Menu Plan Monday – June 20, 2011
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Menu Plan Monday - Hosted by OrgJunkie
This Week in Meals…
Looking at this upcoming week’s weather, it is going to be hot, hot, HOT!!! Looks like our lowest temp is going to be around 90ish for the next few days. You know what this means?
Mommy ain’t standing in a hot kitchen. NO WAY.
Breakfasts & Lunch
Yogurt and fruit — quick, simple and doesn’t involve more than opening the refrigerator.
Lunch is leftovers or going out to eat. (Thank God for cheap taquerias!!)
Dinner
The Hubs is working late most nights so there’s gonna be a lot of “just me” dinners. TLE will probably opt for macaroni and cheese most nights.
- Monday – Grilled Vietnamese Pork with over rice noodles
- Tuesday – Panfried swai with brown rice and stir fried greens
- Wednesday – Miso soup with grilled shrimp, brown rice and greens
- Thursday – Belated Father’s Day with my parents
- Friday - Panfried swai with brown rice and greens
- Saturday – Filipino BBQ Riblets
- Sunday – Free for All
Have a great week!
This post is part of the Menu Plan Monday roundup at OrgJunkie
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Soup Formula
When it comes to lunch, the cheaper, the better. The Hubs inevitably gets last night’s leftovers as his office lunch and after spending a morning running after a toddler, the last thing I want to do before her nap is spend a bunch of time fixing lunch. So for us, lunch is light and frugal, but filling.
To that end, I like to make a pot of soup that will last for a few days for lunch. It is a good way to use up any leftovers that may be lurking in the fridge and pantry. Leftover roast chicken? Chuck that in. Baby carrots or celery sticks left unsnacked from last week’s veggie snack plate? In!
Here is my basic formula for making an easy and nutritious soup with whatever you may have on hand.
Basic Formula
1 to 2Tbsp Aromatics (may include herbs)
2 cups veggies and/or protein
1/2 cup Starch
4 cups brothBasic Instructions
Saute your aromatics in a tablespoon or so of oil. Add your veggies and saute until tender. Starch, protein and cover with 4 cups of broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower to a simmer and simmer for half an hour to an hour, until the veggies are tender and the starch is well cooked.
Treats from the Philippines
As anyone with Filipino relatives knows, the best part about a trip to the Philippines is all the yummy stuff they bring back for you! I have many a fond memory of diving into the delicious treasure troves of treats my grandma used to pack away in her balikbayan boxes. (I also have fond memories of stuffing my younger sister into the balikbayan boxes and telling her I was going to mail her to the Philippines. Her memories of this are not quite so fond.)
Most common amongst the culinary treasures were Filipino candies, yema egg yolk candies, pastillas de leche, polvorones as well as dried fruit, most notably juicy dried mangoes and sweet tart tamarind. I remember one visit when my Grandma successfully snuck lanzones past customs. What a delicious little fruit it was — I wish that these were available fresh in the US. I was so excited to have found them frozen at the nearby Seafood City but was disappointed to find them nearly inedible after thawing.
My parents recently returned back from a trip to the Philippines. Amongst their balikbayan boxes, they set aside some treats for us to enjoy.
Filipino treats
To be quite honest, I was expecting more of a haul; I think they may be holding out on us! But nevertheless, what they got for us was still pretty yummy. In the foreground are some butter macaroons from Goldilocks. Of course, butter is more like “butter flavored” as the ingredients plainly say that it is margarine, not butter, in these babies. No matter, they’re delicious with a cup of strong coffee. These were a hit with The Little Empress.
To the upper left is a small package of polvorones, also from Goldilocks. I’m not much of a fan of this candy which is essentially a dried milk cookie — very powdery. This package of polvoron was cookies and cream flavored which was different and interesting but not different enough to make me love it.
To the right is a promo pack of Cebu brand dried mangoes, manufactured by Profood International. I’m quite a fan of Philippine brand dried mangoes having grown up with them. Apparently Profood International makes several different brands of dried mangoes, Philippine and Cebu brands among them. Maybe it is just me but these Cebu brand dried mangoes seem plumper and juicier than the Philippine brand ones. Whether or not I’m imagining the difference, the truth is that they are yummy!
