Yesterday was Monday, and when I’m on top of things that means it’s time for a meal plan. Obviously I’m not on top of things as much as I’d like to be this week! I’ve been pretty much flying by the seat of my pants for the last two weeks, and that’s just not the way I prefer to do things. So here we are on Tuesday, with a meal plan to get things back on track.
This is what I’m working with this week when it comes to meal planning:
1. It’s been super hot here–for Upstate NY in May. We usually don’t hit weather in the high 80’s and low 90’s till late July, early August. So mentally we haven’t been prepared. For those of you who don’t know, we don’t have much in the way of air conditioning in our house. For years we didn’t have any except our bedroom (basically a converted attic-and without the ac it would be unbearable) but last year we put a window unit in the den, which really helps cool things off a bit. Typically we try to just let the cold air in during the night and morning, then shut the place up during the day. That keeps things decently cool–a good 10 degrees below the exterior most of the time. When you are using passive cooling like that, you don’t want to add any additional heat in to the house if you can help it. That means I don’t like to run the dryer during the day or use the oven. We do quick stove top stuff, use the grill or use the slow cooker.
2. It’s also the start of planting season in the garden. That means I have clean up, planting & transplanting to get done–and the weather and the plants/seeds don’t care about my schedule. They have to go in when they have to go in. So I wind up spending a lot of time in the spring dealing with those things instead of being in the house and thinking about cooking. 3pm (when I like to start dinner prep) can sneak up on you pretty fast. So quick meals or things that are made ahead of time really are best this time of year. Unless we get a run of rain I’m not going to be hanging out inside making a finicky dinner.
3. I’ve had to dig up the carrots & beets I overwintered in the garden. They are still great–not woody at all as they haven’t begun to sprout (which is why they needed to be dug up. . .). Also I’ve pulled a bunch of the green Egyptian walking onions that were in the way of the pea row–so there are a bunch of those fresh to use up. For wild food there are a lot of early spring dandelions (this is the time to eat them before they get too bitter) and garlic mustard that can be picked. There are some fresh salad veggies that are starting to look a bit lame, ditto for some grapes & clementines, and of course I’ve got veggies in the freezer and in cans on the shelf.
4. For leftovers I’ve got a few bits and bobs that will probably wind up as lunches for yours truly. Additionally I have a pot of rice that I made for Monday’s meal, and a bunch of random condiments (sour cream, relish, onion marmalade etc) that I probably should work into some meals to free up precious refrigerator space. There are also two beers (just Coors Light) that accidentally got left in the barn all winter–so they are still sealed in the can but the bottoms are rounded out from freezing and Yankee Bill thinks they would be better for cooking than drinking.
5. In the freezer there is plenty of beef, pork, fish and chicken. Meat is not an issue when you buy in bulk in the fall! There were also a couple of pork butt steaks that were leftover from a meal last week.
6. We have evening meetings/classes/appointments on Wednesday and Thursday that will make dinner a rushed affair, so I better prepare ahead. Saturday the kids both have a competition, and Yankee Bill is in a charity event–so we’ll all be out of the house in the afternoon/evening.
7. Princess wants to cook dinner one night, which I think is great.
Taking all that into account here is my game plan:
Monday: Pork, Carrot & Onion Stirfry with Rice
I trimmed & sliced up the cooked pork butt steaks, then sauteed carrots and onions from the garden. Seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic powder, & pepper, then served with rice. Yum.
This was my pork meal for the week.
Tuesday: Pizza Biscuits with Salad
Princess found a recipe in one of my cookbook for a pizza bite thing–it’s really an appetizer made from refrigerated biscuit dough, pizza sauce, pepperoni & cheese–I’m going to guess from what she said that you wrap the biscuit around the filling. It’s what she really wants to make, so fine 🙂 I figure that a nice green salad is just the ticket to go with it.
This is my meatless meal for the week. Because I consider each of us eating 2 or 3 slices of pepperoni to be more of a garnish than a true meat dish.
Wednesday: Beef Vegetable Soup with Impossible Beer Bread
I can toss all the soup stuff in the slow cooker in the morning and then just let it go. If I’m feeling on top of things in the morning I could cook up the Impossible Beer Bread then, but most likely I’ll just toss it together in the evening. It’s quick–that’s the beauty of it!
This is my beef meal and my soup meal for the week.
Thursday: Dinner Out
The kids an I will be in town till past 5pm. It’s probably just easiest for us to grab something out. I think I’ll see if Yankee Bill wants to meet us after work for a family dinner.
Friday: Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers, Grilled Green Onions, and Potato Salad
The burgers will most likely be a mix of ground venison and ground beef, which I then stuff with crumbly blue cheese. The kids LOVE them, and quite frankly so do Yankee Bill and I. I’ve never grilled green onions before, but since I have a slew of them I figure it should be easy to figure out. Toss with some olive oil & seasoning, grill till limp and a bit charred. Sounds like a winner to me–but then again I love onions any way you can make them. Finally the potato salad can be made ahead from the potatoes in the basement (which are starting to sprout!) and use up some of the sour cream and relish that is hanging about in the fridge–along with some of my early spring herbs outside like chives and lovage.
This is my venison meal for the week.
Saturday: Chicken Chili Blanco with Sweet Northern Cornbread
Since we’ll be out most of the day Saturday, and I need a bean meal for the week, Chicken Chili Blanco in the slow cooker sounds like a good idea. Sure, I could do a regular chili, but where’s the fun in that? For me Sweet Northern Cornbread is the side of choice with chili of any kind, plus it’s fast to make. Of course I have that leftover rice if anyone would prefer to eat it with that instead.
This is my bean meal for the week.
Sunday: Grilled Salmon, Sauteed Carrots and Onion Fried Rice
I have some nice frozen salmon sections I picked up at ALDI that would be lovely on the grill. I’ll saute up some of the carrots I dug (again) with a bit of bacon grease (yumm!) and herbs. Once that is out of the pan and warming, I’ll saute up the green onion and maybe some of that wild garlic mustard, add in the leftover rice and dress it up with some soy, ginger, garlic, etc.
This is my fish meal for the week.
WOOHOO! If I actually follow this plan all week, then I’ll have hit all my meal goals!
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Are you interested in learning more about menu planning? Check out my post “Why Plan a Weekly Menu” & “Living with a Meal Plan“
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