Menu for March 2011

Tuesday	1st	Lettuce Wrapped Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers with Spicy Slaw
Wednesday	2nd	Baked Chicken Parm with Green Beans
Thursday	3rd	Smoky Pan-Grilled Pork Chops with Broccoli
Friday	4th	Date Night
Saturday	5th	Home Made Chili
Sunday	6th	Roasted Chicken with Roasted Onions and Peas
Monday	7th	Crispy Fish with Lemon-Dill Sauce with Baked Sweet Potato Wedges
Tuesday	8th	Teriyaki Beef Kabobs with Grilled Veggies
Wednesday	9th	Chicken Shawarma and Brown Rice
Thursday	10th	Pork Roast and Veggies
Friday	11th	Date Night
Saturday	12th	Salsbury Steak and Mashed Yukons
Sunday	13th	Deviled Chicken with Broccoli
Monday	14th	Thai Red Curry Shrimp and Spicy Green Beans
Tuesday	15th	Turkey Pita Burgers
Wednesday	16th	Blue Chicken Tostadas and Mexican Slaw
Thursday	17th	Lasagna and Salad
Friday	18th	Date Night
Saturday	19th	Dutch Oven Beef Pot Roast wiht Asparagus
Sunday	20th	Mexican Chicken Casserole with Corn and Pimentos
Monday	21st	Clam Chowder with Whole Weat Flax Rolls
Tuesday	22nd	Steak and Portabella Mushrooms and Broccoli
Wednesday	23rd	Chicken Cordon Bleu with Brown Rice and Salad
Thursday	24th	Pork and Pinto Bean Nachos
Friday	25th	Date Night
Saturday	26th	Pork Posole and Blue Corn Tortillas
Sunday	27th	Asian Turkey Cabbage Cups with Asian Slaw
Monday	28th	Fish Fry with Green Beans
Tuesday	29th	Caramel Pork with Peas and Carrots
Wednesday	30th	Cincinnati Turkey Chili Low Carb Corn Bread
Thursday	31st	Lasanga and Salad

Menu for February 2011

Tuesday the 1st - Special Mexican Restaurant Dinner (two Date Nights in a week!!)
Wednesday the 2nd - Cabbage Rolls
Thursday the 3rd - Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Onions and Roasted Carrots and Cauliflower
Friday the 4th - DATE NIGHT!! - Superbowl Weekend! Go Steelers!

Saturday the 5th - Diegos Restaurant
Sunday the 6th - Superbowl Goodies - What else?
Monday the 7th - Steaks and Grilled Veggies
Tuesday the 8th - Oven Fried Chicken Parmesan and Romaine Salad
Wednesday the 9th - Shrimp Fry with Noodles
Thursday the 10th - Slow Cooker Chan Siu Pork Roast and Brown Rice
Friday the 11th - DATE NIGHT!!

Saturday the 12th - Turkey Burger Tostadas with Beans
Sunday the 13th - BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Monday the 14th - Steak and Mushrooms with Onions and Salad
Tuesday the 15th - Chicken Carne Asada Tacos with Pickled Onions
Wednesday the 16th - Pork Stir Fry and Brown Rice
Thursday the 17th - Gnocchi with Shrimp, Asparagus and Pesto
Friday the 18st - DATE NIGHT!!

Saturday the 19th - Beef Daube Provencal with Noodles
Sunday the 20th - Deviled Chicken with Rice and Broccoli
Monday the 21st - Fish Fry
Tuesday the 22nd - Pork Steaks and Salad
Wednesday the 23rd - Marinated Steaks with Salad and Veggies
Thursday the 24th - Tandoori Spiced Chicken with Rice and Salad
Friday the 25th - DATE NIGHT!!

Saturday the 26th - Baked Low Carb Lasagna, Spinach Salad and Homemade Whole Wheat Flax Bread
Sunday the 27th - Leftover Lasagna
Monday the 28th - Grilled Burgers with Salad

Menu for January 2011

I am playing catch up on my menus so bare with me :)

Saturday the 1st - Baked Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
Sunday the 2nd - Rib Eyes and Spoon Bread
Monday the 3rd - Roasted Pork Roast and Broccoli and Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday the 4th - Salisbury Steak and Balsamic Carrots and Onions
Wednesday the 5th - Cabbage and Polish Sausage
Thursday the 6th - Marinated Chicken and Salad
Friday the 7th - DATE NIGHT!!

