I can’t believe we are already into November. How did that happen? As I’m typing this I can look out the window and see a hard frost covering my yard. . . It’s actually kind of pretty, as long as I don’t have to go out in it!
This week promises to be extra chaotic, which makes a menu plan even more imperative than usual!
This week’s considerations are:
1. My play is this weekend-which makes this week “Production Week”. IE, it’s our final rehearsals and we will be staying as long as it takes each night to make sure we are ready. Hopefully that won’t be TOO late since it’s only a 1 act, but you never can tell
2. Monday is a half day (parent teach conferences) and Friday is off for Veteran’s Day. That means those days will be extra chaotic AND the remainder of the week I’ll be working hard trying to make up for working time lost when the kiddos are around. (I have a very hard time writing when the kiddos are bickering in the background. And lately they seem to have made bickering into an olympic sport. Grrr)
3. Yankee Bill has meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday night and I’ve got play rehearsal Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and shows Friday Saturday and Sunday. The kids both have scouts on Wednesday night. So basically on every night except tonight someone has to be out the door by about 6pm. That means dinner needs to be ready!
$. I’ve got Mizuna, Chard, Carrots and Brussel Sprouts still in the garden. They all can withstand frost & even some snow, so they don’t have to be used immediately, but I’d like to use them up soon!
5. In the fridge I’ve got leftover Lentil Casserole from last week, a family sized package of chicken, cooked turkey, a quart of cooked corn & mashed potatoes from the church Harvest Dinner, leftover turkey soup, the summer squash from a week or so ago, 2 heads of cabbage from the garden, plain yogurt and a store bought pie crust.
6. My goals for the week are, as usual, one meatless, fish and venison meal. I am adding in the goals of one legume/bean meal and one soup a week (more on that soon!). Note: Some meals encompass two categories. IE on one week lentil casserole could count as a meatless and a legume/bean meal. On another week I might make venison chili and it would count as my venison and legume/bean–but I’d still need to get a meatless meal in somewhere else.
Taking all that into account here is my game plan:
Monday: Chicken Pot Pie and Roasted Brussel Sprouts
The chicken will be diced and cooked up in a flavorful broth with some veggies (most likely some of the corn from the Harvest dinner, a potato from our garden and some of the dehydrated veggies which I am really loving!) and then poured into that store bought crust for a tasty dinner. The brussel sprouts will be sliced in half (once I pick them and trim them of course) tossed with olive oil and salt, and roasted in the oven till just a bit crispy. Mmm. Princess LOVES them done that way.
Tuesday: Turkey Curry over Rice
I’ll make a “This and That” curry using some of the leftover Harvest Dinner corn & turkey, the squash, some cabbage and whatever else I can rustle up out of the crisper drawer. It will be served over rice.
Wednesday: Lentil Tacos with Cheater’s Spanish Rice
The leftover lentil casserole will have new life as taco filling-basically I’ll warm it up in a skillet and just treat it like it’s ground beef adding the water & taco seasoning. It will be served in taco shells. Since I don’t have fresh tomato or lettuce at this time of year we’ll have to get a bit creative and use canned tomatoes and finely shredded cabbage for the crunch. Of course sour cream and cheddar cheese as well-can’t do tacos without those! For a side I’ll make Cheater’s Spanish Rice (which I just realized I’ve never posted the recipe for! I’ll do that this week) and some sauteed chard from the garden. This is my meatless meal AND my bean meal for the week.
Thursday: Corn Chowder and Baking Powder Biscuits
The chowder will use up the end of the corn from the Harvest Dinner (it was a lot of corn!). If I’ve still got any chicken left I may toss some in for additional protien and flavor, or I might just sprinkle cheese on top when we serve it. The biscuits will be easy to whip up just before supper-although I may do the “drop” version if I get in a rush. This is my soup meal for the week.
Friday: Order Out Pizza
It’s opening night of my show. I refuse to cook dinner.
Saturday: Venison Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Sauteed Mizuna
I never did make meatloaf last week, so I’ll do it this week. Mmm. Should be very very good! The meatloaf will be made from a mix of the ground Venison and Venison Sausage (with homemade breadcrumbs of course). The mashed taters will be the ones from the garden, and the mizuna will be garden fresh! This is my venison meal for the week.
Sunday: Baked Fish, Potato/Onion Croquettes and Sauteed Cabbage
The fish is some my non-fish eating Brother in Law caught-I’ll do it up very simply, just baking it with minimal seasonings and then serving it with a small pat of Lemon Nasturium butter on top (I made that a few weeks ago with the single nasturtium that was still blooming like crazy in the garden). The croquettes are just a patty made out of the potatoes, some binder (flour or breadcrumbs) and some sauteed onion, then lightly pan fried. Mmm. The cabbage is the stuff I picked from the garden a week or so back. This is my fish meal for the week.
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Are you interested in learning more about menu planning? Check out my post “Why Plan a Weekly Menu” .
For more great menu plan ideas, head on over to Menu Plan Monday at the Organizing Junkie.
The pot pies you made looked so pretty!