Weekly Meal Plans

1. grilled leg of lamb w/ Beet Tarte Tatin
2. DIY Night
3. Salmon Shish Kabob and Spaghetti in Creamy Dill Sauce w/ roasted zucchini
4. Teriyaki Glazed Salmon with Cucumber-Green Onion Relish w/ rice
5. Cod with Lemon Caper Cream Sauce w/ rice
6. Tilapia Piccata
7. Chicken Tetrazzini w/ salads w/ roasted asparagus Lunches: Panzanella (w/ feta?)

Can you tell what’s happening this week?  If you guessed, “Art is going away for work travel,” you’d be 100% correct!  You can tell by the presence of four fish meals!  He actually has a bunch of travel coming up, so hopefully we won’t get fished out this first week.  

I’m hoping to finally get Panzanella made.  I picked up cucumbers and tomatoes at the farmers market, so I have no excuse not to.  

Hopefully this will be a tasty week of food, I’m certainly looking forward to getting some fish back in my diet.  I will also be increasing most of these (recipes to ensure that Lance has food in the fridge for the following week, since I’ll be heading out of town (with Art) to melt on vacation.  Fun times ahead!

1. Awesome Broccoli Beef w/ rice
2. Corned Beef w/ rye bread w/ Frizzled Cabbage
3. Leftover Night
4. Burgers w/ Fries
5. Mexican Pizza
6. Skirt steak w/ Chimichurri w/ roasted potatoes
7. Out to new place
Lunches: Panzanella (w/ feta?)
 
Another late meal plan.  Woo!  Go me! 
 
We didn’t get to the farmers market last weekend, but I had a lot of veg leftover from the week before, so we made it through.  I’m looking forward to getting back to the market in a few days, though! 
 
This meal plan was cobbled together as I went, since I ended up having quite a lot of leftovers in the fridge.  I wasn’t sure how many days of Leftovers we’d need to have in the meal plan. 
 
We also came to the decision that we need to start having a “DIY night” once a week regardless of whether I’m out for choir/voice.  We build up too many leftovers otherwise! 
 
In good news, it seems like my scheduling issues will be resolving themselves next month, so I hope to get back on track with blogging once that happens.  I admit that I’m so far behind the thought of trying to catch back up is overwhelming, but if I don’t start I’ll never finish!

1. Sticky Coconut Chicken w/ sautéed veg (green beans?) I made Mom’s Chicken with rice and sautéed green beans
2. Pasta e Fagioli Soup w/ soup crackers
3. Awesome Broccoli Beef w/ rice Out
4. Corned Beef w/ rye bread w/ Frizzled Cabbage Out
5. Maroni’s Meatballs w/ sauce w/ Patty Pan Squash Stuffed with Basil Orzo
6. Skirt steak w/ something Out
7. Brian over Peas and Parmesan Dip, Beet Tarte Tatin, Prime Rib Roast, Horseradish Sauce
Lunches: Panzanella (w/ feta?) Never got around to this one.  

Sorry I’m so late in posting this.

1. Out
2. voice – Pulled Lamb Gyros
3. grilled steaks w/ Asparagus with Lemon, Pine Nuts, and Parmesan
4. Chicken with Heavenly Paprika and Cream Sauce w/ pasta
5. Sticky Coconut Chicken w/ sautéed veg (green beans?)
6. Easy Baked Sour Cream Chicken w/ Pasta with Mushroom and Bacon Cream Sauce
7. Pasta e Fagioli Soup w/ soup crackers

Meal 2 is a holdover from last week, but the rest of the recipes are from my infinite bookmark file.  I have a ridiculous number of bookmarks and I really need to start working through them, especially since I add a few more every week!

1. Bacon Cheese and Caramelised Onion Quiche w/ Balsamic Glazed Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
2. Meatballs with Garlic and Butter Spaghetti
3. Grilled Teriyaki Chicken and Coriander Rice
4. Maple Glazed Pork Roast w/ Lemon Spaghetti with Goat Cheese
5. Chicken Bacon Quesadillas w/ salsa etc
6. eggs, hash browns, asparagus
7. Saturday – Greek Style Pulled Lamb Pitas Out
Black Bean Hummus and Stuffed Mushrooms to take to a party

This is the first week in a while that I have nothing significant to plan around.  It’s amazing.  Most all of the (recipes I picked for the week are new to me.  The exception is meal 5 which I picked to use up the last of the barbeque sauce that is hanging out in my fridge.  It would be a shame to let delicious homemade sauce go to waste!  

There are two easy things that I needed to plan around for the week.  Lance has his first half marathon on Saturday and I’ll be going along to cheer him on.  Meal 7 is a crock pot meal as a result, since it will be easy to marinade it the day before and just have Art plonk it into the cooker at the right time on Saturday morning.  

I’m excited to have a calmer week ahead!

1. Concert - out
2. Voice – Southwest Breakfast Scramble
3. Lemon and Dill Chicken w/ Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Sticks roasted asparagus
4. Baked Cheddar Dijon Chicken Tenders w/ Cheddar Scallion Cornbread
5. Chicken with Tarragon Bread Crumbs w/ Asparagus Gruyere Tart
6. Bacon Cheese and Caramelised Onion Quiche w/ Balsamic Glazed Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts Out for soup
7. Recital (All the ice cream if it doesn’t go well, something else if it does.) Out to celebrate!

This isn’t a very filled out meal plan a the moment, but I was running short on time and needed to get at least a few meals planned so we can get back on track with eating home cooked foods again!  I’m also in the process of figuring out how to keep track of the recipes I want to try in the future.  This is a challenge.  

