Good Life Menus

Menu for The Week of July 31, 2010–Southern Hemisphere

Tracey — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:39:07 +0000

We’re going to continue with menus that include roasts and soups. This week we’ll spend a little time in France, as well as Italy. We’ll also have a little time on the other side of the Mediterranean, with recipes from Algeria and Morocco, before heading back to North America for a Tex-Mex dinner. And we’ll clean out the fridge from all the leftovers. Bonus this week is a nice, munchy snack you might want to make once now and again for any parties you attend.

You need to be logged in to see the rest of this page. Use the login box to your right, or become a subscriber to get the menu, complete recipes with meal preparation instruction, and shopping list each Thursday.

Menu for The Week of July 31, 2010

Tracey — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:48:25 +0000

You’ll notice there are lots of zucchini in this week’s menu. If you’re anything like me, not only do you have a bunch growing, people are leaving them on your doorstep! There are a couple of simple ways to deal with them this week, as well as a grilled version of the classic ratatouille. I’m also assuming you have plenty of things like green beans, peppers and tomatoes, which are all in season now. We’ll do some other easy, classic dishes, like Provençal Burgers with PIzzaladiere Topping; Salade Niçoise and Grilled Salmon. Then we’ll do a northern Italian twist on kebabs; a Southwestern version of Caesar Salad, and a Korean take on barbecued chicken. Bonus this week is a traditional Russian summer dessert that is rather like a panna cotta, only made with sour cream.

Computer update: still trying to restore it to avoid loosing many months’ worth of work, and using the slower laptop in the meantime.

Menu for The Week of July 24, 2010–Southern Hemisphere

Tracey — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:11:03 +0000

We’re going to do some Mexican, Italian, Chinese/American and Polish-ish dishes. But for one night, we’ll have a meal of nibbles as a change of pace. Either way, there are some fun bonus recipes you can use throughout the week. I guess I felt like being snacky!

Menu for the Week of July 23, 2010

Tracey — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:29:27 +0000

I’ve spent the last week both watching my tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables getting larger and larger and beginning to ripen. Good thing that they didn’t ripen on schedule, or I would have nowhere to put them, because my refrigerator isn’t working.

I’ve also spent the last 10 days or so dealing with the aftereffects of a nasty virus–in fact, I’m using my small, old laptop while we’re still attempting to save all the data from our other computer, before reinstalling everything. I have months’ worth of pre-work for Good Life Menus on there, not to mention family pictures going back to my oldest’s infancy, that I don’t want to loose.

Both of these problems occurred on the same day. I want to thank my subscribers for sticking with me while I’m working through this! As of just yesterday evening, I finally had a way to post the menus again, and have taken today in putting this one together in a format that’s readable on he Internet.

Thanks again, and hopefully quite soon I’ll have access to all the recipes I’d already put work and thought into, as well as my past work.

Menu for the Week of July 10, 2010–Southern Hemisphere

Tracey — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:32:12 +0000

We’ll have a pork loin and sides with classic flavors of winter as well as a seafood dish with winter flavors; a couple of Mediterranean nights; and then head east with a couple of nights in India before we head home for a classic Chinese-American-style supper. The bonus recipe this week is really fun, versatile, and involves chocolate!

Menu for July 10, 2010

Tracey — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:09:21 +0000

I am the proud possessor of a purple pepper. Try saying that 5 times fast! I’ve got several dozen sweet peppers of various varieties that are nearly ripe, as well as a few dozen tomatoes of 15 varieties that are almost ripe as well. It’s high summer, and much of the U.S. is enduring a heat wave, although it’s supposed to be breaking for the next week. Matter of fact the first rain in two weeks just moved through, and it’s much cooler than it was earlier, although just as humid.

But just about everything is in season now, except cool-weather crops. I hope you have a good garden or farmer’s market near you! A note: we’re using the same herbs over and over again, so if you don’t use them all one week (and you’re buying them instead of growing them) just stick them in a glass of water in the fridge to keep for next week. There are even special herb keepers for this.

