Weller-Black Wine Celebration

Weller-Black Wine Celebration
A "Wine Cellar Celebration" catered by Chef Robin

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

This weeks insightful Musings & Menu

So, I was being very insightful (at least I think so...) this morning as hubs left at 4:30 am

for work- after a great long and lazy Sunday with the Fam...

We slept in, kids brought us breakfast in bed, we hung out at the library for an hour and

investigated some of the kids interests-Caroline was looking into how to keep things

organized and be minimalists(gotta' love that from a thirteen year old!:) Fred, on the

other hand, was looking into the mechanics of how to make a bike similar to the one the

boy rides in "The Lorax"- he's my engineer minded creative thinking inventor, alright!

Constance was into mysteries and totally navigated the library by herself like a pro-matching

up an Andrew Clements book with one on a little audio player so she could

listen and read at the same time...(this one is DESTINED to be a pit boss or CEO for a

fortune 500 company!) Cristina's sole concern was animals-as always- my little

veterinarian to be! We had just left our friend Kelly's house- who works at an animal

rescue house in GR- she was feeding several red & black baby squirrels with a syringe so

of course Christina picked out a squirrel book!:) Anthony was zigzagging all over the

place looking for games to play, puzzles to put together, books to read, etc. he's

ALWAYS busy doing something- good- bad or messy!(this is, of course, the most likely

of the three...) what will this little guy grow up to be???

Then we had a happy jaunt through the woods- a one mile trek through the

Conservatory in Belmont- so fun! We pushed through that, walking sticks and all, &

chose to hit downtown Rockford for dinner & treats. The arguing over what candy to get

at Rudy Kazoody's and the "me first" attitude of eating the sampler platter at The Corner

Bar- led me to this: I would much preferred to have spent that over $70 smacks on

groceries, a picnic by th Dam- and more FREE fun time with the kiddos.

SOOOOo... My insightful thinking was this, and REALLY think about this. Where will you

be and what will you be doing in FIVE years? Time surely does fly. I can remember the

feeling of just finding out I was pregnant with each of my sweet babies.... And they are

13,11,9.5,7.5 & 3.5 now. I will treasure the moments with them at home, cooking

together, watching them play, grow and learn...and of course argue, because, let's be

realistic here, five kids lends to A LOT of that!!! But I'll treasure those moments, because

as many dear old cute little grandparent types have told me, since day one, "appreciate

the time when they are little, because time flies, and before you know it, they're gone!"

So, in 5 years, I will have an 18 year old in her senior year, making the final decisions

about her career choice, a 16 year old boy, who will be driving and will likely even have

to shave, and be a tenth grader (yikes my baby boy!). A 14 year old eighth grader with I

am certain, a very dominant head on her shoulders, a teeny Tina Tina Tween, being in

her first year of middle school. And alas, a sweet eight year old boy who, HOPEFULLY,

won't change much- for this sappy mom's sake! :)

The busyness of this family won't change much, in the near future(at least let's hope!)

So I hope to reflect healthy, sensible, not to difficult to prepare dinners on a budget for

my FamMenu... And I hope it helps some of you to think outside the culinary box! :)

MONDAY

: we had leftover white chicken chili, garden of Eatin' blue corn tortilla chips,

black seedless organic grapes .... And... Drumroll.... flu shots at 6:30, yay!!! (not)

TUESDAY

: potato broccoli cheese soup- made from leftover mashed potatoes & gravy

from last week, plus some fresh broccoli and a few slices of organic Colby jack melted

down. Utilization, I say!:) potato rolls, wedge salad with homemade thousand island

dressing, sliced up local honey crisp apples, middle school curriculum night, fun stuff.

WEDNESDAY

: honey BBQ pulled pork(this is like a 3-4 meal of a deal- i'll make burritos

out of it next week, and freeze more for the crock pot on a busy night, even some for

green chili!) on ciabatta rolls with cole slaw, poached pears? (I have like ten mini pears

to use up, if I have time!:)

THURSDAY

: Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, basil roasted garlic & basil. Toasty Vienna

bread, cucumber, bean & tomato salad. Hummus Delivery crazyness day...

THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY

!: pizza with the kiddos:)

SATURDAY

: tasty tacos with fresh salsa & guacamole, fresh fruit from the farm market!

SUNDAY

: a picnic in Rockford, if the weather cooperates!

Have a superb-0 week. Enjoy the limited time you have with your families, I know, that

even amid the CHAOS, I will :) ciao for now!
 

