Menu a la Week 6/28/08 - 7/4/08

Yes, the menu's a bit late, but ever since half the vegetables got destroyed I've been winging it. Sunday night we had the last of the scape pesto. Instead of pasta we served it with brown rice because we didn't have enough pasta for three and we had a surprise dinner guest (Iz!). Quite honestly, though tasty, the rice wasn't delicate enough to let the pesto's bright taste truly shine. To round out the meal, we had a crudite of carrots, celery, and scallions along with the Universal Salad Dressing.

Tonight: turkey meatloaf (from the freezer, still tastes outstanding!) and another crudite, plus some cucumbers that have been marinating along with red onions in balsamic vinegar.

No dinners are planned after Wednesday. Thursday night we're going to see a play (Sam Shepard's "Kicking a Dead Horse" at The Public Theater) and Friday is the 4th so something somewhere will be grilled. Since we're down a bunch of vegetables, we're going to be making do with some leftovers (chicken) and some surprises (sour cherries from Iz's backyard).

One more important note: I'm still trying to figure out how to calcuate the E-Co$t of meals since we're now using our CSA vegetables. Since they're not priced by the vegetable, do I go with the going price at the supermarket? Do I just divide the CSA cost per week by the number of vegetable types? When I decide on a method, I'll start posting the E-Co$t again. I plan to start posting the dollar figure along with the recipe...just like the nutrition information (yes, I haven't posted that in awhile either).

Menu 6/28/08 - 7/5/08
Saturday June 28, 2008
Ginger-garlic bok choy stir-fry and some cheese and crackers

Sunday June 29, 2008
Garlic scape pesto with brown rice and crudite with Universal Salad Dressing

Monday June 30, 2008
Turkey meatloaf, crudite with Universal Salad Dressing, and cucumbers and red onions with balsamic vinegar

Tuesday July 1, 2008
Chicken panini with kale (crispy, roasted, or sauteed)

Wednesday July 2, 2008
Meggyleves (sour cherry soup)

Thursday July 3, 2008
A night out at the theater

Friday July 4, 2008
Happy 4th of July!

Spinach and Bok Choy, Oh Joy

Sure, we lost half of our CSA delivery due to exploding water bottles, and last week's menu was hardly followed at all (no Asian soup and no peas and carrots, since I went out a few nights this week). But all was not lost.

Last night we grilled chicken (just marinated in olive oil and salt and pepper) and I made saag (an Indian dish) with the spinach (because I made it with spinach leaves, I believe it's more appropriately referred to as palaak paneer). It was delicious! I think I could've added a bit less of the cumin and more of the garam masala (which is alongside the regular spices now, thanks to McCormick's worldly ways). I served the saag as just a side dish, but "Bob" would've liked it much more if I had made some rice or put out some nan (or any bread for that matter). He found it a bit strong to eat all by its lonesome—he likened it to eating pesto without the pasta. Me? I just shoveled it all in.

Tonight, after the great vegetable disaster, we decided on having bok choy and some crackers and cheese (and wine). The bok choy was a bit wilty and in need of immediate attention. The stir fry with ginger was flavorful and quick. The recipes for both vegetable dishes follow.

Saag/Palaak Paneer
Serves about 4 (but I ate twice as much as I should have)

12 ounces spinach (stems removed and leaves washed and chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1-inch piece of ginger (quartered)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons tomato puree (or 2 teaspoons of tomato paste diluted with 2 tablespoons water)
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons evaporated milk

Directions
1. Put onion, garlic, and ginger in a blender with a little water and blend to a paste.
2. Heat oil in a small-to-medium pan, add onion mixture and cumin, and let this turn golden-brown over medium heat (add additional oil if necessary)
3. Add turmeric and the spinach.
4. Stir for 5 minutes and add the coriander and tomato puree.
5. Let the spinach cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat.
6. Add the garam masala and the evaporated milk and stir.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Ginger-Garlic Bok Choy Stir-Fry
Servings 2 -4 (we ate it all since it was our main course)

1 "head" of bok choy
1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup of English peas
2 garlic scapes, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Directions
1. Separate the dark green top leaves of the bok choy from the white portion of the bulb.
2. If the leaves are still firm and fresh, separate the small leaves from the large leaves (put the small leaves aside). Otherwise do not use the leaves if they are too wilted.
3. Chop the large leaves into 1-inch pieces (put aside with small leaves.
4. Chop the white portion of the bok choy into 1/4 slices (on the diagonal looks nice).
5. Heat up oil in pan on highest heat.
6. Toss in white slices of bok choy and red pepper and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Then toss in the minced garlic scapes and grated ginger and saute for another 30 to 45 seconds.
8. Add the leaves, cook for 30 seconds more and then deglaze with soy sauce.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Oh No, What a Disaster!

We got our latest CSA share on Thursday. Not much again: about 8 radishes (though they were quite large), some bok choy, curly endive, a large bunch of kale, escarole, and a head of Boston lettuce. Now, there's even less.

This afternoon I discovered bits of green glass in the refrigerator. Two bottles of sparkling water froze and blew up in the back of the fridge. The water soaked the bags filled with our vegetables and then re-froze. A lot of the vegetables (escarole, lettuce, and endive) were ruined. A few, but not all, of the radishes were also frozen. That leaves us with kale, bok choy, and radishes.

There is a silver lining though. "Bob" made us our garbage can composter today. After hemming and hawing about this for weeks (buy a new one or try and get one off of Freecycle or Craigslist?, make it out of metal or plastic?, are plastic garbage cans safe or should we buy a foodsafe plastic container?, and so on), we decided to go the plastic garbage can route. We have plenty of these cans on hand since we do a lot of home projects and use them for hauling and storing renovation and landscaping materials. After a quick viewing of this "how to" guide on About.com, "Bob" made the composter. Then he filled it with various "green" and "brown" materials. Last week I trimmed the wisteria so we had plenty of green material. Plus we had a huge cardboard box that he ripped up, so that took care of the brown.

