The Sinister Scribe

I know I’ve skipped a few weeks and I may get them up here eventually but for now… moving forward to next week’s menu. I’m trying to smooth out the process by creating this list as I print recipes and make my shopping list. If you use Shopping list Software from Home Plan, you can use this “itm” file. I’ve tried to include everything (except the frozen peas, blech!) so there will likely be a lot you can delete if you use it.

For Pi Day:

• Quiche
• Irish Cottage Pie
• Pizza Pie (gonna use pizza crust mix)

Rest of the week:

• Beef & Guinness Pie
• Corned Beef (on sale at Gerbe’s) & Champ
• Boxty & Dublin Coddle
• Dingle Pies (GF crust)

This is how my 12yo son makes it…

4C water and 3 bullion cubes
2 eggs
1/4 tsp ginger powdered
2T corn starch

Optional:
chopped green onion

Beat eggs, set aside. Mix 3/4 cup of the water with starch, set aside. Put remaining water & bullion in pot. Add ginger.

Bring pot to a boil and using a fork, drip in egg. Shake starch mixture and add to pot. Stirring carefully until thickened. Add green onion if using.

We like to ladle ours over rice.

You can use broth if you have it on hand. If so, you may want to add some salt or other seasonings. I usually have one or the other on hand. Found a good deal on WF bullion cubes not too long ago so that is usually what we use right now.

Delish and frugal too!

Yep, I’m rather behind again. I’ll catch up and get week 5 up if/when I can. Wanted to get this one up at least since last night Bob and I sat down and worked out next week. I even have my shopping list all ready to go! Woohoo!

On Sunday I got all meat prepped with marinades and into the freezer so mealtime prep has been a cinch and the meat has been extra yummy.

1. Fooshi rolls (see picture) or “faux sushi” IOW, no raw fish (sadly), tamagoyaki, egg drop soup
2. Oyakodon & rice: Changes: calrose rice, fewer eggs and chicken broth rather than dashi.
3. Coriander Teriyaki Steak with stir-fry veg over rice
4. Soy Glazed Chicken with stir-fry veg over… rice
5. Beef Bowl over… you guessed it, rice (a repeat recipe)
6. Teriyaki Chicken, sesame green beans and… more rice
7. Potstickers, rice and egg drop soup

Will get links up soon…. errr… soon as I can. Taa Daa!

Forgot to add the jobusai (freezer/fridge stash for lunches): Carrot Kinpira, honey mustard salad pickles and Spinach with sesame sauce.

This is going to sound old but all these recipes were great! Two were old standbys but the kids liked and ate ALL of them. Woot!

1. White Bean Bisque with Garlic Chips
   I was out of fresh garlic so I used powdered. Also made cornbread & side salad to go with it. We ALL loved it. 5 star.
2. Potato Leek
   An old standby.  Forgot leeks so I carmelized the onion.
3. Butternut Squash & Ham Bisque
   Another oldie but goodie.
4. Italian Wedding (slight mod to make GF)
   Where it called for bread crumbs I just substituted the same amount of WF flour mix. I really did not expect the kids to like this but they did! Not enough to have seconds but enough to finish a bowl full. 5 star.
5. Tortilla Soup with Chicken & Lime
   Oh! My! We all loved it. I did “cheat” and use store bought tortilla chips. My only complaint is that one batch isn’t big enough. LOL! So 4 stars on a technicality.

Next week we’re heading back to the Mediterranean area for Italian food…

This week’s theme is not really about geography as it is about weather. It is going to be cold this week!

1. White Bean Bisque with Garlic Chips
2. Potato Leek
3. Butternut Squash & Ham Bisque
4. Italian Wedding (slight mod to make GF)
5. Tortilla Soup with Chicken & Lime

We’ve already made the white Bean Bisque with GF cornbread. Yummo! Definitely a 5 star. I was out of garlic cloves this time so we didn’t to the chips

Going to have to streamline this or I’ll never keep it up!

Week 3 theme was South American and was nommy! It went something like this:

1. Empanadas
   Used leftover chicken and beef for filling and GF tortilla recipe for dough.
2. Peruvian Grilled Chicken
3. Arepas
4. Yucatecan-Style Pork
5. Enchiladas
   made corn torts with masa flour
   left over pork and chicken for filling
6. Skirt Steak Tacos with homemade GF tortillas

All recipes were great and al 5 star according to my rating system

1. Everyone likes it
2. minimal prep/cook time
3. Leftover/Freezer friendly
4. Cost effective
5. Will make again

The arepas had to be the most popular, hands down! First go was with masa corn flour and then I found some actual arepa flour. The flours are different for whatever reason but both made awesome arepas. We used mozzarella cheese.

