This Week's Feast

Our kitchen has been torn apart this week. We are having some remodeling done. I was not sure when it would be functional again. We hope by tomorrow we can put the furniture together in time to feast on Saturday. I am so ready to really cook again. Anyway, because of this I am not sure what we will have for our feast. I am thinking about an Italian roast that I found in Gourmet magazine. I believe I can put it in the crock pot. If it turns out decent I will share the recipe. I will do the Olive Garden salad that I shared a few weeks ago, some garlic bread and something great for dessert.What are you planning?

My Plans for the Week

It has been two weeks since we were able to have a Sabbath feast. I am looking foward to doing one this coming weekend. We have an incredibly week.(It seems they are all busy lately.) I will have to do something that does not require a lot of prep. My first thought is the chicken divan I posted last week, but I do not have the ingredients. I do however, have some beautiful salmon in my freezer. I think I will do an asian marinade. It will only take a few minutes to broil on Saturday. I will do rice to go with it and a salad with a great dressing. Costco has great bread. We love their baguette. I will get some to go with the meal. I have to have bread. It is the only night during the week that we have bread. I think my kids look foward to that more than dessert. I am not sure what wine we will have. I have to check to see what we have. Once I decide all of the details I will will post recipes. Right now I am thinking I will make my marinade and salad dressing Thursday and put the Salmon in the marinade on Friday. I will also make my salad on Friday. Leaving out the dressing and anything that will get soggy. Friday or Saturday I will get my bread. The rice only takes minutes to make. The Salmon will broil in about 20 minutes. I still have to decide on dessert. This looks like a great meal that will not take a lot of time on Saturday to prepare. I will let you know.

Help for Working Moms

I have been asked by a reader to post some advice to women working outside the home. First I'll just say that I do not work outside the home, though sometimes I do get bogged down with many things that keep me away. I am not sure how realistic my advice will be,as I am not experienced with this. I believe that for many who work, Saturday is a catch up day. It is spent cleaning house and running errands. I think the same rules would apply as when I have a Saturday that I am not home or a busy Friday that does not allow for preparation. One of the first things I would say is, to pull this off you will have to think about this early in the week and prepare through out the week. I try to know my menu a week ahead, so I can prepare when I have a few extra minutes through the week. If you are doing potatoes on Thursday, chop some extra and let them sit in water in the refrigerator until your feast. All you will have to do is drain, season and roast. I have a great recipe for a mashed potato casserole that can be made ahead of time. You will have to think about recipes that are quick and easy. I would suggest your main dishes be meats that can go in the crock pot or you can put in the oven and not have to think about again. Purchase bagged salads and just add some of your families favorite toppings and dressing. These are just a few things off the top of my head. I will look for few make ahead recipes and try to think some more on this.

Julie

Weekend Plans and Recipes

Once again my plans have changed for the weekend. We are back to feasting on Saturday night. Though, I will not be home to cook, so I will be using the crock pot. I plan on using one of the chickens I bought on sale this week. I will do a roasted root vegetable dish and creamy brussel sprouts. It will be a busy weekend. Isaac and Sarah Beth have a violin recital in the afternoon and we have family in town. But, with my trusty crock pot, I will pull it off.

Now for the chicken recipes I promised
* 1 roasting chicken, 4 to 5 pounds
* seasoned salt
* 1 onion, peeled
* 1 carrot, cut in 1-inch chunks
* 1 rib celery, cut in 1-inch chunks
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1 cup fresh orange juice
* finely chopped green onion and parsley, for garnish

PREPARATION:
Wash chicken and rub with seasoned salt. Stuff cavity with onion, carrot and celery. Place chicken in shallow baking dish or on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast at 325° for about 3 hours (internal temperature should be about 375°).
Mix orange juice and cornstarch in a small bowl or measuring cup. About 30 minutes before chicken is done, brush chicken generously with orange juice mixture. Brush again about 15 minutes before done. Sprinkle with chopped green onion and parsley before serving, if desired.
Roast whole chicken serves 6.




