Menu Plan Monday – February 27
February 27, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
How is it already March this week? Time is flying past me. Hard to believe that our darling daughter has been with us 7 weeks today. Thankfully we are settling into a routine around here. I am finally starting to feel like myself again, regaining strength, energy and focus to balance being a mom, wife and business owner. I also got to spend a great deal more time in the kitchen this past week – hooray!
This past week’s menu went almost exactly according to plan, though slightly rearranged at times. There were definitely some stand out meals. The Slow Cooker Pork Chops were a hit. I loved this recipe and its simplicity, plus it renderered some wonderful juices that I used to make quinoa. The leftover quinoa was also used as part of my filling for stuffed bell peppers – I’ll be posting that recipe very soon for those. My sister’s Chicken and Lentil Curry dish was outstanding. Too bad she’ll never be able to tell me exactly what she did so that I can recreate it. She is an incredible cook that creates wonderful dishes though she never can seem to remember or write down exactly what all she did.
This past week I made a few fun kitchen purchases, including a donut pan! I had been toying around with the idea for a while and finally did it. I must admit, that I do love a good donut every now and again. The idea of being able to bake my own and control the ingredients was too much to resist. My first creation were these Apple Butter Maple Syrup Donuts (though mine were not gluten free – I subbed white whole wheat flour) using the last of my homemade apple butter from the fall that I had in the freezer. Can you say A – MA – ZING?!? These donuts had the perfect outer crust that gave way to a moist center and the brushing of suger and cinnamon on the outside gave it that extra bit of sweet without ovedoing it. I’ve had to hold myself back from devouring them all. The whole family loved them, even though my husband kept teasing me to fry them. Thankfully no one gave us the deep fryer for our wedding years ago that he snuck onto the registry – guess all of our friends and family knew better!
Now that I really have your attention, here is my menu plan for this week:
Monday: Easy Salmon Cakes with Roasted Dill Carrots and Broccoli
Tuesday: Lentil Sloppy Joe’s on Homemade Hamburger Buns with Sauteed Spinach
Wednesday: Spanish Chickpea Soup with Rosemary Bread
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Dinner with my in-laws
Saturday: Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Squash
Sunday: Flaky Fish Sticks from The Mom’s Guide to Meal Makeovers, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans
Click on over to Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie for more menu inspiration!
Menu Plan Monday–February 20
February 20, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
I got quite off course again this past week. I made my planned meals for Monday and Tuesday and then changed my mind for the rest of the week. I actually used the leftover flank steak meat and some leftover shredded chicken (I made another slow cooker rotisserie chicken one night) to make fajitas on another night. This was a great use of leftovers and the first time I had ever done that! I must remember to do that again.
I also decided to use my canned salmon in a different way. For some reason, I was craving a pink vodka sauce, and found this recipe online. I added shrimp, a can of wild salmon and some frozen peas . I left out the parmesan cheese for myself, and apparently it makes the dish taste much better this way. I thought it was pretty good but everyone else, who had parmesan cheese, raved over it.
I’m also on a bread making kick. I love my bread machine! This Rosemary Bread is divine. Of course I used white whole wheat flour for all of the flour in the recipe and a little bit of ground flaxseed. It was delicious – just light enough in texture with a lovely rosemary aroma. I also made my Cinnamon Raisin Sunflower Bread, though I made it with walnuts instead of sunflower seeds. I also used all white whole wheat flour. I don’t know why it has taken me this long to use white whole wheat flour, but it is my new go-to for bread recipes – gives a similar texture to all-purpose flour, but with more fiber and better for you overall.
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law moved in with us a few months ago and it has been so wonderful having them here with us. They have been incredible helping out with my children, especially my three year old as we adjust to a new baby. He has a blast playing with them. It is also just nice spending time with them. We eat most dinner meals together and we are working out a cooking plan to divide up those duties each week. So some weeks, I may know what they are preparing and some I may not. But here is this week’s menu plan:
Monday: Cheesy Beany Zucchini Quesadillas from the Meal Makeover Mom’s No Whine with Dinner (sans cheese for me!) with fresh fruit salad
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Quinoa and Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots
Wednesday: My sister is providing dinner (no idea what, but she mentioned curry chicken and lentils – yum!)
