Breakfast: Oatmeal for the girls with the rest of the bread from the last batch. I was amazed as I pulled out those last bits of bread (we left the bag out last night to thaw) how soft they were - that is some good bread. Soft like store bought.
We slice it and freeze it when it is done - it has made life much easier. We used to just slice what we needed and wrap up the rest in a towel that we put in a bag and kept on the counter. When Jason first started doing that he crammed it all in as few Ziplock bags as possible, but then it was hard to get the bread slices to separate when frozen, so now we use more bags.
Jason had a breakfast burrito and I had a scramble.
Lunch: The girls all have sandwiches with rainbow bread. Seriously, just opening the container should make a person smile.
Dinner: We have thawed a New York steak and I will make veggies to go with it. And maybe lentils.
When Dai heard we were having steak, she was happy. We try to plan a meat meal one time per week - not due to health but because we have it and at first we were just forgetting to use it, unless it was hamburger. Dai will not be here for dinner because she is going to a slumber party for Tara Buchanan tonight. Jason said, "You'll probably have frozen pizza. See how other people live." Dai was totally baffled, and Jason had already left, so I explained that I thought it referred to the buying of prepared foods. I pointed out we don't do that very often - mostly we eat beans, veggies, chicken, meat, eggs. Phyllis chimed in that we don't even buy already cooked chicken very often.
I note, as I write that often times I discuss a lot of non-food things - like our activities for the day and realize it is because it impacts the food plan. How very much food is shaped by our lives, or is it that our lives shape our food - or do we decide which way it goes? Would someone in some palce where food truly is scarce or comparatively expensive, think I was making a mountain of a molehill and that I really had no idea how much food impacted life because it is so readily available and so easily bought and prepared? I may buy less processed food than some but the food I buy is still processed more than others, in that it is already harvested, already butchered, etc.?
I also recognize that my kids are fairly cognizant of what we eat. I read an article that talked about how the food we eat as children is the food that will still taste good to us as adults. Link follows. http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/
The basic premise os that if we eat a lot of processed food as children, then we will continue to appreciate processed food as adults. I recall eating these things for dinner as a kid:
Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Spaghetti
Tacos
New England Boiled Dinner
Campbell's tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
I know we ate other things. For example, I recall meatloaf which mom occasionally made and I did not like. I recall lasagna being a special treat and seemingly taking hours to prepare. And because of the divorce and mom's breakdown, I am pretty sure I wouldn't get the same list from any of my siblings - essentially we grew up in different households.
Oddly, we don;t eat any of these things in my house. My kids love Mac 'n' Cheese and when we make it I think I will like it (and I do like a few bites) and then I end up with a headache - every single time! Jason's mom made a homemade version that he loves, but I do not really. So, Mac 'n' Cheese is rare in my house.
Tuna Noodle Casserole grosses Jason out. I did make it once, just to see if it was in his head. He is sure tuna fish shouldn't be hot. He was very grossed out, so I have never made it again.
Spaghetti we do have occasionally, but I never put ground met in my sauce and my mom always did. Jason's mom didn't. When we were first living together I made it with ground meat and Jason was not a fan. I thought it would be better with but he clearly didn't think so, so I really never did it again. Occasionally, I have done it with meatballs. Plus, Jason says it doesn't keep him full very long and Phyllis has the same issue, though she cannot put it into words that way. More common pastas for us are cheaty pasta, baked ziti and, before, we used to do a lot of penne with spicy vodka tomato cream sauce. We still do that last occasionally.
Tacos - we still do this but differently. We use black beans rather than meat. I also recall having a bowl of cut up tomatoes, a bowl of cut up onions, a bowl of cut up lettuce, a little bowl of grated cheese (we had to grate it because it was cheaper to buy it in blocks). We used to have the Tupperware bowls and would try to match the colors of the bowls to the contents. I found a picture of them on the Internet. We had sour cream sometimes, but we almost always had guacamole. And this was so prized. There would never be quite enough for every one to have what they really wanted. So you put a little dab on and that was that - maybe you would get a little dab on the second taco. I recall observing Dad always got the amount I wanted. Oh, and we had taco sauce - which we made with ketchup and vinegar. We also make our tortilla shells differently. Mom fried them in oil until just soft - my girls and husband like them a little more cooked (not me), so I have adjusted my cooking time. Also, lately, we have done them what we call taqueria style - just warmed in a dry cast iron pan until pliable.
