Tag Archives: beef

Sep17

Menu, 9/17 – 9/22

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I am entering the school year with at least one child in school for the ninth time this year. This is the fifth time that I have had both kids starting a new school year. You’d think I’d have this down, wouldn’t you?This year was actually better than some. I planned ahead a bit this year. I figured out that part of the problem is that there really are a lot of back to school events at the beginning of the year, which take up much of my normal cooking time.So, I haven’t done a lot of menu planning, but I have had a lot of ingredients for easy meals on hand, so we have actually cooked more evenings than not since school started. I don’t do well without any planning, but with some thought to easy meals at the grocery store combined with at least a quick glance through the freezer and pantry each morning, I have been okay.

It’s wearing on me, though. I do better with a plan. When I know just what I am making for dinner, and I know I have all the ingredients, because I made a menu, made a grocery list from the menu, and shopped from the list, cooking doesn’t seem like such a chore.So, this weekend I am getting back to the planning. Sure, it takes up some of my weekend, but then I don’t have to think about it all week, which is so worth it to me.

On Hand:

  • chicken thighs
  • ground beef
  • Italian sausage
  • 2 pieces of cod
  • canned tuna
  • red, purple, gold baby potatoes
  • pasta
  • black beans
  • baked beans
  • spiced garbanzo beans
  • shredded cabbage
  • frozen watermelon
  • frozen fruit
  • frozen broccoli

Available in the garden

  • carrots
  • green tomatoes
  • yellow bell peppers
  • kale
  • various herbs
  • japanese eggplants
  • butternut squash

Tonight: Pizza, watermelon frosties, carrots, ice cream

Sunday: roasted butternut squash risotto, steamed broccoli

Monday: Beef Bourgignon, mashed potatoes

Tuesday: cod panang curry

Wendesday: Pasta, Sausage and Bean Ragout

Thursday: Salmon noodle casserole

Next weekend my kids are going to be with their dad, and I am not making plans for Friday. I suspect I will have leftovers to use up, anyway.

Lunches:

  • Tuna Salad sandwiches
  • leftovers
  • salami sandwiches

Grocery list:

  • bread
  • beef broth
  • canned salmon
  • Daiya mozzarella
  • shredded cheese blend (soy)
  • eggs
  • bacon
  • salami
  • 2 lbs. beef stew meat
  • chocolate ice cream
  • vanilla ice cream
  • frozen peas
  • bananas
  • mushrooms
  • Yukon gold potatoes
  • pearl onions
  • egg noodles
  • arborio rice
  • bay leaves
  • nutritional yeast

I feel better already–now to just get to the store and back!

Jun13

Menu, week of 6/12/11

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Menu for this week:
Sunday: Gazpacho, salmon burgers, sweet potato fries
I made the gazpacho and the girl did the rest; nice and quick.

Monday: Rosemary Chicken with White Beans, broccoli, Quick Flatbread
I made this last week, and the girl loved it so much that she wanted to cook it for her grandmother tonight. I added onion and carrot last week, and I am going to try to get the girl to do that plus zucchini tonight, because I forgot about the zucchini, and it needs to be used. I made a big pot of navy beans to use in this and other recipes this week this morning.The flatbread batter, made with chickpea flour, is already sitting in the kitchen, waiting for baking time.

Tuesday: French lentils with walnuts and goat cheese, frittata, more flatbread
I didn’t end up making this last week, because I had about 10 minutes for dinner last Tuesday due to a late night at work combined with the need to go to a jewelry party. I love it, though, so I am trying again. The frittata will likely be mostly greens from the garden, because I have a lot of those.

Wednesday: Salmon noodle casserole, peas, unless we go to my dad’s house for dinner
The kids’ favorite. Basically a white sauce with curry powder, Mrs. Dash, canned salmon, soy cheese and egg noodles. They eat the heck out of this dish.

Thursday: Beef barley and leek soup
I will probably add a bunch more veggies to this, depending on what I have on hand, including garden greens.

Today I am going to make Cassoulet with a lot of Vegetables for lunch, probably without meat, since I am just throwing this together with the beans I made this morning, and I don’t think I have any meat on hand for this. I feel so healthy!

Jun7

Quick menu

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I have been working on a blog post about cooking and menu planning with past menus as illustrations, but it is taking me forever. I keep not wanting to hunt down the links, and then I don’t want to put up newer menus, because I should catch up first. Today, I just decided to start where I am, so here is a quick menu for this week:

Last night: Grilled goat cheese, arugula, and kalamata olive mayo sandwiches, salad, butternut squash soup
I need to use up the arugula and lettuce in my garden, as we are getting past the spring stage now. The kids will had plain grilled cheese, by my mother and I had the full flavor sandwich, based on this idea I got from Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn blog.

Tonight Rosemary chicken with white beans
I will be adding sauteed zucchini and carrots to this, and possibly some onion and garlic, because everything seems to be better with onions and garlic

Wednesday: French lentils with walnuts and goat cheese, broccoli and carrot frittata, sliced peaches or apples

Thursday: Meatballs in applesauce with rice and broccoli
We will use about half the amount of beef, but maybe the same amount of sauce; I like the sauce over the rice. We will also probably mix rice and quinoa for the base.

Friday: pizza
I am going to use the Easy Whole grain flat bread recipe from Food Matters as the base, and make a couple of different kinds of pizza–maybe one pepperoni and one goat cheese with veggies.

Nothing too exciting, but it should get us through the week…