Afterwards, "Bob" rolled it around the yard and then put it on the cement base he had made for our long-deceased rain barrel (it was plastic as well and the seams burst one year; the composter now fits perfectly on this old base).

What else can be composted? We can throw our chipboard products in there, and I read that you can put junk mail in as a brown material too. I didn't toss in the stems, branches, and leaves from my rose bushes because they had a lot of black spot on them. Though I think the compost will get hot enough to kill the fungus, I really don't want to push my luck just yet.

After we thought the composter was done for the night, I discovered the destoyed vegetables. We were able to fill up the can that much more. Paper towels went in there too as well as some coffee grounds, egg shells, and some vegetable ends I'd saved up in the fridge for this occasion. Remember, you can't throw everything in a composter (dog and cat waste and meats are verboten).

These sites provide a lot more information on the ins and outs of composting:

Everything you wanted to know about plastics and composters:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/08/compost-tumbler-solution-to-potting.html

The About.com video that we watched for making our bin:
http://video.about.com/greenliving/Homemade-Compost-Bin.htm

The metal versus plastic debate:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/321517_smith30.html

You shouldn't use dog waste in your compost, but you can compost the stuff on its own to keep it out of the trash:
http://www.plantea.com/dog-waste-compost.htm

Another garbage can how-to:
http://www.ehow.com/how_16876_make-compost-bin.html

A source (free) with a list of other sources (not free):
http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/scrap_happy

Making compost tea:
http://www.kitchengardeners.org/

The EPA's guidelines; hopefully, in the future, we'll be able to trust this agency again:
http://www.epa.gov/composting/by_compost.htm

One of the best, most comprehensive composting guides I found online:
http://www.compostguide.com/

This Week We're Weak Willed

Aside from devouring chocolate-covered graham crackers and horrible honey-mustard pretzel chips at work (the pretzel chips are truly disgusting, yet strangely addictive), I also dug into the chocolate-chip mint ice cream at home. And now, I've added yet another addiction to my repertoire: garlic scape pesto.

"Bob" and I couldn't wait another day. So, we had it for dinner last night (a bit ahead of schedule). I also made a salad with cucumbers, carrots, onions, red leaf lettuce, the last of the broccoli, and some homemade salad dressing. I followed the recipe for Universal Salad Dressing that was included in the weekly newsletter from my CSA.

Universal Salad Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise or buttermilk (or a blend of both) or replace 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of the preceeding with 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of sour cream or plain yogurt.
1/4 cup fresh green herbs (popular choices are parsley, cilantro, or dill)
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar (red wine vinegar, white balsamic, sherry vinegar, etc.)
1 to 2 garlic scapes (or fresh garlic after scape season)
Salt and pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes or several dashes Worcestershire sauce

Directions
1. Place the ingredients into a food processor and blend until desired consistency.
2. Store in the fridge and use throughout the week.

I adapted the recipe as follows: I blended 1/2 cup of reduced fat Hellmann's mayo (and, yes, I still haven't heard from their customer service department; I guess it's time to pester them a bit) with 1/2 cup of low-fat plain yogurt. For the acid, I used red wine vinegar. I also added some Worcestershire sauce as suggested. The herbs I used were thyme and oregano (from the CSA) and a tiny bit of minced parsley. I must admit, preparing the herbs in advance as suggested by that post on the Chocolate & Zucchini blog has kept them fresher and has made them more convenient to use.

Today "Bob" and I had garlic scape pesto for lunch. The end of garlic scape season will be tough to endure.

In the Stir

You'd think after all the Chinese food we had last week, we'd be sick of it now. But tonight, "Bob" made stir fried chicken and vegetables. We used up the rest of the broccoli and about half of the English peas. With the red pepper, it was a very colorful dish (we ate it and packed up the leftovers before I remembered to take a picture, so you'll have to take my word for it).

Chicken Vegetable Stir-fry
Serves 4

1 to 1.5 lbs chicken cut into 1/2 strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup shelled English peas
1 cup corn
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup brown rice

1. Mix chicken, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger, half of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and crushed red pepper in medium bowl. Let stand 1 hour.
2. Heat skillet/pan/wok over high heat and add chicken mixture; sauté until chicken are just done and transfer to bowl.
3. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan, then add sugar snap peas, corn, bell pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger, and remaining garlic. Stir-fry until vegetables are crisp and tender, about 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken and juices to pan; stir-fry 1 minute longer.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve over cooked brown rice.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Garlic Scape Pesto

This is the last post of the evening. The garlic scape pesto was both beautiful (an amazing shade of green!) and delicious. You can see we've stored it in my prized Pyrex containers. The lids are plastic but the bowl is glass. The glass is freezer, dishwasher, oven, refrigerator, and microwave safe. I bought two sets from Amazon.com. I expect that these the Pyrex will outlast all my Ziploc and Tupperware plastic containers. Plus, I can use the glass in the microwave without the worries of warping and plastic contamination/leaching.

I must admit, if we had never joined a CSA, I probably would never have eaten scapes. But since you get what you get with a CSA, you have no choice but to try it all. I often get in a rut with some foods, especially with vegetables, since you never know if you're really going to like a vegetable or not until you eat it (with cheese, it's pretty much a certainty I'll like it). It's much easier to make the same ol' same ol' week after week, month after month. Now, we must make and try new things. The garlic scape pesto is something I'd definitely have again (and lucky for me, we will, on Wednesday).

The CSA provided a garlic scape pesto recipe in the newsletter, but we had to modify it (my husband is allergic to nuts). The recipe they provided called for: 1/3 cup walnuts, 3/4 cup olive oil (we used less than that), and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Parmesean cheese (we used grated Romano instead). What follows is Bob's recipe.

Garlic Scape Pesto
Serves 6 to 8

1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1 pinch Kosher salt
Freshy ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Place scapes in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined and somewhat smooth.
2. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until incorporated.
3. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl.
4. Add Romano cheese to taste and also add salt and pepper.
5. For 1/2 pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Menu a la Week: 6/21/08 - 6/27/08

It's a day late, but what follows is this week's menu (and what happened last week).

