MONDAY NIGHT MENUS - A VALENTINE'S MEAL TO SHARE

MAKING COOKING AT HOME EASIER



COOKING FOR YOUR VALENTINE
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Are you looking for a great new menu to try out for Valentine's Day this year?  

Why not go for "togetherness" on this one and cook your Valentine's meal for one another together?  

Don't you know that those who cook together stay in love longer?

This meal is not very easy to cook (one reason it is so special) so you can laugh at each other's mistakes as you go along!  Doing the cooking together takes the pressure off for perfection.

MAIN DISH:  OSSO BOCO WITH GREMOLATA
SIDE DISH:  RISOTTO ALLA MILANEST
DESSERT:  SEVEN SINS CHOCOLATE CAKE

OSSO BUCO WITH GREMOLATA

(This is a recipe from "Fine Cooking".  You may wish to view more of their great recipes at www.finecooking.com.)

This is the world’s best make-ahead dish—it tastes amazing on the second day. 

Ingredients:

·         6 (1-1/4 inch-thick) veal shanks

·         Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

·         1/2 cup all-purpose flour for dredging

·         1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

·         1 tablespoon unsalted butter

·         3 cups finely diced yellow onion (about 2 medium onions)

·         1 cup finely diced celery (about 2 stalks)

·         3/4 cup finely diced carrots (about 2 small carrots)

·         1 tsp. dried oregano

·         3/4 cup dry white wine

·         2 Tbs. tomato paste

·         1 (28-oz. can) Italian plum tomatoes, drained and chopped, juices reserved

·         1 cup low-salt chicken broth, more if needed

·         1 large sprig of thyme

·         1 bay leaf

·         1 tablespoon arrowroot mixed with 2 teaspoons of  broth or water

For the Gremolata:

·         3 Tbs. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

·         2 large cloves garlic, minced

·         1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest

·         2 anchovy fillets, minced

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Tie the veal shanks around the middle with kitchen string (if they’re not tied already) and season them with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a dish. Dredge the shanks very lightly in flour, thoroughly shaking off the excess.

Have ready a roasting pan or baking dish large enough to hold the shanks in a single layer (9x13-inch works well). In a large heavy skillet, heat 3 Tbs. of the oil over medium-high heat. Put three veal shanks in the pan and sear until nicely browned on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Move the shanks to the roasting pan. Repeat with the remaining three shanks.

Carefully pour off the fat in the pan and wipe it out with paper towels (it’s fine if the browned bits remain in the pan bottom; just wipe away the used oil). Return the pan to medium heat and add the butter and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. When the butter is melted, add the onion, celery, carrot, oregano, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the wine, and cook, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon, until the wine is reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes

Stir in the tomato paste. Add the tomatoes with their juices, the broth, thyme, bay leaf, 1/2 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a boil, and pour the contents of the pan over the shanks. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Braise the veal in the oven until fork-tender, 1-1/2 to 2 hours, checking the liquid occasionally. If it has cooked down, add enough broth to keep the level about halfway up the shanks. To check for doneness, pierce a shank with a fork. The meat should pull apart easily. Taste a morsel—it should feel soft and tender. Do not overcook, or the veal will fall apart.

Gently brush most of the vegetable bits off the shanks. With a wide, flat metal spatula, carefully transfer the veal shanks to a dish. Strain the pan juices through a medium-mesh sieve into a saucepan, pressing hard on the solids with a spatula to extract as much sauce as you can. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Whisk in the arrowroot mixture and cook briefly to thicken. If you’re working ahead, stop here (see Make-ahead Tips for reheating).

Make the gremolata:

Just before finishing the sauce and serving, combine the parsley, garlic, lemon zest, and anchovies. Add two Tbs. of the gremolata to the sauce. Remove the strings from the shanks. Serve the osso buco topped with the sauce and a small sprinkling of the remaining gremolata.

