Chaos Salads

 

 

For whatever reason, for most of my life I had salads in this category of "foods that have to be a certain way" - Cobb Salad, or Caesar Salad, or Green Salad - they were always recipe-based and were mostly just side dishes.  Token vegetables, you might say. 

Then I went to a college that had a salad bar with a wide range of ingredients available and I realized that that a satisfying salad can be a mix of whatever you want to throw together.  So far I haven't actually had anything turn out badly.  (Let's not take that to the extreme of bringing back gelatin salads, though, please!) 

Now I have a sort of chaotic approach to salad-making, something like, "What of these things in front of me might taste good together?"  Today's random combination: spring mix, a few cut-up strawberries, a pear cut into pieces, one of the kids' cheese sticks cut into cubes, a handful of salted pumpkin seeds, and a drizzle of raspberry dressing.  It kind of reminds me of a "chaos gardening" video I saw recently.

The haskap berries in the back yard will be part of this week's plans, and soon we'll be flooded with raspberries as well, so I'm seeing lots of fruit-based salads in the coming days. 

What's your favorite salad combo?  What's growing in your area right that you could throw into a salad to give it some color and interest? 

Meal Planning: Save Time, Reduce Stress, Eat Healthy & Enjoy Your Family

(Originally posted by Dine Without Whine Menu Planning Service)

The children are running around the kitchen. The dog is barking it at the door and dinner should have been on the table thirty minutes ago. It’s a common scenario in many households come dinner time.

The reason that most meal times don’t always go smoothly may because dinner the last thing on your mind and when it’s time to get food on the table, everything else goes haywire in your house.

We have all been there, but with a little bit of meal-planning, you can be serving up delicious meals the family will be glad to gather around the table for.

Meal planning can make it easy to get dinner on the table in no time on a busy night. Not only do you save time, but it’s economical too. You buy only what you need, avoid the drive-through line up and you can concentrate on using fresh ingredients – instead of prepackages items from the grocery store. Every mother should have a set way to plan all of their meals in advance for the week…it’s a true life-saver.

The first step to successful meal planning is to sit down before you head out to the grocery store for the week. It is best to plan what food you will need to have on had before you head to the grocery store when planning the week’s meals. Meal planning will make good use of a well stocked pantry and will only need a regular amount of grocery shopping. By having your meals for the week planned out, you will be able to write a grocery list that you can stick to. This will help you to save money by keeping you from not buying extra food that you will not use.

Vintage Cookbooks: More-with-Less Cookbook (1976)

 "Lamenting the size of a grocery bill is easy. Lowering it is not."

- Doris Janzen Longacre (author of the More-with-Less Cookbook, 1976)

(Available for free from the Internet Archive, or in print from Amazon)

Oatmeal Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C)

Dissolve 1 packet of dry yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

Combine in a large bowl and mix well:

• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter or margarine

Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the mixture and stir to combine.  Let cool to lukewarm, then add the dissolved yeast mixture.

Stir in 5 cups white flour.

When the dough is stiff enough that you can handle it, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and cover loosely.  Let rise until double, then punch it down and let it rise again. 

Shape dough into two loaves and place in greased 9"x5"x3" loaf pans. (See How to Shape Bread Dough into Sandwich Loaves)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes. (See Is My Bread Ready?)

Cool on rack.  Brush the tops with margarine or butter for a soft crust. 

Quinoa & Bean Salad

This is a summertime staple for me - it's great for meal prep, as it honestly does taste better the next day and keeps well for 4-5 days in the fridge.  Don't worry about exact precision with the measurements on the beans and veggies.  You can also be a bit flexible and use what you have as far as oils and vinegar.  Lemon juice can work in place of lime if you don't have it, but I prefer lime.  (I have also seen some people add a bit of honey or maple syrup to the dressing, but I haven't tried that.)

Quinoa and Bean Salad

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed (about 3 cups cooked)
• 1 can (15 oz or 425g) black beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
• 1 cup corn kernels (optional)
• 1 cup cucumber, diced
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup (4g) fresh cilantro, chopped fine (optional)
  
  
• 1/4 cup (60ml) lime juice
• 1 tbsp apple cider or red wine vinegar (optional)
• 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional: cayenne pepper or cumin to taste

Instructions:

• Cook quinoa according to package instruction.  Cool.
• In a large bowl, combine quinoa, beans, vegetables, and cilantro
• In a separate small bowl or a salad dressing mixer (I like this one), mix lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, and seasonings. Pour over salad and toss to combine.
• Can be served immediately, but refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

Try these add-ins, best added just before serving:

• diced avocado
• cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

Emergency funds matter...

April showers bring May flowers, but June monsoons brought some lessons about deferred maintenance and the importance of an emergency fund.  Our house was previously owned by someone who did a lot of things himself, and didn't do all of them quite correctly.  One of those things came to a literal breaking point after we had multiple days of record-breaking rainfall this month.  

Some things we learned....

1. You shouldn't stuff insulation into every nook and cranny of your roof, including the soffit - more is not always better!  Roofs also need vents. Attic spaces need to breathe.

2. Even worn out shingles will last a long time, and things may look somewhat all right from the outside, but something may be brewing underneath.  Especially if the person who put the shingles on didn't bother with a vapor barrier underneath but just nailed them to plywood. 

3. Insulation batts hold a lot of water.  Like, a LOT.

4. You don't have to use bleach to kill minor mold growth - cleaning vinegar and thyme oil are really effective!  (But if you have large amounts of black mold, please call professionals and protect your health!!)

 

5. There will probably be surprises when you start taking things apart.  Don't assumed that a board will hold any amount of weight, because it might actually be completely rotted out on the inside.

6. If you're doing a project, just go ahead and budget the amount to rent a dumpster.  You are going to appreciate having it when you find out how much material you actually have to replace.

7. You can buy REALLY big tarps when necessary. This one was 30 feet by 50 feet. Due to some issues with subcontracted workers, it didn't quite get finished before the next wave of rain came through.  Sigh.

Ultimately, it's gotten done, and done correctly.  While it wasn't planned, and while the job has been somewhat stressful thanks to the weather and unreliable help, at least the money side of it wasn't a huge stressor. Thanks to a slow-but-steady savings plan that has quietly put a bit of money into an emergency account every month, we didn't have to use credit to pay for this.  That account has been significantly drained now, so we'll be working hard to rebuild it and foregoing some "fun" spending for a while so that if and when something else breaks, we'll be able to handle it.

Do you have an emergency savings fund set up?  One that you hold sacred and don't touch at all for regular expenses? 

A few tips:

• Open a separate account for this purpose, and don't allow direct withdrawals from it.  Look for a TFSA or a high-interest savings account.
• Start small - aim for even just $100 at a time instead of setting a big goal that feels unreachable.
• If your bank offers a "round up" option for purchases, designate that to your emergency fund.
• When extra money comes your way, like if you sold something or received a gift, put at least half of it into this account. 
• Make a habit of putting a small percentage of every paycheque into this account, without taking away from other savings or giving that you already budget for. 

For more advice on emergency savings, take a look at this page from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, this page from WealthSimple, or this helpful guide from RBC.

Here are a few potentially helpful tools, too.  

Save $1,000 One Box at a Time - a visual tool to track small savings contributions.

 

Money Challenge Savings Box - like a piggy bank for adults, but it also has a visual tracker for your contributions

I know Dave Ramsey isn't everyone's favorite, and some of his advice may not work for you, but we found a lot of helpful guidance in this book.   And this Family Sinking Funds Budget Planner can help you keep track if you are saving for multiple things but using one account for it all.