It’s a freezing cold and slushy Monday here at the Frugal Upstate Village Homestead. Brrr. We even had a 2 hour school delay for the first really cruddy driving day of the winter season. The last few weeks have been pretty busy around here–and it’s going to keep being busy right up through the holidays! To try to keep my sanity I am relying on my Meal Plan Monday to keep me on track.
So this is what I’m working with this week:
1. Yankee Bill was at “camp” deer hunting all last weekend, came home, is leaving for a 3 day conference, home for one night then back out for deer camp again next weekend (with Buddy in tow for a night and a day or so!). So it’s just the kiddos and I for dinner. Not sure why that always makes it feel different, but it does.
2. The calendar is pretty hectic. Tomorrow we are busy with various appointments, lessons and such from 3:30-6pm. That doesn’t leave much time for making dinner. Wednesday is Scouts, which can be hectic–but it’s also a late cast party from the play for the kids after school. That means they will have eaten lots and lots of junk and snacks. I should be able to do something very simple for dinner. Thursday I’m out all day with errands so I should have something already going in the crockpot. Saturday the boys will both be gone–maybe I should do something special with Princess. . .
3. It’s going to be cold all week and damp or snowy for a lot of it as well:
This says comfort food, soups & stews, casseroles etc to me!
4. I have a bunch of leftovers in the fridge. Pasta and sauce, turkey, rice, pork, peas, mashed potatoes, chard. Also I dug some of my horseradish and Jerusalem artichokes before the weather turned. There is cabbage, celery and lettuce from the store as well. In the garden under about a foot of straw mulch I have carrots and beets that I can dig for meals, in the cold frames there is chard and kale, and in the garden there is still kale (which will make it through several hard freezes and still be fine). Of course there is pork, venison and beef in the freezer from our various bulk purchases.
Taking all that into account here is my game plan:
Monday: Mustard Chicken (or Turkey), Potato Croquettes and Peas
I’ll warm up the leftover turkey in a mustard sauce made from yogurt, mustard, onion flakes and beef bullion (the original recipe called for onion soup mix but I don’t buy that). The leftover mashed potatoes will be fried into croquettes (which I need to do for a blog post on using Thanksgiving leftovers!) and I’ll warm up the peas in the fridge.
Tuesday: Crockpot Turkey Tetrazzini and Salad
I’ve been meaning to update my old recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini with a photo. This will give me a chance to use up more of the leftover turkey, have a quick dinner on a busy night and get those photos taken so I can republish the recipe. (note: I’ll use homemade white sauce instead of the “cream of” soup) For salad I’ve got some lettuce from the store and I’ll whip something together.
Wednesday: Pork Soup and Homemade Rolls
A while back I made pork stock and it’s been sitting in the freezer waiting to be used. I’ll probably do a combination involving pork, beans and kale. That should be filling, nutritious, and tasty. Plus I’ve got a ton of kale and beans 🙂 I’ll use my breadmachine to whip up the dough for the rolls, so I should be able to form them in between activities, let them rise and pop them in the oven for dinner.
This is my pork, bean and soup meal for the week.
Thursday: Spaghetti Pie and Sauteed Chard
This will use up my leftover spaghetti and sauce for the spaghetti pie. The chard is already cooked so I can just warm up and serve.
Friday: Dinner out with my girl
The boys will be gone so we will do something girly together. Got to get in that special time with a teen when you can.
Saturday: Manicotti and Green Beans
My mother in law just called and said she has a spare pan of manicotti after having her bridge club over for lunch this afternoon. Since she doesn’t like to eat the same thing over and over she’d rather we take the extra. I’ll pop it in the freezer this afternoon then move it to the fridge on Friday afternoon. Saturday I can just pop it in the oven and warm it up for supper. Tada–easy. I’ll warm up some home canned green beans for the vegetable–if I’m feeling fancy I may do something with onion and bacon with them. If not they will just be plain.
This is my meatless meal for the week.
Sunday: Fish Patties with Creole Hollandaise, Steamed Carrots and Rice
I’ve got some cooked and frozen fish down in the deep freeze that I just have to use up. Since it’s been frozen once I figure that I need to cook it into something to get a pleasing texture. These will basically be my Salmon Patties recipe, just using the frozen flaked fish. If it doesn’t seem like quite enough I’ll add in a can of drained tuna. The Hollandaise might be the real deal if I’m feeling like I have time to be fancy-0therwise I’ll make a mock version with butter, mayo, dijon and lemon. It’s not quite the same, but close enough. The “creole” part is just adding in some creole seasoning. The carrots will be from the garden and I’ll add a pot of rice (which I’ll make extra of to use next week in fried rice or something.
This is my fish 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” .
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