We had a lovely dinner with friends last night; salmon marinated in a ginger sauce, fresh salad, challah, and fish sticks for the kids. They loved the blueberries. It was so good, we had the same thing for dinner tonight!
Just kidding, it was a complete accident.
I rode my bike to the Farmer’s Market today. Very busy, very crowded. I bought 3 lbs of honey for the blueberry jam I’m making tomorrow, a nice rib eye (grass fed only of course) some chicken (breasts only, I’ll roast a whole chicken and make stock next week) and the most beautiful sockeye salmon I’ve seen in a llllloooooonnnnngggg time. I poached it in a little bit of water and sea salt in my Demarle Flower Mold with the Octagonal Silpat on top for a lid. WOW! It was wonderful. I made a cold side dish of leftover long grain brown rice with green onions and Oriental Salad Dressing from Nourishing Traditions. Yum! Instead of a vegetable, I put out a bowl of blackberries with the last bit of creme fraiche. Very colorful meal. The kids ate fish sticks.
I’m soaking whole wheat flour in kefir tonight for pancakes tomorrow….I just remembered I have no eggs! UHG! Well, I was planning on going to yet another Farmer’s Market tomorrow for eggs and veggies. Guess the pancakes will be for brunch. The kids can have the granola bars I made today for breakfast instead. No real plans for dinner tomorrow….probably soup and bread. I’ll need to make the bread in the morning so it has a chance to rise…I’m still getting good at bread making. Gotta find a recipe tonight.
So, I am at the end of the first week (plus 2 days) of my new Menu Plan. So far so good. I did go to the grocery store once for picnic items (paid cash), other than that, I used what we already have. Not sure yet if that is a crutch or not. I’m using up our stores of food…the cupboard is very bare and I can see the back of the fridge. On the bright side, we are eating much healthier, I’m using leftovers more creatively and we are throwing away less. This is one of the pitfalls of suburbia; food is easily accessible. You can run to the store whenever you want. You don’t have to have an extra store of food in the suburbs. It’s not sustainable, it’s not self sufficient. Another goal of mine is to figure in stored food; buying bulk is next on the list. And possibley an extra chest freezer, although it’s expensive to run.
My big challenge for next week is using cash for groceries based on the Menu Plan. I picked up some staples (butter) and meat, and some things that are part of long-term consumption; I spent about $25 on blueberries, $40 on canning supplies and $14 on honey for the jam I’m making tomorrow. Depending on how many jars that makes, I could save us an extra $10 a month on jam. That’s $120 a year! DH wants an accounting of all this, he’s worried I will start buying things outside of the grocery list. Hmph!
The blueberry jam breaks down as follows:
2 packages of Pomona Pectin
5 lbs of blueberries
4 cups of honey
# of lids (?)
# of jars and bands (both are reusable!)
OK, I have some more research to do…I’ll get back to you. It’s late, I’m off to take a lavender bubble bath and read a good book….will it be Erma Bombeck or Clive Cussler tonight?
