I nearly titled this, "Make a New Plan, Stan: This Month's Menu Plan", but I figured Facebook algorithms would go nuts and wouldn't show it to anyone, so enjoy the more generic post title ;).
I can safely say that so far this month I've followed the menu plan with about 1% accuracy. Woohoo! I'm going to try and remember what we actually ate and put it by the menu where I'd written out the previous thing we were going to eat. A lot of this switching around, at least this week, has been me going, "No, too much salt. Too much fat. Need to change that" when it came to making the husband's diet better.
I've got a bunch of updates about life in general, but I'm going to save that for other posts I'm working on, so let's get to this month's menu!
March Menu Plan (I'll give updates with recipes as the weeks go by and such, hopefully):
3/1: Beef Roast, Baked potatoes (went with mashed instead to appeal more to the daughter that night), corn muffins
3/2: Not sure what we actually had (can't remember), but there was fish on the menu.
3/3: Ended up eating out (accident day)
3/4: Leftover meat pie (made on 2/28)
3/5: On the menu were sloppy joes, but due to things being hectic and husband not feeling well it was kind of a punt day. Ravioli with tomato sauce (daughter and I), ravioli with olive oil (husband) and angel hair pasta with olive oil (son)
3/6: Bacon and Pea Tortellini Alfredo (me, because no one else wanted to eat it *grumble*) with salad (husband and daughter ate a salad as well), pasta with olive oil and Kraft Parmesan cheese (son), spaghetti (daughter), husband just ate a straight salad.
3/7: Instant Pot Chicken Gyros (seen up top). These were life altering awesome! I made them exactly as written and I will DEFINITELY be making them again! I ate the leftovers for lunch for the next three days and would have eaten them for another week if I could have *laugh*. We had them with salad on the side, which I added some leftover cucumber to (I had to buy pre-sliced cucumbers as that was all the store had that day...life in Alaska can be fun sometimes). Yum!!!
3/8: Beef Bourgignon (to use up tougher than tough beef roast), salad
3/9: Leftover Chicken Gyros and salad
3/10: Tacos (daughter's request as we hadn't had them in a while). On the menu was ham and cheese stuffed crepes, but wanted to avoid the ham if I could for the sake of the husband's sodium levels with coconut creme pudding for dessert.
3/11: Leftover tacos with strawberry shortcake for dessert (strawberries from freezer, whipped up enough whipped cream JUST for dessert so we didn't feel the need to tank ourselves on whipped cream, made shortcake). The new dessert was so that the dinner was just different enough to make everyone happy. Husband and daughter loved it.
3/12: Baked chicken, biscuits, salad, baked beans. Leftover strawberry shortcake for dessert (use coconut creme pudding with the shortcake instead of whipped cream).
3/13: Chicken noodle soup (home made noodles)
3/14: Steamed fish parchment packets with garlic butter and lemon, pear slices, rice (pilaf if I have time).
3/15: Pork Chops, rice, green beans
3/16: Leftovers/punt
3/17: St. Patrick's Day! Eat something Irish in grandma's memory (I'm still looking at recipes trying to figure out what I want to make *laugh*).
3/18: Brined roasted chicken, braised greens, roasted potatoes, corn muffins
3/19: Pancakes, fruit (of some type), eggs. Serve with slices of left over chicken. Or chicken hash (depending how much leftover chicken I have to deal with)
3/20: Chicken casserole with frozen vegetable medley
3/21: Chicken lo mein, rice
3/22: Cuban pork (cooked in freezer), spiced beans and rice, salad
3/23: Tacos with refried beans and guacamole
3/24: Leftovers
3/25: Home made pizza and breadsticks
3/26: Lamb roast (from freezer) with potatoes and corn
3/27: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy (or leftover corn muffins), green beans. Raspberry Jello for dessert
3/28: Lamb Stew, rolls. Alternate: Sheppard's pie (depending how much lamb is left over)
3/29: Pork chops, rice, salad
3/30: French dips (use low sodium "Better Than Bullion" for base of Aus Jus) with sliced roasted potatoes, fruit
3/31: Chicken piccata with wine sauce, rice, salad
Breakfasts will include: Cereal, oatmeal, granola with or without yogurt, toast, eggs, cinnamon rolls (on husband's days off so he can enjoy some too) and other stuff as it comes to me :).
And there you are folks. Our tentative, "already been kicked to the curb about fifteen times already" menu plan for this month. Here's hoping I can get back on track and make it work better from now on!
How about you? Got anything good planned to eat this month? This week? Tonight? Please share :).