Sometimes I still make New England boiled dinner. I recall that there was never enough meat for every one to get the amount they really wanted. To this day, i still love this meal. I have previously added sometimes two tins of meat (yes, we used the canned stuff when I was a kid and I still do though I am debating learning to cook the real stuff.) Last time I saw it at the store and i thought about getting it and realized that really that little tin of meat is expensive like my mom used to always say. That meat is the most expensive single thing in the pot isn't surprising, but that feeling of "wow! that is pricey," was new. I didn't buy it - in part because we didn't already have all the other stuff without me buying it, too. I also recall this one took a long time - plan ahead like - and that it was most popular with my mom - as I think it is most popular with me in our house, too.
Dad loved the tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We would buy off-brand soups - except this one and maybe the beef and barley that dad also liked. I think when he moved to the boat that he continued to enjoy and eat a lot of soup - but it was always canned isa my impression. I never lived on the boat so I do not really know. I actually love good tomato soup, but I make it from scratch. Heather Castro and Ela Wunderli have both loved it. I served it at an Activity Days "Dinner with Mom" activity. I also have had it when we had friends over sometimes. I make it when the tomatoes are at peak ripeness - in summer when it isn't great fun to stand over the stove, but the soup is really good so it is worth it.
So, I guess, we do eat similar things to when I was a child, but just different. I wonder, will my kids revert to similar but more processed? It is hard for me to imagine that is so, even if they find it hard to cook during college, for example. Though, Jason and I cooked in college - but not always -we ate a lot of Del Taco, too.
LATER
Actual dinner was New York steak, CSA butternut squash (it has been on our counter a really long time) and carrots and lentils in olive oil. The lentils was okay but not great. Jason was pleased to see lentils, which surprised me. He said he was raised on lentils - often eating lentil soup. I have made lentil soups before but that was not what I wanted this time - I was looking for a side dish. Guess I will keep looking. Jason did the steak on the stove instead of BBQ, this time.
Prep Ahead: I pressure cooked balck beans today - I need to do pintos soon, too.
Shopping: Lettuce @ Costco $3.99
We slice it and freeze it when it is done - it has made life much easier. We used to just slice what we needed and wrap up the rest in a towel that we put in a bag and kept on the counter. When Jason first started doing that he crammed it all in as few Ziplock bags as possible, but then it was hard to get the bread slices to separate when frozen, so now we use more bags.
Jason had a breakfast burrito and I had a scramble.
Lunch: The girls all have sandwiches with rainbow bread. Seriously, just opening the container should make a person smile.
Dinner: We have thawed a New York steak and I will make veggies to go with it. And maybe lentils.
When Dai heard we were having steak, she was happy. We try to plan a meat meal one time per week - not due to health but because we have it and at first we were just forgetting to use it, unless it was hamburger. Dai will not be here for dinner because she is going to a slumber party for Tara Buchanan tonight. Jason said, "You'll probably have frozen pizza. See how other people live." Dai was totally baffled, and Jason had already left, so I explained that I thought it referred to the buying of prepared foods. I pointed out we don't do that very often - mostly we eat beans, veggies, chicken, meat, eggs. Phyllis chimed in that we don't even buy already cooked chicken very often.
I note, as I write that often times I discuss a lot of non-food things - like our activities for the day and realize it is because it impacts the food plan. How very much food is shaped by our lives, or is it that our lives shape our food - or do we decide which way it goes? Would someone in some palce where food truly is scarce or comparatively expensive, think I was making a mountain of a molehill and that I really had no idea how much food impacted life because it is so readily available and so easily bought and prepared? I may buy less processed food than some but the food I buy is still processed more than others, in that it is already harvested, already butchered, etc.?
I also recognize that my kids are fairly cognizant of what we eat. I read an article that talked about how the food we eat as children is the food that will still taste good to us as adults. Link follows. http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/
The basic premise os that if we eat a lot of processed food as children, then we will continue to appreciate processed food as adults. I recall eating these things for dinner as a kid:
Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Spaghetti
Tacos
New England Boiled Dinner
Campbell's tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
I know we ate other things. For example, I recall meatloaf which mom occasionally made and I did not like. I recall lasagna being a special treat and seemingly taking hours to prepare. And because of the divorce and mom's breakdown, I am pretty sure I wouldn't get the same list from any of my siblings - essentially we grew up in different households.
