It's come down to that time of the month again, the time when I have to plan meals for the month. Most people think I'm crazy to try and plan ahead for a month, but my self-observations prove that's what I have to do if I want home cooked dinners on the tables most nights. This month we did well living on four lasagnas, chicken breasts, pork loins, sundry cuts of beef, and leftover recipes such as quiche and soup. My hectic trips to the store were mostly for holiday ingredients since I don't have December traditions or game plans established yet since every December has been vastly different from the last.
One winning holiday recipe came from me rushing late out the door one morning, desperate for caffeine before four hours straight with my kids. The Starbucks' deal for a latte and Cranberry Bliss Bar was too good to pass. As soon as I bit into their treat, I had to have the recipe--which is top secret of course. Undismayed, I found a couple of acceptable copycat recipes, and I have now made three batches. The lady who posted her version on Recipezaar used to have another version which was my favorite. For the last batch I went with Mr. Breakfast's version which includes crystallized ginger. I think I'll leave that out next time. Those of you who wanted the recipe, you can follow these links and experiment. You'll want to use good-quality white chocolate like Ghiradelli or Calebeut.
I am excited for January's recipes, however, because I uncovered a magazine I bought last month that has some healthy, tasty recipes. It will force me to bring seafood into our diet. Taking after my parents, I don't think about eating seafood when we live so far from the coast. In the meantime, my parents live only a few miles from the top fish supplier on the Western slope, so when they're not living next door to the harbor or on the lake, they have a satisfying seafood source. We're not so lucky. But we'll still try some salmon and scallops this month.
I'm also looking forward to the super-simple preparation of cranberry sauces. We made a cranberry sauce this year with Port and orange juice that was fantastic. I'll make another batch using fresh squeezed apple juice. I love throwing cranberry sauce over pork loin for an easy meal.
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