Monday Meal Planning 11.21.11

I both love (3-day work week!) and hate (I can't believe November is almost over!) that Thanksgiving is this week. We'll be making the trek down to Ann Arbor yet again (we've gone at least once a week since early this month) to spend the day with family. I can't wait to dig in to all that great food! In the meantime, though, here's what we're planning to eat this week:

Monday: Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos, Not-So-Quick Spicy Rice

These are a big hit with everyone in the family. Even Sophie gets one, except hers just has sweet potatoes with a side of unseasoned, smushed beans. As unappealing as that sounds, she LOVES it. She has finally decided to eat real people food and is happy to try anything and everything that's placed in front of her. Ask me how she feels about pumpkin pie! (Hint: It disappeared in no time flat.) The rice is not-so-quick because I've been using brown rice lately. The family is not so hot on the brown rice version, but I'll win them over eventually!

Tuesday: Hot Browns, Broccoli

I make a variation on the above similar to what my mom has always made with leftover turkey (and, I hear, the same as my grandma used to make). We had an early Thanksgiving dinner with Aaron's mom's mom on Saturday, so I have leftover turkey to use even before the actual holiday this week. I'll hopefully post the recipe later this week, but it's basically an open-faced turkey, bacon, tomato sandwich with a beer-cheese sauce over top. It's good enough that I look forward to this once-yearly meal all year, and am very, very sad if there's no leftover turkey to use.

Wednesday: Taco Chicken

I wanted an easy meal for the evening before Thanksgiving, as I'll be making pies and an appetizer, and didn't want to have too much extra mess around.

Thursday: The Big Day!

I always make pie for Thanksgiving with Aaron's family, because if I don't they're stuck with store-bought pie, and I'm of the belief that everyone should be able to deal with making pie at least once per year, and this is the perfect day for it. (Also, I make pie on the regular, because it's really not that hard.) This year I'm bringing the standard pumpkin, as well as apple-cranberry-raisin, and a banoffee pie!

In addition to the pies, dinner is always about 2 hours later to the table than estimated, so I am thinking ahead this year and bringing some artichoke dip and crackers to snack on so I don't starve waiting for dinner (while smelling all those delicious foods cooking - it nearly kills me every time)!

Friday: Pierogis, Chicken Sausages, and Green Beans

Another easy, comfort food-type dinner. My favorite kind!

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: ???

This is the start of my birthday week, and I'm hoping for a few dinners out (and that this will be one of them)!

Monday Meal Planning 11.1.10

I cannot believe that today is the first day of November already! The weather decided to be seasonally appropriate today (sadly) and it is pretty frigid out there. The only thing good about seasonally appropriate weather is that it makes it the perfect time to eat seasonally appropriate food. There. I think I've said "seasonally appropriate" enough.

We'll see how we do with actually eating what we plan this week. We haven't been good at it for a few weeks now, and I think making a plan and actually sticking to it will take care of some of the overwhelmed feeling I have lately. We'll see how it goes. On to the plan!

Monday: Turkey Pineapple Chili & Cornbread

I needed something super fast for tonight because we have to leave the house by 6:15 tonight for Gabbie's tumbling class. While chili is usually a long, slow dish to make, this one is ready in 10 minutes flat, and it's a house favorite.

Tuesday: Chicken Spaghetti, Steamed Broccoli

I've been wanting to try this recipe for ages, but haven't gotten around to it. I have all the ingredients at my house right now, so I don't have an excuse. Everyone raves about it, and I can't wait to dig in!

Wednesday: Crock Pot Pulled Pork and Coleslaw Sandwiches, Sweet Potatoes

I have a 3 lb pork roast in my freezer that is taking up too much space, as well as a head of cabbage, carrots, and a bunch of small white sweet potatoes (I can't wait to try them!) from our CSA, so this meal is perfect. It uses up everything I have that needs used up! Plus it has great reviews and sounds delicious to me. You can't get much better than that!

An interesting side note - my child who won't eat anything LOVES cole slaw (usually - this will be the one time she refuses to eat it, I'm sure). Bizarre, but I'll take it.

