Last week I didn’t make a menu plan after Passover ended, and for Weds, Thurs, and Fri, it felt like the kids were constantly asking for food and wanting to know what we were having for the next meal – I didn’t have an answer except ‘I don’t know yet, ask me later’! Menu planning is a great tool to keep everyone well-fed and happy. 🙂
Believe it or not, we haven’t had any chametz yet! Totally the opposite of those who mob the pizza and bagels stores the night Pesach ends, isn’t it?! This week I’ll be making some dishes that use flour because I have 1.5 gallons of sour milk to use, and soaking flour in sour milk lends a great flavor and texture to quick breads. (Realize that I’m referring to raw milk that has naturally soured, not pasteurized milk – which when it goes off is called spoiled, not soured.)
Shabbos – dinner – meatloaf, potato kugel, carrot pineapple salad, fresh salad, sauteed green beans and onions, regal chocolate nut butter bars (dd made this up and used almond flour instead of regular flour; it was pretty amazing and I’ll try to make it a couple more times to see how it is with honey instead of sucanat and reducing the sweetener by half – then I’ll share it with you); l – chicken, chopped liver, napa salad, carrot salad, sweet potato pie, pickles, potato kugel, regal chocolate nut butter bars
Sunday – brunch – amaranth, fruit; d – leftovers
Monday – b – pumpkin bread, apples, peanut butter; l – beef vegetable stew; d – Keema alu (Indian ground beef with potatoes)
Tuesday – b – biscuits, eggs; l – Jamaican pigeon peas and rice; d – amaranth cornbread, chili
Wednesday – b – berry muffins; l – twice baked potatoes; d – homemade pizza, salad
Thursday – b – banana bread, fruit; l – vegetable pilaf with cashews; d – hoppin’ John (black eyed peas and rice)
Friday – b – raisin scones; l – leftovers
I’m seriously considering beginning the GAPS diet for the entire family next week, so this week I’m using lots of ingredients that aren’t allowed on GAPS, like flour, rice, and all the beans that are in my menu plan. I’m not confident it will be financially doable on my budget of $600 a month for our family of 11, which is my main concern. Short term (one month) I can probably do it since I have the nut flours I bought in bulk in the past, but I don’t know if it’s sustainable long term – it will take out all of the affordable foods (eg, grains, most beans, potatoes/sweet potatoes) and I’ll have to increase the more expensive foods (proteins and vegetables) to compensate. Also, the kids are objecting strenuously to the elimination of raw milk and cheese. I really haven’t decided yet – at some point I’m just going to have to jump in and do it, and stop thinking about it!
For now, the beans for this week’s menu are soaking on the counter and will be sprouted as soon as they finish. Before Passover I made 5 gallons of lactofermented green beans and still have another 5 gallons of kimchi, so I won’t need to make any fermented vegetables this week. I used up my sourdough starter before Passover, and will get another batch started so I can bake with it later this week.
My garden is doing nicely and I should be able to harvest lettuce, spinach, mache’, and turnip greens this week to supplement our meals. I’d like to get some more cool weather seeds planted this week, like snow peas, and see if I can get a crop before the summer crop is ready to be planted. It really feels like time to spring into spring!
(This post is part of Menu Plan Mondays.)
Avivah
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