I got this great idea for a Tuesday Theme from my friend Diane.
I don’t have time for a longer post, and this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen. If you have children (especially of the little variety), you will understand.
Enjoy!
Menu Plan Monday-May 24
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. 
We had a family beach day yesterday. It was our first time to the beach with FIVE children; the baby doesn’t sit well yet and needed to be held most of the time. But it was fun.
I can’t believe it’s time to post a menu plan. As I’ve said before, I’m glad for this accountability. I haven’t made my menu plan yet. I don’t want to. I’m making it right now, literally as I type. Sometimes I’m more organized than this; this week is not one of those times. So…
Monday-Burgers, fresh coleslaw, potato wedges
Tuesday-Gnocchi/pasta & salad
Wednesday-Minestrone soup & salad
Thursday-Scrambled Eggs & veggies, toast
Friday- Some kind of fish, steamed vegetable, apple crisp
Saturday- leftover Minestrone soup
Sunday- leftover buffet
The “Musical Fruit”-Frugal Fridays
“Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you…..”
I always found this little rhyme at least moderately amusing. It makes me giggle even now. I haven’t shared it yet with my guys because I just know they will probably not stop saying it & then collapse in hysterics. But, they are boys, after all, It might be time to teach them about armpit “honks”. Crass, yes. But some things are just funny.
But I digress.
Beans are extremely nutritious. See bean nutrition facts here. Beans, when combined with rice, provide a complete protein. Many Latin American countries rely on this combination for most of their dietary needs.
But why do I mention it here, on Frugal Friday? Because beans are CHEAP! Really, really inexpensive. Buy the dried beans in a bag, soak them overnight, and then follow any of thousands of recipes. I have some recipes for beans here on my blog;
Chickpeas and Spinach
Lentil and Potato Stew with Spiced Oil
Mexican Taco Casserole
Cuban Black Beans
Amazing Black Bean Burgers
Have a good weekend!
Good Non-Dairy Sources of Calcium
There are many ways to get calcium from foods other than dairy products. In fact, you might already be aware that we are UNABLE to absorb the calcium in cow’s milk; in contrast, our bodies actually PULL CALCIUM OUT OF OUR BONES in order to buffer the acidity of our blood when we drink the stuff. See my post on milk for more info.
- Green leafy vegetables contain calcium. Examples are bok choy, kale, mustard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens, artichokes and broccoli. Out of these options turnip greens have the highest calcium source with 200mg per cup. Fresh broccoli is our favorite. Unfortunately, I have not developed a taste for it raw, but I’m trying. Lightly steamed is better than not at all. Basically, the darker the green, the better the nutrients. Use Romaine lettuce in your salad instead of Iceberg, please!
- Many beans are also fair sources of calcium.
- Some fruits offering good calcium levels are figs, papaya and raisins
- Sesame seeds in particular are very high in calcium and are so easy to add to a diet. They can be sprinkled over salads, added to casseroles, cereals and more. Tahini, which is a paste made from sesame seeds is very high in calcium with 2 tablespoons offering 130mg of calcium. Tahini is delicious spread on a pita, as an addition to a sandwich or added to falafel or humus. Humus which is made from garbanzo beans (chickpeas) offers 60mg per half cup and makes a wonderful dip.
- Almonds are good calcium alternatives. 1 oz. of almonds provides 80mg of calcium. You can make almond milk from almonds to add to cereal or use in baking.
Daily Recommendations:
The daily recommended intake of calcium varies according to age, but will average between 500mg and 1000mg.(Dietary Reference Intakes, National Academy of Science, 1997)
Rewards Help Me Get It Done! -WFMW
You may have noticed a dramatic increase in my number of posts lately. If you haven’t, that’s okay. I know some people who have noticed, but not because they read this blog. I am, of course, referring to mi familia.
And the way they have noticed is this: every evening when the kiddos are told to lay out their clothes for the next morning (something I learned from Flylady; very helpful), I inevitably hear something that sounds like this:
“I can’t find a shirt” or “I have no socks” or, well, you get the picture. And although I do believe we must house an entire tribe of sock hiding gremlins, at least one or two pair would be found for use, that is, if I had actually folded and put the laundry away.
I get it washed; doing one full load (sometimes 2) a day keeps me on top of it. And it gets line dried in the sun. I even figured out that I can fold as I take it off the line and stack it by owner as I put it in the basket. But still…..I just haven’t been putting it away. Some, but not all.
So, I made a new rule for myself, starting today: No Publishing A Post Until ALL Laundry is FOLDED and PUT AWAY.
As you can see, I did it!
Little rewards help me get things done. It works for me. What works for you?
See what works for lots of other moms at wearethatfamily.com
How (&Why) To Make Chicken Broth
Other than eating a yummy bowl of chicken soup (especially with matzah-balls) once in a while, I used to think that there was no real reason I would spend my time making it. I mean, soup is for eating, right? Wrong.
I found out that chicken broth is for cooking with. From soups and stews to seasoned rice and sauces, chicken broth (or any good vegetable broth) is an absolute must-have for cooking. And although you can buy canned or boxed broth, it costs MUCH LESS to make it yourself. And it really is easy.
Oh, and you don’t need to use any MSG to make it delicious! I actually used to use chicken boullion in my chicken soup and didn’t know I could get it to be flavorful without it. I mean, our grandmothers must have been absolutely primitive to not have such a convenience item, right?
Freeze your broth in a muffin tin, then pop out the frozen servings for easy use.
