Sane Menu Planning

What's for dinner? Some nights when six o'clock rolls around and I still don't know what we'll eat. Cooking dinner every night can be a real challenge, with added challenges of making something interesting/healthy/relatively simple/with leftovers for lunch/budget-friendly/gluten-free or whatever diet or taste restrictions apply. I have a love-hate relationship with cooking, and we go through cycles accordingly and to the extremes. Either nothing sounds good (I'm not motivated to cook if I'm not hungry) or everything sounds good (produce overflows the drawers in the fridge and spoils before it gets used); I can only find gourmet recipes that sound good but cannot justify buying pomegranate molasses; I get on a single-recipe kick and everything starts to taste the same (summer of 2008, aka the Summer of Curry). With a little thought and organization, I start to love cooking again, and it seems to love me. My sister-in-law Whitney inspired and reminded me of a couple great ways to organize dinner.

image from dailymail.uk.co

First, plan ahead: come up with a menu and shopping list for at least two weeks. This saves money and time. You don't have to be too rigid with specific days--sometimes Wednesday's dinner works better on Thursday--but no matter what I know I have the ingredients I need for the next few meals.

Second, cook with the seasons. It's cheaper, the food is better because it's at its peak, and it builds variety into your menu. It's also a great way to discover foods that might be new to you, and if you're like me, if something like a parsnip is new to you, it becomes rather exciting. (That's right, parsnips. Really. And leeks. Mmm.)


image from curbly.com

Third, come up with a formula. Whitney sets goals for the two weeks of meals, and her formula looks something like this:
at least 1 new recipe
2 crockpot recipes
1 vegetarian entree

Sometimes I struggle with variety and budget, and some foods are good to eat but only in moderation, about once a week. So my formula for 1 week looks more like this:

1 red meat recipe
1 fish recipe
1 vegetarian recipe
1 soup recipe (especially in the winter)
1 crockpot recipe

Breaking up planning like this really helps with the planning--first I put in the formula items, then fill in the rest of the blanks with whatever (enter the chicken! and rice!)

Now I want to know--how do you plan dinner for your family? Do you have any tricks that help you put dinner on the table?

Corn Chowder

I was reading a friend's blog and she said she's been craving corn chowder. This was a couple weeks back and I don't know if corn chowder still sounds good or if she found a good recipe. No matter what, it gave me a push to post a new entry, so thanks B! And if you still need it, hope this helps.
Corn Chowder, like most soups, is very flexible. I've tried a few recipes and really have liked them all. The key ingredients for corn chowder at our house:

corn (fresh would be good but frozen is great and easy)
bacon
onions
garlic
jalapeno or green chiles (we really like spicy food, so we use either 1 fresh and chopped or a 7 oz can of diced chiles)
milk

Other bits we like to throw in the pot:

diced potato
bites of chicken
cheddar

Following are two variations on corn chowder. You can mess around with most of the ingredients, especially if you want to keep it lower (or higher) in fat. We like to use bacon for flavor and will also add chicken and potaoes to make it more hearty. The main things to remember that will make the chowder tasty:

browned meat (either chicken, bacon, or both) or sauteed onions and garlic give a nice flavor boost
milk or half and half as the liquid base for creaminess
salt or bouillon or stock to bring out the sweet flavor of the corn

Chicken Corn Chowder
about 30 minutes
1.5 lbs chicken
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 or 2 cloves garlic
3 Tablespoons butter
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup hot water
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cumin
2 cups milk or half and half (or a mix of both)
2 cups monterey jack cheese (cheddar works too)
1 can cream corn
1 can green chilies

Brown the chicken with the onion, garlic, and butter in a medium saucepan. Dissolve bouillon in hot water and add to the saucepan, along with the cumin and milk. Reduce heat and cover for five minutes. Add cheese, cream corn, and chilies. Warm until cheese is melted. Serve hot.
this recipe comes from Brad's mission in Texas.

Fresh Corn Chowder
about 45 minutes
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 medium celery stalks, diced
6 small ears of corn, about 2 to 3 cups (frozen works too)
4 1/2 cups milk
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Place bacon in a soup pot and cook, stirring, over medium heat-low heat until it release all of its fat and is beginning to crisp (10 to 15 minutes).
Leave bacon in the pan and spoon out all but about 2 Tablespoons. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring, until tender and slightly browned (10 to 15 minutes).
Remove kernels from cobs, if using fresh; reserve kernels.
Add cobs, milk, and potatoes to the pot. Push the cobs int the milk to fully submerge them. Reduce the heat and cover, until the potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cobs.
Stir in reserved corn kernels along with salt and pepper.
Simmer gently until the corn is tender, about 5 minutes. Wiht a slotted spoon, remove 1 1/2 cups solids from the soup and puree until smooth. Return to the soup and add the butter.
Let stand until the butter is melted, then stir. Ladle into warm bowls.