Oddly, we don;t eat any of these things in my house. My kids love Mac 'n' Cheese and when we make it I think I will like it (and I do like a few bites) and then I end up with a headache - every single time! Jason's mom made a homemade version that he loves, but I do not really. So, Mac 'n' Cheese is rare in my house.
Tuna Noodle Casserole grosses Jason out. I did make it once, just to see if it was in his head. He is sure tuna fish shouldn't be hot. He was very grossed out, so I have never made it again.
Spaghetti we do have occasionally, but I never put ground met in my sauce and my mom always did. Jason's mom didn't. When we were first living together I made it with ground meat and Jason was not a fan. I thought it would be better with but he clearly didn't think so, so I really never did it again. Occasionally, I have done it with meatballs. Plus, Jason says it doesn't keep him full very long and Phyllis has the same issue, though she cannot put it into words that way. More common pastas for us are cheaty pasta, baked ziti and, before, we used to do a lot of penne with spicy vodka tomato cream sauce. We still do that last occasionally.
Tacos - we still do this but differently. We use black beans rather than meat. I also recall having a bowl of cut up tomatoes, a bowl of cut up onions, a bowl of cut up lettuce, a little bowl of grated cheese (we had to grate it because it was cheaper to buy it in blocks). We used to have the Tupperware bowls and would try to match the colors of the bowls to the contents. I found a picture of them on the Internet. We had sour cream sometimes, but we almost always had guacamole. And this was so prized. There would never be quite enough for every one to have what they really wanted. So you put a little dab on and that was that - maybe you would get a little dab on the second taco. I recall observing Dad always got the amount I wanted. Oh, and we had taco sauce - which we made with ketchup and vinegar. We also make our tortilla shells differently. Mom fried them in oil until just soft - my girls and husband like them a little more cooked (not me), so I have adjusted my cooking time. Also, lately, we have done them what we call taqueria style - just warmed in a dry cast iron pan until pliable.
Sometimes I still make New England boiled dinner. I recall that there was never enough meat for every one to get the amount they really wanted. To this day, i still love this meal. I have previously added sometimes two tins of meat (yes, we used the canned stuff when I was a kid and I still do though I am debating learning to cook the real stuff.) Last time I saw it at the store and i thought about getting it and realized that really that little tin of meat is expensive like my mom used to always say. That meat is the most expensive single thing in the pot isn't surprising, but that feeling of "wow! that is pricey," was new. I didn't buy it - in part because we didn't already have all the other stuff without me buying it, too. I also recall this one took a long time - plan ahead like - and that it was most popular with my mom - as I think it is most popular with me in our house, too.
Dad loved the tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We would buy off-brand soups - except this one and maybe the beef and barley that dad also liked. I think when he moved to the boat that he continued to enjoy and eat a lot of soup - but it was always canned isa my impression. I never lived on the boat so I do not really know. I actually love good tomato soup, but I make it from scratch. Heather Castro and Ela Wunderli have both loved it. I served it at an Activity Days "Dinner with Mom" activity. I also have had it when we had friends over sometimes. I make it when the tomatoes are at peak ripeness - in summer when it isn't great fun to stand over the stove, but the soup is really good so it is worth it.
So, I guess, we do eat similar things to when I was a child, but just different. I wonder, will my kids revert to similar but more processed? It is hard for me to imagine that is so, even if they find it hard to cook during college, for example. Though, Jason and I cooked in college - but not always -we ate a lot of Del Taco, too.
LATER
Actual dinner was New York steak, CSA butternut squash (it has been on our counter a really long time) and carrots and lentils in olive oil. The lentils was okay but not great. Jason was pleased to see lentils, which surprised me. He said he was raised on lentils - often eating lentil soup. I have made lentil soups before but that was not what I wanted this time - I was looking for a side dish. Guess I will keep looking. Jason did the steak on the stove instead of BBQ, this time.
Prep Ahead: I pressure cooked balck beans today - I need to do pintos soon, too.
Shopping: Lettuce @ Costco $3.99
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