Recap: Friday night we had nothing for dinner since we both had big lunches and Thursday night my husband had oatmeal and raisins since I went out drinking for the departure of a colleague to grad school (Bye Sarah! See you soon for cocktails).

Since the broccoli head from our first CSA share looked a bit wilty, we started with that first. ("Bob" passed on the offer of broccoli leaves since he couldn't think of anything to do with them; I've since learned you can use them like kale and as a base for broccoli soup). About a third of the broccoli florets was used for last night's salad. We also had one of the frozen chicken pot pies (and it was fine without the egg wash, just not as glistening and pretty).

Since we didn't get through all of our frozen foods last week, we'll have more things to choose from in our freezer this week. With all the planting we did yesterday, there wasn't much time to cook anyway.

This week, we'll have to get through the broccoli (easy) and the scapes. What are scapes, you ask? A green flower from the garlic bulb. These shoots emerge from the ground and are ripe for harvesting for about 2 to 3 weeks. Check out The New York Times article on scapes that was published last week.

There are so many English peas, that they'll be coming out of our ears by Friday. As for the spinach, I know what not to make with it. I also have some new ideas on how to prepare it. For lunch Friday, I had a great Indian spinach dish (I believe it is called palak paneer). Now I'm on the hunt for a good recipe for it. I already have a good semi-Italian spinach recipe, and, of course, spinach will be incorporated into our salads. Armed with four or more recipes/uses, we should be able to get through all the spinach they throw at us.

By the looks of this week's menu, we'll be needing plenty of ginger. In searching around for various pesto recipes (Gail needed some basil/pesto advice), I came across this blog: Kalyn's Kitchen. This post talks about freezing basil but I also noticed that she freezes ginger root. I didn't know that could be done.

My freezer is going to be jealous of hers. Hers is so much better looking.


Hers
vs.

Mine

Menu 6/21/08 - 6/27/08
Saturday June 21, 2008
Chicken pot pie and salad (with broccoli and red leaf lettuce and mustard vinaigrette)

Sunday June 22, 2008
Garlic scape pesto with pasta and salad

Monday June 23, 2008
Ginger chicken and broccoli stir fry with brown rice

Tuesday June 24, 2008
Chicken and palak/saag paneer

Wednesday June 25, 2008
Scape pesto and green salad

Thursday June 26, 2008
Turkey meatloaf and herbed English peas and carrots (with garlic scapes!)

Friday June 27, 2008
English pea Asian chicken soup (or some other English pea soup)

CSA Iron Chef

We got our first "delivery" of CSA vegetables (my husband picked it up from the drop zone Thursday night). There wasn't much in this weekly share: about a pound of broccoli, a bunch of spinach, a whole mess of English peas (about 2 lbs), 20 garlic scapes, a head of red lettuce, and some oregano. I guess it's a good way to ease into what might become an unmanageable amount of produce. When he picked up the veggies, "Bob" was told not to worry, because there would be more vegetables in future weekly shares.

Given the small haul, this week will amount to a practice week for incorporating the seasonal vegetables into our menu planning. As I had anticipated, all of our meals will have to be planned around the CSA shipment if we don't want to be wasteful. My friend Gail got a lot more from her first CSA shipment in the Bronx. I am jealous, but since I'm helping her out with recipes (what to do with all that squash? how do you prepare turnips?), I'll probably be more prepared when these vegetables suddenly come our way (even though I'm not entirely sure if our farmer is growing squash and turnips).

Today we were out in the garden planting some new flowers and moving some old plants to new locations (the clematis better cover the pergola, unlike the two honeysuckles we bought last year). I also bought two new hanging baskets: absolutely beautiful black-eyed susan vines. On the patio, I've potted some French lavender, basil, and we'll be moving our azaleas tomorrow and replacing them (temporarily) with tomatoes: Romas and Rutgers (my alma mater).

Since oregano was part of this week's CSA share, now's a good time to point out this incredibly instructive Chocolate & Zucchini post about what to do with fresh greens when you get them home. Especially important is the comments that readers of that blog have posted. I think the comments/message boards are the most interesting and lively area of any blog—especially when there are a lot of them (hint hint).

On tonight's menu is the chicken pot pie. There's no eggs in the house, so no egg wash (oh no!). We'll see what happens. We'll also have salad (the red leaf lettuce from the CSA) with the rest of my mustard vinaigrette.

So Far, No Good

Geez, you'd think eating up a bunch of stuff from the freezer would be easy. Apparently not. So far, we didn't have a dinner on Monday. On Tuesday we had Chinese food (yes, again) with friends before heading out to see a play. And last night (Wednesday) we did have the turkey meatloaf and vegetables as planned. Tonight I will be heading home later than usual (a colleague is bidding us farewell), so who knows what will await me. Especially since today is Delivery 1 of our CSA veggies! "Bob" is picking them up after work. More to come later.

Good Reading for Better Eating

There's leftover lo mein in the fridge and tons of food waiting to be defrosted in the freezer. Tonight should be turkey meatloaf, but we're both still sodium saturated from last night's Chinese food extravaganza. Those fried noodles dipped in duck sauce get me every time.

Well, as I continue to debate whether dinner will be served tonight or not, feast on these very good articles about the movement to grow your own fruits and vegetables (which, I hope to do in the near future). Many thanks to Sarah's comment on Saturday's post for spurring this "for further reading" smorgasbord (you bet I spelled it correctly).

