August 1, 2011 {Meal Plan}

Ingredients and Inspiration:

• We hosted dinner parties Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights last week. Whew! We have lots of leftovers but our interest in cooking is a little low.
• Our Japanese guest Anna comes on Thursday evening. Yay!
• Fresh tomatoes and peppers are ripe in the garden.
• My mom gave us a few quarts of blueberries and we're picking peaches Monday. There's some preserving to be done.

Meal Plan:

Monday - happy hour  date at Latitude 41 followed by School for Young Children board meeting

Tuesday - peach canning day followed by Clintonville's National Night Out, bringing tomato basil mozzarella appetizer to share

Wednesday - Rachel attending an event, Alex and Lil will make salmon, rice, and carrots

Thursday - spaghetti with greens and tomato sauce

Friday - grilled burgers on homemade buns, tomato salad, coleslaw

Saturday - Shake the Hand that Feeds You dinner at Flying J Farm!!

Sunday - OEFFA open house at Swainway Urban Farm 2-4 pm, family dinner

July 25, 2011 {Meal Plan}

Ingredients & Inspiration:

• It's still really hot. We are planning lots of low-cooking time dishes.
• Alex's birthday is Tuesday!
• Fresh peppers (nardello and pepperoncini), green beans, violet jasper tomatoes, and herbs in the garden.

Menu:

Monday - green bean pad thai

Tuesday - Alex's wishes - maybe sushi out?

Wednesday - BLTs with homemade bread, bacon, and aoili, and fruit salad

Thursday - Grilled fish, bok choi, and sweet potatoes

Friday - Pork belly roast (in preparation for a Pork Board giveaway!), beets, cornichons, new potato salad

Saturday - Rachel teaching pizza class in the morning, hosting 'It Couldn't Be...' dinner for Foodbuzz

Sunday - Birthday seafood boil for Alex and Rachel's sister Megan - crawfish, lobster, clams, potatoes, corn

Week of July 18, 2011 {Meal Plan}

Ingredients and Inspiration Obligations:

• It's going to feel like a bajillion degrees outside this week
• Lots of fresh broccoli, corn, zucchini in the fridge
• Green beans, kale, herbs available in the garden
• I teach Tuesday and Wednesday nights and volunteer at OSU most of the day Thursday - Saturday with the Labo/Ohio 4-H exchange program.
• Alex's parents and my parents are on vacation right now. I agreed to take care of their gardens. Per point one, I will need to water there at least a few times during this busy week.

Monday -  italian style pasta salad with broccoli, zucchini, cheese, basil, chorizo and sweet corn

Tuesday - Rachel teaching, Alex makes chicken, rice, stir fried broccoli, green beans, and onion for he and Lil

Wednesday - Rachel teaching, Alex make spaghetti with kale and tomato sauce for he and Lil

Thursday - Family meets our exchangee at OSU for pizza dinner!

Friday - Rachel dinner at OSU, Alex and Lil eat with friends

Saturday - Freezer meal - we have homemade frozen empanadas, samosas, and tamales

Sunday - Family dinner

Bonus Material: Lil talked Alex into buying and making Jello, her first experience with the stuff. I recorded this video of her tasting it for the first time.

Week of June 20, 2011 {Meal Plan}

Inspiration and Ideas:

• We have lots of leftovers from last night's Father's Day feast including: blueberry basil turkey burgers, potato salad, black bean salad, green salad, mac & cheese, grape pie, & pavlova.
• My left-over-disappearing-machine, aka Alex, is traveling to Connecticut this week.
• I am terribly jealous. I want to travel, don't want to single parent, and have no plans this week, except...
• I am teaching Jam Canning on Tuesday evening at Wild Goose. Space is still available!
• Greens and herbs are growing like crazy in the yard.

Meal Plan:

Monday - transform bean salad into chili, serve with green salad

Tuesday - sandwich before the class

Wednesday - Lil's choice, probably spaghetti and meatballs

Thursday - something from the freezer? someone invite us to dinner?

Friday - whatever Alex wants after a week of restaurant dining, my bets are on simply cooked chicken or fish, rice, greens.

