what do you want to eat?

meal planning

As you can tell from the title of this blog, we tend to wait til we're hungry, look at each other and say "What do you want to eat for (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack)?  And the answer was usually "I don't know" or "brinner!" or "lets order a pizza"!  And that was okay most nights, because I had actual time to throw together a meal at the last minute.  Dylan, at age 4, is pretty self-entertaining after school and that meant I had time too.  But now, we have 8 week old Sasha thrown into the mix.  And I've found with a new baby, and a 4 year old, it is rather difficult to cook dinner without some sort of plan.  Mainly because Sasha wakes up from her nap and is ready for her dinner about the time I'm ready to cook mine.  So, I've decided to go back to meal planning.

I've tried various systems for corralling my myriad of recipes torn from magazines and printed off the internet.  The latest "system" was a pile of printouts in a basket near my kitchen island and a stack of magazines I planned on going through.  This would never work if I intended to actually remember the recipes I saw that I liked and wanted to try.  So, I looked around a bit at what was available online in the meal planning organizational way.  I didn't like any of the organizational sheets that I found.  So, being a designer, I decided to make my own.  And I laminated them so that I can right on and wipe off and not waste so much paper.   (Note:  I am planning on making the days go across in rows instead of down like they are currently.)

If you look closely, you can see that under each days meal is a place to write the source of the recipe (binder, cookbook, ipad).

I made two recipe binders and bought some sheet protectors.  So, now, when I see a recipe I like, I rip it out and stick it directly in the binder.  I also made a sheet to write down recipes I find in cookbooks so that I can denote the page number and cookbook I found it in.  I can reference that when meal planning as well.  And I found some cool tabs at Target that I'm using to mark recipes in cookbooks as I find them. 

I got this cute binder at Target.


My ripped out recipes.

These are the cool tabs I found at Target. They are attached to paperclips so they stay on the pages nicely. And they are sturdier than a post-it note.

The other things I laminated (I love my laminator) are shopping lists for each store we frequent.  I customized the lists with the things we buy most often at each store.  Then, I clipped them to the door.  I have a plastic sleeve to put them in when I do go shopping so that I don't accidentally rub off anything.  I punched holes in the bottom (or top) and use a carbiner to clip them to the shopping card so I don't lose them.  I'm really loving this method a lot.

Along with shopping lists, I've done inventory sheets for leftovers in my fridge and one for each freezer.

Of course, the real trick to meal planning is to actually do it regularly.  Which I'm working on getting in the habit of doing.  This is week three and I have some meals already planned for the week. Yay me!

So, I've been considering doing a giveaway of my menu planning stuff, complete with customized shopping lists for whomever wins.  But, I'm not sure if I have enough readers for that, so if you think I should do a giveaway, leave a comment.  I'm also thinking of selling PDFs of my forms on Etsy and perhaps the laminated versions as well.  Let me know if you'd be interested in that too.  

seriously awesome french toast

I recently read the book "A Homemade Life" by Molly Wizenberg.  I forget where I first heard about the book, but checked it out from the library.  She shares lots of recipes and the stories to go along with them. It was a delicious read, so much so that when I found it at the used bookstore I went ahead and added it to my cookbook collection.  The first recipe I've tried is called "Burg's French Toast".  It's very similar to standard french toast recipes with one exception.  I've never seen a french toast recipe that calls for frying the toast in canola oil like this one.  And let me tell you, it is a really yummy way to cook it.  The toast comes out with beautifully crispy edges and a super creamy interior.  Really really good.

If you'd like to read the story behind this recipe, here's the link to her original blog post with the recipe.

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Burg’s French Toast
from "A Homemade Life" by Molly Wizenberg (my additions/changes in italics) 

1 cup whole milk (I used nonfat rice milk and it worked great) 
3 large eggs
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg 

Mild-tasting vegetable oil, such as canola
6-8 slices day-old bread (a bias-cut country French loaf, or challah, preferably), about ¾ to 1 inch thick (I used cinnamon chip bread from Great Harvest.  I think a loaf of Hawaiian Sweet Bread would also work well)
Pure maple syrup, for serving


Break the eggs into a wide, shallow bowl or an 8-in square Pyrex dish.  Whisk the eggs to break up the yolks.  Add the milk, sugar, fanilla, salt, and nutmeg and whisk to blend.

Place a large skillet, preferably cast-iron, over low to medium high heat, and pour in enough oil to completely coat the bottom of teh skillet.  Let the oil heat until you can feel warmth radiating from it when you hold your hand close over the pan.  To test the heat, dip the tip of a finger into the egg mixture (not the oil!) and flick a drop into the oil.  If it sizzles, its ready.

Meanwhile, when the oil is almost hot enough, put 2 to 3 slices of bread into the egg mixture, allowing them to rest for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side (I let mine soak a little longer). They should feel heavy and thoroughly saturated, but they should not be falling apart. Carefully place the slices into the skillet. They should sizzle upon contact, and the oil should bubble lightly around the edges. Watch carefully: with hot oil like this, the slices can burn more quickly than you would think. Cook until the underside of each slice is golden brown,1-2 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until the second side is golden, another 1-2 minutes. Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel, and allow to sit for a minute or two before serving.  

Repeat with the remaining bread. If, at any point, the bread starts to burn before it has a chance to brown nicely, turn the heat back a little. You want to keep it nice and hot, but not smoking.

Serve hot with maple syrup.

Yield: 6-8 slices, serves 2 or 3.