Make Ahead Tips

To make the osso buco ahead, braise the veal and strain and thicken the sauce with arrowroot. Wipe the roasting pan clean, return the shanks to the pan, and pour the sauce over the shanks. Let them cool at room temperature for an hour, cover well, and refrigerate for up to two days. To reheat, cover the pan with foil and set in a 325°F oven until the shanks are hot, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the shanks to a dish, then make the gremolata, adding it to the sauce and sprinkling it over the shanks.

RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE

(This recipe comes from SAVEUR MAGAZINE, September 7, 2012 Edition, which featured several great ways to use saffron rice in cooking)

INGREDIENTS
6 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp. saffron threads
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 small yellow onions, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
2 oz. raw bone marrow (optional)
½ cup grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat stock and saffron in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat; keep warm. Heat butter in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add rice; cook until lightly toasted, about 4 minutes. Add wine; cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add ½ cup warm stock; cook, stirring, until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue adding stock, ½ cup at a time, and cooking until absorbed before adding more, until rice is tender and creamy, about 16 minutes total. Stir in marrow, if using, and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. 

Seven Sins Chocolate Cake

   Sinful deserts are a MUST for Valentine's Day tables.  I found this decadent dessert in 

   The SprinkleBakes Cookbook.

Yield: 15+ servings                                                                         I recommend making this cake over the course of two days. The devils' food cake and  pastry creams can be  made on the first day, and the frosting, drizzle and assembly  can be completed on day two. Devil's food cake: This is my favorite devils' food cake recipe adapted from a Rose Levy Beranbaum recipe.  This double layer  cake gets torted and filled with three types of pastry cream.  Tip: Instead of picking up a torted cake piece with your hands, slide it onto a large plate.  This will keep the  cake from breaking into pieces and makes it easy to slide the piece back  onto the filled cake. 1 oz. fine quality unsweetened baker's chocolate, chopped evenly 3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder 1 cup hot coffee  (can use hot water or decaf coffee if caffeine sensitive) 2 eggs 2 egg yolks 1/4 cup sour cream 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, tightly packed 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 16 tbsp (2 US sticks) unsalted butter, softened Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 9-inch cake pans with vegetable shortening and  line with a circle of parchment paper. Grease paper and flour; tap out excess and set pan  aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk the chocolate, cocoa and hot coffee (or water) until smooth.   Set aside.  In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, sour cream, half the chocolate mixture  and vanilla until just combined.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle  attachment, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt on low for 30 seconds.  Add the softened butter and the remaining chocolate mixture.  Mix on low speed until  the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the mixer off between additions, add the egg  mixture in two parts, starting on medium-low speed and gradually increasing to medium.  Beat on medium speed for 45 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients   and strengthen the structure. The batter will be fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface  evenly with a small offset spatula.  Bake for 30-40 minutes (check at 30). Cake is done  when a toothpick tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed in  the middle.  Let the baked cakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn  cake out onto a wire rack sprayed with cooking oil.  Let cool completely. Trio of pastry creams: Adapted from the SprinkleBakes book. Tip:  Be sure to temper eggs carefully! If you goof a little and pastry cream turns out  lumpy, pass it through a fine sieve before refrigerating. 2.5 oz. dark chocolate 2.5 oz. white chocolate 2.5 oz. milk chocolate ¼ cup cornstarch 2 cups evaporated milk 2 eggs 4 egg yolks ¾ cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tbsp. whiskey 3 tbsp. dulce de leche (find this canned in the ethnic food aisle) 1-2 tsp. espresso powder (to taste).   