Meal Plan

It has been a while!

I feel like I have been losing my mojo in the kitchen a bit lately. I just haven't felt motivated or inspired. Two days ago, I came home from work really tired, and my husband said he would make dinner while I snoozed on the couch for a little while. How sweet! I woke up hungry and wandered into the kitchen to see what he had made.

Y'ALL!! HE MADE STIR-FRIED CHICKEN HEARTS!

I am not joking! This is what I get for being lazy with dinner ideas!!

For the record, I ate them. They tasted intensely, deeply meaty. Not bad! But after a while, the texture started to creep me out and then I was like "Uhmm, I am biting into an entire heart right now" and I had to stop. I think I could have hung in there longer if they had been chopped up, not whole.

Today I made a meal plan and shopping list for the next week. I have to get back with the program--no more surprise organ meat nights!! I'm hoping to post all of these as I make them:

Wed: Crunchy garlic chicken breasts with garlic mashed potatoes
Thur: Salmon cakes with stir-fried broccoli
Fri: Steak and bell pepper stir-fry with rice
Sat: Brined pork chops with polenta and sauteed mushrooms
Sun: Chicken curry with rice
Mon: Bacon and eggs with buttermilk biscuits
Tues: Salisbury steak with egg noodles
Wed: Pork Dumplings
Thur: Chicken satay with peanut sauce and roasted carrots

I've blogged a few of these on here before, but I will post pictures of the finished dish anyway. My husband recently got a fancy new camera, and I want to get some practice taking food pictures with it.

Stay tuned!!

Frugal Thoughts

Frugality is on everyone's minds these days. With our crazy economic situation and the government's current band-aid-on-a-gaping-wound response to it, it seems like we'll all be standing in the bread line sooner or later! Am I the only one who is totally ready for the new TV season and end-of-the-year glut of movie releases? I need some good escapism right about now.

I've been re-evaluating my lifestyle quite a bit over the past several months to try to cut corners. The most-repeated frugality tip out there is to cook your own food; eating out tends to be the biggest portion of the average person's discretionary spending. I consider myself pretty lucky that I know how to cook AND I enjoy doing it. Since I already know the basics, I've been thinking of ways to challenge myself to cut the grocery bill even further.

I set a goal for this week: make a Sunday Night Dinner and use up the leftovers in other dinners before next Sunday. I bought a 6 pound chicken to roast, since chickens were on sale, and made it with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. I even made gravy from the pan drippings, which I hardly ever bother to do! After dinner I discarded the chicken skin (it does NOT reheat well) , pulled the uneaten chicken into strips for later use, and boxed up the rest of the stuff in separate containers.

My plan for tonight is to make chicken quesdillas. That will use up the chicken. If there's anything left after tonight, it should be easy enough to throw it into a stir-fry or curry or something later in the week. Tomorrow night I'm going to make salmon fishcakes with the mashed potatoes, using budget-friendly canned salmon. I'll probably serve the leftover broccoli as a side with this. So that just leaves the gravy. I have no clue what to do with it! Any ideas? I could always just freeze it and use it the next time I roast a chicken, but that seems like less fun than coming up with a way to recycle it now!

Since we're on the topic, here are a few of my favorite frugal links:

http://www.home-ec101.com/
http://frugalupstate.blogspot.com/
http://getrichslowly.org/blog/
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

That last one scares me a bit, but it's nice to know that it can be done, right?

Menu Plan for the Week

Monday: Italian Wedding Soup
Tuesday: Pork and Beef Ravioli
Wednesday: Thai Style Pork
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner--Waffles, Bacon, and Eggs
Friday: Chicken Stirfry
Saturday: Pot roast
Sunday: Chicken Marsala

Menu Plan for the Week

Monday: Pork fried rice
Tues: Beef and pepper stirfry
Wed: Almond-encrusted chicken cutlets
Thurs: Dinner out
Fri: Shrimp cakes
Sat: Prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin
Sun: Stuffed chicken breasts with a mushroom cream sauce

Menu Plan for the Week

Wednesday: Shrimp Fra Diavolo
Thursday: Crab Cakes
Friday: Salisbury Steak
Saturday: Lion's Head Stew
Sunday: Chicken and Vegetable Stirfry
Monday: Five-Spice Burgers
Tuesday: Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

This being a holiday weekend, I have a hunch that one of these dinners will get cut in favor of eating out!

