Weekly Meal Plan - The Party's Over

I don't know what holidays were like in your home, but my menu plan flew right out the window this past week.  Between the back pain (better during the day and improving at night), the impromptu meals, unexpected leftovers, last minute plan changes, not feeling well, feeling too well to stay home one moment longer, company, etc....Well it's been quite a couple of weeks.  The grocery money was spent in a snap last week.  I expect I'm going to be coming up with a little extra to cover milk and bread in the coming week and things are going to be a little snug until next pay period.  Good time to say "Pantry Challenge!"

It's a good time to sort through the stuff in my fridge and figure out how to use the leftovers, the excess ingredients, the forgotten things and to dig into the freezers and pantry for those about to expire items.



Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry, Rice, Halos 
Mama gave me a vegetable tray from her family gathering.  There are grape tomatoes, snow peas, broccoli, carrots, celery.  I'll save the grape tomatoes for a meal later in the week.  The rest will be perfect for a stir fry.  I'll use ground beef as my meat in this dish.

Pasta with Roasted Tomato Sauce, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Green Salad
I'll use the grape tomatoes, some Campari tomatoes and some dried tomatoes in the sauce.

Chili Dog  Casserole, Coleslaw, Apples with Caramel
I have a few hot dogs and some chili left from our dinner on Saturday.  I'll mix the sliced hot dogs with the chili and then top with a corn muffin batter.

Chicken Filets, Hash Brown Casserole, Three Bean Salad
I've got far too many potatoes at the moment and an extra tub of sour cream.  Perfect time to make up a recipe of Hash brown casserole.  I'll divide into servings more suitable for two and freeze a portion.  I've found I really like having this in the freezer in individual ramekins.  Some mornings for breakfast I crack an egg into the ramekin, top with a wee bit of milk and make a 'breakfast casserole'.

Pot Roast with Sour Cherries, Mashed Potatoes, Wedge Salad, Rolls
I usually do this dish with short ribs, but don't have any, so thought I'd use a small chuck roast instead.  It's a mixture of onions, carrots and dried cherries (good for inflammation by the way) in a rich beef broth that simmers with the meat.  The 'gravy' is excellent over mashed potatoes.  It's perfect for a wintry day dish.

Macaroni and Cheese, Sliced Tomatoes, Green Beans
Mama made a Rotel chili tomato and cheese dip...She didn't find the processed cheese required so made a cheese sauce instead.  It was quite good with corn chips, but we both agreed that it would be good over Macaroni and cheese .  I don't have the Rotel tomatoes but I thought perhaps I could slice some of the remaining Campari tomatoes over the top of the casserole.

Polska Kielbasa, Cabbage, Pierogi, Escalloped Apples
John loves steamed cabbage, so no hardship to use up the cabbage here in this dish.