Here’s my plan for the last week of March, still in Minnesota, feeding 4:
Mon (3/24): Turkey meatballs with zucchini noodles.
Tue (3/25): BBQ chicken with coleslaw (today’s date! one of my favourite meal).
Wed (3/26): Vegetable curry with rice.
Thu (3/27): Shepherd’s pie.
Fri (3/28): Shrimp scampi with linguine.
Sat (3/29): Takeout night (plans always shift!).
Sun (3/30): Lasagna with garlic bread.
Looking forward to seeing how these play out with MN’s unpredictable March weather! What’s your plan?
Welcome to the weekly menu planning thread. Your meals this week look delicious! I haven’t finalized my plans yet but I am planning on making ratatouille this weekend.
Reporting back as requested - this actually worked. I was in a bit of a rush at dinnertime, and decided it would be better to marinade small pieces of chicken rather than whole (or halved) breasts. I cooked them in a skillet but there was a lot of liquid from the chicken juices and poorly drained marinade… oops. Next time, I’d plan ahead and marinate and then grill or pan-sear whole (or halved) chicken breasts - it seems like the texture would have been better that way. And for those who like dark meat, thighs probably would work well too.
Our project week is over, the kitchen is painted, and everything is back in it’s place around the house. If it ever stops raining, we’ll go out and pull some weeds.
Cooking for two adults in the PNW.
FRI: Camarones Arendeados (chili shrimp). I like a Milk Street recipe which at one time I found on the internet with no paywall. I wish I had made a note of the link, because I can no longer find the source. You’ll have to trust me - it’s good.
SAT: A planned steak dinner from last week got pushed to this week. Will finish off the mac-and-cheese, and have a salad to go with.
SUN: Our tarragon is harvestable! Green goddess chicken. A leek-and-peas soup from the freezer. spring is in the air.
MON: Roberta’s pizza dough recipe.
TUE: Fasolada soup. I haven’t made this one before, but am thinking along the lines of this recipe from the Washington Post. BTW, I cancelled our subscription to the WaPo this week. Maybe I should sign up for the Atlantic?
WED: Not sure. I’ve got some Velveeta to use up ever since I made the mac-and-cheese. Maybe I’ll make queso and Tex Mex. Your best Velveeta ideas welcome!
THUR: If I’ve got the energy, I’m thinking moo shu pork with homemade mandarin pancakes. If not, then something else.
I love chicken and tarragon together, but I’ve never heard of green goddess chicken. I googled and there seem to be various ways of making it. The NYT uses the dressing as a marinade, and then as a possible sauce. Sounds amazing.
Somehow hadn’t thought about subscribing to The Atlantic (I did before Lulu, but never had the time to read it when she was around the house), but it is a brilliant idea and I am going to do so now.
Lol. Nobody is going to be impressed with my kitchen!
This is an 85 square-foot galley kitchen, freshly painted. Behind the bead curtain is a 35 square-foot space which - when we bought the house - was a laundry room, and subsequently converted by us into pantry space. Highly functional, but almost too small to get a good photo.
The real work last week was what’s behind all the cupboard doors and in the pantry. Everything was stuffed to the gills, and what organization there was, while it worked for me in my 50’s, was not so user-friendly in my 60’s. We decluttered, cleaned and painted everything inside and out, and reorganized all the gear and supplies to facilitate less bending over for the most frequently used items.
It’s a working kitchen. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
I love chicken and tarragon, too. Sometimes I’ll use the GG just as a dressing over chicken-and-salad-greens. Other times as a marinade, which is what I’m thinking this week for the grill. I’ve made roasted GG chicken in the past, which also is delicious.
In our search for alternative news coverage, DH recently subscribed to the London Times (UK) and Globe and Mail (CA), both of which he likes, especially the Times. I also read the Guardian and the NYT, and now, it would appear - the Atlantic!
The best cooks I know have almost always worked in tiny spaces and/or with non-fancy cookware (like my mom).
I love the beaded curtain. I can just hear the gentle sounds as you walk through it to gather up your pots and pans (an enviable collection, not like my mama’s). If I were your husband, it would be positively Pavlovian to hear that sound 3 or more times a day. Thanks for sharing!
ETA: I just zoomed in to see your “I Ukee” fridge magnet. So do we (been there 3 times now)! Loved Ukee Days last time we were there. And I’m a Vans girl, so it goes without saying that I love the checkerboard floor.
I endorse subscribing to the Atlantic! Years ago, I had an ongoing print subscription courtesy of my paternal grandmother (my brother and I laughingly agreed we realized she finally thought of us as fully adult — we were in late 20s or early 30s — when she included us in the Christmas gift subscriptions she alway gave to our parents and aunts and uncle). I started subscribing digitally a few years ago, and the online content is plentiful and very good as news sources go. I’d say the same about the New Yorker.
The Guardian I am now supporting fully financially (and fantastic food and dining section) and I’ve had my subscription to the NYT including the food sections for decades now. The Atlantic…yes, I’ll start, even though there is no food section!
And I think your kitchen is both beautiful and functional. I’m jealous!
Lol - thanks for the encouragement! I love working in galley kitchen, far more than I did when we lived in a Victorian house with a bigger, but funkier and unfunctional (for me at least) work space.
You would love our pull-trailer! It’s a retro style, with the same checkerboard floor in it. The house I grew up in also had a black and white checkerboard kitchen floor (with bright red chairs!).
LLD and I used to have brunch at a little French place that had roast chicken with a clearish tarragon sauce that I was crazy for and have never been able to come close to replicating. The place has closed, so I can’t ask for the recipe. Always on the lookout, but also always interested in anything that combines chicken and tarragon.
I grew up in DC, and the Post was my paper until we moved to Chapel Hill in 2004. It’s unbelievable to me what is happening to it. My brother asked me what he should switch to when he cancelled his subscription last month, and I suggested The NY Times. But maybe I will get him a subscription to The Atlantic. Got mine right after reading your post earlier.
A clear tarragon sauce sounds delicious! Now I’m on a mission to find one.
OT: My aunt and her family lived in CH for decades. I have a couple of great food memories from visits out there. One is the first quiche I ever tasted, on a picnic with my cousin at the University. I spent years trying to replicate it, and finally - having now come close - am at peace with that. The other when same said cousin - on a different picnic - tried to smash a fly with a ketchup bottle. Needless to say, that fly didn’t survive, but all is rellies came zooming in to help clean up the mess…
Ukee” fridge magnet. So do we (been there 3 times now)! Loved Ukee Days last time we were there. And I’m a Vans girl, so it goes without saying that I love the checkerboard floor.
