Menu Plan 9/12

Maybe this week we’ll actually have a normal week.  School is finally back in post flooding, and the regular schedule of homework, soccer practices, dance lessons, Pool League, and other associated activities swings into action!

As always, I check my calendar and look at the week’s considerations before making my menu plan.  What days do I have plenty of time? What days will I be in a rush or not home for most of the day?  What items are in the fridge that need to be used up before they spoil?

Here’s what I have to take into account for this week:

1.  We have soccer practice from 5:30-6:30 two nights this week.  That makes things tricky.  Do we eat really early so that the kiddos can eat before practice, or do I have something that can cook in the crockpot and eat late after we get home.

2.  Dance lessons start-but they are on the same day as one soccer practice. . . so that isn’t TOO bad. . .

3.  I have spinach I bought on sale that I need to use, as well as a bunch of garden veggies-not enough to can or freeze so they need to be used up soon.

4.  I still have one package of bargain priced chicken breasts in the fridge.  Today is their “sell by” date so I need to use them pronto.

5.  There is a bunch of leftover pasta, about a cup of lemon reduction from a chicken picata I whipped up on Saturday (yeah-I deviate from my meal plan sometimes) and a 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree.  Need to use those somehow.

6.  I always try to fit 1 venison meal (so I remember to use it), 1 meatless meal (because it’s both good for us and helps cut the budget) and 1 seafood meal (because seafood is good for you)

Taking all that into account here is my game plan:

Monday: Ground Venison Cheater’s Sukiyaki over noodles

This is a pseudo Asian dish-and will use up ground venison, the spinach I bought and the leftover pasta.  Bingo-tasty and it’s my venison meal for the week.

Tuesday: Pea Soup and Blender Popovers

There is a big meaty ham bone that has been sitting in my freezer for a couple of months-it just hasn’t been cool enough to think about pea soup!  Since the weather is cooling off this is a great time to eat it!  Also since it is a crockpot meal I don’t have to worry about all the sports & dance running around I’m doing in the evening.  The popovers are easy & elegant.  I’m hoping to take some good pictures so I can do a recipe post soon!

This is my meatless meal (hey, a ham bone barely counts)

Wednesday: Baked Fish with Lemon Sauce, Sauteed Garden Vegetables and Bulgar Wheat

This will be a basic baked fish (frozen fillets from Aldi’s) and I’ll use the leftover lemon reduction from the picata to give it some pizazz.  The veggies I’ll just saute with a bit of butter, and I’ll make Bulgar wheat instead of rice for the side (I’ve still got some wheat left from planting that Easter grass).  Obviously this is my seafood meal.

Thursday: Salsa Chicken, Tortillas, Spanish Rice and Salad

Another quick and easy crockpot  meal for a busy night–Salsa Chicken!  That uses up those chicken breasts in the fridge.  I’ll serve it with tortillas so folks can make a burrito type thing if they want, and I’ll do a mock Spanish rice (ie rice cooked with salsa) and a green salad with garden veggies.

Friday: Calzones

I’ll use my Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe to make calzones.

Saturday: Leftover Buffet

We should have lots of little bits left over-we’ll warm it all up and set it up buffet style in the kitchen.  It’s a great way to clean out the fridge.

Sunday: Crockpot Stifado over Mashed Potatoes

Stifado is a Greek stew made with meat, onions, wine, vinegar and spices.  This crockpot version is also a new recipe for me–if it’s good you’ll all see it eventually 🙂  I”ll serve it over mashed potatoes made from our garden potatoes (I only harvested about 10 lbs. . . not really worth the space they took up.)

Hmmm. I didn’t use up the pumpkin.  I’ll have to throw some muffins or something in there as well. . .

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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.