There are quite a bit of thoughts that go through my head when it comes to meal planning every week. The very first thing I need to do is look at the calendar for the week and see what activities we have. The dance schedule really never changes, but other things come and go, and I need to plan my meals accordingly. For the most part, my most intensive meals come on Wednesdays and Fridays, because that’s when I have the time to really cook. After that I always have a starter meal that comes to mind, and I choose which night to place that. In this week’s case, my starter meal was Clam Chowder, and I decided to place that on Thursday night because I can cook it earlier in the day, and then hold it in the crockpot while we are gone to dance.
Next, I look at either side of that planned meal. I don’t like to have similar flavors or similar meats two nights in a row. It does happen, but I try to keep it from doing so too often. In this week’s case, there was no danger of accidentally having seafood/fish two nights in a row. Those are rare in occurrence in the first place, but I did look at the fact that I was making a soup, so I wanted the surrounding meals to be a little more solid in nature. Friday night I invited a friend to join me for dinner, as Andy will not be home, so curry went on the menu. What curry, I’m not sure, but I have everything on hand for a good curry anyway, so we’ll see what comes of it. Wednesday night I thought I should make something with beef in it, and when I saw a recipe online for Beef Stroganoff, I was reminded that it’s been a very long time since I’ve made that, so on the menu it went.
For Monday night I finally got to the Linguini Alfredo with Broccoli and Bacon that had been planned for Saturday. It was a great choice, because the kids take dinner with them, and it reheated very nicely. Adding the illicit chicken sausages was absolutely fabulous- I’m going to be watching those sausages for when they go on sale and stock up. I really enjoyed them. That brought me to Tuesday this week. Tuesday is my tricky night. We leave early afternoon for an hour of dance, and then Zander and I come home while Abigail dances on. Zander has two hours to eat and relax before he and Andy go to our studio’s other location for a hip-hop class, and I go back to spend the last hour at Abigail’s workout. So dinner has to be something that I can make components of before we go for the first hour, and then I can re-heat or finish something quickly upon our arrival back home. I immediately thought of tacos this week, but we had a basic taco meal last week, and I thought I wasn’t in the mood for the same two weeks in a row. But were I to make some Pork Carnitas from some inexpensive country style ribs, that would make a completely different and delicious taco experience.
Saturday and Sunday I’m still thinking on. I expect we’ll have quite a bit of chowder left over, so I’m currently planning on serving that up for a second meal on Sunday with some freshly baked biscuits. Saturday I think I’ll just go with baking up a lasagna in the freezer and making some homemade focaccia to go with, since I didn’t make that to go with the alfredo after all. I think that’s a good plan, that will keep me out of the grocery store a second time this week, and then I can focus on making next week’s meal plan before I need it.
Monday: Linguini Alfredo with Broccoli, Bacon and Chicken Sausage, Garlic Bread
Tuesday: Pork Carnitas Tacos, home canned peaches
Wednesday: Beef Stroganoff, Egg Noodles, Peas & Carrots
Thursday: Simple Clam Chowder, Bread Bowls
Friday: Curry, Naan, Jasmine Rice, Raita
Saturday: Lasagna from freezer, Focaccia, frozen veg on side
Sunday: Leftover chowder, biscuits
Breakfasts this week: Mostly cereal this week. Maybe eggs and toast.
Lunches: Corn dogs, Salami & Cheese sandwiches, Egg salad sandwiches, with yogurts, carrots and dip, and fresh fruit
I’m surprised to discover that I don’t have a recipe for plain old Beef Stroganoff in my Recipe Trove! I’ll have to remedy that this week when I make it for dinner. So easy and delicious. Well, unless you ask my kids who think they really don’t like to eat mushrooms. Maybe some day we’ll get them cured of that.
I go through a very similar process when planning menus. I’m keeping an eye on your challenge — it’s a great project. One can be quite ingenious about it when the need is there, and I should remind myself more often that I don’t need to spend a fortune to put decent food on the table.
That’s very true Rebecca! Good food does not have to be as expensive as we make it sometimes. Sometimes a splurge is worth it, but when the splurges become everyday… It’s definitely been a bit of an eye-opening process this month.