Menu Plan Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

My Favorite Pot Roast

 This week's plan:

Baked Ziti with Mini Meatballs

• Sunday: Marinated Salmon (from the freezer) with Sesame Baby Bok Choy and soba noodles
• Monday: Best Pot Roast with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and fruit
• Tuesday: Bean and Cheese Quesadillas with leftover steamed broccoli and fruit
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs (from Trader Joe) with steamed mixed vegetables
• Friday: Kale White Bean Soup with Grilled Cheese
• Saturday: Maple Balsamic Chicken with Saffron Rice Pilaf, steamed green beans
• Sunday: Baked Ziti with Mini Meatballs (mini meatballs from the freezer), salad, fresh fruit
• Monday: Pizza Night 

Freezer Cooking While Making Dinner:

• Bake a double batch of Whole Wheat Banana Bread while making Salmon dinner on Sunday. Freeze one loaf, eat one loaf.
• Save the pot roast gravy and remaining meat. Freeze; add to Minestrone Soup next time I make it (Delicious!)
• Make Bean and Cheese Quesadillas until I run out of beans and cheese. Freeze extras not used for dinner on Tuesday.
• Freeze single and double portions of Kale White Bean Soup after serving it for dinner.
• Double sauce recipe from Baked Ziti with Mini Meatballs. Use half of sauce, freeze remaining half to go with 2nd batch of mini meatballs already frozen for the next ziti.

 I may also do some chicken processing for the freezer if I get the chance.

Find more meal planning inspiration at orgjunkie.com!

Menu Plan Monday: December 5th, 2011

Salt and Pepper Chicken: As Easy as it Gets!

The plan this week is to keep things as easy as possible. I'll also be holding a freezer cooking session on Tuesday to start re-loading my nearly empty freezer with holiday goodies.

• Monday: Marinated Flank Steak (broiled unless the weather is nice enough to operate the grill in the dark), brown rice pilaf, steamed asparagus
• Tuesday: Pizza night (sliced apples, steamed vegetables)
• Wednesday: Salt and Pepper Chicken, Spinach Rice Stuffing (using rice from Monday night), steamed green beans
• Thursday: Creamy Enchilada Casserole, steamed broccoli
• Friday: Dinner Out
• Saturday: Leftovers (Parents out)
• Sunday: Pot Roast over mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables
• Monday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, steamed vegetables

Find more meal planning inspiration at orgjunkie.com!

Menu Plan Tuesday: November 29th

It's taken over a month, but my freezer is almost cleared out. This is good news, because I have already scheduled 4 freezer cooking sessions for December to prepare a bunch of holiday treats!

 

This week's plan:

 

• Monday: Lasagna (using Lasagna sauce that I quickly made last week before leaving town to use up my fresh produce. Find more ideas for using up perishables before leaving town here!)
• Tuesday: Soy Glazed Salmon (salmon from the freezer), Sesame Baby Bok Choy, steamed broccoli, and soba noodles
• Wednesday: Sauerbraten over Mashed Potatoes (I'll admit it--I use a Knorr package seasoning for this recipe. I add onions, peas, and sour cream for my own version, the stew meat is from the freezer.)
• Thursday: Black-Eyed Pea Hambone Soup (from the freezer) with cornbread and steamed green beans
• Friday: Leftovers
• Saturday: Marinated Flank Steak (from the freezer), Brown Rice Pilaf, Steamed Vegetables
• Sunday: Baked Chicken Tenders (coating from the freezer), Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Steamed Vegetables
• Monday: Leftovers... or Spaghetti and Meatballs (from Trader Joe)

Even thought I'm not trying to, I will add to the freezer this week even while I am clearing it out;

I should have a few pieces of Lasagna left over to freeze for quick lunches--if I manage to freeze it before someone eats it, that is. I'll also freeze some leftover mashed sweet potatoes so that I can make Sweet Potato Biscuits.

Note that none of this menu includes turkey! We were out of town for Thanksgiving, and I wasn't able to bring any leftover turkey home. My relatives did feed some to this 6-foot alligator in the back yard, though. (From a distance!)

I haven't decided whether to make a turkey this holiday season or not. Is it worth it or not?

Find more meal planning inspiration at Orgjunkie.com!

Holiday Prep: Freezer Cooking

I have made a lot of progress clearing out my freezer in the past few weeks--I even found some scones that I froze back in April--still delicious!

Now that I have all of this free space, I am ready for some freezer cooking sessions to help prepare for the holiday season. My friends and I have picked some kid-free mornings throughout the month to focus on bulk food prep:

• Dec 1: Cheese Bites (80 or so; easy to mix up, tedious to roll, so we do it together while talking!) I'll try to post this recipe, very easy and good.
• Dec 6: Lasagna Sauce, and Sauce/mini meatballs for Baked Ziti. The recipes call for similar ingredients, and we'll freeze the sauce/meatballs, then defrost when it's time to assemble the dish. I'll probably serve my Baked Ziti for a family get together during the holidays.
• Dec 13th: Marinated Meats and Fish. Probably some Marinated Flank Steak and Marinated Salmon, possibly some Baked Chicken Tenders coating or other chicken marinades. Anything that will be simple to defrost and/or cook up during the busy season!

• Dec 16th: Cookie Baking Day, as well as Sweet and Spicy Pecans
• Dec 20th: Cutout Cookies! I'm thinking of baking in advance, and devoting this morning to decorating all of them. This is a huge Christmas Tradition for me, and yes, it's a lot of work! It will go faster with company.

Menu Plan Monday: November 7th, 2011

Sunday Dinner: Roasted Chicken with Spinach Rice Stuffing

I fell off the meal planning wagon last week, but fotunately I had a semblance of a plan in my head!

Here's the plan for this week:

• Monday: Creamy Enchilada Casserole, steamed green beans, fresh fruit
• Tuesday: Turkey Chili topped with shredded cheddar and sour cream, homemeade Skillet Cornbread, steamed broccoli
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Dinner Out
• Friday: Dinner out (kids to grandparents')
• Saturday: Cashew Chicken Curry Stir Fry (from the freezer) with vegetables over steamed brown rice
• Sunday: Apple Sausage Risotto with steamed asparagus and baked sweet potatoes
• Monday: Leftovers (or something very simple, such as Bean and Cheese Quesadillas from the freezer)

I also need to get back on track with my Freezer Cooking While Making Dinner plans. I need to make some fresh Bean and Cheese Quesadillas for the freezer, and I'm also hoping to bake an Apple Cake this week (recipe to come). I haven't decided yet how else to use my newly available freezer space, but I will definitely be restocking as the holidays approach!

Find more meal planning inspiration at orgjunkie.com!

Menu Plan Monday: October 24th, 2011

It took a lot of preseverance, including willingness to grill the Sweet Asian Chicken (pictured above) in the rain, but I stuck to my plans and fed my family nearly every night last week. (They got takeout one night.)

Here's the plan for this week:

• Monday: Leftovers--we have lots of Baked Ziti with Mini Meatballs to still enjoy! With leftover steamed broccoli
• Tuesday: Molasses Glazed Chicken Thighs with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans--and it better not start raining while I'm cooking the chicken on the grill!
• Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner sliding from last week: Eggs, sausage, bacon, mini whole wheat bagels, fresh cut fruit, steamed asparagus
• Thursday: Leftovers
• Friday: (Parents out) Hotdogs on whole wheat buns with steamed vegetables and fresh cut fruit
• Saturday: Soup (Minestrone from the freezer) with Grilled Cheese, fresh cut fruit
• Sunday: Beef Stew with peas served over egg noodles, salad
• Monday: Halloween! Bean and Cheese Quesadillas (from the freezer) with steamed vegetables, fresh cut fruit

Find more meal planning inspiration at orgjunkie.com!

Sweet Asian Chicken Marinade

From the Cookbook Fix, Freeze, Feast: The Delicious, Money-Saving Way to Feed Your Family.

This is our favorite chicken marinade from this cookbook so far. Prepare it in bulk so that with this recipe you will have 3 meals of chicken prepared--one for dinner tonight, and two for your freezer! To test the recipe, or to just make a single meal, divide the ingredient measures by 3.

Ingredients:

• 6 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup tamari/soy sauce
• 1/4 lime juice or juice of 1 fresh lime (I recommend fresh lime if possible)
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 3 Tablespoons minced garlic--about 25 cloves (I recommend fresh--process in a food processor to reduce prep time)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste, more if you prefer spicy)
• 3 freezer containers or freezer bags--I find if I use smaller chicken breasts I can fit this meal in a quart-size bag.

1. Divide chicken between 3 freezer containers.
2. Combine sugar, tamari, lime juice, and curry powder in a pourable mixing bowl, whisk to combine. 3. Divide and pour marinade evenly into 3 freezer containers.
4. Add 1 Tablespoon of minced garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to each container. Mix chicken, marinade, garlic, and flakes, then freeze until needed or marinate for a minimum of 6-8 hours.

To cook: First defrost chicken fully in refrigerator.

To grill (recommended): cook chicken over medium low heat, turning every 5 minutes and basting with extra marinade. Stop basting at least 5 minutes before removing from grill. Cook until center temp of chicken reaches 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. Cover cooked chicken with foil, let stand for 5 minutes. Slice chicken into 1/2 inch strips against the grain.

On the Stove: Slice into 1/2 strips against the grain, then stir fry in a wok or large pan over med-high heat with oil such as peanut oil, until pieces are no longer pink in the center.