Most of the ideas for this week came from the _More With Less Cookbook_, a classic put out by the Mennonite Central Committee. I highly recommend the cookbook. The author's purpose is to provide ideas and recipes for living lightly through food choice and preparation, and conserving more resources for charitable purposes-- thoughtful reading, as well as a nice source for multi-ethnic recipes. I am interspersing my plans with favorite quotes.
(Note: Ham and pork have been very inexpensive the last couple of weeks-- $1.49 or less per pound-- so there is more pork in our menu this week than we normally eat. Also, I apologize for using so many ellipses in the quotes. This was due to a desire to keep the post somewhat short and the menu list more visible.)
An empty sack cannot stand up. A starving belly doesn't listen to explanations. --Creole proverb
1. Basic Baked Beans (p. 99), Rice Pudding (p. 268)and salad
We work hard to make eating more exciting. We satiate our taste buds and stomachs. But something in us is not satisfied. We have gotten less with more.
2. Newfoundland Boiled Dinner (p. 141)
Too many of our meals are tasting parties.
3. New Potatoes and Peas with Ham (p. 140)
Traditional cooking can be quite responsible, as long as we recognize that most of us need fewer calories than did our ancestors... Now more than ever we should affirm the best of old eating habits. They would take us back to meals of mush and milk more often than we suspect.
4. Shake 'n' Bake Pork Chops (this recipe is from the _Whole Foods for the Whole Family_ cookbook, p. 245)
Recipes are not sacred canon. They exist only to lure us into the kitchen.
5. Chicken Pie (p. 181)
Eating with joy is eating together... but the word entertaining has crept into our guest-meal vocabulary. Mennonites used to just "have you over for dinner". Now people speak as though they are about to stage a show.
6. Lasagna (this is a simple thrown-together version I learned when I was first married)
What does more with less mean in a guest meal? We want more real meeting of persons, more warmth, more relaxation to enjoy guests... focus on one nutritious, cheap, but interesting dish.
6. Creamed Chicken (p. 186)
Gather up the fragments.
2 comments:
Ooh, I didn't know you have this cookbook. I've always wanted to get a look at it. Please bring it to church some Sunday?
Sure! I'll try to remember it this Sunday.
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