Monday Meal Planning 6.13.11

Thankfully the Work Project that Ate May (and Some of June) is finally done! To say May was a hectic month would be a bit of an understatement. I laid low last week to recover, thank goodness, and now I'm ready to join the ranks of productive adults once again!

This week is one of the most exciting of the year for me - our CSA starts this week! I am really, really looking forward to all the wonderful fresh vegetables and eggs. The only thing that is hard about the CSA is meal planning, because we get a list of possibly available vegetables at the beginning of the week and then don't get to pick them up until Wednesday, and so I have to make meal contingency plans. Early on, it's not too hard because it's pretty much just different kinds of greens, but as the variety increases and the possibilities list gets longer, it gets a lot harder.

Keeping in mind the greens we will have mid-week (and the farm fresh eggs, one of my favorite parts of the CSA) here's what we're eating this week!

Monday: Macaroni and cheese, roasted asparagus, turkey sloppy joes

Tonight is Gabbie's last tumbling class of the season, so it's the last week I have to take it extra easy and quick on Mondays. To celebrate we're having three of Gabbie's favorite foods (mine too!).

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken, baked sweet potatoes, broccoli

Aaron has been talking about BBQ chicken on the grill for longer than we've actually had the grill, and is determined that this will be the week it happens.

Wednesday: Margherita Paninis, cucumber salad, french fries

I have a large piece of fresh mozzarella, a bunch of tomatoes, and a huge container of basil in my refrigerator. Throw in the sliced sourdough boule I have on my counter, and what else could I possibly even think of making? Yum!

Thursday: Quinoa stir-fry with vegetables and chicken

We'll use left-over chicken from Tuesday to make this a super-quick meal

Friday: Brinner!

We'll be having fried or poached eggs over a mixed green salad, spiced cubed potatoes, sausages, and sauteed mushrooms. It doesn't get much better than that!

Saturday: Aaron's Choice

My sister will be in town from Arizona yet again this weekend, and it's the last time until mid-September, so we'll be seeing her on Sunday. This means we're celebrating Father's Day on Saturday, and Aaron gets to pick whatever he wants for dinner (and he hasn't chosen yet). I would not be the least bit surprised to see either meatballs or taco rice (depending on how involved he wants me to get) on the menu, nor would I be surprised if he chose breakfast out at our favorite local restaurant instead of dinner. I would be very happy with any of those options!

(Sunday is up in the air too, thanks to visits with family)

And with that all said and done, here are:

Pre-Schooler Lunch Ideas
Monday: Oatmeal with brown sugar, strawberries, yogurt (she wanted scrambled eggs too, but we had to draw the line somewhere!)
Tuesday: Ham and Cheese on Sourdough, carrots, blueberries, applesauce
Wednesday: Chicken, peas or broccoli, mandarin oranges, yogurt (and possibly some fruit snacks as a treat)
Thursday: Pasta with butter and parmesan cheese, peas or broccoli, strawberries
Friday: Peanut butter and honey sandwich, pretzels, yogurt, banana (and possibly some fruit snacks as a treat)

Monday Meal Planning 5.16.11

Do you know what I love? I love minimal shopping weeks. Groceries are getting so ridiculously expensive these days that any week I can use what we already have (which is typically a lot) is a great week for me. We have lots of leftover food from my husband's birthday party this past weekend that we only have to get a few essentials this week (milk, a few veggies and fruits, yogurt, and cereal) to be all set. Score!

Monday: Barbecue Spaghetti, Asparagus, Fruit and Yogurt parfaits

I saw this recipe in the most recent issue of Food Network Magazine and since we have some leftover pulled pork in the freezer and all the other ingredients already, it went on the menu immediately. Two of Gabbie's favorite foods are bbq pork and "snake noodles" (aka spaghetti), this should go over well!

