Veggies....Veggies....and more Veggies....

My husband expressed to me earlier this month that he would love more vegatarian meals. I was surprised.....and that was replaced with fear! I'm not sure I can make some great vegatarian meals. Guess what folks? I can!!!! I picked up Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates cookbook and I gathered up some recipes along with my courage and went for it. First, I made a ratatouille. YUM! Here is the recipe I used (it was adapted with some changes from the Moosewood cookbook. Enjoy!

4 cups Eggplant cubed
2 cups onion chopped
1 cup yellow squash cubed
3 cups zucchini cubed
3 cups bell peppers chopped (two colors are prettier:-)
1 can Italian diced tomatoes
3 Tbl olive oil

375 degrees
Prep all veggies. Rinse the eggplant in a colander, drain, and dry with a paper towel. Toss eggplant, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, onions with 2 Tbl olive oil. Spread the veggies in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast for about 40 min until veggies are soft and edges are brown.
Layer half the veggies in a baking pan and top with half the can of Italian tomatoes. Layer on the remaining veggies and the rest of the tomatoes. Cover and bake for 40 min. Serve immediately.
We served ours over some brown rice. It would be great with pasta or polenta. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Meal Plan part 2

So do you have your recipes organized yet? Now are you wondering how to pick and choose? Well, there are a few ways to go about it. Here is an example:

Set up 2 weeks to a month at a time.
Week One:
Monday - Chicken
Tuesday - Pasta
Wednesday - Crockpot Beef
Thursday - Soup
Friday - Vegetarian
Sat - Leftovers
Sunday - Breakfast

Week Two:
Monday - Fish
Tuesday - Crockpot Chicken
Wednesday - Soup
Thursday - Pork
Friday - Pasta
Saturday - Beef
Sunday - Vegetarian

And so on......you could also schedule more specifically.....for example....
Monday - Chicken Italian
Tuesday - Beef Mexican
Wednesday - Vegetarian Soup
...And so on...

By organizing your recipes and planning ahead, you can really save yourself headache and make dinner time simple. See this post on how to display your meal plans.

Happy New Year!

Do you make new years resolutions? I'm not usually too big on them, but I'm making a few this year....mainly cause my husband says that if you write your goals down, it's proven that you are more likely to achieve those goals. So, this year, it's my goal to read my Bible every day, do a quarter triathlon (quarter mile swim, 6 mile bike, 1.5 mile run)(it's a small goal...but I gotta start somewhere), and to get my certification as a personal chef.....and I for sure want to blog more! So...I thought it's appropriate to start the new year off with talking about meal planning.

Ok, if you know me, you know I love to plan!! I don't know why...I'm just a planner and I really enjoy it. I've talked to several women about how they plan meals and how they decide whats for dinner and most of you say the planning aspect is the hardest. I've also found that the way I plan may not work for everyone. It seems that you just have to figure out the best method for you and your family. With that said....here are a few things I found on other blogs and websites that I hope will inspire you with planning your meals.

Have an old picture frame your not using? How about this from Make it and Love it.

Or this chalkboard project from Nannygoat. You could put a coat of magnetic paint under the chalkboard paint for a multi-functional chalkboard!

Put your recipes in a binder as Martha shows. She uses simple photo album sheets.

Here is a pretty and functional way to display recipes. Find out how she does it at Controlling My Chaos.

And...if you need some inspiration and want to see what others are having....check Meal Plan Monday from I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Uh....Hi...

Hey guys.....
so I guess I owe an explanation.....my last entry was Oct 17!!! (yikes)

Well, here goes....
pregnancy......miscarriage (thats the worse part....but now that that is out.....whew)
My husband got year long orders to Iraq.......and the orders just got cancelled.
2 cars have broke down......1 minivan has been purchased.
My father got sick and had surgery.
Choir rehearsals......Christmas concert is over now.

Oh, and did I mention I still have 2 kiddos and a husband. :-)

So please, from the bottom of my heart, forgive me for being absent.

I pray you all have a fabulous Christmas and that you truly experience Christ's love this holiday season.

Merry Christmas,
Shelby

Sweet Potatoes with Roasted Bananas and Pecans

Sweet Potatoes with Roasted Banana and Pecans

6 lbs sweet potatoes
1 ripe banana (leave the peel on)
1/2 st butter, soft
1/2 c maple syrup
2 T grd cinnamon
2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t salt

1 lb pecans
1/2 c butter unsalted
1 T salt
2 T brown sugar

Poke the potatoes with a fork and bake about 1 hour in a 425 degree oven. Roast the banana with the peel on in a dish for 15 min at the same temp. When cooled, peel the potatoes and banana. Put in a food processor or blender and pulse but leave the potatoes somewhat chunky. Add the butter and maple and puree until your desired smoothness. Add the cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice and salt. Transfer to a baking dish and smooth out.
In a skillet, cook the pecans with the butter over low heat and spinkle in the salt. Stir often for about 5 min. Put the pecans on top of the sweet potatoes and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar. Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 min until heated throughly.

This is very similar to a recipe Tyler Florence did a few years ago on Food Network.

Hot Ham and Cheese Sands

We have these with Pumpkin Soup in the fall. You can also freeze these for a quick lunch.

Hot Ham and Cheese

8 sandwhich buns
8 slices swiss cheese
1/2 lb sliced ham
1 t poppy seed
1/2 c butter, melted
1/4 c onion, chopped or 4 T dried onions
1 t worcestershire sauce
1/4 c dijon mustard

Assemble ham and cheese onto buns.
Combine poppy seed, butter, onion, worcestershire, and dijon in a small sauce pan. Warm ingredients on med heat until butter has melted. Spead mix on each bun. Wrap in foil. Bake for 15 min at 350 degrees.
If you freeze, freeze before you bake. Bake frozen sands at 300 degrees for 30 min.

Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran-Apple Relish

This is one of our favorite soups. In fact, today when I mentioned that it's almost pumpkin soup time to my husband, his eye lit up! lol I think this is a Rachel Ray recipe, but we've been making it for a couple years now so I can't remember. Oh, and I know the relish sounds funny, but it totally makes the soup, so don't skip it!!!

Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran-Apple Relish

1 T olive oil
2 T butter
1 bay leaf
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 med yellow onion, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper
3 T flour
2 t poultry seasoning or 2 t ground thyme
2 t hot sauce or to taste
6 c chicken broth
1 can cooked pumpkin puree (28 oz) (you can also you fresh cooked pumpkin)
2 c heavy cream (I have used everything from cream to 1%)
1/2 t nutmeg

Relish
1 crisp granny smith apple, finely chopped
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 T lemon juice
1/2 c dried sweetened cranberries, chopped
1 t chili powder
2 t honey
1/2 t ground cinnamon

Soup
In a soup pot over med-high het, add oil and butter. Add bay, celery, and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 6-7 min until tender. Add flour, poultry seasoning, and hot sauce. Cook flour for a min. Whisk in broth and bring to a bubble. Whisk in pumpkin. Simmer for 10 min. Add cream and nutmeg. Reduce heat to low to keep warm. Serve.

Relish
Combine apple, onion, lemon juice, cranberries, chili powder, honey, and cinnamon. Serve pumpkin soup with a few spoonfuls of relish on top.

We have this soup with hot Ham and Cheese Sands.