A very inspiring article of what old industrial cities should do with their brownfields: turn them green, of course:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/us/20philadelphia.html?ex=1211947200&en=98be3c497a6c03fc&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma) is the best and asks "Why bother?":
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-lede-t.html?scp=1&sq=pollan%20why%20bother&st=cse

Anne Raver has the answers for what to do if you're behind on planting your tomatoes...as I am (where does the time go?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/garden/05garden.html?scp=1&sq=garden+grow+your+own&st=nyt

Anne Raver also wrote about kitchen gardens:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/garden/17garden.html?ex=1209182400&en=2c43c98c75d12145&ei=5070&emc=eta1

And this columnist picks up on the trend and asks for reader comments about the grow-your-own movement:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/as-local-as-it-gets/?scp=10&sq=grow%20your%20own%20vegetables&st=cse

Don't forget, fruits can be grown in your backyard too. My husband and I bought my grandparents' house. Sadly, when we moved in, the cherry tree my grandpa planted was infected with something, and the grape vines weren't producing anything anymore. Plus we had to put up a fence and a small apple tree (it might've been a crab apple) was "in the way." Yes, I regret all of this. What remains? One small raspberry bush (it was really the neighbor's, but part of it hopped the fence), and a gooseberry (I think) "tree" in the backyard. Inspired by this article, I'm planning for at least two fruiting trees in our yard this year. My husband has requested apples and pears.

Bonus: Sarah was kind enough to link to a Studio 360 piece on an activist/artist whose mission is to turn front yards into gardens. Read Sarah's comment here. And listen to the story here.

And another thing: Legz, your questions regarding deglazing (the June 5, 2008 post) are now answered. Yes, I know, what took me so long? The answer is "Bob." For those curious enough about deglazing, go to this post.

E-Co$t: Turkey Sausage, Spinach Pie, and Veg Soup

It was a light week, but that spinach pie was pretty pricey, especially considering how little we enjoyed the first meal of it. The totals for the main meals for the Menu 6/7/08 to 6/13/08:

• Spinach pie: $15.67 for pie ($1.95 for each serving)
• Turkey sausage: $11.22 ($2.24 for each serving, not including pasta or potatoes)
• Vegetable bean soup: $6.19 ($0.88 per serving, based on 7 servings)

Menu a la Week: 6/14/08 - 6/20/08

Now for a very special menu. The freezer is overstuffed so it's time to clean it out. The best way to do that is to eat through as much of the frozen food as we can (including that ice cream in the upper right-hand corner). So, no new cooking for this week. To make this week even easier, we won't be home for dinner every night.

Our first CSA delivery is scheduled for this week. Rumor has it there will be lots of lettuce.

Menu 6/14/08 - 6/20/08
Saturday June 14, 2008
Turkey sausage with toast

Sunday June 15, 2008
Father's Day (eating out!)

Monday June 16, 2008
Turkey meatloaf and vegetables (or salad)

Tuesday June 17, 2008
Macbeth play (dinner out)

Wednesday June 18, 2008
Spinach pie and salad (dinner all by my lonesome)

Thursday June 19, 2008
Chicken pot pie and salad

Friday June 20, 2008
Asparagus soup and salad

"Exceptional" Dinners

Thursday night I went out after work with colleagues for drinks and some deep-fried appetizers. Being true to our little piggy natures, we ordered two snack platters of appetizers—one right after the other. Meanwhile, back at home, my husband was busy being good. He adhered to the plan and had vegetable soup for dinner.

Last night (Friday), the week of exceptions continued. We went out for dinner instead of cooking. Nothing fancy, just a particularly good diner near us that makes exceptionally good and crispy French fries. I ordered a burger and regretted it. Not because it was bad, but because it wasn't really really good. There are three places in my area that have really really good burgers: Shake Shack in Madison Square Park in New York, White Diamond in Clark, N.J., and Stewart's in Rahway, N.J. I was fully prepared for the Shake Shack burgers to be completely overrated. They weren't (see my friend Bill's post about our lunch there). The White Diamond burgers are very similar to those at Shake Shack (very flat and sem-crispy around the edges). The Stewart's burgers are comparatively thicker but no less yummy, though the root beer and carhop atmosphere probably add enormously to the whole burger eating experience there (plus Stewart's has really good curly fries and onion rings).

What's to come this weekend: The E-Co$t tally for the meals made this week (excluding our dinner at the diner; that bill was for about $20), the nutritional information for the recipes missing that particular information, and a very special edition of the Menu a la Week.

Spinach-Onion Pie? What Spinach-Onion Pie?

Neither of us was really hungry, so instead of trying to spin spinach pie dross into spinach pie gold, I declared tonight "fend for yourself night." I just wasn't up to repurposing that spinach-onion pie into something more palatable. I had some organic brown-rice cakes with banana slices and delicious SunButter. SunButter tastes very much like peanut butter, but it's made from sunflowers. Since my husband is extremely allergic to peanuts, it's a godsend for me and my peanut butter urges.

Et Tu, Mark Bittman?

Well it's about time. There's video on The New York Time's Dining & Wine section about what to do with leftovers. It's called "What To Do with Leftovers":
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html

I'm a Bag Lady

If everyone could just see the real effects of plastic bags on the environment first hand—up close in all their disgraceful and wasteful convenience—choosing bring-your-own bags over plastic ones at the grocery store would likely be made without hesitation.

Case in point: me. I really felt the need to stop using plastic bags because of my trip home one day on NJ Transit. At the Newark International Liberty Airport (EWR) stop, I noticed the top of the 10-foot-high chainlink fence surrounding the station was festooned in black, white, and yellow plastic bags. Shredded and torn, hundreds and hundred of bags were caught in the fence wire. It was sickening. When it became clear that I was part of the problem (my bags might not get caught on the fence, but just by using plastic bags, I'm a participant in the "demand" for their manufacture), I resolved to invest in my own reusable bags.

After buying a bunch of those green permabags for sale in my local supermarket (I think we had a set of 8 or so), I soon regretted my purchase. After just two short weeks, one bag ripped when the semi-sharp corner of a cereal box sliced through the material. I searched online for instructions on how to repair the bag (maybe patch the tear or stitch it up); instead, I discovered that the green bags weren’t made of natural fabric after all, but out of some polypropawhatever. I also learned that these bags are expected to last only about 2 years. After that, like other plastic bags, they will outlive their usefulness at the dump. So I went in search of a better, more sustainable bag and found it in canvas.

