Menu Plan Monday and New Beginnings

Long time, no blog!!!!  I know my last blog was all about me catching up in the blogging world but life happens!  That is exactly what happened the past two months.....life, busy life!  We have been on the go with some new changes and beginnings!  I will slowly be sharing some of these exciting new changes in the next month or so.

I am loving the fall season!  We have been harvesting our produce from the farm, canning & freezing, baking, went to a couple pumpkin patches, and making a sweet robot costume!!!!  I have still been menu planning weekly and sticking to it.  Since I started menu planning over 2 years ago, it has seriously saved me so much time and kept us so much more organized.  It has even challenged me to try new recipes. I recommend it to anyone out there who doesn't already do it. 

Last night for dinner I made pumpkin ravioli with homemade pesto sauce.  It was delicious and great for a fall rainy evening!  My menu for this week is below with a few recipes links.  Starting this week, I will also add a list of any extra cooking & baking I do for that week (bread, preserving & canning, sauces, special breakfasts, etc).  Some of the recipes I find and post here call for canned or frozen items.  When ever it is possible I use all fresh produce instead of the canned or frozen.  It isn't possible all the time but I will try my hardest! 

MENU:

MON- Vegetable Stir Fry and Brown Rice

TUES-  Homemade Pizza and Garden Salad

WED- Black Bean & Salmon Tostados with Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

THUR- Low Fat Baked Ziti with Spinach

FRI-  Harvest Family Dinner @ my Aunt & Uncle's home.  I am baking cornbread to go along with my Aunt's Chili.

SAT- Honey-Soy Broiled Salmon with Roasted Potatoes and CousCous.

SUN- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!  Cauliflower Cheddar Soup and Vegetarian Cobb Salad  (Serving the soup in a carved out pumpkin.  Check back for pictures.)

EXTRA COOKING:
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (made from tomatillos and peppers from our garden.)
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (made from zucchini from our farm)
Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread
Halloween Cookies (with my Aunt)

 For more meal planning inspirations, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie every Monday.

Happy Cooking & Eating,
Alyson

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."   - Stanley Horowitz

New Season....New Routines....New Goals....New Menus

I am back!  After a very long break, I am back in the blogging game.  We were very busy this summer and choose to put blogging on the back burner for awhile.  With a new month, a new season, and some new routines beginning I have chosen to start back up.  I have some new ideas for this blog and my hope is to have a new blog up 2-3 times a week.  Hopefully I can actually keep up with that.

We are starting to see lots of produce coming in from the farm, our backyard garden, and my dad's garden.  We plan to start canning soon and drying some goods, so that we can enjoy our hard work all year long.  We are learning a lot about farming/gardening and we will be pros next year!  I have some pictures that I will share this week!

Here is our menu for this week with some links to some great recipes.  Remember to try your hardest to eat sustainable, local, and/or organic food.

MONDAY-  Tuna Pasta Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes with a Remoulade sauce.  (I used only the recipe for the sauce on this link)

TUESDAY-  Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and a green salad (I will post the recipe for the sauce this week.)

WEDNESDAY-   Vegetarian Taco Salad

THURSDAY- Honey-Soy Salmon, Brown Rice, Braised Green Beans & Summer Vegetables

FRIDAY-  Tomato and Basil Flatbread Pizzas

SATURDAY-  Going out to eat at Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB)

SUNDAY-  Szechuan Tofu & Green Bean Stirfry

Other goodies I am cooking this week:
Zucchini Bread
Pesto Sauce (Lots to freeze)

Be well,
Alyson

"If taking vitamins doesn't keep you healthy enough, try more laughter: The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed."  -Nicolas-Sebastien Chamfort

Menu planning and summertime = crazy busy!

Whoa!  Where did the past 4 weeks go?  I had to put blogging on the back burner for the past few weeks.  We are staying very very busy, which is a good thing because the photo business is growing rapidly and we are having FUN!  Let's see.....we have worked tons on our farm, have celebrated lots of birthdays, I have been volunteering at the Tualatin Farmer's Market, a destination wedding shoot and fun vacation for my husband, took my son to see Broadway's Lion King, went to stay on the Metolius River with my family, berry picking, working tons for our day jobs and photography business, and trying to squeeze in some quiet family time.  It has been a blast!

During these busy weeks we have still been able to maintain a weekly menu, which I believe has saved us many times.  There has been a few times where our meals were changed at the last minute but being flexible is the only way to stay sane!  It has been fun finding and making recipes that have incorporated all the fresh food we have gotten from our garden and farmer's markets.  I love this time of year!  Teaching my son all about how to grow food and eat fresh, local food has been so fun and rewarding.  As a reminder...most of our food that we eat weekly is either organic, local, sustainable, or grown by us! 

