)
Turkey supper (Turkey, crispy potatoes and gravy)
Samosas
Turkey Club sandwiches with homemade Ciabatta bread
Turkey and Dumpling Soup
Felafel on homemade Pitas

I see that I need to add a few more recipes here to share.. So I will make sure to take pics and share, especially the Ciabatta bread that take sandwiches to the next level, and the turkey dumpling soup that is one of the boys’ favourites. Making the Samosas will be a first time for me so I will share depending on the results, but I am pretty confident that they will be good…

Pregnancy Tea…

This is the third pregnancy that I have made sure to drink Red Raspberry Leaf tea through out the pregnancy…

I have been learning more about herbs (still need to get my hand on a good book though… any suggestions welcome!) and this time I have made a point of adding more herbs to my tea to add more nutrients and vitamins and of course the other useful effects that herbs can bring.

My home mixed Pregnancy Tea is made primarily of 3 herbs (though I will soon be adding a fourth as soon as I get to the store).

Red Raspberry Leaf: One of the main reasons of taking RRL in pregnancy is that it strengthens the uterine muscles making labour more efficient. RRL is high in Calcium and Magnesium which helps relieve cramps and is also high in Iron, making it great for energy and anaemia. It also helps settle an upset stomach. Taken after birth, it helps with bleeding, helps the Uterus regain tone and increases milk supply.

Nettles: Nettle is an amazing herb. It is rich in Iron, Calcium and Folic Acid which is very important in pregnancy. It strengthens the Kidneys which reduces fluid retention, and also supports the vascular system which helps prevent varicose veins and hemorrhoids. Taken after birth it can help with hemorrhaging and bleeding and also helps increase the milk supply.

Oatstraw: Oatstraw is another herb that is high in Calcium and Magnesium. It is also high in Vit. A, B, C and E. Oatstraw is known to help alleviate pain and has a calming effect on the nervous system which helps with anxiety and depression and also helps for a more restful sleep. It is also an herb that helps the immune system.

The next herb that I will be getting is Dandelion root.

Dandelion root is a great diuretic, helping to clean and strengthen the liver, kidney and gallbladder (though I no longer have the latter). It also replaces the potassium loss in frequent urination.

I put the same amount of each of the herbs in a Jar to make a large batch of loose tea that I can just take a bit of each day without any fuss. I boil my water, place 2 heaping tsp of the tea in a 1L Mason Jar and fill the jar nearly to the brim with the hot water…

I give it a quick stir (mostly because I love to see it swirl)

And then let it cool down… as I prefer to drink this tea warm or even cold… if I am wanting to drink it hot I add a tsp of my favourite “chunky fruit tea” to add a bit of sweetness to the flavour…and now that I am in the third trimester, I make sure to drink at least 3 cups of it every day…

I couldn’t find my tea sieve the other day (I have since cleaned out my tea shelf and found it) but I had an idea and used my Sprout Jar top for the tea. It works perfectly, cleans easily and I definitely will keep on using it… though I do only use it after letting the tea steep and cool down…

**The general rule for RRL in Pregnancy is 1 cup in the first trimester, 2 cups in the second and 3 in the third. So if you make this, make sure that in the first six months you make the adjustment or made it separate from the rest of the herbs.

Of course this tea is not only good in pregnancy but is also great at any time, especially for women and their monthly cycles.

Weekly specials…

Sometimes, the weekly specials at the grocery store just work for you…

I make my weekly menu according to the specials from the grocery stores in my area and I am also trying to stay within budget. I was not being careful for a while and the amount we were spending on groceries was going up a bit more than I would have hoped… So I have been being careful of using what we have in the freezer and pantry and stocking up on things that are on special…

Now that I also have Nala to feed I am really keeping my eye out on cheaper cuts of meat…

I felt I hit the Jackpot this week… Turkey was .99 a pound and so were chickens at another store. I bought two turkeys, one that has been put away in the fridge to defrost for the weekend (which will make a great turkey meal, pot pie, stock and soup along with leftovers) and one for freezer for a later date. I also bought 4 chickens and a 4 bone in chicken breasts. Along with other food to complete the menu plan, including 8lbs of apples and a box of clementines, I managed to keep the cost at about 100$ which I find to be quite remarkable…

The 4 chickens were not the nicest looking or the best quality but Nala won’t mind… I took the time yesterday morning to cut them up and separate them into baggies for about 3-4 weeks worth of Nala’s meals… I am hoping to do the same whenever I see that special so that we have a good stock of food for her in the freezer at all times.

