Finishing the Challenge

My self-imposed challenge went well, I think. Thursday night I made chili, and added two bunches of fresh kale as in this recipe. I had ground beef (90% lean) in the freezer, as well as canned pinto beans in the cupboard, and served it over brown rice. The kids prefer cornbread with chili, but I was out of cornmeal.

Last night I made Baked Shells Casserole, which is pretty good. (I made a much simpler tomato sauce, but followed the recipe in spirit.) I'm not a huge fan of Rachael Ray...her cooking always seems "mutt-like" to me, as opposed to being purely ethnic, but then again we are a nation of mutts, so to speak.

I consider my challenge finished, although I still have to get through the weekend. Not sure yet how the meals will go, as we are very busy and will likely be out of the house for long stretches. So I may indeed have to run to the store at some point, or we'll settle for some sort of egg dish. I liked my challenge...it was good to clean out some items, and stick to guidelines. We have so many supermarkets within a short drive that it's easy to get distracted and buy more than I need or change a week's worth of menus on a whim. And I was successful in that I used all whole food products, nothing overly processed....the week felt sparse in a Lent-like way, but we were not deprived at all.

DS16 is in a state meet this weekend, and all our plans center around his activity. It's a drive to get to the big indoor venues that can hold so many kids, so I anticipate we'll be busy and tired by Sunday night, and vacation's end. I'm glad we had a low-key week at home, and the kids got lots of rest before returning back to school and the fresh batch of germs from vacationing classmates! In my experience, the end of winter usually results in several colds and other upper respiratory infections, due to our tired immune systems.

We've been watching the Olympics, and DD17 noted all the McDonald's and Coca-Cola commercials, and said she doubted the athletes really consumed those products. Well, I don't know about that...I personally can't believe all the junk high school athletes eat. Eventually it will catch up to them, but then a lifetime of bad habits may be ingrained. I really think youth sports should have a nutrition component, and I'm not talking about sports drinks or energy bars. Given the budget cuts all public schools have experienced in the past few years, I am not holding my breath.

Day 3 Food Challenge

We broke fast last night (Ash Wednesday) with a white bean soup, roasted potatoes and beets, and boiled beet greens. All soup ingredients were on hand, while the beets were purchased yesterday, along with other vegetables and fruits.

The soup was easy and very good, even without the pancetta the recipe called for. The recipe used canned white beans, but I had dried beans so used those instead. It wasn't really much additional work...a "quick boil" softened them up nicely for use in the soup. I had received a Williams-Sonoma catalog before the holidays, and it contained a few recipes, including this one, which is a pretty standard bean soup. In a stockpot, saute chopped onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in a little olive oil until softened. Add the beans and about 5 cups of chicken broth* as well as fresh thyme. Cook until beans are soft and then puree the soup with a hand blender (a great invention). Add grated Parmesan cheese and lots of black pepper. Yummy!

*Apparently chicken broth is "allowed" during meat-free days of Lent. Who knew? I Googled it on a whim, thinking I'd have to use vegetable broth instead, and was very surprised to note that animal "products" like broth or even bacon fat are OK'd by the church powers. You learn something new every day. And, I hasten to add, I don't really think Lent is all about the "rules." It's bigger than that, obviously.

I saved the beet greens and boiled them as suggested by The World's Healthiest Foods, my encyclopedic food bible. And you know, the kids actually like beet greens. You never know until you try it!

Pasta Con Tonno

Last night's challenge was easy: Pasta con Tonno, or Pasta with Tuna. This is a classic southern Italian pasta dish, originally using fresh tuna. It's very simple, like most Italian dishes...just pasta, tuna, garlic, olive oil, white wine, and fresh parsley. Other variations add some chopped tomato or even a bit of anchovy. Amounts vary according to taste and what you have on hand...I never measure and generally have to triple everything to create the heaping mounds of food that will satisfy three hungry kids. It's important to add a generous amount of the pasta cooking water, so the dish is not too dry, as well as plenty of salt and black pepper.

Tonight's meal will consist of the several packages of dried beans I found in my freezer, supplemented by some just-purchased beets and beet greens. I will probably roast the beets along with some potatoes I already had on hand.

Food Challenge

I'm challenging myself this week to shop from my cupboards, fridge, and freezer. However, I'm quantifying this as "challenge lite" because I've given myself permission to shop for fresh fruits and vegetables and dairy. So this is mostly about coming up with a daily main course (dinner) from foods I already have in the house.

Why this challenge? Several reasons:

I *hate* food shopping. My normal schedule is to get out of the house early in the day and shop before it gets too crowded. With the kids home this week, I can't get out as soon as I'd like.

I have a well-stocked pantry. I'll shop and buy non-perishable staples like brown rice, beans, pasta, canned tomatoes, and then forget I have them as I get side-tracked by tempting sale items. It's good to rotate the foods in the cupboard.

This time of year is uninspiring, food-wise. Sadly, I hit the creative (kitchen) wall right about now. Produce is definitely not local. We're getting a bit tired of the heavier meals but it's way too cold to think about lighter, fresher dishes.

Lent starts this week. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting (or mostly fasting, for those not familiar with Catholic rules). Meat is not allowed, nor is it allowed on Fridays during Lent, so that's two days where non-perishables come in handy. And luckily, I have fish in the freezer so that's an option, too. The notion of "giving up" something fits in with this challenge, too.

Yesterday, I made salmon burgers and spinach brown rice casserole, all from ingredients I had on hand. I added corn as a side, also, from my freezer.

Tonight I will make a pasta dish with canned tuna, DD17's favorite meatless pasta dish. Most of this week may end up being meatless, now that I think of it. Oh well, that would be healthier for all of us, I'm sure.