It’s another busy week in the Frugal Upstate household-so there are lots of things to take into account for this week’s menu plan.
1) Yankee Bill and I attended a fundraiser pig roast & gun raffle (yes-in a bar. We are SO in the country) this weekend. Therefore we didn’t make the roasted chicken for dinner this weekend. So that needs to be cooked up.
2) Between meetings & spring concerts we have places various combinations of us need to be at around 6:30 pm three nights this week. That means that meals need to be made and eaten prior to that. Add in the fact that there are some after school activities that I have to run folks back and forth to on two of those days, and that I will be in town for errands & meetings on the other. . .well it just means that made ahead, crock-pot or super simple are the order of the day for those nights.
3) We have a family event on Sunday for lunch-which will make that our large meal for the day. No sense planning much for dinner that night
4) I am still trying to work in one fish meal (which typically is tuna or salmon but not always) and one more or less meatless meal in each week.
5) I realized that unless I want to be eating venison 3 nights a week next fall that maybe I need to also aim for one venison meal a week to continue to use all the wonderful venison we have in the freezer .
Taking all that into account here is my game plan:
Monday: Roasted Chicken with gravy, Roasted Potatoes Carrots and Homemade Bread.
Since I already have the chicken I might as well go ahead and roast it. That way I’ll also have cooked chicken on hand for a few other meals during the week or to freeze for future meals. I will toss the potatoes and carrots in the roasting pan to cook along. Monday is typically my bread baking day for the week-so I’ll just slice one of the loaves to have on the table.
Tuesday: Mexican Rice & Bean Casserole with Green Salad
I have about 4 cups of leftover “Cheater’s Mexican Rice” from last week-with just a few ingredients it is reworked as Mexican Rice & Bean Casserole. That’s really a one dish meal-but I always feel bad if I don’t have at least one side-so I’ll toss a quick salad to go along with it. This is my meatless meal for the week, it’s also one of my fast and easy meals-just toss it together and throw it in the oven to cook.
Wednesday: Spicy Thai Noodles with Chicken and Stirfry Vegetables
We haven’t made the Spicy Thai Noodles for a long time. If I throw some of the leftover chicken from Monday night’s roasted chicken in it will have a great “Satay” type taste. Since that dish already includes a starch (the angel hair pasta) and the protein (peanut butter and chicken) all I need is vegetables. Frozen premade “stirfry mix” are fine for that.
Thursday: Tuna Stuffed Shells, Sauteed Snow Peas and Rice
This is my fish meal for the week. Although stuffing shells is a bit more fussy than I usually like to be, it helps that they can be completely put together up to a day in advance and then just stuck into the oven, which is good for a busy weeknight! I’m pairing it with some of my jealously guarded flash frozen snow peas from last spring’s garden. I cherish those things so much that sometimes I am afraid to actually use them.
Friday: Calzones
Just a bit of a twist on the weekly Friday Night Pizza. . . of course I’ll make the calzones using my Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe.
Saturday: Venison & Pork Swedish Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans
We had a lot of our venison ground this year. I’ll mix it evenly with pork for the meatballs (and freeze a slew for later meals!) The potatoes will be from scratch, since I’ve got a bit bag in the basement and am craving some hot creamy REAL mashed potatoes. The beans are from a can 🙂
Sunday: Frugal Refrigerator Buffet
Otherwise known as eating the leftovers in the fridge 🙂
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Are you interested in learning more about menu planning? Check out my post “Why Plan a Weekly Menu” .
For more great menu plan ideas, head on over to Menu Plan Monday at the Organizing Junkie.
Janelle says
Thanks for the tuna stuffed shells idea. I think I might cook that tonight.
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Glad to be inspirational!
highlyn says
Do you have a recipe for the Venison & Pork Swedish Meatballs? We eat venison at least once a week and I’m dying to do something different with it.
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Highlyn-I will be posting my Swedish Meatball recipe soon! I’m sure you already know to use venison in any recipe you’d typically use beef for. . .but here is a recipe I posted a while back that was a bit different Venison Parmigiana (Parmesean).