Thursday: The Best Quiche Ever!, tomato salad

After such a meat heavy few days, it seemed perfect to have a lighter meal. We get our last egg share from our CSA this week (and are VERY, VERY SAD about this, as the eggs were the best we've ever eaten), and so The Best Quiche Ever! will be fabulous, I'm sure.

Friday: Ranch Macaroni and Cheese, roasted brussels sprouts

Friday is supposed to be one of the colder days this week, so a nice comforting bowl of macaroni and cheese sounds perfect. Mmmm....

Saturday: Baked Chipotle Beef Taquitos, red rice, chips and salsa

I've made the chicken taquitos from Our Best Bites several times, but never the beef ones. I'm pretty pumped to try them though. I'll have to hold back on the chipotles and sauce so Gabbie can eat them, and substitute monterey jack for the queso fresco so I can eat them, but I think they'll still be fantastic.

Sunday: Leftovers

This looks to be a heavy cooking week, so I'm sure we'll have plenty left over for lunches AND Sunday dinner. We tend to do our bigger meal for breakfast on Sunday anyway (ricotta lemon pancakes or pumpkin maple cinnamon rolls are on tap for this week).


 
And then this week on "Will the Toddler Eat It/Anything" (aka Toddler Lunch Ideas):

Monday: Cheese, Crackers, Grapes, Yogurt
Tuesday:  Mini Bagel, Peanut Butter, Apple Slices, Carrot Sticks
Wednesday: Soy Dog, Green Pepper Slices, Yogurt, Banana
Thursday: "Noodles and Sauce", Broccoli, Yogurt
Friday: Pork, Cole Slaw, Kiwi, Cheese

Monday Meal Planning 1.25.10

We've made it to the last week of the month without eating meat! It really hasn't been too hard, save for a couple random chicken wing or cheese burger cravings. Come February, we're still going to keep this up for the most part, maybe eating meat for a meal or two per week. At least that's the plan; we'll see how it works out in reality. We just really would prefer to eat sustainably grown local meats if possible, and in order to afford that we have to cut back on our meat consumption quite a bit.

Anyway, this is the last week of our vegetarian month, so it's the last all-vegetarian meal plan that I have planned. Could happen again; we'll see. I'm also trying to prep some things ahead, and I'll share the plans below where applicable.

Monday: Black Bean Quinoa Salad, Fruit Salad

Since the quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) salad is supposed to be served cold, I'll make it on Sunday night (I wrote this yesterday to be posted today) so it can sit and the flavors can meld. Then all I will have to do is throw together the fruit salad on Monday night and dinner will be ready in mere minutes. I love when dinner is fast, because we're usually all starving when we get home. This will also mean fewer dishes Monday night, and fewer dishes is never a bad thing!

Tuesday: Peanut Noodles with stir-fried tofu, egg rolls

We're planning to use whole-wheat spaghetti for this dish, since our local grocery store kind of sucks and doesn't have udon or soba, or anything more exotic than whole wheat pasta really. I'm adding the tofu for more protein, and because Gabbie will eat it. The eggrolls are just frozen veggie egg rolls from the grocer's.

Wednesday: Tomato Pie, Broccoli Slaw

I love this tomato pie, but it is a little time consuming to be made on a week night. Therefore I am mixing up, rolling, and freezing the prepped crust, and chopping up tomatoes, on Sunday night. Then I'll only have to chop the onions and shred and mix the cheese mixture, assemble, and bake on Wednesday. And again - fewer dishes!

Thursday: Macaroni and Cheese, Peas, and fruit

I'm going to try something new here, so if the recipe turns out, I'll share it. It comes from a failed - texturally but not taste-wise - crockpot experiment, and I'm eager to see if I can make it a success by cooking it on the stove top first, then baking it.

Friday: Black Bean Nachos/Quesadillas

Another experiment I'll share probably next week - I'm using the black bean mash from another recipe, and we'll see how that works in nacho form. Since Gabbie can't eat the chips without choking (don't ask me how we know this - it wasn't a pleasant experience) she gets hers in quesadilla form. That will also allow Aaron and I to douse our nachos with pickled jalapeno slices with wild abandon. We both absolutely love spicy food!

