Weekly Meal Plans

Menu 1/24/2010

1. (Game Day) Warm and Creamy Bacon Dip w/ baguettes, Eye Round Roast w/ Horseradish Cream Sauce w/ Garlic Mashed Potatoes w/ salad, cookies
2. Lasagna Rollups
3. Leftover Roast Stroganoff
4. Pepperoni and Cheese Pizzas
5. Broiled Steaks w/ Gratineed Gnocchi with Spinach and Ricotta
6. Moroccan Chicken and Orzo
7. Lemon Garlic Chicken w/ Lemon Spaghetti

This week is pretty straightforward for meal planning.  Choir, aikido, another game day and Art in town at least for the first few days of the week. 

I turned to the 2007 Cook’s Country Annual for meals 2 and 5.  Meal 6 is from the 1996 Cooking Light Annual.  The rest of the recipes are from the internet and my stockpile of unposted “pre-blog” recipes which is very small these days! 

Meals 2 and 3 were planned with choir and aikido in mind and will, hopefully, be speedy to prepare. 

Between you and me, the word “gratineed” will always look strange, even if m-w.com says otherwise.

Menu 1/17/2010

1. Skillet-Baked Spaghetti
2. (Game Day) Beef Nachos, Beef Chili with Bacon and Black Beans, Skillet Cornbread, cookies
3. Weeknight Lasagna Rollups We gave into my Chinese take-away craving.
4. Mom’s Chicken w/ Pasta with Tomato, Bacon and Onion
5. Herbed Pork Loin with White Wine Reduction w/ Baked Four-Cheese Pasta
6. Bistro Roast Chicken w/ Fresh Lemon Rice
7. Savory Phyllo Bake

In theory, the upcoming week will be the new “normal” for my household, at least for the next few months.  Choir, aikido, game day, and Art working locally.  How nice! 

Meal planning for this week wasn’t too challenging, especially since last week didn’t go quite as planned thanks to my holiday cookie experiment.  While baking 1000 cookies went well, cooking dinner afterward was a different story.  Meals 1 and 5 are holdovers from last week’s meal plan.  Meals 3 and 4 were planned with aikido and choir in mind since, in theory, they’ll be speedy to prepare. 

I used two cookbooks for planning this week.  Meal 6 is from the 2009 Cooking Light Annual.  Meals 3 and 4 are from the 2007 Cook’s Country Annual.

Menu 1/10/2010

1. Out
2. Mom’s Chicken w/ Balsamicy Pasta Caprese
3. Poached Salmon with Dill Yogurt Sauce w/ Brie Spinach Risotto
4. Balsamic Glazed Chicken w/ Stir-Fried Sesame Broccoli
5. Skillet-Baked Spaghetti
6. Pork Loin with White Wine Reduction w/ Baked Four-Cheese Pasta
7. Out

Last week did not work out as I had planned due to a family emergency on Art’s side.  Thankfully Lance was able to survive on leftovers and pizza delivery while Art and I were out of town. 

Planning for this week was rather simple.  I still have the ingredients I bought for the meals I had planned last week and didn’t cook, so those get bumped to this week’s menu.  Art is gone for business for 4 evenings, so I added a fish dish to the week to take advantage of Art’s absence.  I haven’t quite decided on a side for it yet. 

This will be a fairly straight-forward week.  Next week we’ve got a Game Day on the Monday holiday, so I’ll need to get my act together planning for that soon!

Menu 1/3/2010

1. Balsamic Pork with Shallots w/ Lemon Broccoli Risotto
2. Pork Loin with White Wine Reduction w/ Baked Four-Cheese Pasta
3. Balsamic Glazed Chicken w/ Stir-Fried Sesame Broccoli
4. King Ranch Casserole
5. Beef Taco Bake
6. Chicken and Dumplings
7. Skillet-Baked Spaghetti

This is a relatively normal and calm week for me.  Everyone is home and the only thing I need to plan for specifically is a quick and easy dinner to prepare after Aikido class.  That easy meal will most likely be meal 7. 

I used two cookbooks for meal planning this week.  Meals 1 and 2 feature recipes from the 2010 Cooking Light Annual.  Meals 2 through 7 feature recipes from the 2007 Cook’s Country Annual.  I’ve been working through this Annual and it has a wealth of recipes that interest me! 