Monday, September 10, 2012

FamMenu for 9.10-9.16

Here's What's New....Straight Off The Chef's Knife!
Are you LOVING this gorgeous weather, or WHAT? Cool evenings that are jeans and sweatshirt worthy, and warm sun filled days that require shorts, t-shirts & sunglasses- Boy, have I mentioned how much I LOVE Fall???  It seriously does not get any better than this! :0)
I have a pantry fridge & freezer full of food that needs to be created into memorable, healthy & delish meals for the Fam this week. So here goes!

MONDAY: Meatless Mondays!!! Tonight we are going for triple bean smashed tostadas I posted the recipe for these on the blog last week:0) , yum. Along with them I made some roasted tomato salsa last week and hope to pick up some yummy local apples today!

TUESDAY: Stuffed Shells- Grandma Toldo style, delish, but of course! A crisp salad with lots of local tomatoes, cukes, mozz cheese chunks, canellini beans & a white wine vinaigrette. Vienna Bread- toasty warm!

WEDNESDAY:  Roasted Chicken with Fennel, carrots, garlic, garden fresh herbs, lemon & onions, smashed Redskin potatoes, broccoli, pickled beets.

THURSDAY: Hot & Sour Soup,  Beef stir fry with green beans, over jasmine rice, orange wedges. (sounds like takeout but its not! )

FRIDAY: The girls are planning a special dinner for daddy, it's hush hush as to what they are making!

SATURDAY: CHILI! yum. chicken chili with white beans, pepperjack cheese, chunks of chicken, yum. Chips & salsa, local watermelon...


SUNDAY:   Quiche, fresh fruit, chicken sugar maple sausage- A new Sunday tradition, it seems, Breakfast for dinner! Hey, we did it at the Visser house as kids, always had Fried Egg Sandwiches-fried eggs on white bread with Miracle Whip- potato chips & dill pickles- almost every Sunday evening!

Hope you all enjoy this beautiful week!  

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

FamMenu For THIS WEEK!!!

Here's What's New....Straight Off The Chef's Knife!

The wonder of September begins! School is in session, a change of seasons, football, cool nights, Indian summer days surrounded by the gorgeousness of the falling colorful leaves... Add in the crunch a fall stride through the woods, fresh apple cider and sugary cinnamon crisp donuts- ahhh my all time favorite season- Autumn!  

One more HOT week is upon us, for sure, though, so we won't be roasting anything in the oven quite yet  this week!

Here's what we've had and are having for the hectic week FamMenu:

 

MONDAY: after a farewell to "the Cobbage" .... :( it was leftover city USA around here- buffalo chicken chili, da' bomb dip & tortilla chips.... Then it was in to bedtime for the school & working' crew!

 

TUESDAY:we had a freezer/cupboard clean out meal- I made spaghetti from a few opened, half empty boxes, and rallied two sets of two different kinds of turkey burgers out of the depths of the freezer to make a meat sauce, a few herbs and some tomato sauce, and voila, dinner was served! Rounded out with a delish heirloom tomato & basil -both fresh from the herb  garden & my Tonce's garden- salad and a leftover loaf of Italian bread from the weekend, crisped up under the broiler.

 
WEDNESDAY: doesn't this look yummy? Very fall harvest like!- lean chicken, sweet potatoes, apples, Brussels sprouts & yummy spices- I stumbled upon it in my fave catalog, Penzey's Spice:) how can you go wrong with the motto: "Love People, Cook them tasty food"


I'll let you know if it's a hit!

 

THURSDAY:  grilled wild caught salmon, with herbs & honey Dijon drizzle, sautéed organic broccolette & portabella mushrooms, quinoa pilaf- Christina in particular LOVES quinoa:) (my cute lil' first grader!)

 

Friday: pizza of some sort, probably Papa Murphy's.... AftEr a long day of deliveries, Ant's official first day of day are, an out of town working week for hubs and a short yet long first week of school for the other four kiddos, a relaxing night at home is what I am banking on!:)

 

Saturday: Caroline has been asking if she can make a recipe out of one my plethora of cookbooks- I think this is the night! Some sweet & sour type meatball recipe from my KitchenAid cookbook... Will add in some great local finds from the Rockford Farm Market- will be there from 8am-1pm with Hummus!:)

 

SUNDAY: breakfast for dinner perhaps, pumpkin pancakes with Michigan maple syrup & yummy streusel, sautéed zestar apples(a GREAT variety that literally taste like fresh apple cider, yumola), a new Amylu chicken breakfast sausage- sugar house maple! The label shows a nice short list of ingredients, no nitrites or nitrates- woohoo! 

 

Hope you all had a great start to the school year! :)

Taste of Summer!

Taste of Summer!