Weekly Menu Planning - The Wintry Mix Edition - 1/2019

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
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On bad days, 5:00 p.m. rolls around and panic strikes the heart: oh, no - what’s for dinner?! Either something is cobbled together from fridge and pantry, snacks are inhaled over the sink, or takeout saves the night. It happens.

But then there are days when all the pieces just fall into place. When careful planning is brought to fruition with exciting, balanced, varied menus and plenty of leftovers for future meals. Who wouldn’t like more of that?

This discussion is for the planners and aspiring planners among us. What dinners do you have on tap this week? If you have recipe links, feel free to share them. And because life rarely follows a script, how your good intentions work themselves out in reality can be reported in the “What’s for Dinner” thread.

So, what meals do you have in mind? Post a whole week or as many meals as you have figured out.

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This is my weekly plan, which rarely goes accordingly :joy:…

Tonight: Curry-ketchup roasted salmon filets, buttered limas, sauteed squashes with jalapeño, green salad

Tue.: IP Boeuf Bourgignon, egg noodles, green beans

Wed.: Cauliflower and chorizo tacos

Thurs.: Turkey keema aloo and cauli rice, raita

Fri.: Green chili shrimp, rice, glazed carrots

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Tonight child # 5 comes to eat…He is an RN at a major ER at Manhattan trauma center.
He is off today…he asked for left overs from last night out at an Italian restaurant…then greens with tomato, avocado, capicola, and cucumber with blue cheese.
Then double cut brined center cut pork chops, smashed potatoes, and white rice.

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How do you cook those chops? I’ve avoided them because I’ve tended to overcook any but the thin ones.

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Let’s see how we go on this!

Tonight was a use it or loose it dinner: salmon topped with mustard/brown rice, a bit of roasted broccoli, a lone zucchini roasted, baked sweet potato fries and cucumber/red onion salad
Tomorrow: I am off so I hope to make it to the asian grocery store and make something Korean. Maybe Korean rice bowls??
Wednesday: I am going to have to let someone on my team go. I am dreading it so planning on comfort food. Malaysian curry. Something I have made time and time again and I love.
Thursday: Back in the office so it will need to be quick. Thinking fresh pasta with mixed veggies and sausage
Friday: Likely takeout??
Saturday: Possible snow. Bread baking and WINE

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After the chops are brined for about 3 hours, they are dried off, I season them with a little Goya brand adobo, get a grill pan super hot, then a few drops of canola oil on the chops and into the pan. I start with about 4 minutes each side then turn the heat down to medium low I use a instant probe thermometer until they read 160. I take them out and let them rest for about 3 or 4 minutes covered with a pan top of some foil. Since the chops tend to be lean, I generally serve with a sauce. Last evening some sautéed onions and mushrooms with butter and a dash of sherry.

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Well. I had planned and prepped Korean (including a chili sauce, marinade and mung bean/cucumber pickle) but when my husband wasn’t going to be home until 10, I just ate random leftovers. All of that should hold fine until tomorrow.

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Chicken & mushrooms tonight - I have some mushrooms to use up. I’d like Jul to make her Gumbo on Friday since it’s supposed to be nasty all weekend. Tomorrow? Hmmm… TBD but I’m thinking lasagna - I have all the ingredients.

Business is slow this time of the year so there’s time to be in the kitchen. We’re going to eat like pigs for a month or two.

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Monday night was chicken tettrazini (had the roasted chicken in the freezer) and the last of the garden beets for salad with freezer goat cheese and fresh lettuce. Tonight is pierogies with peppers (freezer), onions and cabbage if I can salvage some good bits. Tomorrow corn chowder (corn stock in freezer, aging potatoes on the counter). Friday leftovers and Saturday is our traditional pizza night. I really, really want to cook from the freezer as much as possible over the next month or two as it’s jam packed.

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Well the chicken didn’t thaw so it was spaghetti w/ meat sauce tonight. Chicken tomorrow. The best laid plans eh?

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Just back from my extended trip, decided to try online grocery ordering for basic replenishment. Mixed bag, four things missing / out of stock (seems odd, not unusual items), and two that were less than prime quality. But, didn’t need to run out for milk and eggs, so there’s that.

Short week, trying to be vegetable-heavy to start out. Also toying with the idea of a set day or two that stay vegetarian - it’s so easy to plan around meat/fish plus veg, I want to retrain my brain and shift to fewer days of that.

Wed - grazed all day - extra sandwiches from the journey, sushi ordered in, coffee, and ended with a big bow of yogurt for dinner.

Thurs - want to try a vegetarian scotch broth - base recipe is lamb stock-based, but mom makes a killer veg barley soup that I’m going to try instead. Love barley, don’t eat enough of it mostly because I forget.

Fri - Eggs, probably an omelette, with a bag of baby spinach sautéed on the side.

Sat - Warm gigantes bean salad with what was supposed to be a broccoli recipe from Fresh India (Malai broccoli), but broccoli was missing in my delivery, so either cauliflower which did come, or I’ll have gone to the store by now for the broccoli and other things.

Sun - Soy-ginger salmon, with whatever vegetables remain or what I buy. Temptation is to go to chinatown for some interesting veg and a haul of exotic mushroom.

Planning helps me rethink my meal priorities and shopping, and reduces wrack-my-brain or stare-at-fridge syndrome when hungry!

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Welcome back! Your input was clearly missed here and some other boards on HO!

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Thanks! It’s always interesting to settle back into a kitchen routine after not doing most of the planning or cooking for an extended period!

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