Monday Menu-Planning #3

Previously...

"I give up logging my food as I go. So I'm going to go the route of many other housewives and plan my family's meals for the week."

--- R       

With the intention of keeping the overall monthly cost of my family's groceries at or extremely near $200, this past Sunday we spent just over $100 for what should be two weeks worth of meals. 

My Grocery List, in no particular order

• (2) gallons 1% milk
• (2) heavy whipping cream
• (1) box of unsalted sweet butter
• (1) dozen eggs
• (2) boxes miniwheats
• (10) cans of soup
• (1) box chicken breasts
• (3) packages stew meat
• (1) package of 2 boneless trout
• (6) boxes microwaveable veggies
• (1) gallon orange juice
• (1) 6-pack of kid-sized orange juice with straws
• (1) package cinnamon
• (2) big bags of chocolate chips
• (1) big bag of apples
• (3) pears
• (1) gallon vanilla ice cream
• (1) whipped cream!
• (8) kiwis (only $2 total!)

Husband tossed the receipt before I could type it up, after I had tossed the hand-written list. I'm pretty sure I've forgotten to list something... 

My forgetfulness aside, we had some leftover items from the previous week, such as rice, so stretching all of this to go two weeks shouldn't be too hard. Will probably need to buy more apples though. And might get strawberries so I can make another fruit tart. :)

I'm only going to list dinner meals - my breakfast is practically always either an apple or bowl of miniwheats with a high-calorie venti Starbucks drink. Lunch is usually some baked good I've made or leftovers. Snacks are limited to two Slim-Fast High-Protein Creamy Chocolate Shakes and one venti nonfat decaf latte from Starbucks (I am a confirmed addict).

Monday

Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stew)

Tuesday

Leftover Stew

Wednesday

Trout! with... something. What goes nicely with trout? Veggies? :/

Thursday

Chicken Soup with Chicken Chunks!

Friday

Chicken with Rice

Saturday

Slow-Cooked Beef over Rice

Sunday

Chicken with Veggies

P.S.

All of our dinners have less than 500 calories and are very filling.

They are also very yummy and very cheap! I love my commissary almost as much as I love horses. <3

Monday Menu-Planning #2

Eff including the overall cost for every meal;

I'll just start saving my grocery receipts. So far this month I have spent around $250 and have done tons of cooking and baking. I don't expect to spend much more - haven't tried sticking to a budget before, so I don't know what will last longest and whatnot.

Monday

Christmas Ham with Mashed Potatoes and Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies :)

Tuesday

Soup and S'mores!

Wednesday

Breaded Chicken Nuggets with Rice & Ketchup

Thursday

Savory Beef with Rice

Friday

B's Baby's 1st Birthday!

Saturday

My Birthday Date Night! <3

Sunday

Shredded Teriyaki-Glazed Chicken over Rice

Breakfast

Practically always an apple or bowl of miniwheats with a high-calorie venti Starbucks drink.

Lunch

Usually some baked good I've made and/or leftovers.

Snacks

Limited to two Slim-Fast shakes and one venti nonfat decaf Starbucks latte.

Recipe Review: Cherry Vanilla Malt Cupcakes

OooOooOoo cherry vanilla malt shake tasting cupcakes?!?!?! GIMME!!!!!

Who doesn't love an old-fashioned cherry vanilla malt shake? I can't resist them. It's like strawberry flavor with a kapow. When I found a recipe for them, well, as with all recipes I try, I naturally had to try it.

DON'T.

This is a recipe I actually crossed all of my "T"s and dotted all of my "I"s with. I wanted it to be perfect. 

I mean, CHERRY VANILLA MALT SHAKE CUPCAKE. 

Come. On. 

The name alone gets my taste buds screaming for 'em!

Seriously though. Much like with the first Calendar Cupcakes post the only good part is the frosting. Except somehow the cake for this was worse. Dunno how, but Duncan Hines managed to make a cake that got me sick. 

Yeeeeeeup, I got sick. Almost missed my riding lesson. That fact alone should convey the gravity of the situation. 

Oh yea, the only other time food has gotten me sick was the ill-advised but totally worth it fisherman's stew I had in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico once. And the precooked store-bought chicken mum bought once... So only other time(s). 

