Avivah Werner

Category: menu plans

  • Weekly menu plan

    I’m so happy that at the end of last week I was able to get 30 dozen pastured eggs and twenty dozen gallons of raw milk – I really appreciate how much they add to our meals and I’ve missed having them the last couple of weeks.

    Here’s the menu for this week:

    Shabbos (Sabbath) – dinner – sourdough bread, chicken soup, roast chicken, potato kugel, beet salad, broccoli slaw, curried eggplant, mushroom, and tomato; lunch – chicken stew, kishke (stuffing), traffic light pepper salad, broccoli slaw, tomato olive salad, sweet potato pudding, blue corn chips and salsa

    Sunday – brunch – eggs with sauteed broccoli and carrots; snack – bananas and peanut butter; dinner – chicken stew, salads

    Monday – b- smoothies (milk, eggs, fruit); l – twice baked potatoes, spinach; d – Indian ground beef, stir fried green beans with cashews

    Tuesday – b – homemade yogurt with sliced almonds and raisins; l – sourdough bread, borscht; d- whiting boulangere, baked yams, lacto fermented green beans

    Wednesday – b – huevos rancheros, kimchi, guacamole; l – Italian kidney beans, polenta; d – crustless broccoli quiche

    Thursday – b – cottage cheese, fruit, nuts; d – hamburger and rajmah (curried kidney beans)

    This week I made sourdough instead of my regular challah for Shabbos.  It was good, but the kids asked if I could still make traditional challah for next week.  I preferred the sourdough; it has a nice hearty flavor and is very satisfying.  But how much I enjoy something is definitely affected by the nutritional value since I can’t shut off the connection in my mind between how something tastes and how it is processed by the body!

    Last night I started a pot of lamb broth going that I’ll use as a base for the borscht later on this week, as well as using it as is for eating/drinking.  I had some today for dinner – so rich and flavorful, yum!  Hot broth makes a wonderfully satisfying drink on a cold day.  I keep thinking I’d like to get my kids into the habit of having a cup each night before bed (particularly because of the benefit to their teeth), but I first have to remember to suggest it. 🙂

    Today I prepared yogurt for the week.  I made a gallon and a half, since that’s what comfortably fits into my pot!  That should be enough for two breakfasts.

    I cooked up the last of the sale tomatoes I bought at the end of last week together with some tomatillos.  I’m not sure yet what I’ll do with them – I’ll reheat them in the morning to can them, probably as some kind of salsa.  Everyone really enjoys salsa with corn chips for Shabbos dessert, and it’s also nice to have the salsa for breakfast tacos or together with eggs.

    On Weds. last week my ds soaked a lot of kidney beans for the dinner he was preparing that night, not realizing I had already soaked and cooked a pot full.  They were finished sprouting by today and I cooked them up to use  for later this week.

    (This post is part of Menu Plan Monday.)

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    With our record snowfall, I’ve been snowed in for a week now. We were stuck three days after the first snow and then a bunch of neighbors got together to pay for a private snowplow (our city isn’t very good about plowing side streets – my in laws two miles away are in a different county and they had the county plow go down their street four times; in one day; they can’t believe what we have to deal with).   Then there was the next snow and our street was so blocked up, the private plow we tried to hire couldn’t get through!  The city plowed our street on Friday, but it still doesn’t look like I’ll be going anywhere for a couple more days since the new radiator in our van sprung a leak (fortunately it’s under warranty).  Right before the last snow I picked up enough vegetables for two weeks, as I do every two weeks (around $50 for two weeks, so I stayed within the $25 limit I said I was committing to; anything else I need will be coming from whatever is in the pantry or freezer).

    I’d be feeling very, very low on food by now if I had the habit of buying just a little more than I need;  I never expected that it would be so long before I could get out, but it doesn’t really make a difference to me.  Even though it’s been a month since I shopped (except for getting the vegetables a week ago) and out of a couple of staples that I rely heavily on (raw milk and eggs), we’re doing fine.

    Here’s the menu plan for this week:

    Shabbos – dinner – challah, chicken soup, roast chicken and potatoes, carrot raisin tzimmes, beet salad, peanut butter cups; lunch – cholent (beef stew), eggplant dip, kishke (stuffing), traffic light salad, beet salad, ginger tamari corn chips/blue corn chips with dip

    Sunday – breakfast – oranges and pumpkin pie; lunch – homemade eggrolls; dinner- hoppin’ john with gribenes

    Monday – b – coconut rice (will share recipe later this week); l – mushroom barley soup; d – sausage chowder

    Tuesday – b – banana nut muffins; l – mushroom barley soup; d – baked fish, fried okra

    Wednesday – b – quinoa pudding (w/coconut milk); l – cabbage soup; d – Jamaican rice and beans

    Thursday – b – blueberry Dutch puffs; l – CORN (Clean Out Refrigerator Night – well, day in this case :)); d – tacos, guacamole

    Today I’m doing a some advance prep for the meals for this week.  In recent months I’ve been moving away from relying heavily on grains and beans, but am falling back on them more this week to compensate for not being able to go shopping for milk and eggs.

    I’m soaking 4 pounds of black eyed peas for the hoppin’ John and Jamaican rice and beans, 2 pounds of red beans and 2 pounds of chickpeas for the sausage chowder.  All except the black eyed peas I need for tonight’s dinner will be strained in the morning to begin sprouting.  I’m also soaking five cups of rice for breakfast tomorrow as well as a couple of pounds of barley for the soup.  I have a new way of soaking grains to break down the phytic acid that I’m experimenting with and will share that once I see what the results are.

    I have another 16 quart pot of stock on the stove.  It’s crazy how much stock we’re going through – at least three pots this size every week.  As always, stocks are at the foundation of many of my meals; even those that look vegetarian are cooked with a rich stock base to boost the nutrients.

    (This post is part of Menu Plan Monday.)

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    This week I’m unusually low on groceries only three weeks after doing my monthly shopping.  I bought two cases of sweet potatoes that were supposed to last for at least six weeks but rotted after two and had to be thrown away (note – there apparently was some kind of problem with the quality, it’s not that I bought too much or stored them improperly; I’ve been buying like this for two or three years with no problem, and the store is refunding the entire purchase price), the 10 gallons of milk are finished until the next shopping trip, I bought 30 dozen eggs and they’re finished after 3 weeks (when I expected them to last for at least a month as they usually do), there’s hardly any hard cheese left….and with dh eating according to the GAPS diet, I’m going through vegetables faster than usual.

    So I’m just about out of some basic staples and this week will be a real pantry challenge for me.  My goal is to make ample meals three times a day for 10 – 11 people each time, without spending more than $25 on some vegetables and eggs for the week, otherwise only using what I already have in the house.  The menus below are based on those ‘ground rules’.

    Shabbos (Sabbath) – dinner – challah, chicken soup, roast chicken, ratatouille, butternut squash fries, roast potatoes, fruit cobbler, chocolates ; lunch – cholent (beef stew), kishke (stuffing), chicken wings, broccoli apple salad, carrot raisin salad, brownies, mock oatmeal cookies

    Sunday- breakfast – grits, grapefruit; lunch – beef stew, salad; dinner – quinoa with roasted garlic, tempeh (fermented soybean curd), and stir fried vegetables (onions, napa, snow peas, butternut squash)

    Monday – b – coconut rice; l – millet cheese cakes; d – Nancy’s chili (new chili recipe I’m trying out)

    Tuesday – b – johnny cakes with homemade strawberry jam; l – Georgia peanut soup homemade bread; d – fish and chips, coleslaw

    Wednesday – b – peach and berry cobbler, cream; l – soup and bread; d – hot dogs and baked beans

    Thursday – b -breakfast tacos; d – vegetable pilaf with cashews

    Friday – b – banana nut muffins

    I only listed the main dishes for the most part since I won’t know what veggies I’ll buy until I see what is a great deal.  But there will be some sort of vegetables at all of the lunch and dinner meals.

    Today we started soaking three different kinds of beans for this week’s recipes: 2 pounds of pintos, 2 pounds of kidneys, and 2 pounds of navy beans. In the morning I’ll drain them and they’ll be ready to begin sprouting.  I also started (well, to be accurate I asked dd15 to start them) soaking nuts: 12 cups of cashews and almost 4 lb of walnuts. Cashews don’t need much time to soak – if you leave them too long they get slimy – so I’m going to put them in the dehydrator before I go to bed. Then in the morning I’ll take them out and put the walnuts in to dry.  Have I recently mentioned how much I love my dehydrator?  🙂

    I’m thinking about getting another sourdough starter going; it’s been a while since I baked any sourdough.  It takes about a week to ‘grow’ your starter so you really can’t spontaneously decide you feel like making sourdough one day!  The bread that I’m planning to make midweek will be whole grain but not sourdough.

    I did a mega batch of fermented vegetables last week – four gallons of cortido (ethnic sauerkraut), and 3 or 4 gallons of green beans.  The cortido should be ready this week and I’ll see how it compares to our favorite, an adaptation on the basic curried carrot sauerkraut recipe I shared a while back.

    (This post is part of Menu Plan Monday.)

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    Last night when I sat down to plan our weekly menu, I pushed a piece of paper and pan towards the older kids and told them to write down anything they’d like to have this week.  This week’s menu is pretty much based on whatever they said they wanted.  You won’t see many vegetables listed, and that’s because I need to do some vegetable shopping – haven’t bought any produce for three weeks- so whatever I end up getting will flesh out the meals for the week.

    Shabbos (Sabbath) – night – challah, chicken soup, roast chicken, ratatouille, potato kugel, beet salad, dried fruit (figs, dates, raisins, prunes), peanut butter cups; lunch – chicken, cholent (beef stew), kishke (stuffing), sweet potato pie, carrot raisin salad, beet salad, coconut chocolate bars

    Sunday- brunch – blueberry pancakes with sour cream; snack- broccoli-cheese sticks; dinner – chicken, salads

    Monday – b – polenta with sour cream; l – leftovers from Shabbos ; d – potato soup and dumplings

    Tuesday – b – coconut flour biscuits; triple berry compote (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries); l- potato soup with veggies; d – turkey stir fry with quinoa and sauteed vegetables

    Wednesday- b – Amish oatmeal; l – pizza (lately we’ve been making two kinds of crusts, the usual whole wheat crust, and then a gluten free crust made of nut flour), carrot fries; d- hearty split pea soup

    Thursday – b – omelets; l – split pea soup; d – to be determined

    (Breakfasts will be supplemented by milk.)

    Today I have a pot of turkey broth started that will be the basis of the potato soup and split pea soup; that will add lots of great flavor and nutrient density to them.  Also, dh is starting the GAPS diet and broth is the primary foundation of the first stage, so as much broth as I already make every week (about 20 quarts or so), I’ll be making even more now!  I learned about this diet a year or two ago as part of my ongoing unofficial nutritional research.  I recently suggested it would be helpful to him in improving his digestion.  We bought the book and it hasn’t yet arrived, but the diet is online for free.  I keep meaning to post about the importance of diet as the foundation for healing just about everything, but it’s such a big topic that I’ve been pushing it off for months!  There’s so much you can do to help yourself and your family build their health just through the food you feed them.  As I wrote last night, food is powerful in a number of ways!

    The turkey from the broth will be used for the turkey stir fry on Tuesday night.  I’ll share later on in the week about how easy it is to make flavorless soup chicken delicious!

    Today I’m trying an experiment. I’ve been doing some experimental cooking/baking to minimize grains over the past couple of months, and a while ago found a recipe for pizza crust that uses cauliflower as the base.  I haven’t yet tried it (I’ve preferred the hazelnut crust I’ve been using) but was thinking that I can adapt the concept to make broccoli-cheese sticks that will make a great snack.  I’ll let you know if the experiment is successful and share the details if it is.

    I’m also going to cook up the triple berry compote today so it will be on hand to serve on Tuesday morning.  This is another experiment of mine (those of you who have been reading here for a while know that most of my cooking is experimental!) but I’m sure it will be good.  There’s not much you can do to ruin a blend of three yummy berries, right?

    Otherwise I haven’t been in the kitchen much today; I’ve been poring over fruit tree catalogs, trying to figure out what to order for spring planting.  And then thinking about other kinds of planting I’d like to do; medicinal plants, edible landscaping, and how to best use the small amount of space I have.  The problem is that I’m going to have to choose since there are so many I want and I’ll only be able to have a fraction of them.  Sigh.  I haven’t finished but I’m making some headway. 🙂

    (This post is part of Menu Plan Monday.)

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    Wow, the past week has zoomed by.  I can’t believe it’s already time to post my weekly menu!

    Shabbos – dinner- challah, soup, roast chicken, potatoes,  asparagus, carrot kugel, salads, peanut butter cups (will share recipe later this week); lunch – cholent, kishke, kugel, salads, fresh mangoes, power bars

    Sunday – breakfast – french toast; lunch – eggs and cream cheese; dinner- beef stew, carrot sticks, salads

    Monday – b – lemon blueberry muffin loaf; l – chicken vegetable soup, toast; d – falafel, techina, chopped lettuce, ginger carrots and pickled green beans

    Tuesday – quinoa pudding; l – baked stuffed potatoes (broccoli and cheese); d – red beans and rice with sausage, roasted vegetables

    Wednesday – b – banana bread ; l – eggs, eggplant casserole; d – black bean quinoa burgers

    Thursday – b – baked banana oatmeal; l – turkey hash; d – CORN (Clean Out Refrigerator Night)

    It’s hard for me to believe that we’ve finished over three quarts of elderberry syrup in four months, but we have!  This afternoon I made a small batch of elderberry syrup with the last of the dried elderberries.

    About ten months ago, we were given a case of frozen bananas.  Today I got a call from the person who gave them to us then, asking if we’d be interested in another case of frozen bananas.  His wife works in the food industry and the institution had more than they needed, so the bananas were peeled and then frozen when they were started to get spotted so that they wouldn’t get overripe.  It’s a good thing that when I went shopping last month, I decided not to get a case of bananas, isn’t it?!  And it’s also a good thing I know what to do with frozen bananas!  As you see, the bananas were worked into this week’s menu.

    Tonight I started a new batch of turkey broth brewing on the stove.  I soaked the red beans and black beans and will drain them in the morning so they will have time to sprout before Tues/Weds night dinners.  Since I have a fresh batch of sauerkraut that’s just about finished and a couple more batches of lacto fermented vegetables in the fridge, I’m not going to make anymore this week.

    Oh, I have to add my usual comment that breakfast is generally supplemented by fruit and raw milk, lunch and dinner with vegetables in some form.

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    Sorry that the menu plan is late this week – I was feeling totally uninspired on Saturday night and then again Sunday night when I sat down to write it. But I know when I don’t make a menu plan for the week, we end up having unnecessary pressure around mealtimes, meals don’t get served on time, and the food isn’t as nice as when I plan it in advance.  Somehow after coming home from doing my monthly shopping today it seemed much easier!