Have ready three small bowls (2 cup size), wiped spotless of any moisture.  Chop the  chocolate evenly and place each type of chocolate in a separate bowl.  Set aside.  In a small  bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1/2 cup of the milk. Beat the whole eggs, then the yolks, one  at a time, into the cornstarch mixture.  In a saucepan, combine the remaining milk and the  sugar; bring to a boil, whisking constantly.  While whisking the egg mixture, slowly pour  1/3 of the boiling milk into it, to temper the eggs.  Return the remaining milk in the saucepan  to medium-low heat.  Pour the hot egg mixture into the saucepan in a thin stream, whisking,  so as to not scramble the eggs.  Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and begins to  boil.  Remove from the heat and pour the hot pastry cream over the chopped chocolate,  dividing evenly between the three bowls.  Let stand for 2 minutes, and then stir each bowl  until mixture is well incorporated.  Mix 1 tbsp. butter in each of the bowls.  When butter has  melted and is thoroughly combined, fold in 2 tbsp. whiskey into the dark chocolate pastry  cream; 3 tbsp. dulce de leche into the white chocolate pastry cream;  1-2 tsp. espresso  powder into the milk chocolate pastry cream.  Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the  surfaces of each type of pastry cream so they do not form a skin. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until ready to use. Milk chocolate marshmallow frosting: 12 tbsp (1-1/2 US sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2-2/3 cups powdered sugar 6 oz. milk chocolate melted and slightly cooled 7 oz. marshmallow cream With a hand mixer or standing mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat butter for 3  minutes until fluffy.  Add powdered sugar and mix on low until incorporated.  Add melted  chocolate and beat until fluffy. Add marshmallow cream and beat until frosting has lightened  in color and all ingredients are well combined.  Scrape down bowl and mix again.  Transfer  3/4 cup to a piping bag or zip-top bag with the corner snipped for later use. Fill and frost the cakes: Cut each cake in half horizontally (this is called "torting"); pipe a line of frosting around the  edge of the first cake piece. This makes a reservoir in which to hold the pastry cream (this is  extra insurance, sometimes pastry cream is lax if not well refrigerated). Spread the pastry  cream inside the icing and top with another cake piece.  Pipe an icing line as before and fill  white chocolate dulce de leche cream; repeat with the next cake piece and milk chocolate  mocha cream.  Top with the final cake layer and frost the entire cake.  You may choose to  crumb coat the cake and refrigerate, then do a final smooth coat of icing (recommended). Dark chocolate drizzle: Note: This portion should not be made ahead. The chocolate thickens quickly and needs to  be applied to the cake 10-15 minutes after making it. 4 oz. dark chocolate chopped evenly 1/2 cup whipping cream 1/4 cup light corn syrup 2 tsp. vanilla Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a 4-cup measure, heat cream until very hot  but not boiling (about 45 seconds for me, but all microwaves vary); you can also do this in  a saucepan over medium heat if you don't have a microwave.  Pour hot cream over chocolate  and let stand for 2 minutes.  Whisk until all chocolate is completely melted and mixture is  consistent.  Whisk in corn syrup and vanilla.  Let mixture stand until slightly thickened  - about 10-15 minutes.  Pour over cake; allow the mixture to run down the sides of the  cake in fingers. Final flourishes: Chocolate shavings Your choice of chocolate pieces. Remaining 3/4 cup frosting in piping bag/zip-top bag Pipe frosting in mounds around the outer edge on top of the cake.  Sprinkle-on chocolate  shavings.  Use any finishing chocolate for garnish you wish. Important! Keep this cake refrigerated, but be sure to bring it to room  temperature before serving.  Pastry creams and frosting flavors are  fully developed at room temperature. Okay - so the dessert is a bit complicated, but isn't your sweetheart worth all the  trouble?   Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

SEASONS - IS THERE A POSSIBILITY THAT LENT EVOLVED FROM THE PRACTICE OF PURIM?

LENT FROM PURIM????
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The rhythms of religious time are quite amazing.  

I have long held the theory that the season of Lent and the time of Purim are related and linked together in so many hidden and unnoticed ways.   

