I didn't do food prep last week. That is, making food ahead for lunches, snacks, and dinners. I paid for that decision. By Friday lunch I was eating radishes and carrots, and I bought a sushi combo plate (on sale, of course) for Friday night's dinner so I didn't have to cook. I won't do that again!
I just didn't plan well, I didn't shop well, and I was out of ideas.
A week off helped, I survived, and I am now in the throes of making the following:
Meals:
Chicken and rice soup with a tomato base, turkey sausage, and corn. This is lunches.
2 Salmon fillets (marked down). This is 4 dinners.
Baked tofu and green beans. Add peanuts to final cook, rice or quinoa if I'm in the mood. 2 Dinners.
Sides:
Roasted mushrooms (marked down & on sale)
Roasted pepper and carrots
Potatoes in the crock pot when the squash is done
I have a spaghetti squash but I'll save it for next week. It'll keep.
In the fridge is a large container of greens for salads.
Fruit this week:
Strawberries were on sale. I like to cut off the green leafy tops and chip them into a container, and let the juices meld. This helps the sometimes dry mid-winter hard strawberries you sometimes get If you add a pinch of sugar this also draws out the juices. If still hard or not too sweet you can quickly stir them in warm balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar. It's a fantastic way to serve them. If hosting, a nice dessert is to top it with a small dollop of whipped cream or a small dollop of vanilla ice cream and a basil leaf. Here is a recipe for strawberries and balsamic vinegar.
Mandarin oranges (on sale)
Red grapes (on sale)
The best way I've found to prepare tofu is to buy the extra firm. Then cut the brick in half. I use half at a time. It keeps a long while, just replace the unused half brick in a container with fresh water, cover, and put back in the fridge. I wrap the half brick in paper towels, put on a cookie sheet, and lay something medium heavy on it, to squeeze out the moisture. I say medium heavy because you want to get the water out but not so heavy you crush the tofu.
When dried out a bit, I cut into cubes. At this point you can toss lightly with cornmeal, Parmesan cheese, or bread crumbs. It makes a nice coated crunch when you bake the tofu.
When I'm ready to eat the tofu with green beans. I toss it all with soy sauce, or lemon juice, salt and pepper, and eat cold as a salad or hot.
Having to be lactose free and gluten free, it's sometimes a struggle to make sure I have enough protein and healthy food. It's a struggle because food prices are going up and up. I really search out the coupons from my grocery store they send me, the online weekly sale sheet, and the in-store sales. The peppers were on sale for 69 cents and carrots are always a good buy. Tofu goes a long way.
Proteins this week:
-chicken (already cooked and picked, $3.50).
-turkey sausage (on sale for $2.50),
-salmon fillets, marked down $3.50 each, (I split them so it's 4 meals for $1.75 each).
-tofu, $1.75
Just the protein alone was $15.
Gluten free bread is $5, and a half gallon of lactose free milk is $3. Produce is off the charts expensive. You see how things add up quickly. I've had to raise my weekly budget goal from $40 to $60.
I rarely shop anything from the middle of the store but some things are necessary, like the diced tomatoes I put into the soup, chicken broth, and of course hard goods like paper products and soaps, which I buy at the Dollar Store. This week on the marked down section of the health food shelves was a box of Kashi cereal that usually goes for $3.50 but was marked down to $1.29. It is gluten free cereal so I bought it.
I just be diligent with the coupons, try to resist most temptations, and see where else I can cut back. There's not a lot of places but there's always somewhere I can save a buck or two.
Enjoy the day and the week ahead. We have a three-day weekend coming, our "winter break" is next weekend. Saturday our church is hosting a movie in the morning and lunch afterwards: Brandon Kimber's American Gospel. Should be fun. Then Sunday Services and next Monday while off school I plan to write a lot.
Here are some photos from my week:
Daily Murray. Where is he? Oh, there he is, with his head in the lamp. Oy what a cat.
I didn't take this picture through a window and it isn't raining. I stood on the step and aimed the camera toward the spotlight illuminating the driveway. It's the freezing fog in the air that the lens captured. The NWS has a freezing fog advisory in effect. You might not see the freezing droplets hanging in the air, but the lens does.
That's OK, the kitchen's warm & cozy!
It got warmer during food prep. That's OK, it's below freezing outside. Top left, carrots & peppers, tofu cubes and green beans under that. Middle is the salon filets and the pot of soup. Bottom is mushrooms.
Have a great week!
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