Welcome to this week’s meal plan! I hope everyone is staying safe and warm. We got an unexpected 6 inches or so of snow yesterday. Now there is a storm tracking across the country that is supposed to dump on Upstate New York on Wednesday, just when my dear sweet Mother in Law is supposed to be flying back from visiting her sister in Florida. I hope she makes it ok!
Life continues on as always in the Frugal Upstate Village Homestead. This is what I’m working with this week:
1. The week is busy, but not with anything unusual. Buddy and I are in a community theater play, so we’ve got rehearsals from 6:30-8:30 nightly right now. That means I’ve got to have dinner done and ready to eat before we go. In theory we should be eating before 6:30 anyway, but sometimes that just doesn’t happen. On top of that I’ve got (at least right now) just one day this week that I’ve got to run down into “the city” to do appointments and errands. That makes me happy! The weeks where I’m out ramming around 2 or 3 days just seem to totally eat up my week and throw off everything.
2. Tonight is the Boy Scout Court of Honor (should be moving up to the final rank before Eagle. Whoohoo!), which they do as a potluck, so although I’ve got to make deviled eggs to bring, I don’t have to worry about dinner since it’s a potluck.
3. I’ve actually done pretty well with keeping the leftovers eaten from the fridge. I’ve got about 1/3 of a turkey ham, a couple of chunks of Kielbasa (still from the ice fishing weekend), the taco lentils (which didn’t get eaten last week) and a few odds and ends of vegetables. Oh, and I never did make the applesauce last week so I still have a few wilty apples to use up.
4. The freezer and pantry are still well stocked with meats, vegetables etc.
Taking all that into account here is my game plan:
Monday: Boy Scout Potluck
I’m off the hook!
Tuesday: Chicken Soup and/or 15 Bean Soup with Biscuits
One of the things that really seems to be helping Yankee Bill and I with the Weight Watchers is the “Zero” points soups you can make. So I’m trying to make extra soup each week and freeze them in portions both for easy lunches and “I’m feeling hungry” moments. So I’ll make two slow cookers full of soup and everyone can have whatever they want.
The slow cooker is a great way to make a very flavorful soup that is ready at meal time when I’m out of the house for the day.
This is my soup and my bean meal for the week.
Wednesday: Kielbasa and Sauerkraut, Mashed Potatoes, Greenbeans and Stewed Apples
Keilbasa slicked thin, onion and sauerkraut sauteed together with some spices (I like adding a bit of dill for some reason) will stretch the few pieces of sausage to make a whole meal. Mashed potatoes always just seem to go so nicely with this meal-something about their smooth creaminess next to the chewy sausage and the sharp sauerkraut. . . Green beans are an easy side, and I’ll try to get around to stewing up those wilty apples before it’s too late!
This is my pork meal for the week.
Thursday: Pan Seared Turkey Ham with Creamy Dijon Sauce, Rice and Roasted Butternut Squash
I’ll slice and sear the ham in a dry cast iron skillet–that should warm it up and give a bit of nice browning (yum) to each slice. For the sauce I’ll mix plain yogurt, Dijon mustard and a packet of dry onion soup mix. Heat it all up and serve it on the side to be spread or dipped in. Rice is plain white rice from my big rice bucket (I buy it in 50lb bags at the Asian grocery store-way cheaper) and the squash will just be peeled, cubed, tossed with a bit of oil and spices and then roasted.
Friday: Venison Stirfry with Rice
Thankfully, I’ve always got venison in the freezer. I’ll make a stirfry using up any odds and ends of vegetables in the fridge, plus stuff from the freezer and serve it with leftover rice from Thursday night’s dinner. If I’m feeling special I may make an egg fried rice.
This is my venison meal for the week.
Saturday: Broiled Shrimp, Sauteed Garlic Broccoli, and Garlic Orzo
I’m trying to fit seafood in at least once a week, and we’ve had salmon from the freezer quite a few times lately. I don’t feel like making a Salmon or Tuna dish from canned (in order to keep down the weight watchers points right now–most things I would typically use would be in a casserole, or with bread crumbs added such as with my Old Fashioned Salmon Loaf recipe). So I’ll splurge and buy some shrimp. I’ll most likely broil them with a cajun seasoning, or maybe Old Bay. For sides I’ll make some garlic broccoli and some Orzo noodles.
This is my fish meal for the week.
Sunday: Baked Chicken, Boiled Potatoes, and Creamed Greens
I’ll marinate the chicken in Italian Dressing or maybe in the Finger Lakes Chicken Marinade. The potatoes will be boiled and tossed with some spices and a bit of butter, and the greens will be home canned ones jazzed up with a bit of white sauce (and probably a chicken bullion cube. Chicken bullion cubes add flavor to everything.)
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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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