Weekly Menu Retrospective #130

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

If you'd like a whole book full of inexpensive, quick and kid-approved recipes, check out my book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  It's gotten multiple 5 star reviews!! I've included page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here. 
 
Breakfasts:
Granola (p. 92) with homemade yogurt, Blueberry Clafouti (p. 223), Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins  (p. 96)

Lunches: 
leftovers, grilled cheese, sandwiches

Dinners:
Monday: "Turkey overs" (leftovers from Easter dinner)

Tuesday: Spicy Pork Alfredo (I use the basic Alfredo sauce from this recipe, and add cubed pork that has been sauteed with onions, cumin, oregano, paprika and chili powder)

Wednesday: Ham & Cheese Skillet Quinoa

Thursday: Western Omelette Wraps (p. 124) and tossed salad with Thousand Island dressing

Friday: Sausage & Apple Saute (p. 137) served over rice

  
Saturday: Spicy Peanut & Tomato Soup (p. 163), cornbread (p. 212)

Sunday: Beef Bourguignon (the recipe I use is pretty similar to this one, scaled down to 1 lb beef and without the bacon; I add mushrooms as well) over mashed potatoes, Chocolate Quinoa Cake
 
In keeping with my local and organic challenge, I'd also like to note the local and/or organic items on this week's menu:

Organic: coconut (in granola), coconut oil, coconut milk, raisins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds (in granola), flax seeds, quinoa, fresh ginger,  coffee (locally roasted and delivered by bike!), tamari, oregano, basil, parsley, Fairytale tea, peppermint tea, lemon balm, oatstraw

Local: potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, apples, cucumbers, salsa (home-canned), honey (unpasteurized), sour cream, whole wheat flour, sausage and ground beef (antibiotic and hormone free, pastured), milk
 
Local AND organic:  oats, cornmeal, eggs (not "certified organic", but real free range and fed organic feed), apple cider vinegar

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest.  I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. 
 

Love what you read here? Click HERE to see the ways you can help support this blog (many of them won't cost you a thing!) 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to sign up for my Cook with Karen newsletter (max 2 emails a month)

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Water Kefir: My Family's New Favourite Drink!

It's been one of my goals for the last year or so to add more fermented/probiotic foods to my family's diet. Of course, homemade yogurt (with all its beneficial bacteria) has been a regular part of our diet for many years. And I use a good-quality, raw, organic apple cider vinegar for all of our salad dressings.

Given all the benefits of eating fermented foods, I would really like us to be having 1-2 servings per day.  And of course, making them myself is a much cheaper option than buying ready-made ones! I'd tried my hand at fermented lemons and sauerkraut last spring but that experiment didn't end well and I got frustrated and gave up for a while.

Several months went by. Okay, okay, it was basically a year! And then all of a sudden I started seeing a lot of references to water kefir popping up all over the place and I got curious. I read a bit about it, but was feeling skeptical. Probiotic? Yes. Delicious? I thought not (my initial response to the concept was more along the lines of "eeew, that sounds gross!").

Then one day my friend Anita happened to mention that she was looking to rehome some of her water kefir grains as she was getting overrun with them and I thought "what the heck - I'll give it a whirl". Although I wasn't yet convinced I was going to actually enjoy it, I thought I should at least give it a try because as far as fermented foods go, it's supposed to be one of the easiest to have success with, and it's also really inexpensive to make.

As it turns out, water kefir's a lot more pleasant than I expected. The thing that really gives it great potential is that after it has done its initial ferment for 48 hours or so, you can do a "second ferment" where you remove the kefir grains and add fruit or juice to the water kefir (in the photo above, the jar on the left is in the middle of its second ferment, the jar on the right is doing its first ferment). When sealed with a tight lid, you end up with a pleasantly fizzy beverage after another couple of days.

I have been doing the second ferment with lemon juice and fresh, chopped ginger (juice of one lemon and about 1 tablespoon of ginger to a quart of water kefir). I can't tell you how happily surprised I am by how fantastic it is! It tastes like a homemade lemony gingerale and is incredibly refreshing. My whole family loves it to the point where there might be some arguing about who got more of a particular batch :) I'm so fond of it that I already get upset by the idea of not having some around, and I only started making it a couple of weeks ago!

While there is a small amount of maintenance to making water kefir, it's a few minutes every 2-3 days and in my opinion it's totally worth the effort. Aside from the water kefir grains (which you can probably get by asking around to see if anyone in your area has some to spare), the only other supplies you will need are white sugar and some quart Mason jars, plus whatever you want to add to flavour the water kefir for the second ferment.

If you're interested in trying to make your own water kefir, I'd recommend checking out this video from Cultures for Health, along with their instructions on how to flavour water kefir. 

Have you tried water kefir? Do you have a favourite way to flavour it? 

 

Love what you read here? Click HERE to see the ways you can help support this blog (many of them won't cost you a thing!) 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to sign up for my Cook with Karen newsletter (max 2 emails a month)

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking