Simple meal plans: Follow the Book

I used to be sooo good about making meal plans.  When you have six little ones around all the time, it's a must.  These days, I have only one "little" one around (who is bigger than me),  so I have gotten rather lazy about planning.  I can get away with it for awhile, but there are drawbacks to not planning.

When I don't plan, I spend more.

When I don't plan, we eat boring left-overs more often.

When I don't plan, our meals are not as balanced, interesting, colorful, or healthy.

Soooo, I'm back to planning, but truth to tell, I don't really want to spend that much time doing it.  So, I am simplifying by choosing one cookbook and working my way through it. 

 

That's the cookbook.  It was a Christmas gift from Kandyce and Jonathan.  Thanks, you two.


I love eating seasonally.  I love simple, healthy food.  So this book is perfect for now.

Tonight we ate Maple Parsnip Soup. I wondered if the recipe might be a little odd, but since I'm game when it comes to interesting flavor combinations, I was eager to give it a try.  The result - a delicious ivory colored soup with flecks of nutmeg.  Dijon mustard was a perfect flavor balance to the sweetness of the maple syrup in the soup.  We topped it with pecans toasted in rosemary olive oil.  You can find the recipe here, but note, I disagree with this blogger who didn't like the texture.  I loved it.  Smooth and creamy.  Perfect.


We served the soup with a raw spinach salad tossed with balsamic vinegar and a bit of sea salt and pepper, topped with roasted butternut squash and craisins.  That was the colorful part of the meal.

Next Simply in Season meal up:  Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos

Thomas and Kay's wedding rehearsal dinner

Here is the menu for the rehearsal dinner with my tweaks:

Crispy herb baked lemon pepper chicken
I left out the garlic salt and added lemon pepper to the parmesan/potato flake coating.  I love these recipe websites that allow you to change the quantities.  I did that with this recipe and adjusted somewhat.  I baked 84 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  We had leftovers.

White wine and rosemary gravy
You'll have to scroll down in this recipe and start with the shallots.  Go from there.  Again, note that I modified it to make enough gravy for 60 people!  Andrew said he could eat it straight up, like soup.

Enchanted forest
This is an old favorite recipe.  Little kids like the broccoli trees, but I didn't want to deal with broccoli so I made it minus the broccoli and substituted yellow and red sweet peppers.  Delicious and easier to do for a crowd.  Again, a bit of math was in order to determine how much rice to cook.  I figured on about 3/4 cup (cooked) per person.
 
Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Make sure you have a really good peeler.  Mine came from Pampered Chef.  It works like a charm.  We peeled, chopped, and roasted right away and poured the maple glaze over warm potatoes.  Thanks to Erin who brought a half gallon of Grade B maple syrup with her from rural NY state!  

Crumb Topped Mushrooms
This was the surprise recipe of the evening.  When I read the recipe, I thought it sounded boring.  When I tested it at home, I was pleased.  At the dinner, even mushroom haters declared that it was fantastic.  I used a mixture of regular button mushrooms and portabellos.  I guess anything with this much butter and cream has to be good.  Julia Child would be proud.

Raw Kale Salad
Family favorite.  I left out the red onion this time and added plenty of mandarin oranges and craisins.

Homemade rolls (My grandmother's recipe)
Whole wheat bread and White Rosemary bread (my usual non-recipe bread, all baked the day before at home)


Store bought cheesecakes - Thank you, Sam's Club.  I figured the Cheesecake Factory cheesecake and Biltmore cakes were as good or better than what I could do at home and WAY easier.  Buying the desserts minimized my stress and was worth it!

Water and coffee

That's it.