So this week, we’re seeing lots of veggies, but the carbs are still staying low. For some reason, even though the code is right, the overview isn’t showing Tuesday’s menu: Fennel-and-Herb-Rubbed Grilled Chicken Legs and Grilled Artichokes with Parsley and Garlic. Rest assured, the menu is in there! But when the system’s not reading the code right there’s not a lot I can do. Fortunately this is minor.

Menu for the Week of July 3, 2010–Southern Hemisphere

Lark Oceane — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:00:07 +0000

HWhether you’re Jewish or not, you’ll enjoy the delicious recipes planned for this week! The brisket in the slow cooker comes back again twice this week, making easy meals during a busy season. We’ll also visit India, Africa and Italy before heading home for some homestyle food. Bonus recipes make a nice brunch dish and a nice appetizer you can take anywhere.

Menu for The Week of July 3, 2010

Tracey — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:47:30 +0000

We’re going to be more traditional this week. In the U.S., it’s high summer, and the Fourth of July is Sunday. That means picnics, grill-outs, barbecues and pitch-ins for many of us. So whether you’re staying home or getting together with others, you’ll be covered. The traditional southern Carolinian Pulled Pork is typically slow-smoked. My version gives you a quicker option using ribs if you’re really in a hurry, but has a traditional Carolina Piedmont vinegar-based sauce. Or if your day includes hours of playing Frisbee/swimming/having fun outside, you can certainly do the traditional picnic shoulder version. This version serves 6, but just buy a larger shoulder if you’re feeding more people.

Then there’s the classic Barbecued Chicken. I have this sized for 10. If you need to swap the day you make it, feel free. It doesn’t take as long as the pulled pork, but is still relaxed enough that while you’re grilling it, you can put up your feet, sip something nice and enjoy your guests. The Burger Bonanza also feeds a crowd, but is a bit less traditional with its three different fillings: Fiesta, Greek and Mediterranean. Switch these three around as needed for your holiday weekend meals. There’s also slaw and fauxtato salad recipes, but make sure you have some slaw ready when you do the pulled pork—it’s tradition to serve the slaw on top of it! To top off your Glorious Fourth, try the Wave the Flag Cheesecake, made with fresh, seasonal berries!

We’ll fill out the week with a couple of salads: a fun BLT for those of us for whom the sandwich is a favorite; a French-style salad that uses tuna (but isn’t like American tuna salad); steak tacos, and a Sicilian-inspired grilled fish kabob meal.

Menu for The Week of June 26, 2010

Tracey — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:01:48 +0000

It’s hot, hot, hot. And where I am, it’s rainy, too. We’ve had rain every single night, usually about 4 a.m., for something like 3 weeks now, and my back yard is a swamp! On the other hand, the plants that I just put in the garden under 3 weeks ago now have fruit on them that is nearing ripeness, just as if I’d planted them at the proper time 6 weeks earlier than that. I skipped our cool, dry April and May; planting near the end of May. Because I lost most of my garden to bouts of hail that happened about 6 weeks apart last year, I’m hoping to make up for it this year.

This week, we’re once again doing most of the cooking out of the kitchen. There are three main-dish salads, two of which start out with grilling something. We’ll have a Tex-Mex twist on a Grilled Chicken Club; and a French-inspired crab salad, as well as a twist on the classic Italian Caprese Salad, turned into a meal. We’ll also have an Indian-style grilled chicken; an Italian twist on burgers; and grilled pork with a Southwestern take on pesto. Bonus recipe is a versatile dessert sauce. Subscribers get all these recipes and more, plus the complete coded shopping list and instructions for multiple-dish nights.

Menu for The Week of June 26, 2010- Southern Hemisphere

Tracey — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:01:14 +0000

This week, the bonus recipe is a gluten-free, sugar-free winter classic you won’t want to miss! We’ll continue with a light main course salad with Greek flavors to start off. There’s a roast that comes back later in the week as a popular Asian dish, as well as a French-inspired use for leftover turkey (if you still have some). We’ll also do a little with Italy and Tex-Mex, as well as a dish with classic flavors from Spain. No one eating these recipes could guess that they’re not only gluten-free, but barely budge blood sugar levels! They’ll just taste the delicious food.