Saturday: Soft-boiled egg salad on grilled brioche, veggies and dip

Yet another experiment, this one inspired by a delicious dish I had in Chicago last weekend. I'm baking the brioche today and freezing it. Then I'll reheat it on Saturday (we have plans for the day, otherwise I'd make it fresh then) for the sandwiches.

Sunday: Eggplant Parmesan, Salad, Garlic Bread

We have a new recipe for this I'll share later this week. It's messy and time consuming, but absolutely divine. You won't regret the effort, I promise.

Monday Meal Planning 1.4.10

Here's our first full week of vegetarian meals! It's been four days so far, and we're doing okay. Of course, I would love a cheeseburger, but I think I'll survive.

Monday: Argentinian Pumpkin Soup, bread

We made this last night, and I'll post the recipe later today. We were both a little suspicious of the soup, but had a couple of pumpkins that needed to be used so we thought we'd give it a try. It was surprisingly delicious, and we're both excited about the lunch leftovers today.

Tuesday: Quick Curried Chick Peas, Basmati Rice, Naan, steamed green peas

We didn't get to this late last week (we had pizza instead), so it's making the meal list again this week. I have been reading good things about it online, so I can't wait to try it.

Wednesday: Cheese Quiche, steamed broccoli, grape tomato salad

I love a good quiche. I usually put the broccoli in the quiche, but I don't think Gabbie will eat it that way. She eats cheesy eggs, and she eats steamed broccoli, but she won't eat things mixed together. The tomato salad is one of our favorites, and goes great on the side with quiche.

Thursday: Tortellini with sauteed mushrooms and zuchini and tomato sauce, salad, garlic bread

A quick, easy, mid-week meal. We sautee the veggies, boil the tortellini, and heat up a jar of spaghetti sauce. Simple and delicious, it's a complete comfort food.

Friday: Cheesy vegetable pancakes, rice with peas

I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants on this one, combining a few recipes to try to get what I imagine to happen in my pan. We'll see how it goes.

Saturday: Braised lentils, Spanish style, Olive Bread

Another meal I can't wait to try. Gabbie and I love lentils, and this recipe sounds fantastic. I don't particularly like olives, but I like them on pizza and I think if I halve the amount of olives in the recipe I will love it.

Sunday: Leftovers or veggie quesadillas

I'm sure we'll have plenty of leftovers and I'll be tired of cooking by Sunday, so leftovers will probably happen. One night off of cooking per week is usually needed.

I blew NaBloPoMo

On Friday night going to bed early was a major priority after a very,very stressful week, and I forgot to post. Of course, then I found myself wide awake at exactly 12:11 a.m. on Saturday realizing what I did. Oh, well. I've participated every year and have yet to make it through a whole month (well, maybe I did the first year; I don't really remember, and that was at my last blog). What can I say, sometimes a good night sleep trumps my desire to make it to the finish line in a blogging contest apparently.

Anyway, no meal planning this week. Since it's a short, and very, very busy week, we're taking it easy, eating some of the meals I've frozen in the past couple of months (meatballs, pasties), and getting ready for the big eating day (aka Thanksgiving! Can't wait!) and my 30th birthday (on Sunday).

However, I will be baking 3 pies, and I'll share those recipes over the week - a pumpkin pie (standard, can't avoid), a pecan pie (also standard), and something I haven't made before, a sweet potato pie, by special request of Aaron's aunt.

And now I've made myself hungry. I love pie.

Monday Meal Planning 11.9.09

Here's a quickie meal plan tonight. I'll post most of the related recipes throughout the week.

Monday: Crockpot pork roast and sweet potatoes, salad

This was really good and easy. I am loving my crockpot these days.

Tuesday: Mushroom spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad.

I just sautee up some mushrooms in butter and olive oil with some garlic, stir into jarred sauce and serve over pasta. Even though we call this spaghetti, we have been using bow-ties or rotini lately because they're easier for Gabbie to pick up and eat.

Wednesday: Cubano sandwiches and sweet potato fries

These use leftover pork from Monday. We really liked these!

Thursday: Roasted tomato soup, salad

Friday: Pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, chips

Using up still more of the pork roast. It made kind of a lot.

Saturday: Steak, Guiness, and Cheese Pie, buttered peas

I LOVE this recipe!

This is totally a week full of quick, filling, delicious meals. My favorite kind of week.

