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.)

Meal Plan - July 5 - 11

So far I'm liking the two-board system I started last week.  I had most meals for the upcoming week planned by Friday morning. Yesterday, I did a quick fridge/freezer inventory and was able to fill in the blanks for the rest of the week.  It meant that there wasn't a huge meal planning session, so I saved some time, and I was able to ensure everything in the fridge will get used up.

This Week's Recipes:

Quinoa with grilled veggies and sausage:  No real recipe there.  It's exactly what it says it is.  Cook quinoa. Grill, then chop veggies and Italian sausage.  Add to quinoa.  Top with dressing of choice.  This week I'm using Maison Orphee's Olive and Balsamic Vinaigrette.  Yup.  I've started buying salad dressing again.  

Chickpea and broccoli salad: Another recipe from Stephanie Kay's 5-Ingredient cookbook.  I know I won't make it exactly as written, but it's a good starting point.

Pasta with butternut pesto:  I'll be using this recipe that I got from Heather at Good Earth Farms years ago.  I almost always have a jar of this in the freezer.

Zucchini cakes:  I'll use a recipe from a Harrowsmith cookbook I've had for years.  It's similar to this recipe from Ina Garten.  When I checked my freezer yesterday I found some grated zucchini I should probably use up.  When zucchini is abundant, I grate and freeze it in one cup portions for this recipe. 

I'll also be making my own "refried" beans for this week's quesadillas.  I use a recipe from "The Fresh and Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook".  

Cooking my own beans instead of using canned beans...

I don't want to jinx anything, but perhaps I am getting used to this back to work thing.

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

Fangirl Forever

Until Saturday, I had only ever written two fan letters.  Both were school assignments - likely the teachers' way of making letter-writing lessons fun.

The first was to Maureen McCormick, aka Marcia Brady, when I was in about third grade.  That was so long ago that I don't remember much about the experience, but I'm fairly sure I didn't hear back.

The second, written in about grade six when I was much more mature, was sent to my heartthrob Eric of the Bay City Rollers.  The sole remaining memory of that experience is of my bursting into tears when the letter was returned due to insufficient postage.  Apparently our lesson in letter-writing didn't cover the intricacies of international postage. Oh the heart-break of discovering that the love of my life was unaware of my adoration.

In spite of these failures, on Saturday I decided to throw caution to the wind and send out my third-ever fan letter.  Given the wonders of the internet, I didn't even have to worry about postage.

This time, the object of my admiration was Stephanie Kay.  I've mentioned Stephanie's cookbook "Red's 5-Ingredient Meals" a few times here on the blog. This has become one of my most-used cookbooks.  Stephanie also regularly shares recipes, tips and, most importantly, lunch ideas on Instagram.  I was pretty sure that she had said somewhere that she welcomed questions from readers, so I decided to reach out to her with my question.

Here in BC we are looking at going back to work in the near future. I usually bring my own lunch, and I rely my staff room's fridge, toaster over, and microwave. I'm predicting that those things won't be available when I get back. (The staff room is just too small for more than one person at a time under current restrictions.) Any ideas for packed lunches that don't require refrigeration or re-heating? I'm already feeling stumped.

Given my past experience with fan letters, I honestly didn't expect a response. I thought that Steph (notice how it's "Steph" now?) might share some ideas in a blog or an Instagram post if she felt enough readers were in a similar situation. So, imagine my giddy surprise when this landed in my inbox Monday morning.

Hi Laurie, 

Thanks for reaching out, I hope that all is well with you!

Depending on how long it would need to be without refrigeration, you could probably get away with simply eating any hot dish or leftovers cold, especially if it’s a vegetarian dish with beans, lentils or grains. They would easily withstand several hours without refrigeration.

Alternatively, I have a few no-cook or no-refrigerate lunch ideas on my website. You can find them at the links below:

https://kaynutrition.com/2017/09/5-no-cook-work-lunch-ideas/

https://kaynutrition.com/2018/05/bistro-box-lunch-ideas/

I hope that helps!

Talk soon,

Steph 

This seriously made my day.  Steph's suggestions are just what I needed to get me back into meal-planning mode, and her kindness and generosity have ensured that I'll always be a grateful fan. 

Iron Chef?

When I started writing about meal planning back in January, I got the following in an email from a friend:

"I used to menu plan, and occasionally I still do, but it’s like Iron Chef here most days .... hmmm what can I make with kale, a can of retried beans, 3 pickles and a potato....?"

This made me laugh. I still wonder what she made with those items.  

Meals around here have become much like that.  It's not that there's a shortage of food.  We're well stocked, but I'm trying to make sure that nothing goes to waste, so...

