Wow, I suck at posting

When I started this blog, I had such great aspirations.  I also had easy access to the internet.  Then my laptop refused to connect to the internet.  Then we got another computer for me to work on upstairs, and it has stopped booting up for some reason.  That leaves me back on the basement computer.  I hate the basement computer.

Because of my hatred for the basement computer, I rarely spend the time to type out recipes or deal with photos to post.  I feel really guilty about that.  Right now I’m in the process of getting a bunch of stuff cleared out of my house that has needed to go since before we even moved in here.  After that, I’m going to sit down with both computers upstairs and see if I can come up with a solution.

In the meantime, I have every intention of posting at least once a week.  (But you know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.)  

Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful…

…or because I can’t seem to write a blog post!

It’s been a crazy week at Chez Shaye!  My lovely new computer got sick, so I’m back to the crappy computer in the basement until I can seek treatment.  I managed to schedule dental work, jury duty, and a gyno appointment for this week–on top of being called to help out in the cafeteria of the private school where my son used to go. (What can I say, I’m a sucker for a request to volunteer.)

Anyway, all that to say that I don’t actually have the records of what we’ve been eating–nor have I really cooked.  You wouldn’t believe the crap I’ve subjected my family to this week.  While we’ve only resorted to the dreaded fast food once, and that was for Wendy’s baked potatoes and salads, we’ve been eating all kinds of processed crap this week.  Plus, my lunches have been provided by the court so I’ve been stuck eating stuff like grilled cheese sandwiches and iceburg salads.  (We gave up meat for Lent again.)  I swear I can feel myself gaining weight by the minute, and I ‘m also swearing to myself that it’s healthy eating for us as soon as I can make a grocery list and get to the store!

Until then, I’ll try my best to come up with a snapshot of something I’ve already made and post it yet this weekend.  I promise!

Menu Mondays

I’ve heard from several sources that you can save a lot of money by planning your meals in advance.  You buy only what you really need at the store, and waste a lot less food.

I’ve been trying really hard to come up with a menu for at least a few days at a time, so I don’t just run to the store and grab whatever looks easy.  (If you’re a friend I talk to on any kind of regular basis, you know that I’ve asked you at least once what you’re having for dinner because I’m always looking for inspiration.)

I needed a place to keep my menus so I could go back and find them later, and I figured they might give other people ideas for what they could make for dinner.  So I’m going to try to start a new blob feature–Menu Mondays.

I’m starting with Thursday since I already know what we had from Thursday until today.  I know it’s technically cheating since I’m not planning my meals for the end of the week today, but I don’t think you really care that much.

Weekly Menu:

Thursday- Homemade Pizza

Friday- We went to a party that was a cook-out/pitch-in.  We gave up meat for Lent, so we took Boca Burgers and baked mac & cheese.  (We usually have pizza on Friday nights.)

Saturday- I made spaghetti, threw on some Quorn chik’n patties, threw a little more sauce and pizza cheese on top, and called it Chik’n Parm.

Sunday- We had a pitch-in at church.

Monday- We had carry out.  (Steve had a meeting at school that I had forgotten about, so I didn’t have time to make the pot pie I’d planned to make.)

Tuesday- I’m thinking tofu stir fry.

Wednesday- I’m going to try a recipe for a pot pie with a polenta crust . (I’ll post if it’s good.)

So there’s what I have so far.  At first glance, I realize that the first few days were really heavy with highly processed faux-meat.  That’s mostly because (A) I had a cold midweek and (B) we gave up meat for Lent and I hadn’t really started thinking meat-free yet.   I’ve finally got some good produce in the fridge, so the menu’s looking up!

I made Steve and Simon help me come up with some ideas for this week, but for a while now I’ve been kicking around the idea of having a theme for each night of the week.  We always make pizza on Friday nights, so that makes Fridays easy.   Maybe I should designate one night as pasta night, one night for ethnic meals, Wednesday seems like a good day for soup/salad because Steve only has about an hour home after work before he has to go to the church.  For the next few weeks, our church will be having a pitch-in each Sunday night, so that will make the weekends a little bit easier.

So here’s my question for you–do you plan your meals in advance?  (Not judging if you don’t since I sure don’t do it consistantly!)  How do you go about planning them?  Have you ever tried theme nights? Do you plan for meals that just use what the groceries have in their sale fliers?  Do you just go with what sounds good?

Pleeeeeeeease share in comments!

My all time favorite salad

Every Easter, I make a 7-Layer Salad for dinner.  It’s one of a few traditional dishes that we always have to have for Easter, but it is one that I’ve been known to serve several times in the weeks before Easter too.  For some reason, this salad is the epitome of spring for me.   Steve and I LOVE it.  Simon doesn’t really care for anything that has the word “salad” anywhere near it–which is strange because it’s one of the few things I craved when I was pregnant for him.

Anyway, it started as a recipe from a cookbook called  Mealtimes & Memories, but I’ve changed it quite a bit.  I’ve eliminated iceburg lettuce in favor of the greener and more nutritious Romaine, and added green onions.  I’ve also replaced the quite tasty but HFCS full combo of Miracle Whip and mayo in the dressing for a lightly sweetened mayo that is much healthier–and we can’t taste the difference.

Seven Layer Salad
Servings 12
WW Points 6 (Points determined using Hellmanns canola mayo and real bacon.  Using 4 Tbs soy bacon would make it 5 points.)

10 oz bag baby spinach (You can absolutely use non-bagged and just wash it really well, but bagged spinach is the one bagged green I do use.)

1/2 lbs bacon–cooked & crumbled OR 1 cup soy bacon pieces (Since my family believes that bacon is a vegetable, I usually cut the raw bacon into small strips, cook the whole package, and about half makes it onto the salad.)

10 oz bag package frozen baby peas (I’m serious about the baby part. Get the ones that say “baby” or “petite”.)

3 green onions—chopped (We like green onion so I use the whole bunch.)

1 head Romaine lettuce—cut into bite sized pieces and washed (Sub at will for any lettuce you like.)

6 hard-boiled eggs—sliced (This amount totally depends on the size container you’re using. You need enough slices to completely cover the top, so if you’re using a wide container you’ll need more.)

1 cup mayonnaise (This amount also depends on your dish. You need enough to cover the top of the eggs completely by about 1/8-1/4 inch.)

1/2 tsp sugar—optional (The original recipe calls for 1/2 mayo and 1/2 Miracle Whip. Since MW is chock full of HFCS, I don’t use it. I did like the sweetness it gave the dressing, so I add a little sugar to the mayo for the same taste.)

1 cup shredded cheese (I usually use cheddar or colby jack, but the original recipe called for Swiss)

1. Layer each item through eggs in order in a trifle dish. (Or any dish you want.  My aunt makes it in a 9×13.)
2. Combine mayo & sugar and frost over egg layer.
3. Can be covered tightly and stored in the fridge up to overnight.
4. Just before serving sprinkle cheese on the top.

This is one of my default pitch-in dishes, so if you invite me to come over and ask me to bring a salad, this is probably the one you’ll get.  It looks impressive, is easy to put together, and tastes amazing!

…And just because I haven’t mentioned any small appliances lately–here is my beloved egg steamer.  I realize that it’s completely senseless for me to have an appliance that  has the sole purpose of cooking eggs, but it is SOOO much easier to just throw some eggs and water into this thing, turn it on, and in a few minutes have perfectly cooked eggs.  It does boiled, scrambled, and poached.  What more could you ask for??    (And in case you’re wondering, this is another one I got from my mom.  I don’t actually spend good money on all of my senseless appliances.)