    Shabbos – d – challah, chicken soup, meatballs and sauce, mashed potatoes, vegetable kugel, power bars, chocolate chip cookie bars; l – cholent, roast turkey, kishke, green bean mango salad, tomato olive salad, fresh coconut, dried fruit, nuts, power bars

    Sunday – breakfast – pizza; l – chicken vegetable soup; d – beef stew, salads

    Monday – b – banana bread; l – out doing monthly shopping, had snacks; d – falafel patties, carrot sticks, sour cream, milk

    Tuesday – b – blueberry muffins (w/ coconut flour); l – cheesy cauliflower soup; d – vegetarian meatloaf, carrot fries

    Wednesday- b – pecan burgers, eggs; l – vegetable lentil soup; d – baked fish, yams, salad

    Thursday – b – raisin scones; l – leftovers; d – homemade buckwheat noodles, sauce, cottage cheese

    Friday – b – quinoa pudding

    In order to prepare for today’s shopping trip, I defrosted and then dehydrated all of the frozen vegetables in my full size freezer yesterday (except for the whole green beans).  I always marvel at how small the quantities look once they’re dehydrated!  It’s a good thing that last week I took out all the prepared food I had frozen and used them, as well as freeing up the space from the vegetables and some soft cheeses, since today I found a great buy on berries, and was able to buy 20 packages of blueberries (10 oz each) and eight packages of mixed berries (3 lb each).  Oh, and six or eight pounds of frozen sliced peaches.  And 12 lb of whiting fillets.  🙂  It was good I had room for them – last month I didn’t take the precautions before I went shopping and bought way more than I had room to store.  Fortunately it was freezing outside so I was able to use my outdoor ‘stair pantry’ to keep things cold.

    I found a new source to order my bulk food that I’m very happy about, since it’s making my shopping even less expensive!  As I’ve said before, don’t be shy to ask store managers to work with you; just because they have never done it before for anyone else doesn’t mean they won’t do it for you!  This is the second store that has gladly tacked my bulk order on top of theirs and put it to the side for me when it comes in.

    So I bought another 25 lb of pecan meal, 30 lb of quinoa, and 25 lb of raisins – I’ve been using lots more nut and coconut flours for baking and have significantly cut down on oats and grains.  Though grain flours tend to be cheap and nuts tend to be expensive, buying nuts/nut meals in bulk has made using them often workable within my budget – I pay between 1/2 – 1/4 of what the exact same items cost in the same store when sold in small packages.  I also have been using raisins and dates to decrease the amount of sucanat or honey I use in baked goods.   Quinoa is officially a seed and I think it’s more digestible than other grains, and that’s why I got more of that rather than a less expensive grain.  But I’m not cutting out grains altogether since they are a frugal cook’s friend. 🙂

    In addition to that, I got the usual 50 lb potatoes, a case of eggs (30 dozen), 80 lb yams (instead of  my usual 40 – the baby loves them and eats our supply down quickly!); 50 lb onions, 27 lb carrots (peeled and packaged as carrot sticks- they were outrageously cheap; I should have gotten more but didn’t realize how few pounds were in each case until I got home), 10 gallons of raw milk (I knew I wouldn’t be able to find fridge space for more), 12 lb honey, and a bunch of canned goods.  And all the other miscellany that aren’t worth mentioning.  So I’m pretty well set for the coming month, except for the meat/poultry and cheese, which I’ll buy tomorrow, and vegetables, which I’ll shop for again in another couple of weeks.  Nice to have it mostly out of the way and done for a while – who wants to be spending time in the store every few days if you don’t have to?!

    Last month I bought 25 lb of raw sunflower seeds, and yesterday I finally took some out to soak overnight; they’re in the dehydrator right now and will be ready by morning.  Sunflower seeds are the least expensive of the nuts/seeds, and they are a nice addition to various dishes, like salads and grainless granolas.

