Menu: Jan 6-13

Whew! What a whirlwind vacation! After taking a couple days to cycle through the returning jet lag, I found myself refreshed and ready to take life by the... horns. Yes, horns. Right! Looking at everything with a fresh set of eyes. Sadly, my computer immediately decided to be out of commission, which is why the menu is posted late, so while I remedy that situation I'm stuck with Mr. Moon's. Did I mention I'm not good with Windows? Well, suffice it to say, I'm unable to access my pictures for the moment. No picture-heavy posts for a little while. But that's ok! Because our menu plans don't really need pictures.

This week we took a complete inventory of the inside and outside freezers, and reorganized them into some semblance of order. The inside freezer, we removed a lot of stuff we wouldn't be using this week. Our goal is to use the inside freezer for snacks, breakfast and lunch foods, treats (some limited amount anyway) and the foods we have on the menu this week. This way we don't have as many trips back and forth to the outside freezer, and if something doesn't get thawed or I think about it while Mr. Moon is at work when I'm having a bad day, I can deal with it because it's all inside.
---------------------
What's to eat?

Breakfasts this week are bagels and cream cheese, smoothies, and eggs over polenta (if we ever get around to making the polenta).

Lunches are mostly leftovers, maybe a grilled cheese or two.

Dinners... ahhh, dinners. Not all the meals I'd prepared to be eaten during my vacation were eaten, but about half were. That made Mr. Moon's life a LOT easier while I was gone, and it's definitely how we intend to work in the future if one or both of us is leaving for an extended period of time.

I posted before about doing a monthly menu plan... I just don't think it will work for us. However, that being said, this week we almost exclusively picked meals from that monthly menu I'd already designed. So I'm going to see how this month goes before I write the idea off entirely.

Monday: Mushroom stroganoff over wheat mini shells; cauliflower and cheese was on the menu but the cauliflower was bad. We had game night and a friend brought over Chicago style pizza, too.

Tuesday: Chicken Tacos.

Wednesday: On Your Own for the 'Rents, they're going out to dinner; Date Night for Mr. Moon and me, we are having Greek Dinner. Beef, tzatziki, hummus, tabbouli, fresh veggies, pita bread, and a movie.

Thursday: Pan-Fried parmesan whitefish, wild rice, sauteed cabbage.

Friday: French Onion Soup

Saturday: Lasagna, using up a meatloaf from the vacation prep; Pops doesn't like it as meatloaf, so I'm finding ways to use the meat otherwise, and he requested lasagna with meat in it. Et Voila!

Sunday: On Your Own.
---------------------
How does that compare with our goals?
Our goals are still a little unclear for the meal planning. Patience is wearing thin on all fronts with the attempts at vegetarian meals. New weekly goals that I think we'll try for a while:
  • Max 1 Red meat meal: Check! Lasagna (which only barely counts! but there is beef in there with the TVP and turkey and veggies).
  • 1-2 Bird meals (2 if no red meat): Check! Chicken Tacos, and lasagna.
  • 1-2 Fish meals: Check! Whitefish and rice.
  • 2-3 Vegetarian meals: Check! Stroganoff and French Onion Soup.
  • 1-2 crockpot/prepped casserole meals: Check! Lasagna is really getting around this week.
  • 2 OYOnights: Check!
  • Date night: Check!
  • Use up/cycle through freezer stock: Check! chicken for tacos, fish, meatloaf and marinara for lasagna
  • Add to freezer stock: Not necessary this week; no space to go around. 
Monthly Menu Ideas:
Beef/Pork: Beef & Broccoli stir fry; corned beef

 Bird: Roast Turkey; Turkey Stew & Dumplings; Chicken Cordon Bleu; Orange Rosemary Chicken; White Bean Chicken Chili

 Fish: Pan Fried White; baked casserole with rice; salmon burgers; pesto shrimp Alfredo?

 Vegetarian: Tortilla soup; Split pea soup; Lasagna; Black Bean Burgers; Spaghetti; Lentil soup; Broccoli mac; Mushroom stroganoff; African peanut soup; french onion soup

 OYO ideas for me: Ribs; chicken wings; zucchini meatball sub; barbacoa tacos; chicken alfredo; thai curry chicken; stuffed peppers (with quinoa and barbacoa); gyros (with lots of leftovers for lunches). 
--------------------
Any changes to your menu planning routine, since it's a new year? What's for dinner at your house this week?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sub-Urban Gardening

Mum and I picked up the plants for the vegetable & herb garden in the backyard today. We got a few seeds, but mostly starter plants. This year with the moving and everything we got a late start, and don't have the space or time to be dealing with seeds right now. For the basis of this entry, let's just assume that everything is neglected and overgrown, shall we? As it stands, we have an old mint garden in the back corner (away from everything else) that may or may not crop back up. Possible volunteers will be spearmint, chocolate mint, peppermint, and pineapple mint. But Mum hasn't tended to it for years, really since it got planted 9 years ago, so we may need to go back out to pick up some mint plants, as we would like to keep that as a mint corner. The catnip we just picked up will be going back there. We have two raised bed planters about 3x4 feet each which are currently housing a HUGE, delicious looking oregano bush (well, three of them actually). I mean, o...
Read more

DUDE! Get On That Already!: Making a DIY Pot Rack

Image
You know those projects that have been hanging on your to-do list so long you barely recognize them as words anymore? Those things you leave shut tight behind a closed door hoping one day they will fix themselves or just disappear? Dude! Get On That Already! The challenge created by the good folks at Young House Love , to clean out those spaces that are filled with unfinished projects and un-used decor. Join in! What are you going to finish this week? --------------------- We started building a pot rack in MARCH! Took a few measurements, bought the supplies in April, started with the hole drilling, and there it sat waiting to be painted all summer long. Finally I got around to it the other day. So here's my step-by-step tutorial. Step 1: Take measurements. Decide where you want the thing to hang. Make sure it won't be hanging where anyone is likely to bang their head, nor block line of sight in the middle of a social common area. Remember that you need to measure this inclu...
Read more

Grocery Shopping: To coupon or price book?

You can find more detailed information about grocery shopping price books at Get Rich Slowly and Organized Home (both links take you straight to their price book articles) so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, as a kitchen manager and chef, I have been sold on the concept of price books--they're imperative to costing recipes. I haven't really used them outside of work, though. Not because I don't think you should, but a) because I did it at work and didn't want to do that at home too; and b) because I have a head for numbers and am obsessed with getting the best deal, so I do very well with that without writing things down. When I moved from Michigan where I knew all my prices (and had determined that Shop At Meijer was the best way to save money) to Seattle where I didn't know the prices and had a lot of other projects on my plate, I didn't pick it up then either. Nonetheless, I think it's a good idea. I have heard a lot of peopl...
Read more