Menu Plan for the Week

Tuesday: Thai Chicken with Basil
Wednesday: Avocado Pasta
Thursday: Salmon with Mango-Pineapple Chutney
Friday: Beef Stroganoff
Saturday: Honey-Hoisin Pork Tenderloin
Sunday: Turkey Meatloaf with Mashed Cauliflower

Shopping List

I'm trying something new this time: I'm tagging each item with the day of the week that it will be used. That way you'll know which item goes with which recipe!

Meat
2 pounds beef fillet (Fri)
1 pork tenderloin (Sat)
1 pound ground turkey (Sun)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Tue, Wed)

Seafood
2 salmon fillets, about 6 ounces each (Thu)

Dairy
1 cup creme fraiche (Fri)
2 medium sized boccioni of fresh mozzarella (Wed)

Produce
2 bulbs garlic (All but Thu)
3 yellow onions (Thu, Fri, Sun)
1/2 pound white button mushrooms (Fri)
1 bunch basil (Tue, Sun)
1 bunch cilantro (Thu)
1 bunch flat leaf parsley (Fri, Sun)
1 red bell pepper (Tue)
1 bunch green onions (Thu)
Fresh ginger (Tue, Thu)
3/4 - 1 pound green beans (Thu)
1 jalapeno pepper (Thu)
1 mango (Thu)
1 head broccoli (Sat)
1 head cauliflower (Sun)
1 lime (Thu)
3 avocados (Wed)

Inner Aisles
1 box of medium length tube pasta like ziti or penne, preferably one with ridges on the outside (Wed)
1 8-ounce can of pineapple chunks (Thu)

Staple Items (that you might already have)
Milk (Sun)
Parmesan (Sun)
Eggs (Sun)
Nutmeg (Fri)
Butter (Fri, Sun)
Dijon mustard (Fri)
Paprika (Fri)
Dried red pepper flakes (Tue)
Soy sauce (Tue, Sat)
Hoisin sauce (Sat)
Honey (Tue, Sat)
Olive oil (Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat)
Peanut, Corn, or Vegetable oil (Tue, Sat)
Ground coriander (Thu)
Dry bread crumbs (Sun)
Tomato paste (Sun)
Chicken broth (Sun)
Rice (Tue, Fri, Sat)
Sesame seeds (Sat)

Menu plan for the week

Monday: Italian White Bean, Pancetta, and Tortellini
Tuesday: Grilled Flank Steak and Orzo with the Works
Wednesday: Fiery Singapore
Thursday: Sauteed Breaded Boneless Chicken Breasts and Spaghetti aglio e olio with raw tomato sauce
Friday: Pork Tenderloin and Vegetable Stir fry with Steamed Rice
Saturday: Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed
Sunday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup with Guacamole

Shopping List

Meats
1.5 - 2 pounds piece of flank steak
4 ounces pancetta
1 pound ground turkey (preferably a mix of white and dark meat)
1 pork tenderloin
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Seafood
1 pound shrimp

Dairy
1-15 ounce container of ricotta cheese
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Produce
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley
1 bunch of fresh basil
1 bunch of cilantro
1 fennel bulb
1 garlic bulb
1 piece of fresh ginger
5 yellow onions
1 bunch of tomatoes on the vine (at least 4 tomatoes)
1 bunch of swiss chard
1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms
2 small chiles, whatever variety you like
1 bunch of green onions
3 avocados
1 head of broccoli

Inner Aisles
1-15 ounce can of canellini beans
1-14 ounce can of artichoke hearts
1-14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes and green chiles
1-10.5 ounce can of tomato puree
1 package of jumbo pasta shells
1 package of thin, dried rice noodles
1 package of frozen cheese tortellini
Tortilla chips

Staple Items (that you might already have)
Olive oil
Peanut, corn, or vegetable oil
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Thai fish sauce
Oyster sauce
Rice wine vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Parmesan cheese
8- 2 cup cans of chicken broth
Italian dried bread crumbs
Crushed red pepper flakes
Spaghetti
Orzo
Rice
Eggs
Turmeric