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    I put this week’s plan together very quickly and will probably end up adapting it a bit, but this is what it looks like for now:

    Shabbos – dinner – challah, chicken soup, roast chicken, roasted cauliflower/carrots/pearl onion/garlic, green bean almondine, roasted potatoes, fruit salad, nut butter truffles; lunch – cholent, kishke, chicken, carrot raisin salad, tomato avocado salad, lemon pudding pie, truffles

    Sunday – breakfast – oatmeal with coconut milk, grapefruit; d – chicken split pea soup, carrot salad, fresh salad

    Monday – b – zucchini bread; l – ricotta cheese pancakes, d – bean and cheese burritos w/ sprouted whole grain tortillas, roasted root vegetables

    Tuesday- b – quinoa porridge; l – chicken split pea soup; d – red beans and rice with sausage, lacto fermented green beans

    Wednesday – b – mango muffins; d – pizza(one with hazelnut crust, one with regular crust), salad

    Thursday – b – baked oatmeal; l – red beans and rice; d – CORN (Clean Out Refrigerator Night) or crustless non dairy broccoli quiche (depending on if there’s enough leftovers in the fridge for a meal)

    As always, what is written are the main dishes; breakfasts are usually supplemented by fruit and milk/yogurt/kefir; lunches and dinners are supplemented with vegetable side dishes.  I have a bunch of frozen hard cheese, cottage cheese, and ricotta, and this week I’m planning to make a dent in it.  I’ll be going shopping the week after next, and since my full size freezer is packed, I must use stuff up to make room for more!

    Ds10 just shredded a bunch of purple cabbage to get a new batch of sauerkraut started fermenting.  I have a couple of quarts left of my last batch, but in this weather it takes a lot longer than in the summer, so by starting it now it will be ready when this runs out!  I also have a couple of quarts of lacto fermented green beans in the fridge, and I’ll try to use that up this week so I have more available fridge space.

    The zucchini bread is baked for tomorrow morning; dd15 baked two large pans full so we’ll put one pan in the freezer for a busy morning.  I suggested she make it earlier today so that she wouldn’t have to stay up later tonight or rush in the morning to have it baked on time (it’s her turn to do breakfast duty).

    Today at 5 pm three of my kids are having a piano recital (ds10, dd13, and dd15), and I have the soup for dinner simmering on the stove so it will be ready before we leave.  We’re making dinner for a neighbor again and I don’t want a big rush when we get back.  I was planning to make cornbread to go with the soup for her (not for us, since the soup and salads will be plenty for us), but now I’m thinking about sending a bag of organic blue corn chips instead.  I’m not sure if that will seem strange to her, though.  Any opinions?

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    I hope everyone had a wonderful Shabbos!  My husband was away and we all missed him, but the kids and I had a nice Shabbos nonetheless.  We’re glad to have him home, though!

    Shabbos – dinner – challah, chicken soup, chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, baked eggplant, green bean salad, brownies; lunch – cholent, kishke, chicken, potato kugel, coleslaw, green bean salad, cashew butter balls  (I didn’t write the menu in my planner this week so I’m going by memory and know I’m leaving things out)

    Sunday – breakfast – pumpkin pudding; lunch – creamy cauliflower cheese soup; d – going to bar mitzva

    Monday – b- coconut mango pancakes with cream; l – cornmeal fritters, salad; d – beef stew, green bean salad

    Tuesday – b – chocolate zucchini muffins; d -West African stew

    Wednesday – b- quinoa porridge; l – West African stew; d – meat stir fry

    Thursday – b – date scones with whipped cream; d – CORN

    I liked how it worked last week not to plan all the lunch meals in advance, since I kept finding that I wasn’t cooking everything as scheduled because using up what we already had was taking priority.  Last week I had so many  leftovers to start the week that they significantly contributed to the first three dinners of the week.  This week I don’t have quite so much, but I’m going to leave a couple of lunch meals unscheduled for this week.

    Every week when I post my menu, I think how simple and boring it looks.  But our meals really aren’t boring at all!  There’s always much more on the table that what I write down here.  So in case you’re looking at this and wondering how our kids don’t pine away from starvation, rest assured that they’re getting plenty to eat!  I generally just list the main dish for each meal.

