Having exhausted the internet, our budget and our taste buds last week, we are going back to the basics for this menu...
Saturday: Waffles and Bacon
Sunday (with company): Roasted Chicken and Olive Aioli, Chopped Salad, Bread
Monday (with company): Chicken Sandwiches (chicken, aioli, tomatoes, basil), Salt and Vinegar Chips, Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet
Tuesday: Eggs, somehow (maybe Turkish?)
Wednesday: Cheeseburgers and Watermelon
Thursday: Pantry Night (involving peas and harissa, probably)
Friday: TBD
PS: The brisket was as good as it smelled and fed us for days...Rowan woke up this morning at 5:00 demanding, simply, "I want meat!"
Showing posts with label Menu Plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Menu Plans. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Menu Plan Monday
I'm putting up my menu today in honor of Menu Plan Monday, even though I usually start my menu cycle on Saturday, the day I go to the Farmer's Market. This week, however, has been crazy. I think I was lucky to get a plan made by Sunday.
(The theme of this week? Tired and Broke. But Cheerful.)
Sunday: Tex-Mex Tacos
Monday: Leftovers (David and Ro are on their own...I get to go to a Girl's Night!)
Tuesday: Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries
Wednesday: Mediterranean Bean Soup and Bread
Thursday: Tuna Melts and Green Beans
Friday: Homemade Pizza (leftover vegies and maybe sausage)
Breakfasts: Fried Eggs and Toast (and Oatmeal once a week)
Lunches: Leftovers, or PBJ sandwiches
Snacks: Cheese, Apples, Bananas, Raisins, Yogurt
I may be back later this week with the recipe for the soup....it is an old favorite from the Study Center, and makes me long for Spring!
(The theme of this week? Tired and Broke. But Cheerful.)
Sunday: Tex-Mex Tacos
Monday: Leftovers (David and Ro are on their own...I get to go to a Girl's Night!)
Tuesday: Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries
Wednesday: Mediterranean Bean Soup and Bread
Thursday: Tuna Melts and Green Beans
Friday: Homemade Pizza (leftover vegies and maybe sausage)
Breakfasts: Fried Eggs and Toast (and Oatmeal once a week)
Lunches: Leftovers, or PBJ sandwiches
Snacks: Cheese, Apples, Bananas, Raisins, Yogurt
I may be back later this week with the recipe for the soup....it is an old favorite from the Study Center, and makes me long for Spring!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Truth About Menu Plans: Part II
Having just pulled eighteen rubbery-no, downright gummy- muffins out of the oven, I feel a temporarily reluctance to write about cooking and my own "blithe" kitchen. The only blithe thing about this kitchen right now is my son, cheerfully eating the rubbery muffins and hopefully getting some nutrition out of all the expensive ingredients I so innocently threw in the batter. Was it the sweet potato? The extra carrot? The simple fact that I was experimenting and knew better?
In any case, my recipe for these muffins will be a few trial runs down the road. And recognize that any jaded comments below are a symptom, as any cook knows, of a recent failure.
But this post is about my menu-plan of last week, and in particular, about how well the plan worked. Did we actually eat the meals? Will any of the dishes make a future appearance at our dinner table? Were the menus too complicated, expensive, or impractical? The verdict is now officially in.
A May Menu
(Inordinately Influenced by Jamie Oliver)
Picadillo
Brown Rice and Tortillas (actually, sourdough biscuits)
Carrots Boiled with Orange, Garlic and Herbs
We ate this meal. We liked it. But it was a bit more complicated than I like, what with juggling all the ingredients for the picadillo and the carrots.
Jacket Potatoes with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream
Simple Salad
We ate this meal. We liked it very much.
Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Simple Salad and Pain Ordinaire
This meal is the puzzler. What should have been glorious was not. I could not get the tenderloin to cook properly, the potatoes were disappointing (sorry Jamie), and I spoiled the salad with too much vinegar. It was an excellent lesson that the simplest dishes are often the hardest to cook well.
Grilled Zucchini, Onion, Pesto and Mozzarella Sandwiches
Easy, fast, and messy. Also, somewhat boring.
Orangette's Green Lentil Coconut Soup
Bread
This dinner did not even make past the grocery shopping trip. Instead, we ate, as predicted, Annie's mac-n-cheese, peas, and a hoppy IPA. Delicious.
So there you have it. I did, in fact, learn a few things from this little exercise.
The first is that it would serve me well to take notes. I hate to take notes. But too many instances of forgetting what went wrong or what went well are making me reconsider my laziness. (The muffins are an unfortunate reminder). On a related note, I also realized that I should actually try to perfect some recipes and master some basics, rather than trying four new recipes a week. And the final lesson learned? That menu plans do indeed work for me. So I am going to keep making them, week after week, mistake after mistake, permutations notwithstanding.
In any case, my recipe for these muffins will be a few trial runs down the road. And recognize that any jaded comments below are a symptom, as any cook knows, of a recent failure.
But this post is about my menu-plan of last week, and in particular, about how well the plan worked. Did we actually eat the meals? Will any of the dishes make a future appearance at our dinner table? Were the menus too complicated, expensive, or impractical? The verdict is now officially in.
