The Versatility of a Menu Plan

I have recently discovered that my menu plans (probably most menu plans) are extremely versatile.  Yes, I’m a little slow at catching on.

I didn’t use to use my own menu plans and grocery lists very often.  I’m always cooking new things to share on the blog, so it didn’t make sense to print off a menu and list for meals I knew I probably wouldn’t make.

Then life got {even} busier.  So I printed off a menu and list, shopped and hung the list of meals on my fridge.  I made a few of them as written.  The rest of our meals  I created to share here with you.

What I found out is even when I don’t make the meals as planned, the grocery list still works. The reason is that almost all of my meals use common ingredients.  The list makes sure I’m keeping my pantry and freezer stocked with foods that can be used to make many different meals.

Win-win!  I don’t have to do any planning and I still have the freedom to change things up.  If you see me in the grocery now, I’ll have a printed list in my hands.

If you’re in a habit of shopping without a list or spending a lot of time creating a list, you might try printing this one.  Maybe you’ll find freedom in the plan too!

Here’s what is on the menu today:

Olive Oil and Italian Herb Roasted Chicken, Roasted Carrots and Parsnips, green veggie

Ravioli in the Slow cooker, salad

Croque Monsieur (Ham and Cheese), salad

Italian Beef Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker, French fries, carrot sticks

Black Bean and Corn Chicken Taco Bake, chips and salsa, salad

Cream of Cauliflower Soup, Cheddar Muffins

Cherry Oat Bars

To print, click here:  menu year 3 week 13

This menu is part of Menu Plan Monday at The Organizing Junkie

I’ve discovered that if I write something down, I’m more likely to remember it.

Not only that.  The things I write down are more likely to happen.

Just by committing goals, ambitions, to-do lists or anything else to paper, they take on importance.  Paper and ink give them momentum.  And suddenly, something that seemed so far away starts appearing.

Take the goal of paying off debt, for instance.  In your mind, it feels like a fuzzy, but nice idea.  On paper, it’s tangible.  It’s a plan.  And if you keep track of it (more writing on paper) Debt Free happens.  It’s no longer just a nice idea.  It’s your reality.

That’s why I’m really excited about today’s giveaway!

Phoebe from Getting Freedom has written The Home Management Binder.  In it you’ll find printables (places to commit your goals) on all kinds of topics:

• Master Menu Plan List
• Master Grocery List
• Monthly Cash Flow Plan
• Debt Snowball Sheet
• Bill Payment Schedule
• Various Cleaning Schedules

The Home Management Binder is a fantastic tool!  Today I’m giving away one copy!

I’ve also got a discount code for you to use.  You can get the Home Management Binder for just $5 by using the code EATATHOME. The discount is only good through Feb. 11.  And if you win the giveaway, but already purchased the Binder, Phoebe will refund your money.  Win-win!

To enter, leave a comment here telling me which part of the binder would be most useful to you. Giveaway closes Monday morning at 9am and the winner will be announced on the Eat at Home Facebook page.

This post contains affiliate links.

Yesterday, we talked about how to make white sauce.  That is the basis for this dish too.  The simple white sauce poured over layers of potato, ham ans shredded Swiss cheese makes for a wonderful dinner.

In order to keep the baking time to a minimum and ensure the potatoes get cooked all the way through, I boiled the whole potatoes and then sliced them.  Since everything is hot going into the oven, it only needs about 20 minutes to melt the cheese and finish off the dish.

Here’s what you’ll need to make it: 

White sauce is one of the most versatile things you can learn to make.  There are many variations to the basic recipe so you can use it for:

• Cheese sauce
• Cream soup substitute
• Cream sauce for peas or potatoes or other veggies
• Sausage gravy
• Chipped beef gravy
• Sauce for casseroles
• and more

Making white sauce is a quick thing to do.  You’ll only need a whisk and a heavy pan or skillet.  The amounts of butter, milk (or broth) and flour can be altered for different amounts and thicknesses of sauce.  For a very basic sauce of medium thickness, use 3 Tbs. butter, 3 Tbs. flour and 1 1/2 cups milk. 

The first step is to melt the butter in the pan or skillet over medium heat.

Once the butter is melted, add the flour.

Whisk the flour into the butter.  Cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly.

The butter and flour should turn golden in color.  After it cooks for a minute, whisk in hot milk.  I warm the milk in the microwave for a minute or two to heat it up.  Whisk the milk in slowly.  Bring the sauce to a low boil, stirring frequently.

