Menus and grocery lists December 4, 2013

Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. 

It can only change forms.

The first law of thermodynamics

What is it that gives you energy, fills your tank and charges your battery?
 This is not a question about what floats your boat. It's not that I don't care about what floats your boat, I'm just not asking you about boats and floating. I'm wondering what it is that gives you the energy to make it to shore

when the boat is taking on water
and making creaky noises.

It's important to know, because the holidays are in full swing, and your prime resources- time, energy and money- are more valuable than ever. ( By the way, pondering exactly which of those resources is most important and why may help you cure a bout of  holiday-induced insomnia.)

"now....let's see....if I had more time, I wouldn't need so much energy.
or, if I had more money, I could buy someone else's time and energy.
Or, if I had more energy, I would......zzzzzz"

Ever since the invention of energy, important scientists have been trying to create more of it. It's now known that many women who were accused of witchcraft centuries ago were only trying to bend the laws of thermodynamics into a shape that would allow them to get all their work done-

they were unable to create actual energy,
though chocolate, coffee and two-year-olds
 are all byproducts of  their fearless experimentation. 

Fast food empires have been built on the rule that while you can't create time or energy, you can nudge it from one place to another- 30 fewer minutes spent on dinner means 30 more minutes for working, decorating, shopping, cleaning, or if that's all done,

30 extra minutes to put the finishing touches
your black cat roller derby team outfit.

Ten minutes in the drive through beats a couple of hours spent shopping chopping and cooking any day- especially on an especially busy day-

the colonel knew it-
or at least his ad men did. 

But we all know by now that relying too heavily on fast food eventually slows everything down- and not in a good  way.

when she wakes from this pizza coma,
she'll remember that tonight was the kids' school play.

The thing is, before one can get a good grip on how to best conserve and expend available resources, one has to get a grip on what resources are available.

In this kitchen this week, that resource managment is taking two forms.

first, an inventory of the post-Thanksgiving fridge and freezer- 

               The contents of the freezer,                                  and the inventory.

30 minutes spent finding out what we have just saved alot
 of time and money spent getting stuff we don't need.

(so now I can go spend time and money getting other stuff we don't need, right?)

next, a cruise through the 15-30 minute main dish menus of the internet.

Put them together, and you get what we're having for dinner this week:

Wednesday: Ground beef tortilla soup

There's a zip bag of cooked and seasoned taco meat in the freezer, and I'm not sure how long it's been in there. I'll try to use it, but just in case it tastes and/or smells like a freezer (why does that happen anyway? How does freezer become a generic taste of its own?) I can use plain ground beef or cooked chicken or even leftover turkey. We have some cornbread leftover from Thanksgiving, but if you don't, and you have time to whip up a panful of the real deal, try this terrific version.

Thursday: Spice rubbed chicken breast and salad

If there's time, the chicken breasts will soak for an hour or so in a brine of equal parts honey and salt, mixed with enough water to cover the meat. Since this recipe uses the broiler instead of a pan, it'll be easy to cook up the whole value pack of 6 breasts and use them later this week.
There's a nice head of red leaf lettuce in the fridge that will turn into a very basic bed for the bell peppers and carrots that are in the crisper drawer.





Friday: Gumbo and cheese bread

If you read the freezer inventory, then you saw this coming. Okra, tomatoes, sausage and chicken all ready and waiting. Not exactly a super fast soup, but fast enough.  Here's a great picture guide to making a roux, the browned flour yumminess that's at the bottom of every great gumbo. We'll be having some frozen brazilian cheese rolls that I found last week at Central Market (the pack in our freezer looks like the pic on the right) they're gluten free and super yummy. If you have any cornbread leftover, and have the green light on gluten, that would be great too.



Saturday: Madras soup and Curried chicken sandwiches

The red sauce in the freezer is so full of flavor (it's only been in there for a couple of weeks, so I'm assuming that it's not full of freezer flavor) that the celery and onion in the recipe are unnecessary. Which means that the step of putting everything in the blender is also unnecessary, meaning this is a 15 minute soup, tops.  The leftover chicken will be great in these sandwiches, though we might skip the bread and put the curried chicken salad in lettuce cups.



Sunday: Leftover brisket chili and chili and garlic green beans

Here's a chili recipe after my own heart. Not as great maybe as Jamie Deen's epic version, and it'll lack the depth of spice in Deb's hot rod chili, but you can use any meat you happen to have leftover (beef, ground beef, pork, even chicken) and it'll assemble quickly and cook in the slow cooker while you're busy taking care of business. The green beans are on the menu both because I bought a mass-quantity sized bag at Costco last week, and because I'm noticing a real lack of all things green and veggie in our meals over the past couple of weeks. As soon as there's room in the fridge, I'll be finding a way to work some winter greens into our dinners, and boost their ability to keep us energized through the holidays. And if that doesn't work,

there's always Dr. Pepper, coffee and chocolate.

Whether it's time alone or time with friends,
reading, watching, running or walking,
I hope you connect this week to the sources
of your energy.
Even if those sources surprise you.
Because whether it's anger, or compassion,
or worry or determination that drive you to
do what you do,
I think that if you look deeper
you'll see that the energy behind the energy 
is love.
And if you can harness the energy of all that love-
Well, you may not be able to break 
the laws of thermodynamics, 

but you might just find yourself 
defying gravity.