The best I found were these from Eco-Bags. Their Shopping Systems (which include large canvas totes, French market string bags, and some cotton grain/produce bags) are the perfect shopping companions. I use fewer bags (which equals fewer trips lugging the groceries from the car to the house) and they are sturdy and more structured than the plastic bags (no more soup cans rolling around the Jeep). I haven’t used the produce bags yet, because I don’t want to freak out my supermarket cashiers. They’ll never find the produce codes with these woven and largely opaque bags.

Because some people might not buy these bags because of the initial investment, I've purchased a number of sets as gifts for families and friends, including Mom! She loves them now, especially after my stepdad cut out some cardboard to fit into the bottom gusset to stiffen/stabilize it. I have yet to do that myself. (I must admit: with their plastic inserts set at the bottom, the green tote bags really did have better stability.)

I keep hoping to see more of these bags in use at the grocery store, especially since they were featured on Oprah (for once she shills for something I really like). But, alas, we're still in the minority at the checkout. One day...

And, yes, I know, even if most shoppers start bringing their own bags to market, there will always be those buffoons who refuse to tote their own. They're the same people who don't pick up shoes they knock over in stores or bring the grocery cart back to the cart corrals because it's too much of a bother and because "they pay people to do this anyway." Picking up after oneself, it's becoming a lost art.

Hot Hot Hot! Soup, Sausage, and Summer

The Northeast's been broiling these past few days—four days straight of 90-degree weather. Despite the heat, "Bob" went shopping yesterday and made soup. He's keeping to the menu! And it was a very satisfying soup: yummy beans, veggies, and pasta. Everything tastes great with pasta, especially bow-tie pasta, or as it's "officially" known on the package: farfalle (translation from the Italian: butterflies).

Tonight, we had the turkey sausage with pasta. You can't beat bow-tie pasta two nights in a row; some pasta shapes just taste better than others ;-)

Vegetable Bean Soup with Pasta
Serves 6 to 8 (we'll see)

12 cups chicken stock
3 large carrots, diced
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 large scallions
1 14-ounce can red kidney beans
8 ounces bow-tie pasta (1/2 of 1 lb box)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Bring chicken stock to a boil.
2. Add vegetables and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add beans and pasta. Let simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Season to taste and serve.

NOTE: The Gorgeously Green book arrived today. It should make for good reading on the train to and from work.

Quick Eco Tips

A lightbulb in our bedroom burned out and my husband (we'll call him "Bob" since he wishes to remain anonymous) replaced it with a new fluorescent bulb (Sylvania, 60 watt). Instead of replacing all the bulbs at once with these more energy efficient versions, he's been replacing them one at a time as the old incandescent bulbs burn out (it's less costly and stressful that way).

Another tip: Bring back your wire hangers to your dry cleaners! It keeps them out of landfills, plus our dry cleaner really appreciates it. It's an easy thing to do. (And, yes, I've been cutting down on the amount of drycleaning we do too.)

One more: To cut down on paper towel waste, use dishtowels. You can compost paper towels (as long as they're not drenched in awful chemicals), but if you're not currently composting, save some trees by replacing your paper towels with cloth ones. (I'll write more about composting later; I'm still in the midst of researching this topic.)

E-Co$t Debut

Nope, I didn't forget about the new E-Co$t feature of this site. Last week we spent $131 on groceries. We bought a lot of stuff and mostly it was food related. But amazingly enough, only a total of $74.44 was for food for dinner prep—and that includes the $14.99 for a 44-fluid ounce bottle of extra virgin olive oil. The organic baby spinach at $3.79 per 6-ounce "box" (evil plastic) was also a big chunk of the bill since we bought three of them (the spinach and the olive oil totaled $26.36). The other expensive items were non-dinner related (sparkling water, organic cereal bars, yogurt, and coffee beans). I have several ideas for cutting down those costs, which I'll post about eventually.

Here's the totals (approximate) for the meals for the Menu 5/31/08 to 6/6/08:

• Turkey meatloaf: $10.81 for loaf ($1.08 for each serving)
• Smashed potatoes: $3.15 ($0.52 for each serving)
• Lemon-herb roasted chicken: $10.55 for entire roast ($2.63 per serving; however, the carcass meat does get recycled into stock and other meals)
• Fri-ta-toe: $1.68 ($0.42 per serving)
• Chicken-Spinach Faux Casserole: $12.46 ($2.49 per serving)
• Prosciutto Pasta: $6.65 ($3.33 per serving)

I'll have to probably refine this feature of the blog as some of the costs can be misleading. For example, the chicken-spinach faux casserole: the total includes the costs associated with the first chicken meal (lemon-herb roasted chicken) from which the faux casserole is derived. So, it can be argued that the costs are more accurate this way, but for a true idea of how much we are actually spending, the cost for that initial chicken meal would have to be excluded (because I didn't really go out and buy more food). In other words, all the ingredients for the casserole (including those for making 2 servings of the lemon-herb chicken) totaled $12.46. But because I already paid for those 2 servings of lemon-herb roasted chicken ($2.63 x 2 = $5.27), the outlay for the second "left-over" meal was really $7.19 ($1.44 per serving). The same is true of the fri-ta-toe; the only new ingredients were red pepper, onion, olive oil, egg, and salt and pepper.

Italian Turkey Sausage Dinner

Oh darn, I forgot to use those two scallions again. They're getting wiltier and wiltier each day. Since tomorrow calls for soup, let's hope we remember to throw them in with whatever else is going into the pot (scallions go with everything, honest). We did remember to use up one very important leftover—the smashed potatoes. Plus we got rid of that half a red pepper too.

Normally when we make this turkey sausage dish, we serve it with pasta. But, the potatoes were an inspired choice: the dinner reminded me of traditional Italian sausage sandwiches—or Italian hot dogs (hot dogs served with peppers, onions, and potatoes in a hoagie roll)—without the roll. Later this week, we'll serve it over pasta since we finished up all the potatoes.

