Healthy but Tasty Food Coop & Once a Month Meals

Ditto the once a month cooking cook book. I've used it, loved it, then adapted my own recipes with the ideas they give. hugs~~K. mom to 8 blessings, 6 still at home and wife to a wonderful man who loves me very generously :)

E.,
I have tried a lot of recipes on this website and they're actually quite tasty.

http://www.dietsinreview.com/recipes/

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for. But it is a really good website with a lot of easy prep things.

M.

MEXICAN LASAGNA
Cooking Light September 1999, Joy Littemoen Boser

2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
1/3 cup sliced green onions
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 (15 -ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles

4 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat four-cheese Mexican blend or reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 400'.
2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl.
3. Place 2 tortillas in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon half of corn mixture over tortillas. Top with 3/4 cup cheese. Repeat layers; end with cheese. Bake at 400' for 15 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes. Yield: 6 servings.

Papaya soup is an excellent way to increase your milk supply in addition to pumping it out regularly after each feeding session.

Chinese Papaya soup recipe: serving 4 small bowls;
- chicken (1 lb) and pork (1 lb) (use 2 lb if only using 1 kind of meat) and boil it for 30 minutes at high heat.

- add in 1 cup of dried soy bean to the soup stock

- After 30 minutes,add 2 papaya (Hawaiian) peeled and cubed into the soup stock and cook it for an additional 1 hour at low heat.

Parents Magazin had a recipe for "Very Veggie" Lasagna a few years back that is very forgiving and ver tasty. They published it for slow cooker prep, but I only have ever baked it. Because of the high water content in the veggies, I don't boil the noodles. It also freezes well.

Ingrdeients:
8 oz shredd. mozarella, divided
15 oz. part-skim mozarella
2 lg. eggs, or 1/2 C. egg substitute
1/4 C. parmesan cheese (grated)
1 tsp salt, divided
1 C. shredded Crrots (2-3 large carrots)
3 C. firmly packed shredded zuchinni [I have also used summer squash]
26 Oz. (or 1 jar) marinara or spaghetti sauce
8-10 lasagne noodles (not the no boil kind)

Directions:
Combine all but 1/2 C. mozarella with ricotta, eggs, parmesan, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Set aside
Cook carrots in microwaves for 2 minutes. Stir into cheese mixture and set aside.
Stir 1/2 tsp. salt into zuchini [honestly, I ALWAYS forget this step and it's fine!]
Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray (or slow cooker). Spread 1/3 C. of sauce on the bottom of the pan (if using slow cooke, crumble 2 noodles and & spread for first layer before adding sauce)
Layer Noodles, 1 C. cheese mixture, 1 C. zuchinni, 2/3 C. sauce, then noodles again. Repeat. Top the 4th layer with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle with 1/2 C. mozzarella.
Cover and bake at 325 for 45 minutes, or until bubble. Cook uncover and brown top layer of cheese for the final 3-7 minutes in teh oven- slowcooker time is 3 hours on high.

__
Like I said, it is a very forgiving recipe! I have also added cooked ground turkey to one layer, I tried it with spinach instead of 1/2 the zuchinni, and I added mushrooms one time.

Another easy recipe that freezes well is the Bruchetta Chicken recipe from the Stove Top box:
cut up 4 chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle with 1/2 C. or so shredded cheese. Mix stuffing and 1 can undrained diced tomatoes (I like to get the seasoned tomatoes). Spread stuffing mix over the chicken and cheesr. Top with 1/4- 1/2 C. shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes (covered) until cheese melts and chicken is done. ~I just typed this one from memory, so you may find that the "true" recipe has more or less cheese. Also, the smaller the chicken bites, the faster the cooking times.

You might want to check out the Dream Dinners cookbook- I have used several recipes from it and enjoyed them- though some of them are huge servings, and some are a little bland. One nice thing is that they have the recipe printed twice- for 1 meal or for three- so you can freeze some. There's also a nice section on wht freezes well, and for how long the quality will last, etc.

Hi E.,
I used to cook in an Italian Restaurant for years and some healthy cooking idea's I learned: If you are breastfeeding, you can not put in the garlic in the receipe i'm giving you and sub,with garlic salt/or garlic powder. The most inexpencieve thing is to make some veggie pasta.
receipe:
any pasta you like cook according to directions, my favorite is Penne or Rigatoni(easy to work with)
in a saute' pan coat the bottom with olive oil(this is the most healthy) add approx. 1/2-1tsp garlic minced or chopped
any fresh veggies chopped into bite size pieces (remember the veggies with most color red,yellow, green, orange etc. have the most vitamins) I usually use: red/yell/org bell peppers, shred carrots,mushrooms sliced aspargus(if costly/in season) broccoli, sno peas or any veggies you like- then saute' in the pan with oil and garlic, ad salt and pepper to taste, you can also add some italian spice in the jar. Cook until veggies are tender but still a little crisp add to you cooked pasta mix together top with a little parm. cheese and your good to go, you can cut you veggies ahead of time and keep in the fridge for 2-3days and cook it any time, it only takes approx.20-25 min start to finish, add a salad, some sourdough bread( has no fat and has yeast,which is good for milk production)enjoy with a great family. I hope this helps. Take Care- T.

