Begining tonight!

Off to work again with a 1 1/2 hour commute and people to feed when I return home. And though it's nice to be able to afford fancier ingredients, well, I don't have the time to shop for those special items.
So here's the plan: find a way to cook for us that gets a meal on the table in 20 minutes, consists only of things available at the supermarket, takes advantage of seasonal fruits oh, and is relatively cheap!
Organization to the rescue. If a large restaurant can manage to feed hundreds of starving guests each night, without knowing exactly what each customer wants, then I should be able to imitate their success for my small family. After all, my customers have to eat what I put on the table!

So here's the first go at organizing the meals. I wrote out a quick cooking meal list for the week
We're having

• Chicken and potato casserole with assorted vegy


• Macaroni and cheese with ham and peas


• Pork chops with apples and potatoes


• Cold collation( a picnic to the rest of you :-)


• Falaffel with rice and salad


• Spaghetti with meatballs and salad


• Chicken nuggets with rice

It's pretty balanced- there's pork, chicken, beef, cheese and chickpeas for protein; potatoes, pasta and rice for carbohydrates; one tomato based dish, several salads and the unmentioned vegys in the mix. I know the casserole takes longer than 20 minutes, BUT, it can be made ahead.

I picked up the chicken, deli roast beef and ham, pork chops, rice, rhubarb, eggplant, squash, strawberries, mango, lemons, cukes, carrots, bread, cheese sticks, flour, potatoes, pasta and a can of black beans for about $45. I have milk, eggs and butter on hand( I stockpile butter on sale and I have laying hens) as well as tomato sauce, chickpeas, frozen mixed vegys, and hamburger.

Since I just finished the grocery shopping, here's the first trial effort.

Tonight , since it's almost 80 degree and my daughter is off to a play tonight, we're having a picnic supper of Deli roast beef, good bread, cucumbers with rosemary salad, and a quick -ish rhubarb cobbler for dessert. The cobbler cooks while we eat and will be done by the end of supper.
Recipe for Rhubarb Cobbler

1. Wash, trim and dice 1/2 lb of rhubarb and strawberries
2. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar, 1Tbsp of flour . Let sit for up to overnight
3. Preheat oven to 450F
4. Butter or use Pam in an 8" ovenproof dish or pan
5. Place fruit in dish
6. In new bowl mix 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tablespoon of sugar and some grated orange rind if you have it
7. Cut up 4 TBSP ( 1/2 a stick ) of butter into really small pieces and drop into flour mix. Work it with your fingers until you get a sort of mealy texture.
8. Add 3/4 cups of milk and mix quickly. This will look pretty icky.
9. Drop this rather stiff batter on top of the fruit
10. Bake for 25 minutes. you can put some melted butter over the batter to keep the crust soft, but I usually forget.

When we return tonight, I have to prep the chicken and potatoes for tomorrow's dinner.