This week's menu

This week I'm working evenings M-W and my regular schedule R-F. I've never worked evenings before so I'm not sure how this dinner thing is going to work.

I guess instead of following the usual process of making dinner and packing lunch leftovers, I'll switch to making lunch and packing dinner leftovers.

I'll be repeating that schedule for a couple of weeks, so I hope it works!

Mon- Sloppy Joes + green beans
Tuesday- Shrimp stir fry
Wednesday- Chicken tortilla soup
Thursday- Turkey meatloaf + cheesy zucchini rice
Friday- Fish baked with olives and lemon + glazed carrots

This week's menu

Sometimes everything hits at once and you just can't bring yourself to plan a menu or care about food.

These past couple of weeks have consisted of lots of eating out, chicken soup, casseroles from the sweet neighbor, cereal for dinner, or (in my case) cheese and fruit for dinner, and lunches purchased from the cafeteria at work.

However, hubs actually asked me the other day when I was going to start feeding him home-cooked meals again. I suppose things are getting back to normal and it would be the right thing to do. Not to mention much friendlier on our bellies, waistlines, and wallets.

So here we have it. Still feeling uninspired, so a wide text message net came back with some great suggestions:

Monday- Pork Chops + rice and green beans
Tuesday- Sauteed balsamic veggies with goat cheese
Wednesday- Grilled sausage with beans and broccoli
Thursday- Baked chicken with veggie mac and cheese
Friday- Artisan Bistro Miso glazed salmon


Notes:
Monday- Converted to crock pot. Extra sauce.
Tuesday- Submitted by Suzy. Fulfills our one vegetarian meal per week quota
Wednesday- Requested by hubs
Thursday- Shout out to chicken bought already seasoned at the store
Friday- Mom found these in the store and picked one up for us to try!

Next week I already have a bunch of suggestions from Ash, who texted me after I had the menu done. So I don't get a text message asking why meatball stroganoff, tacos, or chow mein is not on the menu--- YET.

This week's menu

Monday- Spaghetti and salads
Tuesday- Vegetable soup and cornbread
Wednesday- Pork chops and green beans with baked beans
Thursday- Shrimp + grits with glazed carrots
Friday- BBQ sandwiches

This week's menu

Sometimes life lets you skate by without making a weekly dinner menu. Like when it's summertime and salads and bbq rule the menu for a while, or when your kickass sister cooks dinner all week and then your husband works out of town for a while and you're totally fine eating a pot of cheesy veggie rice for every meal while he's gone.

Now it's like, what?? I need to make dinner this week? I'm responsible for feeding us again?
Ok-ay. Here you go.

Monday- Crock pot chicken with roasted potatoes and green beans
Tuesday- Triple Pepper Pasta
Wednesday- Black bean and zucchini enchiladas
Thursday- Pizza with salads
Friday- Brisket and sausage sandwiches with beans (from frozen leftovers)


**
Sweet peppers are on sale at the grocery store and they give everything such great flavor without being overpowering, so they make it into two meals this week.

Zucchini is always on sale nowadays, so even though my little baby plants aren't doing so hot, it's back in the background of those tasty enchiladas.

Baked pork chops

I don't normally cook pork. Unless it's in a crock pot. In fact I usually avoid cooking meat unless it's in a crock pot. Because I have that ever-present fear of undercooked meat, and the crock pot keeps things moist AND well-done.

Usually hubs grills pork chops, but tonight he declined and I did not have the foresight to prep them in the crock pot. So I tried something new.

Following the standard breading technique- minus the middle flour dusting part- I breaded some pork chops and baked them. And they turned out a little bland but not bad. Next time I'll add fresh herbs or punchier spices.

I used some stale GF Rice Krispies crunched up for the "breading" and not only did they 'snap, crackle, and pop' once they were on the pork chop, they gave the finished product a crispy texture that did not fall apart or off of the meat. I would use this technique again.

I made some ginger rice inspired by this recipe, and it was a really great accompaniment. Had a nice tang that paired very well with pork. Kind of made up for the pork chop blandness.

Baked breaded pork chops

In a bowl, mix: 1 egg, whisked with 1 T. mustard

On a plate, mix:
1 c. GF Rice Krispies, crunched up
1 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese

Dunk the pork chop in the egg, then coat with the seasoned cereal mixture. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until they are done. If you use a meat thermometer, it should read 160. If you cut into the meat, any juices should be clear.

For the rice, mix in a pot: 1 c. rice, 2 c. water, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1 bay leaf, salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. After 10 minutes, dump in some frozen veggies and mix in; cover for another 5 minutes.

This makes enough for 3 pork chops.

Ham and potato soup

Why is it that there are ALWAYS ham leftovers? It's impossible to cook a ham, even a small one, without having weeks worth of leftovers. I always package them up in the freezer for quick sandwiches or an addition to soups.

The rest of this week was brought to you by sad vegetables. This is no exception. Three sad potatoes in the pantry got made into soup and I'm happy to say nothing got thrown out.

I will forever wonder how people take pictures of soup that don't turn out yucky-looking. That being said, SOUP:

Ham and potato soup

leftover cooked ham, chopped
3 potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
milk
shredded cheese
1/2 tsp mustard powder
salt and pepper, to taste
frozen peas, because I jam vegetables in everything now

Place the potatoes in a pot with some water-- just so they're halfway covered. Cover the pot and boil until the potatoes are fork-tender. Remove the lid to let some of the water burn off. Smash some of the potatoes with a fork, leaving it kind of chunky. Pour in enough milk to get the consistency you want, and stir in the ham and mustard powder. Bring to a boil and stir in the peas to warm up.

Serve with cheese on top.

Squash and black bean quesadillas

Thanks to the sad yellow squash in the fridge and staples like cheese and black beans, these quesadillas were created.

Cream cheese pairs fantastically with pepper jack cheese and salsa, and helps keep the other ingredients "glued" to the tortilla.

please excuse the shady kitchen-light picture

Squash and Black Bean Quesadillas

Corn tortillas
Cream cheese
Sliced pepper jack cheese
Black beans, drained
Taco seasoning*

Sliced sad vegetables:
Tomato
Yellow squash

Toppings:
Salsa
Sliced avocado

Spread cream cheese on a tortilla. Place on a preheated, greased skillet. Layer on pepper jack cheese and black beans. Keep the beans toward the middle so they don't spill out when you flip. Sprinkle on taco seasoning, to taste.

Layer on sliced sad vegetables, and top with another tortilla spread with cream cheese-- cream cheese-side down.

Carefully and creatively, flip the quesadilla so the other side has a chance to brown. A few lost beans can be tucked back inside.

Once it's browned and the middle is melty and hot, transfer to a plate and top with avocado and salsa. Dig in.

*Taco Seasoning:
I keep a mix on hand: 1 tsp each of salt, ground cumin, chili powder, coriander, and garlic powder, 1/2 tsp oregano, and 1/4 tsp of sugar and pepper. Shake it up in a small container and keep it until it's needed- which is kind of a lot.

P.S. These were a bit messy and cumbersome for quesadillas, which are generally easily eaten with the hands. In hindsight, I probably should have grated the squash and combined it with the black beans using the technique in this enchilada recipe, or made folded tacos.

P.P.S. I've found the secret to picking out avocados is to buy them hard, leave them on the counter, check them every day, and use them once they soften up just a bit. If that means shuffling the menu around the avocado's ripening schedule, so be it.