Menu Planner – Week of June 4th

menu planner week of June 4th

Sorry for the week off last week. We had quite the busy week around here, planning and hosting an outdoor movie night and potluck for 100 friends and family. (More posts on that coming later this week.) That meant I had no time for posting and for a few days, no time for cooking! This week, we’re getting back into the swing of things.

There wasn’t much you missed in the way of recipes last week. Due to the sheer size and amount of work that went into movie night, Mr W “forbid” me from making any food for the event…so there were no great feats of baking. It was a smart call on his part as I was already exhausted and sometimes can’t help myself from stepping into the kitchen. I needed the break though…and after sleeping like a rock for eight hours straight last night, I’m ready to start gearing up again.

There’s not too much in the way of activity happening this week. We’ll probably have the interns from our church over this week to help take down a dead tree and the kids’ last day of school is Thursday. Beyond that, we’re aiming to take things a bit easier and to give me some time to get caught up on writing a few chapters of my book.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to shut the deep freezer properly over the weekend and I lost most of my deep freeze content. I had two roasting chickens I was able to salvage that weren’t down thawing yet, so they are in the fridge to get made this week. Thankfully, we haven’t picked up our grass fed steer yet, so the freezer was pretty empty. The biggest casualties were some Omaha Steak Company hot dogs, some saur kraut and a tiny bit of homemade ice cream.

Monday (Freezer Food)

As you know, I pretty much never cook from scratch on a Monday. It’s my night to chill out a bit as we work our way back into the week. We’ve got a TON of fresh veggies left over from the weekend though, so we’ll pair some yummy salad with the one batch of homemade gnocchi that was left in the deep freeze and now needs to be eaten.

Sam’s Club Parmesean Crusted Tilapia
Homemade gnocchi w/alfredo sauce
Broccoli
Fresh Garden Salad

homemade gnocchi with alfredo sauce just like an italian grandmother would make

Tuesday (Freezer Crisis Food)

My chickens should be thawed out by Tuesday. They’re big birds, about 8 pounds each, so I’ll roast them rather than boiling them. The best roast chickens take a long time…low and slow is the key. I generally just wing it, but for those of you looking for a recipe, this one by Jamie Oliver looks pretty close to what I do. I’ve also got a starter in my fridge for a variation on Amish friendship bread sent by a friend of mine. Will likely knock out a loaf or two of that as well.

Low and Slow Roast Chicken
Jasmine Rice
Amish Friendship Bread
Roasted Carrots and Onions

low and slow roast chicken from Jamie Oliver

Wednesday (Grocery Foods)

I’m only partly decided on what I’m making on Wednesday night. We’ll have our interns from church over again this week to help take down a dead ash tree in our front yard. Last week Mr W grilled some amazing chicken and I introduced them to pierogies. (They’re from Arkansas…) This week, we’ll go with the house’s Italian roots. I’ll be making my homemade manicotti and fresh salad, but I’ll likely pair a chicken dish with it. Maybe chicken Parmesan, maybe chicken marsala…not positive yet. Either way, my father-in-law brought me two Marcella Hazen cookbooks this week, so I’ll dive into them tonight and pick out a new classic to try.

Crespelle Manicotti
Undetermined Italian Chicken Dish
Rosemary Olive Oil Bread
Garden Salad

Crespelle manicotti is great paired with a chicken dish

Thursday (Grocery Foods)

Thursday is farmer’s market day and Tapicoa will be coming down to join me at the market. That means we’ll come home with some fresh and tasty things to cook. Right now I’m leaning toward buying a skirt steak from the grass fed free range beef vendor that sells there. Thinking Mr W could grill it up for us and we could enjoy a combination of fresh veggies and salad from the market. I’ve got a few recipes set aside to try, but I’m leaning toward one I found on Pinterest a few weeks back. Thinking I might also pick up some homemade fettuccine and give it a simple olive oil, garlic and romano sauce.

Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri
Fettuccine w/garlic and romano cheese
Fresh Garden Salad

grilled flank steak with chimichurri

Friday (Staples)

Friday starts our first days of summer here. All of the kids will finally be out of school and we’ll be shifting gears away from homework and short timelines and ending up with a lot more flexibility. For Friday, I’m going to take things easy and make some kid friendly food so we can hang out by the creek and have some fun.

Pizza Quesadillas
Fresh Fruits & Veggies

pizza quesadilla served with a side salad

Saturday (Grocery & Staples)

We’ll only have Things One and Two on Saturday this weekend as we’re starting our summer schedule and Father’s Day threw everything off a bit. That has me leaning toward a picnic in the park or a picnic by the waterfall on Saturday if the weather holds up.  That will mean bentos which will mean using up all the scraps and leftovers we’ve accumulated through the week. So, here’s a recipe or two for goodies I’d like to try this week.

Zucchini Brownies (we love these!)
Cinnamon Peach Cobbler (if they have peaches at the farmer’s market)

cinnamon peach cobbler is great when you can find fresh peaches

Sunday (Road Trip!)

We’ll be making our Columbus drive on Sunday this week instead of Friday and will return home in time to immediately go to a planning meeting with the group of friends we’re heading to Creation Northeast with at the end of the month. That means we’ll likely pick up Chipotle or some other tastiness on the road.  Plus…I’m still feeling beat as I write this, so I know chances are high I won’t want to cook every day this week. If I take a break mid-week, I can push that meal to lunch time on Sunday before we leave.

So you’re on your own folks! Make up something tasty and let me know how it goes!

 

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