When the sauce begins to boil, turn down the heat or remove it from heat.  At this point you can add salt and pepper and any other seasoning you want.  You can also add cheese for a cheese sauce.

Variations

• Cook diced onions, celery, garlic and/or mushrooms in the butter before adding flour.  This makes a good substitute for canned soups.
• Add 1-2 cups of cheddar, Parmesan, Swiss or other types of cheese
  
• Add 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• Add any seasonings such as poultry seasoning, nutmeg, onion powder, seasoned salt, curry powder, parsley, chives…
• Substitute chicken broth for 1/2 the milk

Tomorrow I’ll post a recipe for Ham & Swiss Potatoes that uses white sauce.  Once you know how to make basic white sauce, the possibilities are nearly endless.  Experiment and have fun!

Cherries are my favorite fruit.  I especially love sour cherries.  That’s because they are marvelous baked into pies and cobblers.  The cherries in the picture are from a bag of frozen cherries that I’ve been hoarding.  Valentines’ Day might be the perfect time to make a cherry cobbler.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried a cherry dessert that I didn’t like.  My favorite birthday treat is Cherry Squares.  I’d much rather have those than a cake.

Here are a few other cherry recipes I like: 

• Cherry Cobbler
• Maraschino Cherry Cake
• Cherry Coffee Cake
• Cherry Oat Bars

Now it’s your turn!  Link up any recipe on your blog that uses cherries.  It doesn’t have to be a recent post, just be sure to link directly to your recipe, not just the main page of your blog.  I only ask that you include a link back to Eat at Home in your post.  You can link directly to this post or use the button below.

This is a dangerous dessert for me to make.  I love them!  They are so buttery tasting that I have trouble stopping with one.  Or two. Or more.

This is an adaptation of Pioneer Woman’s Apricot Oat Bars.  However, I have a recipe exactly like hers that I printed off the internet sometime in the 90s.  So I’m not sure where the recipe originated.  I must thank whoever created it.  These bars are fabulous and the cherry version is delicious too. 

I don’t have an ingredient picture for you this time.  I was in a hurry when I made these and didn’t take the time for an extra photo.  The ingredients are all very common though.  You probably have everything you need to make them, except the jam.

January is nearly over.  I didn’t make any resolutions, but we did  change things up in our homeschooling for second semester.  We switched co-ops and changed some of the curriculum too.  So far, it’s all going much smoother for us.  A month into it and I can say the changes were for the better.

What about you?  Did you make any resolutions or are you working on new habits this year?

Maybe eating at home more often is something you’re working on.  If so, you’ll like this menu.  It’s got some of my favorite recipes on it and they’re all easy to make.

As always, you get 6 dinners and 1 dessert.  Serving suggestions are included in bold on the recipes and curly brackets {} on the grocery list.  Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice, steamed green veggie

Lentil Tacos, salad, chips and salsa

Mediterranean Chicken in the Slow Cooker, angel hair pasta, salad

Hamburger Vegetable Soup, Cheddar Muffins

Stromboli, salad

Complete BBQ Chicken Dinner in the Slow Cooker, steamed green veggie

Apple Cinnamon Skillet Monkey Bread

To print, click here:  menu year 3 week12

This menu is part of Menu Plan Monday at The Organizing Junkie.

This turned out to be a week of bread and jam.  Thursday, I posted a tutorial for making whole wheat bread by hand.  And Wednesday, we linked up recipes for jams and jellies.  Here are a few of your recipes that caught my eye.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars from The Sweets Life.

Split Second Cookies  from Picture Perfect Cooking sound easy and delicious.

Pear Honey from Cooking with K – amazing!

Jam Tarts from Cookin’ In Our Bubbleworld would make good use of my mini muffin pan.

Make your own Strawberry Fruit Roll Ups with this tutorial from Life Currants

Sweet and Spicy Crockpot Chicken from Amee’s Savory Dish looks like a good dinner.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Yesterday, we covered making whole wheat bread.  I used 1 loaf of bread dough to make 2 pans of cinnamon rolls.  Yum!

The process is easy and not scientific at all.  You’ll need the whole wheat bread dough first, of course.

Roll it out to about the thickness of pizza crust.  It should look like this: 

Generously spread butter over the surface of the dough.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Then roll lengthwise, like this:

Slice into 1″ thick slices.  This made 2 pans of rolls.  Place in a greased pan and cover loosely with a cloth.  Let rise about 30 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

I made a simple glaze of powdered sugar and milk to put on top.

