16 May 2012

Meal Planning

My ability to cook without being interrupted by the micronapper is quite low these days and my sink/kitchen is often unavailable to me when I'm doing laundry, so I've been meticulously meal planning the last few days.  And I suddenly realize that in addition to being the targeted audience of those commercials for hand-softening dish soap (I totally identify with the woman with the dishpan hands), I'm the audience for all those pins on Pinterest for '50 billion slow cooker recipes that take 20 seconds or less.'  We've downgraded our meals a bit so that I can actually do other things (like unpack all our worldly goods) in the day

On the rota for the next week:
  • Pierogies (they come frozen, friends, and I use them when I want to accomplish more than one thing in a day) with farmer sausage (Steve, he is in love with the pork products) and chow (would buy in 10 gallon jugs to accommodate the spouse if possible)
  • Slow cooker Vegetable and Chickpea Curry
  • Fish Chowder and homemade bread (I started making bread every week when I discovered that each loaf costs $0.70 when I bake it myself)
  • Rotisserie Chicken (we'll be down in the valley all day) and macaroni salad
  • Black Bean Taco Salad (with leftover rotisserie chicken)
  • Chicken Soup (with rotisserie chicken carcase) and homemade bread
  • Gnocchi and salad
  • Sloppy Joes with oven fries and vegetables
Anyone have any particularly quick and tasty recipes to suggest for upcoming menus?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry my quick meal plans all involve peanut butter or hamburger and some type of pasta. The Doctor I'm sure will remember Dads hamburger, tomato soup(must be Campbells) and some pasta or rice. It was tasty and filling but low on the nutritional end.

KWB

Lady Susan said...

No menu ideas (sorry!) but one thing that I started doing a few months ago is to keep track of our menu in google calendar. I would menu plan before and write it on the grocery list, but never keep the lists after I was done with them. So now, when I am menu planning on look back on what we had a few months/weeks ago and see if I want to do any repeats. I feel like I am no longer reinventing the wheel every week. (And this never stops me from adding new recipes to the mix).

MBC said...

KWB--I have heard about that dish. Steve has thought about making it before on nights when we want something super quick, but we've never actually done it.

Lady Susan--That's a good idea! I'm always trying to remember what we like to eat/enjoyed recently.

Jefran said...

I like to have a couple of ready prepared recipe components in fridge. Roast vegetables: any kind really, cut fairly small, good way to use up things going a bit wrinkly,stuff left over etc. Carrots, peppers, fennel, marrow, sweet potato all good. Not onion as it dominates (IMO). Toss in olive oil, big tray, put in oven when it's on for something else. Other useful thing is big batch of homemade tomato sauce. Sauce plus veg plus bacon strips equals pasta supper, sauce plus veg plus butter beans with feta crumbled on top equals my favourite lunch. Mix veg with mince for meat loaf, tom sauce on the side.

MBC said...

Oooh, I want to try your favorite lunch! Any secrets to the tomato sauce or just a basic marinara-type sauce?

Jefran said...

Just marinara - I only add herbs and spices when I'm actually adding it to a dish, otherwise everything it's added to comes out a bit samey. I use 2 tins good quality toms, 2 diced red onions softened in olive oil. Plus a splodge of tomato paste or ketchup. I cook it long and slow so am sure it will sit happily in the fridge for a week.

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