This becomes clearer to me each season that I observe Lent and Purim together.   That may sound a bit strange to some ears, considering the fact that Purim is a joyous holiday celebrating the end of more than two centuries of exile under the Babylonian Empire and the rescue of the Jewish people from an extermination plot by the sacrificial acts of Esther, and Lent is a time of fasting and penance during the 40 days, plus Sundays, from Ash Wednesday to Easter in the Christian calendar.  How could I possibly place these days together?   Think about it....

In this time of Lent, most Christian people remember the journey of Jesus to the cross and the time leading up to His resurrection.  

This is often the first place in time that many Christian people come to hear and appreciate all the details of the story of salvation.

In the time of Purim, most Jewish people remember the acts of Esther, how she was willing to sacrifice her life for her people and the time that led to the conviction of Haman, who was the enemy of the Jews.  It is as much about the defeat of Haman as the heroic acts of Esther.  His conviction and the reversal of the decree he had placed against Esther’s people saved the nation of Israel. 

Hmmmmm…..do you see the parallels here?  Can you see that sacrificial love in each case is saving people from total destruction?  We have Jesus defeating Satan; Esther defeating Haman.  God is definitely the author and orchestrator of both stories.   Both acts brought hope and new life and joy to those who had lost hope and joy.  Both stories are about great restorations and great reversals that only God could bring into totally hopeless circumstances. 

So I ponder these things each year as I celebrate both occasions; Lent with my Catholic brothers and sisters, and Purim with my Jewish brothers and sisters.  Oh wait….Oh dear….Have I lost you with this one statement?  I surely hope not.  Does it have to be either/or here?  Is not the same God teaching the Catholics and Protestants that teaches the Jews?  Can I not as a godly Protestant agree with some Catholic and Jewish customs and observances? 

I think yes! Not only do I think yes, but I think it very much matters that we recognize it is the same God at work in all cases.  Christianity (both Catholic and Protestant) and Judaism worship the same God.  We all have our Father in common.  Perhaps all of us do not yet know our brother, but we do recognize that our Father is the same.  This God we all worship is different than the god worshipped by Hindu’s, Buddhist and some other religions.  None of these cultures worship our God; they have their own gods, but the two cultures of Christianity and Judaism do worship the same God.   Who can read the scriptures and history and deny this fact?
 
I agree and recognize the fact that the Jewish people have not accepted the whole story yet, but just the same,  all of the stories are told specifically to them (Jews)  and us (Christians), by the same God, and it is evident throughout the scriptures.  So, each season I ponder and journey through both of these customs, because I have finally been able to see that it is not about US, but it is all about GOD, in both situations. 

Personally, I can’t get lost in the spirit of division that both sides are striving to defeat with these very observances that we speak of.  That would be too ironic for me.  The love of my Father gives me the grace to go both places and experience the richness of both occassions.  I must stay in the love of God that I see in both cases.   THE FOCUS MUST BE GOD IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND EITHER OF THESE TEACHINGS.  If you’re looking at the ways of man, you will miss it completely. 

God meets true hearts that celebrate Lent.  God meets true hearts that commemorate Purim.  Miracles keep happening to both Christians and Jews.  Prayers are heard and answered to both Christians and Jews. 

It always does my soul good to go back and have a deeper look at the parallels in both seasons, because they only prove this same theory to me over and over again.

For instance, let’s take a look at some scriptures found in Esther 9:20-23:  

And Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending choice portions to one another and gifts to the poor. So the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written to them.

Can you see the striking similarities more when you read this passage?   Did you catch those words saying “the day on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending choice portions to one another and gifts to the poor?”   Can you see the picture of the Jews going from fasting (as Esther did with her maids before she went to the King on behalf of the people) to celebrating their freedom and the forgiveness from the decree of the King? 

Isn’t this just like Lent leading up to Easter, when Jesus first suffers and is then resurrected?  Do we not go from sorrow to joy?   We find such a shadow of the story of the cross and the resurrection in the story of Purim.  