Dad's Pasties

Every time we head to the UP (Michigan's Upper Peninsula), we make sure to have pasties for dinner at least once. These UP staples are hot, hearty, and delicious, made with root vegetables and meat, and perfect for the long, cold winters that are the norm up there. Of course, there were quite a few years when we didn't make it up to the UP. When our pastie cravings got the best of us, my dad found and tweaked a recipe, and I have to admit that they're better than any I've had up north. All they're missing is the ambiance. These do take quite a while to make, but they're totally worth it. Plus, it makes so many that we usually freeze at least half the recipe, which means we have at least two dinners out of every batch. Freezing directions are at the bottom of the recipe.

Dad's Pasties

Adapted from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seasoned America

Seasoning Mix

2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. onion powder

3/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves

3/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp. ground savory

Dough

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. seasoning mix

9 Tbsp. unsalted butter

10 - 12 Tbsp. cold water

Filling

10 oz. lean pork, very finely chopped

3/4 lb. lean beef (I used sirloin), very finely chopped

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. seasoning mix

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 c. chopped onions

1 c. chopped celery

1 1/2 c. finely diced rutabaga

1 to 1 1/2 c. finely diced peeled potato

1 tsp. minced fresh garlic

Finish

1 egg

2 Tbsp. water

1. Combine the seasoning mix ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl.

2. For the dough: combine the flour, 1 tsp. seasoning mix, and the butter in a bowl and blend with a fork or pastry blender until the texture is mealy. Gradually add the water and work the dough lightly with your hands until all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Form the dough into a ball. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour.

3. For the filling: combine the pork and beef in a bowl. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. seasoning mix over the meat and work in well with your hands.

Melt the butter in a 12 inch skillet over high heat. When the butter begins to sizzle, add the onions and celery and cook stirring occasionally until the onions begin to brown about 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in 1 tsp. seasoning mix and cook 4 minutes.

Push the vegetables to one side of the skillet, place the seasoned meat in the cleared space, and cook, stirring occasionally until just brown, about 3 minutes. Mix the meat into the vegetables.

Add the rutabaga, potato, and garlic, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Pour the filling mixture into a shallow pan and refrigerate until cool. (In a Michigan winter, we cover it and put it outside for about 30 minutes, and that does the trick.)

Here's a picture of the filling so you can see the approximate size things should be chopped.

I make about 1 cm cubes of everything.

4. To finish: make an egg wash by beating the egg and water together.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 7 equal portions. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and roll out each portion of dough to a thickness of about 1/16 inch. Using a plate or a pan as a guide (I used a salad plate), cut a 7 to 9 inch round from each portion. When each portion has been rolled out, re-roll the scraps to make additional rounds. I usually get about 9 pasties out of the dough.

Remove the filling from the refrigerator (or bring it inside). Put about 3/4 c. of the filling in the middle of the dough round. Brush the edges of the dough with the egg wash, and fold in half to seal. Crimp the edge with the tines of a fork. Brush egg wash over the top of each pasty.

Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray and place the pasties on the sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve warm with beef gravy or (as we do up north) lots of ketchup.

To freeze: Make pasties as directed up through brushing with egg wash. Place on a baking sheet and freeze for 2 hours. Place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Add 10 minutes to the baking time (or more as needed), and bake straight from the freezer.

Chicken Pot Pie

See, I told you about the pie kick! Aaron sabotaged the originally planned recipe by forgetting everything in the frozen section (peas, puff pastry) of my shopping list (yes, I separate my list by sections - produce, dairy, meat, pantry, frozen, other; it really makes shopping more efficient, and I'm a list-making dork, so it's a win-win, except when someone forgets an entire category).

Ahem.

Anyway, I had to improvise, and if I do say so myself it turned out wonderfully. Aaron ate three big servings, which is something for someone who claims to hate chicken pot pie. Instead of using frozen peas in the filling, I used mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, carrots), which I thought would be better for Gabbie who would likely pick out and eat the vegetables (she refused to eat more than 3 bites altogether and ended up having a banana for dinner - what happened to my usually great eater?). I made my own top crust in place of the puff pastry, adding extra salt, and pepper and dried thyme to the mix, and it was a wonderful savory crust. Altogether, this was a delicious, comforting dinner on a rainy, cold fall day. And quite ambitious for someone who only has use of one leg for standing in the kitchen. Thank goodness for our bar stools!

