So I had the week all planned out, then...BG got sick. The kind of sick where the thought of food is triggering gag reflexes. Also, the kind of sick where she spends most of her time in arms nursing, trying to replace lost fluids. Also found out that the vegetarian inlaws were coming over for dinner on Saturday, the day I had planned to have chicken and rice bake so...
amended menu plan
Tuesday, store bought rotisserie chicken with squash, broccoli and biscuits (veggies prepared at home)
Wednesday, chili (not the cabbage roll casserole)
Saturday, cabbage roll casserole, the veg'n kind with TVP, barley and lentils. It sounds odd but it is just as yummy as can be. First time I made it this way, DH didn't even realize there was no meat!
Oh, and to clear up... once the cards have been chosen for the week, I get to decide which meal gets eaten when, it's not a first card=Monday kind of thing. Gives me better control over when to shop and when to plan for leftovers.
OH yeah, there were actually 30 meal cards that we came up with. I may make up a few to cue me to go to a recipe book and get something new. I also included breakfast for dinner cards like pancakes and quiche, and things like sandwiches that can be part of a healthy diet.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
menu planning
I sometimes have a hard time coming up with something yummy for dinner. I know menu planning can make it easier. I have read this many times, in many different places. I have come up with a plan. I'm not sure how well it is going to work, but I'm willing to try.
step 1) get out the blank recipe cards. I have many of them in many different colours because I am a pack rat.
step 2) write out the names of all mains on the top of the card, not bothering with ingredients. Include two "get out of the kitchen free" cards so dinner out is planned and I have something to look forward to. Maybe use different colour for things like main salads for summer months.
step 3) get DH to go through the cards to see if I've missed any favourites or if there are any doubles.
step 4) shuffle cards and put them away until Sunday when I turn the page in my calendar/planner book
step 5) randomly pull out 7 cards to write them into the book, organize them as they match up with planned events-quick meals on busy days, favourite meals on special days.
step 6) verify that I have the ingredients. These are my favourite, regular meals, so I usually have the things I need at hand. Put the ones I don't have on the grocery list. Move the meals that need something to later in the week so I will have a chance to get to the store.
We'll see how this works. Luckily, I have two other tools to fall back on. One is a calendar from http://nicelynourished.com/ and the other is a cook book with complete recipes for the evening meal (includes desserts!) by Penny E. Stone called 365 Quick, Easy & Inexpensive Dinner Menus.
This week's menu...
Monday Chicken Noodle casserole (lots of veggies hiding in there)
Tuesday Chili (still ruminating on its depth and tones-TexMex? Curried?) biscuits
Wednesday Cabbage Roll Casserole mmmm cabbage. with meat or without?
Thursday (DD's #4 Bday!!!) Chick Pea Curry. It's her birthday. She gets meat. and kale
Friday Burritos. This is a tradition in our house. crudites
Saturday Baked Chicken and Barley in mushroom soup. a lazy day kind of meal. corn? broccoli?
Sunday Lasagna. eggplant or noodles? cottage cheese or ricotta? meat or veg'?
Let me know if there is a recipe you would like and I'll make sure it gets on here.
step 1) get out the blank recipe cards. I have many of them in many different colours because I am a pack rat.
step 2) write out the names of all mains on the top of the card, not bothering with ingredients. Include two "get out of the kitchen free" cards so dinner out is planned and I have something to look forward to. Maybe use different colour for things like main salads for summer months.
step 3) get DH to go through the cards to see if I've missed any favourites or if there are any doubles.
step 4) shuffle cards and put them away until Sunday when I turn the page in my calendar/planner book
step 5) randomly pull out 7 cards to write them into the book, organize them as they match up with planned events-quick meals on busy days, favourite meals on special days.
step 6) verify that I have the ingredients. These are my favourite, regular meals, so I usually have the things I need at hand. Put the ones I don't have on the grocery list. Move the meals that need something to later in the week so I will have a chance to get to the store.
