Meal Planning Monday 1.11.10

Our month of being vegetarians is going quite well. None of us has fallen off the wagon and submitted to the cheeseburger craving. Yet. I have, however, had to promise Aaron whatever meat-filled dishes he wants for Superbowl viewing (thanks to Food Network Magazine for their meat-filled Superbowl food articles), and I have a feeling we'll be hitting up our favorite pub for their delicious burgers on, oh, February 1st. Overall, it has been pretty easy so far, save for the difficult experience of ordering a vegetable burrito the other day at the local fast food mexican place, instead of their delicious, wonderful, totally crave-worthy carnitas burrito. Oh, its' so, so good.

Anyway, enough day dreaming about meat. On with the week o' meals:

Monday: French Lentil Soup, French bread

That's right. I made French bread from scratch yesterday, and I have to admit, it was dead easy. That is, after I figured out how to correctly shape the loaf while I was incorrectly shaping the first loaf; the second one turned out pretty at least. And it tasted fabulous. Much better than the loaf I tried to make last weekend. It was light and airy with a nice crisp crust. The recipe makes two french loaves, which is perfect since I wanted bread with two meals.

Oh, and the soup is delicious too.

Tuesday: Eggplant Parmesan, Salad

Aaron wanted eggplant, so he's definitely getting eggplant. This is a favorite dish for both of us.

Wednesday: Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Bread, crudite

Can't wait to try this - it's a knock-off of the Panera recipe, which I love.

(ETA: Okay, I cheated and made this last night because I was seriously craving it, and it was delicious! Also pictured: a slice of the French bread and organic cultured butter (which OMG SO GOOD!).

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Thursday: Mushroom Bourginon over egg noodles, steamed and buttered green beans.

Have I ever mentioned my love of mushrooms? I didn't eat them until I was about 22, but ever since then I just can't get enough. (Great, now I have that song stuck in my head.) This recipe has been on my too-cook list for a long, long time, and I'm finally dusting it off and giving it the attention it needs. To say that I'm drooling over this days before I get to eat it would be a correct assessment. I can't wait!

Friday: CHICAGO PIZZA!

My best friend and I are celebrating the fact that we both recently turned 30 by taking a weekend trip to Chi-town. She doesn't know it yet, but I'm dragging her to Pizza Due, where just this past July I had one of the most terrific pizzas I have ever had. It may have been aided by the amount of whisky I had imbibed, but I don't remind repeating that part either.

Saturday will be in Chicago as well. I'm guessing Aaron and Gabbie will be eating macaroni and cheese on one night and pizza on the other.

Sunday: Pizza Potatoes, salad

Yes, I realize that's a pizza heavy weekend, but it is National Pizza Week afterall. See? Totally justified.