Saturday - Comfest! Dinner at a local restaurant stand

Sunday - family dinner after Berries class (spots still available here too: 2-4 pm at Franklin Park, register by calling 614.645.5923)

P.S. It's my mom's birthday today! Happy birthday to the lady who raised a bunch of fine cooks!

Spring Before Summer June 13 {Locavore Meal Plan}

The heat had me down last week and then *poof* a front passed through on Saturday, transforming the weather into lovely low 70s during the day and 60s at night. This is my kind of weather, perfect for outdoor living and cooking!

Ingredients and Inspiration

• Produce ready to pick: garlic scapes, lettuces, chard, herbs, raspberries, strawberries
• In the fridge: local asparagus, spinach, lamb, pork
• Cool weather means we can cook and enjoy hot foods
• I really want to can something this week; I'm hoping for cherries at a farmer's market.

Meal Plan

Monday - left overs or sandwiches after a day trip to the Wilds

Tuesday - homemade chorizo mulitas and salad

Wednesday - homemade lamb sausages over barley risotto

Thursday - pasta with asparagus and garlic scape pesto

Friday - dinner with friends

Saturday - empanadas

Sunday - Father's Day dinner with both sides of the family. The menfolk have requested burgers. I'll serve them with homemade buns, backyard salad, and deviled eggs.

What are you eating this week?

PS. If you weren't at the Ohio Blogging Association event on Sunday, you missed out. Elena of Elena Photographers led a thorough session on basic DSLR blog photography including hands on practice for me and Tiffany. I learned so much and am now confident enough to shoot in Manual mode!

Read the write up on her blog featuring my mug because I volunteered to be a model.

Note to self: next time you go to a photography lesson, prepare to be photographed.

June 6, 2011 {Meal Plan}

Ingredients and Inspiration:

• broccoli, asparagus, leftover campfire potatoes in the fridge
• red leaf lettuce and radishes need to be harvested
• We have been craving HoundDogs pizza. It's a once a season treat we haven't had in forever.
• We are picking strawberries at Schacht Farm Monday.

Menu:

Monday ~ Turkey mushroom goulash over homemade egg noodles, steamed asparagus, strawberry shortcake

Tuesday ~ Rachel at Sage with friend, Alex and Lil -  fish, broccoli, quinoa

Wednesday ~ Order pizza, backyard salad

Thursday ~ NuLifestyle launch party at The Hills

Friday ~ Bok choi/pea stir fry with sesame tofu, green onion pancakes

Saturday ~ Birthday dinner for a friend at Local Roots

Sunday ~ Honey Class at Franklin Park Conservatory 4 - 5:30 pm - spaces still available!, family dinner at Rachel's parents

Memorial Day May 30, 2011 {Meal Plan}

Ingredients and Inspiration:

• We have an abundance of vegetables in the fridge
• Our strawberries are finally ripening and we hope to go pick from a local farm this week
• No classes or special events after Monday

Meal Plan:

Monday - Homemade sausage demo at a friend's house for a cookout; we also brought fennel apple slaw.

Tuesday - Date night featuring the beet cocktail at Rossi

Wednesday - Grilled fish, asparagus pasta salad

Thursday - Homemade palak paneer over brown rice

Friday - Dinner salads and stuffed mushrooms

Saturday - Camping (grilled hot dogs, salads, etc.)

Sunday - Family dinner

Meal Plan Monday May 23, 2011

The Hound family is together again! We know no better way to enjoy each other's company than to eat and cook together.

Ingredients & Inspiration

• meatballs, chicken, pork in the freezer
• broccoli, salad greens, asparagus in the fridge
• homegrown herbs coming into season
• two cousins graduating from high school this weekend
• warm, wet weather forecast

Menu

Monday - Lil's dance parent observation day, Sushi Ting dinner to celebrate

Tuesday - spaghetti, homemade meatballs, homemade tomato sauce, steamed asparagus

Wednesday - brinner of backyard egg and broccoli fritatta, home cured Canadian bacon, cranberry bran muffins, and fruit

Thursday - grilled chicken and dinner salads

Friday - friends over for homemade pulled pork sandwiches on homemade buns, coleslaw, roasted beets and asparagus, mint juleps

Saturday - visiting Napoleon, Ohio for cousin Haley's graduation party

Sunday - visiting Springfield, Ohio for cousin Caleb's graduation party

Added to Orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday.