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I have been a fan of monthly menu planning for the past couple of years because of the simplicity it provides for my life. It enables me to decrease my grocery shopping excursions to twice a month and have more free time to focus on my family and home. How do we do it? Learn more with my step by step guide on this process here. It may not be for everyone, but it is a fun adventure to try it out. It really takes one solid chunk of a few hours time to plan out a monthly menu that can be rotated for several months. I usually make two monthly menu plans per year – one for winter/spring and the other for summer/fall. This season we are utilizing the crockpot a lot more. I wanted to be able to prepare nutritious real food meals without consuming too much time. With three little ones, getting dinner prepared in the morning is so much easier! There is less clean up and less hassle. You will notice many of recipes below come from Crockpot 365, which we will be sampling and experimenting with this year.

Here is our updated winter/spring menu plan for the new year!

Breakfasts

These remain the same on a weekly basis with some variety:

Monday – kefir green smoothie, fried eggs, bread (muffin or toast)
Tuesday – Soaked Oatmeal w/raisins & apples
Wednesday – French toast
Thursday – Soaked Oatmeal w/raisins & apples
Friday – Eggs (Breakfast burritos) or Fruit salad, yogurt & granola
Saturday – Soaked Pancakes
Sunday – Granola or cold cereal (a quick breakfast before church), hard boiled eggs

Lunches

Lunches are a bit more flexible, as often times we will have leftovers on hand to eat from a previous meal, but if not, I keep the ingredients on hand for these ideas:

Monday – Salmon Melts
Tuesday – Egg Salad Sandwiches
Wednesday –Tomato Soup & grilled cheese sandwiches
Thursday- Ham & Cheese sandwiches, fruit/vegi, Crockpot Mac & Cheese
Friday – Peanut Butter & Jelly or regular sandwiches
Saturday – Leftovers (Saturday is generally leftover day or clean out the fridge day)

In addition to our weekly menu, we have a baking day on a weekly basis. Every Tuesday afternoon, we will rotate through restocking some nutritious snacks and baked goods, such as granola, protein bars, granola bars, muffins, and/or biscuits for various meals. 

Dinners

I like to choose dinner themes for each night to work around. This time around we are using the following themes:

Winter Menu form
Monthly Menu Planner form

Looking forward to trying some new recipes this season and simplifying my life at the same time! Real food crockpot recipes here we come! What recipes are you excited to try this season?

For more on the topic of monthly menu planning, check out Simplifying Grocery Shopping & the Benefits of Monthly Menu Planning.

I love fall and the smells, colors, and sounds that it brings! I have been getting excited about apples, pumpkins, harvest festivals, and simply enjoying a hot cup of homemade cocoa as the cold weather sets in. Today we made some yummy healthy pumpkin muffins with good wholesome ingredients and it turned out heavenly! They were light, fluffy, and full of rich flavor. They are being consumed very quickly around here. The kids and I enjoyed them over a hot cup of homemade cocoa…ahh! The sugar and oil in this recipe can be easily adapted to what you have on hand. We just prefer these more natural choices.

Ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1 – 15 oz can)
1 cup coconut oil, melted
2 cups rapadura/sucanat (a natural unrefined whole cane sugar – learn more here)
4 eggs
3 cups & 2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour (I used a combination of whole wheat & spelt)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, coconut oil, eggs, and sugar. Mix until smooth.
2. In a second bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
3. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the first bowl of wet ingredients. Gently fold in, just until mixed. Do not overmix.
4. Grease your pans or muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes for muffins or 45 minutes for loaf pan.

Yield: 2 loaf pans, or 20-24 muffins

For a cup of homemade cocoa to accompany your muffins, mix 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder with 1 1/2 tablespoons of honey in 8 oz of water or drizzle this homemade chocolate syrup into hot water to your taste. Enjoy!

What a blessing to be finishing up stocking my freezer with good produce for the upcoming year! It is so important to our family. We love having an assortment of frozen berries for smoothies, berry sauce, berry desserts, and more. We find local sources of fresh berries when in season that have not been sprayed with various chemicals to preserve. I usually get an assortment of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries for our freezer each summer. Our methods for preservation are very simple. I don’t worry about layering them all out on individual cookie sheets to freeze as it requires too much space and time.

1. No rinsing required! I buy non-sprayed berries so there is no worry of chemicals on them. I will only rinse if I noticed excessive dirt on the berries, but having dry berries is key to preventing them from sticking together in the freezer.

2. Layer the berries in individual gallon size freezer Ziploc bags. Chose the quality brand that are specifically designed for freezer use because you want them to protect your investment of fruit! I empty two pints of berries per Ziploc and gently spread them out in a thin layer. I want to avoid them sticking together, so make sure not to overcrowd them. One to two layers of berries is most effective.

3. Place them on various shelves of your freezer. I simply put one bag on top of each shelf. Try to avoid stacking bags until they are completely frozen. This will again help to prevent sticking berries.

4. When frozen, I like to combine two bags together. I gently break the frozen berries apart so they are only individually frozen. If you didn’t put too much in each bag, then there will only be a few stuck together that easily will separate. I add two bags into one which helps consolidate and save bags. I like to rinse out the other Ziplocs and use them for another purpose.

5. Make sure to press out all the excess air from the bag before sealing. Consolidating bags makes this much easier as well especially after the berries are frozen. A helpful tip for getting all the air out is to place a drinking straw at the very edge of the bag and suck out the air before sealing completely in a quick fashion. Lastly, label the exterior of your bags with a permanent marker to highlight the date that you put them in the freezer. This helps you know which berries need to be used up first, especially if you have leftovers from the previous season (like me!).

Frozen berries should be consumed within 12 months for best results.

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Written by monthly contributor, Natalie Didlake.

I love having frozen food to pull out in a pinch!

But how and when to get it in the freezer, in the first place?

With a little planning ahead, it’s easy to make a little extra here and there, and stick the extra in the freezer. Soon enough, the freezer will be full of homemade meals! (Or at least meal starters.)

Getting Started

The best thing I did when I got started was to sit down and brainstorm. I thought about all the meals we typically ate, and wrote down what steps I could complete in bulk, and freeze ahead…things like chopping veggies and pre-cooking meat or beans. Now, I can open the freezer nearly any night, and find at least some of my meal prep there, ready to go!

Here are some of my favorite things to keep in the freezer.

Veggies

Chopping fresh veggies every night for cooking is time consuming! I love having them in my freezer, ready to throw in the pan.

I’ve had success with carrots, celery, green pepper, and onions (double-bag onions so that your ice doesn’t taste oniony!)

Someday, I might even make my own custom, frozen “mixed veggie” bags, for standard dishes in our house.

What to do:

• Buy in bulk, and plan to freeze, when a veggie is on SALE! I bought green peppers recently for $.35 each! A perfect opportunity to buy and freeze!

• Peel/chop vegetables in large quantities.

• Put them in zipper bags and freeze! Break off a chunk when you’re ready to cook.

Meat

Having frozen, pre-cooked meat really cuts down on dinner prep time ! Getting it into the freezer doesn’t even require much extra planning or time…just a little extra money up front. I wait to buy extra until I can get it on SALE! Sometimes I can diffuse the cost of the extra meat, by planning other, cheaper meals, like bean dishes or pancakes.

The great part is, once you have a stocked freezer, you won’t have to buy and cook multiple meats in one week…because you will have already have them frozen! You will then only need to buy and cook what needs replenishing.

Beef

• Begin by planning a meal into your weekly menu that uses beef. Buy several extra pounds (like 5 lbs. of ground beef, instead of 1 lb.)

• Cook, divide, and freeze in zipper bags.

But don’t just cook a bunch of plain ground beef! Think meal prep. Some of my favorite beef meal starters are:

• Taco-flavored meat

• Italian sausage

• Turkey burgers -make and freeze patties

• Meatballs – separate into 1-meal portions and freeze separately

• Meatloaf – mix, form, wrap, and freeze. Thaw in fridge 24 hours

• Stroganoff meat -brown ground beef with onions/mushrooms

Chicken

We all have our different ways of buying/cooking/serving chicken…but I can’t resist mentioning my new fave way to do chicken. I have started cooking 10-15 lbs of bone-in breast at once, at the beginning of the month! Sometimes I’ll take a bit out to freeze raw, for cooking later. But the rest, I cook, bones and all. From that, I fill my freezer with LOTS of chicken stock, and tons of cooked, shredded chicken. Chicken for the month, done!

Here’s a link to a great how-to if you want more details.

Breakfast Ideas

• Muffins – Making a double batch, and freezing the extra, is a painless way to stock the freezer. I like to make mini-muffins for breakfast-on-the-go or trips.

• Pancakes -My husband doesn’t care for thawed, reheated pancakes, but the smaller members of my household could care less! (Especially when they contain chocolate chips.)

• Yogurt – freeze yogurt in small cups. Thaw for an hour or so, toss in fresh fruit and granola.

Other Meal Starters

• Pizza – make multiple pizza crusts, wrap extras well, freeze. It might be fun to put the toppings on first…homemade frozen pizza!

• Quiche – One of my fave freezer meals! Making multiples is so easy! Mix all ingredients of your best quiche recipe together, freeze, one quiche per zipper bag.

• Beans – Canned beans are easier, but dried beans cooked at home are cheaper and healthier. I cook large quantities and freeze for later use. Be sure to label, or you’ll end up with “unidentified frozen objects”!

• “Leftover Soup” – Throw any extra cooked veggies in a med/large container. Put in the freezer. Once it starts to fill up, throw it all in the crock pot with some seasoning, a little tomato sauce, and you’ve got veggie soup! Cook on low all day. Or, even better, add leftovers from a beef roast, and have veggie beef soup. Yum!

What are you going to freeze? Can’t wait to hear your ideas!

We are huge fans of fish tacos at our house – it is one of my hubby’s favorite dishes and a wonderful summer meal. Plus it is super easy and healthy at the same time. A fun way to add some good nutritional fish to your diet, especially if you are like us and don’t really care for it alone. This recipe uses a fish taco seasoning mix, but you are welcome to explore making your own seasoning. This mix contains a combination of: paprika, garlic, salt, red chilis, onion, cilantro, cumin, pepper, and coriander. I use the mix because it makes it especially simple to throw this meal together last minute and I have not found any recipe to compare to the flavor that is in the Simply Organic mix. It’s that good!

Ingredients:

1/2 head green cabbage
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2-3 limes (or 2-3 teaspoons lime or lemon juice)
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sweetener (sugar, honey, sucanat, etc)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 pound wild cod or halibut fillets (I buy frozen wild Alaskan cod fillets from Trader Joes)
1 package (1.13 oz) fish taco seasoning (we use Simply Organic brand and love it! I buy it by the case from Azure Standard.)
1 avacado
Peach or Mango salsa (Trader Joe’s sells a fabulous peach salsa that we enjoy!)
7-8 corn tortillas

Directions:

1. Cut up the fish into 1/2 inch strips or chunks, as desired. Place in a medium bowl and toss with fish taco seasoning mix and the juice of one lime. Allow to marinate as you prepare the rest of the recipe.
2. Thinly slice the cabbage and toss with mayonnaise, sour cream, chili powder, remaining lime/lemon juice, sweetener, salt, and apple cider vinegar.
3. Cut the avocados into small chunks and set aside in a small bowl.
4. Saute the marinated fish over medium/high heat until cooked.
5. Heat corn tortillas in another frying pan with a bit of olive oil or butter on both sides to warm and soften the tortillas.
6. Layer each tortilla with a layer of fish mix, dressed cabbage, avacados, and salsa. Top it off with a bit more lime juice, as desired. Serve and enjoy!

Yield: 4 servings (approx. 7-8 tortillas)

Written by contributing writer, Trina Holden

Yogurt is one of the simplest traditional foods and a staple in the real food kitchen. Everyone should make their own. The problem is, many have tried to master this simple technique only to have it turn out runny, flavorless, or sour. Eventually they return defeated to the expensive, overly sweetened, store bought version that is all-too-often stripped of good fats.

I have been making yogurt for sixteen years and only in the last six months been able to obtain consistent results with a yogurt that is creamy and thick as custard. (See  the photo – my yogurt is so thick it can stand on its head!) My kids crave it and even my husband will eat it–hooray!

If you have not been satisfied with your yogurt attempts so far, I encourage you to check out these tips and see if there isn’t something here that was missing from your previous attempts. Many of my friends have finally achieved the goal of making their own yogurt by following this step-by-step recipe and keeping in mind these tips…

The Four Secrets to Thick and Creamy Yogurt Every Time

• Keep it fresh! Get new starter every month or so. You can use your own yogurt for starter several times over, but if your yogurt starts turning out runny or has a funny consistency, it’s time for new starter.
• Keep it clean! Sterilize the jars you will incubate and store the yogurt in. You want to have control over what bacteria and cultures are growing, so always start with a clean slate.
• Respect your starter! Don’t beat it to death – let it retain some of its form and dignity and it will work well for you every time.
• Let it rest! A long incubation time gives the yogurt a full flavor and thicker consistency. Don’t be afraid to leave it overnight!

Yogurt in 10 Simple Steps

1. Pour 1/2 gallon of milk int a large, heavy bottomed sauce pot. For vanilla yogurt, add 1T. vanilla extract and 1/2 c. maple syrup, honey, or sucanat.

2. Heat milk to 180 degrees, or until it bubbles and forms a sking. Turn of heat.

3. Cool milk to 120 degrees. or until you can keep your finger in the milk without burning yourself. Place pot in sink of cold water to speed up this step.

4. Meanwhile, sterilize 2-3 qt. jars by pouring boiling water over them and letting them drain.

5. When milk has cooled, scoop one cup milk into a small bowl and gently swirl in 1/2 c. yogurt (any fresh plain yogurt from the store will work or you can use a yogurt starter)–no stirring!

6. Pour starter mixture back into pot and swirl gently. You are introducing the starter to the milk, not incorporating it.

7. Pour the milk into sterilized jars, if you see chunks of yogurt, you know you did steps 5 and 6 right! Try to divide these chunks between your jars.

8. Cap jars and set them in the pot you warmed the milk in. Fill pot to rim of jars with hot tap water and leave in sink or on counter.

9. Let yogurt incubate 10-18 hours.

10. Move jars to fridge to chill.

Enjoy!

Note from Trina: This recipe is from my new ebook, Real{Fast}Food. It’s full of time saving tips for the real food kitchen, teaching you how to plan better, cook faster, and eat healthier! You’ll find lots of great recipes and techniques to get you through the busy summer months. For more information, visit Real{Fast}Food.

I love easy simple meals that are full of healthy ingredients but don’t require a lot of time or energy to prepare! Burritos is one of those that provides a well balanced meal with lots of flavor and as much variety as you desire. You can add meat of any kind and spice it up with a little taco seasoning mix, or keep to a basic flavorful refried bean for the frugal minded. There are numerous recipes out there for refried beans, but here is our concoction to get you inspired! We make a large batch of refried beans at one time and I freeze them in smaller batches for future easy meals (lunches or dinners). I will put quart size mason jars of refrieds in the freezer for easy access. This cuts down on your work and makes it more simple.

Refried Beans

8 cups dry pinto beans
1 1/2 Tablespoons sea salt
2 teaspoons cumin
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
dash of hot sauce or 1-2 jalapeno, seeded
pepper, season to taste

1. Soak your beans overnight in a crockpot with fresh filtered water and 1-2 Tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, or lemon juice. This helps to de-gas the beans and break down the phytates that inhibit proper digestion.
2. Rinse the beans and fill your crockpot again with fresh filtered water to cover the beans by about 2 inches. Turn on low for 5-6 hours. Keep an eye on them and add more water if needed.
3. After the beans are soft, drain and reserve about 1 cup of the liquids.
4. In a large stock pot, saute your onions and garlic. Add the cooked beans and just enough liquids to make a smooth paste. With a hand mixer, blend up the beans till it reaches your desired consistency. Add more liquids as necessary. Add your salt, cumin, hot sauce, and season with pepper to taste.

Our favorite toppings include: salsa (our fermented salsa is a huge hit!), sour cream, raw cheddar cheese, tomatoes, limes, lettuce, and guacamole! For a gluten free variety, we serve on brown rice or corn tortillas! Simply heat them up on both sides in a pan with a bit of butter or olive oil and you have a wonderful pliable tortilla to fill with goodness.

Enjoy!