... the veggie broth I made on Saturday went into sweet potato soup on Sunday.  I could have frozen the rest of the broth, but the freezer is at capacity, and there wasn't enough sweet potato soup for lunch on Monday, so...

Recipe from Rino's Kitchen cookbook.  I didn't quite get the amounts right, but still a great recipe.

...I used the rest of the broth to make red lentil soup for lunch on Monday.  This will be lunch for a couple of days, but...

This photo brought to you by Bag-O-Lentils.  You now who your friends are with Bag-O-Lentils

...there was a small amount of sweet potato soup left over.  Since it was rather spicy, I added about 1/3 can of coconut milk, which made enough for two "starter" servings for supper last night.  Which was great, but...

...now there is a partial can of coconut milk in the fridge.  I've decided that this will go into chicken curry on Wednesday.  I'll probably try this recipe, but...

I only have 28oz cans of tomatoes, so...

I'll have to figure out what to make with the remaining tomatoes, and...

...so on, and so on, and so on.

As you can see, there's meal planning happening, it's just not happening too far in advance.



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

All Plans Off!

My whining paid off!  Look what I found in my mailbox today.  Guess I'm going to ditch today's meal plan and make the soup I didn't make on Sunday.  I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again - I have awesome friends!  They wouldn't even take toilet paper in exchange!

And speaking of ditching the meal plan, I can see that happening a lot.  I was laid off yesterday, so there's not quite the same need to plan in advance.  Maybe I'll try weekly meal suggestions instead.  It worked quite well the last time I tried it.  I'll list possible meals, then decide on the day what to make.  I have the feeling I won't have to worry about the temptation of fast food in the not-too-distant future.

Confusing Times

Last week's plan held up until Wednesday when we decided that neither of us really wanted to cook.  Instead, I walked down to our local curry restaurant on my lunch break and placed an order to pick up on my way home. The place was deserted both times.  Sigh.  I'm glad I was able to support them, and I got dinner with enough leftovers for lunch the next day.  Bonus.

We delayed Red's fish with fennel until Thursday as a result.  I'm glad we waited for a night when I was cooking.  The recipe did not go well.  It was edible, it just required a whole lot of adjustment to make it work.  I ended up scooping out the fennel and microwaving it separately, as everything else was cooked and the fennel was definitely not.

This week you will see an addition to the meal planning board.  I've added Friday to our meal plan.  And some extra glitter. At least for the time being.  I must admit that I've been experiencing some anxiety about being out, so we decided eat at home instead of going out as we usually do.  We picked up a steak to barbecue, and I used some of the endless broccoli in stuffed potatoes.  And there's still broccoli left.

I also planned lunches for Saturday and Sunday, but you'll see that they are no longer on the board.  We actually walked to three of our favourite local eateries today (Saturday) for a bowl of ramen, a pint of stout and a dish of ice cream.  We'll figure out tomorrow tomorrow.

Open to Question

There are a lot of questions in this week's plan.  I'm not sure how far meals will stretch leftover-wise.  I may need to rely on items from the freezer for our lunches, but I have the feeling the cabbage and tofu and the lentil stew will go further than I'm anticipating.  

I like it when questions have such yummy answers!

You will notice I'm  finally making the salmon cakes I had planned waaaayyyy back in JANUARY.  Thankfully the majority of the ingredients are shelf-stable.  The the cakes freeze well too, so double win!

There was a good sale on broccoli this week, so I bought lots.  The stalks and some of the florets went into last Thursday's unplanned broccoli soup, some will be roasted and served as a side with salmon cakes (and cherry tomatoes - there are still cherry tomatoes!).  The rest will become something for dinner on Thursday.  I haven't decided what yet.  Maybe I'll stir-fry it with some carrots and chicken. Maybe I'll stuff it into baked potatoes.  Maybe I'll make a frittata.  Maybe I'll make broccoli mac and cheese.  Or maybe by then the broccoli will be a slimy puddle in the bottom of my fridge.  I hope not, because all those things sound wonderful.  It's going to be hard to decide what to make.

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

Back-up Plan

It's a good thing I had a back-up plan in mind for last week, because my meal plan started to unravel before I left the grocery store.  The advertised mushrooms - the key ingredient for Mediterranean Baked Mushrooms - were not worth buying.  Thankfully, I knew we could work around it, and I didn't have to try to rethink our meals while coughing on everything in the produce aisle.