I just made some Asian pork meatballs with pineapple sauce. I did turkey-rice soup and enchiladas over the weekend, and we still have a couple of drumsticks left over from last week. My husband took some of those in his lunch today. Not sure what I'm making next.....I will look in the fridge or freezer and go from there, probably about Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteThe American Heart Association website (www.heart.org) has a lot of information on high blood pressure, including causes and how to reduce salt intake. There are also recipes available on the site.
ReplyDeleteHi! I've never left a comment here, but I enjoy reading your site. I am the parent of a small baby, and had high blood pressure a few times during my pregnancy. I did a lot of research about how to reduce it, and found a few things that worked really well (and even more things that I couldn't try because I was pregnant, but might work for your husband):
ReplyDeleteReducing/eliminating caffeine--This was the fastest and most effective way to reduce my blood pressure. It was also the most stressful... but so is having high blood pressure.
Hibiscus tea--check the type of hibiscus tea, but studies have shown this is super effective at reducing systolic pressure.
Beet juice--not my favorite flavor, but great at lowering blood pressure.
Potatoes and spinach--as long as they're prepared in a low sodium or salt-free way, obviously.
Anyway, best of luck! Excessive salt is everywhere: cereals, salad dressing, pretty much any type of prepared food/sauce/whatever. But I was really impressed by how effective these low-tech, food-based solutions were, so maybe some of them could help your husband, too.
Ericka, Was wondering if you made your own pita bread for the gyros?
ReplyDeleteYour month of meals looks fantastic. I also make something similar to the chicken gyros, but they're called souvlakia. Basically Greek chicken, pork or lamb meat on skewers. Sometimes I serve the skewers with a side of Greek potatoes or rice and Greek salad, but most often, the family prefers to eat them in a pita like your chicken gyros. Either way, they're a family favourite.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that one of your meals is Brined Chicken. Normally brining involves using salt and sugar and this may be counter productive to using less salt. Perhaps you'd like to check into this.
I also plan a month's worth of meals. I find it less stressful for me when I know what's on the menu each day. Of course, life goes for a loop and the set meal may be a no-go, but at least there is a general daily plan to follow. With it being March Break this week, the kids asked for "Fun Food", so that's what I planned for them, but the following weeks are a bit healthier.
Week 1 - March Break Fun Food
Mon: I served Hot Pork sandwiches, using pork roast from Sunday; french fries; root beer floats
Tues: I served Peach-stuffed French toast topped with whipped cream and maple syrup; Coconut smoothies
Wed: Homemade vegetable-barley soup; grilled cheese
Thurs: Homemade chicken fingers coated with crushed tortilla chips; baked spinach-artichoke dip with warm pita triangles; veggie sticks
Fri: Basil pesto and Cream sauce over fettuccine noodles; shrimp skewers; garlic bread
Sat: St. Patrick's Day - Corned beef and cabbage, carrot, potato, turnip dinner; homemade bread; homemade brownies with tinted-green mint icing
Sun: Hamburgers and hot dogs; potato salad
Week 2
Mon: Leftover corned beef and sauerkraut sandwiches; baked potato wedges; pickle plate
Tues: French onion soup; caesar salad
Wed: Honey-garlic pork chops; acorn squash with diced apples; parsley rice
Thurs: Beef chop suey; leftover rice
Fri: Baked stuffed ricotta and spinach shells with marinara sauce; garden salad
Sat: Cheesy beef nachos
Sun: On the bbq: grilled chicken pieces; potato and onion slices in foil packets; marinated, mushroom, zucchini, and red pepper skewers
Week 3
Mon: Pork schnitzels, leftover marinara sauce and melted cheese on a bun; cucumber slices
Tues: Crab cakes; smashed potatoes; corn; coleslaw
Wed: Beef stew; homemade bread
Thurs: Using leftover stew, transform into a Beef pot pie; garden salad
Fri: Cabbage and rice soup; homemade saltine crackers; leftover salads
Sat: Bean and cheese quesadillas; veggie sticks and dip
Sun: Easter Dinner: Spring-mix salad topped with thick-cut, breaded goat cheese slices; Herbed Chicken roasts; roasted new potatoes; 3-pea medley; honey roasted carrots; homemade dinner rolls; Angel food cake stuffed with orange whipped cream and iced with 7 Minute Frosting, sprinkled with toasted coconut
For dessert: whatever hits-my-fancy or whatever the family requests
Hope your week is less hectic Ericka. Blessings to everyone.
Pat, Cda