Tonight's Dinner

-Meatloaf made from grass-fed beef

-Cooked apples from the farmer's market

-Homemade potato wedges, also from the farmer's market

:-)

Monday Lunch

I pack my lunch for work every day (except on rare occasions). I try to follow the same values at lunch that I do when eating at home. So for Monday's lunch I have:

-Homemade chicken salad (my recipe)

-Carrots with ranch

-Organic yogurt

-Local apple

-Kashi Oatmeal cookie

Chicken Broth

Note: This is time consuming only in the sense that you must stay home while it is cooking. The prep work is very very short and simple. Chicken broth is so easy to make and tastes 100 times better than canned. It is also much much cheaper to make your own. Plus, have you ever read the ingredients in canned broth?????? I know exactly what is in this.

Day 1

You need:

1 whole chicken (throw it in a big pot, organs, skin, bones and all, don't even cut it up)

3-4 carrots (cut into 2-3 inch slices, don't worry about peeling them. Skin won't hurt you)

3-4 celery stalks (cut into 2-3 inch slices)

1 onion (just chop it in half, skin and all)

1-2 whole garlic cloves (remember, you aren't going to be eating these veggies, just for flavor)

plenty of pepper and a little bit of salt (you can always add more salt at the end, but you can't take it out)

Add enough water to completely cover everything. Bring to a boil and then simmer for as long as you want. (At least 4 hours but the longer the better). Add water if it gets low.

When you are finished cooking take the chicken out, let it cool a little bit and pull all the meat off the bones. It will probably fall apart. Strain your broth in a colander and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2

All of the fat will be solidified at the top. Scrape it off with a spoon. That's it. You can cook with it then or freeze it. I freeze mine in 16oz portions because that is about "1 can". Usually I will get at least 10 cups of broth. Plus a whole bunch of chicken. All for about $5-$7 dollars. With this batch I made chicken soup for 2 people plus enough for me to take to work the next day, plus I froze 6 cups of chicken broth, and had enough chicken to save for another meal. Pretty good :-)

So here's your cheat sheet:

1. chicken, carrot, celery,onion,garlic,pepper,little salt,water

2.Simmer all day

3. Salvage meat

4. Strain broth

5. Fridge all night

6. Remove fat

7. The end :-)

Labor Day Lunch

Today's lunch:

Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread (organic PB and jelly)

Triscuits with Laughing Cow cheese

Organic apples

Unsweetened tea

Pho

I love ethnic food. When my husband and I go out by ourselves, we rarely eat at an "American" restaurant. Tonight we ate at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Vietnamese cuisine is so fresh and unprocessed, and eating it is kind of a ritual/cultural experience. The most popular Vietnamese dish is called Pho which is a huge bowl of steaming hot broth with rice noodles in it. The fun part about Pho is that when they bring out your bowl of soup, you get to add all of this stuff too it. If you want to try Pho I suggest bringing someone with you that knows what to do, because otherwise you will be lost. The condiments in the picture above are soy sauce, hoisen sauce, sriracha (which is like an Asian hot sauce), and fish sauce (fish sauce is fermented fish and salt. Don't knock it till you try it). On the plate is lime, beansprouts, Thai basil, jalapenos, and some other herb/leaf I don't know the name of. You add all of this to the soup and eat it with a big spoon and chopsticks. (chopsticks in dominant hand and spoon in the other) If you think you need a fork, you will have to ask :-)