Once-a-month Cooking Step 2 - Shop

Before you head to the store, spend a bit of time organizing your list by store departments.  It will make your shopping so much easier.  You may even want to organize it by store, determining what you will buy at a warehouse store and what will come from a grocery chain.  We have two different groups of stores for our shopping:

              Costco, Target and Vons   or   Sam's Club, Walmart and Vons

I have found that each warehouse store offers different collections of food, and one may better meet my needs for the month of menus that another.  But, it will take a combination of stores to complete the shopping.  Most of my items come from the warehouse stores, but smaller amounts, say one can of soup, or a specialty ingredient will come from another store.  Our Target has a fabulous grocery section with excellent prices.  By the time I get to Vons, I usually only have a few fresh produce items or a couple of less-popular ingredients than other stores carry.

You may want to designate a separate shopping day from your cooking day.  This was great advice I received from the book, Once-a-Month Cooking.  It will take many hours the first time you shop for a month, but I now spend only about 2-3 hours shopping, and that included driving time. 

When I bring the groceries home, I put all the fresh meat in the fridge, frozen chicken goes in the freezer.  I leave the canned goods in bags until cooking day.  Why put away what I'm going to use right away?

Depending on the size of your freezer, you may want to forego ice cream and extra bread the week of cooking.  Once you eat a few meals you'll have room to stock up on these items again.

Caramel Chocolate Bars

This is a favorite dessert that we serve at the Honduran Women's Bible Conference each January, and a favorite of our mission team.  It is ooey and gooey, and reminiscent of a candy bar.  Have a beverage handy!  Coffee or milk are recommended.  Enjoy!

2 C flour (add up to 1/2 C for high altitude)
2 C oatmeal
1 1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 C butter, melted

2 C chocolate chips
12 oz. caramel ice cream topping mixed with 1/4 C flour

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Melt butter and mix together with dry ingredients.
In a 9" x 13" pan, pat 4 C of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan, forming a crust.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.  (13 min at 325F in a convection oven)

While still hot, sprinkle with the chocolate chips.  Pour caramel sacue over the chocolate chips.  Cover with the remaining 2 C of crumb mixture.  Crumble it over rather than patting it down.  Return to the oven and bake an additional 15 minutes (or 13 in a convection oven).  Cool overnight or at least several hours before cutting into bars.

Yield:  12 extra large bars or 35 smaller bars







This dessert is worth every one of the 18 Points Plus as calculated with the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder.  And who could eat less than 1/12 of the pan?



Overnight Salad aka Disappearing Salad

A number of years ago, my sister-in-law served this salad at a family party. It was quite the hit and has become a staple at my house ever since.  Built on a bed of romaine lettuce, this crunchy, cold, green salad is yummy for any meal of the day.  Just ask my daughters who have eaten if for breakfast and fought over the leftovers for lunch!  And while I'll suggest amounts of ingredients, you can increase or decrease according to your personal tastes.

3 heads of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1 bag of frozen peas (about 1 lb.)
1 can of water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
4 stalks of celery coarsely chopped
1 bunch of green onions, sliced (about 8 stalks)
1/2 to 1 C crumbled bacon
1/2 C of mayonaise
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
3-5 hard-boiled eggs, sliced or chopped
1-2 large tomatoes, sliced or chopped

While this can be a beautiful centerpiece by building it in a trifle bowl, I want to be sure I get all the flavors, so I make it in a glass 9" x 13" pan.

Place lettuce in glass pan.  Cover with frozen peas.   Sprinkle with water chestnuts, celery, green onions and bacon.  With a rubber spatula, spread mayo over this layer.  It does not need to be thick unless you love mayo.  Sprinkle evenly, but somewhat sparingly with seasoned salt.  Either chop eggs and tomatoes, which I find best for truly scattering the flavors, or slice for a more formal look.  Chill overnight, all day or even just an hour or two.  It's best the longer the flavors can marry before eating, but it is also forgiving of your excitement to indulge.

To enjoy tonight:  Dish up and eat!

To enjoy later: The salad will hold for about 24 hours. As far a freezing goes, I only freeze the peas and bacon. Serve early in the month if part of a Once-a-month rotation so all the veggies will be fresh.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I had some leftover shredded chicken in the freezer and decided to turn it into Chicken Salad for an easy meal tonight and leftovers for lunches tomorrow.  This recipe is a take-off from a Weight Watcher's version which was 3 points plus per 1/2 C serving. I love grapes more than pimentos so you'll find fresh grapes in my version.

4 C shredded chicken
1/2 C diced celery
1/4 C sliced green onions
3/4 C quartered red grapes
1/8 C dried parsley
2 T lemon juice
1/2 C mayo (reduced fat if you like)
1/4 C plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!  I served it on fresh croissants, but you could use a lower calorie bread as well or enjoy it on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce.

To enjoy later:  This recipe will not freeze well due to the mayo, so just freeze the chicken and mix together when ready to enjoy.

Once-a-month Cooking Step 1 - Organize

Before you begin Once-a-Month Cooking, calendar two days; one for shopping and one for cooking.  They do not have to be back-to-back as long as you have refrigerator space for the fresh items until cooking day.  I usually shop Tuesday or Wednesday for a few hours and then cook on Saturday.

The first step in cooking once-a-month style is to gather your recipes.  From these, create a menu (Excel is a great tool!) and grocery list.  As best you can, try to group meats by bulk packaging at your favorite warehouse store for the best deals.

Over the years, I've created files in Excel that I just update with a new recipe now and then, or take off one we are tired of eating or I don't feel like making.  I've started color coding the menu titles by meats, too.  I have each month of menus and the corresponding recipes/directions in a 1/2" binder.  The binder sits on my counter all month for easy reference of recipes as I serve them.

Gravy

I tried something new last night when my son requested "good gravy" for the mashed potatoes.  Personally, the potatoes I made do not need a thing, other than a spoon to eat, but I indulged him.  Since I had marinated the beef in mesquite, I would not have the typical beef juices to create a gravy, and I wanted to save the drippings for au jus.

So, here's what I did.

Boil 2 cups of water in the microwave in a safe, glass bowl.
Add 3 tsp. of Beef Better than Boullion and disolve.

Take out about 3/4 of liquid and mix in about 1/3 C flour until smooth.
Slowly add this back into the boiling broth which should now be in a small saucepan over a low flame.  Stir quickly until all the flour mixture is absorbed.  Using a whisk will help to prevent clumps. 

It was quite nice.

"Good" Beef Gravy
 

Birthday Dinner and Mashed Potatoes

For a birthday celebration meal I usually take a detour from my monthly menu.  Tonight's menu features the favorites of the birthday boy:

Mesquite seasoned Tri-tip (simply drizzle oil on meat and generously sprinkle with purchased seasoning.  Allow to marinate for 30 minutes to several hours before baking.)
The best mashed potatoes ever!
"good" gravy - hmmm.  (I am trying a new idea tonight.)
green beans (canned of course!)
garlic bread (We love "Johnny's" seasoning added to butter and broiled)
and Creme Brulee for dessert

I thought I'd share the potatoe recipe with you.  It's new to me and with a personal tweak, definitely a keeper!

4 lbs. potatoes, cleaned and quartered  (I keep the skins on.)
1 C heavy whipping cream
1/2 C fat-free milk
1/4 butter, softened
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper


Optional items:
3 green onions, chopped
3/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Place potatoes in a large pot of boiling water and cook until easily pierced by fork.
Drain potatoes and return to pan.  Warm the cream and milk in the microwave and pour over potatoes along with butter, salt and pepper.  Mash by hand tool or whip with a hand-mixer until nearly smooth.  Enjoy!