Menu and Grocery List

Monday: Mexican Polenta-Stuffed Bell Peppers
Tuesday: Sesame Tofu with Wilted Greens (using Mizuna or Bok Choy or both!)
Wednesday: Left open for CSA inspiration
Thursday: Vegetarian Chili
Friday: Pizza

Grocery List:
Texas valley lemons
organic butter
canola oil
raisins
mayonnaise
cheddar cheese
YoBaby
whole and skim organic milk
2 loaves white bread
polenta cornmeal (bought bulk)
green olives with pimentos
16 oz firm tofu
organic cereal
prosciutto
Asiago cheese
local organic plain yogurt

I love fall/winter in Texas because it means you can buy citrus like lemons, oranges, and grapefruits somewhat locally. The lemons don't look quite like the shiny yellow California or Mexico lemons. These lemons are sweeter and the skins are a dull yellow to green (almost a lime color) and are closer to Meyer lemons. I wanted to buy some lemons at the Farmer's Market on Saturday, but ran out of money. This is what I did get at the Farmer's Market though:
A loaf of whole wheat bread
sweet potatoes
Cameo apples (my favorites!!!)
a couple of butternut squash
a couple of zucchini (for vegetarian chili)

If the two loaves of white bread threw you for a loop, allow me to explain. About once a year or so, I buy white bread. The reason? My grandma's recipe for stuffing/dressing/filling (call it what you may) tastes best with the total devoid of any nutritional value white bread. For my kids' Thanksgiving feast at their preschool, I am taking two pans of stuffing. Thus, the white bread. I am not a southern so this cornbread dressing stuff just doesn't cut it for me. Recipe and pictures to come later in the week. :)

Menu and Grocery List

Monday: Autumn Vegetable Soup and Cinnamon Topped Oatmeal Muffins
Tuesday: Poultry Pasta Primavera
Wednesday: Butternut Squash and Arugula Pappardelle
Thursday: I'll see what's in the CSA box for this week
Friday: Beef Stew


Grocery List:
organic whole and skim milk
YoBaby yogurt
organic unsalted butter
organic pappardelle
organic capellini (angel hair pasta)
two onions
cream cheese
2 organic potatoes
3 organic carrots
a bunch of organic celery
stoned wheat crackers

Menu and Grocery List

Monday-Cashew Chicken and Bok Choy Salad
Tuesday- something with shrimp and Kale Gratin
Wednesday-sandwich supper
Thursday-Hotdogs, Brats and Sweet Potatoes (camping food)
Friday- Foil dinners: with cabbage, ground bison, potatoes, and carrots
Saturday-Taco Soup

As you can tell, the later part of the week is not typical food fare. We are going out of town for a long weekend and eating dinners over a campfire or with a camp stove. Thus, M got to walk through the grocery store clutching her beloved hotdogs that her mother never buys unless we go camping.

That said, the grocery list this week is a little different. I found fresh large gulf shrimp on sale (about half price!!) so I got some extra and froze it for a later time.

Grocery List:
cornstarch
YoBaby yogurt
organic whole and skim milk
bread
cabbage
organic carrots
ground bison (we only have one package of hamburger left from our 1/8 of a cow--what will we do!!)
bratwurst
Hebrew National All Beef Franks
Barbara's Bakery Cheese Bakes
Cream of Mushroom Soup
organic potatoes
3 pounds fresh Gulf shrimp

Menu and Grocery List

As always, this menu is subject to change later in the week depending on what we get in our CSA box.

Monday: Sun-Dried Tomato Tortellini Soup and Oven Cheese Fondue
Tuesday: Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Wednesday: Cashew Chicken and Rice
Thursday: Prosciutto and Cheese Stromboli or Spinach Foccacia (we'll see on either of these...)
Friday: Possibly a dish with fish?

Grocery List:

prosciutto
3 cheese tortellini (fresh from the refrigerated section)
two organic cereals
YoBaby yogurt
yellow cake mix
three packages of cream cheese
butter (three packages)
chocolate wafers
low-fat cottage cheese
whole and skim organic milk
one pound (free) chicken breasts
ramen noodles (for Bok Choy salad)

A lot my list was for desserts I am planning on making: Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake and Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake.

I did go the grocery store in the middle of the week for things like heavy cream (and I am totally blanking on the rest). I am hoping not to need to go in the middle of the week this week. We'll see.

Menu and Grocery List

This week's menu:

Monday: Kohlrabi Curry with Rice
Tuesday: Stuffed Acorn Squash with Kale Gratin
Wednesday: Either Old Bay Roasted Fish or Fish Tostadas (depends on what we get in the box)
Thursday: Left open to plan around what's in the CSA box
Friday: Parent's Night Out
Saturday: Intentionally left open (I'll cook since I won't Friday night)

At the grocery store today, I had an important lesson reinforced for me....never go to the grocery store when you are hungry and pregnant. That's a lethal combination almost guaranteeing you will buy things you don't need. Enough said, here's the list.

sesame oil
aluminum foil
organic black beans
organic kidney beans
bulk cinnamon (50¢ worth)
sugar
organic bulk whole wheat flour
whole almonds (both salted and unsalted)
all natural peanut butter
olive oil
unbleached white flour
organic rice
YoBaby
cheddar cheese
a pound of organic potatoes
2 Texas lemons
organic edamame
1 1/2 pounds of tilapia
spinach fettuccine
green olive bruschetta spread
hazelnuts
a small assortment of bulk halloween candy (I had a coupon---still really no excuse for this one)
whole wheat tortillas
two kinds of organic milk (whole and skim)
riccotta cheese
mozzarella cheese
sliced almonds

A few of things were planning in advance, just because I was thinking about it, like the hazelnuts. I'll possibly use the fettuccine later in the week depending on the contents of the CSA box.

Menu and Grocery List

Monday: Hamburgers and Kale Gratin (one of my favorite ways for kale!!)
Tuesday: Sweet Potato Burritos (or else quesadillas---probably burritos though)
Wednesday: (leaving W and Thursday open to see what comes in the box!)
Thursday:
Friday: Beef Enchiladas

Extras: Eggplant-Black Olive Dip, Zucchini Bread

The corresponding grocery list:
coriander (about 18¢ worth)
organic butter
whole wheat hamburger buns
ground black pepper (about 25¢ worth)
organic honey nut O's
other organic cereal (I can't remember which kind)
YoBaby
muffin papers
roasted, salted almonds (bulk) to snack on
raisins (bulk)
whole wheat multi-grain bread
stoned wheat crackers
dried fruit for Curtis

I did make a mid week grocery trip last week to get:
black olives
mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese
cheddar cheese
whole milk

(It was basically a dairy run!)

Menu and Grocery List

I have a tentative menu for the week, knowing that the latter half of the week's menu could change depending on what arrives in the CSA box.

Monday: Roasted chicken with potatoes, onion, and bruschetta
Tuesday: Chiles en Nogadas
Wednesday: Black Bean Tostadas
Thursday: Beef Enchiladas
Friday: Possibly something with Acorn Squash (it's accumulating in my pantry)
Saturday: Official I'm Not Cooking Day

And the accompanying grocery list for the week looked like:
baking powder
unbleached all purpose flour
organic black beans
Texas lemons
organic honey nut O's
local goat cheese
corn tortillas
oranges (not a good time for oranges---only ones available were from Australia!)
organic orange juice
cilantro
YoBaby
honey whole wheat bread
organic red potatoes
Grana Padano cheese
organic whole milk
brown sugar
whole wheat pita
locally made salsa

I got more produce this week than usual because this week's coupon was for $10 off produce. Like I've said earlier, I can't turn down free stuff, evidently even if it is Australian oranges (oh, they places they've gone!). They were for a recipe though, and they really do improve the recipe considerably so I gave in.

Someone asked me what snacks for my kids look like. This week snacks will probably be:
Baba Ganoush and pita
cucumber slices
Crackers and cheese
Cheese and Apple Slices (a great combination---especially with a nice sharp cheese like cheddar or manchego)
O's and raisins/dried cranberries mixed together

Snacks aren't a thrilling thing for me. They end up being an after thought, a little like, "Oh no! I need a snack now, what do we have?" M could eat Baba Ganoush and pita and crackers and cheese for every single snack for ever, so we do a lot of repeating snacks as well. Desperation snacks include giving M trail mix, knowing she will only eat the M & M's out of it (so for the next little while, there are no more M & M's to eat out of it). Occasionally, if I bake, some baked good may be a snack as well. Last week we had very small slices of apple cake for a morning snack a time or two.

Menu and Grocery List

Menu for the week:

Monday: Grilled Veggies with Pasta (because that didn't happen last Thursday)
Tuesday: Bison Burgers on Squash Yeast Rolls
Wednesday: Sweet Potato Quesadillas
Thursday: Leaving open for ideas from CSA box. Possibly a frittata or something that uses lots of eggs!
Friday: Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagne
Saturday: I'm not cooking day
Sunday: Roasted Chicken

Hopefully on Wednesday I'll make the Jewish Apple Cake (hmm...maybe I'll take it to playgroup on Thursday, wherever that may be!). I also want to make more yogurt on Tuesday and chocolate pudding some time later in the week---maybe Thursday evening as I am watching the VP debate.

