Office Day Dinners! I love it. I hear you - I try and prep stuff either in the morning before I leave or the night before. And I have a 10 minute commute! But I also have very long days at work, starting at 730 am…
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Hello. I read the WMP and the WFD threads on Chowhound. I enjoyed reading about it all. I especially loved the stories about the toddler and the dog. Anyway since it has moved here, I decided I will try to participate. I own two farms and work a full time job (no work from home and never missed a day during the pandemic) so I have to plan, plan, plan. Since we are very rural, there isn’t a lot of takeout except for pizza, fast food and Mexican. I keep a full stocked pantry and freezer so except for the quarterly BIG shopping trips to larger areas, I just update weekly with fresh produce, fresh meat (pork, chicken or fish as we have our own Angus beef) and fruit. Anyway it’s calving season on the farms and it snowed today so hubby went to his “other” full time job at VDOT and me and Angus, the Labrador, are checking on the calving progress today. We are small producer of Angus- 250 head cow/calf plus contracted poundage steers and only 500 acres. We shipped 90,000 lbs of steers last month and try to do that twice a year. Don’t know about this year as the prices for corn seed, fertilizer, and nitrogen go up every day. Right now to plant an acre of silage corn is $1300 acre and that doesn’t include fuel or spray. We no till plant, Also having trouble getting parts for the tractors. One of the JD’s has been out of commission since Christmas. No parts available not even rebuilt.
Tonight is chili which is in the crockpot with shredded cheese and crackers and avocado on mine
Tomorrow- Cabbage rolls from “Everyday Dorie” which are already put together and will be in the crockpot. I also cook for my 83 year old FIL on Sundays. I try to give him enough to have for Sunday dinner and one more meal He also has a sweet tooth so I am fixing a strawberry blueberry cobbler for him.
Monday- usually try to do meatless Mondays- brown beans and cornbread
Tuesday-Hamburgers and seasoned potato wedges for husband. I will probably have salad as I don’t do potatoes much due to carbs and I will have reached my red meat limit. Shhhh don’t tell the Angus Association that or they might revoke our membership. LOL But I find as the older I get, my taste buds have changed. I used to love steak. Now I can handle one or two bites and that is it. Husband thinks my diabetes meds causes this. He is probably right.
Wednesday-Lemon pepper fish with steamed broccoli and vegetable rice medley- fancy way to say rice, carrots and peas LOL
Thursday-leftover brown beans
Friday- usually leave early from work on Fridays since I do four nines M-Thurs so I will pick up something.
This morning I also made homemade hot dog chili to freeze in small packets to have when we want hotdogs on the grill. We don’t like the canned stuff. Yes I have done three cooking things this morning BEFORE 9:00 am. I get up every morning seven days a week at 4:30 am so house is cleaned and food is cooked before I go out on the farms on Saturday.
I also take my lunch to work everyday usually salads or soup. l keep soups such as vegetable, or minestrone in freezer containers and I just pull one out when I need a lunch. I also take yogurt, fruit, and granola to have for breakfast at work. I am not one that can eat when I first get up. I am a diabetic so I keep things in my bottom desk drawer to have to snack on so I don’t make bad food choices. I find that if I do small snacks, I don’t overeat. I wear a continuous glucose monitor so I know when I have made a bad food choice. Anyway that is me in a nutshell. Again thanks everyone for the inspiration, the laughs, and yes the tears cause I cried when the lady lost her baby. I didn’t know her other than reading about her life, but my heart broke for her. I hope she is doing well as can be.
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Welcome - and thank you for the welcome to this new site! I am the poster with the dog and the toddler (he turned 3 in November). I’m also the woman that lost the baby, and it is a bit comforting to know that Elliot’s life is thought about by so many people. We are coming up on 7 months since he left us. Some days are easier than others, and some days something reminds me and I am just knocked off my feet by the enormity of what happened. I’m lucky to have an amazing support system and a great therapist. That being said, if one more person tells me that things happen for a reason…
My little guy would just love your farm. Tractors, cows, lots of room to run around! It’s also so sweet that you cook for your FIL once week - I look forward to seeing what is on his weekly menu too.
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Oh Megan I just prayed for you so hard. I don’t have children but I can not imagine the heartache. Both my husband and I farm each of our family’s farm. We are the 5th generation to do so. Living in southwest Virginia is challenging, but it is beautiful. I have farm ponds, creeks, and lots of woods. I tell people I never leave my property and can roam on 400 acres. The other farm is 154 acres and is 12 miles from the one we live on. We have spring water on both farms and I told someone that I never buy bottled water.
