Since my Husband and I have moved in with my Father, I have been making weekly dinner menus. I will post this weeks dinner menu ideas and post recipes upon request. I usually try to have 6 meal ideas per week. We only go out to dinner 1-2 times per week. My Dad and Husband usually take left-overs.
Meal One: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
I am cooking this, because I found a great mix at EarthFare that I want to try out. In addition, I have some chicken and sausage in the freezer that I would like to use. It is only a couple of weeks old, but I do not like keeping things in the freezer for too long. Also, I like cooking items that I have most of the ingredients for, on hand. That is most important for me. Since we have moved to Mississippi, we have been disappointed in the lack of organic choices and good meat and cheese selections.
Meal Two: Beef Stew with a Twist
Chris and I are always buying new cookbooks. We recently went to Williams and Sonoma and bought a few of Jamie Oliver's books that were on sale. I have been leafing through for recipe ideas. I was planning on making my Mom's Beef Stew, however, I saw that Jamie adds dumplings for a twist and that sounds amazing! I have marked that in my book. I have all of the ingredients for the stew on hand. I bought stew meat a couple of weeks ago.
I want to take this moment to tell you how I usually decide on the meals each week. I try to determine the meat, first. If I am going to make chicken twice in the week, I will make it on Monday and Friday or Saturday. If I use the same meat, I try to use it in a soup or stew and then as the main ingredient with 2 sides. Again, I always try to find meals that do not break the bank. I want to eat what I have at home. I then keep a small list handy to write when my pantry or refrigerator items are running low. It makes things so much easier. If I see meat on sale, that may change my menu for the week. No problem. I will just choose a meal that I want to eat the following week. In fact, Chris and I did that this week. We went to EarthFare while we were in Montgomery. He had been talking about eating Brisket. I have never cooked it. While there, we picked up a brisket and that was not on our list. We just compromised and pushed the Beef Stew to this week. No worries.
Meal Three: Bison Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries
Chris will totally be in charge of this meal. =) He wanted to pick up some Bison while at EarthFare, and I am "game" for anything. We will probably eat this on Friday or Saturday night. That way he will not have to cook after work.
Now I want to talk about desserts. YUMMY. I am not great at them. Terrible I know, since that was my Mom's specialty You will see, over time, I will add pictures of several cakes that she and I made over the past few years. During the week, I do try to make 2 desserts. This week I made rice krispie's and I will make a cherry crumble this evening. I like super easy desserts that you can add your own twist too. That is why I like to cook and do not prefer desserts. With most desserts, you have to be exact with each measurement etc.
Meal Four: Spinach Manicotti with Ground Turkey Meat Sauce
Another "thank you" to the wonderful EarthFare. The store that we love. They had this is in their refrigerator section. Pre-made Manicotti. It should be easy to make some meat sauce, with ground turkey of course, and a couple of vegetables on the side.
Meal Five: Lentil, Spinach and Bacon Stew
I cooked lentils about 2 weeks ago. They were amazing. Green lentils. There are several different colors. I did not add any special ingredients, just lentils. Of course, we had a crusty french bread to soak up the juice. YUM, my mouth is watering. When we were in Mobile, shopping with my Bestie Susannah, I found some red, Spanish lentils. I have been wanting to try them. Williams and Sonoma have a new book out entitled One Pot of The Day, 365 recipes for every day of the year. They have a recipe on page 281, that will become useful next week.
Well, I better get started on dinner this evening. Taco Soup, which is the easiest dinner ever. Should only take about 30 minutes. Talk soon. xoxo Cindi Sunshine
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