Thursday: Turkey Meatloaf with Roasted New Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli (brother- and sister-in-law cooking)
Friday: Beef Stew (brother- and sister-in-law cooking)
Saturday: Stuffed Peppers (may be making up my own recipe on this one – stay tuned!) with Green Beans
Sunday: Simple Supper (odds and ends out of the fridge)
Have a wonderful week! Click on over to Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie for more menu inspiration!
Menu Plan Monday–February 13
February 13, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
Last week’s menu had to be revamped pretty early on as I have had to make some more drastic changes to my diet. In addition to avoiding dairy, I now have to cut out all soy from my diet. This is because we suspect my daughter has MSPI, or milk soy protein intolerance. Since I am breastfeeding, I have to change my diet to protect her from the effects, which includes copious spitting up and reflux. Despite all that, she is gaining weight well! I just hate her obvious discomfort at times.
Fortunately these dietary changes are only temporary as she should outgrow it by the time she is a year old, if not sooner. My son had an intolerance to only dairy products and outgrew it by the time he was 9 months old. I miss cheese! I will say that avoiding soy is the larger pain though as soy is in everything these days. Good thing I like to cook! Now if only I had about 5 more hours in every day. It is all worth it though in providing the best possible nutrition for my daughter, and in the grand scheme of things, it is really just a short period of time.
From last week’s menu, I ended up making the Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken rather than the rotisserie-style. I love this one too and it renders a fabulous broth that I used to make a wonderful barley pilaf the next night. It also gives me an excuse to trim back some rosemary off our bush that is growing to an insane size.
My husband and I don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day, but I am planning on making one of his favorite meals anyway! Here is this week’s menu:
Monday: Chicken Noodle Soup with a Green Salad
Tuesday: Grilled Flank Steak with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Sautéed Green Beans
Wednesday: Vegetarian Taco Salad
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Easy Salmon Cakes with Steamed Broccoli
Saturday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala with Brown Rice
Sunday: Friends bringing dinner
Hope everyone has a wonderful week! For more inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.
Menu Plan Monday–February 6
February 6, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
Have you recovered from watching the Super Bowl? Did you overindulge? If so, get back on track today. We had a very quiet evening at home. Hard to believe our daughter is a month old today! Where does the time go? (Sorry for jumping around – sleep deprivation is wreaking havoc on my thought processes – try and keep up!)
Last week’s menu turned out to be more of a suggestion rather than a plan for us. But I did make the Slow Cooker Maple Country Style Ribs and Sweet and Savory Brussels Sprouts with Quinoa. Well, actually I more directed their making than actually made them myself. Thank goodness for a wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law who did the brunt of the work as I was too wiped out from teaching a college course that day. These were both great recipes though. The Brussels sprouts recipe is great for those who do not really like Brussels sprouts. I do think it would be even better with an addition like sherry vinegar – I may play with it some to boost the flavor overall.
I had a hankering for a salmon burger rather than the salmon cakes – subtle difference, I know. I found recipes for Salmon Burgers and Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns that I couldn’t resist and had all of the ingredients on hand. I loved both the burgers and the buns, as did the rest of the family.
We’ll see how I do this week with getting back in the kitchen. Here is my plan for this week:
Monday: Slow Cooker Rotisserie-Style Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli
Tuesday: Grandmother’s 96th Birthday Dinner
Wednesday: Corn and Chicken Chowder with Flax and Sunflower Seed Bread
Thursday: Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry over Brown Rice
Friday: Dinner Out at In-Laws
Saturday: Chinese Pork and Vegetable Hot Pot with Noodles
Sunday: Paprika Shrimp and Green Bean Sauté over Quinoa
Hope everyone has a wonderful week! For more inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.