Do we not see Satan defeated just as Haman was defeated?  There is the custom of the Jewish nation to always use plays to symbolize the stamping out of the name of Haman at Purim.  It was just a shadowing of Jesus forever defeating the work of Satan with the cross.   The Jewish people are very focused to remove all memory of Haman from the earth, just as the Christians are very focused on the fact that all sin should now be done away with. 

Do we not see the King of all Kings, the God of Heaven and Earth, overturning his decree against humankind and bringing mercy and forgiveness for their souls?  This is just as the King did to Haman’s decree after he hung him from the gallows.  He reversed the decree and gave freedom and mercy to the Jewish people in the land. 

A king's word cannot be reversed, just as the Word of God can never change.  The King could not legally take back his decree, but he could allow the Jews to defend themselves, which they boldly stepped up and did.  God could not change the curse that mankind brought on himself by disobedience, but He could allow them to be defended and covered by the blood of Jesus.  The price was still paid through a way of substitution.  The law was upheld, but The Christians claimed Jesus as their defense against sin and the mercy of God has prevailed!  The mourning has turned to joy! 

You may be astonished to see these things and how they have worked hand in hand together in the whole big picture of salvation. Then again, perhaps not; maybe you had already seen this picture that God painted for us twice.  I don’t know, but either way, now that the first glimpse has been presented, did you see the rest of the links? 

Did you see that one story would not have been possible without the other?   Had Esther not sacrificed herself to save the lives of her people on Purim, the bloodline of Christ would have been wiped out.  We, Christians, would not have our “rest of the story” to tell.   The mourning would not have been turned to joy.  Thank God for BOTH stories!

Does this make the miracle of Purim and the practice of Lent and Easter tie together even more for you?  I hope so.  These stories do go together.  They go together as surely as God will bring the two peoples together in the end.  We all share One Father.  This is a Father who prefers a united family.  We are not blending different religions in putting two and two together here.  Neither are of pagan origin.  We are simply understanding more completely ONE religion; the one where God The Father reigns over the Kingdom. 

He will clarify all the rest for us eventually.  Every little detail will pan out just as it is supposed to. 

In the meantime, let us open our eyes and love one another with respect and dignity and keep moving together toward the table of our Father in all that we do. 

Let us enjoy our feasts together because God has spoken and His words are “whosoever will may come.”

AN APPLE A DAY - DAY 124 OF 365 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE - ORGANIZING THE FOOD YOU EAT

STILL GETTING ORGANIZED IN ORDER TO STAY HEALTHY - THIS WEEK:  FOOD

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

So we’ve been talking about how to de-stress your life by achieving a better organization of life’s daily events and activities in order to achieve the healthier lifestyle we all desire.

So far; we’ve organized our time by learning to use a calendar and a personal planner and  We’ve learned how to avoid “time-clutter” in our lives. 

What else can we organize in our daily living that will help us to get and stay healthy? 
 I think our food choices would be a next place to start.

I’m told by the experts that most people have good intentions to eat healthy.  The problem with good intentions is that they are never followed up with action. 

Why is this? 

The research tells us there are three reasons:

1) Lack of planning

2) Lack of following through the plan with action and

3) Boredom

I can see where that has been true in my own life.  What about you?

I have been guilty in the past of eating unhealthy simply because I forgot or even deliberately did not take the time to make out a healthy menu. It is a tiresome chore and it gets to be monotonous.  Of course even if I did decide on a weekly menu; I often forgot or simply got too lazy and did not make the time to follow that menu plan by making out a healthy grocery shopping list.  

Even if I DID remember to do those two things; I would often leave the list at home and/or go buy all the wrong things at the grocery store. 

I MIGHT even occasionally get all of those things in order and plan and buy the groceries, and then get home to find out I need some special type of dish or container or cooking tool that I do not have on hand at the moment; and all my extra efforts would still be wasted. 

I think it is time to get organized with all of this in order to make life simpler and easier for all of us. 

