Menu Planner – Week of October 29th

You know those times when the entire family is down with the cold or flu and you subside on what can easily e thrown together at dinner time from the contents of your fridge? Yeah, that was us last week. Thankfully I keep enough things on hand to make things like salads, pasta and fritatta’s easy fixings. This week, we’re all on the mend and menu planning is back in play.

We’ll be hanging out at home most of the week, though we’ll likely have company in at least once or twice. That meant menu planning and grocery shopping was a necessity. Since Hurricane Sandy is about to deluge us with lots of wind and rain, we figured we might as well shop early in the week and enjoy not having to drive much during the worst of it.

Here’s what’s on tap for this week:

Monday

We’ll actually be eating leftovers this evening. We had a huge Halloween bash at our home on Saturday night and there was quite a bit of leftovers. I also made both chicken noodle soup and lemon garlic pasta with shrimp on Sunday, so it’s easy enough for everyone to make a smorgasboard. Unfortunately for you, both the chicken noodle soup and the lemon garlic pasta were made up recipes on the fly based on what I had around the house. So for now, no links. I’ll try to get the chicken soup recipe up later this week as it turned out fantastic and even using rock hard frozen chicken breast straight from the freezer, the whole thing only took about 45 minutes from start to eat.

45 Minute Homemade Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade Lemon Garlic Pasta with Shrimp
Leftover Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta

Tuesday

One of the semi-downsides of ordering beef directly from the farmer is ending up with an absolute boatload of ground beef. I mean like more ground beef than any human should ever consume. The good news is, it’s 90% lean grass-fed beef and it tastes delicious. So…I’m doing way more experimenting with ground beef based recipes than I ever have in the past. I also spent yesterday afternoon curled up on the couch with some cookbooks looking for some new options. I found a Swedish meatball recipe in Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Comfort Foods cookbook and thought, why not?

30 Minute Swedish Meatballs
Egg Noodles with Butter & Parsley
Broccoli
Fresh Salad

Wednesday

Originally, Wednesday was going to be something super easy, because it’s Trick or Treat night here in town, but thanks to Hurricane Sandy, it’s been moved to Saturday afternoon. That means we’ll be fine to bundle up inside and stay warm with something tasty.

Skinny Chicken Parmesan w/Angel Hair
Caprese Salad
Sweet Peas

Thursday

Thursday is family night, which generally means some fun and games with the kids. It’s also a night Hair and her man will be headed over to hang with the family and for a late movie. Since the leaves are down and the fireplace is now occasionally being used, it’s a great night for warm and cozy comfort foods. In my mind, that means mashed potatoes. In the kids’ minds…it means chicken fingers.

The Pioneer Woman’s Buttermilk Chicken Fingers
Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Grean Beans
Garden Salad
Homemade Bread

Friday

By the time Friday rolls around, I’ll be ready for a break. Plus, we’ll likely have quite a few leftovers in the fridge. Plus I’ll make breakfast and dinner on Saturday. So while we’ll be eating leftovers, here’s a look at what I’ll likely be baking with the bananas I got at .19 a pound this morning.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bread

Saturday

It has been AGES since we’ve had a big Saturday breakfast, so I’ say it’s about time. I’ll dig out the Belgian waffle maker and we’ll start the morning with the best waffles you’ve ever tasted. We’ll also be trick or treating the afternoon and most likely having a sleepover that evening. That means Saturday night will likely be a top your own pizza night and we’ll all curl up with a movie that evening.

Waffles of Insane Greatness
Bacon, Eggs and Fruit
Homemade Pizza
Fresh Fruits and Veggies

Sunday

Sunday is always our lazy day. We try to get whatever work needs done around the house wrapped up on Saturday so we can hang out, play, take naps and generally relax on Sunday. If there’s a Steeler’s game, Mr W and I will likely curl up on the couch for that while the kids are playing. We’ll make dinner though and since the rain is supposed to slow down or stop by then, it will be a great day to fire up the grill.

Grilled Pork Loin Chops
Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin
Green Beans & Corn