CityMama™

First week in the new digs update! [and some meal planning]

Phew! We made it!

We moved into our new place on July 1 and now, instead of there being barricades of boxes and bins everywhere, we have actual pathways through the apartment. In typical Butler fashion, we've encountered small glitches at every turn: I have way too many kitchen gadgets and not enough drawers. Curtains are hung, but the rods aren't right. Our bookcase extravaganza is up but J. nailed some of the shelves on backwards (fixed now), and the special bracket that creates the corner combination unit is out of stock at IKEA until the twelfth of probably never. So the shelves aren't quite aligned but, hey, that hasn't stopped me from loading them up with books.

We're still getting to know the lay of the land. The new crib is a spacious garden apartment that is slightly smaller than our previous house. It has more usable patio space, bigger bedrooms, a bigger garden, its own entrance, and has central heat and AC. (Score!) It also has a pool which we have been visiting everyday. It is a six minute walk to the heart of downtown, and since we spend lots of time there, especially on Friday nights, we wanted to be within walking distance. We are city folk through-and-through.

The downside is that I lose the room that was my office, but I'm getting creative about that by seeking out a cool coworking space. And we're making up for not having an extra bathroom by getting cable and HBO. Yes, our no cable experiment lasted about a year and half and it was great, especially for the girls. But, truth be told, I really miss my HBO shows, so if I have to wait my turn to use the can, at least I can be watching True Blood or Bill Maher.

Meal Planning Monday for 6/8/09

Yesterday I realized that I have almost become one of those parents that is too busy to cook dinner. Because I work from home, I've always been able to manage dinners (made mostly from scratch) but last night when I realized—as I was about to start grilling burgers and sausages—that the market had forgotten to load a bag full of hamburger and hot dog buns and tomatoes into my cart, I had a mini-meltdown. J. went to retrieve the items, but if he hadn't been here, we would have all just eaten cereal for dinner. I am realizing that even with my weekly meal planning, I need to also have a back-up plan that doesn't involve breakfast foods.

I'm also working harder than ever these days so by the end of the day, I am really and truly tired. Sometimes, yes, too tired to cook. Cooking is my relaxation time. Something I look forward to doing, so to have these feelings is a little strange for me. It's taken me until now to realize why so many parents rely on convenience foods as a way to get a quick and easy meal on the table. I'm not against the occasional box or can or frozen something (and I couldn't survive without canned beans or frozen potstickers), but for the first time, I can see how families can get into a convenience food trap. Last night I wished I could have just opened a can of something instead of delaying dinner for my hungry girls by almost an hour.

I think the way I cook is fairly fast and healthy because even though I love to cook, I don't usually have time to spend hours and hours in the kitchen. The past few weeks have opened my eyes to new ways of making meals more efficient while still allowing me the creativity and "gourmet flourishes" that I love. Last week went swimmingly because I cooked double-batches of many meals, so my freezer is stocked with corned beef stew, pot roast with root veggies, and chili. We'll have those in the month coming up. In the mean time, here is what I have going on this week:

• Monday—Leftover cheeseburgers, grilled chicken-apple sausage, baked beans (I like 'em, no one else does)
• Tuesday—Lemon-garlic roasted organic dry-brined chicken, rice, garlicky collard greens (the girls love greens)
• Wednesday—Chinese chicken salad (using previous night's chicken)
• Thursday—Foodmomiac's meatloaf, smashed garlic potatoes, salad
• Friday Family night—dinner out together
• Saturday—not sure yet, we play it by ear
• Sunday—Grilling night depending on farmer's market finds

How do you handle being too busy to cook?  What do you have on deck this week?

Meal Planning Monday for 6/1/09

I love June.  June means summer and not having to set my alarm clock for 7.20 (the latest I can wake up and still be out the door on the way to school by 8:11) for three whole months! Bunny only has 8 more days of first grade left. I cannot believe my girl is so big!

I so got the meal planning thing down this week because yesterday, I was a cooking FOOL. A fool, I tell you. I made a loaf of whole wheat-oatmeal bread, another batch of chili, and a double-batch of Hawaiian-style corned beef stew (a plate lunch standard) to keep in the freezer.  This morning I woke up, seared off a pot roast, plopped it in my cast iron Dutch oven and stuck the whole shebang in the oven for 5 hrs. (My version of a slow cooker.) That'll be dinner tomorrow night.  Can. Not. Wait.

I didn't make it to the farmer's market yesterday, but plan to check out the new mid-week market in front of our city hall on Wednesday afternoon.

• Monday—Grilled halibut, potatoes, Caesar salad with homemade lemony-garlic dressing
• Tuesday—Pot roast with root veggies, rice, green beans
• Wednesday—Chili chicken dogs and salad
• Thursday—Pasta with broccoli, oil-cured olives and chili flakes, salad
• Friday Family movie night—takeout
• Saturday—Chinese banquet in San Francisco for Bad Kitty's 40th!
• Sunday—Grilled chicken and veggies from the farmer's market

What are you cooking up this week?

Meal Planning... er, Tuesday for 3/25/09

I was looking at the CNN daily quiz about Memorial Day weekend travel and a surprising (or maybe not so surprising) number of the respondents (86%) responded that they weren't traveling this weekend. If hearing my neighbors on all three sides out and about in their backyards this weekend was any indication, it seems like a lot of us were enjoying the long weekend at home.  Did you travel?  Did you barbecue, if so, where'd you go and what did you eat?

We kept it mellow.  We had a sort of "last hurrah before we move" party at our house on Sunday and we grilled oysters and an insane amount of NY strip steaks that my brother cut from a hunk of meat so big it looked like there was a dead body in the fridge. 

Oysters with garlic-parsley-butter gettin happy on the grill.

Tonight we had burgers and an amazing 7-layer salad (remember those?) made by my sis. I probably haven't had this salad for 10 or 15 years, but wow, did it ever hit the spot.

There are lots of recipes out there, but consensus seems to be that it's topped with a dressing made of mayo and sugar. (I know!)

Coming off of a weekend of good eating, I want to keep it simple this week.  I picked up some veggies at the farmer's market and they are going to complement this week's meals.

• Tuesday—Bunny's favorite cream of cauliflower soup, salad, garlic bread
• Wednesday—Chili, again (because this is our busy afterschool activity day) and chicken hot dogs to make chili dogs.
• Thursday—Steaks (leftover from the weekend), potatoes and green beans, salad
• Friday Family Movie Night—take out
• Saturday—not sure yet
• Sunday—Chilean Sea Bass on the grill and farmer's market veggies to go with

What do you have on deck this week?

Meal Planning Monday for 5/4/09

Another busy week ahead so I'm not feeling super-creative...although I said that last week and the highlight of the week was definitely a sort of unplanned Thursday night dinner party with a family from Bunny's school. 

We had planned a clean-out-the-fridge of veggies night for dinner, but I ended up making a tri-tip roast with rosemary fingerling pototoes and a yellow tomato, basil, and sweet onion salad. I just set the tri-tip in a pan, surrounded it with the potatoes (first tossed with olive oil, s+p, and fresh rosemary), and roasted it all together in the oven at 425º for about 45 minutes. The meat was gorgeously pink and the potatoes were just perfect.

I am SO in love tri-tips and have been since last summer. We do one a month 'round here. They have a bad rap for being tough, but I don't find them to be at all. On the contrary, sliced thinly, against the grain, they are always tender. Tri-tips are a cut of beef that stands up to long marinating (overnight-48 hrs), and they are full of beefy flavor. Lately I've been buying the untrimmed tri-tips and trimming them myself at home. I leave just the barest layer of fat on the top and then pack Hawaiian rock salt, garlic, lots of pepper, and some brown sugar on the top before roasting. Try it. You can thank me later.

Here's what we have going on this week:

• Monday: takeout burritos
• Tuesday: Sloppy Joes with thick slices of sweet onion, pickles, and a big green salad
• Wednesday: Penne all' arrabiata, roasted cauliflower
• Thursday: Polska kielbasa, rice, salad or green beans, maybe both
• Friday Family Movie Night: maybe take the girls to see Earth?
• Saturday: not sure yet
• Sunday: Grilling, depends on what looks good at the Farmer's Market

How about you?

Meal Planning Monday for 4/27/09

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who submitted dinner salad (as in salads you can eat for dinner) recipes last week. I drooled over every one and will be incorporating them into our weekly dinner rotation as we head into summer.  I think I can try them all before the summer is out.

But not this week.  It was in the 50's and freezing today. I don't know what happened to our glimpse of summer, but for now, it's still spring.

Here is our menu for the week. It's another really busy week so I'm not trying anything new, just trying to get something quick and delicious on the table. 

The [*] indicates locally grown or sourced items. Being able to find local rice and olives is just part of the joy of living and cooking in Northern California.

• Monday: Cream* of Asparagus* and Garlic* soup, homemade bread
• Tuesday: Chicken* and broccoli* stir-fry with black bean chili sauce, pork and leek gyoza, Japanese pickles, rice*
• Wednesday: Penne alla Puttanesca (tomato* and olive* sauce), salad*
• Thursday: Roasted cauliflower*, steamed asparagus* and fingerling potatoes* with lemony* Hollandaise, salad*
• Friday Family Movie Night: vegetarian Mediterranean take out.
• Saturday: (not sure yet)
• Sunday: Grilling night, I'll see what looks good at the farmer's market*.

What are you cooking this week?  Trying anything new?

Meal planning Monday for 4/20/09 (Audience participation edition)

Hey, everyone! It's 4/20!  On the menu this week: Nacho cheese Doritos, Burrito Supremes, and DONUTS!

(Sorry, that was a joke for the stoners.)

Actually, I am not sure what's on the menu this week because it's SO FRICKIN' HOT, that I can't even think about cooking. I've been alternating cold fizzy waters and Arnold Palmers because it's, like, 95 degrees here. I'm thinking maybe a week's worth of dinner salads.  I love taco salad and chopped veggie salads, and lately I've really been digging Vietnamese Chicken Salad (shown), but I'd love to hear from you.  Maybe you can help me fill out my week and in the mean time come up with a collection of cool salads for hot nights that we can all keep in our culinary arsenal.

So tell me: what are your favorite big salads? And can you share your recipe?  We'd all appreciate it!

Stay cool out there!

Meal Planning Monday for 4/13/09, I mean 4/14/09 [oops!]

We returned from Oregon on Sunday night and I still haven't gone to the grocery store, but as we are out of milk, cereal, and toilet paper, it's getting desperate around here and as soon as I finish writing this up, we're off.

Oh, a little bread machine update.  I made another batch of wheat bread this morning (we were out of bread, too), but this time I added more water. That seemed to solve the problem of the uneven, lumpy bread.  I also added some flax meal to the mix.  It came out really well. I will share the recipe soon.

I picked up the April issue of Cooking Light yesterday because the salmon and asparagus on the cover looked so delicious.  I haven't read it in a while and was looking for some healthy inspiration. Some of our dinners this week will be from Cooking Light and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

The [*] indicates locally grown or sourced items

• Monday—we had take-out Mexican (...after cheerleading which ends at 7pm. A late night for the girls, but sooooo worth it!)
• Tuesday—Chipotle Sloppy Joes (ground organic beef*), simple slaw*, pickles* (recipe from Cooking Light)...then Bad Kitty and I are going to see Natasha Bedingfield, N.E.R.D, and Blake Lewis at some T-Mobile Sidekick VIP junket. Free tickets! Beat-boxing? Pharrell? I'm there!
• Wednesday—Orange*-glazed salmon (recipe from Cooking Light), steamed asparagus*, goat cheese* grits
• Thursday—Southwest Shrimp and Corn Chowder, (recipe from Cooking Light), two side salads: green* and maybe something with tofu*, raw veggies*, and/or grains, still thinking on it
• Friday Family Movie Night—Take out
• Saturday—Date Night
• Sunday—Something local* on the grill...we'll see what the farmer's market brings

And last but not least: a very Happy Birthday today to my mom who has hopefully just enjoyed a memorable birthday dinner in the desert in Dubai.  I hope you finally got to see a camel!  I love you!

Meal Planning Monday for 4/6/09

It's a short week for us as we're getting out of Dodge for the long Easter weekend. We're going to be road-tripping in a new (loaner) Flex courtesy of Ford. (I'll be posting more about it on CityMama's Stuff).

Here's what's up this week.  The [*] indicates locally grown or sourced items.

• Monday—Japanese Chicken* Curry, Rice*, and Garlic* Edamame.
• Tuesday—Fettucine (homemade if I have time) with Mixed Sauteed Local Mushrooms*, Salad*
• Wednesday—Zippy's Chili (sold frozen at Marukai market), Rice*, and Corn
• Thursday—The Flex gets delivered in the morning and we're off!

Have a wonderful Passover and Easter! I always love to hear about what you are cooking for those holidays.  We went to our first Seder last year (held at our beloved hippie church) and are sad to be missing the Seder this year. 

We will be cooking our Easter dinner while we are gone. Traditionally we always have a rosemary and garlic leg of lamb, but I am not sure what our plans are this year. I will be sure to keep you posted and, of course, take lots of pictures.

Meal Planning Monday for 3/30/09

Chinese-style ox tail soup with traditional garnishes of grated ginger and cilantro and a soy-sesame dipping sauce (for the ox tails). You have to go to a bowling alley in Aiea to get it and it's so worth it. As they say in the islands, this soup is "winnahz, brah."

We're back from Honolulu and after 10 days of delicious restaurant eating, my tummy is in a funk and I'm wanting to get back to a simpler diet.  Our trip was fun and relaxing once everyone was healthy. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins and the plane ride home was the saddest ever.  Once we all landed in San Francisco the kids wanted to get back on a plane to Hawaii. I wish the cousins (and my brother) lived closer.

We're still on island time so we slept in this morning missing hippie church and the farmer's market hours, so after brunch we headed down the street to our favorite local natural foods store, and stocked up on supplies.  We bought grains and veggies and fruits and this week it's going to be all vegetarian, vegan-when-possible fare.

I baked a loaf of 100% whole wheat (no white flour but with vital wheat gluten added)-honey bread in my new Zojirushi bread machine today.  I've never used a bread machine before.  It was absolutely delicious, but the top came out kinda lumpy and uneven (not smooth like in the photos) and I followed the directions to the letter.  Any experienced bread machine users know wassup wit dat?

The [*] indicates locally grown or sourced items. (Haven't done that for a while.)

• Monday: White bean soup with sauteed lacinato kale* and caramelized onions*, green salad* with strawberries*, walnuts*, and Soy Bleu.
• Tuesday: Broccoli* stir-fry with steamed barley and brown rice*, tofu* salad with red beans, olives, and parsley*
• Wednesday: French lentils with herby* yogurt* drizzle, salad with mint*, tomatoes*, and croutons
• Thursday: Probably leftovers from the above with salad if needed
• Friday Family Movie Night: Take out
• Saturday: Possibly Date Night (not sure)
• Sunday: If the nice weather holds, I'm thinking we'll grill some salmon or halibut (not vegetarian, I know) with a chimichurri-style sauce and a some veggie skewers (the girls like to make--and eat--those).

What are your favorite vegetarian dishes? What fun things do you do with whole grains? Tell me!