Let me begin with an apology, less to the reader and more to myself. A week into this blogging venture and I have already missed a day. My goal is to post the weekly menu each Friday but with a surprise guest in town, I could not post this last night. Maybe I will have something to say again later today, maybe not. With no further ado, the weekly menu!
Last week’s menu was exciting because I tried a bunch of new recipes. The problem with last week was time. I spent way more time in the kitchen than I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I like cooking and all that, but sometimes it wears and sometimes it’s nice to make a simple meal. And so with this attitude I wrote a simpler menu.
- Roasted chicken and gravy with creamy polenta and roasted vegetables
- Chicken and rice soup with spinach salad (the leftover meat from the roast makes this meal possible)
- Vegetable stir-fry with rice and miso
- Meat sauce with rice and spinach salad (same salad recipe as above)
- Polenta pizza with roasted beets
- “Lamb dogs” with roasted beets and steamed zucchini
As you can see there is obvious overlap of in the dishes. Living on a food budget necessitates that there is repetition of certain ingredients as this helps keep the cost down. At the same time, I should also note that we may not get to all the meals. For example, I know that we are going camping next weekend and so Friday night we may be eating over the campfire. We also know that some of these dishes create lots of food (i.e. the meat sauce, polenta pizza and soup.) The leftovers are a blessing because they can substitute meals and a curse because you get lazy and choose not to follow-through with the menu. Only time will tell on that though.
Another important feature of the menu is the meat. As you will get to know, I am a strong advocate of grass-fed or pasture-raised animals (meat.) In the near future I will extrapolate on this passion of mine. For now, I want to note that I am a member of a meat buying club in Portland called Afton Field Farm. Through this small-scale family-farm in Corvallis, OR I can purchase any number of cuts of beef, lamb, pig and chicken. I stick to the lamb, beef and chicken myself, but I am sure their pig is delicious. The benefits of participating in this club are many:
1. All product is bought directly from the farmer, literally. That means that my money goes into their pocket and does not get filtered through grocery stores and distributors and other ‘middle men.’
2. There is no minimum purchase. Some buying clubs charge a fee to join (this one does not) and others ask for a minimum purchase. As someone who writes weekly menus and knows how much meat we consume in a month, I am able to plan out are meat consumption for the month. Thus, buying our meat all at once enables us to ration our meat instead of splurging too many days a week.
3. If I get sick or the meat is bad (for whatever reason) I know who to go to. I know that if a problem arises the farmer will do something about it. I can hold them accountable for the food they sell me. Unlike grocery stores, they rely on the health of the consumer as well as the money of the consumer to function.
4. Tyler Jones, the man behind the meat, was an apprentice on Joel Salatin’s Polyface farm. As I mentioned in a previous post, My heroes in food, Joel Salatin is the leader of pasture-raised animals. His work in Virginia is modeled around the country. In fact, the reason why I also mentioned Mike Braucher as a hero was because he implemented the Salatin method on his farm. Maybe I should put Tyler on my ‘heroes list’ too!
Aside from the farm and the club, the meat is the main driving force. The health and environmental benefits of eating pasture-raised animals is enormous. (I will discuss this in detail later.) And what better way to eat healthy meat than by supporting a local family farm. Opportunities like this make meal planning far more affordable, healthier and locally sourced.
*Note: the cost for this weeks groceries was 50$.
