What is that they say about the best laid plans?

So three nights into the week we've followed the menu 1/3 days, and that's the day that had already happened when I posted.

Ha!

Hahaha!

Yesterday Brian came home and saw the ribeyes I bought for the Easy Asian Beef and Noodles, and wanted to grill steaks, so instead we had steaks, Mexican twice baked potatoes, and green beans. Tuesday nights I teach, and so they ordered pizza. Maybe we'll get back on schedule tomorrow.

Weekly Menu: September 16-22

Sunday:
cheeseburgers
french fries
salad

Monday:
Easy Asian Beef and Noodles

Tuesday:
lite kielbasa
black beans and rice
corn

Wednesday:
cheesy-spinach pasta bake
salad

Thursday:
grilled pork tenderloin
rice
green beans

Friday:
chicken tacos w/black beans and corn
Mexican rice

Weekly Menu Aug 20-26

Monday:
grilled chicken
rice
tortillas
cucumbers and tomatoes

Tuesday:
leftover Mexican

Wednesday:
Eric and Ashley here
ribeyes
potatoes on grill
fresh cucumbers

Thursday:
chicken cordon bleu
rice w/broccoli

Friday:
TBD

Saturday:
hamburgers
french fries

Sunday:
party for Grandma's 75th birthday

Weekly Menu - 8/5-8/12

Sunday:
broiled teriyaki shrimp
rice
cucumbers

Monday:
tri-tip roast
roasted potatoes
corn on the cob

Tuesday:
pasta w/meat sauce
cucumbers
italian herb bread

Wednesday:
grilled chicken
rice
beet salad with goat cheese

Thursday:
chicken enchiladas
mexican rice w/corn

Friday:
pizza night!

Fresh from the garden

Can you tell from our weekly menus that our cucumber plants have been very prolific lately? It seems that we have at least two new ones each day, and the tomatoes are just coming into season. Sunday night's sauce was made with 5 tomatoes from our garden. . This was the first time I've made sauce out of fresh tomatoes, and it was easier than I expected. Plus it made two containers for the freezer to pull out some other time.

Last night's chicken marinade contained some cayenne peppers from the garden, also.

The corn is starting to grow ears, and the onions look like they'll start to be ready to harvest soon. The pepper plants seem slower on the uptake this year, but I am anxious for them to come into their prime as Ree over at The Pioneer Woman Cooks! has posted a fabulous recipe that I am eager to try.

It gives such a sense of satisfaction to be able to prepare and eat food that we grew ourselves. Somehow I never really understood that growing up when we were sent out to weed every Saturday morning.

Weekly menus - July 22-28

Sunday -

pasta w/homemade meat sauce, garlic naan, cucumbers and dressing

Monday -

some kind of hari-kari chicken (Brian's recipe), macaroni and cheese, cucumbers and dressing

Tuesday -

lite kielbasa, chimichurri rice

Wednesday -

pork chops w/red wine sauce, rice, cucumbers and dressing

Thursday -

quesadillas, mexican rice w/black beans and corn

Friday -

TBD

Saturday -

Dinner with friends?

Weekly Menus - July 8-14

Sunday:
who knows? we wound up ordering pizza

Monday:
hamburgers, french fries, cucumber from the garden

Tuesday:
chicken tacos w/black beans and corn in whole wheat tortillas

Wednesday:
pasta w/meat sauce, bread, salad

Thursday:
mandarin orange chicken, stir fried veggies in orange sauce, brown rice

Friday:
filets, roasted potatoes, green beans

Saturday:
I have no idea

Weekly Menus 6/17-6/23

Sunday: Father's Day
out for dinner and ice cream

Monday:
baked buffalo chicken tenders
green salad

Tuesday:
out with friends

Wednesday:
grilled pork tenderloin
grilled sliced potatoes w/cheese

Thursday:
Thai Style Ground Beef
jasmine rice
Thai Style gingered carrots

Friday:
kielbasa
black beans and rice

Saturday:
neighborhood BBQ

Green Beans and Bacon

Step 1: Send husband and daughter to garden to pick fresh green beans. Or, if you must, buy them at the grocery store.

Step 2: Clean and trim the green beans.

Step 3: Chop several slices of bacon (we used four because Brian and Claire LOVE bacon) into pieces approximately 1-inch in length.

Step 4: Cook bacon in frying pan until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain. Reserve bacon grease.

Step 5: Steam green beans (I did it in the microwave, quick and easy.) until they are a nice bright green, and still a little crisp.

Step 6: Dump all but 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings. Toss steamed green beans in the drippings until coated evenly. Add bacon pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The verdict? Brian, Claire, and I thought they were great. Claire even ate all of the ones Ben left on his try. Ben was upset that we tried to trick him into eating a vegetable by coating it in meat flavor, but we couldn't get one by him. He ate the bacon pieces, and only allowed one green bean to come in contact with his lips for approximately 3 seconds.

Weekly Menu - June 10-June 16

Obviously we didn't eat at all in the month of May. We were far too busy. Doing stuff.

