Weekly Meal Plans

1. Fajita Casserole
2. Leftover Night
3. General Tso’s Chicken
4. Baked Wonton Cups
5. Chicken Katsu w/ Spicy Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas
6. grilled burgers w/ Roasted Cauliflower with Bacon and Garlic This ended up being hoagies due to an unexpected visit with my dad! 
7. Seasoned Top Round Roast w/ Swiss Chard and Sun-Dried Tomato Skillet Mac

Last week went mostly as planned but meal 7 was altered due to company and bumped up to this week as a result.  This week I have the luxury of being in town all week and I only have two evening commitments for choir.  One of those nights will be a leftover night and the other will be something easy to prepare during the day on Friday, I’m leaning toward meal 4 for that night. 

I haven’t made the veggie post for the week yet, but Art picked up a ton of veg and every single meal this week is planned around using everything up.  Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Swiss chard, sugar snaps, etc.  Yum. 

I’ve still got a ton of posts to make to catch up, but I’ll get there eventually - maybe in July.  In the meantime, thanks to all of you loyal readers who still stop by even when my blog is slow. 

If you happen to be in Southern Maryland, please come out to show your support of the Chesapeake Choral Arts Society this weekend.  We’ll be performing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem on Sunday, June 12th.  More information is here.

1-3. Out
4. Mom’s Chicken w/ Amatriciana
5. Slow Cooker Corned Beef w/ Frizzled Cabbage w/ rye bread
6. Fajitas
7. Fajita Casserole Changed to Smoked Brisket w/ Zucchini Parmesan Crisps w/ salad due to company

Last week went along as planned, lots of easy cooking and then a weekend of travel.  My pain and pain management seem to have worked themselves out, so while I still have a kidney stone lurking, I’m pretty much functioning as normal.  Whatever normal is. 

Sadly, I had to plan meals today while sitting in a Panera with only my iPhone to help me, so the meal plan is filled with pretty simple foods.  It does use up the cabbage and infinite squash that Art picked up while I was out of town, so I’ll call it a success. 

I have a restaurant review from a delicious place in Providence, RI that I hope to be posting soon.  It’s also time for another Monthly Roundup post which should be coming in the next day or two.  I also celebrated my second blogiversary on the 24th of May.  I might be making an update about that in the days to come as well!  I’ve also got posts to make regarding Art’s trip to the farmers market and our first local meat CSA pickup.  Plus I’ve got lots and lots of catching up to do with recipe posting.  Busy, busy!

1. Spinach Mushroom Bacon Swiss Quiche
2. Oven-Fried Coconut Chicken and Rice w/ sautéed broccoli
3. Tater Tot Casserole w/ salad
4. Pork Sausage Pasta w/ salad
5-7. G&L: out of town, A: Fends for himself

Last week started off as planned.  I was cooking, I was updating my blog, and everything was great.   Then disaster struck in the form of a kidney stone.  What this means for my blog is that I don’t have a lot of energy so posting might fall by the wayside over the next few days or weeks.  Cooking just takes greater precedence than writing about cooking. 

My goal for meal planning this week was “easy things that will use the stuff from the market.”  Art picked up spinach, salad lettuce, eggs, and broccoli, so I think I’ve done a pretty good job of getting those things included in meals. 

Then, assuming I’m not a ball of pain by the end of the week, Lance and I are heading to Providence, RI to work at an event and see friends so Art will be fending for himself in terms of food.

1. Spaghetti Pie w/ salad
2. Leftover Night
3. Grilled Chuck Steaks with Mushrooms w/ Roasted Parmesan Asparagus
4. Panko and Parmesan Tilapia w/ Swiss Chard Cheater Greens
5. Chicken Piccata w/ Arancini di Riso
6. Baked Italian Chicken w/ Creamy Lemon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes
7. Something smoked Out :(

Last week went mostly as planned although we ended up skipping our smoked meal and had spaghetti and meatballs instead.  Hopefully we’ll have the chance to smoke for company meal 7 of this week, I just need to figure out what that meal will entail sometime over the course of the week. 

The main goal for meal planning this week was to use up all the veggies we picked up at the market and local strawberry farm.  I’ve got asparagus, spinach, green onions, salad greens, and Swiss chard filling my veggie drawers. 

I’ve also got quite a bit of risotto from meal 4 last week, so I’ll be using that as an excuse to make delicious Arancini.  I can’t wait!  I love those things. 

Next week I hope to get back into the swing of things and start involving cookbooks in my meal planning process again.  I’ve been slacking on that regard and just sticking with the internet.  While this is a fine practice, I’ve got tons of cookbooks and I really should use them so I can justify acquiring more.

1. emergency Indian
2. Leftover Night
3. Sirloin Tip Roast w/ Asparagus Gruyere Tart
4. Baked Parmesan Tilapia w/ Zucchini Risotto
5. Spice-Rubbed Chicken Fingers with Cilantro Dipping Sauce w/ Skillet Cornbread
6. Baked Ravioli w/ garlic bread
7. spaghetti w/ Meatballs
Lunch: Panzanella

Could it be?  A week when I will be able to cook dinner every night except for Leftover Night?  It is, it is!  I’m so excited! 

Since I didn’t want to go out at all this week, we resorted to “emergency Indian” after our weekend out of town.  I keep a few jars of Indian sauces in the pantry so all I need to do is cut up some chicken, sauté it up, and simmer it with the sauce before serving it all over rice.  This time I added an onion and some frozen peas.  It was tasty and a nice alternative to eating out after a day of travel. 