Here is our menu for this week:

MONDAY-  BBQ Talipia, Corn on the Cob, and garden salad

TUESDAY-  Whole wheat spaghetti with homemade tomato and veggie sauce (My husband's night to cook, as I work late)

WEDNESDAY-  Vegetable and Tofu Stir fry with brown rice (My husband's night to cook, as I work late)

THURSDAY-   Hummus Veggie Wraps and fruit salad (Quick dinner right before a photo shoot)

FRIDAY-  BBQ fiesta- Salmon Burgers, Grilled Vegetables, Guacamole-Deviled Eggs, Caprese Salad (I add balsamic vinegar to the salad). 

SATURDAY-  Summer Vegetable Crepes (Wedding Shoot this evening...This will be prepared ahead of time)

SUNDAY-  Seared Citrus Glazed Salmon Over Wilted Spinach

Extra items I am cooking & baking this week:
Strawberry Jam (We went berry picking this week and going to make a huge batch of jam)
Raspberry Limeade (For our BBQ on Friday)
Soft Pretzel Bites (My husband LOVES these and I make them so he can take them to work). 

For more menu planning inspirations, visit I'm an Organized Junkie.

Happy Cooking & Eating,
Alyson

"Food, medicine, beauty, and love. When we talk about them in English, they seem so different from each other. But looking at them from another perspective, they are not so different. Good food is a part of good health. Good health leads to good looks. Love surrounds it all. When we feed or heal, we share love. When we love and are loved, we are beautiful."   -Alma Snell

Song of the Week- Southern Girl

Amos Lee......I discovered Amos Lee a couple years ago and was drawn to his music! His music is just beautiful! I think his music is my favorite to listen to while cleaning or driving or just having some alone time. His lyrical depth is outstanding for a young artist and I feel like I can relate to it all. His sound is kind of a mix of folk, soul, a little country, and acoustic. It is very unique and I love it! Check him out!
I picked his song Southern Girl as a dedication to most of the women in my family...my mom, aunts, grandma, and cousins. They are all from Memphis and really truly are all Southern Girls! I love them all dearly and they all mean the world to me. I hope they enjoy this song! I love you girls!!!

Menus and King Corn

Before I post my menu for the week, I want to discuss a film I watched and a subject I am passionate about......fighting the food industry and educating myself and others about what we are eating!

Last night my husband and I watched the documentary film, King Corn.  Go rent it, Netflix it, download it today!  This documentary follows two college friends Ian and Curtis as they decide to grow an acre of corn to find out where their food really comes from.  They find out, that with the help of government assistance, genetically modified seeds, and nitrogen fertilizers, our country's most subsidized crop is the cheapest and dangerous foods.  Ian and Curtis follow their corn into the food system and find out many different problems with how we eat and how we farm.

Corn is everywhere....candy bars, magazines, sodas, margarine, batteries, and even body lotion.  It is no longer farmed to eat from the cob, it is raised to be processed and turned into anything and everything.  One of the worst productions that come from corn is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  HFCS is a sweetener that has been derived from corn and is used in many packaged and processed foods.  With more sweeteners available that have more high-calories, with little to none nutritional value, Americans are becoming overweight.  With this obesity epidemic, we are seeing more and more diet related diseases then ever before.  Our life span is shorter than it ever has been. 

Here are a few statistics I found interesting when I was watching the movie and researching this subject:

• Over the past three decades, consumption of high fructose corn syrup has increased 1,000 percent.
• The prevalence of obesity has quadrupled over the last 25 years among children between 6 and 11 years old.   It's doubled over the last 25 years in adolescences ages 12 to 19.5 years old.  
• Between 1985 and 2000, the real price of fruits and vegetables increased by 40%, while prices  for soft drinks decreased by 24%.
• At last count in 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that Americans eat 79 pounds of corn sweetener per year.

What can you do to nudge our food system in the right direction?

• Buy local.  Start asking where your food comes from.  Buy at your local Farmers Markets.  Once the demand starts going up of fresher and more healthful food, it will be easier and cheaper to buy. 
• Read your food labels and educate yourself on what is in your foods.
• Educate yourself and your friends on what is going on in the food industries
• If you eat meat....try grass-fed beef.  
• Don't eat anything made from corn for a week.  Then try a month.  

My husband and I are really good at checking our labels and staying away from corn products but we are going to cut it out completely for a week and then try a month (then maybe longer).   I will keep you posted on how it goes for us.  Well....thanks for reading my lecture and go check out King Corn.

For all you Oregonians out there....come check out the new Tualatin Farmer's Market every Friday this summer starting June 25th (4-8pm) at the Tualatin Commons.  I am going to be volunteering my time to help with different areas of the market most of the Fridays.  See you there!

 Here is my menu for the week:

MONDAY-  Green Pizza made from homemade pizza dough with a fresh garden salad (I added olives to the pizza)

TUESDAY-  Veggie Fajitas and Spanish Rice (Husband's night to cook, while I work late.)