I still bought the cherry tomatoes and the spinach called for in the recipe, since I needed them for Monday's Chickpea, Tomato and Spinach Curry.  That meant we had lots of tomatoes and spinach leftover, so Wednesday's baked mushrooms became 5-Ingredient Spinach Parmesan Pasta from Two Peas & Their Pod.  We served it with a side of cherry tomatoes and dinner was done.

That took care of the spinach, but there were still tomatoes lingering in the fridge.  No worries.  I figured we could have a few on the  side with our soup and sandwich on Thursday, and then we could snack on the rest until they were gone.

Except...

By Wednesday I was feeling much better and was ready to get back in the kitchen.  I ditched Thursday's plan for defrosted soup and grilled cheese for a different soup and sandwich combo.  Broccoli soup with bacon, alfalfa sprout and cherry tomato jam sandwiches.  

I had never heard of cherry tomato jam before, but figured it had to be a thing, so I consulted Google and found this recipe from Chatelaine . I chose it because I had the ingredients on hand.  It was yummy, and jam-i-fying the tomatoes kept them from rolling off my sandwich.  The 1/4 batch I made used up most of the remaining cherry tomatoes. Bonus! It gave us enough for two sandwiches with leftovers for toast the next day.  Double bonus!

If you choose to make this, be aware that I did sub a pinch of sweet smoked paprika for the sriracha.  Also, the breezy instructions to "Cook over medium, stirring often, until saucy, 16 to 20 min." are a bit misleading.  The 16 to 20 minutes was pretty accurate, but you really need to babysit this while it is on the stove.  "Stirring often" became "stand over the stove breaking up tomatoes with your spoon as you go".  I also needed to add splashes of water from time to time to keep it from sticking.  Perhaps I should have halved the cherry tomatoes.  The recipe doesn't call for it, but there is a handy video with a neat trick for halving cherry tomatoes after the recipe.  Maybe that was a hint.  If so, I missed it.  

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

Snazzy

Last week's meals went exactly as planned even though the week didn't.  I thought I was going to have a week of activities and extra work.  Instead, by Monday evening, I was back on the sofa with a new version of the plague. Like the door I shared earlier in the week, I am alarmed. I'm using up all my sick days and COVID-19 isn't even here yet. Not good. Still, in spite of my illness, every meal went as planned.  I'm sure that's because we had planned, and prepped and kept it simple.  

It wasn't perfect though.  By Thursday the tofu and rice for the tofu bowls were a bit stale. I guess that's why the authors of "Simply Bento" suggest doing so much of your prep work in the morning.  That's not going to happen in our household.  We already get up at what I've been told is a "grotesquely early" hour.  There's no chance that I'm going to get up earlier to prep rice, tofu and veggies.  (And no, it's not going to happen the night before either.  Getting up at grotesque o'clock means that we're in bed before most people are finished their dinner.  There's just no time for that kind of meal prep on a work-night.)  Oh well, the tofu bowls were edible, if not fresh, and now I'm sure that "Simply Bento", though beautiful,  isn't the right cookbook for our current cooking needs.

This week, I tried to make sure that prepped food gets consumed closer to the day it was prepped.  I'm still keeping it simple.  I'm on the mend, but I'm certain that I'm not going to have a lot of energy for cooking, and I'm certain Hubby won't either.  This week it's meat and veg, 5-Ingredient Meals and items from the freezer for the win.  Oh, and I also have a back-up plan in mind should things go sideways.  You never know when the plague is going to stop by for dinner.

Ooh!  Look!  I've snazzed-up the dry-erase board.  So sparkly!

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

Keeping it Simple

Last week's meals went almost as planned!  I think that's a first since I started sharing my meal plans here.  I swapped chickpea-and-orzo salad for bean salad, but I figure that was close enough, and it allowed me to use up leftover orzo from earlier in the week.   

This week we'll be relying on big-batch cooking to provide leftovers for several suppers.  I know a lot of people balk at leftovers, but I can live with eating the same meal more than once if it means less cooking and clean-up.  It's going to be a busy enough week as it is!

Still figuring out the new board.

On Sunday we'll prepare a big shepherd's pie using a recipe from my old "Second Harvest Cookbook" as a guide.  I have had this cookbook for years.  I remember seeing an article about Second Harvest in the Globe and Mail. I was so intrigued that I mailed a cheque to get the cookbook. Newspaper, cheque, mail. That should give you an idea how long I've had this cookbook. 

We'll also prepare tofu and rice bowls inspired by the tofu poke bento recipe in "Simply Bento" by Yuko and Noriko.  I borrowed this cookbook from the library.  It is a beautiful cookbook, but the recipes are far too labour-intensive for my current cooking style.  I returned the book, but it has influenced how I think about packed lunches.