We'll see how this works. Luckily, I have two other tools to fall back on. One is a calendar from http://nicelynourished.com/ and the other is a cook book with complete recipes for the evening meal (includes desserts!) by Penny E. Stone called 365 Quick, Easy & Inexpensive Dinner Menus.
This week's menu...
Monday Chicken Noodle casserole (lots of veggies hiding in there)
Tuesday Chili (still ruminating on its depth and tones-TexMex? Curried?) biscuits
Wednesday Cabbage Roll Casserole mmmm cabbage. with meat or without?
Thursday (DD's #4 Bday!!!) Chick Pea Curry. It's her birthday. She gets meat. and kale
Friday Burritos. This is a tradition in our house. crudites
Saturday Baked Chicken and Barley in mushroom soup. a lazy day kind of meal. corn? broccoli?
Sunday Lasagna. eggplant or noodles? cottage cheese or ricotta? meat or veg'?
Let me know if there is a recipe you would like and I'll make sure it gets on here.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
lasagna
We had friends over for dinner the other night. I thought I'd make pasta. I like pasta. Almost as much as I like cabbage, but I generally won't sunject friends to that! I had lots of time and it was a nice day, so got a bit creative...
1 eggplant, cubed
2 onions, sliced
6 small beets, diced
5 small carrots, chopped
2 T olive oil
350 g tub of quark
2 t pesto
1/2 c shredded marble cheese
1/4 c romano
2 eggs
tin of sauce (I was feeling lazy)
box of lasagna noodles
1/2 c grated cheese
I combined the first 5 ingredients in my big roasting pan, covered it and put it in the oven at 400*F for 50 minutes.
Boil the water for the pasta. I use the kind that needs to be boiled as I find the ready to use stuff gets pasty if the consistency of your sauce isn't perfect. I get annoyed when that happens. The boil yourself noodles are a lot more forgiving. slightly more work but worth it.
Combine the next group of ingredients. Usually I use cottage cheese, but I made the mistake of looking on the ingredients list and couldn't make myself buy it this time. The quark had ingredients I could pronounce and find in my kitchen.
In my beautiful 9x13 red ceramic casserole dish I layered
sauce
noodles
cheese mixture
noodles
vegetables
noodles
cheese mixture
noodles
sauce
noodles
vegetables
noodles
sauce
grated cheese
I put a few toothpicks through the centre line to hold up the tin foil, put tin foil on to cover it and put it in the oven for 1/5 hours at 350*F. Took the foil off for the last 10 minutes to brown the cheese.
If I make this again, I would probably mix the veg in the sauce and use more cheese as a binding agent.
It was delicious nonetheless!
1 eggplant, cubed
2 onions, sliced
6 small beets, diced
5 small carrots, chopped
2 T olive oil
350 g tub of quark
2 t pesto
1/2 c shredded marble cheese
1/4 c romano
2 eggs
tin of sauce (I was feeling lazy)
box of lasagna noodles
1/2 c grated cheese
I combined the first 5 ingredients in my big roasting pan, covered it and put it in the oven at 400*F for 50 minutes.
Boil the water for the pasta. I use the kind that needs to be boiled as I find the ready to use stuff gets pasty if the consistency of your sauce isn't perfect. I get annoyed when that happens. The boil yourself noodles are a lot more forgiving. slightly more work but worth it.
Combine the next group of ingredients. Usually I use cottage cheese, but I made the mistake of looking on the ingredients list and couldn't make myself buy it this time. The quark had ingredients I could pronounce and find in my kitchen.
In my beautiful 9x13 red ceramic casserole dish I layered
sauce
noodles
cheese mixture
noodles
vegetables
noodles
cheese mixture
noodles
sauce
noodles
vegetables
noodles
sauce
grated cheese
I put a few toothpicks through the centre line to hold up the tin foil, put tin foil on to cover it and put it in the oven for 1/5 hours at 350*F. Took the foil off for the last 10 minutes to brown the cheese.
If I make this again, I would probably mix the veg in the sauce and use more cheese as a binding agent.
It was delicious nonetheless!
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