Menu planning

I’ve started working on next week’s menu and shopping list. During the summer, we shop on Fridays after my hubby gets off work so that our cupboards are full for weekend cooking. Now that sundown is earlier, we shop on Sundays. I prefer early mornings but sometimes we don’t make it out the door until the afternoon.

Next week, I want to try Baked Chimichangas. I’m still pushing myself to try at least one new recipe each week. The ingredients in our chimichangas might be a bit different than the recipe calls for but the actual cooking process is new to me.

I’m also researching pumpkins. I’m trying to determine if the regular pumpkins available in stores right now are recommended for cooking. According to most websites I’ve visited, those pumpkins aren’t that good for cooking because they aren’t as sweet and the texture is rougher than cooking pumpkins. If that’s the case, now I have to determine where to buy cooking pumpkins. So far, all I’ve seen are pumpkins for carving.

I want to make pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie… the list is extensive. I love fall and all the seasonal flavors. I just have to figure out where I can the pumpkin and how I cook it! Anyone know where I can get a cooking pumpkin?

False advertising

“Life is too short for oatmeal.”

So claims a sign from a local convenience store.

Life is never too short for oatmeal. Especially when the advertisement claims that a store bought cinnamon roll is better than homemade oatmeal. Especially when it’s homemade oatmeal with chopped apples and cinnamon.

As soon as the temperature cools down, I’m making homemade oatmeal and homemade cinnamon rolls. Life is too short for store bought cinnamon rolls.

Branching out, trying something new

One of my goals is to try new things, whether it be experiences, food, or styles. I am a very conservative person and have not experienced much because I’ve always been afraid to try something different. This is true in my diet, my music, my hobbies, and even my interactions with other people.

An easy way for me to branch out without too much risk is our food. Our menus are very limited and we get bored eating the same things day after day. My culinary repertoire is mostly Mexican and Italian dishes. I thought it would be fun to attempt apple butter today.

First I peeled the apples and quartered them. All the apples went into the Crock Pot with some vanilla. Then it cooked for eight hours.

After three hours, my apples were already starting to liquefy.

After eight hours of cooking, I added cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, and white sugar. I stirred it all up and then let it cook for another two hours. The final product in my lovely recycled Classico jars:


I haven’t tried it yet. I was waiting for it to cool off and now I’m ready to eat a piece of homemade Amish bread with my homemade apple butter. I hope it turned out well!

I used this recipe for inspiration. I halved the recipe and didn’t cook it as long as the recipe called for because the apple butter was starting to turn dark brown and stick to the sides of the Crock Pot. Hopefully I made the right decision to end the cooking early. If not, I’ll just have to try again with a full recipe.

Quietness

Today was a very quiet day. Hubby attended a Microsoft conference this afternoon so I was home by myself. The cats were actually pretty quiet and I wasn’t sure what to do without any noise!

I was feeling a bit down this afternoon. I picked up my Bible and read a few chapters in Acts about how God kept protecting and guiding Paul and Silas. They were so focused on their mission to tell others about the gospel. I admire that drive. I wish I could say the same about myself. I’m afraid to talk to strangers about God. Chalk it up to insecurity, shyness, or fear of rejection.

Between my Bible study and housework, I’m feeling better this afternoon. When I finished reading the Bible, I tackled the kitchen. We now have very clean dishes, a clean stove, and an uncluttered counter top. I put pinto beans in the crock pot this morning and made rice just a bit ago. We’re having haystacks for dinner. Chips, homemade beans, homemade rice, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. Yum!

Kitchen doings

What a great success. For the first time since we were given it a year ago, I opened the box and used my new Crock Pot. I filled a pot with water and soaked black beans overnight. This morning, I rinsed the beans, pulled out a couple bad ones, and covered them with water in the Crock Pot. I cooked them for eight hours and they tasted really good! I wasn’t sure how to long to cook the beans or how much water to use, so I searched the internet and found A Year of Slowcooking‘s recipe for cooking dried beans. What a great website! I’m drooling over a few of the recipes and have already determined to make apple butter this weekend if I can find a deal on apples.I also made homemade tortillas and rice. We really wanted to make enchiladas but the tortillas are too small for me to roll and then bake. Instead, we filled them with black beans and rice (plus sour cream for me) and then poured hot enchilada sauce over the top. We ended up eating them with a fork. If I can wean myself off the sour cream (or switch to vegan sour cream) and find a homemade enchilada sauce recipe, we’ll have ourselves a very healthy meal! Between the black beans, tortilla shells, and amish bread baked this morning, I had a very productive day in the kitchen! 

Doubling recipes

I double a lot of recipes. In doing so, I find myself dealing with conversions from teaspoons to tablespoons, from tablespoons to cups… Even though I double recipes frequently, I always forget the conversions. Thankfully, I found this calculator today. This will make those conversions so much easier.

My contract work is still on hold and I have the day off tomorrow as well because of lack of work. Hubby will be working at client sites all day tomorrow and I am determined to maximize my productivity! I have much that I wish to accomplish – Bible study, vacuuming, a load of laundry, ironing, progress on my brother’s Christmas present, and some research for the novel I’m going to attempt writing in November.

During the day, I will be listening to classical music. I have a new found love for some of the old composers, especially Sergei Rachmaninoff.

My favorite, Rachmaninoff playing his Piano Concerto No. 2:

Preparation day

Last week, I promised myself that the only laundry I would be washing on Fridays is our sheets and pillowcases. So why is it that I have three loads of laundry to wash, dry, iron, and fold today?

I really should pick up some additional bread pans. Right now, I can only bake two loaves at a time. The first two loaves of banana bread are in the oven. If I can squeeze them all in before 1:00PM (after which is our expensive time of day for electricity), I should have 6 loaves baked. One for today, one for tomorrow, and four for the freezer.

Dishes and menus

I am happy to say that the dishes have been washed/dried/put away for the last two days! I don’t know why I struggle so much with keeping a clean kitchen, but I’m slowly learning to prioritize.

I also created a menu for the next week. My diet is being overhauled again and I’m trying to eat mostly fruits and veggies with a regular, vegan meal at night. We have fruit for banana/peach smoothies and peach/strawberry smoothies, both of which are very good. I’ve found that the more fruit I consume on a daily basis, the less I crave desserts. I haven’t had dessert in over a month.

Menu planning is always a challenge for me as I can never think of anything new to eat. We tend to rotate through the same meal options – haystacks, burritos, spaghetti, and orange tofu. All of these meals taste good but we have problems with variety. I decided to try a new recipe this week so I’ll be making vegan soba and mushroom soup this weekend. It’s a bit different than our normal dinner fare! Hopefully it turns out well.

Preparation day

Today has truly felt like Preparation day. I baked two loaves of bread (one for us and one for lunch at the pastor’s house tomorrow). Then I made two jars of homemade spaghetti sauce, also for tomorrow. I wasn’t too impressed with the sauce, but I’ll reserve judgment until I eat in on spaghetti noodles. It just didn’t have that much flavor, even though I spiced it and let it simmer for 3 hours.

Our church clothes are pressed and hanging in the bedroom. We have clean sheets and clean towels. The entire apartment has been vacuumed and the kitchen is spotless! My hubby was incredibly nice today and washed, dried, and put away all the dishes while I completed other housework. I love my hubby!

In the middle of all that, I completed a rush assignment for my contract job. Whew!

Happy Sabbath, all! I hope your day of rest and time spent with the Lord goes well.

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13, NLT).