Because of that, and that the cake tastes damn awful, I'm not going to list it here.

If you're feeling brave, you can find it on the Duncan Hines website. 

Here's a deceptively pretty picture of the little buggers:

Recipe Review: Éclairs

Mmmmm eclairs... there's nothing like them. Crisp, fluffy pastry... delicately sweet custard filling... and chocolate glaze. They're one of my favorite pastries.

After finding a recipe for them flipping through one of my cookbooks, I couldn't resist trying it.

I didn't follow the instructions to the tee, but in my opinion, for a first try, they came out quite scrumptious. I could have mixed the batter a bit longer, I could have not burned the chocolate in the microwave, I could have allowed the custard to boil, I could have used a pastry bag to fill the shells... I could have had more patience overall.

FYI - If you try this, make the custard first, as it will take a while to cool and requires your full attention.

Custard Filling

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup sugar***
• half of 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• half of 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

***This amount of sugar makes a pastry cream that is just barely sweet. Use 1/2 to 3/4 cup for a sweeter pastry.

Directions

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together 1 cup of the milk, sugar and salt. 
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch, flour and egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup milk.
4. Whisk some of the boiling milk mixture with the egg yolks, then pour back into the hot milk mixture and return to the heat. 
5. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for no less than 30 seconds. 
6. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve into an appropriately sized bowl.
7. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract.
8. Top the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.
9. To complete, fold the cooled cream into the whipped cream.

Cream Puff Pastry

aka Pâté à Choux (paht ah SHOO)
3 cups, enough for 12 eclairs or 16 cream puffs

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. 
2. Put water, butter and salt in a saucepan and bring the mixture to a rolling boil
3. Remove it from the heat and add the flour all at once.
4. Stir vigorously.
5. Return the pan to the burner and cook over medium heat, stirring all the while, until the mixture forms a ball; this should take only about a minute.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes, to 140 F. You should be able to hold a finger in it for a few seconds.
7. Transfer the dough to a mixer and beat in the eggs one at a time; the mixture will become fluffy. Beat for at least 2 minutes after adding the last egg.
8. OR labor with a whisk. And yes it's OK to use your hands. 
9. Form the choux paste into whatever shape you desire, using a spoon or by putting the dough into a pastry bag and piping it.
10. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 F and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 
11. Turn off the oven, open the door a crack and leave the pastry inside to cool for 30 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven to cool completely. 
13. CAREFULLY split the pastry, fill and frost as desired.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Melt the butter with the chocolate in a microwave or in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water.***
2. Remove from the heat.
3. Stir in the water and sugar.
4. Beat with a spoon or fork until the glaze is smooth and soft enough to pour.
5. Drizzle onto the eclairs.

***You can also use a regular 'ole bowl and pot.

Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

Monday Menu-Planning #1

I give up logging my food as I go. So I'm going to go the route of many other housewives and plan my family's  meals for the week.

I'm only going to list dinner meals - my breakfast is practically always either an apple or bowl of miniwheats with a high-calorie venti Starbucks drink. Lunch is usually some baked good I've made or leftovers. Snacks are limited to two Slim-Fast High-Protein Creamy Chocolate Shakes and one venti nonfat decaf latte from Starbucks (I am a confirmed addict).

(Note: This was supposed to be published last night... but it would appear I hit "save" instead of "publish"... oops...)

Monday

Lemony Honey-Glazed Salmon Filet with Buttery Rice & Veggies

Tuesday

Slow-Cooked Beef marinated in Olive Oil and Teriyaki Sauce with Jasmine Rice

Wednesday

Soup and S'mores!

Thursday

Marriage Retreat Food!

Friday

Peppery Chicken with Garlicky Broccoli & Carrots

Saturday

Homemade Breaded Chicken Nuggets with a Simple Salad

Sunday

Shredded Spicy Beef with Jasmine Rice

P.S.

All of our dinners have less than 500 calories and are very filling.

They are also very yummy and very cheap! I love my commissary almost as much as I love horses. <3

And in future Monday Menu-Planning posts I will include the overall cost for each meal, as well as try a dinner recipe from one of my cookbooks. It's high time I used them for something other than baking. :P