I baked one pan right away and saved the second pan for the next morning.  Just put the unbaked rolls in the refrigerator overnight.

When I make homemade bread, I like to make quite a few loaves at once.  I don’t have time to make bread more than once a week (and I don’t even make it that often) so I like to have a lot to show for the effort.

This recipe will make 4 loaves.  But it’s too much dough for my stand mixer to handle so I make it by hand.  I enjoy the process of starting with flour and yeast, then kneading the dough to form loaves.  It feels rustic and wholesome and slow.  Such a contrast to the rest of modern life.

Of course, nothing compares to pulling hot loaves from the oven and slathering butter over thick slices.

Homemade bread is easy to make, but it does take some time and a little bit of muscle too, if you’re doing it by hand.  I’m going to take you through the whole process, so there are a lot more photos in this post than most of my posts.

Tomorrow, I’ll share how to make Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with part of the dough. 

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

Technically, this isn’t whole wheat bread.  I use a combination of whole wheat flour and white flour (preferably bread flour, but you can also use all purpose).  Whole wheat flour by itself will bake up a very heavy loaf.  You can add gluten to the mix to help the dough to rise, but I prefer to use white (bread) flour along with the wheat.  I use about 6 cups of each.

You’ll also need yeast.  I buy the jars of bread machine yeast.  I use honey to add to the flavor and help the yeast rise.  Butter helps the bread to keep a bit longer.  You don’t have to use it, but it’s a nice addition.  And of course, you’ll need salt and warm water, neither of which made it into the photo.

Step 1

In a very large bowl, dissolve 4 Tbs. yeast in 5 cups warm water.  The water should be about the temp of a baby’s bath water or about 85 degrees.  Add a teaspoon of honey to the yeast and water.  Stir with a wooden spoon.

Step 2

When the yeast is dissolved, add the another 4 Tbs. honey, 4 tsp. salt, 8 Tbs. butter and 6 cups whole wheat flour.

Stir this vigorously for several minutes.  You want it well mixed and you also want to give it a good workout.  This makes combining the rest of the flour easier.

It should like like this after you stir it:

It should be very thick liquid that’s kind of stretchy.  Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Step 3

Now it’s time to add 6 cups of white flour.

Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.  This is going to be harder to mix, because you’ve added more flour.  Work the flour in as much as you can with the spoon.  When you can’t stir it very well and most of the flour is worked in, turn it out on a floured table or counter to knead it.

Step 4 – Kneading

Kneading is going to take a total of 10-15 minutes.  Fold the dough over, smoosh it, give it a quarter turn and repeat.  Continue to work flour in as needed.  Keep your work surface floured too.  As the dough becomes more elastic and smooth, you may only need flour on your hands and/or counter, just to keep it from sticking. 

Here are some photos of the various stages of kneading:

1.  This is right after I turned the dough out of the bowl.  You can see that’s it’s a very rough ball.

2.  After several minutes of kneading, it begins to form a better ball.  It’s still rough at this stage and not very elastic.

3.  The dough is getting smoother and more elastic, but it’s not quite there yet.

4.  Finally, the dough forms a smooth ball.  The dough is elastic and you only need enough flour to keep it from sticking to the counter.

Step 5 – Rising

Clean out the bowl you used to mix the dough.  Spray it with cooking oil and place the ball of dough in the bowl.  Flip the ball over so the oiled side is on top.  Cover it with a clean cloth or towel.  Set the bowl in a warm place – the top of the refrigerator, on the counter under a light, on top of the stove if the oven is on.  If it’s a warm day, just sitting on the counter may be enough.

After about 1-2 hours, the dough will be doubled in size.

Punch the dough down.  At this point you can choose to put it in pans or let it rise again.  I usually put it in pans, but if I’m busy, I’ll let it rise a second time.  It’s up to you.

Step 6 – Divide and bake

Use a sharp knife to cut the dough in half, then in half again.  Grease 4 bread pans and shape the loaves.  Place them in the pans.  Cover and let rise about 30 minutes or until they’re doubled in size.

This much dough will make enough for 4 loaves of bread.  I made 3 loaves and 2 pans of cinnamon rolls (how-to coming tomorrow).

Bake the loaves at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  They should sound hollow when done.  You can also test the loaves with a cake tester.  If it comes out clean, they’re done.

Cool the loaves completely for best slicing.  But I recommend you only give them a few minutes out of the oven before slicing into a loaf.  Slather with butter and enjoy!

You can freeze the loaves too.  Just wrap tightly or put in a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag.