I guess I’ve been busy this week.  However, I did manage to make a meal plan, I just never got around to posting it! Shame on me!

Monday: Spaghetti, Texas Toast, Carrots/Beets

Tuesday: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Dried Cherries, Chard, and Walnuts; Grilled Tofu; Chicken Strips for kids

Wednesday: Hamburgers, Watermelon

Thursday: Taco/Mexican Night, Black Beans and Rice, Fruit

Friday: Grilled Salmon, Cauliflower-Potato Mash, Lettuce, Blueberry Pie

Saturday: Smoked Pork Chops, Navy Beans and Wilted Greens, Salad

Sunday: Mixed Grill, Lettuce Salad, Dessert of some kind

Oh, I’m a terrible blogger!  For the past several weeks I’ve been thinking to myself that I should really sit down and do some menu planning, because I could really stand to do it.  My grocery shopping as of late has been more of a “oh, that looks good, let’s plunk it in the basket” type of shopping.  The problem though with summer menu planning is all the variables that take place.  First of all, the weather is never the same.  Out of nowhere we’ll end up with that hot, sticky, muggy stuff that makes cooking anything, let alone eating, a near impossibility.  Secondly, my garden is producing, so as often as I can, I’m trying to come up with meals on the fly that utilize that precious produce.  Nevertheless, yesterday I came up with a menu plan for most of this week, so I’m very proud of myself for that.  It doesn’t take into account the greens and things that are flush in the garden right now, as well as warm sticky weather.  Lots of new recipes this week too, so as they turn out, I’ll be adding them to The Recipe Trove.

Monday: Chard Burritos, Beets with chive butter, fresh garden peas

Tuesday: Clean out the fridge pasta night

Wednesday: Hot dogs, baked beans, chips, watermelon

Thursday: Chinese noodles with golden tofu and greens.

Friday: Coconut rice with edamame and leeks, grilled trout, lettuce salad

Saturday: Smoked Lemon-Garlic Leg of Lamb, salad, new red potatoes

Sunday: Rotisserie Chicken, Salad

You see a lot of salads on the menu.  Those are all lettuce salads, as it’s the time of year for them.  We grow plenty of lettuces and greens in the garden for salad, and it’s such a treat going out to the garden and simply plucking whatever I need for dinner.  And yes, you did read that Thursday menu right- tofu.  I’ve tried it a few times in the past, but so far, I haven’t been a fan.  Well, my newest cookbook has several recipes for tofu where the rest of the recipe sounds fantastic- except for the tofu.  I decided it’s time to give it another shot, so I’ll roll with it this week, and see if this preparation is better than the others I’ve tried.

I’m getting back in the saddle here this week.  Andy continues to work out of town and I’ve decided that I’m back in the mood to cook.  For a while there it was a lot of kid food, pizza, mac-n-cheese, things like that.  But now, while I still am cooking for the kids during the week, I’ll also be throwing in a few things just for me.

Wednesday: Taco Salads, Cantaloupe

Thursday: Tortellini, Marinara, Spinach Salad

Friday: Fall off the Bone Baby Back Ribs, Grilled Vegetable Salad

Saturday: Grilled Chicken, Vegetable Lo Mein, Pot Stickers (maybe)

Sunday: Fajitas

Monday: Homemade Pizza Night

Tuesday: Falafel, Salad, Chicken Tenders (for the kids)

I’ll be back posting great menu planning ideas and tips very soon.  We have a mini vacation up ahead, and after that I expect to feel refreshed and rejuvinated and ready to go. I’m planning a series of planning posts that deal with figuring out how to use the bounty of produce that is just now becoming available.  If there is something specific that you’d like to see hear in the next few weeks or so, please leave a comment. I’d love to know.

I’m having a hard time keeping the menu planning going these days.  With Andy not home for dinner many nights of the week, it would be so easy to get into a mac-n-cheese and pizza rut.  I’m determined not to though, and while the occasional quick dinner will make an appearance, it won’t be the standard.

Thursday: Soft shell tacos, corn, fresh strawberries

Friday: Oven-Fried Pork Chops, sweet potatoes, garlicky broccoli

Saturday: Fall-Off-The-Bone Baby Back Ribs, Salad

Sunday: Chiavetta’s marinated chicken wings, fruit salad

Monday: Easy baked penne, mixed vegetables, fresh fruit

Tuesday: Baked chicken legs, lettuce salad, cheesy rice

Wednesday: Cheeseburger soup, homemade bread

I felt ambitious this week and put together another dinner meal plan for a week.  Again, this week uses the concept of “planned overs” to make weeknight meals more effortless than the weekends.  I’m afraid though that I don’t have recipes for most of this- they’re really just ideas floating around in my head.  I’ll explain my thoughts as I go.

Monday: Parmigiana Burgers, Pasta Salad, Fresh Fruit *Note: The parmigiana burgers are a play on something Andy orders out.  It’s a basic cooked hamburger that’s been smothered in marinara sauce, topped with peppers and onions, and finally, a layer of provolone cheese. The pasta salad is whatever pasta is on hand, with whatever chopped veggies you have on hand, and whatever bottled salad dressing you have on hand.

Tuesday: Crock Pot Pork Roast, Sauerkraut, Applesauce *Note: Use your favorite crock-pot pork roast recipe, but make sure you make plenty. You’ll be shredding the leftover pork and mixing it with BBQ sauce for Thursday’s dinner.

Wednesday: Greek Marinated Chicken Breasts, Salad, Pita Bread *Note: You can buy pre-made Greek marinades, or make your own.  For a family of four, we’d eat four smaller chicken breasts, so make six, as you’ll be using the leftovers in Friday’s Pasta.

Thursday: BBQ Pork Sandwiches, Cole Slaw, Fresh Fruit, Pickles *Note: Use your favorite bottled sauce on the leftover pork from the other night.  Coleslaw comes together quickly using pre-shredded slaw mix and your favorite dressing.

Friday: Greek Chicken Pasta, Breadsticks, Salad *Note: Use penne pasta, cooked al dente, and toss with tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, spinach, the leftover chicken, and your favorite alfredo sauce.  Top with feta cheese for an awesome quick pasta dish.

Saturday: Maple Glazed Salmon, Orange Scented Couscous Salad, Spinach Salad *Note: If you make extra salmon, it will keep for up to two days in the fridge to be used in sandwiches or tossed in salads or pastas.  It also freezes very well for future use as well.  Use within a few weeks though.

Sunday: Meatloaf, Baked Potatoes, Garlicky Green Beans *Note: Sunday dinner is always an opportunity to make leftovers for lunches the following week.  I’ve been known to make a whole extra meatloaf, simply so that we can have sandwiches for lunches.

The perfect meal plan, in my mind, is one that re-uses ingredients that get used throughout the week. In ideal week also has a great variety of flavors throughout. This weekly meal plan that I have here is a Monday thru Sunday plan, and it’s a new thought I had. It’s not what I’m following this week myself, but it is a meal plan with a focus. The best part? During the busy week, the meals are hearty and delicious, but more low-effort than the weekend meals, which are more intensive. This also utilizes the concept of “planned-overs” to make another dinner later in the week even easier. I hope you like this meal plan.

Monday: Ground Beef (or turkey) Tacos, Black Beans & Corn, Fresh Fruit *Note: for a family of four, 1 pound of meat plus plenty of taco fixings is plenty. In this case though, make two pounds of meat and refrigerate half of it for Wednesday night’s dinner.

Tuesday: Sausage and Peppers on Hoagie Rolls, Potato Wedges *Note: This is a classic, Italian sausages grilled or fried and served on a hoagie roll with plenty of flavorful onions and peppers. Make twice as much of the onion and pepper mixture than you normally do, we’re going to use these again on Friday.

Wednesday: Taco Salads, Fresh Fruit, Tortilla Chips and Salsa *Note: Here is where you are going to use your leftover taco meat. Assemble your green salad using lettuce, tomato, onions, black olives, shredded cheddar cheese and then top generously with taco meat and sour cream. You can eat the chips and salsa on the side, or crush them into the salad. Either way, this is a great way to re-purpose your taco meat.

Thursday: Herb-Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Cheesy Rice, Green Salad *Note: Whisk your marinade together and drop your pork in first thing in the morning, and let it marinate all day long while you are busy. Pork tenderloin cooks up quickly- it’s great grilled or roasted in the oven if you have a little more time. You’ll want to cook up two tenderloins for a family of four, and then save the remaining pork for tomorrow’s dinner. Use your favorite packaged rice blend if you don’t care to make your own rice dish.

Friday: Fajita Pizzas, Fresh Fruit *Note: Here is where we re-purpose those leftover peppers and onions from Tuesday, as well as last night’s leftover pork. Top your favorite pizza crust with sauce, cheese, peppers and onions, and sliced pork and you have an amazing new favorite pizza.