This dish took no more than 30 minutes to make.

Italian Turkey Sausage Dinner
Serves 4 to 5

19.5 ounces turkey sausage (Sweet or Italian); about 5 links
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic mincex
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2- 3/4 red pepper chopped

28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Mashed potatoes or cooked pasta
Grated parmesean cheese

Directions
1. Par boil sausages until mostly done, about 3/4 done (about 12 minutes straight out of the freezer).
2. Meanwhile, heat up olive oil in very large sauce pan. I use a 3-quart (or it might be 3.5 quart) Le Creuset saucepan (it has a lid) on medium-low heat.
3. Add garlic, onions, and peppers to pan. Cook until soft. Add salt and pepper.
4. Add sausage and cook until done and turning brown (or browned).
5. Add crushed tomatoes (and fresh basil if you've got it) and cook until hot.
6. Serve over pasta (or warm/hot smashed potatoes). Sprinkle on some Parmesean cheese (not too much!)

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Spinach-Onion Pie

Even though this pie is pastry-less, it still packs a quite a fat wallop: 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup Parmesean cheese, 1/2 stick a butter. I adapted a recipe from Southern Living (available here) and changed up the recipe a bit. But I didn't make it low fat. Tonight it's our main meal, but I think it'd be best to serve it as an accompaniment to soup and/or salad (half-size servings). I forgot to add the chopped scallions, so I'll use those up tomorrow with the turkey sausage.

Post-dinner recap: Okay, I'll admit it. If I had this recipe to do over again, I'd probably add a crust, lower the fat (use olive oil and regular milk), chop up the spinach into small (and very dry) pieces, and drain off any liquid remaining in the sauce pan. My husband didn't care for this recipe much (he's not a fan of omelettes or slippery spinach), so we found a way to use up the fri-ta-toe after he suffered through two bites of the spinach pie. At any rate, adding a crust (or phyllo dough to make spanakopita), would've been a much better route to take for using up the spinach. Lesson learned. Since I have a lot of servings left, I will have to repurpose the pieces of "pie." I have some ideas: drying it out a bit in the microwave, adding it to cubed potatoes in a skillet, turning it into a panini filling with chicken or sausage, and chopping it up into cubes and adding it to pasta and recooking it. With six slices in the freezer, I'll likely have to try all of these fixes. Waste not, want not.

Pastry-less Spinach Pie
Serves 8 (or more with 1/2 servings as sides)

10 ounces baby spinach
4 tablespoons butter (unsalted)

1 clove garlic minced

1 medium red onion, chopped small

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose, unbleached flour
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesean cheese

Directions
1. Rinse spinach and remove most of stems. Drain well.
2. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat.
3. Add garlic and onion and saute until translucent (add a touch of salt and a twist of pepper).
4. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Remove from heat.
5. Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
6. Add spinach, eggs, cream, and cheese. Stir well.
7. Pour mixture into a lightly greased pan (9-inch pie plate or similaly sized baking pan)
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until set.
9. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into pieces.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Green as Glam: I Hate Marketing

I just ordered the book Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano. It has received celebrity endorsements (Julia Roberts and Oprah), which was enough to make me reconsider buying it. But the real sticking point? This quote from the author (the interview on Amazon.com is available here): "You so don’t have to become the tree hugger/hippie to live a green way of life. I feel passionately that you can still have the glitz, the glam and the gleaming house because now there are so many eco-friendly companies that offer you safe and healthy choices: nail polishes, organic clothes that are fabulous to name a few.."

Well you know what? I already know that. I'm not walking around with dirt under my nails (except when I've just come in from the garden), but I'm not a "girly girl" either, well, not every day anyway (and when the hell did that term come into common usage anyway? It really grates on my nerves). I never thought I had to choose between"eco" or "glam." In fact, that there was a choice never entered my mind. We have to be green. Sooner or later, we're all going to have to wake up and realize that our old ways just aren't sustainable.

I told my husband that I didn't think of myself as glam or granola and he said "that's right, you're no different than someone else that might buy the book." Exactly! Not everyone is an extreme one way or the other. Most are in the middle. A lot of people will buy this book with that "you can be green glam" message, not because they are "glam" or "eco" or "eco-glam" but because they aspire to be eco-glam. I keep forgetting a lot of marketing is aspirational. We don't always buy things because of who we are; often we buy them because of who we want to be. Which is exactly why I had second thoughts on buying the book: reverse aspiration. The "angle" was turning me off, but not necessarily the information in the book. I was torn between buying the book and, in effect, rewarding the author and publisher for a message I disagreed with ("you can be oh-so-glamorous and eco-friendly") or not buying the book and denying myself access to some useful information (in effect, cutting my nose off to spite my face). In the end, I bought it. I will review it here on this blog and also on the Barnes and Noble site (which has a review that takes issue with it's point of view as well).

There's also a quote from her book that says "you deserve the best." Really? Every reader deserves the best? No wonder our planet is in such sorry shape. Selfishness is okay. The common good is not enough. Heaven forbid if we sacrifice anything for something as small as, oh, the future of the entire planet! That said, I'm thinking she's doing more good than not (especially as I continue to poke around her Web site).

Speaking of marketing, this is a great post on Gawker http://gawker.com/tag/books-about-sheep/?i=394762&t=you-just-a-bunch-of-brands. Rob Walker writes the "Consumed" column for the New York Times Magazine; his book Buying In looks like it just shed more light on how we just keep buying into images of our own making. The fact that both Walker and David Brooks (of the New York Times) spend so much time (and press) thinking, and obsessing, about marketing says a lot about our world, country, and economy.

One last thing: If all the things you buy are green, but you still buy a lot of stuff, you're really not being green. In short: Overconsumption is not green.