Tuesday: Border Burgers, Salad, Chips and Dip

Amusingly (at least to me) Gabbie is all about spinach and lettuce these days (good thing because that's what we'll be getting from our CSA for the first few weeks), so salads are happening in our house with increasing frequency. Thank goodness! There's not much I like more than a good salad.

Border burgers are hamburgers topped with a heap of sliced banana peppers and sliced cheddar. They're SOOOO good.

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Enchiladas, Rice, Mangos

We didn't get to these last week, but they are so happening this week because we're all craving them.

Thursday: Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, broccoli

Yet more leftovers from the party, and also one of our very favorite meals. I may have to try this recipe from macaroni and cheese this week because it looks amazing.

Friday: Rodeo Burgers, ranch potatoes on the grill, cole slaw

Another burger variation to use up all of the burgers that we prepped. This one is topped with bacon, cheddar, and bbq sauce. Gabbie's daycare teacher told us about how they make ranch potatoes - in a foil packet, combine sliced or cubed potatoes, butter, a little diced onion, and a generous sprinkle of both ranch dressing mix and grated parmesan. Then grill until tender, about 20 minutes. Sounds fantastic, no?

Saturday: PARTY (redux)

Gabbie's birthday party is this weekend, and she is so excited she can barely stand it. Our menu includes chicken skewers (with the chicken having been marinated in Italian dressing), buttered naan, broccoli, fruit salad, and pasta salad, plus, of course cake and ice cream. Oh, and pink punch of some sort. The cake will be pink as well. We are having a "very pink" birthday party.

Sunday: Out.

My sister and parents will be in town, so we're going out at least once, and I think Sunday night will be perfect for that.

Toddler Lunch Ideas
Monday - Waffle, yogurt, mixed berries
Tuesday - BBQ spaghetti, carrots, banana muffin
Wednesday - Baked beans, broccoli, shredded cheese, tortilla
Thursday - Oatmeal, raisins, yogurt, stewed apples
Friday - Hot dog, mac and cheese, green beans and carrots

(Also posted over at I'm on Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.)

Monday Meal Planning 5.9.11

Oh, what a crazy week we have upon us! In addition to being horrendously busy at work again (and Spring/Summer being my least favorite time to be so busy), it's Aaron's birthday tomorrow and we're throwing him a big birthday bash on Saturday. Thankfully I have a husband who likes to clean, so he's taking on the majority of getting the house ready, but I have a lot of cooking/prep work to do so we can feed the crowd. I will admit, I love throwing a party, so even though it's a lot of work I'm kind of looking forward to it.

In the meantime, here's what we will be eating this week:

Monday: Macaroni and cheese with bratwurst and peas

With food prices being what they are these days, we're using up every single left-over we can. I'm going for a zero food waste week this week. So, leftover brats from this weekend are going into the mac and cheese. Actually, it sounds pretty delicious to me!

Tuesday: Spaghetti Bolognese, Garlic Bread, Salad, Ice Cream Cake

This is what Aaron has requested for birthday dinner. Seeing as this is one of my favorite meals, I don't mind a little extra work in the kitchen on a weeknight for something so delicious.

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Enchiladas, Cilantro Rice

I made these a while ago and had more filling than I had tortillas to fill, so these will be super quick and easy using the leftover filling that I froze. Also, they're probably the best enchiladas I've ever eaten, so there's that.

Thursday: ???

I honestly can't remember what what we put on the meal plan for Thursday. I will update later if I can remember.

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: PARTY TIME!

We'll be serving up hamburgers, bratwurst, hot dogs, fruit, a couple different salads, cut up veggies and dip, chips, and two kinds of cupcakes (margarita cupcakes for the adults, and vanilla cupcakes for the kiddos or the pregnant). We want to keep it simple enough that we don't spend the whole party in the kitchen, but also serve people a great meal. This plan should accomplish both of those things. (P.S. That hamburger recipe made the best home-made on a grill burgers I've ever had. Even Gabbie, who usually turns her nose up at burgers, ate a good bit of a cheeseburger last night!)

