Meal Plan 8/6

Last week got a little squirrelly at the end, but I did manage to stick pretty closely to my plan–I think Saturday was the only day we really veered from it.  That’s pretty good considering the unexpectedly hot weather that makes me cringe when I think of cooking and the general for the “lose-y goose-y” nature of our summer schedule.
But on to this week.  Here are my considerations:

1. This week is going to be fairly temperate.  Monday was a practically chilly 78 (lovely!) but most of the week is projected to be split between the high 80’s and the high 70’s.  I might actually be willing to fire up the oven!

2. Tomorrow we’ve got 3 extra boys at the house overnight for Buddy’s rather late (as in better late than never) birthday party,  Wednesday Yankee Bill has pool, then Thursday Buddy leaves for Scout camp.

3. I’m sticking close to the Frugal Upstate village homestead this week-I may run a couple towns over to pick up peaches, but for the most part I will be around in the afternoon/evening–so I don’t need to make any special considerations about cooking due to time constraints.

4.  I’ve got some soup I whipped up yesterday in the fridge and I’ve defrosted some ham chunks.

5. The garden is coming into it’s own.  Soon I’m going to be awash in fresh beans–but for now I’ve got beets, cabbage, broccoli side shoots, one each mizuna and chard plants, plenty of rat tail radish pods, Zuchetta Trombonchino and zucchini coming in right now.  I’ve also received a bunch of cucumbers and yellow squash from friends.

6. As always my goal is to have one venison meal, one fish meal, one bean meal, one meatless meal and one soup meal per week.

Taking all that into account here is my game plan:

Monday: Leftover Buffet

I spent all day canning chicken and canning greens in the pressure canner which takes quite a bit of time, heats up the kitchen and makes me feel like I’ve already cooked enough for the day!  So I went ahead and let everyone sort of forage for themselves from the plethora of leftovers in the fridge and stuff stocked in the cabinets.  Buddy had cereal (raisin bran), Princess had Ramen noodles with a cheese sauce she made herself in the microwave, I had some homemade chicken soup and Yankee Bill had leftover chili.

Tuesday: Pizza, Ice Cream Bar & Cupcakes

So poor Buddy had his birthday over a month ago but due to summer, vacation, camp and things like that we just hadn’t gotten the whole “Birthday Party” thing together.  Because I feel guilty I signed up for a sleepover party with 3 friends.  They are coming over, we’ll go to the town pool, then they are going to have a movie marathon, homemade personal pizzas (using the Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe), cupcakes and an ice cream sundae bar. . . they will act goofy, shove each other, tell jokes involving body emissions and eventually fall asleep just to start it all over in the morning with pancakes and bacon 🙂

Wednesday:  Crockpot Thai Chicken Legs, Sauteed Mizuna and Rice

Chicken legs are on sale at our little local grocery store right now for $1.19 a lb.  I canned up 5 big quart jars with some, but I think I’ll head on up and pick up another package to toss in the crockpot to cook up “Thai” style.  I’ve got Mizuna in the garden which goes with the general Asian flavor so I’ll sautee that up, maybe add a bit of soy sauce, and serve it all with rice. (note: chicken leg recipe coming soon!)

Thursday:  Steak and Scallops, Baked Potatoes and Green Beans

It’s Yankee Bill’s Birthday dinner, so we are going to go all out.  He requested steak and scallops, and while they are not a “cheap” meal, it’s a heck of a lot less than eating the same meal out.  Since it’s a manly man meal we’ve got to have baked potatoes with “everything”. . . ie bacon, sour cream, butter and chives.  And finally since my mom taught me to always have a vegetable with every meal we’ll add some lightly steamed and buttered green beans.

This is my fish meal for the week (scallops for the win!).

Friday: Venison Parmigiana over Pasta with Dilly Zucchini Casserole.

Venison Parmigiana is a nice change up from a plain venison steak-since it’s sort of Italian style with red sauce and some cheese you know it has to be served with pasta.  The Dilly Zucchini casserole is one of those yummy dishes that I only make when zucchini is in season (although you can use any summer squash).  Its sort of a bread-y dish.

This is my venison meal for the week.

Saturday:  Ham and Lentil Soup with Cornbread

We will be out and about on Saturday afternoon and I’m not sure exactly what time we’ll be back-which means I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to cook-so a crockpot soup will make sure dinner is ready to go when we are ready to eat. I may increase the nutrition by tossing in some garden greens as well-I’ve got to thin the new planting of radishes and the tops of those are tasty.

This is my soup meal and my bean meal (lentil) for the week.

Sunday: Vegetable and Cheese Frittata with Biscuits

Eggs and cheese, plus a way to use up some odds and ends of vegetables? Bonus!  I knew I needed to  fit a meatless meal in this week and I already had a bean meal, so that pretty much leaves eggs unless I run to the store to get something like portabello mushrooms or an eggplant.  Anyway–I’ve made quiche several times this summer and I just wasn’t feeling it.  I need some variety in my egg dishes.  So instead I’ll make a fritatta and pair it with some basic biscuits that can be used the next day to make breakfast sandwiches as well.

This is my meatless meal for the week.

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Are you interested in learning more about menu planning? Check out my post “Why Plan a Weekly Menu” .