Sunday -
BBQ chicken sandwiches
cole slaw
green beans w/bacon

Monday -
grilled salmon steaks
rice
sugar snap peas

Tuesday -
Mexican (details TBD)

Wednesday -
grilled chicken
green salad

Thursday -
pasta w/chicken and veggies

Friday -
TBD

Saturday - (Claire's birthday party)
smoked brisket sandwiches
hot dogs
cole slaw
baked beans
chips
watermelon and canteloupe salad with basil vinaigrette
Dora the Explorer ice cream cake

Weekly Menus - 4/29-5/5

Sunday-
grilled tuna steaks
rice
broccoli

Monday-
marinated pork chops
rosemary roasted potatoes
salad

Tuesday-
chicken burritos
mexican rice w/corn

Wednesday-
meatloaf
mashed potatoes
green beans

Thursday-
pasta
garlic toast
salad

Friday-
TBD

Saturday-
your guess is as good as mine

Pantry Organization

My pantry is completely unorganized, leading to a variety of issues. One is that I have a hard time knowing what I have on hand, so I sometimes wind up with duplicate (or even triplicate) items accidentally. Or I know that I have something, I've seen it a million times. Except for the time that I need it for a recipe or a meal, and I can't find it anywhere. So I make a substitution only to find it as soon as I don't need it anymore.

I need to find a better way to organize. It doesn't help that my two mischievous helpful children frequently rearrange whatever they can get their little hands on. But still. There has to be a more efficient, more orderly way, to keep track of what I have on hand, and to know where to find it. Right? Perhaps it would be helpful if I didn't have three different pantry spaces. (The teeny-tiny built in pantry, the shelves we put up in the laundry room, and additional shelves in the garage that I use for non-perishables.) Maybe one of these days...

Weekly Menu

So last week didn't turn out too badly. We did a whiskey-peppercorn cream sauce, rather than truffle butter for the filets, but other than that the edits were correct. Saturday we ended up taking the kids out for Mexican, and Friday we did the pork chops with Ginger-Cherry sauce that I had hoped to do a few weeks ago. It was quite yummy. That recipe is a keeper (it's from Cooking Light, so I can't reprint it here). So here goes for this week.

Sunday: homemade lasagna, gnudi, salad, bread, and store-bought cannolis (Sopranos night) - Note: we'd seen the episode of Everyday Italian where she makes the gnudi, and it looked tasty and easy. Despite following the directions as precisely as possible, they completely fell apart in the water, so they didn't actually make it to the table, instead it all went in the disposal. Boo.
Monday: Trader Joe's mandarin orange chicken, with stir fried vegetables in orange sauce and brown rice
Tuesday: Taco salad
Wednesday: leftover lasagna, focaccia, salad
Thursday: grilled chicken
Friday: hopefully some kind of seafood - we'll see what's on sale later in the week

Ha! Our menu lasted less than 24 hours.

As happens far too often, Brian came home and said something that caused dinner plans to change. Tuesday it was because he'd had a late lunch, so I had a Southwest turkey burger and sweet potato fries. The kids had chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries, and Brian didn't eat. Tuesday's dinner got pushed to Wednesday.

Thursday we're having Brian's cousin and his fiancee over for dinner, so the menu has changed to salad, filets with truffle butter, and roasted rosemary potatoes. And maybe something for dessert if I can think of something creative.

Saturday's plans with friends have been cancelled. Since we're having brunch with other friends, and people over Sunday night we'll probably just stay in.

See how good we are at planning?

Weekly Menus

Didn't really stick to the plan much two weeks ago. It was a tad ambitious. Last week due to being gone for a day and a half I didn't plan ahead, so let's see if things go better this time around.

Monday:
grilled teriyaki pork loin
rice
asparagus

Tuesday:
broccoli-chicken fettucine alfredo
salad

Wednesday:
taco salads

Thursday:
orange chicken w/broccoli, snowpeas, & carrots
rice

Friday:
undecided

Saturday:
out with friends if we can find a babysitter

Black Beans and Rice

I did a few online searches, but didn't find any recipes that looked good and matched the ingredients that we had in the pantry, so I cobbled a recipe together, and it turned out quite well. A little too much cayenne for Claire (so she had sour cream on hers), but Ben gobbled it up. Both Brian and I liked it. (Brian was not as impressed by the Trader Joe's marinade for the chicken - oh well, Claire ate that, too which is a big deal for her.)

Here is the recipe I came up with:

Black Beans and Rice

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 ¼ cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin, divided
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• dash of cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan combine rice, 2 ¼ cups broth, ½ teaspoon of cumin and garlic powder. Bring to a boil, stir once. Cover tightly, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes.
2. In a large saucepan, cook and stir onion and garlic in oil until tender and translucent, but not brown. Add tomatoes, beans, oregano, cayenne and remaining cumin. Bring to boil.
3. Stir in rice and let mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

This week's menus

I find that I make many fewer trips to the grocery store, and dinner time is less harried if I plan this in advance.

Sunday - (I sent Brian to the store to get milk, bananas, and something to grill for dinner, this is what he came home with) grilled jumbo teriyaki shrimp, grilled tenderloin tip, grilled asparagus, salad
Monday - grilled chicken thighs (in Mojito marinade) with black beans and rice and salad
Tuesday - Thai Beef Tacos with Lime Cilantro Slaw (Cooking Light recipe)
Wednesday - homemade calzones
Thursday - Pork Chops with Ginger-Cherry Sauce (Cooking Light recipe) with roasted fingerling potatoes and green beans

Let's see if we stick to it. Now it's time to make my grocery list.