Meal Plan - August 30 - September 5

I planned this week's meals around all the produce in the house. I still had veggies left from my August 6th visit to Sleeping Cougar Acres and I came home with more veggies on Thursday.  My fridge is bursting.  

For the most part, I'm using tried-and-true recipes that I've had for years.  They've been in my repertoire for so long I can't even find them on the internet.  I've included pictures below.  Click on the photos for larger images.

This week's recipes:

Zucchini soup: I think this is the only new recipe this week.  I selected it because I have everything in the house, though I will be subbing veggie broth for the chicken broth. I'll serve it with home-made sourdough bread and a tomato and basil salad. Hubby has started making bread!  We were gifted some sourdough starter two weeks ago.  He made his second loaf yesterday.  Mmmm.  

Couscous salad: The recipe is below.  I cut it from an Overwaitea flyer back in the days before grocery stores had websites.  I usually use about 1/2 the couscous the recipe calls for, and I omit the ham.  I'll serve the salad with steamed broccoli, mostly because I have broccoli that needs to be used up.  

Beef and Cucumber Stir-Fry:  I did actually get this Urban Peasant recipe from the internet, but I can no longer find it online.  Glad I thought to print it out.  It's very handy when I have an abundance of cucumber in the house.  Right now there are four cukes in my fridge.  It reminds me of the days when my aunt and uncle had a cucumber farm.  They'd send me home with free "ugly" cukes.  

Burgers with red cabbage:  I've been buying pasture-raised beef from a local farm.  They sell it frozen in one pound packages.  The burgers will use the rest of the beef from the package I thaw for the stir fry.  I made and froze the red cabbage a while ago. It's great on burgers.  (The recipe came from the aunt who had the cucumber farm.  Hi Auntie P!)  The salad will be made from whatever is in the fridge. 

(Note:  I don't get anything for the links above.  They're there for your information.  Hope you find them useful.)

Meal Plan - August 2 - 8

It's BC Day Long Weekend.  I don't actually know what we are celebrating, but an extra day off is always appreciated.  

Simple meals again this week.  Lots of salads.  A few mystery meals.  L at Sleeping Cougar Acres has invited me out to "shop" in her garden.  I don't know what I'll be bringing home, so a few meals are up-in-the-air until after my visit.

This week's recipes:

Tuna Melt: This will be the first recipe I try from The Tinned Fish Cookbook.  I pre-ordered it from our local bookstore months ago.  It arrived just in time to go back to work, so I haven't spent a lot of time with it.  Tuna melt seems like a good place to start, though I won't be making the home-made ketchup to go with it.  

Cauliflower Salad: I'm using this recipe, though I will likely substitute green onion for the pickled red onion.  And no, it's not because of the recent salmonella outbreak.  It's because I have green onions that need to be used up.

Pasta with Butternut Squash Pesto: There are still a couple of jars of squash pesto left in my freezer from last fall.  Time to use it up before this year's squash are ready.

Chili Dogs:  I was able to freeze two small jars of chili after last Sunday's meal.  Just enough for chili dogs!  Veggies will depend on what follows me home from Sleeping Cougar Acres.

??:  This meal will also depend on the what's in season out at Sleeping Cougar Acres.  

(Note:  I don't get anything for the links above.  They're there for your information.  Hope you find them useful.)

Meal Plan July 19 - 25

I realized after I photographed this week's meal plan that there are some holes.  I forgot to plan lunch for Friday or supper for Saturday.  Part of me is tempted to rush around and rethink the week's meals.  The larger part of me is OK winging it.  If it means take-out Friday and Saturday, I'll go with it.

This week's recipes:

Quinoa with grilled veggies and sausage:  No real recipe.  Cook quinoa. Grill veggies and sausage.  Chop veggies and sausage.  Mix everything together and top with balsamic vinaigrette.  

Korean Beef Udon Noodles: So much for Meatless Monday.  This recipe will allow me to use up some mushrooms I found in the fridge.  Instead of stir-frying the beef, I'll get Hubby to grill it.

Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad: I tried this recipe a few weeks ago.  This time, I'll be one step closer to the actual recipe.  I remembered to buy an avocado!  I'm subbing chicken breast for chicken thighs again, and there won't be cilantro.  Hubby is on Team Cilantro-Tastes-Like-Soap. I don't mind it, but I'll happily substitute parsley from our garden instead.

Mediterranean Summer Pasta Salad:  Several years ago I was selected to test recipes for Chatelaine Magazine.  This was one of them.  I takes a bit longer than 15 minutes to bring everything together, but not much longer.  Will be substituting chickpeas for Romano beans, as I couldn't find Romano beans at the store.

Zucchini Cakes:  These easy pancakes are making another appearance.  I'm trying to use up the last of the zucchini in my freezer before this year's crop starts to arrive on my doorstep.  My friends regularly gift me with zucchini.  My kind of gift!

(Note:  I don't get anything for the links above.  They're there for your information.  Hope you find them useful.)