Weekly Meal Plans

Menu 2/10/2013

1. Top Round Roast Beef w/ Bread w/ sandwich fixings 2. Leftover Night
3. Asian Meatballs w/ Ginger Scallion Noodles
4. Pasta Milano Soup
5. Sour Cream Rice Bake w/ beef broth for rice
6. Parsley Peppercorn Beef Patties w/ Mascarpone Chive Mashed Potatoes We got Japanese since I didn’t want to cook
7. COMPANY! Smoked Beef Brisket w/ Coleslaw w/ Barbecue Sauce w/ Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits w/ Roasted Green Beans Caramelized Onions in Slow Cooker

I’ll make these onions some day.  I swear.  In the meantime, I’ve got lots of tasty food on the schedule.  All of these new recipes come from the internet and most all of them were chosen to put a dent in the meat from the previous cow.  I believe the brisket and top round will finish off the non-ground beef packages and this week might kill off the last of the ground beef as well!

Menu 1/27/2013

1. Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce w/ rice Out? 
2. Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup
3. Chicken Sancoche
4. Layered Enchiladas with homemade sauce
5. Baked Salmon with Cream and Herbs w/ Devilish Potatoes
6. Steak on Toast (w/ chipped beef from freezer)
7. Slow Cooker Balsamic Pulled Pork w/ rolls w/ “salad” Caramelized Onions in Slow Cooker

We just picked up our half cow from Zekiah which demanded a reorganization of the freezer to see what all we had leftover still from the previous cow order.  We did a really great job of working our way through the meat last year, but we ended up with a few random packs of meat that should be used up first before I forget about them.  Old ground beef will go into meal 1, meal 6 will be using up a pack of chipped steak, and meal 7 will use up a pork shoulder that we completely missed in a back corner!  

Meal 4 is an experiment to see if I can make our standard Chicken Enchilada recipe in a layered form with homemade enchilada sauce from the Beef Enchilada recipe I posted not that long ago.  I think it will work out well, but we shall see!

Menu 1/20/2013

Paprika Chicken Casserole
Mom’s Chicken w/ Amatriciana Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

This is a weird week, sorry.  When I was planning meals I was in quite a bit of pain due to damaging my back.  I didn’t know what I’d be up for cooking, so I just planned a few things that would be easy and then planned to supplement those with Bertolli frozen meals and Safeway simmer sauces.  We also ate out and did similar non-cooking things. 

I plan to have a more successful week in cooking next week, but at least we had food this week.  I also hope to get back to more frequent posting.  I appreciate everyone’s patience with me!

Menu 1/13/2013

1. Slow Cooker Al Pastor Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
2. Leftover Night
3. Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce w/ rice
4. Paprika Chicken Casserole
5. Steak on Toast
6. Parsley and Garlic Chicken Cutlets with Broccoli w/ rice
7. Out
Nutella, Banana, and Croissant Pudding

Meal planning for this week was fairly swift, but I also only had to plan four of the meals since meal 1 is a holdover from last week and we’ll be eating meal 7 out with my parents. 

I’m still working on using up the ground beef in the freezer, although I’m down to a mere ten pounds or so.  I’ll actually need to buy the rest of the meat for the week (gasp) which is quite unusual.

Menu 1/6/2013

1. Crispy Chickpeas with Ground Beef w/ Cilantro Adobo Rice
2. Leftover Night (voice/choir)
3. Cottage Pie
4. Indian Sloppy Joes (Kheema Pav)
5. BBQ Chicken Cornbread Pie (using cornbread with corn and basic BBQ sauce)
6. Prime Rib Roast w/ Truffle Oil Macaroni and Cheese
7. Slow Cooker Al Pastor Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
Pumpkin Bread

Writing 2013 seems pretty weird but, here it is, the first meal plan of the new year.  My main goal these days is to deplete as much of the ground beef in the freezer as possible before our imminent cow delivery.  I made a pretty good dent in it last week with all of the appetizers that used it, but I’ve still got around 20 pounds to get through.  Eek.  This week should use up a few more pounds.  I hope. 

I spent a lot of time blogging last week and managed to post all of the (recipes that I had pictures for.  Now I’m working on the somewhat sad task of posting the (recipes that don’t have pictures.  It’s upsetting because I get annoyed at myself for not having pictures to go along with the food I made!  It’s much easier to remember to take food pictures when it’s just the three of us eating, when I have company over, the thought of photography completely leaves my head. 

That said, I did manage to make 22 blog posts last week and I’m hoping to keep up the momentum this coming week.  I’ve still got at least 13 (recipes to post and 8 restaurant reviews.  I will get there eventually!

(The pumpkin bread is a gift for my awesome nail and hair stylists.)

Menu 12/30/2012

1. Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
2. Tea-Smoked Duck w/ rice w/ veg
3. Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs w/ Risotto with Currants, Pine Nuts, and Feta Cheese
4. Appetizer Day – Cheese Dip Concoction, Black Bean Hummus, Bacon, Pineapple, and Boursin Puff Pastry Bites, Jerusalem Falafel w/ Tzatziki, Kofta Balls w/ Tahini Sauce
5. Chicken Sancoche w/ rice
6. Congee w/ Ginger Dressing w/ salad w/ cucumbers
7. Hamburger Helper

My brain is still on vacation so I’m not in the right frame of mind to meal plan at all.  However, we need to eat, so I need to plan whether I feel like it or not.  I did make a deal with myself that I only had to plan through Tuesday for tomorrow’s shopping trip, so the rest of the meals will be added later.  When I’m no longer in vacation mode. 

I’ll be making the first two meals in the new slow cooker that my parents gifted me for Christmas.  I’m excited to get to use it and I think it will work well for both these (recipes.  We shall see!  My old slow cooker finally died so I’m thrilled to have such a nifty replacement for it.  I’m looking forward to breaking it in this week. 

At some point we’ll be doing Appetizer Day to celebrate New Year’s, but when this actually happens is somewhat dependent on when Brian is able to join us.  I do hope to pick out the appetizers I’ll be making over the next few days.

Menu 12/16/2012

1. Potato Hash with Bacon and Melted Onions w/ eggs to order
2. Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs w/ Risotto with Currants, Pine Nuts, and Feta Cheese Out
3. Chicken and Green Chile Mac and Cheese
4. Buttermilk Baked Chicken w/ Skillet Cornbread with Corn
5. Queso Chicken Pasta
6. Loaded Baked Potato Soup
7. Out

This is an odd week of meals for me since all but one of the (recipes I’ll be cooking are repeats.  How unusual!  This is my last week of cooking before the holidays, so I figured it would be easiest to stick to tried and true (recipes.

Menu 12/9/2012

1. Out with Brian after concert
2. Out after voice recital
3. Butter Chicken Wraps
4. Mongolian Chicken w/ rice w/ veg
5. A&G: Out for trivia, L: Leftovers
6. Mom’s Chicken w/ Parsley Rice w/ Roasted Garlic Parmesan Broccoli
7. Greek Grilled Leg of Lamb Gyros w/ pita w/ tomato w/ red onion
Weekend Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy I never got around to making these :(

This meal plan is a little late due to a weekend filled with choir concerts!  But the concerts went well and meal planning has been conquered for yet another week. 

This week is fairly straightforward.  Meals 1 and 2 are out due to music things.  Meal 3 is a holdover from last week.  Most of the other (recipes are new to us.  Brian will be coming over for meal 7, so grilling a nice, big leg of lamb will be good for sharing!

I’ll be making biscuits and gravy at some point over the weekend since I have quite a lot of buttermilk in the fridge and it’s been ages since I’ve indulged Art’s love of breakfast gravy.  Yum!

Menu 12/2/2012

1. Beef Enchiladas
2. voice/choir - leftovers
3. One Pot Spaghetti with Mushrooms
4. Ga Kho (Vietnamese Caramelized Spicy Chicken) w/ rice
5. Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole w/ rice
6. Slow Cooker Chicken w/ Butter Chicken Wraps Out
7. Out due to choir concert

December already?  When did that happen?  Life is finding its rhythm again, a rhythm that doesn’t involve traveling for five days of every month.  It’s sort of nice!  I still haven’t gotten back to posting (recipes and reviews, but I imagine those will come in time. 

In the meantime, have a menu post!  All new (recipes from my bookmarks.  (I probably won’t bother crisping the skin for the Slow Cooker Chicken since it’s just going to get pulled apart to go into wraps.)