So far so good..I suppose

I have made 3 meals from the menu & since there have only been 4 meals since I went shopping for it; that is pretty good. Tuesday I made spaghetti with creamy pesto & chicken because the grocery store had no leeks for the Beguine soup I had intended to make. Wednesday I made the Salmon cakes. I had intended to make this asian version with fresh ginger & edamame beans. The grocery store had no fresh ginger & the bag in my freezer I had thought was shelled edamame was in fact, peas. So I made it with ground ginger & peas. Very tasty!! I bet the original version is even better (note to self: do not grocery shop on Tuesdays, everything is restocked tuesday night) Last night I was going to make veal milanese, but it became instead veal positano, with a creamy tomato sauce. Today's baked ziti is now baked penne (note to self: a glance is insufficient when checking supplies before grocery shopping) made with the extra positano sauce added to tomato sauce and leftover diced veal.

Tomorrow night I am taking the boys to Burger King for dinner & picking up sushi for myself on the way home. The boys liked the pesto pasta, were so so onthe salmon caked (try breading them next time) and very dubious about the veal. I'm fairly sure they will eat the penne, pasta is one of the few things I can be 90% certain they will eat. Sunday night is DH's problem. We may do a cook out with the neighbors or he'll make pork chops. If he asks nicely I may make the beguine soup or the chicken velvet soup. I forgot the ground beef while shopping so the meatball soup is out until I get to the store again.

really, I am going to get my act together on this. I swear.

Menu for the next 2 weeks

I have decided to plan 12 means per 14 day period this year,and actually cook at least 10 of those, putting me one up from last year. We go out to eat one weekend night & the other can be fairly random, but this way we know at least *most* ofthe ingredients are available for something. May have to run out for fresh veggies but the basics will be there. This has been working out fairly well so this year, espeically since the random meal works out to be pasta with whatever veg is avaiable or veg soup.

Most of my meals have been coming from Rachel Ray's books lately, though I often end up altering them to suit me over time. This time I am using her
Mini Meatball Soup
Garlic Roast Chicken
Veal Milanese (new, we'll see what the boys think)
Salmon Cakes
Bracioli with mushroom tomato gravy

I've been into EveryDay Italian too
Chicken Parmesan
Simple Bolonese sauce (I put on several dished this time period)

There there are some soups
Beguine Soup - from 12 months of monestary soups
Velvet Chicken Soup - from complete book of soups & stews

An my own stuff
Pasta Carbonara
Baked Ziti
Salmon with leeks in foil

Next year I hope to have this main meal thing down & will work on side dishes

August Menu

New recipies
Farfalle with sausage & peas
Rosemary beef (crock pot)
Pasta w/eggplant
Pot Roast with veg gravy
Split Pea Soup II
Chicken & bean antipasta
Stuffed Pork (crock pot)

Regular standbys
Chicken parmesan
Chicken & sweet potato salad
Salmon
Potato soup
Tilapia gratin
Veggie soup
Tuna & bean salad
Ravioli
Meatloaf
Steak & Spinich salad - x2
Pizza - x2

Dinner this past week

Monday - fish sticks - still recovering from vacation weekend
Tuesday - tuna & bean salad
Wednesday - out to dinner for birthday
Thursday - taquitos - really bad sinus headaches
Friday - braciole
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - cookout burgers

Today

I need to make bolognese sauce & some honey white bread while the boys are napping. I think I can overlap the prep, if i get the veggies for the sauce chopped first.

I bought some pumpkin butter in Wheeling & I think it would go good with the honey white bread. I'll have to go through my recipies to see what other breads I have that it might go good with. Something with wheat germ or whole wheat perhaps.

Meals this week

Monday - chicken & artichoke pizza (Boboli)
Tuesday - beef & rice casserole. did not like the seasonings
Wednesday - split pea soup. Very good! Garlic breadstick were lousy though
Thursday - Sunday - out of town

Meals this week

were

Kabobs
Fish gratin (tilapia)
Stir fry with brocoli & brown minute rice (not an inspired dish)
Safeway baked potato soup (added spinich & pureed) & homemade brioche
Taquitos & toddler pasta (Brad was working late & I was tired)
Flaming Wok - sushi & tangerine beef
Chicken cook out at Ls

July's Menu

In no particular order after the first 2. Many new dishes are from Everyday Italian. I am making a 6 cup batch of 'simple bolognese' sauce from EI & freezing most of it so I will have sauce on hand for random pasta nights. I also plan on making her Mushroom Ragu if I can find some decent non-button mushrooms.

Leftover kabobs
Stir fry with remaning kabob meat
Beef & rice casserole (crock)
Braciole
Rosemary Beef & garlic (crock)
Chicken Parmesan (EI)
Skillet Chicken with Couscous
Chicken & Beans antipasta (c2)
Fish gratin
White Bean & Tuna Salad (EI)
Tarragon Fish toast
Salmon in Foil (EI)
Soup & brioche
Split Pea soup
Spinich & Mushroom stuffed Pork (crock)
Pizza- x2
Spaghetti with Bolognese sauce
Farfalle with Sausage Peas & mushrooms (EI)
Pasta with Eggplant sauce (30MM)

better but not great

The beef with leftovers was a nice plan, but it really wasn't good as stir fry. Once again I failed to make the Chicken stew. It needs fennel. Wal-mart doesn't sell fennel & Safeway hasn't had it when I remember to look for it there, though I have seen it in the past. If I ever come across fennel at random though, I know exactly what I am going to do with it. Some of the dishes didn't get made because I again failed to thaw meat in a timely manner, or got sidetracked from what I was going to use it for & never got back to it until the meat had sat too long in the fridge. I've got to get a handle on that. The wasting food thing is much better now that I used to be though. I need to keep track of what I am cooking & what I think of it more often. My memory is shot.

June's Menu

I got a Slow Cooker Cookbook.

Savory BBQ Ribs (SC)
Beef Roast with Leftovers(SC)
Beef & Asparagus
Chinese Beef & Broccoli
Chicken & Vegetable Tortellini Stew (2nd attempt)
Salmon with lentils (NC)'
Salmon Cakes
Chicken & sweet potato salad
London Broil
Steak Salad
Oven Roasted Beef
Pizza - x3
Pasta - x4
Meatloaf with hidden eggplant
Pork Chops
Monte Cristo
Soup - x2
Fish Gratin
Chicken & risotto
Chicken teriyaki

Not too bad

Brad missed a few dinners, which sort of kills my desire to cook. The little boys are spotty eaters. I never know if today is the day one or both of them will feel like eating or not.

I didn't make a few things, like the pasta. When Brad was home I tried to do new things. i also had issues remembering to defrost things.

May's Menu

Pasta - to be announced what kind - 4x
Pizza - 3x
Meatloaf
Chicken & stuffing (crock)
Flank steak
Steak salad (leftover)
Herbed chicken tenders
Pork chops
Veggie soup & bread
TBA soup & bread - 2x
rosemary beef (crock)
Pork teriyaki (crock)
Fish gratin
Broiled salmon
Spinich & salmon salad
Chicken & vegetable tortellini stew (crock)