Look up Nourishing Traditions on line - Very good solid affordable - they have cooking gatherings all over the country

R.

Dear E.,

What a great idea you have... sounds like sort of a mini-co-op for food buying. That will be an excellent start for reducing your food costs. I hope some of the moms who live near you will join you. If you do not get any takers from Mamasource, perhaps you could ask some of your neighbors, members of your social or church groups? Depending upon where you shop, maybe a little notice on the grocery bulletin board? If the store has an in house coffee shop, perhaps suggest to the manager that you would like to meet with some other moms there some morning to determine interest in co-op shoping? That way you can be cautious and discerning about to whom you give your personal contact information (address, phone) etc. and with whom you want to build a co-op relationship.

If I lived near you I would certainly join. Unfortunately for me I live in central California about mid way between Fresno and Yosemite Valley in the (very) rural area of Coarsegold. But I participated in a produce co-op when I lived in Houston and it was very helpful.
My daughter Eileen (who still lives in the Houston area of Texas) signed me up for "Mamasource" because I am always sending her meal ideas and suggestions for her and her daughter. She said she thought I ( and my food ideas) should be"shared" with other moms in "my" area. Hence my moniker as "Mommie Salami," her sense of humor.

Eileen was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when she was 25. After reading a lot of the literature about the disease, I realized that one of the things I could do as her mom was to
develop healthy and good tasting foods that followed the MS diet recommendations which
are very similar to the those promulgated by the American Heart Association... only with even LESS fat. The recommended dietary intake is 20% fats, 20% proteins and 60% simple and complex carbohydrates. But FRESH foods and as little processed stuff as possible.

Like you, I too needed to be concerned about cost effectiveness. How to have the very best diet for all of us at the best prices. I learned how to make many wholesome and delicious low fat, low sodium, cost efficient main dishes, sides and appetizers utilizing a lot of different vegetables, chicken and fish. I can turn plain tofu into low fat ice creams, sorbets and other yummy desserts.

Let me know if you would like to try some of my recipes and in which category: main dish, sides, appetizers, desserts, breakfasts, brunch dishes, lunch, dinner, baby foods. Mommie Salamie is a walking (or in this case, typing) encyclopedia on this subject and I would love to share with you.

Also to what specifically are you referring when you say "we've had lots of issues with low milk supply and are currently trying to improve our diet to see if we can get it up that way"? I could interpret this in several ways, but do not want to make assumptions:
1) Are you nursing your 5 month old baby and you feel you need to produce more milk?
2) Are you introducing bottle milk to your baby and the baby refuses it?
3) Or....?

Congratualations on your decision to take personal care of your new baby. Being an efficient, supportive, creative, loving wife, mom and homemaker is an honorable profession and in my opinion, greatly under appreciated in our society. Kudos to you for serving not only your own family but our mutual society in this manner.

Much love to you,
Merylyn (aka Mommie Salami)
____@____.com

Hi E.,
Your mom sounds like my hippy mom :) Yeah groceries are expensive these days--correlates to the price of oil. Do you have a vegtable co-op near you? They want someone from your family to come and volunteer a couple hours a week in the fields or store in exchange for a week's worth of veg. I wish we had one here, but we are in the mts and no farm nearby. My girlfriends and I do something called "meals on wheels"--we each cook once a week for 3 families, and they cook for us, so you get a couple nights off and it keeps everyone in touch, its nice. Another thing, although I haven't looked into it, Amazon sells pantry goods now. Don't know if they are any cheaper but there must be some advantage to ordering it all online and saving the gas to go to the store. If you come up with anything great, let us know!

I am a huge fan of OAMC but I have adapted it to about once a quarter cooking since I have 2 little ones and its hard to find one day every month to stock the freezer. I don't want to bore the rest of the community by posting a giant response about cook & freeze cooking so if you would like some more pointers, contact me directly! :)

Hi E..
My name is M. and I just wanted to give you some information that helped w/ my milk supply. I went to a lactation consultant that clued me in on a few very helpful things. The first was that your body will produce more milk if you pump right after feeding- pump until there is no milk coming out and then for another 2 minutes after that, at which time you should get another let down (pump the milk from this too). The other was a herb called Fenngreek that can be found at any health store. Take one tablet 3 times a day w/ meals for one month.
Both of these suggestions helped me once I started to do them religiously and I hope that they will work for you!