Saturday the 8th - Shrimp and Parmesan Pasta with Lemon
Sunday the 9th - Chicken salad in Pitas
Monday the 10th - BBQ Pork Spare Ribs and Spicy Slaw
Tuesday the 11th - Potato Soup
Wednesday the 12th - Beef and Mushrooms over Egg Noodles
Thursday the 13th - Fish Fry and Tater Tots (OK.. not so healthy)
Friday the 14th - DATE NIGHT!!

Saturday the 15th - Blue Cheese and Onion Burgers and Salad
Sunday the 16th - Spicy Chicken Stir Fry with Pad Thai Noodles
Monday the 17th - Lasagna Rolls
Tuesday the 18th - Grilled Chicken and Asparagus
Wednesday the 19th - Quiche with Ham and Asparagus
Thursday the 20th - Crock Pot Pork Roast with Veggies
Friday the 21st - DATE NIGHT!!

Saturday the 22nd - Pork Carnitas and Mexican Slaw
Sunday the 23rd - Chicken and Homemade Gnocchi Soup
Monday the 24th - Chicken Kabobs and Veggies
Tuesday the 25th - Fried Potatoes and Spicy Sausage
Wednesday the 26th - Brats and Baked Beans
Thursday the 27th - Foil Fish and Herb Potatoes
Friday the 28th - DATE NIGHT!!

Saturday the 29th - Chicken Tortilla Soup
Sunday the 30th - Chicken Pot Pie
Monday the 31st - Grilled Burgers with Salad

Buckwheat Pancakes

I read another blog that had a wonderful description and recipe for Buckwheat Pancakes.  They seem healthier than regular pancakes and promise a nutty full flavor.  My mother-in-law said her mother used to make them all the time. So, in my quest to cook healthier, I decided to try them this morning!

Never having used or even laid eyes on buckwheat flour, I think they turned out great!  Different than anything I had tasted before. 

 After giving the first pancake to the Pancake Goddess, the rest turned out very good! 

They are much darker than "normal" white flour pancakes.  The batter is thicker and more substantial but the whipped egg whites lend a surprisingly fluffy cake.   They cooked up a little slower than regular pancakes but were easy to work with.

I am not sure Hubs thought they were "wonderful" but he ate them.  He is big on texture and these definitely have a different texture.  A little denser, grainier.  They have a slightly nutty taste I think.  He topped his with sugar free blackberry jam.  I bet they would be great with peanut butter too!

Recipe for Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

2/3 tsp baking powder

pinch salt (I used Morton's Half Salt)

1 tbsp maple syrup (sugar free)

1 1/4 cups milk

1 tbsp butter

1 egg

In a bowl whisk flour, soda, powder and salt.  Melt butter and allow to cool. 

In another bowl add egg yolk, butter, syrup to milk and whisk to combine.

Pour liquid into dry mix.  Use a large spoon to thoroughly combine all ingredients. 

Add more milk if texture seems to think.  You want it to flow slowly but smoothly from a spoon.

Use an electric mixer to whisk egg white until just set and solid. 

Gently fold into pancake mix.  Do not over mix or you will ruin the fluffy texture.

Heat pan on medium heat.  (This is where I differ from the original recipe.  The original calls for you to rub butter in the pan and then pour the batter when the butter is hot.  I chose to use non-stick cooking spray instead.)

Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter into pan and cook until holes form on the top and it is relatively set.  Flip and cook for another 15-30 seconds. 

Slather with butter (or Brummel and Brown which is Yummy) and sugar free syrup or sugar free jam!  Enjoy!

Birthdays at Work

One of the cool things about working where I do is it is all about food!  So to celebrate birthdays, we pick a day in the month a birthday falls in and bring in goodies.  I do work for a nutrition program, so we try to sometimes bring in veggies and fruits.  But mostly its breads and cakes and pies and ... well you get it.

So to my husbands dismay this month is a double birthday month.  Since I love to cook and bake and be in the kitchen in general, I offered to make the cakes.  One wanted chocolate and one wanted a Hummingbird cake.  So I went to the store and got the ingredients. 