And once again, I'm relying on Stephanie Kay's "Red's 5-Ingredient Meals" for a big batch of Tex-Mex quinoa.  This cookbook has had a huge impact on how I think about our meals. I've been too distracted by the onslaught of "healthy eating" information out there.  This cookbook has been a good reminder that not every dish needs to be crammed full of "superfoods" to be healthy.  Delicious, good-for-you meals don't have to be complicated.  How did I forget that?  

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

Green is the Colour

Changing plans and extra leftovers meant that last week's meal plan  shifted a bit toward the end of the week.  Still, everything in the fridge got used up, no extra groceries were required, and we didn't have to resort to take-out.  A good week!

This week more fresh veggies landed in my cart, though some on-the-fly substitutions had to be made when the desired item was too expensive or too withered to buy.

Asparagus, broccolette, avocado and living lettuce all followed me home.  I must be craving green things!  (The asparagus was part of our Valentine's Day dinner and our post-Valentine's Day breakfast, so it doesn't appear on the board.)

Still experimenting with ways to set up the new board.

I'm still relying heavily on root veggies and items from the freezer to fill out the week.

I also found a new cookbook at the library. "Prep: The Essential College Cookbook" by Katie Sullivan Morford has been a fun reminder that cooking doesn't have to be complicated.  Unless I choose to make it complicated.  Like when I decided that the "Mix-in-the-Pan Applesauce Cake" had to have homemade applesauce.  At least I decided that I could let go of using homemade yogurt!

Other than that, I'm relying on cookbooks that have been in my kitchen for ages.  That includes one prepared for me by my mother when I moved away from home.  I've had the spiral-bound note book for so long it is stained and falling apart.  It looks terrible, but the recipes are great!  

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

It's Snot Easy

This is the time of year when I find meal planning difficult. Though there is a huge variety of produce available, there is little that I want to buy.  I joke that I don't want vegetables that are better-travelled than I am, but the reality is that it is expensive to buy fresh veggies in February.

I work around that as best as I can. Carrots, potatoes, celery and onions were my vegetable purchases for the upcoming week.  I also splurged and bought a basil plant, and I'm growing alfalfa sprouts beside my kitchen sink.  I'll supplement these fresh items with canned tomatoes, frozen peas and pumpkin in the form of soup I made and froze in the fall.  There will be lots of legumes and a variety of fruit to add plant power to our meals. 

Part of me feels that there should be more variety, but that would be expensive in terms of dollars and time. For the price of 2 pounds of carrots I could have had a head of romaine lettuce.  In our house the carrots will go much further, are generally quicker to prepare, and can be used in more ways than the romaine.  The carrots will also still look like carrots at the end of the week.  The romaine will look like something found in a used tissue.  

Of course, my sister thinks peas look like boogers, and we'll be eating peas more than once this week.  At least, according to the ads, the peas are frozen at the height of freshness, whereas there is no way to get truly fresh romaine in Canada in February.

All According to Plan

Last week's no-plan plan was a success.  Some of the items on the list got made, others didn't.  Some of the items made were eaten, others weren't.  There was take-out and home-cooked.  There are two batches of carrot soup in the freezer for future meals.  

Sometimes having, and sticking to, a plan makes getting food on the table less stressful.  Sometimes it's more relaxing to figure it out as you go.  And sometimes you have to plan not to plan in order to maintain kitchen calm.

New Board. No Plan

This week we are going with a no-plan plan.  What we have are meal suggestions based on what is in the house.  Why?  Well, I've been sick, and I've likely passed along my germs to Hubby.  I suspect that neither of us is going to feel like cooking this week, and, when we do, we likely won't know what we want to eat ahead of time.

I'm relying heavily on a cookbook I got from the library.  "The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs" is full of quick easy recipes, and, as it's by America's Test Kitchen, I'm assuming they are reliable as well.  I've pre-made both soups, and the quick tastes I had were quite good considering the simplicity of the recipes.  

Soup, grilled cheese (in the form of quesadillas), eggs, one-pot meals, items from the freezer and take-out.  Easy, comforting food to get us through what I expect will be a long week.

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

Prepped, Pleased and Plagued

In spite of my contracting the plague, our meals went mostly as planned this week.  OK, maybe it wasn't the plague.  It was more likely a mild case of the flu.  (And yes, I did get a flu shot.) While I coughed and whined on the sofa, Hubby prepared the meals I had planned.

I'm grateful that I persevered and completed my meal plan last week in spite of my frustration, and I'm doubly grateful that Hubby was willing to follow that plan and get home-cooked meals on the table. (He cooks quite often, but I was extra-thankful this week when I felt so rotten.)