Take:
- A BIG pot
- Bones or carcasses you’ve been saving from previously roasted chicken dinners. OR necks or carcasses you get on sale at the market. OR 2 whole chickens (this will be a little more work, but will give you meals out of it as well)
- Add 2 onions (halved), 4 carrots, a bunch of celery leaves/1-2 stalks
- Add a bunch of parsley and a bunch of dill (thanks to my cousin Wendy for teaching me!)
- Cover with water and simmer away.
If you are using the 2 whole chickens, take the meat off of one chicken after 1 hr, returning the bones to the pot. Simmer away. Save that chicken meat for another yummy meal.
After a couple of hours, strain and remove remaining meat. That meat will be tough but works fine for chicken salad, etc. Remove all solids, strain soup, cool, and freeze.
Enjoy!
Myths & Facts About Diapers
The folks at Pampers evidently feel the need to clear up some “confusion” regarding diapers. Specifically, regarding the debate between those backwards non progressing tree hugging natural crunchy cloth diaper users and normal modern people. They actually have this myths and facts page on their site.
Here’s one of the (humorous? Unbelievable?) highlights for me.
“Myth: Disposable diapers are harmful to the environment.
Fact: All of the component materials in Pampers diapers are gentle to consumers and safe for the environment. Pampers diapers are made of materials that are also frequently used in a wide range of other consumer products.“
The italics is mine. I did it to expose an incredibly flawed logic that I believe is extremely dangerous. (Not that my mommy brain is the queen of logic, mind you)
They are saying that you should accept the toxic stuff in their diapers as being safe for the environment (and also for you) because it’s “frequently used in a wide range of other…products.”
Um…hello? Many, MANY products are FILLED with toxic stuff. That’s the problem. It’s all around us. It’s…ubiquitous! (How’s that for an SAT word from this mommy’s brain!? If you want to rid your body of the toxins it’s accumulated, you must do a purposeful detox. More on that here and here.
SODIUM POLYACRYLATE is the chemical, added in powder form to the inner pad of a disposable, that makes it super-absorbent. When the powdered form becomes wet, it turns into a gel.
It can:
Can absorb up to 100X its weight in water.
Can stick to baby’s genitals, causing allergic reactions.
Reported to cause severe skin irritations, oozing blood from perineum and scrotal tissues, fever, vomiting and staph infections in babies.
When injected into rats it has caused hemorrhage, cardiovascular failure and death.
Banned from tampons in 1985 because of its link to Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Has killed children after ingesting as little as 5 grams of it.
Causes female organ problems, slows healing wounds, fatigue and weight loss to the employees in factories that manufacture it.
above info taken from an article on The Diaper Hyena; entire article here
According to the Clean Air Council, parents throw away 570 diapers PER SECOND! And one diaper takes 300 YEARS to break down.
Watch a 2 min news report on why a mother of triplets has chosen to switch to cloth diapers.
I wrote a 2 part post on cloth diapers and why I use them. You can read them here and here.
Simply Delicious Spaghetti Sauce
I always thought that to make your own spaghetti sauce (and have it be good), you needed to know some deep cooking secret. I was thrilled to find out how simple it is. Here’s what I do:
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tin tomato paste
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4-5 large cloves garlic, chopped
splash of white wine
about 1 tsp each of basil, oregano, and thyme
1 tbsp honey/brown sugar/sucanat/stevia to taste
2 tbsp butter
- Saute the onion, green pepper, and garlic in olive oil a nice long 15 mins at least–till soft & sweet.
- Add everything except the butter and sweetener, if you are using them. Simmer at least 1 hour. Longer if you want. (you can use a crockpot if you want to walk away from it all day)
- Add sweetener and butter (the butter cuts the tanginess of the tomatoes), simmer another 15 mins or so. Taste & adjust seasonings.
- Serve over whole wheat pasta, top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese (if you use it), and serve it up with a nice big green salad. Enjoy!
Chickpeas and Spinach
from The Occasional Vegetarian
1 pound fresh spinach, washed & stems removed. (I use a bag of frozen chopped)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped scallions, white & green parts (I’ve used onion or leek instead)
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp lemon juice
- Steam the spinach until the leaves are wilted, 1-2 minutes. Drain.
- In a heavy-bottom saucepan, saute’ the garlic lightly in the oil, about 2 mins. Add the scallions and saute’ for 1 minute.
- Add the drained spinach, chickpeas, cumin, salt, and pepper, Stir, cover, and cook over low heat until the spinach and chickpeas are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stir again. Add more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve hot.
I like to mix this in with some whole grained rice (about 1 1/2 cups) and some labana cheese (plain yogurt would work fine). I serve this with some good fresh bread and more labana and olive oil for dipping. I’ve added sauteed mushrooms in a few times and it was delicious.
Menu Plan Monday- May 17
I can’t believe it’s Monday again. Time flies, as you well know. I’m glad I’ve made this commitment to post my menu plan, because otherwise I might not make one. And that would be bad. Here goes:
Monday-Spinach and chickpeas, rice, labana cheese & pita.
Tuesday-Spaghetti with chunky tomato sauce (make double sauce to freeze for future use), Breadsticks, salad.
Wednesday-Creamy Carrot Soup (extra to freeze), salad
Thursday-Veggie & Tuna noodle casserole (make an extra to freeze), steamed veggie.
Friday- not sure. Probably fish of some kind, steamed veg, challah, Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk cookies.
Saturday- Leftover carrot soup
Sunday-Burgers & Fries, coleslaw
To see lots of other menu plans, go to orgjunkie.com