And in other news, my 4th Blogiversary is on Friday!  I have no idea what I will do to celebrate but it probably won’t be “catch up on blogging.”  Sorry, folks!  I do have this as a goal, but there are a lot of other things going on in life right now that take precedence.  I feel like I’ve been saying that for months now, but c’est la vie!

⁵⁄₁₂ – See last week’s meal plan ⁵⁄₁₃ – Voice/Choir – Leftover Night
⁵⁄₁₄ – L&G: out with L’s parents, A: fends for himself
⁵⁄₁₅ – Out
⁵⁄₁₆ – Choir – chicken and rice with sauce from a jar
⁵⁄₁₇ – Choir – ground beef with pasta and sauce from a jar
⁵⁄₁₈ – Choir Concert – Unclear.  I’ll probably pick up a magical touchscreen hoagie from Wawa before concert rehearsal.  A&L will fend for themselves.  

This is a super exciting meal plan, eh?  This week is FULL of choir, so it’s a whole lot of unknown and sauces from jars.  Thankfully choir is finished on Sunday, and then I can get meals back to normal again.

⁵⁄₅ – Mom’s Chicken w/ Raw Asparagus Caesar Salad ⁵⁄₆ – Choir Only - Cheesy Ravioli Bake
⁵⁄₇ – L&G: out to pick up parents, A: fends for himself 
⁵⁄₈ – L&G: Out with L’s parents, dinner unclear
⁵⁄₉ – L&G: Out with L’s parents, dinner unclear
⁵⁄₁₀ – Prep for party – grilled steaks w/ Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter
⁵⁄₁₁ – Lunch: grilled hamburgers, grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, rolls, barbeque sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, potato salad, grilled asparagus, tomato cucumber salad, strawberries, balsamic vinegar, whipped cream, drinks
Dinner: Out after commencement
⁵⁄₁₂ – Mother’s Day Breakfast: coffee cake, scrambled eggs, strawberries?, OJ, milk
Dinner: Out with L’s parents

Life is getting ridiculous.  This week is requiring me to plan individual days instead of just a flexible meal plan like I normally have.  

Lance’s parents are coming into town this week and he and I will be spending time with them in DC on Wednesday and Thursday.  We don’t know if we’ll be making it home for dinner those nights, so I’ve got “emergency” food planned – chicken with rice and sauces from jars and pasta with sauces and ground beef.  Super easy stuff to throw together on the fly.  

Then, on the weekend, we have many people coming over for a picnic lunch prior to commencement, dinner out after commencement, breakfast with my parents on Sunday, and dinner with Lance’s parents the same day.  (I still need to pick a coffee cake for the breakfast…)

The farmers market started today, yay!, so I got a ton of asparagus.  I can’t wait to try the salad for the ⁵⁄₅ meal, it looks amazing.  

Lots of fun and excitement!  Next week – the choir concert.

1. Wine-Braised Chuck Roast with Onions w/ Roasted Potatoes w/ Greek Cherry Tomato Salad (and chickpeas)
2. voice/choir – Cheesy Ravioli Bake Leftover Night!
3. choir – Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole
4. Eggo Monte Cristo Sandwiches
5. choir – Ham and Cheese Crescent Bake
6. Alice Springs Chicken w/ Aussie Cheese Fries
7. Garlic and Chicken Soup w/ Pull Apart Butter Herb Bread

I have a feeling I’m going to get tired of saying life is busy over the next few weeks, so I’ll just say that I’m June will be a relief and leave it at that.  

Foodwise, I’m trying to make a dent in freezer meats so that we can order a pig at some point.  I’ll be using a chuck roast and a whole bunch of ground beef this week.  Lifewise, we’ve got a lot of casserole-type stuff this week due to all of my choir commitments.  

Blogwise, I haven’t had a whole lot of computer time recently and Art is in the process of another update to the backend of the blog.  Once he gets that done, I’ll be able to update a bit more often, and I hope to get back to regular updates in June when life settles down.  

One of the major changes to meal planning when life gets busy is that I have to actually plan each day’s dinners instead of just planning 7 dinners that I can make on whatever day I choose.  I’m glad that I don’t have to do this for every meal plan every week, but it’s okay once in a while.  I’m also working harder to ensure that meals generate leftovers aplenty.  Art is working out of the house on a consistent basis so I need to keep him in lunches and Lance is training for a half-marathon so eating everything in sight.  

These are all new recipes except for the tomato salad in meal 1 and I hope they’re all delicious even though I know I’ll get mocked for meal 4 :D

1. Chicken Tetrazzini
2. voice/choir – Leftover Night
3. choir – Italian Chicken, Mushroom, and Zucchini Skillet w/ Pasta
4. Slow Cooker Pot Roast w/ Oven Roasted Carrots and Potatoes
5. grilled sirloin steak w/ leftover Garlic Mustard Butter w/ Feta and Parsley Potato Bake
6. Tex Mex Casserole
7. Brian over (Fajitas?)

Life here is getting busier and busier as the weeks go by.  Too many things to be done and never enough time.  We’re currently gearing up for Lance’s college graduation (YAY!) in May and then a choir concert the following weekend.  

I’m also trying to make sure there will be room in the freezer whenever we get around to ordering our next half pig.  And I’m trying to make sure that I make things which generate a fair amount of leftovers now that all of us are eating leftovers for lunches and in order to fuel Lance who is training for a half marathon and eating a ton as a result.  

Fun times!