A May Menu
(Inordinately Influenced by Jamie Oliver)
Picadillo
Brown Rice and Tortillas (actually, sourdough biscuits)
Carrots Boiled with Orange, Garlic and Herbs
We ate this meal. We liked it. But it was a bit more complicated than I like, what with juggling all the ingredients for the picadillo and the carrots.
Jacket Potatoes with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream
Simple Salad
We ate this meal. We liked it very much.
Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Simple Salad and Pain Ordinaire
This meal is the puzzler. What should have been glorious was not. I could not get the tenderloin to cook properly, the potatoes were disappointing (sorry Jamie), and I spoiled the salad with too much vinegar. It was an excellent lesson that the simplest dishes are often the hardest to cook well.
Grilled Zucchini, Onion, Pesto and Mozzarella Sandwiches
Easy, fast, and messy. Also, somewhat boring.
Orangette's Green Lentil Coconut Soup
Bread
This dinner did not even make past the grocery shopping trip. Instead, we ate, as predicted, Annie's mac-n-cheese, peas, and a hoppy IPA. Delicious.
So there you have it. I did, in fact, learn a few things from this little exercise.
The first is that it would serve me well to take notes. I hate to take notes. But too many instances of forgetting what went wrong or what went well are making me reconsider my laziness. (The muffins are an unfortunate reminder). On a related note, I also realized that I should actually try to perfect some recipes and master some basics, rather than trying four new recipes a week. And the final lesson learned? That menu plans do indeed work for me. So I am going to keep making them, week after week, mistake after mistake, permutations notwithstanding.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Truth About Menu Plans
Here is the truth about menu plans. Each one starts out as a thing of beauty-delicious words on a fresh page, a neatly categorized grocery list beside it. I gaze fondly at each day's menu, picturing the pristine meal as it will appear on our glorified table. Then the messiness begins.
The first few blows come at the grocery store, when I realize that the feta is way too expensive for this week's budget, the cilantro looks like it has been sitting there for months, and that Super Fresh does not carry French green lentils, OR regular coconut milk, OR my favorite green curry paste. Suddenly my list and menu begin to carry the signs of re-evaluation: meals put in parentheses, ingredients circled with question marks. Smudges of dismay mar the clean page, right along with the drips of sample coffee.
Home, and armed with at least a partially stocked kitchen, the parade of meals begins for the week. Inevitably, there are changes to the perfect plan. I'm too tired to tackle the cutlets. The broccoli must be used immediately. We ate all the bread instead of saving some for bread crumbs. I shift, rearrange, and make-do. Some of the meals are successes, some are most definitely not. By the end of the week my menu plan is much more real. Much more useful, in fact.
So I thought it might be interesting (primarily to myself) to share a before-and-after menu. I usually plan only five or six dinners per week, since leftovers, eating out, or fried egg sandwiches cover the rest.
Here is the pristine menu, pre-shopping.
The first few blows come at the grocery store, when I realize that the feta is way too expensive for this week's budget, the cilantro looks like it has been sitting there for months, and that Super Fresh does not carry French green lentils, OR regular coconut milk, OR my favorite green curry paste. Suddenly my list and menu begin to carry the signs of re-evaluation: meals put in parentheses, ingredients circled with question marks. Smudges of dismay mar the clean page, right along with the drips of sample coffee.
Home, and armed with at least a partially stocked kitchen, the parade of meals begins for the week. Inevitably, there are changes to the perfect plan. I'm too tired to tackle the cutlets. The broccoli must be used immediately. We ate all the bread instead of saving some for bread crumbs. I shift, rearrange, and make-do. Some of the meals are successes, some are most definitely not. By the end of the week my menu plan is much more real. Much more useful, in fact.
So I thought it might be interesting (primarily to myself) to share a before-and-after menu. I usually plan only five or six dinners per week, since leftovers, eating out, or fried egg sandwiches cover the rest.
Here is the pristine menu, pre-shopping.
A May Menu
(Inordinately Influenced by Jamie Oliver)
Picadillo
Brown Rice and Tortillas
Carrots Boiled with Orange, Garlic and Herbs
Jacket Potatoes with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream
Simple Salad
Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Simple Salad and Pain Ordinaire
Grilled Zucchini, Onion, Pesto and Mozzarella Sandwiches
Green Lentil Coconut Soup
Bread
Notes, already:
The lentil soup was eliminated after a frustrated search for the proper lentils and curry paste. We'll probably just have macaroni and cheese, probably not homemade. It's already begun.
(Inordinately Influenced by Jamie Oliver)
Picadillo
Brown Rice and Tortillas
Carrots Boiled with Orange, Garlic and Herbs
Jacket Potatoes with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream
Simple Salad
Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Simple Salad and Pain Ordinaire
Grilled Zucchini, Onion, Pesto and Mozzarella Sandwiches
Green Lentil Coconut Soup
Bread
Notes, already:
The lentil soup was eliminated after a frustrated search for the proper lentils and curry paste. We'll probably just have macaroni and cheese, probably not homemade. It's already begun.
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