Tackling Menus (Day 4)

When Liam went down for his nap this morning, I had a choice: tackle the bathroom that desperately needs cleaning, or take a deep breath, grab paper, a pen, and my inventory list from yesterday, and start tackling some menus. As tempting as scouring the bathroom was, I chose the dreaded menus.

I grabbed the latest issue of Bon Appetit, to see what they had to offer, and it turns out that they had quite a bit. Besides the truly amazing from-scratch brownies I tried out last week (recipe at the end of this post), they had several recipes that would use some of the stock from my shelves, and sounded delicious. Granted, I will be making some substitutions to stay within my budget, but putting a "Stacked Veggie Quesadilla," "Butternut Squash Risotto," "Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash" and a "Winter Salad" on the menu was downright exciting! These are all things that I am sure will still be appealing in a few days when I go to make them.

In fact, I actually enjoyed making the menu for the rest of the month, and I think I discovered why:

1. I knew what I had on my shelves from the inventory yesterday.
2. I was using that list of things I already have (and like) to determine the menu, instead of trying to find things that "sound good" to put on the list.
3. I just made a random list of menu options to maximize what I had, but didn't try to assign them to specific days. I think that bogs me down sometimes.
4. I'm actually kind of excited about eating through some of this food. :)

Actually, I found such pleasure in the menu options this morning that I even went so far as to plan out possibilities for breakfast, lunch, and my once-a-week dessert treats. All this from the gal who spent and entire post yesterday telling you how much I hate menu planning. Perhaps there's hope for me yet!

That was the easy part. As pointed out by a friend the other day, though, the hard part is going to be adding vegetable sides to some of these dishes, and still staying in the budget. Produce is expensive. As much as I like to buy organic, I have to admit to shopping from the "conventional" produce section fairly often to stretch my budget. I do try to find as many deals on organic food as possible. For example, my mom and I shared a winter CSA share for December/January that kept us in delicious organic produce for quite awhile! But now that I'm back to shopping the grocery stores, it will be a challenge. I will let you know how I make out when I hit the grocery store this weekend to add some essential, fresh nutrients to our diet.

For tonight, Justin will be making his famous (well, at least in this family) pineapple-pepper chicken stir-fry tonight. It's the first stir-fry I ever enjoyed, which has made it a huge favorite with me. Since it's one of my work nights, I'll get to enjoy this delicious meal for lunch tomorrow.

In closing, as we head into the weekend, I wanted to leave you with this recipe from Bon Appetit. It's a recipe by Alice Medrich, and as far as I'm concerned, she's a genius! They claimed they were the "best ever brownies," so of course, I had to try them. I don't usually like from-scratch brownies. But these are going in my recipe box. Delicious. Enjoy!

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1-1/4 c. sugar (but I used a little less--depends on how sweet you like things)
3/4 c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder (scooped into measuring cup, then leveled to measure)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, chilled
1/2 c. plus 1 Tablespoon unbleached flour
1 c. walnut pieces

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325 degrees F.
Line 8x8x2 in metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with non-stick spray.
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon(generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.