I’ve only made one of these recipes before and I’m looking forward to the experimentation that the week will bring.  I’m feeling a bit over-ambitious, but here’s hoping I find a few keepers. 

In non-menu news, Art has added the beautiful banner to my blog!  The artwork was painted by my amazing friend Lierre Foest.  Please visit her site to see even more of her gorgeous art. 

And, from my family to yours, happy new year!

Menu 12/27/2009

1. Out of town
2. Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef Sandwiches w/ Crunchy Potato Wedges
3. Pepper-Crusted Pork Loin w/ Best Potluck Macaroni and Cheese
4. Sautéed Chicken with Pesto-Mushroom Cream Sauce w/ Roasted Potatoes
5. Crispy Garlic Chicken Cutlets w/ Crash Hot Potatoes
6. Sesame Chicken with Garlic Sauce and Broccoli w/ rice
7. Game Day – cheese balls w/ crackers, ham w/ Green Bean Casserole from Scratch w/ Pineapple Stuffing, Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Apparently this is the week of potatoes!  I never intend for things to happen this way, but it often seems like I’ll plan the week’s meals and then notice we’re having pasta every day, or that five nights use chicken, or, in this case, lots of potatoes.  Thankfully we all like these things, so it’s all good!  

I have found myself in an interesting position with recipes.  Since I started this blog in May I have gone through most all of my pre-blog recipes.  I think I’ve got 10-20 recipes left in my collection that I’ve yet to write about.  This means that I’m able to turn to my cookbooks and the internet more and more to find new recipes to try and post, something I find very exciting!  

This week I turned to the Cook’s Country 2007 Annual for inspiration and recipes from that tome are featured in meals 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.  The 7th meal is Game Day and I’m planning a Ham Feast to celebrate the New Year!  

In non-menu news, Art is working on a very exciting addition to the blog this week, so keep your eyes peeled :)

Menu 12/20/2009

1. Filet Mignon with Wine and Mustard Sauce w/ Devilish Potatoes
2. Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms, Risotto Style
3. Leftovers and/or frozen pizza
4. Out of town
5. Out of town
6. Out of town
7. Out of town

This week doesn’t involve a lot of meal planning since we’ll be out of town for Christmas.  I probably will be posting some of the recipes my mom and I make during the week, but I’m off the hook for meal planning!  

Meal 1 is a holdover from last week, meal 2 was a recommendation from a friend, and meal 3 is the attempt to use up leftovers before they get the chance to go bad in the fridge.  

I hope that you all have a fantastic week whatever you do (or don’t) celebrate!

Menu 12/13/2009

1. (Game Day) Hummus, Black Bean Hummus, pita, Shepherd’s Pie, salad, Chocolate Amaretti Cake
2. Seared Salmon with Balsamic Glaze w/ Creamy Broccoli Pasta
3. Lemon Chicken with Ginger and Pine Nuts w/ Mushroom Risotto with Peas
4. Grilled Tilapia with Smoked Paprika and Parmesan Polenta w/ Oven Roasted Broccoli
5. Filet Mignon with Port and Mustard Sauce w/ Devilish Potatoes
6. Mom’s Chicken w/ Arancini di Riso (made with leftover Risotto from meal 3)
7. Angel Hair Pasta Patties w/ meat spaghetti sauce w/ garlic bread

This week started out with a Game Day and I opted to make Hummuses, Shepherd’s Pie, and a Chocolate Amaretti Cake.  

This week doesn’t present many challenges.  Art is out of town for business all week and I don’t have any evening obligations that I need to take into account while planning.  

I turned to the 2009 Cooking Light Annual and the 2007 Best of America’s Test Kitchen for inspiration.

Menu 12/6/2009

1. (Game Day) Crispy Polenta Triangles with Herbed Goat Cheese, Baked Manicotti with Prosciutto, Balsamic Zucchini, Spiced Biscotti
2. Leftover Manicotti and Balsamic Zucchini
3. Chicken Florentine w/ pasta
4. Potato-Crusted Salmon with Dijon Shallot Sauce w/ Sautéed Green Beans
5. Skillet Carbonara Casserole
6. Out to dinner with parents!
7. (breakfast with parents, dinner) Coffee Cake, breakfast for dinner (omelets, bacon, hashbrowns)
8. (Game Day) Hummus, Black Bean Hummus, pita pieces, Shepherd’s Pie, salad, Chocolate Amaretti Cake

This week poses many challenges in the meal planning department and I always seem to lag behind on weeks following a Game Day.  Thankfully our Game Day meal provided us with lots of leftovers, so tonight’s dinner was a cinch.  

Art is gone all week to the Land of Cow, so this gives me the opportunity to try out another fish dish, as seen in meal 4.  Every other weekday night has either choir or aikido, so I’m trying to stick to easier recipes that I won’t gripe about preparing at 10pm.  (For what it’s worth, we tend to keep west coast hours, so dinner at 10pm isn’t as bad as it might sound.)  

My choir concert is on Friday and we’ll be eating dinner out with my parents afterward.  Woo!  Then my parents will be joining us for breakfast on Saturday before heading back home.  

We’ve also got another Game Day (potentially) next Sunday if schedules permit.  I’m trying to focus on “ridiculously easy” this time, so I think I might go the Taco Salad route but I’m unclear.  I’ll work on sorting the rest out later in the week.  

Since the 2009 Cook’s Country Annual arrived for me in the mail this week, I used that for picking out some new recipes which I’ll be making for days 3, 5, and the breakfast of day 7.

Menu 11/29/2009

1. Chicken Saltimbocca w/ Lemon Pasta
2. Turkey Tetrazzini
3. Green Chile-Chicken Casserole
4. Peachy Chicken w/ rice
5. Chicken Sancoche
6. Homemade Spaghetti Sauce w/ pasta w/ garlic bread
7. Waikiki Meatballs w/ rice
8. (Game Day) Crispy Polenta Triangles with Herbed Goat Cheese, Baked Manicotti with Prosciutto, Balsamic Zucchini, Spiced Biscotti

This week was a fairly easy week to plan meals for.  Why?  Because there were a number of meals I planned for last week that didn’t end up getting made for various reasons!  And, of course, turkey tetrazzini which is a no-brainer after Thanksgiving.  

I filled in the rest of the week with some easy meals and homemade spaghetti sauce to make a dent in our frozen roasted tomato stash.  

We also have another Game Day planned for next Sunday, but I’m unclear about what to make at the moment.  I’m hoping inspiration will hit during the week.  I’m sort of leaning toward crepes, since they’re always a hit and easy enough to prepare a day ahead of time.  However, I might not have a lot of time for prep on Saturday because we’re hoping to go to a Norwegian Bazaar in the area and also to start Saturday morning Aikido!  Edit I have opted for Italian food for Game Day and I’m hoping to get to the Bazaar on Friday to free up some time on Saturday. 

Next week I plan to get back to my “cookbook a week” meal planning.

Spaghetti Sauce: I thawed a container of frozen roasted tomatoes.  I pureed them with garlic, Italian spices, and a cup of blush wine.  Then I added a pound of sauteed ground beef and 12 ounces of chopped and crisp cooked bacon.  It was delicious!

Menu 11/22/2009

1. Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
2. Chicken Sancoche w/ rice After all the prep for Thanksgiving, we opted to have burgers. 
3. Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Dinner in a Skillet
4. Vegetable and Sausage Skillet Supper
5. Thanksgiving! 6. Breakfast: Bundt Coffee Cake, eggs, grapefruit
Lunch: Loaded Baked Potato Broccoli Soup w/ bread
Dinner: Chicken Saltimbocca w/ Lemon Pasta w/ salad We were too full to eat dinner.
7. Brunch: French Toast Strata w/ maple sausages
Dinner: Green Chile-Chicken Casserole We ordered pizza instead.  Bad cook. 

I’m posting the week’s menu early because, well, I’ve got it figured out and I’m not sure how much time I’ll have next week to do it!  This is a busy week food-wise due to Thanksgiving and I’m trying to keep on top of things so I don’t fall entirely too far behind!  

The meals for this week are based around two things.  Company and ease.  Every meal that doesn’t involve company was picked based on quickness of preparation.  The meals picked for the days we have company were chosen because they’re things I haven’t made for my parents yet.  

Hopefully I will survive the week.  My grocery list is longer than it has ever been!