I’ll tell you what I want to do; keep watching the AN APPLE A DAY blog articles during the last few weeks of February and the first few weeks of March.  (I'm posting these every Friday.)  I’m going to make all of this planning much easier for myself; and at the same time; I’m going to copy you with the very helpful results of all my efforts for free! 

Can you beat that deal? 

Here is the actual plan: 

1.  I’ll make an easy to follow list of healthy breakfast menus that are tasty and nutritious (30 days worth) and I’ll list all the groceries and special dishes needed.  All you will have to do is shop and prep the meals.  A lot of these foods will be the types of food you can actually eat on the run.  We will do a week of the breakfast menu just to get started and ease into this program. 

 2.  The next week, I’ll do the same thing for lunches that are tasty and healthy and can easily be carried to your work space every day.  By this point we will be doing the breakfast and lunch part of the plan.  We are building our healthy diets a little at a time so that we stick to the plan for the long haul.

3.  The next week I’ll do the same for easy at-home dinners that are totally healthy as well as fast and easy to prepare in the evenings.  You will now be preparing three healthy and nutritious meals a day for yourself and your family.  This is great progress!  In just three weeks we will have formed the habits of putting DAILY healthy meals into our lives, and it will be easy and not at all stressful.  It is simply a matter of what we discussed before; good organization and planning (and I will help a lot with the menus and the grocery lists.)    

4.  By the fourth week of our plan, when all of these 30 days worth of 3 meals a day are created; (90 meals in all for a 30 day menu;) I’ll combine all of the lists together into a whole 30 day’s worth of 3 meals a day menu plan for 30 days along with a weekly grocery list for your 3 meals a day for each week for one month.  You can simply use this 30 days plan over and over again each month.  No more grocery lists to make out, no more agonizing over what to cook!  

Now you have NO EXCUSE not to get your meals organized for cooking at home; nor do I.

All you will need to do in the end is shop and prepare.  It will only take you 2 and 1/2 hours a week and an hour a day total.  That's it!  The planning is done; so just pick one time-slot (and mark it down on that planner we discussed a few weeks ago) for a once-a-week grocery shopping trip and allow an hour for grocery shopping and half-an-hour for putting it all away in an organized manner.  Then set aside thirty minutes more each morning for meal prep to fix breakfast and lunches, and thirty minutes each evening for preparing dinner.  You will also need an hour once a week for cooking a few things ahead.  (Block that time on your calendar off too, so you will remember to keep the schedule.)  That is all that eating healthy is going to cost you; simply the price of your regular grocery bill that you are already spending, and routinely scheduling 2-1/2 hours each week for shopping and cooking ahead, plus an hour a day TOTAL for simple meal-time prep.    

Your health is worth it!  

This is simple and easy.  

You will not get bored because no meal plan is ever the same for 30 whole days.  You can just re-use this 30 day menu over and over again, adding your own adaptations for any unique needs as time goes by.  Because you will be using less meat and more fruit and vegetables and less pre-prepared items; your grocery bill may even be less.  That might be a bonus surprise to the fact that your waistline will be going down and your health quota will be increasing.

 

Just keep watching the blog if you want to join in with me on this little adventure toward organizing more healthy eating routines.

We can get our healthy eating organized in no time flat.  

The rest of this year will be dedicated to making these meals become very useful in our daily lifestyle.  In making up the menus, I’ll basically be following the healthy food plan I suggested several blogs back.  Here is the link to the blog post with those healthy eating plan details in order to refresh your memory:http://dancinginseason.blogspot.com/2016/07/an-apple-day-day-104-learning-lesson.html.

Just remember if you decide to follow the diet plan I referenced in the above linked article; that it calls for two meals a day spaced many hours apart. So, combine breakfast and lunch into one morning meal if you are following that plan of two meals a day spaced more hours apart.   If you are wanting to lose weight; I recommend you adhere to that plan.  If you are simply maintaining your current weight; you can be okay with eating the three meals and probably not gain any extra weight; but you will feel much better simply from eating the same foods.  You might want to re-read the whole previous post, then decide what your specific goals are.  

