Menu Planning Recap

So this was my first week participating in Menu Plan Monday.  I wanted to recap how we did.  I am actually really proud of us and am looking forward to doing this again for future weeks.


Here is what I had planned.  Anything I did different is in green.  I didn't take many pictures, and I apologize, but I will work on it for the future.


Monday

• Guy Fieri's Chili Rice (Made with Morningstar Crumbles) ***
• Sweet Corn Cake or Cornbread ***

This was a recipe we hadn't tried before, but was similar to something called Rice Mess that we used to eat all the time.  I loved that it was a one pot dish.  (You throw the rice in with everything else, and let it all cook together.)  This was really easy and packed with protein.  We'll be making this one again.  

The cornbread was not so great.  I used the Arrowhead Mills Mix.  The directions said to mix until just wet.  So I was not anticipating a very loose batter, which was what I got.  So I added a little more mix.  We ended up with a very dry cornbread.  Which was not to our liking.  (Though Sprout loved it!  Go figure!) I will have to try it again without adding the extra mix. 

Sprout thought she would help.

Tuesday

• Baked Ravioli (using spinach ravioli) ***
• Salad
• Garlic Bread?  Using Honey of an Oatmeal Bread 

On Tuesday, I decided I wasn't in the mood for ravioli (I'm not the biggest fan of ravioli unless it is mushroom or butternut squash.)  So I made baked ziti.  I made one with ricotta and one without (I don't like it), and topped them both off with provolone.  It came out great.


I did take a couple slices of the Honey of an Oatmeal bread and add a garlic concoction on top.  (I took a couple tablespoons of butter, a little olive oil, and some grated garlic and mixed it all together.)  It came out well.


Wednesday

• Burgers
• Veggie/Mushroom Burgers ***
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Rolls (maybe made from Honey of an Oatmeal Bread recipe)

I made JGD and Sprout normal burgers, which I cooked on the stove.  (I've never done that before, but I need a "cooling rack" to use for meat in the oven.)  They both enjoyed them and there was nothing leftover.  I made myself some tuna burgers because I never made it back to the store for the mushrooms.  I was not a fan, but found that I had to add a lot of breadcrumbs to the recipe to get them to stick together.  They came out very dry.  


I cheated made Whole Foods Tater Tots because I forgot that I wanted to soak the cut sweet potatoes before cooking them and ran out of time.


I made Honey Wheat Sandwich Rolls (I was out of oatmeal).  (To make these pareve, able to eat with milk or meat, I used soy milk).   I made it into four rolls and a loaf of bread.  These were just as good as the Honey of an Oat Bread.  I will probably make the Honey of an Oat bread more because it has the oatmeal in it, and we could use that in our diet.

Thursday

• Macaroni and Cheese (Broccoli)
• Salad

As it turned out JGD was not home for dinner Thursday night.  (He was flown to Atlanta for an interview :-).)  So it was just Sprout and I.  I didn't want to go through the trouble of making a baked mac and cheese so I made Alton Brown's Stovetop Version (and 86-ed the salad, we were out of lettuce anyway.)


Friday

• Chicken Marsala
• Fake Chicken Marsala (using Gardein)
• Garlic Pasta (throw some garlic in the boiling water)
• Salad
• Challah

Friday night I did make challah, but I tried substituting honey for the sugar (without looking up the proper and ratio) and added whole wheat flour.  Probably would have been fine if I knew the ratio for sugar to honey.  So I will do that this week.

We didn't have boneless chicken breast, so JGD pick out chicken quarters (dark) and I was left to figure something out.  I ended up cooking it in the oven with white wine, lemon juice, onion and garlic.  I was told it was good.

Instead of pasta, I made wild rice, and we had broccoli.

Weekend

• Vegan Cholent? ***
• Mushroom Barley Soup?

This weekend I got a night off and we went out for Thai.

Extra Ideas

• Sloppy Joes

Lunch Ideas

• grilled cheese
• quesadillas
• grilled peanut butter and jelly (apples)
• Muffin Tin Monday
• pasta salad
• leftovers
• turkey ("Tofurky) sandwiches

It's not what we ate for lunch, but that we ate it at home that I cared about.  And we did really well this week.  We only went for lunch one day, Steak and Shake (with a coupon).  So that was a lot better than weeks past.

Hopefully, that trend will continue.