Week 3

It's cold out, it's snowed, and Thanksgiving is just days away, which means the menu at my home no longer revolves around the grill and takes on more comfort food. I know that we often think that comfort food has to be bad for us, or contribute to winter weight gain, but it is okay to eat these hearty meals. It's important, though, to make sure that you are getting your ingredients from a quality source, like using organic ingredients whenever possible and meat that has been raised in a healthy, hormone free way, also rounding out meals with fresh (or frozen, depending on availability) veggies will help ensure a more nutritious dinner.

If you are reading in Northern Indiana then the word "haystack" has many meanings to you, but what I learned in eighth grade home ec is that one of those meanings is dinner. We began by laying down a bed of tortilla chips, these can be whatever you want from organic corn chips to regular Tostitos or Fritos to Doritos, again the quality of the ingredients you choose is what determines the nutrition of your meal, and also portion control is key. Next we added rice and taco meat, and to eliminate a lot of junk in your taco meat I recommend making your own taco seasoning, it is really easy and delicious, and eliminates those long named ingredients that you aren't quite sure what they do, but you get the feeling you shouldn't eat them. After you have your base you can top with your favorite ingredients like chopped tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, and cheese. The great thing about this meal is that each family member can personalize it to their taste, which also makes this a nice meal for company as everyone can make their own and you can decrease your time in the kitchen since everyone builds their own haystack.

As a German family schnitzel is a beloved favorite meal, it's sort of the German equivalent to the pork tenderloin, except this week we will be making it with chicken for a little bit of a change. Our family always pairs schnitzel with a German noodle called Spaetzle, which are similar to a dumpling. You can also round this meal out with sauerkraut if you are daring, or like that sort of thing, Gurkensalat (cucumber salad), or even just a green salad.

Every week we do at least one crock pot meal, and that is on Sunday evenings. We are part of a new church plant that meets on Sunday at 4pm, so in order to set up and tear down we are gone from about 1:30 on Sunday until about 6, so unless we put dinner in the crock pot, we will end up going out to eat. This week we are putting pork chops in the crock pot, and you can serve these meaty goodies up over rice, potatoes, or noodles with the sauce or sop it up with some bread. You can add some freshness to this meal by slicing up cucumbers and/or other veggies and mixing with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I assume that most of you will be partaking of some sort of turkey dinner, or other Thanksgiving equivalent this week, so we will be short a meal, but wanted to share a recipe for Thanksgiving leftover casserole so that you have a meal that also uses up your leftovers, and it doesn't even add anything to your grocery list.

And now your grocery list;

ground Beef
tortilla chips
rice (can use Mexican or Spanish rice if you would like)
tomatoes
lettuce
shredded cheese
avocados/guacamole
cumin
paprika
chilli powder
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
Boneless skinless chicken (the recipe calls for breasts, but you can use your favorite cut)
breadcrumbs
lemons
eggs
flour
milk
sauerkraut (if desired)
cucumbers (if making gurkensalat)
sour cream
dill
vinegar
sugar
pork chops
chicken broth
garlic
poultry seasoning
Italian seasoning
potatoes/rice/noodles/bread (depending what you eat with your chops)

If you have time off with your family this week don't forget to enjoy them, hopefully easy meals that take little time to prep will help minimize your time in the kitchen and maximize your time spent with the ones you love. Have a delicious, Happy Thanksgiving!!