All Dinner Meals for Meal-Planning

 Dinners List so I can have it all in one place. These shall become links when I actually write the recipes down.

Basic Principle is have a   Protein + Vegetable + Carb, so that I can keep my prediabetes in check, by controlling how much I eat of each. 

Hacks for making the Carbs less crashy---

1. Twice cooked carbs 
1. Instantpot precooked potatoes [8 min, 1 cup water] that get fried in butter/beef fat. 
2. Pre-cooked rice heated up again, or fried in a risotto or stir fry
2. Cauliflower risottos that are very very good. [shredded in the food processor, cooked in olive oil/butter, then add in butter/cream cheese/spices. It's actually even better than rice risotto IMHO]
3. Eating my curries & sauces over Green Beans instead of rice with EXTRA tomato chutney [fresh salsa]

Remember, salads can become cabbage salads, or be swapped out with hot cooked (from frozen) vegetables if you make it further from the grocery shopping date.

Chicken Breast

• Basil Lime Chicken Breast [Oven or Grill] + 
• "Factor Meal" Sour Cream Salsa Chicken Breasts + Cauliflower Risotto + Green Beans
• Fajita Chicken + Onions & Bell Peppers
• Tikka Masala Chicken + Green Beans + Fresh Salsa
• Orange Chicken [Gen Tso's Chicken]

      

  Chicken bone-in

          Bone in chicken [cheap in the 10 pound frozen bags]

• Chicken Enchilada casserole + Fresh Salsa + Salad + Sour Cream
• Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos with Black Beans and Cheese + Salad + Fresh Salsa
• BIR curry Chicken + Lentils + Fresh Salsa + Green Beans + Indian Cauliflower Risotto
• Bone Broth Chicken Soup
• Oven Roasted [or Grill] "Turkish" chicken + Stovetop Brocolli + Rice// Cauliflower Risotto
• ?Barbecue Chicken [frozen leg quarters, 5-7 hrs in barbecue sauce, slowcooker]
• ?Barbacoa Chicken OR Taco Chicken [frozen leg quarters, 5-7 hrs in barbecue sauce, slowcooker]

Beef 

• Marinated Stovetop Steaks [or Grilled Steaks] + Loaded Potatoes + Green Beans + Bell Peppers
• Hobbit Stew
• Meuk-Guk
• Russian Beef Soup
• Instant-Pot Pulled Beef [Barbacoa or Barbecue] [because of our sweet little Ana] + Bell Peppers + Dinner Rolls
• Philly Cheese steaks
• Mary Ann's Beef & Lentils
• Steak Fajitas w/ bell peppers and onions

Ground Beef 

• InstantPot Fauxsagnia
• Tacos + Fresh Salsa
• Smashburgers
• ?Sherri's White Bean Chili + Salad
• Grilled Burgers from Samsclub [when we have a gas grill...]

Lentils/Beans [so easy to mealprep]

• Favorite Indian Lentil Recipe + Raita + Fresh Salsa + [Pomegranates, and Dark Chocolate, and Tea]
• Whole Spices Indian Curry
• Nut Curry
• BIR green curry [get the right name]
• BIR Beef + Lentils, Vindaloo Curry
• Prep a big batch of refried beans and freeze for Taco Tuesdays
• Falafel & Hummus + Cilantro Raita + Fresh Tomatoes & Salad + Flatbread

Fish

• Canned Sardines/Mackerel with "Factor Meal" sauce [Sour Cream Fresh Salsa Sauce] and capers...so good
• Canned Sardines with Salsa Verde [tomatillos n onions] and Sour cream (do not overcook tomatillos)
• Tilapia Fillets + Butter-Fried precooked potatoes + Green Beans/Brocolli
• Tuna Fish sandwiches or chip-dip [made with Ninja blender-egg-may replacement], and chips

Cheese/Eggs 

• Instantpot Mac n Cheese + Peas +
• Fettecini Alfredo + [Meat Roast/Ham] + Cauliflower Mushroom Rissotto + Green Beans
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches + Tomato Soup +
• Cheesy Taters [Ye Olde Standby] FANCY if its in the toaster oven
• Bibimbap + Korean Spinach + Kongnamul +

    Pork 

Only really if our sweet little Ana changes her mind....

• Barbecue Pulled Pork + Rolls + Green Beans [Make some barbecue chicken for Ana]
• Korean Style [Bulkogi style marinade] Pork + Rice + Kongnamul & Korean Spinach [make some 
• Sundry delicious looking Pork-Chop Recipes, yet untried

Once A month grocery plan

 For this to work, you need to have a very clean and organized freezer. No dead-space of freezer-burned bags of unrecognizable leftovers you are afraid to try to autopsy. No Turkeys from last years Thanksgiving sale, taking up space.

With 8 kids +2 parents, I think it would take a up my 25 cubic foot refrigerater/freezer, plus some in my standing freezer. I am curious to try this out more ways.

I used to do something similar to this, when grocery shopping was a fraught ordeal with 5 little kids. We did a 2 week grocery plan, with my husband running out to get just milk on the off-weeks.

I wrote this out for my sister who lives in the country 45 minutes away from her main grocery store, and 15 min from a more expensive grocery store, which is best just to get milk.

Once A month/Every Two Weeks grocery plan

Plan for 5 good dinners a week. [2 left over nights]. So that comes out to about 20-25 meals. Here is my master list of dinners we like.

Prep 5 dinners per category, so 25 gallon Ziploc bags, in the freezer ready for instantpot cooking. [Or crockpot]

Dinners with side of FROZEN VEG, and raw crunchy veg.

• Chicken [Prep 5 dinners from this from X pounds]
• Beef [Prep 5 dinners from this from X pounds]
• Ground Beef
• Lentils/Beans
• Fish/Cheese/Eggs 

Sample Grocery List [staples]

These aren't including stuff you normally stock up on, like vanilla extract, lentils, tomato paste etc.

• DAIRY [keeps well, coldest part of the fridge at the top]
• Butter [we use LOTS for all the growing brains]--[also freezes well]
• Cottage Cheese
• Sour Cream/Heavy Cream 
• Milk for Yogurt-making
• Yogurt, if you don't have any, yogurt for starter. You can freeze yogurt starter in batches. [the bacteria freezes fine] "Icelandic Provisions" introduced when the boiled milk hits 120 is the best. Dannon is good too. The key is to do the boil function on the milk, and introduce the starter when its at 120-115, and whisk it well.
• Milk---it takes up a lot of space, and expires. We drink about 1 gal/day. More on this later.
• Fresh Vegetables
• Leafy Vegs [need to eat within 3 days of purchase]
• Tomatoes [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Bell Peppers [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Cauliflower [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Cucumbers [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Celery [need to eat within 1 week of purchase]
• Carrots [will last the month]
• Red Cabbage, Beets [will last the month], 
• Onions, garlic, ginger [will last the month, also can freeze]
• Potatoes [if it is a hot summer, you will want to eat these in the first 2 weeks from purchase. Or cook in the instant pot, and then store in a tupperware in the coldest top back of the fridge]
• Frozen Vegetables
• Frozen Green Beans
• Frozen Brocolli
• Frozen Peas
• [Frozen Cauliflower]
• CHEESE [freezes well, esp the shredded stuff you want to freeze so it doesnt mold]
• Cheddar
• Mozzarella
• MEAT
• Chicken [bone in legs or thighs are usually cheapest, in 10 lb bags]
• Beef
• Ground Beef
• Canned Sardines
• Canned Tuna
• Frozen Tilapia
• Eggs [Can hardboil, or blanch, to lengthen storage, but I have found my eggs will last a month just fine. But you've got chickens!]
• Flour, Yeast, Sugar Salt [make your bread]

You can freeze butter, cheese, etc. Frozen Veggies are happy to live in the freezer for a few  months. And you must freeze the meat as soon as you get home, anyways. Get it out of the plastic and styrofoam trays, rinse it, salt it, and seal it in ziplocs and put in the freezer, to be thawed when needed.

So you really only need to go to the grocery store once a month for most meats if you are very organized with your freezer.  

The two biggest choke-points are fresh veggies and milk. More on this later.

Breakfasts

• First Week Breakfasts  [first week, for crunchy raw veggies]
• Fresh Veggies with a home-made hummus dip, or cheese dip.
• Tomato-mozz-basil slices.
• Devilled eggs and celery sticks.
• Cottage cheese or Yogurt with frozen berries/nuts for parfait, OR make Buercher Muesli
•  Custard or Ninja Egg Pudding
• Hummus or Cheese dip ['pub cheese' you can also make this yourself] and crunchy Vegs [cucumber, baby carrots, bell pepper, Celery]
• Scrambled eggs on toast
• Cast-Iron fried dinner Leftovers aka “Hash” [can use ninja blender to blend up leftover meat, potatoes, vegetables] + fried eggs on the side.

Lunches [side of fresh raw crunchy veg]

• Kyudumbap + Cabbage Salad
• Cheesey bread [fried in butter if feeling fancy] + Cabbage Salad
• Cheesey potatoes [precooked potatoes in fridge] + Cabbage Salad
• Fried Rice [dinner leftovers in a frying pan] + Cabbage Salad
• Hardboiled eggs + veg assortment
• Any of the ‘breakfast’ items here + Cabbage Salad

STAPLES TO KEEP IN THE FRIDGE

1.      Instantpot cooked potatoes, in fridge, to be fried [cut in half, fry in butter or lard, sprinkle with garlic salt]
2.      CABBAGE SALAD
3.      Hardboiled eggs [can do the Korean Pickled eggs, if your kids like them]
4.      Sauerkraut/Kimchi/KimchiKraut
6.      Freezer stocked with Green Beans, Peas, Brocolli [winco]
7.      FREEZER BAG to collect bones, FOR stock
8.      FREEZER BAG to collect leftovers---for hash, and for fried rice

Remember...THE FREEZER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

Other Staples to have on hand

Xylitol mints for teeth

The Main Challenges

Milk. It takes up space and does not freeze well. Even when I did the 'every 2 week grocery plan', Josh had to run out on the off-weeks and buy 6 gallons of milk. [our weekly milk usage, and usually all we could fit in the fridge.] This is where its good to have a plan to get milk on the off-weeks if possible. If this isn't an option, I think its possible to buy 12 gallons for 2 weeks, and consume all your milk as yogurt in the 2nd week. Or just eat lots of cheese in the intervening milk-less weeks.

Fresh Vegetables. The leafy ones [lettuce, fresh spinach] must be eaten within 3 days of buying. Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Celery, and Bellpeppers last maybe a week, depending. Cabbage and Carrots will last you the longest, up to a month [or more]. But thats a lot of cabbage and carrots to eat. You can get really creative with different cabbage salads. Hot Vegetables [cooked brocolli, buttered green beans, peas, frozen spinach---all from frozen vegs---can be eaten whenever. So you could end up with a system where the first week is the fresh crunchy vegetable week, and the remaining 3 weeks are lots of cabbage salad, carrots sticks, and Hot Vegetables (cooked frozen vegetables, in garlic and olive oil).]

OR....drumroll....the garden. It's amazing what you can get even out of a tiny garden.

You will get the best reward from your work with Herbs, Leafy Greens, and Tomatoes

Grow. 

Winter Garden

Leafy Greens [Spinach, Kale, Lettuce] by the truckload

Chives, Herbs, etc.

Cucumbers

[Hothouse] Tomatoes

[if you have space and time, all the other interesting stuff, beets to pickle, celery, carrots, brocolli, cabbage, etc. These tend to be cheaper than over veg at the grocery store, and easy to store like cabbage, or easy to freeze like brocolli, so I am less motivated to figure them out]

Summer Garden

Tomatoes

Bell Peppers

Gennip [sesame leaves...so delicious for everything]

Greens---new zealand spinach, Swiss Chard, some varieties of kale, Malabar spinach

Basil by the truckload---make into pestos for the winter

Yardlong beans [can take the  heat]

Armenian Cucumber/Snake Melon [cucumber that wont' go bitter]

Zuchini by the truckload

Aunt Bekah's Visit, and an Apron

Aunt Bekah got to visit for a week. It was a lot of fun. Isaiah got to hear Beowulf again. And eat a lot of peaches. And watch Star Wars Rebels season 1 through at least 3 times.


She was kind enough to model some old sewing projects for me, that I sewed this year but never got round to photographing.

Here is my standard T-shirt. I like cap sleeves, v necks, and fitted but not too fitted. I make them from T-shirts from the thrift store, because its so very much cheaper than buying knits new.

Here is an apron I made in May. I love aprons. You can wipe kids jammy fingers on them, you can scoop up and transport laundry/toys/oranges, etc in your skirt without flashing people. They are so handy, and erase the extra stress of worrying of getting tomato sauce/peanut butter/dishwater on your favorite clothes.

I based it off of Richard Scarry's picture of Grandma Bear's apron. Given how comfortable it is, I assume it must have been a standard type of apron back in the days when women wore aprons a lot more (Grandma Bear is always wearing her apron). It is SOOO comfortable.

See how the neck straps come down the back.

 Here is an example of the apron on Mommy Cat.

I love aprons, but I hate feeling something pulling on the back of my neck (like a halter top) it makes me feel like I'm being choked. This apron's design is very good, its shoulder straps cross across the back and then connect in a wide X to the sides of the apron, bearing the weight very nicely. The fit can be adjusted by the standard ties on the sides.

Here is a write up of the measurements I used.

It was simple and straightforward to make, basically the waistband is a long rectangle that you iron in half lengthwise, inserting in another rectangle that you gather to be the bottom half of the apron. Then you sew the waistband's edges down and it holds the skirt part in. If you stop here its a half apron.
To make it a full apron, I just sewed another rectangle (the top part) with 2 wide straps onto it. Then tried it on, pinning the straps accross my back, and then cut and sewed them to the proper place.  Its all rectangles and straight seams. Ironing helps it go together very easily. I got 2 half aprons and one full apron out of a nice weight cotton sheet.

Plus, aprons look so pretty and tough and cool. Like Ma Ingalls. She was the essence of coolness...

And the kids decided that mommy had taken enough pictures of Aunt Bekah....

She wanted to hold Isaiah too....

And it still fits at 9 months pregnant too...

Nesting Ideas for an Organized Beautiful (Medieval & Elven Inspired) House, Making my home like Rivendell.

If I could build my dream house, it would look like a cross between Rivendell and Beorn's house, as described in the books.

This makes me think of Beorn's house. Wood and stone. picture credit: Little Moreton Hall.

Another one that reminds me of Beorns house. Picture credit here.

Not the movie version of Rivendell. Art Noveau is cool and all, especially for jewelry and lanterns, but as a house, its not homey to me.

The movie Rivendell: Beautiful but not homey...

even if you cross it with a Thomas Kinkade painting....

And Rivendell, is, after all, described as the "last homely house."
In the book, its described as white plaster with dark beams, as Frodo is waking up, being healed. This was always reminiscent to be of an infirmary in a medieval monastery, on holy ground safe from your enemies at the gate, a place of peace and healing.

picture credit here.

But it also was full of elves climbing trees and singing, and a long table with a feast, and a big hall with a fire in it, where the elves sung ballads in after dinner. This made me think of Medieval halls.

picture credit here. Ignore the tourists clothes, and focus on the firelight.

White plaster with the dark beams, and tall high latticed windows, long tables, and fires and singing. Kind of like an old English Church, or a Medieval Great Hall.

Vaulted ceiling like this, but no dark paneling or museum-feel. It would be crammed with elves and a big fireplace, and harps and all that. Picture credit here.

Like this, but bigger and less wood, not as dark. The windows would be bigger with more trees, strung with lanterns, to be seen out of them. picture credit here.

Something between the two of these, but with no dark wood paneling, and more white plaster reflecting the firelight. And taller windows. And more torches and lanterns and harps and all that.

Soooo, how do I mimic this in a two bedroom apartment?

High White Walls: I need white walls reflecting the light (I can't do dark colored walls, even pastels are a bit dark for me. I crave shades of white and beige at the darkest).

Dress up the Windows: with lattice-like cut out panels, etc, on posterboard, affixed to the windows.

I would make my knockoff panels from posterboard or something. Real thing from here at Acurio Lattice

 Lighting: Lots of warm lighting. I will scour thrift stores, and perhaps spend actual money at Hobby Lobby. And ofcouse make my knockoff Lantern-lamps. 

Inspirational Decorations:

Cutting Edge Stencils

from a talented artist on etsy for sale here.

 

Keep the walls bare except for---

• Big icon paintings/Medieval Illuminations high up on the walls. 
• Beautiful Weapons & Banners: mount the kid's medieval shields and spears HIGH UP on the walls like decorations. Also, the banners. I have one of a lion that my mother in law made. I want to make more with Elven themes as well. Its a way to surround the kids with beauty that they can't destroy. 
• Elven Art: Simple black-and-white line drawings of runes and trees like the gates of Moriah. I am going to make a simplified version of the gates of Moriah on a posterboard, and I have a piece with trees and runes on it made by my aforementioned elvish sister-in-law.
• Elven Smithing. Anything that looks like metal wrought leaves, or something elven smiths would make. I've already got 2 pieces, one as a Christmas present from my elvish sister-in-law, and one I found at a thrift store.

 

Some things I have...

Some things I have

I want my house to be laid out like a medieval house--which is the largest room will be communal, a focus on being together as a family.

Kitchen & bedrooms will be smaller and functional--that is really just for eating, sleeping, and getting dressed (or for introverts to flee when the need arises).

One room will be set aside as a chapel (perhaps also kind of a library as well, it will be kind of like a Beit Midrash, but the Christian version) Then the most space will be devoted to the Great Hall---a kind of combined dining/living room. Where we eat, do homeschool, read, and just hang out. I have observed that my family likes to clump, that is, even if we aren't actually talking or interacting, we like to hang out in one room together, all doing our own things. A kind of companionable presence.
There is also the "solar" which was the hangout for the family of the manor/castle. My current idea is just to collapse the Great Hall and the Solar, since we dont' have servants we're trying to hide from. And also because I'm going to be implementing this in a 2 bedroom apartment.


Master Bedroom: (with baby gate) Mom and Dad's bed, Mom and Dad's clothes, pack n play for babies under 6 months old.
Non-child-proof things: Bookshelves of art supplies & Legos. Sewing machine (& sewing supplies) corner and Computer(s). Work-table for art, sewing, etc.

Master Bathroom: (behind the Master Bedroom's baby gate) Dangerous things. Diaper pail. All makeup, cleaners, and medicines (child locked cabinets, or even better, high cabinets/shelves). Diaper changing table if it fits. Laundry hampers.

Kid's Bathroom: Bare essentials for kid usage, as this is the bathroom they will have free access to. A rack of books to read in the bathroom, footstools, potty chair, and potty seats.

Kid's Bedroom: Clothes all in the closet on cubicle-shelves and hanging up. (no dressers). Out of season clothes in tubs in the closet. Maybe some spice racks down low to put books in, or a couple toy boxes and a low bookshelf, but keep the floor as open and clear as possible. A crib (for babies 6-15  months) and sleeping mats/bedrolls which are stored in the crib during the day, and unroll at night.
A wall-mounted night light and music player, to play chant and worship music during the night.I will somehow have to secure the wires behind a banner screwed to the wall (through rivets), to keep the nightlight and the electronics out of kids reach.
The walls will be mostly open, except for icon paintings, kid's toy weapon racks with shields, and banners.
There will also be hat & shoe racks/shelves by the door.
The goal is to keep the floorspace as open as possible, to allow for play during the day, only needed to roll beds and bedding out during the night.


Linen closet: Out of Season blankets, sheets, towels, rags, baby blankets, camping chuck box etc.

Great Hall/Solar: A large wood table on one end, with benches (so much easier to cram little people in. I will need to start scouring thrift stores for benches...). A crucifix high up above the table. This is where we will eat, study, paint, and do things. On the other end there will be a couch, and most of the toy boxes.
The walls will have my elven lanterns (for the boy's room nightlight, as the couch will be doubling as a bedroom for Isaiah and any other  boys the Lord sends us). There will be the main music player up high with our CD collection so there will be music at all times. One corner will have a crucifix & Icon Set & bookshelves to be the chapel corner (maybe have a painted posterboard stained glass window??), but we'll probably do most of our family prayer stuff at the table.
I haven't figured out yet if this room's decor will be mostly Elven Art & Smithing, or Medieval weaponry. (There will be Medieval Icons)

Kitchen: Small and functional, hopefully with a gate across it somehow.

Chapel & Library: No space here, so I will dedicate a corner of the Great Hall.

Hall by the Door: Shelves and hooks for hats, shoes (2 pairs per kid), and coats.

Doing the Dishes: Part 1 of Recognizing Patterns of Failure and Setting Myself up for Success

I am far too spontaneous, doing things in the moment, having trouble sticking to plans and goals....
While discipline and character are clearly what I need, recognizing my "patterns of failure" really help.

Example, I struggled with doing the dishes, pretty much all my married life. They would seemingly grow, just sprouting out of the sink, onto the counter. And stare at me, an hours job at least (we didn't have a dishwasher in our first appartment). And grow things. And it would take me so much emotional effort to face them...I would finally face them when we ran out of things to eat off of, which before the kids, was about 2-3 times a week. That mountain grew things. And I was always embarrassed, when people just dropped by (the kitchen area was the main area, there was no where to hide them).

After we moved in with my in-laws, things improved a lot. (One thing, because we take turns with the nightly dishes depending on the weekday, so that obviously helps)
But also, I learned tips they did which vastly cut down on the amount of emotional energy it took to face the dishes in the first place, which will last me after we move out.

  

•  1. Right after being doing with something, scrape the food off, and rinse it out, before  putting it in the "dirty dishes" bin. 

This made a HUGE difference for me. The dishes didn't grow things. The sink didn't have a slimy layer of sludge on the bottom. By throwing away/rinsing initially, there wasn't all this extra food for the bacteria to prey on in the first place. Also it made things so much easier to clean--food wasn't dried onto it.

•  2. Fill the dishes bin with REALLY HOT water and a little squirt of soap. Let sit for 2 minutes. Then scrub/wipe them all and put them into the "rinsing bin", and then rinse them all at once. 

This was is SO MUCH FASTER. The initial soak of hot water made things so much easier to wipe down/scrub, vastly cutting down on the washing time. Doing the washing and rinsing one sinkload at a time made things much more efficient than hand washing and rinsing each individual piece.

• 3. Do as much of the dishes as possible BEFORE dinner. After dinner I will be exhausted and have the least amount of emotional energy left.

This was my biggest problem. I would let the dishes compile all day, expecting to do them "after dinner"---the time, when I would be most exhausted, most wanting to go lie down or finally do something relaxing or fun. And with the kids in the mix, there's the whole bedtime routine as well, giving me about an hour of free time after dinner is done and the kids are down, before its time to go to bed so I won't be a grumpy mom in the morning.
This is literally now, the difference between me being able to craft/sew and not being able to at all.
I find, what this means, is trying to get dishes done while the kids are eating one of their 4 meals before dinner. Every little bit helps. Often I fail at this...
AND, the prime dishwashing time, is when I am MAKING DINNER. Often you have to wait for water to boil, or stir something every now and then, or wait 15 minutes before pulling the tin foil off of something in the oven---or letting the pizza cool for 5 minutes after taking it out --- all those little 5 minute chunks of time, this is the time to stand near the oven/stove---which is the sink---and get as much of those dishes out of the way as possible. This has helped me so many nights when I wouldn't have had the energy to face ALL the dishes after dinner.

In all of this, my biggest problem is character. In doing things I don't want to, instead of putting them off till there's a crisis.
However, while this is the heart of the matter, I've found my lowering the "emotional energy threshold" of these tasks, I make it that much easier for myself to do. It's recognizing my patterns of failure, and replacing them with patterns of success.

Here

Pattern of Failure:
 letting dishes go till after dinner--->being too tired to face them-->they grow things in the sink--->being too grossed out to face them--->CRISIS--->mustering up vast amounts of emotional energy and doing very stinky dishes for 2 hours--->feeling tired after dinner, putting dishes off--->repeat

Patterns of Success:
--->rinsing most of the food off BEFORE it can get really gross, and thus take more out of me.
--->doing little bursts of dishes while have energy
--->doing dishes in a more efficient manner (sinkload wash, sinkload rinse, etc)