Okay, rant over. I usually try to make this blog rant free and save them for my family and coworkers :-)

Menu a la Week: 6/7/08 - 6/13/08

Deviating from the usual plan, we have three or four new meals planned for this week (instead of the usual two to three). Today, spinach pie. With it, I plan to use up some ingredients that have been in the refrigerator for a while: the chopped onions I had left over from the turkey meatloaf, scallions from the mashed potatoes, fresh baby spinach that we haven't used yet, and the heavy cream I had laying around from the asparagus soup recipe.

The one big puzzle: What to do with the "fri-ta-toe" in the fridge from Wednesday and a bunch of smashed potatoes. That'll have to be tomorrow's lunch or I'll have to use the potatoes with the turkey sausage instead of pasta. I wish I had frozen some of the potatoes, but I had no idea that the smashed would stretch so far. That's a good lesson: If in doubt, freeze. It doesn't hurt to have a backlog of meals in the refrigerator, especially during the summer when hot days and the opportunities for fun abound.

Menu 6/7/08 - 6/13/08
Saturday June 7, 2008
Spinach pie

Sunday June 8, 2008
Turkey sausage with pasta

Monday June 9, 2008
Soup of the week and bread

Tuesday June 10, 2008
Turkey sausage with pasta

Wednesday June 11, 2008
Spinach pie and salad

Thursday June 12, 2008

Soup of the week with salad

Friday June 13, 2008

Fish day: Tuna wraps or other fresh fish

Bits and Pieces

Tonight was G&T (gin and tonic) night on the porch. We felt like cold drinks and a hot meal, but since it had been a warm day, we didn't want to heat up the kitchen too much. I had just the right recipe.

Last year, the New York Times published the quickie dinner list to end all quickie dinner lists: "Summer Express: 100 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes" by Mark "the Minimalist" Bittman. It's available here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. If you can't access the entire article for free (which I seem to be able to do just by being a registered user), it's worth the price of a download ($3.95, I think).

Bittman had just the thing (#14 on his list of 101 dinners) for using up the rest of the prosciutto we had in the refrigerator (from those canapes we made). One warning though: Do NOT add any salt to this dish. Really. I'm not kidding.

Prosciutto Pasta
Serves 2

4 ounces of dried pasta (such as spaghetti or linguini)
3-4 slices prosciutto, chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 to 3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (ours was with Italian seasonings)Pinch of red chili flakes
1/2 tablespoon of chopped flat leaf italian parsley (you can substitute dried parsley, but fresh is better)

Directions
1. Add pasta to a large pot of boiling water and let cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add prosciutto , olive oil, garlic, and butter to a skillet over medium heat.
3. A minute later, toss in the bread crumbs and red chili flakes to taste (they're hot!!!). Mix together.
4. When pasta is finished, drain.
5. Serve prosciutto-bread crumb mixture over pasta with chopped parsley.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

EXTRA! EXTRA! I'm so excited: I have some great plans for the Home Ec-o blog this weekend. I'm introducing a new feature: E-Co$t. That's right, in addition to calculating the nutritional values of each dish (I'll be updating that data for this week's recipes), we're tallying how much each meal costs too.

Chicken, Rice, Spinach, and a Shot of...

Tonight's dinner: chicken-spinach "casserole." That's right, a faux casserole. It's not baked, stewed, or cooked slowly. But like any traditional casserole, it's a good way to make a little chicken (and a lot of spinach) go a very long way. Because the chicken is from the roaster made earlier, this dish is made in the time it takes to cook the brown rice (about 45 minutes). And there's a bit of vodka thrown in too. I was tempted to freeze the leftovers but opted to relegate them to tomorrow's lunch instead.

Still no word from the fine folks at Hellmann's.

Chicken-Spinach Faux Casserole
Serves 4 to 6

1 cup uncooked brown rice
1.5 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
5 ounces baby spinach
1 small onion, chopped small
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 oz vodka
1/2 chicken breast (about 4.5 to 5 ounces)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons parmesean cheese

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, combine water, chicken stock, and brown rice. Cook over medium-low flame for 45 minutes, covered.
2. Meanwhile, cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces.
3. Meanwhile, saute spinach, garlic, and onion in olive oil until translucent (about 10 minutes).
4. Deglaze pan with shot of vodka.
5. Lower heat and add spinach.
6. Let the spinach cook down, then add chicken.
7. Cook on medium-low heat until chicken is warmed.
8. Add salt and pepper, season to taste.
9. Mix in parmesean cheese and serve.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Update: Hello, Hellmann's? Hello?

Remember my plans to contact Hellmann's about their low-fat mayonnaise? This is what I asked (in green):

Are you still making the Reduced Fat Mayonnaise dressing? It is not listed on your products page (only the light and low-fat versions are listed). When I looked at the Product Locator page, the Reduced Fat mayonnaise is listed on the pulldown menu. However, when the search is completed, the product is automatically changed to low-fat. now listed as low-fat.

Their response (in blue):

Thanks so much for writing!
The product is now called Hellmann's Low Fat mayonnaise. This product is available through distribution to any store who is willing to stock it. We suggest that you speak with your store managers and let them know you are interested in the product. Please urge them to contact their distributor.
We will forward your comments to the Brand Manager and the distribution staff. Consumer comments are very important to us and are evaluated on a regular basis. We certainly hope you will be able to find this product in your area soon.
Thanks for your interest!Your friends at Hellmann's

But based on the nutrition information on the jar I have, I'm still not certain that the reduced-fat and low-fat mayos are the same thing. So I emailed them back right away:

Thank you very much for getting back to me so quickly. I was under the impression that Low-Fat Mayo is 1 gram of fat per serving and the Reduced-Fat is/was 2 grams of fat per serving. Did the serving amounts change (I believe the the reduced-fat is 2 grams of fat per 1 tablespoon)? Thank you once again!

Except for the auto-reply informing me that they received my message and that they would respond shortly (that was May 30: 6 days ago!) , I haven't heard back from them. I'll follow up soon.

