Tag Archives: Large Family Good Eats

Pantry Challenge, Good Soups, And Menu Plan Mondays

Posted on by
4

Large Family Good Eats

What are you feeding your family this week? 

We have a busy week ahead of us, so it was important to me that I take the time to figure out what our food was going to be for the week. This post is how I hashed all of that out. Come along for the ride.

Pantry Challenge

I was realizing tonight that I need to dig through the pantry and freezer and figure out what food we actually have and think about ways to use it up.

We tend to shove stuff in the freezer and forget about it. Note to self: label bags before you put them in the freezer.

Does anyone know what kind of pen works on a bag that is going in the freezer?

I stumbled onto this post recently about a pantry challenge and decided that it was just what we needed, mostly to clean out the freezer, fridge, and pantry. I went to the blog tonight to read the post while I was writing this post and discovered there is only one day left in the pantry challenge (here is the Pantry Challenge Log). It was still inspiring to me.

There is more stuff in the freezers, pantry, and fridge but these are the things that stood out to me (other stuff could very well have been hiding).

Freezer here I come:

  • box of sausages
  • bag of cooked sausages
  • 3 bags of shaved roast
  • pork chops
  • 2 bags of falafels (Do they go with tzatziki sauce?)
  • 1 bag of corn
  • 1 bag of peas
  • bag of chicken patties (that no one likes, ugh)
  • 2 boxes of tart shells
  • several litres of cream
  • random bags of weird food

Pantry organization is on its way. The shelves are looking messy and the food needs to be arranged in some kind of logical manners which shouldn't take too long. Okay, the organizing will wait until tomorrow, I need to get this post finished.

Pantry here I come:

  • several bottles of salad dressing (Ranch, 1000 Islands, Caesar)
  • 4 boxes of stuffing
  • several bags of rice
  • potatoes
  • giant cans (4L each) or grapefruit, olives, tomatoes, carrots, etc.
  • random bags and bottles of strange things
And last but not least, I peaked in the fridge and found some goodies that are still edible. Yes, I need to clean that out, it's about that time.
Fridge here I come:
  • a large turnip
  • a large cabbage
  • onions (I know they don't belong in there, but I didn't put them in there)
  • sour cream
  • tzatziki sauce (Oh, let's buy or make some pitas.)
  • and the usual or unusual condiments (HP Sauce, Ketchup, Mayo, Mustard, etc)

Soups For Lunch

We have figured out breakfast, but that is another post (coming soon). I would love to incorporate more soups into our lunch menu. My friend Tonya wrote an awesome series about 10 Days Of Warm Winter Soups. They look so yummy. I even started a Soup Pinboard on Pinterest.

Speaking of Pinterest (you are on Pinterest, right?)

You can check out some of my food related boards on Pinterest:

Menu Plan Monday

Now on to the actual planning... it is Menu Plan Monday after all. In random order, here are some of the meals we will be eating this week.

  • Breakfast Skillet: Roast Beef, Onions, Potatoes
  • Pita Bread with Tzatziki Sauce
  • Pork Chops with Rice and Corn
  • Roast Beef, Onions, Rice, And Peas
  • Falafel with Tzatziki Sauce - Still not sure if that is a good idea or not?
  • Roast Beef, Onions, Turnip, and Cabbage

I am linking up with the Pantry Challenge, and Menu Plan Monday.

Don't forget to check out Tonya's Soup Recipes too.

Share

My Top Ten Tuesday Collection

Posted on by
Reply

I have written about a variety of topics, for Top Ten Tuesday, over the course of this year and I thought it would be fun to revisit them.

  1. 10 Things We Love About Our New Kitty - A fun post about our new kitty with some adorable pictures.
  2. Top Ten Christmas Decorations From My Childhood - This post was a nostalgic walk down memory lane for me.
  3. Top Ten Things I Say To My Kids Everyday - I read the list again and it still holds true, although there are a few more that I could add now.
  4. Top Ten Building Adventures - Fun pictures of the kids building with a variety of different building toys.
  5. Top Ten Ways To Make Pizza That Isn't Pizza - This was a fun post to research. I am looking forward to revisiting all these ideas after Christmas.
  6. 10 Ideas For Stretching Your Large Family Food Dollars - These ideas might come in handy as you start the new year and recover from any Christmas over spending (you didn't do that, right?).
  7. Top Ten Ways The iPad Has Changed Our Homeschooling - The uses for the iPad in a homeschool setting are limited only by your imagination and creativity.
  8. Top 10 Books For Parents Of Boys (and the next 40) - Are you the parent one or more boys? Are you looking for some good books to read? Check out this list.
  9. Ten Special Needs Books That I Have Read - These books were all very useful to us in our journey with a child with autism.
  10. Ten Special Needs Books That I Want To Read - Why is it that I never have enough time to catch up on my reading? (Okay, don't answer that please.)

Which post was your favorite?

Do you have any Top Ten posts on your blog? I would love to read them. Leave me a note in the comments and I will come and find you. 

I am linking up with Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday

Share

The Week Before Christmas

Posted on by
Reply

Christmas is fast approaching and all I can think about now is baking cookies, creating sweet treats, and making Christmas dinner.

Things to do:

  • I need to do a baking inventory and make sure we have all of our supplies, so Jonah can make a last minute run to the grocery store (across the street).
  • I also need to take our turkeys our of the deep freeze and put them in the freezer tomorrow morning so they will be thawed to cook on December 23rd.
  • Cook the turkeys on December 23rd.

There will be 16 of us here for our big family dinner on Christmas Eve afternoon (9 children and 7 adults), but we like to cook our turkeys a day early. This makes the day so much easier.

Our Christmas Eve Dinner:

  • turkeys (two of them)
  • mashed potatoes
  • gravy
  • yams and marshmallows
  • peas, corn, carrots
  • brussell sprouts with bacon and onions (first year for this)
  • stuffing on the stove
  • pumpkin pie
  • some kind of tarts - I have 2 boxes of tart shells but I have no idea what to put in them - ideas?
  • sweet treats - from my pinterest board
  • punch
  • really strong coffee

Since we rotate Christmas Day and Christmas Eve with my sister and her family every year, we rotate our menu too, so that we can have our turkey with the whole family.

Our Christmas Day Menu:

Big Breakfast (family tradition)

  • sausages
  • pancakes
  • bananas
  • strawberries

Lunch

    • turkey sandwiches

Dinner

    • crackers
    • cheese
    • pepperoni
    • salami
    • ham
    • chips

I have no idea what we will be eating for the rest of this week, but at least I have a plan for Christmas.

This post is part of Sunflower Schoolhouse's Large Family Good Eats

Large Family Good Eats

and

I am linking up with Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

Share

My Top Ten Ways To Make Pizza That Isn’t Pizza

Posted on by
5

Fabulous pizza from my niece's birthday.

This post is going to be incredibly delicious. I have been thinking about pizza. Not just ordinary pizza, but homemade pizza. You have made pizza from scratch, right? It's easy. Okay, my husband makes it look easy. Let me tell you, he makes the absolute best pizza in the world.

We have leftover pizza fixings from my niece's birthday party on Friday. I have been thinking about all the different ways we can make pizza without really making pizza.  We have tried a few of these and the rest, I am drooling over and can't wait to try.

  1. Pizza Pretzels - We made these ourselves, but you can see a recipe and pictures for pizza pretzels here.
  2. Pizza Rolls - I can't wait to try pizza rolls. Here is one great way to make pizza rolls.
  3. Pizza Bread - We have made pizza bread by putting sauce on bread and adding meat and cheese on top. There are other ways to make pizza bread.
  4. Mini Pizzas - These are great to make if no one can agree on toppings.
  5. Pizza Bites - Check out these fun pizza bites.
  6. Calzones - We have made these before, but it has been a very long time. I think we need to make these again. Check out this awesome resource for making Calzones.
  7. Stuffed Pizza - The first time I heard about stuffed pizza, it was only the crust. These stuffed pizzas look easy enough to make.
  8. Pizza Casserole - We have made this fun dish a few times over the last 12 years. We line the bottom of our glass cake pan with oil, cornmeal, biscuit dough and then add oil, sauce, and toppings. This is really yummy.
  9. Pizza Pinwheels - When you look up pizza pinwheels, you might find these or these.
  10. Dessert Pizza - I am sure we have all heard of these. There are the peach ones and the chocolate ones. The possibilities are endless and I can't wait to try these just for fun sometime.

I am linking up with Top Ten Tuesday.

Share

Menu Plan Monday

Posted on by
Reply

We had a crazy busy week with my niece's birthday party and a few projects and meetings. I am keeping our menu very simple this week.

~Monday~

Pizza. Again. We are on a pizza kick around here. Recently we have had many different pizzas (same crust and different toppings) and we tried out pizza pretzels. I have fond memories of pizza pretzels and Robins Donuts (which sadly is no more) and LATE night conversations with great friends.

What are your favorite toppings to put on pizza?

~Tuesday~

Macaroni and Ham with Cheese. We are making macaroni and ham with a side of cheese for those who are not allergic to it. Now, in my head, I have this grand plan to cook up a large pot of elbow noodles, strain them, and put them aside. While the noodles are cooking, I will fry up diced onions and chopped ham in some margarine (in my stainless steel roasting pan). At this point I will set some of the sauce aside for my little miss Hosanna. After her sauce is set aside I will add some flour and make the base for a white sauce, which won't be exactly white. Then I will add some milk and mounds of cheese for the rest of the house. This yummy sauce will get mixed with the noodles (except the ones for little miss Hosanna) and thrown in the oven covered with more cheese. Oh, I can taste this now.

How do you like your mac and cheese?

~Wednesday~

BBQ beef with rice. I will pull some leftover roast out of the freezer and thaw it out. If I forget to pull it out, I will thaw it in the microwave. Then I will cut it in little chunks and fry it in margarine and add BBQ sauce. My dad gave us this 4L jug of BBQ sauce. I have no idea what brand it is, but it is bold. I will use a little of the sauce and add some water so the kids can actually handle the flavor. While all that is cooking we will make some parboiled rice. Parboiled rice is my favorite because you pretty much can't ruin it. I can't cook regular rice, but I can make perfect parboiled rice. I will probably finely slice some carrots and include them in the rice water while it is cooking. The rice will be put on the plates with a dollop of margarine and then the sauce will be scooped on top.

~Thursday~

Pizza rolls. These are just like real pizza, only we have never made them before. We will take our pizza dough recipe that we LOVE and make the dough early enough in the afternoon for it to rise (about an hour). Then we will roll out the dough into a large rectangle. We will spread oil, sauce, and toppings on it. We will roll it up like a jelly roll and cut it in slices. The slices will be put in my glass cake pan (or maybe my glass pie pans) which will need to be greased and laced with cornmeal. We will load the tops with cheese. They will probably cook at 450 C for about 12 minutes depending on how big they are.

~Friday~

Shepherd's pie. We will fry up our hamburger with loads of onions (mommy loves them) and add spices and flour and then some water to make a gravy. While this is all cooking up, we will steam our carrots. (I absolutely love my steamer which we got from Freecycle. We need to purchase a new one soon, one with a second layer, as we use this one just about everyday and it is wearing out.) We also need to make some biscuit dough to top our pie with. I use a basic baking powder biscuit recipe (with no egg or dairy). We can either mix the hamburger and carrots together or layer them in the pan and then load the biscuit dough on top. It will cook at 350 C for probably an hour.

There you have it. My weekly menu plan. I am actually excited about all the meals this week. I am linking to Menu Plan Monday and the fabulous Meal Planning Resources.

What are you eating this week?

Share