This week was also the first week of our local Farmers Market but, due to being out of town, we weren’t able to stop by.  Instead I stopped by Pete’s Produce again to buy more asparagus and tomatoes.  The tomatoes will be going into the Panzanella and the asparagus will be in meal 3. 

Meal 7 is pretty vague at the moment since all I Know so far is that Art wants to smoke something, probably brisket.  I’ll plan some delicious sides to go along with it, I just haven’t really thought that far yet.  I’ll update this meal plan once I figure it out!

It should be a tasty, tasty week of home cooked food which has been too rare recently.  I can’t wait.  Lots of new (recipes too!

1. Out
2. Leftover Night
3. Mom’s Chicken w/ Pasta Caprese
4. Panko Crusted Salmon w/ Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Sticks
5. grilled t-bone steaks w/ Penne with Roasted Asparagus
6. Out
7. Out (This will actually be my mom’s birthday dinner and I could post the menu, especially since my mom doesn’t read my blog, but with my luck I’d post the menu and it would be the one time she did read my blog!  It will be delicious.) Edit: The meal consisted of grilled filet mignon, grilled portobello mushrooms, Béarnaise Butter, sauteed broccoli, Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Sticks, and Bread.  We also had Mississippi Mud Cake and Pound Cake along with fresh local strawberries and blueberries.  It was a super delicious meal and my mom was thrilled!

When I said that I hoped normality would resume in early May, I really meant “the second week of May” because it’s not happening this week.  We’ve got another weekend out of town coming up, although this one is for the celebration of my most excellent mother’s birthday and Mother’s Day. 

While out of town this weekend we had the chance to stop by Pete’s Produce to stock up on salad dressings.  We were also able to pick up some gorgeous looking tomatoes and some local asparagus so those things feature in the meals I am able to cook this week.  I expect to visit Pete’s again next weekend and, from then on, it’s the local farmer’s market every weekend until Thanksgiving.  I can’t wait to get more veggies back into our diets! 

I have yet to figure out what protein I’ll be serving with meal 5, I need to examine our freezer stock a bit before I decide.  I’ll update the meal plan once I get it figured out. 

If everything goes as planned, next week’s meal plan won’t have a single “Out” listed.  Fingers crossed!

1. Eye Round Roast w/ Horseradish Cream Sauce w/ Lemon Caper Mashed Potatoes w/ salad
2. Out
3. Out
4. Out
5. Out
6. tacos!
7. G&A: Out, L: Fends for himself

The only reason I’m posting a meal plan is for the sake of being comprehensive.  Lots of things are going on this week that preclude me from cooking.  When I get around to planning meal 6 I’m sure it will be something simple and homey that was missed during a week of eating out.  Meal 1 is a holdover from last week since it ended up being borked as well.

I hope that normality will resume in early May.

1. Eye Round Roast w/ Horseradish Cream Sauce w/ Lemon Caper Mashed Potatoes Out.
2. Leftover Night
3. Crispy Bourbon Glazed Salmon w/ rice w/ broccoli
4. Spice-Rubbed Chicken Fingers with Cilantro Dipping Sauce w/ Skillet Cornbread Out.
5. Leftover Night
6. Sausage, Basil and Mustard Pasta
7. Curried Beef Pot Pie

This week is mostly planned, except for meal 7 which is a company meal that seems too far away to think about at this point.  The meal plan is pretty straightforward and I turned to delicious for all of the new (recipes. I’m going to have meal 1 be the company meal, since the roast will generate sufficient amounts of food for everyone.  Also, due to delicious’s lack of support for Firefox 4, I have made the choice to switch over to Google Bookmarks instead.  Sadly, these aren’t public so I can’t share a link, but I think the interface will work well for my needs. 

My meal planning between now and the end of the month is sort of on autopilot because I’ve got an unusual number of evening commitments.  I hope to be able to put more effort and thought into meal planning once one of my choirs wraps up at the end of April.

1. L&G: Out of town, A: Fends for himself
2. Out in some form
3. tortellini w/ garlic bread (all store bought)
4. Peachy Chicken w/ rice
5. Leftover Night
6. Chicken Spaghetti
7. Teriyaki Grilled Chicken w/ Garlic Noodles (with added snow peas or other veg)

Lance and I were out of town over the weekend working at an event and, as always, it takes me a few days to get back into the swing of things once I return home.  Especially when figuring out a meal plan is keeping me from a much needed nap! 

This is a pretty simple meal plan.  Meal 7 is a holdover from two weeks ago.  I still need to figure out meal 6.  Meal 3 will be from packages.  Nothing too out of the ordinary. 

I hope to spend some quality time with Modernist Cuisine over the days to come but, in the meantime, I must sleep.

1. Mexican Chicken Rice Casserole
2. Leftover Night
3. Queso Chicken Pasta 4. Hoagies from Wawa
5-7. L&G: Out of town, A: Fends for himself
Lunch: Sausage Chickpea Salad Did not get made.

This week is a pretty easy one to plan as far as meals go since I really only had to plan two of them!  I’ve got choir stuff for meals 2 and 4, so we’ll be having leftovers and hoagies respectively.  My goal for the nights I am cooking is “make really big things with chicken.”  I’ll be doubling the (recipes for both of those meals. 

Then Lance and I are out of town for the weekend so Art will be subsisting on leftovers from meals 1 and 3, tetrazzini in the freezer, and Sausage and Chickpea Salad.  I made Sausage and Chickpea salad the week before for lunches and Art, who hadn’t tried it the previous time I’d made it, declared “Next time you make this you must double it.”  So there you go. 

Easy enough week as far as cooking goes, but not so much as far as the rest of life goes!  Busy, busy.