Wheatberry Bakery
Grain CSA
Fields & Fire BlogMonday night – menus
Oh, Monday. The most maligned day. At our house, I have been thinking a lot about the rhythm of our day and week. In December and January, the fledgling rhythm I had started last fall crumbled under the weight of the grain processing and distribution, and then our trip . . . but now, I am determined to get things back in shape. I’ve thought for a while that a rhythm or schedule might be nice, but it seemed constraining, boring. Not the sort of thing that wild entrepreneurial types are into, right?
At the same time, I found myself drawn to the idea, and especially once Ella was no longer a baby, the idea kept coming up again and again, both for her sake and mine! Reading books like Mrs. Dunwoody’s Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping (hilarious and also useful!) sold me on the idea of setting up household tasks for different days of the week (i.e. Monday is Laundry Day here), and books like Heaven on Earth and The Seven O’Clock Bedtime made me think about how truly the pattern of our day, and knowing what is coming, can make a big difference. So, back to the rhythm we (hopefully) go.
Which brings us back to Monday. Monday is laundry day (or, rather, start laundry day – with line-drying in the winter it takes a few days), but it is also the day I sit down to write out menus for the week. I look at what meat is in the freezer, what vegetables are in our “root cellar”, in the freezer, or on the shelf canned, and what we have for cheese/dairy products. Then I gather a few trusty cookbooks, and I write out a list of recipes that I’ll make in the week ahead. I don’t assign days to them, although I know some families do this with a lot of success. I find that knowing which recipes I’ll be making, what I’ll be doing with that celeriac that really needs to get used up, and writing it down so that I can free up just a wee bit of brain space, is a huge relief. Makes the week that much smoother.
So, I thought I’d start sharing our Monday menu list. Just a list of recipe ideas, in no particular order. (I’ve included which cookbooks they’re coming from – I tend to use recipes as a jumping-off point and improvise based on what we’ve got. Some of these don’t have cookbooks listed, because they’re family favorites that I make without a recipe) May they bring you inspiration, and a glimpse of what cooking from the deep winter local kitchen looks like.
Week of February 15:
* Roasted Beets with Oat Groats (Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass)
* Masa-Harina Beef Casserole (Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass)
* Roasted Root Veggies (beets, parsnips, turnips, celeriac, potatoes – diced, roasted in the oven with butter, salted. yum)
*Roast Leg of Lamb with Roasted Potatoes and Garlic
* Roasted Turkey
*Farro Risotto with Butternut Squash and Toasted Nuts (Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass)
* Lentil Spinach Soup (The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison)
* Potatoes and Mushrooms Baked in Cream (The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison)
* Aigo Bouido (Chez Panisse Vegetables, by Alice Waters)
* Spanish Chickpea Soup (Chez Panisse Vegetables, by Alice Waters)
Bon Appetit everyone!
Oooooh. You’re making me hungry. And you’re reminding me that I really want to get a copy of that Lorna Sass cookbook.
I think I expended any energy I had for planning out meals ahead by indulging in many hours of food prep and cooking today: made pot roast with veggies, herbs, and wine; got some sauerkraut started in my new-old crock (from Kay Baker!); hand-milled six cups of red fife wheat and made focaccia with thyme harvested from the snow!
At the dinner table, while eating lentil soup and pot roast and pickles, we were all so extremely happy. Tom said, “I am a very lucky man.” Lily was especially enamoured of the lentil soup, which Tom and I thought was appropriate as her nickname before birth was “Lentil.”
Now I am madly curious about the Lentil Spinach Soup by Deborah Madison…. my lentil soup was also inspired by Deborah Madison, from her “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.”
I’ve been writing down menus too this year. It’s true, it helps me to actually cook things and not waste! I love the Greens cookbook. I bought it for myself on my birthday last year. I’m a big fan of the kale and potato soup with red chili, yum!
Thoughtful menu planning is a task that I have been learning this winter, too. Planning helps me use my food resources wisely and also give me direction. I sometimes blank out when I walk into our kitchen without a plan; that is when we end up eating something processed. Yikes! Planning ahead has really made our menu healthier, more local, and more varied. One trick I like is I use a calendar (nailed inside a handy kitchen cabinet) to both record what we eat as well as plan future meals. At the end of the month we vote on which recipes to keep in our winter menu rotation. This voting process has been fun for us.
Thanks again for such an enjoyable blog. You are a much anticipated daily read for me. I am heading to the library to check out some of those referenced cookbooks!
That sounds like such a wonderful, and healthy set of meals. I really need to get better at meal planning for my family, Some days I feel like I am not making a decision until about 3 pm, which is never good.
Looks wonderful Adrie
Heather, I hear you! I totally blank out sometimes if I haven’t started something by mid-afternoon, which is why I try so hard to plan ahead. Thank you!
Sarah,
Thank you so much – your words touched me so much. I love the calender voting system (although I suspect I have control issues that would make that really hard for me – but maybe that would be good!). All of your thoughts on planning ahead are right on. Thank you again, and be well.
Yummy kale potato soup! I don’t actually own Greens – I just keeping checking it out of our library (which is right down the street) every month or two, haha. Thanks for stopping by!
Wow, what a lot of cooking! Sounds like a fabulous dinner – and yummy foccacia. Love that the thyme was snow-harvested. And I can’t even say how hilarious it is that Lily’s nickname was Lentil! Love it!!
this post reminds me of some quotes from Annie Dillard…
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ”
— Annie Dillard
“A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.” – — Annie Dillard
“There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet. Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading — that is a good life.”
— Annie Dillard (The Writing Life)
Ok so I can pop round for dinner any time yes? I mean you can’t go posting that and not expect a line up at the door ; )
Love these quotes, especially, “It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands”. Thanks for sharing these Mom!
Haha, absolutely – just give a holler first.