I found out when I lost my mother that people want to say something when you experience a loss, but they don’t know what to say and sorry doesn’t seem like enough. I read about Elliot’s bench and saw the picture. That was so touching.
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Basketball just ended (his team was eliminated in the final four), and soccer starts in about a month. He’s also giving boxing a trial run - just sparring, no hitting people!
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Office Day Dinners it is! (love the partial alliteration!)
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Hello, friends. Cooking for two adults and an 11yo in the Boston burbs. It’s gray and cold and rainy today, but I’m absurdly excited because I figured out that I can run all my errands (library, grocery store, and optician) without actually parking outside. Our library has an underground garage, as does the mall where Wegmans and Warby Parker are located. The tradeoff is that I have to go inside the mall, and look like a dork carrying my grocery bags. Oh well!
Some of you may remember from CH that our new (as of August) house has a cooktop and sink in the pantry, and we figured out that it’s referred to as a “spice kitchen.” Well, the contractor is coming this week to take out the cooktop and sink, cap the gas and water lines, and install a new countertop and wall cabinets. We’re really looking forward to having more usable storage space. I’m not looking forward to taking everything out of the pantry, though…
Sun: an early St Pat’s dinner of corned beef, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and non-Irish roasted cabbage (https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/11/roasted-cabbage-with-walnuts-and-parmesan/)
Mon: Pi(e) day! Pizza for dinner (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brick-Oven-Pizza-Brooklyn-Style/Detail.aspx?src=VD_Summary) and DS might make a pie for dessert. Last soccer clinic tonight - hopefully we remember, unlike a couple weeks ago where we completely whiffed on it.
Tues: chicken enchiladas suizas (Rachael Ray’s Week in a Day cookbook) and… some sort of vegetable? I have a mostly-full container of crème fraiche to use up.
Weds: fish tacos, yellow rice and black beans.
Thurs: leftovers. DS has a dentist appointment at 6:45pm - not sure what I was thinking when I booked it then. At least he won’t have to brush again before bedtime, right?
Fri: not my problem! I’m heading to the Cape with some friends for a girls weekend… DH will be in charge through Sunday.
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Have an amazing girls weekend! I am now rethinking my Monday plans - pie day seems like a great excuse for takeout pizza
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Welcome to WMP @vafarmwife. Your daily schedule and working 2 farms plus a full time job makes my head spin. We’ll learn planning and organization tips from you, I’m sure. And hopefully some of our menu ideas and recipes make your busy weeks a bit easier and more enjoyable.
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Stress at work, unrelenting mess in the world, giving up on house-hunting till investors calm down… Might be doing some emotional eating this week. Glad to be following many of you over to HO to continue this community.
For two adults in San Diego:
This week’s breakfasts: Might be a chocolate cake week.
S: (tonight) takeout to last a few days - spicy pork noodles and pot stickers.
Su: Orange chicken and beef curry buns, also part of tonight’s takeout
M: Leftover spicy pork noodles in broth with veggies, planned after we couldn’t get through the whole portion between us tonight. LOL
T: Tuna melts with chips - seafood
W: Lentil soup - vegetarian
Th: Chicken quesadillas with guacamole
F: Chile colorado with tortillas, cheese, and guacamole
Have a good week!
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Every week deserves to be chocolate cake week.
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Reporting actuals for Mar 7 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where the last sub-zero day of winter (per forecasters) happened Saturday and we’ll see 40 degrees today.
Although I report for my previous week, I do also plan the week ahead. By week’s end my plan would look like a football-play diagram if I printed it, with lots of circles X-outs and arrows. My upcoming week has appointments and volunteer meetings out every day except Thursday, including several over our usual meal times. So I’ll be making a large batch of chicken & white bean chili (sticking with my soup weekly NY food resolution) and also pulling out previous made/frozen egg bake.
Mon - noon - Easy cheesy potatoes (bag cubed potatoes, 1 C cream, 1 C shredded cheese; bake 400 degrees 45 min), baked chicken with Greek seasoning, fresh fruit salad Mon evening - Reheat sausage/orzo/tomato soup (better now I remembered to add the cream)– Julia Pacheco recipe https://www.juliapacheco.com/sausage-orzo-italian-soup/
Tues - Sheetpan Cod on potato planks – from Molly Gilbert’s Sheetpan Suppers cookbook, p.81. Fruit salad & fresh strawberries.
Weds - (grocery deli) Sushi, reheat cod & potato planks. Fresh strawberries
Thurs - Stir fry – leftover shredded chicken with grains/carrot mix (from frozen, Schwan’s), mini egg rolls (Schwan’s)
BAKED – pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for my grand-nieces bithday party video call.