On the way to the store, Hubs called and asked what I was getting.  I told him and he groaned.  "That's so not fair!"  I said "Don't worry honey, I will get you something delicious!".  Now Hubs loves cake, pie, ice cream, cookies and sweets in general.  So I knew he would  be tortured this evening while I was baking.  I did get him a box of sugar free brownie mix so I can make him brownies tomorrow.  (I have to be honest, I am scared of the brownie mix we bought at the low carb store.  It can stay in the pantry until I can get my gumption up to make it.)  I also bought him sugar free Klondike bars to give him a quick fix.  Hubs satisfied with  a good dinner and a treat, I set off baking. 

I decided to make Hummingbird cupcakes instead of a cake.  Boy did they turn out yummy...and pretty.  I also made a chocolate fudge cake with layers of strawberry jam and chocolate frosting with shaved chocolate on the top.  I hope the girls like them!  Birthday goodie day, here I come!

Low Carb Store Excursion

During the day of car shopping, we drove up to a low carb food store to see what we could find.  Thoughts of all the wonderful low carb foods we would be able to buy to replace things we could no longer eat were in abundance. 

We walk in and I have to say, I was amazed at all of the things they had.  Salad dressing with 0 carbs, 0 calories, 0 fat, 0 sugar, and 0 sodium...(that should have been a clue...). Pasta galore - although not super low carb, lower and within  limits.  Gluten free, GMO free, Sugar free, flavor free (did I say that?).  All the shelves packed with colorful foods and wonderful catchy advertising.  All promising to meet our taste expectations and still remain diabetic friendly.  Upon closer inspection, some nutritional labels looked promising, others way out of our ranges.  Then we started looking at the prices. 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  8.99 for a loaf of bread?  Did the people who manufacture this stuff really think someone in their right mind would pay for a loaf of bread at this price.  I tell you what.  Before it got into my basked it better whistle Dixie for me and wash my dishes.  3.99 for a breakfast bar?  18.99 for sugar substitute???? Now I know there must be some mistake.  People don't actually buy this stuff do they? All the while the shop keeper telling my husband, who has our cart half full by this point, "Oh yes, I have had that, it is very good!  Very good for you too!"  He was sucked in. 

I didn't even ask him how much he spent but we went home with a biscuit mix, brownie mix, blueberry muffin mix, salad dressing, bagels, pasta, sugar free candy and a few other things.  I myself admit I bought some sugar free candy and a protein bar and some chocolate covered marshmallows.

The next morning we decided to make biscuits and gravy.  I took the biscuit mix out thinking it would be like a normal mix.  Add eggs and buttermilk, pat out, cut and bake.      Right.

As I am boiling the hot water and butter and dumping the "dry" mixture into the boiling water I am thinking "I'm not a great biscuit maker but this just doesn't seem right..."  So I read the directions again.  Yep, this is the way I am supposed to do it.

As I am letting the hot dough cool enough to add the three eggs, I guess it looks sort of like biscuit dough.  So I add the eggs and pat out into biscuit shapes like the directions tell me.  I bake.  They don't smell like biscuits.  The sort of look like a drop biscuit. 

I make some sausages and gravy (which actually are well within carb ranges... go figure).  I decide to try a biscuit plain to see how it was.  You know that things little kids do when they take a bite of something and decide it is the most horrible thing that could have ever been put in their mouth?  You know, the open the mouth fully, wagging their tongue to make sure every last crumb is out of their mouths, before squishing their eyes together and shaking their heads?  Now picture a 37 year old woman doing that.  Hubs laughed so hard he doubled over.  Then he realized I was handing him a piece to try.  "You bought it, you try it!" I said.  He dutifully took a bite.  Declared it wasn't bad and went to sit quietly and wait for his breakfast.  I knew he hated it and wasn't going to say a thing.  

Since I thought I may have been overreacting, I decided to put some gravy on and try again.  I served up breakfast.  Nope, no way was that horrid thing going down.  I had to spit it out.  Even with wonderful pepper gravy and sausage, it still tasted like an overcooked microwaved egg with some chemical butter.

Well that was a waste of 7.89.  And the worst part is, there is still another packet of the mix left in the bag.  I would not wish this on anyone but cant bring myself to throw it out.  We will see if I cant do something with it to make it edible.  But until I get that taste out of my mouth, it can sit.

All this fun and I haven't even gotten to the salad dressing.   Imagine this.  Beautiful salad, sliced radishes, mushrooms, cheese, the works.  Now picture a 40 year old man making a tongue waggle and wiping the insides of his mouth whit a napkin to remove all traces of taste.  Yep, you got it... Gross!!!!