(Ready for the Freezer)

At the same time I was cutting up the whole chickens and was in the groove, I also cut up the chicken breasts that I used in last nights supper which was Fried chicken Sandwiches (recipe to come)…

The bones of course did not go to waste and got thrown into a pot with a few onions, carrots and celery stalks and will become the broth for tonight’s soup and there should be broth left over to freeze for other meals…

(Chicken stock before and after about 20 hours of simmering)

So for about 100$ I will be getting weeks worth of food for the whole family…

Planning meals and stocking up on specials can really be quite rewarding…

Crumb topped Banana Muffins

Mix together in small bowl…

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In a larger bowl beat together…

3 mashed bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup melted butter (or coconut oil)

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet making sure you don’t over mix… Separate the batter into 12 prepared (buttered or lined) muffin tins… (I use an ice cream scoop to make that easier)

For the topping mash together with fork or fingers:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup oats
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cold butter

put a bit of topping on each of the muffins and then place in preheated 375 degree oven for 20 min…

The texture of these is so light and fluffy… and of course you can always add chocolate chips or nuts or coconut for an extra treat!

It's October…

I can’t believe it is already October… Fall is my favourite season and I think this is my favourite Month.

The leaves change and fall, the air is crisp but not too cold and the warm meals make their return and are new again… After the summer and the first month of pregnancy that nothing appealed to me and cooking was a bit more of a chore than a hobby, I am enjoying being in the kitchen again. Over the weekend I made Hot Pepper Jelly, Raspberry-Plum Jam with a hint of vanilla (recipe to come), apple-pie jam that didn’t set but has now been named apple pie syrup which Xavier has fallen in love with and I still have many apples and plums to cook with which will most likely because other treats along with apple sauce that will be a treat during the winter…

I have also been making roasted chicken, roasts, roasted veggies, soups, stews, pot pies, crumbles, apple-cinnamon oatmeal, apple pancake along with many other meals that warm you up…No heating needed yet, our oven and stove have been keeping the house warm lately…

Another fun thing is that Xavier has been commenting on my meals more instead of just saying that he likes it or not… he is interested in what goes in and what flavours come from where and has been commenting on little parts of the meal that he likes and not just the ensemble. He has also been a lot more interested in trying new things which is fun when you love experimenting..

Thanksgiving is coming up in two weeks and I am planning on a traditional meal with all the works… and hopefully we will have a few friends over to share the meal with us… Here in Quebec, especially on the French side, thanksgiving is just a day off and there are no special meals or anything.. growing up as a child, my mom never did anything either and I loved being invited over to friends’ homes for their traditional thanksgiving suppers… so it is a tradition that I love sharing with my children and I hope that later on when they have children of their own, I will be able to kep the tradition alive and have the family gathering that as a child I dreamt of having…

The end of October will also be the end of the second trimester for me… just a few short months and we will have a new baby in the house again. It is going so fast because in a way I have still not accepted 100% that I am pregnant… not like the other times… the loss just before has made this pregnancy different then the others. I am also carrying this baby very differently, my Uterus is long and I am carrying high… though I am definitely showing when I am standing up, when I am sitting or when I lay down it is hardly noticeable… and I can still get a few pairs of pants on and zipped up though they are too tight to wear like that…

Then of course is Halloween, one of my favourite days… hopefully it won’t be raining and we will be able to go for a long walk in the neighbourhood with the kids all dressed up and trick-or-treating…. Last year we went out early and then came back, put aside the candy that we could enjoy (not much) and then opened our lights and gave out all the candy that we can’t eat… the kids loved the idea and loved giving out the candy along with the glow sticks I bought at the dollar store..

Happy October to all of you that love fall as much as I do… I hope you are able to make a few memories…

(the leaves changing on one of the maples in my yard)