The Meal Plan | 04.28.14

Spring is building confidence around here.  In fits and starts it comes and goes leaving us with a little hope that our corner of the world has not been forgotten.  The tree outside our window is filled with beautiful white blossoms.  They held on through the wind gusts of last week and through the colder temperatures and rains that followed.

Similarly, our meals are straddling the line.  There is plenty of time left for grilled cheeses and tomato soups but we also get to put mango salsa on our black beans and rice.  Yesterday I made an almond cake to see us through another cozy (read: dreary) afternoon.  What are you making lately?

Monday:  These lentils.  Scroll way down for the recipe, or like me, read her entry and wonder why you too haven't started your own granola business.  

Tuesday:  Black Bean Soup and Cornbread.  Not sure which version yet, but I have lots of beans.   Wednesday:  Ina Garten's Macaroni and Cheese.

Thursday:  Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie.  A smaller version of this. 

Friday: Leek Fritters and Pan-fried Potatoes.  #random  

Those Rainy Days

There are some days when you just have to ignore the rain, or embrace it depending on your state of mind.  This morning we ignored it and went outside.  Wednesday we embraced it and went outside.  It proved much more empowering to be a participant rather than a bystander.  And, after surviving the snow and the cold of these long winter months, we can do spring rain.    

My little three year old hasn't been herself this past week.  It's hard to know what is going on inside her head and even more of a struggle to know how to best respond.   I had the opportunity to try out the entire variety pack of parental tactics -igmoring, diversion, empathy, and the ugly head-to-head battles.  Our highs were very high and our lows were very low.  She would fully commit to whatever emotion was felt as if we were at acting class.  "Now be really excited!  Okay, this time try it from the depths of despair."  My sister and I decided that it is really hard to be three or five or eight.  It's hard being a kid.  There's a lot you can't do, there is a lot you are told to do.  But there is still a standard of behavior to uphold.  And being an adult is no cake walk either.  Most the time I would like to be throwing a fit.
But even with all of the ups and downs, even because of them, it was a exceedingly rich week.  We had an open schedule and family to enjoy.  There is a card my mom gave me on my fridge that reads, "Nothing is impossible to the valiant at heart."  Valiant.  It felt as if the world was ours for the taking.

So when Wednesday came and the rain was falling and our inside game was falling apart, I knew we could not let it get the better of us.  We had plans to meet friends at a park and take turns watching our kids while we each went for a little run.  I had my sneakers on and the girls were dressed head to toe in their rain gear.  So even when they cancelled one by one, there was no turning back.  I strapped them in and off we went with a stop at our favorite grocer.  Two blueberry muffins and an orange poppy scone can cure all ills.  

The moral of this story:  invest in rain pants.  Just kidding.  Maybe the moral of the story, of my story, is that it is all a beautiful mess.  And I'm really, very grateful.

The Meal Plan | Marathon Monday

Marathon Monday means stealing away for a morning run with my sis, turning day-old baguettes into french toast and eating a coconut cupcake with my second cup of coffee.
It also means heading to Coolidge Corner to watch the runners go by.

I like this picture because of the sun that is shinning, the serving tray I picked up at T.J.Maxx for next to nothing, and the one dollar bottles of Pellegrino I bought on sale.

On Easter Sunday I pull out the ironing board and I press the napkins.  I do it for both novelty and tradition, and to make sure the iron still works.  I place my coffee mug on the ironing board because we must not be parted during such a time.  I only spilled on one.

  Yesterday Eric grilled Lamb Sliders, and I took a page from Bon Appetite and made Cod with Potatoes and Preserved Lemon Relish.  With some accompaniments and accomplices it was a delightful spread and celebration.*

Tonight we ate leftovers.  Monday.
Tuesday:  I have marinara sauce in the refrigerator.  Fill in the Blank.  I'm so tired.
Wednesday:  Black Bean and Rice Bowl
Thursday:  Lentil Soup and Arugula Salad
Friday:  Pizza.  I've been topping everything with arugula lately.  No exception here.

*For the first time (ever?) the white was gone before the red.

The Meal Plan | 04.13.14

When I was growing up our kitchen was closed on Sunday night.  I don't remember when this policy began but it was not awesome.  My sister and brother and I would lurk around the kitchen, obviously finding "nothing to eat" and being told that there was plenty to eat if we were "really hungry".  

