Well, I bombed this week with the Slow Cooker Orange Chicken . Left it to cook all day (noon 'til 6) and ended up with orange-tainted chicken bbq chunks that were half-dried and slightly scorched. It was even more disappointing because I wanted to prove to Tai that Chinese could be done in the crock. (She had pleaded with me not to try.) It showed so much promise, but alas. I gave some of it a try and Bill didn't even mind it, but it would have been so much better. Guess "Fix It and Forget It" is not always the case.
The Turkey Soup also had issues because of the rice--I substituted white for the wild--as it cooked to a gruel-like consistency. However, the flavor was still great and provided lots of leftovers for lunches.
Dec 3, 2009
This Week's Menu
Nov. 30 -Dec. 6
Monday
Leftovers
Tuesday
Crockpot Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
Whole Wheat French Rolls
Wednesday
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Sticky Rice
French-style Green Beans
Thursday
Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce
Cranberry-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Stuffing (box with leftover mashed potatoes added)
Apple Pie a la Mode
Friday
BUNCO night!
Bringing Jet Swirl Pizza Appetizers a calzone-like pinwheel filled with pepperoni, salami, provolone, and mozzarella. Very fattening, but no one will be making a whole meal on them!! Named after the originator's favorite football team. Whatever.
Saturday
Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Frozen Peas and Carrots
Sunday
Tai or Bill's choice
Monday
Leftovers
Tuesday
Crockpot Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
Whole Wheat French Rolls
Wednesday
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Sticky Rice
French-style Green Beans
Thursday
Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce
Cranberry-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Stuffing (box with leftover mashed potatoes added)
Apple Pie a la Mode
Friday
BUNCO night!
Bringing Jet Swirl Pizza Appetizers a calzone-like pinwheel filled with pepperoni, salami, provolone, and mozzarella. Very fattening, but no one will be making a whole meal on them!! Named after the originator's favorite football team. Whatever.
Saturday
Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Frozen Peas and Carrots
Sunday
Tai or Bill's choice
Nov 22, 2009
This Week's Menu
Big winners and losers from the last two weeks. The gold star goes to the Asian Peanut Butter Pork in the crock. DadR exclaimed about every third bite. AND everyone else--picky Tai, little picky AMCD--liked it too (Shock-a-roo!!) Full of flavor but not hot.
But the Walnut and Sage Potatoes au Gratin in the crock went flat. They tasted OK --if you could get past the look of curdled cheese and gray taters. And I'm stuck with LOTS of them. AMCD is getting fond of making "casseroles" with bits of leftovers that she swirls together on her plate and then tops with shredded cheese to be nuked 'til melted. This was a way to sell some more of the au gratins. But not much.
So now it's Thanksgiving week, but that actually makes it more difficult to plan because there are so many more factors involved: leftovers, taking food to the hostess's home, family coming and going more over a long 4-day weekend. AND it's DadR's birthday thrown in too!
Also there were several missed nights last week, leaving us with stuff that was never cooked to carry over to this one.
So here goes:
Monday: Leftover Peanut Pork and sticky rice
Tuesday : Steak on grill, mash-those-potatoes-au-gratin? (the crocked potats that didn't work out), peas or salad
Wednesday: Kansas City Steak Soup ( nice and healthy vegetarian meal before the artery-choking next day) cornbread
Thanksgiving Day: SIL will do turkey, stuffing etc. We're bringing a big green salad, Tai's Szechuan Green beans, my apple pie, and cupcakes to celebrate DadR's and Papa's birthdays.
Late night: leftover soup or pizza
Friday: I'm outta here. Tai's turn.
Saturday: DadR's Birthday: Lasagna, brown 'n' serve rolls, salad. Boston cream cake from store.
Sunday: His choice.
But the Walnut and Sage Potatoes au Gratin in the crock went flat. They tasted OK --if you could get past the look of curdled cheese and gray taters. And I'm stuck with LOTS of them. AMCD is getting fond of making "casseroles" with bits of leftovers that she swirls together on her plate and then tops with shredded cheese to be nuked 'til melted. This was a way to sell some more of the au gratins. But not much.
So now it's Thanksgiving week, but that actually makes it more difficult to plan because there are so many more factors involved: leftovers, taking food to the hostess's home, family coming and going more over a long 4-day weekend. AND it's DadR's birthday thrown in too!
Also there were several missed nights last week, leaving us with stuff that was never cooked to carry over to this one.
So here goes:
Monday: Leftover Peanut Pork and sticky rice
Tuesday : Steak on grill, mash-those-potatoes-au-gratin? (the crocked potats that didn't work out), peas or salad
Wednesday: Kansas City Steak Soup ( nice and healthy vegetarian meal before the artery-choking next day) cornbread
Thanksgiving Day: SIL will do turkey, stuffing etc. We're bringing a big green salad, Tai's Szechuan Green beans, my apple pie, and cupcakes to celebrate DadR's and Papa's birthdays.
Late night: leftover soup or pizza
Friday: I'm outta here. Tai's turn.
Saturday: DadR's Birthday: Lasagna, brown 'n' serve rolls, salad. Boston cream cake from store.
Sunday: His choice.
"Understood MeiWei"
There is a book we're reading right now that should be on every helicoptering parent's reading list. I'm sure glad it's on ours, and I didn't think I was that much of a pilot.
It's called Understood Betsy
.