The the upper right is the real star of the collection — artisan quality mango jam by Castillejos Agrifarms. This is a real piece of heaven if you love mangoes and believe me, we do!! This jam is just perfect — not too sweet like some jams can be with a delicious burst of sun ripened mango flavor. My sister insists that we have to eat it quick because it contains no preservatives. No problem here — not a day after I opened the (too small) jar, it is already half gone! I did a search online for the makers of this jam and while I don’t see that they have a storefront, I did find a newspaper article that says that they make kalamansi (Philippine native lemon) marmalade as well as a host of other Filipino jams, jellies and other sweets. Hopefully I will find out more on where to get more!
Leftover Makeover – Cake Balls
Earlier this month, I baked a buttermilk pound cake in order to use a bunch of buttermilk I had leftover from making pancakes and ended up with way more cake than I bargained for. Since pound cake tends to keep quite well, I decided to double wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap and foil until I could decide what to do with it.
This morning, I found myself looking at a picture of chocolate covered bonbons and had an epiphany. I could make cake balls! For the uninitiated, cake balls are simply cake crumbs, held together by frosting and dipped in candy coating. It’s like a kid’s birthday party in a bonbon. They’re a great way to use leftover cake that may not have been ready for its closeup.
Here’s some naked cake balls — all formed and ready to be chilled again before being coated in chocolate…
I cheated and used canned frosting but you could probably use your favorite homemade recipe that holds it shape but doesn’t get rock hard when refrigerated.
Michelle’s Cake Balls
Adapted from this recipe from All Recipes
- Cake (any flavor, any size)
- Frosting (any flavor)
- 12 oz bag of chocolate chips
Crumble cake in a bowl
Add frosting and mix with crumbled cake until it is the consistency of cookie dough
Let cake and frosting mix chill for 1 ~ 2 hours
Shape about 2 T portions into balls and place on wax paper
Freeze balls for about 2 hours until firm
Melt chocolate in double boiler
Dip frozen cake balls in chocolate until well coated and place on a wax paper surface.
Refrigerate dipped cake balls for 1 ~ 2 hours until the chocolate is firm and the cake is no longer frozen.Best enjoyed with a glass of milk or coffee
This recipe is totally simple and oh so customizable. For these cake balls, I used my buttermilk pound cake and white frosting with chocolate but other awesome combinations would be german chocolate cake and coconut frosting with white chocolate coating or maybe red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting with a white chocolate coating.
My original plan was to do this for a Halloween party. I was going to tint the cake/frosting mixture with some orange candy dye and sprinkle Halloween colored jimmies on the still wet coated cake balls. Alas, I was too lazy to go to the craft store for the specialty ingredients I would have needed. No big loss; it tastes just as good!
I found that using a scoop (I have one that is approximately 2 T) really helps to portion these cake balls. This dessert is REALLY rich so you only need a relatively small ball. Chilling and using latex gloves also helps keep the mess factor down since this is REALLY sticky with all the but I’m sure kids would love to help shape the balls if they were willing.
7 Random Things About Me & Food
At the prodding of Cousin L who pointed out that I haven’t updated since, oh, March… here’s a quick food meme – 7 Things about Me & Food
- I started cooking at 5 years old — I made scrambled eggs seasoned with parsley.
- I have always been a food show addict. After Saturday morning cartoons, I’d immediately switch to PBS which had all the cooking shows. I grew up with The Frugal Gourmet, Yan Can Cook, Great Chefs and all those old school cooking shows.
- I was anorexic during high school but I still watched food shows religiously and cooked a lot. I just didn’t eat what I cooked.
- I can’t seem to make risotto. I’ve tried to cook it several times and have never had it turn out correctly.
- Pie crust is another enemy of mine. I’m so close to giving up attempting pie dough.
- One of my favorite guilty snacks is cheddar cheese cubes dipped in sugar. Yes, I’m strange but it tastes so good.
- I think Korean moon pies (ie. Orion Chocopies, Lottepies, etc.) kick American moon pies butt.
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