Now I understand it.  People in some factory somewhere have devised an evil plot to part us with our hard earned money.  Lure folks new to the lifestyle in by promising these products will taste like they came out of your grandmothers kitchen and outrageously price them because by the time they figure out they hate the product, hey, its OK, we made our money on it and there will be another sucker on the horizon soon.

I do have to say, the bagels, were not bad, but probably not something we will put on our normal shopping list. In the mean time, I am searching for recipes that taste good and meet the nutritional needs.  I know I can make it cheaper and better.  I just need a week off to play and a health food store to be open. 

Oh and by the way, the marshmallows were great...expensive, but great!

Gas Station Food

So this last weekend, we took my mother-in-law car shopping.  We took a few side trips.  One of those trips was to our favorite gas station restaurants.  Yes, I said gas station.  You would be amazed at some of the wonderful food you can find in little dives in the middle of nowhere.  I say that now, but my husband has a track record.

When my husband first took me to this place, I thought we were getting gas.  When he parked on the side of the gas station I thought, hmm he must want something to drink.  When he said "Are you coming?", I thought, OK... whats going on.  I got out of the truck and the most wonderful smell hit my nose. 
I was scared.  The second to the last time my husband took me to a "dive" to eat, I refused to eat anything except the Jello off the buffet and still got food poisoning. 

Ignoring my gut reaction to march right back to the truck and park my hiney with a bag of Funyuns and a Diet Coke, I allowed my nose to lead me.  This place - no, this dirty little gas station half way between two very small towns, had all the makings of a visit to the ER.  Everything cooking on electric skillets on a counter and a few things in a deep fryer.  OK I thought, I will just get something deep fried.  The hot oil will kill nasty little beast wanting to lodge itself in my intestine. We ordered.  I got sopes and a taco. Hubs got a burrito.  I stared down at my food, swallowed hard, looked at my husband and defiantly took a bite.  All the while hoping he was getting my "That's right, when I am up in the middle of the night buddy, your going to be right there with me!" look.

I was dead wrong.  It was by far the best Mexican food I have ever had in my life.  The sopes danced in my mouth and made me joyful to be alive.  OK...that's a little over the top, but I did actually hear myself tell hubs, "I was wrong, this is great!" (knowing he would never ever let me forget how right he was).

But I digress.  In all the hustle and bustle of car shopping, we stopped in to get a tostada (our new favorite) and tacos and to share the wonders of this little gem of a station, who to this day doesn't seem as dingy as it first did.  I have included a picture of my plate.  Ignore the bite, I was so anxious to shovel food into my face I forgot to snap a pic before diving in.

Date Night

One of the things I have been doing for about a year now is creating my dinner menus for the month.  I know, I know...sounds like a lot of work.  Yes.  I'm not going to lie.  Trying to formulate dinners for an entire month which are different and interesting is hard enough.  Now add on diabetic friendly.  Oh and by the way, low sodium and watch that cholesterol...Uh Huh...

One thing keeping me sane is my addiction to cook books.  I have a plethora of information at my fingertips. But, I have to say (shhh don't tell my cookbooks) I rely on the Internet.  Internet searches have become second nature to me and I am finding I am quite skilled at rooting out elusive recipes.  Blue corn tortillas...taste tested and rated? No problem.  Oh you want to know how to make sugar free marshmallows? I have a recipe for that too! It is a lot easier to find nutritional information on the web than to try and calculate it from a recipe out of a 1951 Grange Hall cookbook. (I will tell you all about my menus later... I even plan to post them!)

When I am planning my recipes I know every Friday night is my reprieve.  Friday nights are date night in my house.  We always go out to eat.  Sounds glorious right?  Finding all of the wonderful little hole in the wall restaurants and eateries and also going back and visiting your comfortable old pizza place every once in a while.  Well times have changed.  This is our second date night since diabetes joined our family.  My husband and I just looked at each other and asked, where can we go, what can we get that you can eat?  Pizza? No, not a good idea.  Pasta...think again. Thai? Noodles - yeah right!  I bet your thinking Hey wait a minute, you can still eat those things!? I admit it we are still learning and until we know all the facts, we just stick with what we know is safe.  A slab of meat of some kind and veggies.  (Fun...) 