It was written by my new educational heroine, Dorothy Canfield Fisher (I've even gotten her name memorized) back in 1916. For the many ways Mrs. Fisher contributed to our country, she was named one of America's most influential women by Eleanor Roosevelt, which included the introduction of the Montessori method of teaching to the US. There are many facets of a Montessori education, not the least of which is the child's self-pacing, but that is not what matters here so much. What matters is this book, and what it says to both children and parents.
And this is what it says.
To children, "You'll figure it out. You have what it takes. Have confidence. Try. Fail if necessary."
To parents, it says, "Let THEM figure it out. They DO have what it takes. Have confidence--in them. It's okay to fail."
I have been convicted by this book in my handling of MeiWei. I thought that because I derided over-protective parents who would fight all their children's battles and protect them even from the "dangers" of walking home from the busstop unchaperoned that I was not a 'chopper parent. But because she is rather clumsy and careless, I have gotten into a bad habit of hovering to avoid disasters. This has led to doing things for her. That in turn has created a child that lacks self-confidence, initiative, and risk-taking. It has fed her already innate desire to remain a baby.
The book is extremely funny and at the same time tragic when we realize how much of Betsy's life--nine years--has been wasted by her well-meaning guardian, Aunt Frances. Frances parodies today's helicopter parents: walking Betsy to school every day because she is "so shy", creating in her a fear of dogs, dirt, food, other children, and heaven knows what else. The child even fantasizes her own death since she believes that she is so "frail." Only when fate forces her to be taken in by the "horrid" Putney cousins, quintessential unflappable, unimpressible, mind-your-own-business Yankees, does the chopper land and does Betsy soar.
Understood Betsy is an AmblesideOnline Year 2 reading requirement for children around Betsy's age. What it should be is a reading requirement for every parent who wants to truly understand what a child needs.
It's called Understood Betsy
.It was written by my new educational heroine, Dorothy Canfield Fisher (I've even gotten her name memorized) back in 1916. For the many ways Mrs. Fisher contributed to our country, she was named one of America's most influential women by Eleanor Roosevelt, which included the introduction of the Montessori method of teaching to the US. There are many facets of a Montessori education, not the least of which is the child's self-pacing, but that is not what matters here so much. What matters is this book, and what it says to both children and parents.
And this is what it says.
To children, "You'll figure it out. You have what it takes. Have confidence. Try. Fail if necessary."
To parents, it says, "Let THEM figure it out. They DO have what it takes. Have confidence--in them. It's okay to fail."
I have been convicted by this book in my handling of MeiWei. I thought that because I derided over-protective parents who would fight all their children's battles and protect them even from the "dangers" of walking home from the busstop unchaperoned that I was not a 'chopper parent. But because she is rather clumsy and careless, I have gotten into a bad habit of hovering to avoid disasters. This has led to doing things for her. That in turn has created a child that lacks self-confidence, initiative, and risk-taking. It has fed her already innate desire to remain a baby.
The book is extremely funny and at the same time tragic when we realize how much of Betsy's life--nine years--has been wasted by her well-meaning guardian, Aunt Frances. Frances parodies today's helicopter parents: walking Betsy to school every day because she is "so shy", creating in her a fear of dogs, dirt, food, other children, and heaven knows what else. The child even fantasizes her own death since she believes that she is so "frail." Only when fate forces her to be taken in by the "horrid" Putney cousins, quintessential unflappable, unimpressible, mind-your-own-business Yankees, does the chopper land and does Betsy soar.
Understood Betsy is an AmblesideOnline Year 2 reading requirement for children around Betsy's age. What it should be is a reading requirement for every parent who wants to truly understand what a child needs.
Dinner Date
It was tough this week since I came down with a bit of a cold. I wondered if it was possible to go to Macaroni Grill on Saturday night feeling fine and waking up Sunday morning with those "funny feelings" so suddenly. 'Course if you're trying to avoid germs during a swine flu epidemic, a crowded restaurant is not the best idea.
As we sat at the bar waiting for a table, we ordered their "best" house Chianti and a glass of sparkling water with a twist of lemon for me. As I watched the bartender squeeze that raw lemon with his bare hands into my raw water, I wondered at the risk of infection that he could have passed to me in that unsanitary movement. My concerns may have been valid.
The dinner was great, and WOULD have been extremely economical. All that singular MacGrill rosemary bread dipped in olive oil, their new olive sampler on the side gratis, the signature Pour-Your-Own bottle of Chianti parked on your table (we had two glasses each). Then some terrific calamari--a new dish---and our pasta favs. All that came to $28! BUT, those two glasses of Chianti at the BAR were an additional $22!! That goes to show you what pride in not wanting to look like a tightwad will cost you. I think I MAY have found out how MacGrill makes a profit.
As we sat at the bar waiting for a table, we ordered their "best" house Chianti and a glass of sparkling water with a twist of lemon for me. As I watched the bartender squeeze that raw lemon with his bare hands into my raw water, I wondered at the risk of infection that he could have passed to me in that unsanitary movement. My concerns may have been valid.
The dinner was great, and WOULD have been extremely economical. All that singular MacGrill rosemary bread dipped in olive oil, their new olive sampler on the side gratis, the signature Pour-Your-Own bottle of Chianti parked on your table (we had two glasses each). Then some terrific calamari--a new dish---and our pasta favs. All that came to $28! BUT, those two glasses of Chianti at the BAR were an additional $22!! That goes to show you what pride in not wanting to look like a tightwad will cost you. I think I MAY have found out how MacGrill makes a profit.
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