I didn't get a picture of this one because we were too hungry, and my ankle hurt to much to hobble over to get the camera and then back into the kitchen. Also, I hate crutches. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Chicken Pot Pie

adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, October 2009

Filling:

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1/2 c. flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 c. low-sodium chicken broth

3 - 4 c. cooked chicken, cut into small pieces or shredded (we used 1/2 of the fauxtisserie chicken we made last week)

1 1/2 c. frozen mixed vegetables

1 tsp. dried thyme

Crust:

1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/3 c. shortening

3 - 4 Tbsp. ice water

yolk from a large egg

In a medium saucepan, add butter and olive oil, and cook until butter is melted. Add onion and carrot, and cook until onion softens, about 5-6 minutes. Add flour and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is pale golden, has a slightly nutty aroma, and has the texture of cooked oatmeal, about 5 minutes.

Whisking constantly, add broth. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 8-10 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

While filling is simmering, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and thyme in a medium bowl. Cut in the shortening until it resembles course meal. Stir in ice water with a fork, one tablespoon at a time, until it can come together into a bowl. Roll out on a floured surface into rectangle just larger than a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Remove filling mixture from heat; stir in chicken, vegetables, pepper, and thyme. Pour into a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Top with pie crust, rolling under excess and pressing to the side of the dish. In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with a little water; brush the entire crust with this mixture.

Bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 35 minutes. You might have to put a cookie sheet under the casserole dish in the oven, because the filling is likely to bubble over (we learned this the hard way). Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Tomato Pie

I have been on a pie kick lately. We've been averaging about 2 sweet and/or savory pies a week. Aaron doesn't mind in the least, except for the fact that I make a huge mess when I make a pie crust, so he prefers when I use pre-made crusts. I say that's cheating (unless I'm short on time or have an extra crust in the refrigerator).

This time I used a made my own crust and Aaron didn't complain at all, because his mouth was full for too long eating as much of this pie as he could fit in his stomach. We used a bunch of different heirloom tomatoes for the pie, so it was a beautiful mix of red, green, purple, and yellow tomatoes. This is so good. I promise.

Tomato Pie

1 9-inch pie crust

1/2 red onion, diced

3 large or 6 - 8 smaller tomatoes, about 3 cups, seeded, squeezed to remove excess liquid, and chopped, then drained on paper towels (you want to remove as much liquid as possible)

1/4 cup basil leaves, sliced into thin strips

1 c. mozzarella, shredded

1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 c. mayonnaise

a couple of shakes of hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prick pie shell all over with a fork and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown.

Sprinkle the bottom of the pie crust with the onion. Top with tomatoes. Sprinkle the basil over the tomatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients until well combined. Spread over the top of the other ingredients, making sure it reaches the edges. Place in oven and bake until golden and bubbly, about 35-45 minutes.

Peanut Butter Pie

We ate like crap last week - our dinners consisted of leftovers, macaroni and cheese and hot dogs, leftovers, eating out, and more leftovers. So, no meal plan this week.

But! I accomplished something as of this evening. All of my three pie plates were in use because since last weekend I had made three pies.

First up was Cassie's Mom's Peanut Butter Pie...

which was absolutely excellent. We've been eating it very slowly, because it's so rich, which is great because it means it lasts longer, and we definitely want something this good to last as long as possible. I couldn't find peanut butter oreos that the original recipe calls for, so I used regular ones and it was still amazing.

Cassie's Mom's Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:

20 Oreo cookies

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. whipping cream

Pulse the cookies in a food processor until they've reduced to small crumbs. Add in sugar and melted butter and pulse a few more times, until combined. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and cook at 375 for 10 minutes to set. Let cool completely.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold into the peanut butter mixture. Spoon into the crust and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours until set.

That's all you have to do for this simple, delicious pie, which makes it even more awesome!

For the other two pies, you'll have to wait until tomorrow, but let me tell you, we've been eating like kings over here, what with peach raspberry pie and tomato pie in addition to peanut butter pie.