For the “skirt steak” I used what was on sale. I don’t remember what it was called. The names of cuts of beef make no sense to me and I can never find the one I am looking for anyway. Target was something thin and cheap.

This week’s theme is Mediterranean… sort of. We’ve got an Indian and italian recipes in there too. LOL! At first I had down 5 new recipes but as the ingredient list grew longer and longer, I knew I had to cut back so Here are the new recipes:

1. Cold Plate Night: Keftedes, Hummus & Tzatziki & GF fry bread
2. Gyros Meat Sandwiches (using beef not lamb) & GF Tortillas
3. MYO GF calzones
4. Spicy Beef, Bombay Potatoes & Salad

In there somewhere will be a baked potato night and a left over night. I think the grocery bill this week was under $60. But I had a lot of what was needed already on hand. All breads will be from this GF flour mix and a tortilla recipe I found…somewhere.

Onward and upward!

Wow! That went fast!

Dinner prep went great and lunches were all delicious leftovers.

Thinking of coming up with a rating system. One point/star for each of the following

1. Everyone likes it
2. minimal prep/cook time
3. Leftover/Freezer friendly
4. Cost effective
5. Will make again

I’m only going to rate the new recipes…

1. Slow Cooker Char Siu Pork roast : 5 stars…  Very yummy and easy to prepare. Made dinner and several lunches!

2. Japanese Beef bowl & rice: 5 stars … Easy peasy! I can see adding a veg to it… carrots or broccoli maybe. But oh so good! Should get an extra star for being a one bowl meal too.

3. Sesame Chicken Pasta : One star… for cost. I could see this as a good summer pot luck dish. The recipe made a HUGE amount!

4. Seoul-ful Chicken with Minted Cucumbers & Rice: 3 stars… (make again, cost, freezer) It is really only partially freezer friendly. The cucumbers wouldn’t freeze, but the chicken will.

5. Pot stickers definite 5 star! Have made several batches already. I liked the dough best when I ran it through my kitchenaid mixer but even when I didn’t it was nice. I’ve tried freezing a few before cooking to see how well they cook after thawing. We used leftover char siu pork and beef bowl meets so all I did for the filling was chop them into smaller pieces. Dough could be made ahead too.

This week has only a few mediterranean recipes and we’ve already tried one.. keftedes! Yumm!

Something new for the new year is happening at the Martin house! We ALL sat down and decided on the menu for the week ahead. OMG! I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to have that help. It was either Bob or Sam who had the idea of a weekly “theme” making it easier to look for recipes. Not every meal HAS to follow the theme though! We’ve got a couple nights of average fare for those hectic nights where we need something quick and simple.

This week’s theme is Asian cooking. All the linked recipes are new. I can’t wait to try them!

So here it is:

1. Slow Cooker Char Siu Pork roast with stir fry vegetables and rice

2. Japanese Beef bowl & rice

3. Vegetable Soup & biscuits (yes I know but not every meal HAS to follow the theme)

4. Sesame Chicken Pasta

5. Baked Potatoes & Salad

6. Seoul-ful Chicken with Minted Cucumbers & Rice

7. Pot stickers & Fried Rice

Pinnacles hike

Finally found the Pinnacles youth camp area to hike around. Had to come back early but it all worked out well. Sam and I played a bit of tennis. Rather we chased the ball for an hour. I am sore and he is now snoring. LOL!

Made another loaf of WF bread today. The recipe is from Gluten Free Baking. I substituted 1/2 cup of soy flour for the same amount of brown rice flour. The bread is moist but not as firm as I want. I’m hoping for somthing as firm as the Bob’s Red Mill “Wonderful” bread mix. Still, it did not collapse completely.

I am now off to plan next week’s lessons and study Latin for a bit. Will get pictures up as soon as I can from our hike today. We will be going back there!

Oh! All 3 of our monarch caterpillars are in their beautiful chrysalis stage now. They look almost too pretty to be real. Will get pictures of those too. Next year I want to plant milkweed to see if we can attract some here too!