Poached eggs over vegetables

My plan was something entirely different when I walked into the kitchen Monday night.  I had scheduled for a creamy sundried tomato pasta dish but I had some potatoes and previously cooked broccolli and green beans that needed to be used.  As I was boiling the water for the pasta I realized that's way too much carb!  So, plan B was born.

3-4 red or white potatoes
1/2 head steamed broccoli
1/2-1 cup steamed chopped green beans
2 cloves garlic, minced
eggs for poaching
Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
olive oil
sea salt
vegetable broth, low sodium
bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Bring water in a large pan to boil.  Heat the olive oil in a oven safe pan.  Add the potatoes and saute until crisping.  Drizzle in some vegetable broth to soften the spuds and prevent sticking.  Add in the broccoli and green beans, saute until the potatoes are done.  Sprinkle with the minced garlic, season with salt, mix well.  Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and drizzle with the melted butter.  Place in the oven under the broiler to brown. 

Poach eggs in the boiling water.

Serve the vegetables with poached eggs and top with a few slices of cheese.

Monthly menu planning

I just penciled out my first full month of menus.  I've been a menu planner for quite a while, I do agree that it helps keep cost down by reducing quick trips to the store and helps me be more efficient with my kitchen time.  But I usually plan week to week.  Now though I'm going to jump into monthly menu planning.  I printed off a blank September calendar and assigned a theme to each day of the week:

• Sunday is a family feast, something that takes a little more time to prepare and can be re purposed for lunches like roasts.
• Monday is our dedicated meatless day.
• Tuesday is crock pot meals, Paulo has a late soccer practice on Tuesday so this is definitely good for my sanity.
• Wednesday is our fiesta theme night
• Thursday is left overs, again, soccer practice so I'm trying to make my life easier!
• Friday will be a trip to the Orient for Asian style meals
• Saturday we're off to experience the wonders of Italian Cuisine

I have no idea if this will actually work out for me in the long run.  I hope it does.  I hope it helps me cut down on both time and money-both of which are in short supply-but that remains to be seen.  This will be an experiment for me.  Part of my motivation for trying this is my nerves over the impending start to school.  Don't get me wrong, I love school, so does Paulo but when he goes back to school free time gets more precious and ever more scarce.  If I can shave a few minutes off my time in the kitchen we all benefit now won't we?

Swai-hobo style

I learned a few things making this dish last night. 

1. Tin foil is my friend, it makes for insanely easy clean up.
2. Do not pile a bunch of vegetables on top of the fish, it impedes the cooking process!
3. I really like tin foil.

Take whatever veggies you have, I used the following
One yellow, pre cooked, potato-quartered and thinly sliced. 
One zucchini, sliced into rounds
Red onion
Mushrooms
Fresh basil
Garlic powder
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Season the vegetables with the herbs and spices, drizzle with olive oil.  Lay the vegetables down first in the tin foil square, then plop the fish on top, close up the tin foil into a sack and pop it into an oven until the fish is cooked through.  Easy peasy!