Did you wonder what happened to my meal plan last week? Well so did I! I tell ya-it’s always much more chaotic around here when I don’t sit down and make one.
I’ve got several things to consider this week:
1. There is family in town until Wednesday. Although no one is staying at our house, we are spending time together and eating meals together as well as eating out more than normal. Doing “family activities” also means that time schedules are very flexible and sometimes dinner time sneaks up on us.
2. We’ve got the regularly scheduled round of scouts, dance lessons, Odessey of the Mind, piano lessons etc. Luckily some of those (OotM & Piano) are more “directly after school” and not “interfering with my supper plans” type events.
3. I’ve got fish defrosted in the fridge, the remains of a roasted chicken that I boiled for stock, a few peeled potatoes that I tossed in some water in the fridge. I’ve also got a few odds and ends of vegetables, and a huge pan of Mac ‘n Cheese of which only part will be used for a special superbowl snack post (meaning the rest can go for dinner).
4. I’ve got plenty of carrots buried under straw in the garden, there are greens in the cold frames that I can check on now that the temperature has increased, there are some butternut squash up on top of my cabinets that I should use and I’ve got to remember to use some of the home frozen and canned veggies down in the basement!
5. 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: Ham Melts, Three Bean Salad, Dilly Beans and Pineapple
I took some leftover ham from last week, ground it up in my food processor and made a “ham salad” out of it with mayonnaise and relish. Then I spread that on English muffins (toast would work as well), put slices of swiss on top and stuck them under the broiler to make them all hot and melty. A few of them we did “Hawaiian Style” and plunked some pineapple on before adding the cheese. I just cracked open a can of my home preserved 3 bean salad and a can of Dilly Beans for sides and then served up the rest of the pineapple. It was quick and yummy.
This is my pork meal for the week.
Tuesday: Baked Fish with Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes and Sauteed Radish Pods
I’ll just bake the fish with a bit of cajun seasoning and butter on top. The Scalloped Crockpot Potatoes are a new recipe that turned out really well last week–I’m making them again so that I can take a picture and publish the recipe. The radish pods are frozen from last years garden.
This is my fish meal for the week.
Wednesday: Chicken Soup with Biscuits
I boiled the chicken carcass the other day and then just refrigerated the whole thing. I’ve got to pick the meat off, skim fat, strain etc. . . then I’ll toss it all back together with some of my dehydrated mixed vegetables and dehydrated squash (along with any other odds and ends of veggies in the fridge) to make soup in the crockpot. Right before dinner I’ll just make the biscuits.
This is my soup meal for the week.
Thursday: Venison Parmigiana, Noodles and Salad
It’s been a while since I’ve made my Venison Parmigiana recipe (you could of course use beef, chicken etc and make the same thing). I’ll just serve it up with spaghetti noodles and use up the end of the lettuce in the fridge to make a salad.
This is my venison meal for the week.
Friday: Butternut Stuffed Shells with Carrots and Green Beans
It seems to be a week for semi-forgotten recipes. I haven’t made the Butternut Stuffed Shells in a while either. If I don’t have large shells (which is a possibility) then I’ll just use the mannicotti tubes. Basically the same thing 😉 The carrots will be dug fresh from the garden and either steamed or sauteed-depending on my mood. The green beans are home canned and will most likely be marinated in some sort of dressing or pickling–the kids find them too mushy just plain.
This is my meatless meal for the week.
Saturday: Chicken Chili Blanco and Sweet Northern Cornbread
The Chicken Chili Blanco will not only use up some of the leftover chicken, but I can use some of the frozen cut corn I put up last fall and some of the purslane I also froze (which will just sort of disintegrate and blend in but add thickness and omega 3’s!). Crock pot meals are great on a Saturday since I am not sure exactly what projects we will get involved in or what time dinner will have to be made. Of course you can’t make chili without making Sweet Northern Cornbread!
This is my bean meal for the week (and it probably could be considered another soup/stew as well)
Sunday: Homemade Pizza
With the Pizza Hut Crust Clone of course.
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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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