While you refresh your mind on these facts I will do all of the other hard work. Decide what stage of life you are in and do what works best for you in the area of how many meals a day to consume, but either combine breakfast and lunch into one morning meal with dinner much later, or eat three separate meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner at THE SAME TIMES each day.  

Stay tuned for an organized eating plan made easy and simple!  

We’ve all needed this forever and it is yours just for being a regular reader of my AN APPLE A DAY blog column.  

You could probably pay a lot of money somewhere else and get a similar less detailed plan; but why would you do that?   As a favor, I would kindly ask that you click on the G+ FOLLOW button right underneath my photo on the right-hand sidebar of this blog in order to follow these blog posts without missing any of the articles.  That will keep me from e-mailing over and over to those of you who miss a few blogs.  Besides; you get a lot more than AN APPLE A DAY posts when you subscribe; you get a whole week's worth of great articles; similar in fashion to a magazine you might pay a lot of money for in the store.  

The blog subscription is totally free - no strings attached.  I would simply like the credit of having the numbers of those subscribed to my blog increased in order to raise my popularity quota in the eyes of the editors that I submit freelance articles to.  So you WOULD be helping me out and thanks in advance!  I hope the process will be mutually satisfying for both of us.  

While you are at this task of subscribing to my IN SEASON BLOG; you might also enjoy reading many of my other daily posts.  In general the blog is about the things that carry all of us through the many varied seasons of life (hence the title; IN SEASON.)  I am a Christian, who often thinks Hebraic; so much of the blog is about the daily thoughts of a Christian woman trying to live life to the glory of God in-season and out-of-season through all the timely and seasonal activities that come and go daily with all the ups and downs of life in a Christian family.  

Keeping all of the above in mind; my daily posts work much like a magazine with articles broken down into certain subject categories which are usually posted in the following order each week: 

MONDAYS – MONDAY WEEKNIGHT MENUS:  Something I created with ordinary (not necessarily all healthy) menus on Monday nights just to make at-home meal planning, shopping and cooking a little easier for at least one night a week.  This was so successful; it sparked the above article in the organizational series you’ve just been reading.  Don't confuse these Monday night posts with our easy new diet plan.  This Monday column will continue to provide something easy and organized for people not wanting to plan their Monday night cooking chores; but it isn't as health oriented as what we are discussing today.

TUESDAYS – THE HOUSE DOCTOR:  A little column once a week to discuss making a house into a home.  I use my own personal experiences and share little stories about how we have loved, cared-for and remodeled our current home over the past twenty years, (a project that will probably never end) as well as telling the stories of others with the same heart for their home, who have shared their stories about creating their own homes with me.  The subjects have more heart than technique.  If I do anything with this column, I want to encourage people to have a heart for making a home.  I think that may be a major problem in our world today; people have forgotten how important this is to our daily living.   Hopefully I am able to relate some homemaking thoughts to everyone by passing on such stories and experiences.  This is NOT a decorating column; but more a "share your experiences " column and a “making a house a home” column.  The subject matter is very random, and a lot of it relates to the current season.

WEDNESDAYS AND SUNDAYS– SEASONS/PEN ART/PIECES OF THE PUZZLE:  
I randomly alternate writing about these three themes/subjects/categories in articles every Wednesday and Sunday.   Below is a brief description describing each:

I could post on any of these three subjects on Wednesdays or Sundays.

The SEASONS articles are all about holy days and holidays.  I am a non-denominational Christian; but I have a Hebraic heart; therefore I tend to keep the Holy Days from Exodus, Chapter 20 (not in a legalistic way, but in a loving, devoted way) and I also love all the regular seasonal and national holidays we observe here in America.  With the SEASONS articles; you will read my take on each new season as it approaches. I love to relate the seasonal themes to the daily seasons of our lives here on planet earth. 

