Summer is so chaotic–it’s hard to stay on track and even MAKE a meal plan, no less follow it. Still, I’m up to the challenge! We’ve got both kids home this week, but are preparing to send both of them off to camp, so it’s pretty busy around here.
Here’s what I’ve got to plan around this week:
1. As I said, I’ve got both kids home, so a full family compliment at dinner on most nights. Yankee Bill has a meeting on one night, and one night we are taking Buddy out for a belated Birthday dinner.
2. I’ve got some odds and ends to use up. There is a small jar of specialty mustard that sounded good but didn’t taste right just on pretzels. Some yogurt that I made that came out far too runny and needs to be used like buttermilk. A bag of squashed potato chips. Then there is the normal stuff–some squash, tomatoes, cucumber and broccoli in the crisper drawer. Sugar snap peas and lettuce that’s getting a bit too old in the garden. Onions and garlic scapes.
3. I want to use up some of the stuff in the regular freezer (the one under the fridge). There are a couple of salmon & fish portions, a brick of spinach, a full dinner’s worth of pulled pork in BBQ sauce, a loaf of jalepeno bread, and a partial bag of frozen veggies that is covered in frost.
4. It’s not going to be too hot this week–high seventies, low eighties. . . but it’s been super HUMID and feels stifling. I’m sure I won’t want to be standing over a hot stove for too long cooking dinner each night.
Taking all that into account here is my game plan:
Monday: Pulled Pork on Hotdog Rolls, Corn Pudding and Green Salad
It’s 5:40 on Monday and I’m still writing this meal plan. . .I haven’t cooked a thing, so obviously it’s got to be pretty easy 🙂 We have a nice big portion of pulled pork left over from the family reunion last month (yes, it was frozen). I can serve that on the leftover hotdog buns leftover from the weekend. I had picked up corn from a stand last week and had about a cup of kernels I had cut off the cobs. By mixing that with some home canned corn, some of the yogurt that didn’t work out and a few other things I’ll make a sort of corn pudding side dish. Then Princess will be put to work creating a nice green salad.
This is my pork meal for the week.
Tuesday: Baked Salmon with Mustard, Sauteed Zucchini and Rice
I only have to cook for 3 on Tuesday, so that matches up with the three salmon portions I have. I have a recipe where you mix mayo & mustard, spread it on top of the fish and then coat with some seasoned breadcrumbs. It comes out pretty nicely. It should use up the mustard that doesn’t taste good all by itself. The rice will be cooked up in the ricemaker using rice from my 5 gallon pail, we’ll make extra so kids can use it for lunches during the week. Finally I’ll just saute up some zucchini and onion, seasoning it with salt, pepper and garlic.
This is my fish meal for the week.
Wednesday: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli and Scalloped Tomatoes
I’ve got plenty of both ground venison and ground beef left, so I’ll use a mixture for the meatloaf. It’s always best to use several kinds of meat in meatloaf (which is why it’s not called “beef-loaf”–traditionally it’s beef, veal and pork). Meatloaf usually has a “filler”–typically bread crumbs. Normally I use my homemade breadcrumbs, but since I have a bunch of crushed up potato chips I think I’ll use those instead. To finish it I’ll crisscross a couple of slices of bacon across the top. Yum! The mashed potatoes will most likely be from a box, and the broccoli will be plain steamed. I’ll use some of my home canned tomatoes from last year for the scalloped tomatoes.
This is both my venison and beef meal.
Thursday: “This and That” Curry with Rice
I use This and That Curry as a way to use up all sorts of little bits of leftovers. Things that aren’t enough on their own to be eaten–a bit of meat from here, some veggies in the crisper, leftovers from a meal. . . you get the idea. This time I’ll use some of the leftover meatloaf plus a can of chick peas (Buddy isn’t a fan of beans, but he likes those), any leftover veggies in the fridge and the semi freezer burned mixed vegetables I need to use up. If there is leftover rice from Tuesday, fine. If not I’ll make more.
This is my bean meal for the week.
Friday: Dinner Out
We are taking Buddy out for his belated birthday dinner. Princess will eat at Grandma’s.
Saturday: Quiche and a Salad
I haven’t made quiche in a long time. See how creative I have to get to fit that meatless meal in? I’ll try to bake the quiche in the morning before it gets warm out–then it can be either warmed up or served cold at supper time. Along with a nice salad it’s a good, cool meal.
This is my meatless meal for the week.
Sunday: Leftovers
The kids will be off to camp and it will be just Bill and I. . . I am sure there will be enough leftover to feed us without having to cook anything new. If not, he can always take me out to dinner!
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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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