Weekly Meal Plans

Menu 10/5/2014

  1. chicken fajitas
  2. easier chicken tikka masala leftover night
  3. sesame beef and broccoli stir-fry
  4. slow cooker roast beef with mushroom gravy w/ butternut squash and bacon risotto postponed
  5. leftover night
  6. tomato caprese chicken bruschetta thing w/ pasta
  7. company – chana pulao, butter chicken, saag paneer

Last week was a challenging week so I’m hoping that this week will be a bit better.  I had planned on spending one night with my parents last week and ended up needing to stay for two instead.  

We got a lot of vegetables from the farmers market on Saturday, and most of the meal plan is based around those acquisitions.  Acorn squash, bell pepper, potatoes, zucchini, small tomatoes, large tomatoes, butternut squash, and broccoli.  Yumminess.  

Also, Lance’s birthday is this week and he asked me to make a cake for him to take into work, so I’ll be making a delicious tunnel of fudge cake and be jealous that his coworkers get it and I don’t!  

I still need to find a good recipe for saag paneer, which is why it’s not linked as of this posting.  The other recipes aren’t linked because I’ll be creating them from my brain.

Menu 9/28/2014

  1. grilled burgers w/ sweet potato fries w/ aioli
  2. chicken with mustard - made with chicken breasts w/ tomato tart
  3. chili w/ hot water cornbread[](recipes/breads-and-grains/1770-hot-water-cornbread) out, since my dinner timing was horrible!  But chili made great leftovers.
  4. G: out of town, L&A: fend for themselves
  5. leftover night
  6. out
  7. grilled steaks w/ roasted acorn squash

The transition from last week to this has not gone so well, so this meal plan is incomplete at the moment.  I’ll finish it up on Friday.  Or maybe earlier in the week if I have any inspiration.

Menu 9/21/2014

  1. coq au vin kebabs w/ potato salad - made with roasted potatoes
  2. hearty meat lasagna - made with zucchini slices instead of pasta sheets
  3. ginger and green onion beef with broccoli w/ rice
  4. chicken with mustard - made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts w/ tomato tart postponed
  5. leftover night
  6. grilled steaks w/ charred pepper steak sauce w/ butternut squash bacon risotto - made with roasted butternut squash
  7. grilled burgers w/ sweet potato fries w/ aioli postponed

Life got a little derailed last week due to yet another kidney stone, so meal 1 is a holdover from last week’s meal plan.  Lots of veggies from the market to use up in this week’s meal plan and broccoli magically reappeared at the market this week!  I’m pretty excited about that.  

My meal plans have been pretty cow-heavy recently and that’s because we have a freezer full of steaks that I’m trying to diligently work through.  I’m also not loving chicken as much as I used to, so I don’t turn to it as quickly as I did in the past.  Plus it’s better for our budget to cook with meat we already own than to buy more!

Menu 9/14/2014

  1. grilled steaks w/ roasted red kuri squash
  2. chicken shwarma with tahini sauce w/ bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, and grilled bread salad
  3. coq au vin kebabs w/ roasted potato salad[](http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/2014/09/healthy-fingerling-potato-salad/) out due to kidney stone
  4. crispy curried chicken w/ indian-style zucchini
  5. leftover night
  6. stir fried beef with mushrooms and butter w/ rice w/ fried eggplant from this recipe
  7. slow cooker lazy ground beef curry w/ rice

This should be a tasty week!  I’m hoping to use up all of the veggies that I got at the market this week as well as one of the winter squashes that has been hanging around the kitchen divider.  Hopefully I’ll also generate enough food to take care of our leftover needs.  

This is a pretty chicken heavy week which is unusual these days both because we have so much cow in the freezer and because chicken hasn’t been sitting too well in my stomach.  I’m hopeful that the chicken recipes I have chosen will work out well.  They certainly look super tasty!

Menu 9/7/2014

  1. grilled steak w/ corn on the cob
  2. mom’s chicken w/ italian style eggplant parmesan
  3. zucchini, bacon, and gruyere quiche
  4. A&G out, L fends for himself
  5. leftover night
  6. grilled hamburgers w/ sweet potato fries w/ aioli
  7. chipotle

I’m running very low on leftovers so I hope that meals 2 and 3 will restock the fridge adequately.  I’m not sure about meal 7 yet because A and I will be going to the beer and bacon festival that day and I’m not sure when we’ll be getting home or if it will be too late to cook, or what.  That might be a Wawa night or something.  We’ll see!  

I’ve got a lot of veggies to use up and I’m still having to put the winter squash off until next week since I forgot about not cooking for meal 4 this week when I was planning my veg purchases!

