When it came to the menu plan last week, I adhered to it STRICTLY because I knew everything I had planned I had materials to make. Other than my husband going in for a dental cleaning appointment and me not having to do dinner (the daughter had a cheese quesadilla and the son and I had simple pasta for dinner) last night, everything was made on schedule even!
So opinions on what we had? The Chicken Devan was bland, but I didn't think it was bad. My husband didn't like it as well as a chicken casserole I normally make, and my daughter didn't like it because my daughter doesn't like about 90% of food items that don't revolve around hot dogs, pizza and chicken nuggets *sigh*. The ravioli lasagna was good and I'll definitely be adding that to my "yes" pile to make again some other time as it was easy and yummy. The beef Stroganoff was a hit, but I knew it would be (well the husband and I liked it...the daughter...well see above comment about food dislikes). And the leftovers and beef roast...well it's left overs and beef roast what can you say about that *laugh*.
Now, the most addicting thing I made this week was BY FAR the lemon mardi gras squares. The bars the first night were so light and fluffy they were actually hard to get out of the pan (it made a 9x13 pan full, so I figured eating some ahead of tonight wasn't going to hurt anything at all) and so yummy! I stored the leftovers in the fridge and that made the bars firm up a bit and just become moist wonderful yumminess since then! We still have a few bars worth left and I SO look forward to eating them *laugh*.
Today I had fun using my Crock Pot Express, mainly by accident, but it was a happy accident. I was hungry at lunchtime, but didn't really want leftovers, so I decided to make myself some steel cut oats for lunch (seen up top there). I made them in the pressure cooker and then topped it with some raisins and some cinnamon sugar as raisin and spice oatmeal is one of my favorite flavors.
I then washed the pressure cooker and I steamed salmon parchment packets for dinner tonight. The directions in the booklet called to steam the packets for three minutes, but I went with five because the fillets I was using were frozen. The salmon had dill, basil, lemon slices, a knob of butter and salt and pepper on them when you put them into the parchment paper and made a little packet to put into the cooker to steam. It worked great! I'm still having a hard time liking salmon, I have to admit. I'm just more of a white fish person, but the husband's doctor wants us to eat more fatty fish, so I'm trying. The husband did like how his salmon turned out, so that was a plus and the daughter (with much badgering by me and my husband) ate about 80% of her piece, so I call the dinner a win. Sorry for a lack of a photo with that one as the salmon came out looking neat in the little parchment packets, but I forgot to take a photo.
This week's menu is going to be continuing the "stick to this menu" plan as I know I have everything that I need to make the things on the menu, thus no "quick trips" to the store to get that one needed item to make a meal happen and things.
So, let's get to it!
Wednesday: Salmon parchment packets (pressure cooker), home made whole wheat rolls, fruit cocktail. Dessert: Lemon squares.
Thursday: Rissoles (hamburger combined with leftover ground beef roast and ground turkey) on whole wheat bread, peaches, turnip greens (from freezer). Dessert: Strawberry pudding (free Jello mix from pantry. Leftovers will go in daughter's lunches, so I hope it's good *laugh*).
Friday: Homemade Canadian Bacon and Black Olive Pizza (Canadian bacon from freezer). Make full 1/2 sheet pan to have leftovers for daughter's lunches. Light on cheese.
Saturday: Eggs Benedict (use leftover Canadian Bacon) on home made crumpets, peaches. Use last lemon to make Hollandaise sauce from fridge.
Sunday: Minestrone (big pot for leftovers), rolls or bread on side.
Monday: Chicken Alfredo, peas.
Tuesday: Pork chops, rice, corn.
And there you are folks. Our menu plan for the next week.
Like you, I've been sticking to a set meal plan too. The reasons are twofold: 1) My husband's paycheques have been skimpy as of late because of plant shutdowns around Christmas and New Years. It's hard to get a full pay when the plants are closed. (my husband's a truck driver and he can't deliver or pick up the loads if the plants are closed. So he didn't get as much work as usual) 2) Because we need the pays to go towards bills, money for groceries was scarce. So my meals have been centred more around what's existing in the pantry and freezers. Some of the meals have been quite eclectic, and well received. Others like, Cream of Cauliflower-Broccoli Soup was eaten, but without gusto.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to stick to this system until at least the first pay in February because by then he'll have established a proper paycheque because the plants were business as usual in January.
On the bright side, I have to admit, that using up the odds and ends in the fridge, freezers and pantry has been a great way to use up the stuff that was shoved to the back of the pantry or the bottom of the freezer - almost like a pantry challenge. I think I'll continue cooking this way into February.
Pat
The lemon Mardi Gras bars sound delicious! Kudos to a menu plan with all the ingredients.
ReplyDeleteOur favorite way to cook salmon is to mix some mustard, honey, and olive oil then spread over the fish and bake. Really yummy.
Those meals look great! Good job for sticking to the plan. I feel like I need to make a plan again. I've been flying by the seat of my pants again lately since we've had so many appointments. Like tonight....my husband called me as I was yet again transporting a child around, and we quickly planned dinner. He put potatoes in to bake, and threw some hamburger into the microwave to thaw. Then, when I got home, I cut up a butternut squash and threw it in the oven with the potatoes, fried the burger into patties in a pan, cut up some pickles and a tomato, and called it good. It worked, but I find that way a little more stressful than planning it out ahead of timel.
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