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    Another wonderful week already beginning!  Last week we had friends and family over almost every night of the week for dinner, and I felt like I was in the kitchen nonstop (making huge batches of latkes will do that!)! This week I’m back to regular meals with just our family.

    Sun- breakfast – homemade eggnog; l -Greek egg lemon soup; dinner- honey baked lentils, roast potatoes, fresh salad

    Mon – b -banana oat pancakes, whipped cream; d – lamb vegetable soup, green bean mango salad

    Tues – b – coconut flour biscuits, eggs; d – oven baked turkey chimichangas

    Weds – b – baked banana oatmeal; d – crustless vegetable quiche

    Thurs – b – pumpkin pudding; l – green beans, potatoes, and sour cream; d – CORN (clean out refrigerator night)

    Fri- b – polenta with sour cream

    This week I’m not planning out separate lunches since we’ll either make a double recipe the night before for planned leftovers, or have some kind of soup or salad with a simple protein for lunch.

    I took ds16 to the chiro a couple of days ago and asked her to check on his allergies (with energy testing).  It was a pleasant surprise to hear that he’s testing with no food allergies!  The problem is an internal virus manifesting as allergic symptoms, so I ordered some homeopathic supplements, will get him started on those in the coming week when they arrive, and will go back for another appointment after that to see what’s happening.  Soooo – that means he can eat the same foods as everyone else again!  I still will be limiting grains because I think it’s healthier, but it’s nice to have more options.

    Since this past week I bought a 40 lb case of ripe bananas, this week I need to make use of them.  In addition to the two breakfasts that have bananas in them, I’m hoping to do some baking for the freezer today: banana bread, banana date muffins, chocolate zucchini muffins.  I’ll see how realistic that is time-wise; so much to do, so little time! 🙂  A couple of these recipes use coconut flour and I’m interested in experimenting with them.

    I also found an amazing deal on whole frozen organic green beans – 5 pounds for 2.99, less than I pay for my regular frozen green beans!  Being me, I bought 30 pounds.  🙂  (Fortunately it’s so cold that I’m able to store them on the secured steps that lead from the basement to the yard – that’s one of the very nice things about winter!)  Today I’m planning to try lacto fermenting some – I’ve never done this with green beans before, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t turn out great.

    I also want to prep some vegetables for the week.  At the beginning of last week I did this and it made the rest of the week so much easier.  I prepped separate containers of various vegetables – eg, chopped napa, chopped green peppers, shredded carrots, washed snow peas, chopped cucumbers, chopped summer squash – they stay fresh much longer than when mixed together, and it was a cinch to throw them together in various combinations for a quick salad.  A large salad is a great lunch – I add cubes of meat/chicken/cheese, nuts, avocado, etc and this makes it very easy.

    My garden beds are covered with about a foot of snow, so it will be interesting to see how my greens emerge when the snow melts.  But no plans to dig them out and see until then!  I have lots of baby napa in the fridge so I’ll manage fine without them right now anyway.

    Avivah

  • Weekly menu plan

    Sunday – breakfast – yogurt; l – eggs, popcorn; dinner- meat sauce, potatoes, carrot salad, tomato salad

    Monday- b- Amish oatmeal; l – broccoli/cauliflower cheese soup, coconut flour biscuits; d –

    Tuesday – b- Dutch puffs; l – colcannon; d – spicy beans and beef

    Wednesday – b- banana date muffins; l – spicy beans and beef; d – chili, cornbread

    Thursday – b – hot rice and milk; l – CORN; d – lentil pecan burgers, baked yams

    Breakfast includes milk and fruit – this week the fruits are persimmons and oranges.  Lunch and dinner includes vegetables – I have several ferments going now so those will We had a bunch of snow yesterday so after it melts from the garden beds, I’ll get to see how my greens have held up and how much there is to use this week!

    Avivah