WEDNESDAY-  Tortellini Primavera

THURSDAY- Poached Salmon with a Piccata Sauce, Roasted Asparagus, and CousCous- Having friends over for a special dinner! 

FRIDAY-  Broccoli, zucchini, olives in a garlic wine sauce over whole wheat pasta

SATURDAY-  Photographing a wedding ceremony @ the coast.  We will eat in Manzanita or Cannon Beach

SUNDAY-  Farm Day/BBQ- Salmon burgers, veggie kabobs, and pasta salad

 My Green Pizza from Monday evening!

For more menu planning inspirations, visit I'm an Organized Junkie.

Happy cooking & eating,
Alyson

“For the first time in American history, our generation was at risk of having a shorter lifespan than our parents. And it was because of what we ate.” -Curtis Ellis

Song of the Week - Just Breathe

I am obsessed with music! I blame it fully on my father. Since I was a baby, he would play all kinds of awesome loud music for me and we would dance in the living room! My mom always tells me stories of him keeping me up late just to listen to music. Thanks, dad! I'm glad he did because I love music and the music knowledge I gained from it.

I have listened to Pearl Jam since I was in 8th grade....which was 17 years ago when I was 13. Wow....that made me feel old when I did the math! Since the first time a friend let me borrow Pearl Jam's TAPE (yes..I said tape), I have loved them. Pearl Jam really truly symbolizes the beginning of my teenage years and my love for alternative/punk music. I was starting to feel rebellious and not really going for what was mainstream. Although, Pearl Jam did become mainstream to a point, they strove not to be the typical grunge band. I appreciated that and the beautiful music and lyrics they make.

I picked the song Just Breathe by Pearl Jam to share with you all today. I researched this song to see if I could find out what Eddie Vedder's meaning was behind his lyrics. Although I couldn't find an actual meaning for this song, I did read what other people's interpretations were. I read it was about love, death, God, and finding yourself. Like any piece of great art, what matters is how you interpret it and how it makes you feel. My personal interpretations is that it is a simple beautiful love song. Whatever that love might be...a lover, a child, a friend, God, or life. And with that love, hold it close to you and let it help you just breathe.
Enjoy!

Menus and Potties

Hi friends!  I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday weekend.  Our weekend was very nice, while we spent a lot of time together as a family and with some very good friends and did a little bit of work with photo shoots.  I love weekends like this last one....just surrounded with people you care for!

The best part of the week was the huge jump that Ayden made in his potty learning.  We have been introducing the potty to him since right before he turned two.  We didn't want to be too pushy with this or force anything on him.  I fully believe that a child should take his own path and as parents we are there to help and guide along the way, not force anything or be pushy.  As one of my past education teachers once said, "we need to be guides on the side."  And that is exactly what I want to be.  I want Ayden to take his own path and to be his own person.  So with that belief, we introduced the potty to him and let him discover it.  We took certain steps to allow him to discover what the potty was all about.  We bought a small potty chair and a potty seat (it sits on the big toilet).  We put the small potty chair in whatever room he is playing in and remind him that it is there.  We make sure that we put him in cloth diapers as much as possible so that he can actually experience his own body functions.  Disposable diapers are harmful to his body and dramatically slow down his natural interest in using the toilet.  We also started letting him wear "big boy" underwear.  This has been very messy but very helpful.  So all of these things combined has really helped him find his way through his potty learning.

I think this week it just clicked for Ayden.  He was ready to use the potty and was loving it.  He started actually taking off his diaper and telling me he had to go potty.  Then he walks straight to the potty chair and goes all by himself.  It is AWESOME!  I feel so proud of him!  Yes....we are still using diapers at night time....just in case!  And we still have accidents but we made it through a huge milestone.  My son learned how to use the potty and I couldn't be more happier! 

Well enough about potties, let's talk about food.  Ha!  Here is another weekly menu in our household, full of organic, local, and sustainable food!

MONDAY-  BBQ teriyaki shrimp and pineapple kebabs, grilled zucchini, and rice

TUESDAY-  Tuna Noodle Casserole (My husband's night to cook.  I will eat a salad at work.)

WEDNESDAY-  Vegetable & Polenta Bake

THURSDAY-  Vegan Chili and Cornbread...Celebrating my husband's best-friend's birthday. (I will add turnips from the Farmer's market and mustard green from our garden to the chili)  The recipe for the chili and the cornbread will be on my next post. 

FRIDAY-  Warm Salmon Salad with crispy potatoes (the recipe calls for canned salmon, I will use fresh baked salmon.)

SATURDAY-  Broccoli, olives, spinach in a olive oil garlic sauce served over whole wheat angel hair pasta.

SUNDAY-  Farm Day!  Veggie Sandwiches and Veggie Pasta Salad

For more meal planning inspirations, please visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Happy cooking & eating,
Alyson

"When the student is ready, the master appears."  ~Buddhist Proverb