I'm also pleased that we worked together last weekend to prep food for the upcoming week.  That went a long way toward keeping us fed.  Well, that and my willingness to drop the plan and Hubby's willingness to pick up wonton soup on his way home from work on Thursday.  Sometimes the best plan is to alter the plan.  Sloppy Joes can wait for less diseased days.

Harrumph!

Meal planning did not go smoothly this week either, but I know what the problem was this time.  Me.

Once again our usual grocery store's flyer did not arrive in our paper, so I headed to their online flyer and fell down the rabbit hole.  First, I discovered that you can search the sale items by category.  Cool!  I searched produce sales and bulk sales, then I discovered that you can search the flyer by meal idea.  They only offered one meal idea based on sale items.  Harrumph.  No wonder I wasn't particularly inspired by the week's specials.  The people putting the flyer together weren't either!

So, next I headed over to the competitor's website.  I don't generally shop there, but I was hoping their flyer would be more inspiring.  That led to my second discovery.  I can comparison shop all items, not just sale items, by using online shopping features.  I jumped back and forth between websites to scope out the best deals.  By the time I was done, I had a huge list that included items from both stores, but I still didn't know what we were going to eat in the upcoming week.

I took my list, made another coffee and sat down with my cookbooks.  So many possibilities, yet I struggled to bring it all together.  I had a half-plan and an alternate half-plan jotted on my dry-erase board when I took my empty coffee cup to the kitchen.  On my way, I glanced at the calendar, and realized that we don't need to cook on Saturday.  Both plans relied on leftovers from Saturday.  Harrumph again.

So, I cleared the board and started over.  I took a closer look at what was in the house, and came up with a new plan that concentrates on what we have instead of what's on sale.  My new list is a fraction of the size of my original list, and, even though my first list was built on sale items,  I'm sure my grocery bill be much smaller too.

Dry-erase board is looking a little shabby.  Need to remedy that.

Basic meal planning people.  Check what's in the house.  Check your schedule.  Then start planning.  

Still, it wasn't a wasted morning.  I'm glad I discovered that I have the ability to comparison shop at my fingertips. 

Weekend Work Worked!

Well, the power stayed on, and all last week's meals went as planned.  Even the weekend Instant Pot marathon was managed.  I did have to start Friday night though.  I cooked the beets for Saturday's salad while we ate Chinese take-out and watched back-to-back episodes of "Lost in Space".  Date night for geeks.  🥰

On Saturday the yogurt was out of the Instant Pot by 4pm and the chowder was in by 5pm.  I was feeling pretty good about my organization skills, so I was tempted to try slow-cooking the lentil Sloppy Joes in the Instant Pot on Sunday before starting the chili.  I resisted temptation.  I haven't used the slow cooker function on the Instant Pot yet, and, as I've found the recipe a bit tricky in my traditional slow cooker, I decided to stick with the plan and use the stove top.  

As I expected, it meant that we spent a lot of time in the kitchen last weekend, but it really paid off during the week.  There were a couple of days when I could hear the drive-thru calling me on the way home from work.  The only thing that kept me from loading up on burgers and fries was the knowledge that dinner was waiting at home.

(Not that I'm against burgers and fries, but if I'm going to take that route, there are better options than drive-thru fare.)

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

Argh!

Planning meals for the upcoming week was particularly frustrating.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's because our local paper neglected to include the grocery store flyer, so my coffee/flyer/cookbook routine was off. Maybe it's because, when I found the flyer online, nothing was particularly inspiring.  Maybe it's because the unusually large dump of snow has disrupted things so much that I'm off kilter.  Whatever the reason, I did not enjoy the process this week. 

On the other hand, it feels great now that it's done.

I've borrowed several cookbooks with Instant Pot recipes from our local library in the last year.  Daniel Shumski's "How to Instant Pot" followed me home so many times that I finally bought my own copy.  If I get the timing right, I'll be referring to it four times this weekend.  (beets, yogurt, potato/corn chowder and chili)  I may be aiming a bit high, but I can make everything but the yogurt on the stove-top should my plan go sideways.

Other than that I've tried to go for simple and comforting. We are supposed to get more snow, which always makes our one-car life a bit more complicated.  With that in mind, once we get through the weekend, all of our meals will be pre-made and/or will rely heavily on items in our freezer.  It will be a busy weekend in the kitchen, but it will pay off during the week.  

Now let's just hope that the power stays on.

As always, let me know if you have any questions.  I'd love to hear from you.

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