Meal Plan for a Busy Week

 

I didn't cook but once on Saturday of this weekend.  John went off to do something at church, so I made lunch/supper as an all-in-one meal.  We ate a portion of when he came home and a portion of it later that evening.   I decided that from now on this will be my weekend plan.  If we don't have leftovers, I'll make one meal large enough to cover lunch and supper.  I find more and more that from Friday evening on, I'm looking for anything that makes the weekend easy...Is it a sign of age or just that I'm trying to avoid cook's burnout?

I thought once the weekend meals were sorted out, planning for this week would be easy, but I found it very difficult.  It's not as cool as they predicted.  It's not hot, but it is quite humid, so it feels a bit hot. Hearty meals sound too heavy, and summer meals make me want to say 'meh'.  

Caleb will eat pretty much anything, except mashed potatoes or potatoes in any form except French Fries and even so, he's not crazy about them. So, planning meals for him is not a difficult task at all.  It's just that my mind has already determined it is Fall and the weather is not cooperating exactly.

I always share the meals I actually made for the weekend, and then my planned meals for Monday through Friday.  This week I probably ought to include lunch and breakfast options since I will have Caleb, but I won't.  

He eats twice a morning, usually cereal or a cereal bar and then whatever John and I have later.  Lunches will be either sandwiches or leftovers.  I sorted out the snack cabinet on Saturday morning.  There are a variety of things there that he might enjoy: crackers, chips, popcorn, meat sticks as well as apples and mandarins in the fridge and plenty of canned fruits.

This week I plan to make: 

Yogurt  DONE

Granola   DONE

Muffins.  @LilyLouTay made some sour cream coffeecake muffins that looked so good.  I thought I'd do something similar.

Bread  DONE

Bagels

Oatmeal Cookies?  Depends on how the week goes.

Because this list is a little bit hefty, I thought I'd try to keep meals simpler for the week.

Saturday: Bbq'd Wings, Half-baked Potatoes.  I cooked the wings in the oven from frozen.  

The half-baked potatoes are a recipe from Jennifer at A Country Life.  The recipe is fairly simple: on a cookie sheet spread melted butter (or olive oil) and then add your choice of seasonings.  I used salt, pepper, parsley, garlic and onion powders.  Be very generous with the seasonings.  Then add in the shelf stable sort of Parmesan cheese, lots of it.  Cut potatoes in half, place cut side down in the butter seasoning mixture and bake at 400F until potatoes are tender.  You should have a crusty cut side.  These are quite good and make a nice change from the usual baked potatoes or oven fries.

You'll note on weekends I keep meals fairly simple.  If we've eaten vegetables all week long, I'm not inclined to push vegetables at us for our weekend meals.  Other weekends we might eat a vegetable soup or veggie pizza or have a big salad (usually in summer).

I am also trying to embrace the idea of making one meal and having it twice for lunch and supper.

Sunday:  Lipton Onion Burgers and Fries, Cucumber and Tomato Salad.  I haven't made Lipton Onion Burgers in ages upon ages.  I thawed hamburger for today and mixed this up when I got home.  It's smelling mighty good at the moment.  I can't wait for it to be ready!

This was a savings as well.  John offered me money to buy something for lunch.  I was so happy to tell him, "I have meat thawed for a quick meal when we get home."  

Monday through Friday:

Pork Roast with Sauerkraut, Apples and Onions.  I watched @ithinkicancook make this last week and it looked so good and like such a great Fall dish.  He made it in the slow cooker.  I purchased pork roast last week prior to seeing that video so I have all the ingredients on hand.  I think I have five or six pierogis left in the freezer from last winter.  I'll likely add that to this meal as a side dish.  This likely will be our Monday meal.  I'll be busy in the kitchen and a slow cooker meal is just the ticket to ease the evening dinner hour.

THIS MEAL WAS OKAY.  IT REALLY NEEDED A BETTER SEASONING THAN I USED.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Green Beans, Salad, Garlic Bread. I know Caleb loves spaghetti...what kid doesn't?  I've got a jar of sauce frozen in the freezer.

Chicken Fajita Tacos, Black Beans, Green Salad

Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables, Mac n cheese.  I have zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli and frozen peppers which would all be delicious roasted together.  I'll do a regular boxed mac and cheese for Caleb, too.  Any leftovers of that will be nice for lunch.

Corn Dogs, Slaw, Chips.  I bought these especially for Caleb's visit.  He loves corn dogs and none of us buy them very often.  I want to make sure to make this one while he's here.

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