Menu 8/31/2014

  1. spicy beef and bell pepper stir fry
  2. fajitas
  3. grilled steaks w/ compound butter w/ grilled eggplant with tahini sauce
  4. tater tot casserole w/ cucumber and tomato salad with marinated garbanzo beans
  5. leftover night
  6. G out of town, A&L fend for themselves
  7. G out of town, A&L fend for themselves

This week.  Argh.  I was not thinking clearly when I was at the farmers market and bought way too much veg, completely forgetting that I’m only able to cook dinner four nights this week!  Thankfully the winter squashes and sweet potatoes will hold until next week, so I was able to ignore those in my planning.  

We also had an unexpected bounty of cow come our way.  Our farmer had a customer back out of a cow order at the last minute so she asked us if we wanted 1⁄4 cow to help her out with freezer space.  Our freezer, as I’ve mentioned, is quite spare, so we were happy to help her out.  The downside is that we weren’t able to pick the cuts, like we normally do.  The upside is that we now have a freezer full of delicious cow.  Of course our freezer doesn’t really have anything aside from cow.. so I’ve asked the guys to promise to tell me before they get sick of eating it every night.  (I assume that future weeks will have more variety with animal proteins, but I only had four meals to plan this week!)  

Lots of the cow came in steak form, so I predict lots of “grilled steak” nights in the future.

Menu 8/24/2014

  1. smoked ribs w/ roasted acorn squash w/ bbq sauce
  2. greek chicken salad (feta on the side) 
  3. meatballs w/ pasta w/ sauce w/ zucchini parmesan loaf
  4. grilled flank steak w/ charred pepper steak sauce w/ grilled eggplant with tahini sauce
  5. glazed pork tenderloin w/ zucchini and yellow squash gratin
  6. grilled burgers w/ crispy smashed potatoes
  7. fish/chicken taco cabbage bowl

Lots of new and exciting recipes this week.  I can’t wait!  I hope I’m up to the challenge of all of this cooking.  

These recipes are planned around the slew of vegetables that I picked up at the farmers market this week - summer squashes, acorn squash, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and eggplant.  Delicious!  Art also picked the pork tenderloin and flank steak from our dwindling supply of meat in the freezer.  

I’m hoping it will be a very tasty, if very adventuresome, week!

Menu 8/17/2014

  1. G&A out of town, L fends for himself
  2. eggs, bacon, cheese, salsa, tortillas
  3. pigs in blankets w/ small salads out
  4. coconut curry shrimp/chicken w/ rice
  5. brazilian chicken curry w/ rice
  6. G&A state fair, L fends for himself
  7. ribs w/ TBD

This isn’t the most exciting of meal plans, but it’s what I’ve got in me in the time I have.  Two curries!  I’ll probably split them up so they’re not two nights in a row, but I might not - we do all love curry!  

I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be serving with the ribs on Saturday, but I’m sure they will be cooked on the Big Green Egg and that they’ll be delicious.  The side will probably depend on what veg I get at the farmers market that morning.  

There isn’t a lot of fresh veg in this meal plan because I was out of town over the weekend so couldn’t get to the market.  Sad times.  I’ll get extra to make up for it this coming weekend!

Menu 8/10/2014

  1. chicken fajitas w/ leftover fajita veggies
  2. garlic chicken in cherry tomato sauce w/ zucchini parmesan crisps
  3. grilled steak w/ tomato salad with shallot vinaigrette
  4. slow cooker bbq shredded beef sandwiches w/ loaded smashed potatoes
  5. G&A out of town, L fends for himself
  6. G&A out of town, L fends for himself
  7. G&A out of town, L fends for himself

I didn’t get that many veggies from the market this week because I’m going away for a long weekend.  (YAY, I can’t wait.)  I don’t have a lot to say about the meal plan this week.  I’ll be using some cow out of the freezer to go with the market veg and things should be tasty.  I think I am realizing that it’s time to get in touch with our meat farmer about getting another 1⁄2 pig and whole lamb.  I’ve been working to finish things off and doing a pretty good job of it!

Menu 8/3/2014

  1. roast beef hash
  2. mexican stuffed bell peppers w/ yellow rice
  3. sausage, spinach, and spaghetti squash boats
  4. breakfast stuffed acorn squash
  5. rotisserie chicken quiche with potatoes, thyme, and zucchini (with slow cooker chicken)
  6. kofta balls with indian tomato sauce w/ rice
  7. mom’s chicken w/ tomato cobbler

Lots of really exciting looking recipes this week!  When I saw the tomato cobbler recipe for meal #7 I knew, immediately, that it needed a space on the meal plan for this week.  It looks amazing.  

Meals this week are planned around the produce that I picked up at the market - spaghetti squash, acorn squash, potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes.  I didn’t delve into the freezer for meat since Lance mentioned we hadn’t had chicken in a while.  Although I will be using sausage from the freezer for meal #4.  Sadly I’m out of regular italian sausage, but it’s too soon to order another half pig since we’ve still got a lot of other pork in the freezer!  

Meals #1 and #2 are holdovers from last week since I didn’t cook them as planned.  

Yum!