Fri - a vegetable-deficient day of meals out he at lunch (pizza) me at supper (bar food nachos and wings appetizers and beer)
Sat - noon - Joy of Cooking p. 192 Quick Cucumber Soup Cockaigne with crab (surimi)
Spinach salad w/ tomatoes and toppings, naan bread
Sat - evening - Quick to cook – Sirloin, green beans and penne pasta in a balsamic & dijon mustard sauce http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sirloin-steak-pasta-salad Fresh strawberries over pumpkin cupcake w/ whipped cream
Sun (today) - noon -Reheat/repeat sirloin w green beans and penne
Sun - evening - Slow cooker BBQ ribs, cheesy grits, green beans
Grits from Budget Bites https://www.budgetbytes.com/bbq-meatballs-with-cheese-grits/
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Weekly meal planning for 2 adults, 2 kids in Boston suburbs. I’m about to have “spring break” - aka lots of work catch up but no teaching! I’m definitely treating myself. Beyond exhausted.
March 13 - leftovers; wednesday night brownies from MM for my students
March 14 - salmon kale salad; https://whatsgabycooking.com/the-new-go-to-kale-salad/
March 15 - lasagna from SV
Wednesday March 16 - Celebrating Purim and St Patrick’s Day! In before times, my next door neighbor and I rotated weekly dinners at each others’ houses - my younger daughter and her oldest kid are exactly the same age (2 days apart) and adore each other - they’ve known each other since they were 6months old. It was such a great opportunity to have someone cook for you, have our kids hang out together, and have them eat foods that they wouldn’t necessarily eat otherwise. ANYWAY! We’re resuming after a 2 year hiatus and I’m so happy and relieved that I could cry. Her youngest is only 3 so they’ve been super cautious. MENU: irish soda bread from Alexandra Cooks, roasted lemon, rosemary, and fennel chicken from SV, roasted cabbage from SK, and hamantaschen mail-ordered from Zingerman’s
https://alexandracooks.com/2016/03/11/irish-soda-bread-two-ways/
https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/11/roasted-cabbage-with-walnuts-and-parmesan/
Thursday March 17 - leftovers
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I love the community dinners concept and am so excited for you to be able to resume them!
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Hello hello! Thrilled to be posting a new meal plan here in a new home.
This week is a busy one for me. Meals are accordingly easy. 2 adults and 1 spring break-ing teen in STL.
Sat 3/12: beef, Swiss chard, and spelt soup from Grains for Every Season. This was very rich and took a long, long time to cook so we ate very late. There are leftovers but daughter didn’t like it much and declared that the rest of us should eat it for lunches.
Sun 3/13: Sundays with Julia Turshen zoom cooking class/meetup. the menu was hibiscus margaritas, black bean enchiladas, romaine salad with pepita/lime dressing, and chocolate cookies. I made copious modifications to the recipes (enchiladas needed a lot more spice!) and timing and skipped the cookies altogether (made lemon ricotta cupcakes from Simply Julia instead because we needed to use up some ricotta). Also my tortillas lacked structural integrity after having been frozen and thawed, so after several fell apart I just layered it all as a tortilla casserole. I love these classes not because I’m learning new techniques but it does force me to cook earlier on Sundays.
Mon 3/14: leftover enchilada casserole. Daughter made a chocolate sugar pie from The Book on Pie for Pi Day. she also made caramel sauce to serve it with.
Tue 3/15: Leftover Llubav’s green spaghetti from Simply Julia. made a double batch of the sauce last week. As usual for JT recipes, it’s a good starting point but they usually benefit from more seasoning (herbs, or in this case lemon juice).
Wed 3/16: Trader Joe potstickers, green beans
Thu 3/17: i had thought we would finish the beef soup but daughter thinks we should grill something.
Fri 3/18: takeout to celebrate the end of the week!
Have a good week everyone!
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I love that you’re able to find a second reason to do these online cooking classes. Even if the recipes aren’t quite what you want, at least you’re don’t cooking earlier! That being said, was the pepita/lime dressing good? If so, could you please share the recipe? I always struggle to find good “Mexican” salad dressings and end up just using runny salsa…
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Sure! Husband and I liked it. daughter did not but you all already know she’s a little picky 
Creamy Pepita Dressing
Grind 1/4 cup lightly toasted pumpkin seeds, 1 small garlic clove, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin in the food processor until very fine.
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon water and process until smooth and creamy. the original recipe calls for 2 tbsp water but I thought it was a little too thin so I’d use less to start with next time. It needed more salt.
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SV? Love that lasagna
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Sounds like you and I make the same taco salad… runny salsa instead of dressing because I don’t know what else to use.
Pepitas are an interesting idea.
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