Meal Plans

Here are some meal plans for Adrianne (or other interested parties.... or interesting parties.... whatever).

We do this breakfast schedule every week:
Monday: hot cereal
Tuesday: Eggs/toast/fruit
Wed.: Pancakes or waffles
Thur.: Cold Cereal
Fri.: Eggs/Toast/Fruit
Sat.: Whatever--the goal is to try and make something I don't have time to make during the weekdays, like baking muffins or German pancakes, but lots of times it's just, well... whatever. Or breakfast leftovers, should there be some.
Sun.: Whatever
(I vary the types of things frequently. For example, cream of wheat, oatmeal w/ raisins, oatmeal with strawberries, etc. Poached eggs, scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs. Sometimes bagels instead of bread; lots of different kinds of pancakes...)
For lunch, we alternate between something simple (burritoes, sandwiches, soup, tostadas) and leftovers.
Dinners (here are 3 weeks worth from a few weeks ago...)
MONDAY: 1)Beans & Rice, cabbage salad, quesadillas; 2) BLT's w/ carrot salad; 3) Salmon (Chipotle Honey from Sam's--splurge for Valentine's Day), strawberry-spinach salad, breadsticks, broccoli
TUESDAY:1) Taco Salad; 2) Shredded Chicken Tacos, salad, cherries; 3) Shepherd's Pie, fruit salad
WEDNESDAY: 1)Honey Dijon Chicken w/ Rice, salad; 2) Lentil soup w/ baked sweet potatoes, salad; 3) Clam chowder, cabbage salad
THURSDAY: 1) Fish (I'm sure I had something else w/ it, but no notes); 2) Navajo tacos at the scout banquet--I never make those...but maybe I should, they were good; 3)Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
FRIDAY: 1) Chili & salad & bread; 2)Lasagne w/ garlic bread & salad; 3) Cookout--Hamburgers/ hot dogs, carrot sticks, grapes
SATURDAY: So my past 3 Saturdays don't look so good... I meant to make posole for 3+ weekends now, and I haven't, but I didn't write down what I did make, so... I'll just fill in some ideas from other weeks. 1) Hoagie sandwiches; 2) Pizza with carrots & grapes & "Dilly Cucumber" salad; 3) Turkey casserole
SUNDAY: As a disclaimer/confession, my Saturdays are usually so busy that I don't get a lot of meal prep done for Sunday. Unless I buy a roast or something, our Sunday meals are nothing special... especially since we've sometimes gone 5 hrs. or so without eating, I don't go for fancy. Maybe I'll get it together and change that someday, but for now, this is what you get... 1) Creamy Vege. soup w/ salad & breadsticks; 2) Mashed potatoes, cooked vegetable, salad; 3) Stew & cabbage salad & "cheesebread"
SO FAR THIS WEEK, we'ved done tomato soup, fish sticks, and chicken gumbo soup. And if I forget to soak the beans one more time, we might end off the week with eating hangnails with toejam. Just kidding. That was disgusting.

Trying New Things

Pauline recently gave me some Taste of Home magazines, and they had tons of very delicious looking recipes in them.  So I thought I would try some this week.  So far, we've had a little luck and one not so good one. 

Bow Ties with Asparagus and Prosciutto

• 1 pkg. bow tie pasta
• 1 1/2 c. whipping cream
• 1 lb. fresh asparagus trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces. 
• 3 Tbs. water
• 1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
• 6 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto or deli ham, cut into strips

1. Cook the pastas according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring cream to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 6-7 min.  or until slightly thickened.  (I added a little cornstarch, some garlic salt, and Italian spices too.)
2. Place asparagus and water in a microwave safe dish.  Cover; microwave on high for  3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain.
3. Drain pasta and place in a large serving bowl. Add the cream, asparagus, Parmesan cheese and prosciutto.  Toss to coat. 

Pork Chops with Pears

• 1 can (15 oz.) pear halves
• 6 pork chops (3/4 inches thick)....it says bone in chops, but ya know.
• 3 Tbs. butter
• 1/3 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. prepared mustard

1. Drain pears, reserving the juice; cut pears into slices ans set aside.  In a large skillet, brown the pork chops in butter.  Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 baking dish.
2. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and reserved pear juice.  Pour over chops; top with pear slices.
3. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 40-45 min or until meat thermometer reads 160.

Included in the picture above, are the maple-orange vegetable ribbons.  They looked really good, but we didn't appreciate them as much after eating them.  :)

Don't Buy!

I wanted egg rolls with dinner last night, and I couldn't find the brand I usually buy, so I bought Tai Pei chicken egg rolls. They tasted like they had been cooked with chicken nuggets and breaded in the same mixture. Unfortunately they only sold them in an 8-pack, so goodbye $6; I'm throwing them in the garbage. Don't make the same mistake I did.

Also, you should avoid buying WalMart brand cheetos.




This week's menu:
Quiche
Turkey soup and bread
Meatballs and fried rice
Chicken alfredo
Black beans and sausage (from Isaac's world adventures recipes)
Stromboli
Sloppy joes and sweet potato fries


I'm attempting to make homemade yogurt today. I'll post the recipe if it turns out.