Is it the cooler weather? The advent of holidays? Just a less weary frame of mind? I don't know but once more I feel I am in my element in planning meals. I like this space far better than feeling tired of everything we have and wanting only what we don't. Hideous state of mind, really, when one has so much. I like this state of mind much, much better. For one thing, I have not planned one single item that is not already on hand. That's not to say I don't need to go shopping. I still need a turkey. I have a short list of outages (reminder to self, check allspice in my spare spices...). But I am very appreciative that I have all I need for this week's meals. That's saying something!
I cleaned out the fridge on Friday. I usually do this on a Sunday afternoon and then plan from there, but this week, I wanted to get the food in the fridge sorted out. I ended up tossing two pear halves from heaven knows how long ago and that cup of mashed potatoes that I never got around to making into pancakes as planned.
I also found the red wine vinegar. I mistook it for coffee and was pouring it down the drain before I saw the label. And just a few days ago I was desperately seeking Red Wine Vinegar! WHY did I put it in the fridge in the first place? Well, it's gone now. Too slow on the uptake with that one. Fortunately, it was only about 1/4 cup.
Then I gathered various leftovers, dumped them all in a pot and planned to call it soup. It made a quart or so and I think we can eat it. If it's crud then I'll feed it to the pets over a few days' time. If it's good, we'll eat it. Either way, it will offset the loss of the three items that went into the trash.
Leftovers Soup. A variety of things from the fridge: the last of the can of chili, a couple of spoons of meat sauce, a partial jar of Salsa, the gravy from the beef stew along with a few diced potatoes and carrots. Then while digging in the freezer I found a portion of taco pasta. Well, why not toss that in, too? As I said, it's now a panful of soup and that will be nice at some point this weekend or week for a meal.
Butternut Ravioli with Creamy Sausage and Spinach sauce, Garlic Butter Toast. I bought the ravioli a bit over a week ago. Then I started seeing lots of recipes using the same flavor profile. I thought this sounded like something we'd enjoy. I plan to use breakfast sausage not Italian, and I will season it with a bit of lemon, garlic and sage.
BBQ'd Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Salad with Cranberries and Apples. The original recipe called for cheddar cheese mixed into the meatball mixture, but I noted that the flavor was completely lost. I'll serve them with shredded cheese melted over the top. The original recipe was from Ruth Ann Zimmerman but there are loads of similar recipes online.
Zesty Chicken and Rice Bake, Green Peas, Waldorf Salad. The best and easiest recipe for a one dish meal is so simple. Melt butter in a baking dish, toss in diced onion and minced garlic, add 1 cup rice, 2 cups broth and top with chicken parts that have been well seasoned. I plan to use lemon pepper, lemon juice and zest and salt. Cover and bake at 350 for about an hour. I'll check mine in 45 minutes, but it usually takes between 45-60 minutes to cook the rice fully.
Now I plan to half the recipe stated above. Cooking time likely will not change that much. The package of thighs I plan to use has four and I'm pretty sure they are sizeable pieces of meat so I hope I can get two meals off them. We'll see. I never set plans hard unless I am absolutely sure of what I have. If the thighs do prove to be sizeable, I'll boil the other two to make chicken salad for lunch sandwiches.
Breakfast for dinner: Breakfast casserole, Fried Egg, Fruit salad. I plan to only use half the package of sausage in the Butternut Squash sauce and a smaller breakfast casserole will work nicely for this meal.
Pan Sauteed Pork Chops, Scalloped Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli, Biscuits.
something from the freezer. I know that sounds completely crazy but I've a variety of things in the freezer that are portions of entrees: chicken cobbler, corn moussaka, stuffed cabbage rolls and I don't know what else. I think I'll plan to go with the oldest one and if it's not enough the next oldest and serve whatever with a salad and some type of bread.
And there we are. I have a meal plan! What's on your menu plan for the week ahead?
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4 comments:
Our weather is going to really cool off this week, so I'm planning a pot of chicken and dumplings. Tonight will be tuna burgers and fries, one night will be country-style pork ribs and scalloped potatoes (reading your menu inspired the potato choice). Friday will probably be leftover night.
One day this week I'll bake sourdough. Last week I experimented with cinnamon and raisins in the dough, and I'll be making that again regularly. I have a couple of regular bread recipes to try, including baguette (got a pan at Goodwill), and zweiback, a dinner roll that my grandmother used to make for family holiday dinners.
Goodness, you made me think of how I've been wanting some cinnamon raisin bread...Maybe I'll make two loaves of bread this week and bake the raisin bread in the smaller loaf pans. In winter there is nothing nicer than cheese toast made on raisin bread.
Good meal plan for the week. We seem to be caught in that same funk, we have plenty but want something else. It is pretty shameful when you think about it. So many in the world don’t have enough. Thanks for pointing that out. Have a great week!
Yummy meal plan! I needed the soup the last few days and didn't have any. It rained for several days in a row. Did I have soup? No. I haven't shopped for the week because we still have so much stuff. But I don't want any of it. I'm so over the whole meal planning and cooking thing right now. LOL
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