Meal Plan May 9, 2011

Ingredients and Inspiration:

• leftover chorizo from last Friday's meal
• mushrooms from last Green B.E.A.N. delivery
• busy Thursday, including Pecha Kucha (please come!)
• most of a huge box of spinach that needs to be used soon

Monday: chorizo stuffed mushrooms, spinach salad

Tuesday: spinach, tomato, mozzarella baked pasta

Wednesday: dinner with Dad

Thursday: food trucks at Pecha Kucha and restaurant/bar after

Friday: Roast duck, potato gratin, garlic red pepper kale

Saturday: frittata with Green B.E.A.N. produce

Sunday: grill with Alex's family

Meal Plan May 2, 2011

Between our vacation and Alex's brother's wedding yesterday, it's been almost a month since our last meal plan! I miss knowing what's for dinner, the practice of preparing things ahead of time, and the routine of dining at our table. Monday - capellini pasta with friend foraged morels, zucchini ala Basi Italia Tuesday - dinner with Cbus Mom and her gang

Wednesday - roast chicken, broccoli, potatoes

Thursday - pantry tomato soup, grilled cheese

Friday - chorizo and chicken sopitos

Saturday - homemade pizza

Sunday - Mother's Day - I'll let the father of the house make plans. Hear that, Alex?

PS. Sorry for the unrelated picture. I realized this morning that I didn't put any pictures of the bride and groom in the handmade wedding recap! Here they are just before seeing each other in their wedding finery for the first time.

Added to menu plan monday.

Meal Plan April 10, 2011

Ingredients & Inspiration:

• Leaving on a 10 day vacation to Massachusetts on Thursday = Operation clean out the fridge
• We have half a head of cabbage, a head of lettuce, two boxes of spinach, three half gallons of milk, two bags of mozzarella cheese, a half dozen homemade buns, and most of a 32 oz container of yogurt that will spoil if we don't use them
• We have one last large pie pumpkin from the fall that needs to be used
• I would love to avoid grocery shopping until we leave
• My family is coming over Wednesday for a last meal before we leave

Menu:

Monday - black bean tacos/burritos with cheddar cheese, cabbage, salsa

Tuesday - egg salad sandwiches, salad, pumpkin muffins or pie  Lil is bargaining for pie

Wednesday - spinach lasagna with homemade ricotta and tomato sauce Yes, this was on last week's menu too but we never made it

Meal Plan April 4, 2011

Inspirations:

• Zucchini, salad greens, mushrooms and more from our Green B.E.A.N. box
• Cold, wet weather forecast
• Not a single evening activity! Yay!
• Intern starting Monday (more on that tomorrow)

Menu:

Monday - barley mushroom soup with homemade turkey stock, popovers, salad

Tuesday - buffalo sirloin, au gratin potatoes, salad

Wednesday - tuna noodle casserole, baked zucchini boats

Thursday - pad thai

Friday - date night

Saturday - lasagna with homemade tomato sauce and homemade ricotta

Sunday - grill homemade hot dogs

Meal Plan March 28, 2011

Ingredients and Influences:

• I am working again this week leading spring break camps from 9 am - 4 pm at Franklin Park Conservatory.
• I am also teaching a class on condiments on Sunday. Participants will learn how to make mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and more from 4-5:30 pm at the Franklin Park Conservatory education pavilion. A few spots are still available!
• We will get a Green B.E.A.N. box on Wednesday with fresh mystery produce.
• We have been invited to bring one of our chickens to the church behind our house for an appearance during Wednesday dinner. Yes, really, I am the chicken lady of Clintonville.
• Alex smoked home cured pork loin into Canadian bacon. Yum!
• I am attending the Ohio Bloggers Association class Saturday late afternoon with Purely Simple Raw. If you are a blogger, join us!

Meal Plan:

Monday - Chicken, rice, salad

Tuesday - Tacos with homemade chorizo, refried beans, cilantro

Wednesday - Order pizza for family dinner preceding chicken appearance at church

Thursday - Eggs Benedict and salad/mystery vegetable

Friday - Pasta with mystery vegetable

Saturday - leftovers

Meal Plan March 20, 2011

For the next two weeks, I am teaching full time at Franklin Park Conservatory for their Growing Young Chefs from the Ground Up spring break camps. There is still time to register for March 28-April 1! I am looking forward to all the fun activities planned but having me out of the house all day two weeks in a row is really going to change the way things work around here. Ingredients and Influences:

• We want to keep things simple to prepare and cleanup.
• We'll use up food from the freezer and pantry, including homemade tamales and tomato sauce.
• We have a whole cauliflower, a bag of spinach greens, some crimini mushrooms, and big bag of yellow and green beans from our trial Green B.E.A.N. delivery box.
• We have a hunk of mozzarella and provolone in the fridge that need to be used.
• Despite today being the first day of spring, it looks like winter will make a comeback towards the end of the week.

Meal Plan:

Sunday - Alex brewing beer for his brother's wedding during the day, we're contributing a salad to family dinner at his parents.

Monday - homemade pizza topped with homemade pancetta and mushrooms, spinach salad

Tuesday - from the freezer pork tamales, roasted cauliflower

Wednesday - dinner out with my family

Thursday - spaghetti and home canned sauce and leftover cauliflower

Friday - pad thai with green beans

Saturday - wedding shower and bachelor/ette parties for Alex's brother Ben and fiancée Kim. I think Alex will smoke chicken wings for Ben's bachelor party and pork loin for the April charcutepalooza challenge.

Meal Plan March 14, 2011

Influences:

• Pi Day Monday! I'll post a linky and hope you will join in the fun with a pi/pie/pies story or recipe
• St. Patrick's Day Thursday
• Big portions of pork, chicken, rice, and beans leftovers from a weekend party
• Request from a friend for my homemade mac and cheese
• Teaching Charcuterie class Tuesday at Franklin Park Conservatory (Call and see if there are spots remaining if you want to eat sausage and bacon with us!)

Menu:

Monday - southwestern chicken soup and cornbread

Tuesday - sausages and spinach salad with warm bacon dressing

Wednesday - spinach lasagna

Thursday - corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, home brewed strong ale

Friday - homemade macaroni and cheese dinner with friends

Saturday - dinner out after School for Young Children benefit auction

Sunday - dinner at Alex's parents with a German family friend

Menu Plan March 6, 2010

Ingredients and Inspirations:

• Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday = great food traditions! We care little for the various religious meanings; we adopt the recipes we love.
• Dine Originals Restaurant Week = date lunch and maybe dinner out
• Mashed potato leftovers from my sister's birthday dinner = potato pancake makings
• March Charcutepalooza challenge = home made cured brisket ready to cook this week

Monday - Lasagna roll ups with homemade tomato sauce, homemade ricotta from Snowville milk and fresh cooked spinach

Tuesday - Pumpkin pancakes with homemade butter milk and home grown & frozen pumpkin puree, king cake for dessert

Wednesday - Bowman & Landis turkey thighs, potato pancakes, frozen green beans

Thursday - dinner at friends

Friday - Rachel Ruben sandwiches, homemade applesauce, potato chips

Saturday - leftovers or dinner out at a Dine Originals restaurant

Sunday - family dinner/reception after cousin's Eagle Scout ceremony