Me, I could easily be a vegetarian. The hubs..slap some flesh on his plate and he is happy.  So, we decided to go to our favorite tavern where we know the steaks are fantastic.  He ended up ordering the 12 oz Ribeye and veggies.  The soup was Clam Chowder.  I swear I saw a tear in my husbands eye when he told the waitress he would take the salad instead.  The side he did spurge on was the sweet potato fries (come on, a man has to have some sort of fried food with dinner right?)  I opted for the ground sirloin stuffed with Gorgonzola.  I too got the salad and the sweet potato fries.  What we both forgot about is this particular tavern makes their own beautiful dark brown wheat bread in these just right for two loaves.  They bring it to your table warm with a huge cup of whipped butter.  As the cute little waitress placed it on the table between the two of us we again looked at each other and both knew this was not good.  I must say, I am proud of us both.  I had only one tiny little piece of the heal (my favorite part) and only put a little butter on.  The man - he only had one piece, about as big as a cocktail toast, with the tiniest amount of butter.  I cannot tell you how proud I am of him!!! 

As we left the tavern with our hefty box of leftovers (yes the bread stayed on the table!!!) we were both satisfied.  Now, however, we were looking for a treat.  iPhones are great for searching down elusive restaurants or checking in with Face Book.  They are not so great at trying to find diabetic friendly desert houses.  Do such beasts exist?  Well apparently not - or at least not in our piddly little town!  So off to the local store.  Thirty minutes later, after reading label after label we came out proudly carrying sugar free Jello mousse cups and carb watcher ice cream bars.  Not what we had in mind (cake or pie) but it would suffice.

All in all date night was a success.  The most important part was just spending time with each other.  And the second most important thing was taking care of our health. I did take some pictures, and since I am still pretty inept at this blogging thing I will try to somehow attach them.  So if you see pictures I was successful... If you don't... well I will eventually figure it out!

Keep Calm and Carry On!

While contemplating creating a blog, I wondered what kinds of things I would write.  I knew the general direction I wanted to go in, but I kept asking myself, "Alright Sarah, do you really think things you might have to say would be worth posting? Even if you do, will anyone really read them?".  Well, the scary part is I answered myself and that answer was Sure!  I mean, I cant be the only person in the world trying to save a save a buck and eat healthier. So I kept telling myself I would think about it.

The thing that finally made the decision for me to post was a diabetes diagnosis in the family.  HOLY CRAP... Now what? Well, first I of course had a meltdown, second I knew we had no choice but to Keep Calm and Carry On!  Not much we can do except change eating habits and get healthy!  This of course threw me into a research frenzy, what can I cook, what can we eat, does this mean no more ice cream? (Oh for the love of all that is holy, please let there be ice cream...)

I wanted to be able to ask questions and share what I find, because surely there are other families just like mine out there who are in the same boat.  I want to share recipes (successes and failures) and post pictures of it all.  I want to tell you "Hey!!  There is ice cream!!  sugar free, sweet, creamy wonderful ice cream!"

So in blogging, I hope to share our journey.  The ups, the downs, and the side trips. So get ready world (or should I say world wide web...) Sarah is at the keyboard!

Did I Just Do This?

Thanks to a genius friend of mine who came up with this awesome name for my blog (THANK YOU DAVID!!!!) I am officially in business. 

Well maybe business is not exactly the right word, but at least I can take a stab at embarrassing myself and I am sure my hubs and friends at times! I have no idea what I am really doing here. I just know I love to cook.  I love to home can. I love to garden. And, I love to share.

I keep getting told by friends, co-workers and even people I meet I am a rare find.  I guess there are not many young people these days that get all domestic goddess on the weekends!  I admit, there is nothing I love more than making a wonderful meal and sharing it with people I love.

Growing up, family time was food time.  Friends over? Let us feed you.  Someone sick? This casserole will cure it.  Girls night out? Lets splurge on something either dipped in cheese, fried to a golden crisp, coated with butter, smothered in gravy or enrobed in chocolate (and sometimes all in one sitting).  Of course, as I have gotten older, I have settled down and immediately got fat and happy!  That's right FAT and HAPPY!  These days, I am working on the waistline so I'm not quite as fat but I am still very, very happy!

I hope my friends you find this little window into my world worth reading.  I even encourage you to leave comments (please be nice...)

Until the next post....wish me luck!