It’s meal plan time here at Frugal Upstate. The holiday season is as crazy as ever, so having this plan will help to keep me on track and make sure we eat inexpensively and well with a minimum of chaos.
These are the considerations for this week:
1. We’ve got the regular full schedule of kids after school activities, scouts, piano lessons, and pool league. On top of that we have a chorus/band concert to attend one night and a child’s birthday party to attend on the weekend. During the days I’ve got a meeting for a couple of hours midday on Tuesday, and another meeting combined with work photography and shopping all day Wednesday. (Wednesdays are my worst days!!!)
2. In the fridge I have leftover rice, pickled peaches, leeks, carrots, peas, cranberries, cabbage, turnips and a small raw steak. My dear sweet mother in law offered me a turkey carcass, so that’s in the freezer–along with half an organic pig and the meat from two deer. We have tons of potatoes in the basement, eggs in the downstairs fridge, bread crumbs & cubes in the freezer and a crock full of homemade sauerkraut. There are still leeks and kale in the garden, as well as horseradish and Jerusalem artichokes.
3. I need to make a couple of meals for some parishioners at my church–probably of the soup and/or quiche variety.
4. As always my goal is to have one venison meal, one fish meal, one pork meal, one bean meal, one meatless meal and one soup meal per week.
Taking all that into account here is my game plan:
Monday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with Sauteed Kale
I’ll combine a jar of home canned spaghetti sauce with a jar of home canned meatballs, then use some Kale from the garden as a side, sauteed with onion & garlic. If I get really fancy I might make some rolls to go with it.
Tuesday: Potato Leek Soup with Deviled Eggs
I’ll shortcut this soup by cooking the broth, leeks and potatoes in the crockpot while I’m busy during the day at my meeting–then before dinner I can whir it with my immersion blender, stir in the milk and cream and be ready to go for dinner! Because it is light on the protein and I’ve got hard boiled eggs in the fridge, I’ll just make a couple of deviled eggs. (see-you don’t have to do a full dozen at a time, you can just do 4. Really. It’s allowed)
This is my soup meal and my meatless meal for the week.
Wednesday: Crockpot Cabbage Roll Casserole
I will be out ALL DAY–so coming home to a nice hot dinner all made in the crockpot will be a blessing. I’ll make my Crockpot Cabbage Roll Casserole with ground venison from the freezer, cabbage & rice from the fridge and home canned tomato sauce from the basement. We will be able to eat right away and then run out the door again for scouts.
This is my Venison meal for the week.
Thursday: Chicken Chili Blanco with Sweet Northern Cornbread
I haven’t made my Chicken Chili Blanco in a long, long time–but this cold weather and chaotic schedule has me craving warm stews and slow cooker meals! I’ll pair it with the Sweet Northern Cornbread and call it a meal.
Because of the Great Northern Beans in the recipe, this is my bean recipe for the week.
Friday: Stuffed Fish Rolls with Roasted Carrots & Turnips
We shall see how this one goes. I don’t have an actual recipe but I’m imagining wrapping fish filets around some homemade stuffing made from my cubed up bread, a bit of broth, onion, celery etc. I’ll probably toss some dill in there as it is fish, and maybe make a bit of Hollandaise type sauce to go over it (I love that stuff).
The carrots and turnips will be peeled, cut into roughly equal sizes (to make cooking go more smoothly) tossed with salt, pepper and olive oil and roasted in a 400 oven for about 30 min or so. Heck. I might throw some onion in there too.
This is my fish meal for the week.
Saturday: Pork Chops with Sauerkraut and Apples, Green Beans and Mashed Potatoes
I’m not sure if I’ll bake or slow cook the pork chops with the sauerkraut & apples–it will depend how the day looks. The green beans will be home canned. I’ll just boil & mash the potatoes & we’ve got a great meal.
This is my pork meal for the week.
Sunday: Homemade Turkey Soup with Rolls
I’ll boil down the turkey carcass, pick off any excess meat (and supplement with home canned turkey meat if necessary) and make some delicious soup! The rolls will be homemade sourdough and should get gobbled right up!
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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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