Meatloaf Sandwiches and Fri-ta-toe

Since the stars were aligned against us today (my husband was in a car accident this morning— he's okay, as is the driver who hit him), we didn't follow the menu and, instead, made something easier than the chicken rice "casserole" that was scheduled. And what could be easier than turkey meatloaf sandwiches? We finished up the last of the asparagus (blanched and topped with a bit of butter), and I also made a fried potato "pancake" with leftover smashed potatoes and some other ingredients. I don't know if the potato side dish I made can technically be called a frittata, so I'm calling it a fri-ta-toe (rhymes with po-ta-to). My only regret? That I hadn't added the asparagus to the fri-ta-toe.

Fri-Ta-Toe
Serves 4 to 6

Extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of smashed potatoes (from earlier in the week)
1/4 cup chopped onion (also in the refrigerator from the day the meatloaf was made)
1/2 red pepper, chopped small
1 egg, beaten
Kosher salt
Pepper

Directions
1. Heat olive oil up in a large frying pan (I use a Le Creuset pan on medium-low heat).
2. Mix all ingredients together in bowl.
3. With a large spoon form potato mixture into 4 to 6 "pancakes," placing each, one at a time into the heated oil.
4. Cook for about 5 to 6 minutes on one side and turn it over. Brown on the other side for another 5 to 6 minutes.
5. Remove pancakes from pan when mixture is golden brown on both sides and heated through.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Don't Feed Them After Midnight

Like a pair of hungry gremlins, my husband and I ate a very late supper last night (Tuesday) because of work. He heated up some asparagus soup (straight from the freezer) and popped some bread into the toaster.

Meanwhile, I worked on disassembling the chicken. One of the half-breasts is in the fridge for a meal later this week. The other half, along with the bits of white and dark meat and the bones (separate bags!), is now crammed into the freezer. It's getting awfully full in there.

Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken
Serves 4

1 roaster chicken (about 4 lbs)
1 large onion (sliced)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper freshly ground (or more)
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1.5 teaspoons minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
1.5 teaspoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 to 3 lemons washed and cut into quarters

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees
2. Remove organs from chicken and rinse and pat dry.
3. Toss onions (first cut in half, then in slices, to form half-round slices) with olive oil in bottom of roasting pan (I use a Le Creuset French oven).
4. Mix the herbs, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper into softened butter.
5. With your clean hands take a portion of the herbed butter and spread it in the cavity of the chicken. Then separate the skin (gently) covering the breasts and smear herbed butter between the skin and meat. Be careful not to rip the skin or remove it entirely. You just want enough space to slide your fingers in to coat the breast meat with the butter mixture.
6. Spread the herbed butter over the entire outside of the chicken, covering all areas, including wings, drumsticks, etc.
7. Stuff the chicken with the lemon slices.
8. Sprinkle the top of the chicken with some Kosher salt and pepper.
9. Tuck the wings under the bird and tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
10. Roast for 1.25 to 1.75 hours, until the internal temperature of the breast meat reaches 180 degrees F.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Heads It's Chicken...Tails It's Turkey

Tonight was our first bite of turkey meatloaf. Though I cooked the meatloaf on Saturday and the roast chicken on Sunday, we hadn't feasted on either all weekend. We went to the SOFA exhibit yesterday, but ventured to Chelsea Market first and ate lunch at a deli. The corned beef sandwich my husband ordered was as big as his head, while I had a huge fried chicken breast sandwich. So it was no surprise that when I made the roast chicken last night, after it cooled it went straight into the refrigerator, uneaten.

Tonight, we're deviating from the menu (again). For dinner: 4 to 5 ounces each of turkey meatloaf, some smashed potatoes, and the ever-yummy asparagus.

The turkey meatloaf is straight from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten, except that we make it with only 3 lbs of ground turkey (she calls for 5 lbs) and halve all the other ingredients. (The ground turkey in our supermarket comes in prepackaged amounts: 1 lb and 3 lbs only.) According to my serving sizes (no more than 5 ounces each), the recipe (using 3 lbs of ground turkey) makes enough for 10 servings. Right now, the recipe is available from Food Network at http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_21615,00.html. I won't recreate it here since, except for making a smaller batch, I follow the recipe faithfully.

Turkey Meatloaf
10 servings, 2 slices each (4-5 oz.)

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

The turkey meatloaf slices were reheated in the microwave (about 2 minutes total time) after being moistened with some chicken stock (a few drops per slice). The asparagus spears were quickly blanched in boiling water (no more than 2 minutes) and served with a bit of butter. The smashed potatoes (one of my favorites) took the most time by far to prepare tonight (the fresh herbs were already on hand because of the chicken I made last night).

Smashed Potatoes
6 servings

4 very large potatoes washed (unpeeled)
2-3 medium to large scallions, chopped (white and large portion of green sections)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fresh minced dill
1/4 teaspoon fresh minced flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Boil potatoes for about 12 to 15 minutes or until cooked through.
3. Drain well.
4. Add chopped scallions, olive oil, herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil to potatoes.
5. Mash all ingredients together well with a potato masher.

Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: ; Carbohydrates: ; Protein: ; Fat: ; Cals./g:
*Points:

Note: Tonight I plan to take apart the chicken (and try to take pictures without getting the camera all greasy). Most of the breast meat will be eaten this week. I'll post a revised menu later to take into account all the changes for this week.

Sunday in New York

Today we're going to the SOFA exhibit. True to procrastinating form, it's the last day that we can go. I hope we also have a chance to visit Chelsea Market, where Ronnybrook Farm has a shop selling its milk from grass-fed cows (I still have to return several glass bottles for the deposits: a $1 for each bottle!).

I thought my husband and I were good about recycling, but we have nothing on Beth Terry who writes the Fake Plastic Fish blog (as well as a few others). If you have ANY questions about how to recycle plastic and how to minimize the plastic products you use, visit her site. I'll be talking more about this later when I start researching our home-made composter (or free one, whichever comes first).

NOTE: Yesterday, I calculated all the nutritional information that had been missing from our recipes (using RecipeNutrition). The pot pies are not exactly diet food, but what's life without a little excess.