This evening we closed up our own kitchen and pulled out this and that from the fridge to see what we could come up with -a baked sweet potato, leftover lentils and rice, roasted eggplant nearing expiration, the last of the arugula and some pine nuts.  I made the grown-ups a satisfying salad and a deconstructed version of it for the short ones. 

 I'm hoping this week's dinners will look like tonight's -a satisfying afterthought.  With Holy Week to think about and Easter feasting to anticipate, I'm ready for this week to look a little ...less.  

Monday:  Lentil Soup.  Made with yellow split peas and lemon and feta.  From Homemade Winter

Tuesday:  Mushroom Galette.  A way simplified version from BA this month.  

Wednesday:  Curried Red Lentil Burgers.  From Moosewood Restaurant Favorites.  Okay, not an afterthought.  

Thursday:  Pasta Night.  

Friday:  Potato and Leek Frittata 

ShopGirl | Bicycle Belle

I'm starting a new series.  I will feature shops that I love.  Then you pretend you are interested.  Simple enough.  Today I'm taking you to Bicycle Belle in Somerville.  How do I put this?  It's amazing -particularly amazing if you are dying to own a bakfiets and/or want to do so in the Netherlands.  I've been plotting my bakfiets purchase for several months now.  So far it has involved combing craigslist, buying a craigslist app to alert me of any posting of a cargo bike, joining the local bicycle listserve and lastly trying to get a part-time job to raise funds.  

When I stopped into this store today I had momentarily forgotten that I was coveting such a bicycle.  Innocently enough, I wanted to highlight this great little local business.  You see, after several cargo-bike-doors closed on me- mainly the job that I failed to secure I settled on buying a perfectly sensible bike trailer.  A bike trailer instead of a cargo bike.  A small investment instead of a large (medium-ish) one.  

So the owner and I were chatting and I was telling her about my cargo bike woes and she asked if I wanted to test drive a bakfiets.  And I said YES.  And she didn't even ask me to wear a bike helmet.  YES.  I sailed around the block, happy as can be.  

Once you learn to ride a bike, you never ever forget.  Even if it has a big thing in the front.  

Thanks, Carice!

  

The Meal Plan | 04.07.14

Monday:  Lebanese Lentils (lentils cooked with rice served with a heavily dressed salad on top)

Tuesday:  Curried Split Peas over rice

Wednesday:  Fish Stew with Fennel and Baby Potatoes -new recipe to try this week

Thursday:  Hot Dogs with Sweet Potato Oven Fries.  Yes.  

Friday:  Flatbread of some sort.  I'm hoping it will be without cheese, topped with olive oil, sauteed mushrooms and arugula.  

I'm always exhausted when I plan my meals and shop for them on the same day.  I'm bent over the counter, hunting for recipes, writing down the ingredients I need, having told the girls we are leaving in ten minutes for the grocery store.  Ten minutes turns into twenty minutes and I'm kicking myself for having mentioned a stop at the playground on the way home.  We get back, lunch is rushed, groceries and couch cushions are everywhere.   Enter exhaustion.  I hope this ramshackle meal-plan will survive and carry us through another week.  

If you care to join me, here is the recipe I'm going to try from this month's Bon Appetit.  

Fish Stew with Fennel and Baby Potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil 

8 oz. small waxy potatoes, scrubbed, sliced 1/4" thick

1/2 medium fennel bulb, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Kosher salt, ground pepper

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup creme fraiche

1 1/2 lb. skinless flounder or fluke fillet, cut into 2" pieces 

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

lemon wedges (for serving)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Cook potatoes, tossing occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.  Add fennel and garlic; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel is soft, about 2 minutes.  Add wine, bring to boil, and cook until almost completely evaporated, about 4 minutes.  

Add 2 cups water to pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes.  Stir in creme fraiche.  Add flounder, cover pot, and reduce heat.  Simmer until fish is cooked through, about 4 minutes.  

Stir dill into stew; season with salt and pepper.  Serve with lemon wedges.  

I already have a list of substitues:  I'm using haddock instead of flounder, cilantro instead of dill.  And I'm going to salt at the beginning instead of at the end.  :)