January 8th, 2007
Dine Without Whine's Weekly Newsletter
An Extension of our Menu Planning Service
www.dinewithoutwhine.com
Publisher ~ Christine Steendahl
Read Past Issues In Our Newsletter Archives
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This Issue:
A Personal Note
Pork Chow Mein
Mom: Keep those Financial New Year’s Resolutions
A Personal Note
Happy New Year! We’re finally getting back into a routine around
here. (sort of) Christian has come down with another little bug. That’s what
happens in winter when you go to pre-school I guess! Thankfully so far aside
from a little cold in early December, Matt and I have stayed healthy.
So do you have any big New Year’s Goals? I have a long list –
most of them are organizational type things. I am still working on fully
incorporating all of them, but hopefully I can get into a full established
routine. I have some fun goals for my business as well, but I can’t share those
quite yet! (I know… nothing like keeping you on the edge of your chair right?)
I have been studying gardening lately. If you have any great tips
let me know! I plan to plant a nice vegetable garden this year since we have the
dirt for it just sitting out there… Why not? So I subscribed to a couple
gardening magazines, bought a gardening book and ordered a couple seed catalogs.
Surprisingly my husband has been getting into the planning almost as much, if
not more, than I have! I was kind of surprised how interested he is in the whole
thing. Last year we planted pumpkins, and they didn’t do real well. (Okay… we
didn’t end up with a single pumpkin. LOL) So now I am trying to study and
actually figure out what I need to do to have success. I would like it to be as
organic as possible, but I know our pumpkins got devoured by Japanese Beetles…
so we’ll see! My grandpa had a beautiful garden when I was growing up and I
remember going out there and “helping” him for hours on end. Unfortunately, I
don’t think I inherited the green thumb gene… but I’m going to try!
Have a great week!
Christine
“The Menu Mom”
www.themenumom.com
Recipe of the Week
Exerted from this week's family friendly menu plan
and convenient grocery shopping list.
Have you tried our
sample menu?
Pork Chow Mein
Makes
6 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes - Yield: 6 servings
1 tablespoon oils
1 1/2 pounds lean pork steaks, bones removed, cut into
1/4-inch slices
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup diagonally sliced celery
1 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon beef bouillon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root, or 1/8 teaspoon ground
ginger
8 to 9 ounces (4 cups) fresh bean sprouts
1/2 cup diagonally sliced green onions
1 (2-ounce) jar sliced pimiento, drained
1/4 cup cold water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Chow mein noodles - prepared
1. Heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork;
cook and stir until browned. Remove pork from skillet; cover to keep warm.
2. To liquid in skillet, add carrots, celery, 1 cup water, soy sauce, sugar,
bouillon, garlic powder and gingerroot; mix well. Reduce heat to medium-low.
Cover; simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in
cooked pork, bean sprouts, onions and pimientos; cook until thoroughly heated.
3. In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch; blend until smooth.
Gradually stir into mixture in skillet. Cook and stir over medium-high heat
until sauce is bubbly and thickened. Serve over chow mein noodles.
Serve with Orange Slices
This Weeks Top Five Referring Sites
(These sites have a link
to DWW somewhere on their site and have sent the most visitors to
www.dinewithoutwhine.com this week)
http://www.snacksfortoddlers.com/
http://www.catholicmom.com
http://www.hgpgal.com/links2.html
http://nossgalenbaby.com/twins_resources.html
http://www.christian-homemaking.com
Kitchen and Cooking Tips, Articles, And Product
Reviews
Mom: Keep those Financial New Year’s Resolutions
Each and every year, after the holiday credit card bill shows up,
we make resolutions with the best of intentions. And, within a month or maybe
less … we’ve given up completely. Why is that?
Vague Goals
The goals we oftentimes set are unrealistic or are too vague to be trackable.
Here are some examples of resolutions
Bad Resolution: “Pay off credit card debt.”
Better Resolution: “Pay an extra $20 each month towards credit card debt until
it’s paid off.”
Do you see the difference? One is vague. You can’t possibly hold yourself
accountable. The other is much more trackable.
Here’s another example.
Bad Resolution: “Spend less money eating at restaurants.”
Better Resolution: “Use a menu planning service to ensure that we have groceries
in the house at all times. Eat at restaurants or fast food only twice per week
or less.”
Difficult Goals
It’s wonderful to make resolutions, but, they do no good if you don’t have a
plan in place to help you reach them. Let’s go back to that “Pay an extra $20
each month towards credit card debt.” Where is that $20/month going to come
from? Is it magically going to appear just because you set a goal? Will the “New
Year’s Fairy” deliver a wad of cash to you each month? Of course not. You have
to have a plan in place to make the extra money available to you.
For instance, the two goals could be combined. The second goal is reachable.
Instead of just saying to eat fast food once per week, it adds on a way to do
just that – by signing up for a menu planning service.
The best Resolution could be a combination of both goals:
“Use menu planning service to ensure that we have groceries in the house at all
times. Eat at restaurants or fast food only twice per week or less. Take the
money we save and apply at least $20 each month towards credit card debt until
it’s paid off.
It’s a New Year, which means that it’s a new chance to actually make New Year’s
Resolutions and KEEP THEM. We hope these examples will help you to set
achievable New Year’s goals and put systems into place so you can achieve them.
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