The PEN ART articles are simply me sharing some of my literary leanings.  It could be random short stories, essays or poems that I’ve written on almost any random subject under the sun.  These articles could be by me or a guest author; or they could simply be me reviewing something that someone else has already written.  The one theme is that most all of it follows the current season of which it is published.  The "seasons" are what my blog evolves around, in many different ways; and this category conforms to that pattern too.

The PIECES OF THE PUZZLE articles are about deeper, more theological subjects that are not always discussed at length in the other blog posts of this blog.  It is full of my own personal thoughts as well as how I arrived at those thoughts.  I am not a theologian; but I DO have many theological thoughts and I’ve spent 50 years studying the scriptures with all of my heart.  I consume theological books like most people breathe; so you might find a few interesting facts here.  I can guarantee you they will not be run of the mill articles.  

THURSDAYS – COME AS A CHILD – This is an on-going weekly bible study where we are walking together all the way through the bible, page by page and verse by verse in narrative form with the fresh eyes of a child who has never heard the scriptures before. We aren't in a hurry.  We are taking our time to learn all we can and to soak up the goodness of God.   Here we are  discovering the wonderful treasures of life in The Kingdom of God through weekly chronological scripture studies.  As I post this note; we are most of the way through Exodus.

There have been 156 study lessons presented so far; and the next one will be number 157.  It might be fun for you to start from the beginning; but it isn't necessary that you do so.  If you wish to review what we have already done, just look all the way back to the year 2012 in the chronological postings on the side bars of the blog pages (the blog archives.)  The lessons have been posted every Thursday since 2012.

FRIDAYS:   AN APPLE A DAY – 365 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE – These are articles on maintaining and keeping a healthy lifestyle and they have all been written in easy, common, lay-man’s terms.  They speak of how to maintain that healthy lifestyle that we all desire.  You are following this column today.  These are practical, common sense facts that are usually given from a biblical and/or Christian worldview.  I am NOT a medical doctor; I'm just an ordinary person, like you, who wants to live my life to be as healthy as possible.  This is a blog where we can all do that together and support one another as we go along the journey toward better over all  health.

SATURDAYS – OH THE PLACES WE SHOULD GO –  Everyone needs a little fun and activity every week in order to lead a healthy lifestyle!  Isn't that why we are doing all of these things to start with?  This column is part of how I feel God rewards us in life; with interesting places to go and fun things to do together. This is my way of finding those fun parts of life by exploring the obscure little corners of my part of the world with good friends and loving family and writing about what we discovered in these places.  

These articles are about traveling to the sometimes not so well known and off-the-beaten-path places in the South; and sometimes even further.   Here I share the amazing little details of all the small and large places that I have personally visited and experienced and appreciated.  

I love small towns; yet I also enjoy busy, active, alive and growing cities.  I’m not into the exotic; but I'm more into traditional, family oriented, laid-back, home-town types of places to visit and travel. I happen to believe some of the best places exist right under our noses, usually only a few minutes from our own homes; if we just take the time to explore and discover all the wonder of our own communities.  

I am also fascinated with travel from a “seasonal” and “historical” point of view.  So you may find my “travel” articles are not full of the usual touristy words; but they tend to be more down-to-earth, yet very informative; and I try to show people fun and enjoyable places that they haven't seen before that are actually affordable for the average family and even sometimes offer history lessons.

So; I hope that explains my blog a bit; and I hope you click that G+" “follow” button right under my photo on the right, because this freelance writer could sure use a lot more followers to impress all of those statistical people I deal with day-in and day-out.  The blessing for you will be that you will never miss another one of my daily blog posts; and I highly recommend sharing them with friends and family whenever you hit on a subject that you think they will find interesting.

Okay - Now I’m off to make out those menus!  Check in again next week (or have fun reading all the other blog posts with the time I'm going to save you!)