Week 5 Meals

Doing pretty well with this meal planning biz. There have been only a few nights that I couldn't stick to the plan, but that's either because I had a meeting to go to or Ben had to work really late. I've been buying the ingredients on Sunday for most of the week's meals with maybe a shopping trip mid-week to pick up fish or meat. I think I may even be saving money!

Sunday, 1/27 - Fish Tacos

Monday, 1/28 - Chicken Tikka Maasala with rice

Tuesday, 1/29 - Tortilla Soup with Romaine Salad and Chili Dressing

Wednesday, 1/30 - Filet Mignon with baked potatoes

Thursday, 1/31 - Tagliatelle with Sausage and Ricotta (hold the peas!)

Friday, 2/1 - Pan Fried Shrimp with Green Curry Cashew Sauce or Dinner Out

Saturday, 2/2 - Dinner Out

Menu Planning Week 3, Um, Make that Week 4

I originally planned this meal for the week of January 13-19, but both Ben and I have had a very busy week, so we either ate out or had ready-made meals at home. The only thing I cooked was Pasta e Fagioli and a Ceaser Salad. The soup was OK. A little plain but palatable. The romaine lettuce I bought for the salad was horribly bitter. No amount of cheese or anchovies was going to make it better. I threw out most of it.

I'm going to recycle the menu I planned for this week for next week.

Sunday, 1/20 - In North Carolina visiting family.

Monday, 1/21 - Returning from NC, most likely will eat on the road.

Tuesday, 1/22 - Tostadas Salsa Verde

Wednesday, 1/23 - Tilapia with Citrus Bagna Cauda

Thursday, 1/24 - Tortilla Soup with Chips, Salsa, and Guacamole

Friday, 1/25 - Linguine with Chicken Ragu

Saturday, 1/26 - Dinner out.

New Year, New Plan

One of my goals for the new year is to be more organized and efficient in the kitchen and to start using the hundreds (thousands?) of recipes I've been collecting for the past 10 years, whether they be in cookbook form or magazine clippings. I also want to waste less food since I've been known to buy stuff in the grocery store without having a specific purpose in mind and then find it rotting in the back of the fridge 3 months later. Blech. So, in order to achieve my goals, I've started meal planning again. Hopefully this time I will stick with this goal. With any luck, I will see a nice side-benefit: extra cash in my wallet. I live one block from a grocery store (this is SO NICE!), so I can get the fresh ingredients as I need them instead of hoarding things for when I think I might need them.

In my meal plans, I'm trying to incorporate more vegetables, less meat, at least one recipe from my many clippings per week, and at least one fish/seafood dish, one soup, and one dinner-size salad per week. All new recipes will be assessed by Ben and me and I'll be keeping a list of "keepers" in my recipe box and possibly here on the blog.

Here's last week's menu (not exactly as planned, but pretty close):

New Year's Day, 1/1 = Sole with Lemon Butter, Roasted Asparagus with Prosecco (Sparkling Wine)

Wednesday, 1/2 = Leftover Sole, Butternut Squash Soup with Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Thursday, 1/3 = Leftover Soup, Bread Salad

Friday, 1/4 = Tomato and Olive Penne with Lemoncello Martinis

Saturday, 1/5 = Leftover Pasta and Leftover Soup

Here's this week's plan:

Sunday, 1/6 = Chicken Stir Fry Wraps, Brownies with Fresh Strawberries

Monday, 1/7 = Tuna Pasta Salad made with fresh herbs and veggies

Tuesday, 1/8 = Mushroom Pizza with Cycles Gladiator Dry Rose

Wednesday, 1/9 = Leftover Pizza and Spinach Salad

Thursday, 1/10 = Brunswick Stew, cheese and crackers

Friday, 1/11 = Leftovers, Tostadas Salsa Verde, or Dinner Out

Saturday, 1/12 = Dinner Out