Weekly Menu Planning - March 2023

How did your son’s chicken nachos turn out? Did he enjoy making them?

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Oh, they turned into a huge battle. He did not make them and denied ever saying he would. :woman_shrugging: DH made them instead, and they were fine.

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Ouch, that knee injury sounds painful! I hope your recovery continues to go smoothly.

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Oh well, another time for sure. Moody teenagers.

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Hello to everyone from the yet again snowy Twin Cities of MN where big flakes are falling and my car is giving me the evil eye for being in the apartment parking lot instead of her nice garage at the house. (A few days more my girl. . . )Big cheque day was on Friday so we are mostly done with the reno, except for some plumbing issues (new kitchen faucet turns on but not off) and a structural issue which emerged nothing major but let’s address them now and painting but it’s ours and it’s sooo pretty and dreams coming true. I will post pics later but sooo sooo happy. Packing and moving and all that jazz one day at a time. Actuals and plans for 2 adults and 2 growing girls:

Fri 3: Both girls skated back to back. Take out pizza

Sat 4: Frozen meatballs with jarred sauce, noodles. side salads

Sun 5: Tonight! Baked frozen fish fillets with knorr noodles and sauce, side salads and leftover broccoli. I think I"m calling this transitional kitchen closed

Mon 6: Leftover meatballs, sauce, noodles, side salads after both kiddos skate

Tues 7: Big kiddo has a test session for skating. Little one starts learning her skate show routine at the other rink. Superstitious big kiddo wants soup and sandwich from Panera- little girl and Mr Autumm on their own

Weds 8" Little kiddo swim lessons. Leftover takeout pizza/ odds and ends to clear out the fridge

Thus 9" Moving day! Movers here in the morning and let’s be honest: take out Hoping not too much snow

Take care everyone!

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Yay, glad you’re reaching the finish line! Looking forward to seeing your pictures: love a kitchen reno (we did ours about 4 years ago and I love going into my kitchen every day)!

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How exciting! Here’s hoping you’ll have a smooth move, and that the forecast for the heavier snow is accurate (overnight Thurs night to Friday) & that it doesn’t track early. Can you go over and make beds Wednesday, so you have your resting spots ready?

Thanks for the easy-meal reminder of frozen meatballs & sauce – somehow even with all ingredients in the cupboards/freezer that’s one option I skipped over as I struggled to make this week’s plan.

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That’s crazy about your knee. Hope you’re feeling much better.

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It’s alovely sunny, if chilly, day in northwest England. But that’s the calm before the storm. Blizzard conditions are forecast for Thursday. We’ll still eat well:

Friday - Lemon sole goujons, spuds & salad

Sat - Watercress, orange & chicory salad to start. Roast pork, roast potatoes, red cabbage (freezer leftovers from Christmas). Apple crumble & custard

Sun - Two cartons from the freezer brown gloop drawer. One is “chicken & gravy”, the other “lamb & aubergine stew”. Carb & green s yet to be decided

Mon - Gong bao cveg and cashew nuts. Rice

Tues - Pasta puttanesca

Weds - out. Steakhouse chain

Thurs - sausage pasta bake. Bought sausages with fennel and chilli which should be sufficiently Italianesque (they come out of their skins becoming mini-meatballs).

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For anyone else intrigued by the chicken caprese skillet, don’t be. It really wanted to be skillet chicken Parmesan (with spinach) and I should have let it. The polenta rounds didn’t crisp up, and it was hard to “tuck” the polenta and chicken back into the skillet. Not a keeper. :confused:

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I prefer my own home made meatballs/sauce, but a freezer reserve sure is handy I’ve also noticed that commercial meatballs hold up better in the crockpot without disintegrating after an extended time. The less than ideal functioning of the apartment kitchen has led me to convenience foods. Trying to remember the highlights and move on from the Oops!

And here’s to hoping the snow keeps driving south! The beds need to be moved but all the stuffies (stuffed animals) have scheduled rides on the “Stuffie Express” so everyone will be ready when we are sleeping at home. Little girl is rather upset that the house sin’t the same. Transitions. . .

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I love the “stuffie express”! So sweet; everyone will make it safely together. It will be fun, I hope, for the girls to show the stuffies the new house and maybe explain the advantages to the changes. Good luck!

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Greetings, People.

I have still in storage to use up some of last-year’s carrot crop, so this week I’m most excited to make Erin Jeanne McDowell’s za’atar carrot scones. Hard to foresee whether I’ll love them or hate them, but there’s only one way to find out. I did a lot of baking last week, also. Mostly practicing my baguettes, I made a dozen of them (small ones), half of which went into the freezer. Will put those to use this week by making some soups to go with.

Still whittling down resources on hand, and cooking for two adults in the PNW.

FRI: Turkish red lentil soup. I like the Milkstreet version, which is regrettably behind a paywall, so unfortunately no link. Carrot-za’atar scones.

SAT: Wilted spinach, mushroom and bacon salad. Smoked silver salmon filet in oil. Baguette.

SUN: Beef on the grill. Garden spinach.

MON: Fruit vareniki, along with homemade pork and maple sausages. Both from the freezer.

TUE: Budget Byte’s version of Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup. Will add ham. Baguette.

WED: Epicurious’s lemony fish chowder with halibut, bacon and peas. Baguette.

THUR: Leftover bean soup. Baguette. Salad.

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That does look good! I found a non-paywall version.

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That’s the one! It’s very tasty, and I like the little bit of rice in there.

Thanks for finding it - I looked around for a link, but obviously not hard enough.

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Our tastes align so I am glad to have this, it will make good weekday lunches.

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They do! I just followed you - hope that’s OK.

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Please report on the scones - they sound intriguing.

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I will. The only thing I’ve made that is remotely similar was a spanikopita scone from Food52 with spinach and feta. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for it at all - the only scone I’ve met and didn’t love.

This one has the za’atar, carrots and little sugar going for it (sugar is optional, but she recomends it for extended shelf-life). I’m hoping for the best!

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Looks like a grand “Soup Week”.

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