Roasted Sticky Chicken

* 1 large chicken -- (roasting)
* 1 cup onion -- chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon white pepper
* 1 teaspoon thyme
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 4 teaspoons salt

This should have been done last night: In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.


I plan on doing the Roasted Sticky Chicken this weekend. I hope you enjoy the recipes.

Menu Planning

In my effort to make things more simple during the week, I have subscribed to www.menus4moms.com. They will e-mail a menu every week. The meals are simple and child friendly. It is also free!! I put the link in my sidebar. Because I shop according to sales, I sometimes have to change it around or look at the archive menus. I just try to pick meals that have ingredients that I have already purchased or are on sale that week. This has been a great tool for me. I hope it helps you.

Julie

Weekend Plans

It is Tuesday and I am thinking about the weekend. We will more than likely move our feast to Sunday. For multiple reasons I do not think Saturday is going to work. We do not take it lightly when we move our feast. Not because we are legalistic, but because we enjoy what it has done for our family to prepare ahead for worship. We also realize if we do not set a standard and hold our ground, than something can always get in the way and we would never feast. That said, sometimes it just cannot be helped. So, I will probably do a nice brunch after church. Our church meets early and we are home by 10:30. This will give us time to eat, clean up and then be ready for the Super Bowl.(Big deal in my full of testosterone house!)I get back with you on how this all works out.
Julie

Weekend Plans

It is Tuesday,and I have started to look at the weekend. We have invited company for our feast. They have not responded, so I am not sure what to do yet. I have london broil in the freezer. I think I found it on sale for $1.99lb. I have the ingredients for broccoli casserole. That's a favorite around here. Bruce(husband) loves my roasted potatoes. I will more than likely do bread with honey butter. If we have company I will do a nice dessert. If we do not, then I will stick with icecream. My kids really do like that better. Oh yeah! I cooked the ham last night that I was supposed to have on Saturday. I did an apricot honey glaze. HUGE success. I will post the recipe later. I am waiting for the tow truck to come and get my car. It will not start. Nothing to make you feel more trapped than when you do not have a vehicle. Anyway need to get back to the window to watch for the truck.

Julie

Best Laid Plans

So, what is that they say about best laid plans? Well, in all of my planning last week I forgot it was a teacher work day at school on Friday. Not normally a problem. I know there are home-school moms who cook everyday, and I can cook while the kids are home. But, teacher work days are special for us because, daddy still has to go to school while the kids stay home and have a ton of fun. This usually involves going out to lunch. We had plans Friday night. Therefore my Friday cooking did not get done. Saturday was full as well. I suggested moving the feast. My husband says no. We will just want to crash on Sunday due to the busy weekend, and i was starting to lead a ladies book study that night. He thought it was too much for me. So, he says let's just do a pared down feast. Thankfully we had some steaks in the freezer that had been given to us as a gift. I threw some potatoes in the oven and sauteed some asparagus in garlic olive oil and pine nuts. I sprinkled feta cheese on top when they were done cooking.(Yes, my children love asparagus. I know they are weird.) It would have been okay to just skip this week, but it is a night my family as grown to love. We did not want to skip. We just were a little more laid back. Instead of wild and crazy games, we curled up on the couch as daddy read Prince Caspian. Or as Zachary(3) says Prince P. Caspian. So, what is the point here? Do not be legalistic about feasting. Set the standard you want to attain, knowing that occasionally it will have to be altered.

Julie

Planning

It is Sunday night and I am planning out my week. I usually try to assess what is in the pantry and freezer to see what my feasting options are. I then try to pair it with whatever is on sale at the grocery store. I also explore what my options are for preparing food ahead of time. I have a ham in the freezer that I purchased when they were on sale at Christmas. I have ingredients for corn pudding that were also on sale at some point. I think I will do twice baked potatoes as well. I will plan a healthier vegetable after I check out the sale paper. I also have the ingredients to make an apricot-honey glaze for the ham. It took me some time to get in the mind set to always be on the look out for sale priced ingredients that would make great feasting options. I rarely pay full price for these things. It takes planning. I am usually thinking a few weeks off. I will let you know through the week how my preparations are going. I would love to hear tips from anyone else on this subject.

Julie