Saturday: Marinated Flank Steak, Emeril’s Potato Salad, Garlicky Green Beans, Sauteed Mushrooms *Note: This one’s a little more time intensive since it’s the weekend. Enjoy! I like to make extra flank steak, slice any leftover and store it in the fridge for about 5 days to use for amazing steak sandwiches or wraps.

Sunday: Michael’s Roasted Chicken & Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli and Tomatoes *Note: Another one with potential for leftovers. Cold sliced chicken makes great sandwiches throughout the week, or make chicken salad for sandwiches. Depending on your week ahead though, you may want the leftover chicken for another dinner during the week.

I’m very sorry, I have been a slacker here at Menu Planning 101.  I’ve been working on a few things about menu planning, and every time I draft it out, something isn’t right.  So be assured, I’m working on a few things, and I haven’t forgotten about Menu Planning 101.

I also had to wait a little while before doing a menu plan for this week because I didn’t know if Andy was going to be around. As much as I may not like to admit it, dinners without Andy do tend to be a little bit different than when he is here.  Sometimes I do bring out the kid food, because to be honest, the kids simply aren’t going to appreciate a curry or something slowly cooked on the grill.  They’ll eat it okay, but when Andy is not around much, I would rather spend my time playing with the kids or going to the park with them than slaving away in the kitchen.  So this weeks menu is geared more towards the kids this week.  Much of what you see may look alarming, but be assured, they are mostly homemade versions of thes perennial kid favorites.

Sunday: Grilled Pork Chops, Cowboy Beans, Fruit Salad

Monday: Macaroni and Cheese, Salad, Strawberries

Tuesday: French Toast Sticks, Bacon, Applesauce

Wednesday: Spaghetti, Salad, Bread

Thursday: Chicken Sandwiches, Chips, Veggies and Dip

Friday: Pot Roast, Homemade Bread, Roasted Vegetables, Salad

Saturday: Fall-Off-The-Bone Baby Back Ribs, Potato Salad

I know I have said this before many, many times, but we are not leftover people.  We simply don’t like sitting down to the same meal two nights in a row, or even every other night.  I seldom cook a meal to have again in it’s entirety another night.  But with grocery prices on the rise and my budget in constant check, I have learned how to re-purpose a dish to make it something completely different.

Take for example, the other night’s Wisconsin Goulash.  We all enjoyed it for dinner, and there was quite a bit leftover.  The idea of eating it again for dinner just wasn’t appealing.  I didn’t think it would freeze well, but I didn’t want to be wasteful.  So it went in the fridge, and then I saw the green bell peppers, and I knew that goulash would make fantastic stuffed peppers.

Leftover taco meat can be used in one of two ways here.  Sometimes it’s frozen for future use, but it also makes a fantastic Taco Pizza or Taco Salads.  To make taco pizza, start with your pizza dough ready for toppings.  Instead of pizza sauce, you spread the taco meat on the dough first. Top that with onions, pepper, olives, and a blend of cheddar and mozzarella cheese.  Bake until the crust is set and the cheese starts to brown.  Sprinkle on some shredded lettuce and chopped tomato, and then drizzle with sour cream and taco sauce.  Heaven.

Leftover meatloaf, while great for sandwiches, is fantastic crumbled up into bits and used in place of ground beef in a Cheeseburger Soup.

Leftover roasted vegetables are one of my favorites.  I love to use them to top pizza or throw into a frittata or omelet for a breakfast-for-dinner night.

You would think that leftover salmon would be a tricky one.  Leftover fish here used to just get tossed.  But then I discovered Salmon Pasta.  If this isn’t on the menu, and we have leftover salmon, I’ll freeze the salmon to specifically be used in this dish.

Most any meat can be chopped up and added to soup or used as a base for a taco or enchilada.  The same could be said for beans too. Virtually any vegetable can be added to a stew, soup or even a stir-fry.

Leftover bread that’s past it’s prime is like gold in our house.  I can toast it up into homemade croutons, or leave it in slightly large chunks for a panzanella.  Larger portions of bread can become French Toast for dinner or can be folded into some eggs for a strata.  If I’m feeling particularly decadent, Bread Pudding always puts a smile on my face.

What started out as a desperate way to make the grocery dollar stretch has almost turned into a game of sorts.  I really enjoy seeing one dinner turn into another.  There’s something really exciting about rummaging through the fridge or pantry and cobbling together a great meal made strictly with leftovers, and I’m always looking for new ideas.  Do you have any you’d like to share? I’d love to see them!