The corresponding grocery list:
YoBaby yogurt
organic whole milk
local non-homogenized milk
organic honey nut o's cereal
organic shredded oat squares cereal
bison burgers (I got a pound and a half free with a coupon! Yippee!!)
whole wheat bread
flour tortillas (they were all out of whole wheat). :(
organic onions
a few mushrooms
a small block of mozzarella
fontina cheese
organic OJ
and my impulse buy--a bar of dark chocolate with coffee to stash in a drawer for "emergencies."

I also bought a plant--onion chives. I hope to plant that and my other herbs this morning (I recently bought a sage and dill plant. I know I shouldn't buy dill because it supposedly grows from seed really easily, but last time I planted seeds, none came up).

Menu and Grocery List

Monday- Mexican Stuffed Peppers and Lima Beans
Tuesday- Mushroom Pizza (and whatever else I can find to throw on top of it)
Wednesday- Church pictures followed by a kids eat free dinner at a local restaurant
Thursday- Grilled Summer Vegetables and pasta
Friday and Saturday - Curtis and M will be out of town. I suspect J and I will do a lot of scavenging and not a terrible amount of cooking. We'll see. I am leaving those days open.
Sunday- Quesadillas with Gazpacho Salsa

Plus, sometime during the week this week, I would like to make egg salad and squash rolls. Trying to use a dozen eggs every week is daunting. I think next time I subscribe to my CSA I will just get eggs every other week.

The corresponding grocery list:

Cumin
Organic butter
Organic capellini (skinny spaghetti which we like better than spaghetti)
Whole and Skim Milk
YoBaby Yogurt
Organic cilantro
Grana Padano cheese (like Parmegiano Regiano cheese, but from a slightly different region of Italy and cheaper)
Smoked Paprika
Cremini Mushrooms (grown locally, Cremini mushrooms are baby portabellas---a fun fact, portabellas used to just be thrown out. People thought they were too large to eat.)
Lemons

I always buy my spices in bulk. I've learned they are a lot cheaper this way and they stay fresh longer than the one size fits all jar I used to buy in the store. For example, my cumin cost only 30¢, the smoked paprika 26¢--I bought maybe 2 T worth, more than I'll use before it starts losing it flavor. If you buy the spices in a jar, you are paying for the jar and not the spice. With the exception of saffron and a few other spices, spices tend to be very inexpensive because you don't need much at a time.

Menu and Grocery List

Monday: Butternut Risotta with a side of Butter Beans
Tuesday: Small Group. I don't need to cook! :)
Wednesday: Manicotti from Central Market (coupon for $10 free this week)
Thursday: Spaghetti Squash with Pasta Sauce
Friday: Parents' Night Out at church so I am not cooking!

As you can tell, this is a week I don't need to cook as much for! No complaints here.

Grocery List:
YoBaby yogurt
organic unsalted butter
locally unhomogenized whole milk (for making yogurt this week)
whole wheat crackers
extra virgin olive oil
organic rice
arborio rice
organic rolled oats
unbleached flour
sugar
dried cranberries
dried tart cherries
organic honey nut O's
sunflower seeds
whole wheat pita
Manicotti (with coupon)
Sweet Leaf Iced Tea

In the middle of the week last week, we did get a gallon of whole milk and a gallon of skim milk. I still need to get whole wheat multi-grain bread and Asiago cheese from a local Italian market which was closed for renovations today.

Menu and Grocery List for Week

Monday: Fish with Puttanesca Sauce (recipe for Puttanesca Sauce from epicurious).

Tuesday: Macaroni and Cheese

Wednesday: Dinner provided by In-Laws

Thursday: Mint Burgers with Feta Sauce

Friday: Fusilli with Salsa Arrabiatta

Grocery List:
white fish
shrimp
organic O's cereal
organic Oat Squares cereal
brown sugar
0rganic unsweetened coconut
natural Peanut Butter
Black olives
tomatoes
organic Fusilli
Proscuitto
Bay leaves (bulk)
bulk Feta
Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
Onions
YoBaby yogurt
Velveeta (my processed food weakness because it makes the best stovetop Mac and Cheese)

I didn't plan ahead enough to get tomatoes at the Farmer's Market on Saturday, so I had to buy them at the grocery store. My husband picked this weeks menu, I suspect if I would have chose it, there would have been no tomatoes.