My mom and sisters and I tried once a month meal prep together with the frezzer menu from the www.savingdinner.com webpage. It worked our okay for us but didn't really save us a lot of money, except that we didn't eat out hardly at all that month. THe food was all good but there was still prep the night the dinner was prepared just not as much.

Hi!
Check out www.squarefootgardening.com My teenage daughter and I are so excited about our garden this year thanks to the methods we found in this book! (First saw it on a gardening show a few months ago). It is awesome~good luck!
K

It sounds like you'd like to try lifestyle changes first, but I just wanted to let you know about a supplement my pediatrician recommended to me. I have twin daughters & was having trouble keeping up with their demand. He recommended the herbal supplement "fenugreek". I was skeptical at first but decided to give it a try. Not more than 3 days later & my milk production had DOUBLED. Quite a few of the other moms in my multiples group have also taken the herb with the same results. I got mine at Whole Foods, but I've been told that you can get it in the natural foods sections of some of the grocery stores around.

Hope this helps,
C.

For once a month cooking, there's a website called Saving Dinner savingdinner.com -- that has mega menus -- with menus, recipies and ingredient lists for 24 meals (the idea is that you fix food for 6 days a week, and then do leftovers, or eat out from time to time.)

Looks like a great concept. I have tried the weekly menu mailers...but have since become a vegetarian -- with just two at home -- so didn't feel that really worked for us. but the concept is wonderful!

It isn't a food co-op...but there is a Community Sustainable Agriculture operation in Watsonville -- Two Small Farms, and you can pay $20 a week for a share of locally grown, organic produce. Yum. (It comes w/ recipes). It's a great system....if you'd like to get info, you can email them at ____@____.com

Good luck!

C. Hawley
____@____.com (Santa Clara)

I would be interested in that, but what area do you live in?

Someone else mentioned CSA - the once a week box of locally grown fruits and veggies. I just wanted to add that there are several farms that do this. You can google community supported agriculture to find one near you. I highly recommend this.
Also, you can go to a dinner preparing place like Dream Dinners or Dinner My Way and prepare a month's worth of dinners for about $3-4 per person per meal. I've done it and it's fun and easy.

Hi E.,
Check out www.sacredfoodways.com It is a wonderful co-op in Calaveras County that does just that- split organic whole bulk foods. The owner is also a nutritionist and has nutritional cooking and counciling services available.

E.,
Have you checked into the WIC program? This is a great source for children till they are 5 yrs old. That will help on your food bill to buy healthier food for you and your Husband. WIC will provide Milk,Oats,Grains,Carrots,ect. for your child. If you are still brest feeding it will provide more healier foods for you as well. This is one link, there are more.
http://www.wic-baby.com/?OVRAW=WIC&OVKEY=wic&OVMT...
Take care,
K.

I hope you find a co-op.... Did you know there is a book called Once A Month Cooking? You have options and probably could make some of the plans a bit healthier, but it is a good starting point. Personally, I love this method! especially during our extremely busy times.

R.

R U talking about low milk supply for the baby? I caleed a lactation nurse and she gave me something called mother milk.. I worked for me with one of my daughters but my baby now I haven't needed anything my milk is still in and she is 13 months.. I just let her eat when she wants and drink plenty fluids.. Stress will also slow your supply down too.. Don't worry about your milk it will come as your baby demand more...good luck
M.

Hi,
I would love to have a raw milk co-op. I have looked into this. It would lower the cost to $12 per gal (it's $18 per gallon at Nugget). Anyway there would need to be enough people to buy milk so we could be a route stop. I have found a monthly trip to Whole Foods helps. They are going to open one in Roseville, CA in Aug. I'd love to talk to you about ideas. We eat healthy. The price of food is high, but the cost is low. The cost of illness is high. Also the Mother's milk tea is a great idea. You may just need to rest more. If you are stressed or too busy it can impact your milk supply. Avoid tumeric & sage. They both can lower milk supply. And I'm sure many drugs both OTC and Rx can be an issue.
~ S. W. ###-###-####

E.:

My wife and I represent a nutritional supplement company that provides balanced nutrition and we have seen pretty amazing things happen with people with serious conditions that are impacted by nutrition. It is not great tasting healthy food, it comes in the form of a powder, but we are seeing remarkable results. If you would like to talk about the impact of this on milk production (and other issues) please call my wife A. @ ###-###-####.

Have you tried "Mother's Milk" tea? It can be found in most health food stores like Whole Foods. It is really a fabulous natural way to increase one's milk supply. Drink it according to the package for several days up to a week to see if you see a difference. It helped me with both my kids (one I nursed til 13 mos the other until 18 mos).