June Menu

Okay to my small group of followers I have an apology. I was not able to put together an all new June Menu and the reasons are two fold. First, we are moving soon and my husband is heading out there before us so we aren't really using a menu for June or July. Secondly, we school, work and the like I haven't had time to put a lot of thought into this months menu. I am taking a class off and I will have a little bit more time to plan the July and August menus so look forward to some new ideas.

By the way I am looking for some contributors for new healthy recipes and reviewers. Just leave me a comment if you are interested.

So for now HERE IS THE JUNE MENU (CLICK HERE). Sorry I did not have time to prepare the grocery lists if I get time this week I will prepare the grocery lists for Weeks 2-4.

Those who choose to contribute may be in for a surprise giveaway...you never know what is up my sleeve.

Happy Cooking
~Christina

May Menu

Thank you for your patience and here is the May menu. You will note that not everything is new on the menu and that we repeated some of the items from April's menu. It makes planning easier to include some sure items that the whole family will like.

Here are the grocery lists:

Week 1 Grocery List - May 1 - 9
Week 2 Grocery List - May 10 - 16
Week 3 Grocery List - May 17 - 23
Week 4 Grocery List - May 24 - 31

Mother MAY I??

Mother MAY I have one more night to get you the May menu??

Sorry just had to do something corny like that. Well I just finished my final and realized that tomorrow is May 1st and my menu is only half done for May. I will have it posted by end of the day tomorrow. Not only do you need it to plan but so do I because this Mother Hubbard's cupboards are bare and we need food.

Did you say Green Chili?

Yes, you see that right...in our house we make something called Green Chili and it is good. No, I know that the chili is not actually green; it gets its name from the green chilis that are put into the broth. This is one of the first meals my husband ever made for me when we were dating and I love it. Some nice tender cubes of round steak simmered in the tomato broth with green chilis is surprisingly very hearty and soothing.

Serve it over some rice or maybe some sopapillas (recipe to come soon) and you are set.

Did you try this? What did you think?

They Follow in Your Footsteps

When my husband was at sea or in Iraq dinner for the kids was really simple. It usually consisted of chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fish sticks, macaroni, and grilled cheese served with some kind of canned vegetable. Easy and quick foods but foods that lacked flavor, nutrition and variety. No that my husband is home for good we are trying to get more of a variety of foods into our childrens diet. The new rule in our house is you eat what is served and no more different meals for the kids. There are some exceptions to this rule though like I don't expect my kids to eat chili (its way to spicy), french onion soup (not enough flavor or substance for their bellies) or our date night meals.

When it comes to food and children the old saying "Lead by example" is very, very true. If your children see you eating different foods especially meats and vegetables and see that you like them you will find that they will enjoy eating it too. So while people may think I am crazy for serving my kids certain foods it makes cooking a whole lot easier. My 2 and 4 year old both love grilled zucchini, steamed broccoli, tacos, pot roast and many other "adult" foods.

The newest meal to add to their menus is the one we had last night...Smoked Sausage Soup. They loved it even with the kale in the soup. I got a ton of "Good Soup, Mommy!'s" from around the dinner table last night. It is a good feeling to know that they are eating healthy and filling foods that don't take a fight to get into their bellies.

Oxymoron

It is not often that you can use the words pasta and light in the same sentence and it be a good thing. Most of the time people associated pasta as a heavy dish and getting stuffed to the brim on it. However, this dish was not one of those just the opposite it was very light and filling but not stuff yourself stupid kind of dishes. This was the roasted pepper, proscuitto and kalamata pasta and it was good but I would do it slightly different next time. First, I would add some crushed red pepper and some garlic for added flavor. Secondly, I might use black olives instead of kalamata but that is just a personal view my husband like the kalamatas just fine. Lastly, I realized that the thinner the proscuitto works better than thick because the thicker pieces really didn't crisp up.

(Photo copyrighted by Christina Bodman)

Did you try to make this? What did you think? How would you change it?

Change of Tasks

Usually chili is my husband's job but this month I took over and tried not to butcher it. I think I did a pretty good job except for the fact I am not used to cooking with such lean beef and it does change the consistency of the chili some.

(Photo Copyright Christina Bodman)

I have had questions before on how much is one medium onion and one medium bell pepper well I took a picture so you can get a good idea of much it looks like.
(Photo Copyright - Christina Bodman)

Do you like chili? How do you do it differently?