Toddler (I should update this to pre-schooler!) Lunch Ideas
Monday: Oatmeal with brown sugar, mashed sweet potato, mangos, cheese (this is what she requested)
Tuesday: PB&J, banana, cucumbers
Wednesday: Noodles with butter and cheese, side of bolognese, broccoli, plum
Thursday: Rice, green beans, yogurt, raspberries and blueberries
Friday: Cheese quesadilla, salsa, peas, mango

(Also posted over at I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.)

Monday Meal Planning 5.2.11

Now that it’s May, I feel like the weight of a winter coat has been lifted off of me. I’m all kinds of crazy motivated, which resulted in our house being much more of a mess today than it was on Friday. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but what happened is that I wanted to organize everything (much more than I had time to organize, what with two little girls who decided they wanted to be on Mommy all day yesterday) so I took everything out and have yet to put everything away, all re-organized like.

This included my pantry, so has turned into a minimal-grocery shopping week, meaning all we had to purchase was milk, fruit, and a few veggies. I like minimal-grocery shopping weeks.

Also, we bought a grill this weekend, so it’s a meat and veggies for meals type week.

Monday: Chicken Kabobs, Evolution Carrot Salad, Asparagus

For the world’s easiest chicken kabobs, I marinate chunks of chicken breast or tenders in Italian dressing for 30 minutes to an hour before threading on skewers to put on the grill. We also skewered up some grape tomatoes and chunks of onion.

P.S. The evolution carrot salad is amazing, and you can add as many or as few of the extras as you want. We went with mint, clementines, salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and some almonds. Delicious!

Tuesday: Clean out the pantry soup, salad, hot pimento cheese and crackers

This week the soup will contain: chicken broth, lentils, tomatoes (from the batch I froze in the fall), spinach, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and whatever else catches my eye and needs to be used up.

Also the hot pimento cheese? Awesomeness in a bowl. Make it.

Wednesday: Spicy pulled pork tacos with homemade tortillas and all the fixin’s, rice pilaf

I cannot wait to try these tortillas. Cannot. Wait.

Thursday: Barbeque chicken, cucumber salad, evolution potato salad

We have some bone-in chicken breast halves in the freezer that are just begging to be grilled and topped with some homemade Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce, also in the freezer.

Friday: Grilled pizza

Another thing I have been wanting to try for FOR. EV. ER. I have no idea what I’ll top it with, but I’m sure I’ll find something. (Actually I want mine brushed with garlic oil and topped with black olives and feta, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the house who will eat it that way. We also like this version, and I think that with halved grape tomatoes instead of the romas and adding the olives in my salad, we’ll be all set.)

Saturday: Leftovers

We’re planning on some major house cleaning this weekend in preparation for my husband’s big birthday blow-out the next weekend, so I’m sure I won’t want to cook. Plus it’s my mother’s day gift to myself to not have to cook this weekend.

Sunday: Cheeseburgers, fries, fruit salad with yogurt dip, and some sort of pie

This is what I’ve planned for my family to make me for Mother’s Day (along with some sort of breakfast in bed, of course). However, I’ll probably have to make the pie, but that’s fine with me. I’m thinking maybe some sort of strawberry/cream cheese pie. YUM!

Toddler Lunch Ideas
Monday: Waffles, yogurt, mixed berries
Tuesday: Leftover grilled chicken, rice, peas, mango
Wednesday: Cheese, crackers, green smoothie, carrots
Thursday: Pulled pork, tortilla, cheese, cucumbers
Friday: Bean and cheese quesadilla, carrots, banana

(Also posted on I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday post)

Monday Meal Planning 4.25.11

Is this two weeks in a row I've posted a meal plan? I think it is! I may finally be getting my stuff together. I remember it taking forever after my first daughter was born, so I lowered my expectations this time. Life sure is crazy with two little ones. Add in Gabbie's extra-curriculars (tumbling and swimming classes), holidays and the associated get-togethers (Easter last weekend, plus our upcoming May birthdays and Memorial Day), and I'm barely holding on some weeks. As a result, I'm finding I have to put together more quick and easy dinners whenever possible. Also, I've set a goal for this week to not eat out at all, so I definitely need to ensure that these meals are easy enough that I'm not tempted by take out.

So, here's our fairly quick and easy meal plan for the week:

Monday: Egg Salad BLTs, chips, carrots, grapes

We arrived home yesterday with 8 hard boiled eggs that Gabbie colored at my parents' house. I'm not huge on egg salad, but I figure that adding bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes will help me like it quite a bit more.

Tuesday: Cashew Chicken, rice, steamed green beans

The way that Erica talked about this dish made me want to try it immediately. Plus, the ingredients make it sound like one of my favorite Chinese dishes from a restaurant in my hometown (which sadly has gone downhill in quality, so the dish isn't as good as it used to be). I can't wait to try this!

Wednesday: Taco Rice

My husband requests this every week. Seriously. I give in only every other week, though.

Thursday: Minestrone, bread, salad

This is going to be a "clean out the cupboard and fridge" type soup. I'm thinking potato, pasta, white beans, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, spinach, chicken broth...and anything else I feel like throwing in. We will definitely be topping it with what Gabbie now calls "Salty Cheese" (aka parmesan). (Hilariously, we used to call it "green cheese" growing up, due to the Kraft green container it came in.)

Friday: Hummus Wraps, fruit and yogurt parfaits

These are basically a pita or tortilla spread with hummus, and filled with cut up vegetables (cucumbers, green peppers, lettuce, tomatoes) and feta. Yum!

Saturday: I'm hoping we'll get to try out our new grill on Saturday. This depends on our ability (read: available time to go to the store) to pick one up this week. I am so excited about a having a grill finally that I can hardly stand it! (If we don't get the grill, we'll be eating leftovers.)

Sunday: Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce, salad

This looks delicious, and will hopefully provide lots of leftovers for Monday's lunch!

Toddler Lunch Ideas

Here's what I'm planning to send with Gabbie this week. I've been trying to make a plan so I don't end up staring into the refrigerator every morning, wracking my brain trying to come up with something healthy and easy to send with her.

Monday: Cheese, crackers, broccoli, strawberries
Tuesday: Mini Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffin (omitting the walnuts because I'm allergic), cottage cheese (something new we're trying out with her) or yogurt, banana
Wednesday: Cheese Quesadilla, beans, carrots, grapes
Thursday: Leftover cashew chicken, rice, green beans, banana
Friday: Cheesy pita (a pita, brushed with garlic butter, baked with cheese on top), marinara for dipping, cucumbers, grapes

(I, along with hundreds of others, posted my meal plan at I'm an Organizing Junkie. Check it out!)

Monday Meal Planning 4.18.11

Life is seriously kicking my butt lately, much like the toddler I shared a bed with all weekend. And she kicks hard in her sleep! We've been doing piecemeal, what do we have in the cupboard/swing by the store real quick-like/take out type dinners lately because we just are lacking the energy and motivation to do very much. However, my husband offered me a deal last Thursday that I couldn't refuse. He said that if I took the girls up north to my parents' house for the weekend, he would clean the house top-to-bottom.

Sold!

So, the girls and I headed out of town Friday after work, and he got to cleaning. And I got to meal planning, then sent the list to him since he had all that child-free time. Wrangling the two little ones all weekend was totally worth it when I came home to a spotless house (which we promptly made less spotless) and a full fridge.

And with that, here's what we're eating this (abbreviated) week (because we're heading up to my parents' house again next weekend to celebrate Easter):

Monday: Loose Meat Sandwiches, roasted zucchini
Tuesday: Baba ganoush, pitas, greek salad, yogurt and fruit parfaits
Wednesday: Full(ish) English Breakfast - fried eggs, Canadian bacon, baked beans, broiled tomatoes and mushrooms, toast
Thursday: Macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, peas, fruit

Lemon Cupcakes with Blood Orange Lemon Curd Filling and Buttercream

Here is where I admit to being a horrible food blogger, yet again. I made some absolutely beautiful, delicious cupcakes and didn't take a single picture of them to share. We ate them all (seriously, all 12 of them - we had some help from my co-workers) shortly after they were completely assembled, and I didn't even stop to think to take a picture. I just wanted to dive in face first, because my kitchen smelled so heavenly while they were baking. And that's what we did. We ate them as soon as possible, and have been dreaming of them ever since.

While these sound fairly complicated, I promise it's all very easy. If I, a sleep deprived mother of two very small children, can make them with only a few (fortuitous, it turns out) mistakes, then anyone can make them. In fact, I'll probably make them again sometime soon (because I have quite a bit of the curd left over) (and hopefully I'll remember to take a picture this time), and if I can turn them out in an even more sleep deprived state (I blame the baby and her growth spurt followed by a head cold) then really, really anyone can make them.

(And here's where you imagine a picture of a lightly yellow cake, filled with a delicately pink citrus curd, and topped with a cream colored frosting rose.)

Lemon Cake

adapted from I Am Baker, who adapted it from Joy of Baking

2 large eggs, separated
1 3/4 c. sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. room temperature butter
1 c. sugar, separated
1 tsp. vanilla extract
the zest of one lemon
1/2 c. milk
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Separate the eggs into two separate mixing bowls and let them come to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners (or grease and flour tins if you'd prefer). The recipe made 12 cupcakes. (You could also use the batter to make a layer cake, using two 8- or 9-inch pans, and increasing the baking time a little.)

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add 3/4 c. of the sugar and beat until well combined. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated. Add vanilla and lemon zest and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture and milk, alternately, starting and ending with the flour mixture; mix until just combined and do not over beat.

In a separate clean bowl with a clean whisk attachment, whip egg whites until foamy and then add the cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks occur. Gradually add in the remaining 1/4 c. sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into the cake batter with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Put batter into prepared cupcake tins and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cakes are done when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean or with very few crumbs.

After a couple of minutes, remove the cupcakes from the tins and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cupcakes are cool, create a well in the middle of the top of the cupcake using a melon baller or spoon. I used the large side of my melon baller. This is where you'll put the citrus curd.

Blood Orange Lemon Curd

Adapted from Eat,Live,Run

Juice of one blood orange

Juice of one lemon

1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

4 T. butter, cut into small chunks

Whisk together the blood orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, eggs and egg yolk in a large bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water to make a double boiler and add the butter. Whisk continuously until the mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Continue to gently stir the curd until it is thick, creamy, and can coat the back of a spoon completely (about 5 more minutes).

Transfer to a wide bowl or high-rimmed plate, and press a piece of plastic wrap to the surface. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting

(Very Loosely) adapted from I Am Baker

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. shortening

4 c. confectioner's sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 c. heavy cream

In a large bowl, cream shortening with a mixer until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar (2 c. at a time) until well blended. Add lemon juice and heavy cream and whip until frosting is light and fluffy.

TO ASSEMBLE CUPCAKES:

Place 1 Tbsp. lemon curd (more or less depending on the size of the well you made) in the well you made in the cupcake. Top with a large dollop of buttercream to cover the well, or pipe on frosting in the manner of your choosing (I used a large star tip to make frosting roses). Chill until ready to serve.

Phew, that was a long one. It took almost as long to write this as it did to make the cupcakes! If you do make these, prepare to bathe in the glorious comments you receive from those who eat them. My coworkers said they felt like these came from some sort of cupcake boutique where you would pay $6 per cupcake; quite the complement!