Tasty Tuesdays!!! 8.16.16

jennbaylor12

Happy Tuesday!! 

Please post recipes that are tasting yummy to you, comfort foods, healthy alternatives, go-to favorites.... whatever you've got!!

Gizmo1231

Is this menus for the week? I loved this thread on my old BMB.
Sunday- pizza pasta bake
Monday- cheese and bacon quiche
Tuesday- fajitas
wednesday- French dips 
Thursday- pizza 

kbduke

Here's our menu plan this week:

Sunday - Calzones
Monday - Shrimp Alfredo
Tuesday - Chicken with gravy (crockpot), mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green beans
Wednesday - Baked Ziti
Thursday - Steak and Shrimp Fajitas
Friday - Probably Pizza
Saturday - DH's choice

dmontgo

How do y'all plan menus for the week? I'm a huge planner and this particular area I just suck in. Any tips?

phoenix870509

Quick and easy pork recipe and it tastes AMAZING! I can't do spicy (triggers my IBS) so I omit the cayenne powder. I'll do mine first then add some chili powder for DH.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/2010/08/glazed-pork-chops/

maamawaabangi

This is for tonight....
https://www.littlebroken.com/2016/06/21/summer-fresh-corn-and-zucchini-chowder/

We we have a ton of farmers market corn and zucchini. Hopefully a double or triple batch for freezing too! 

whitneyp26

@dmontgo I choose the dinners but don't stick to particular nights. I have to make what I'm in the mood for. If I know it's a busy day those will
probably be crock pot nights. 

This week:
Wasatch mountain chili (it's really more of a soup. Kind of Mexican-y. Northern beans hominy and chicken with a chicken-lime-cilantro broth. 

Salmon picatta

fried chicken and mashed potatoes

steak kabobs

chicken fajitas

Austenista

@dmontgo I have a pinterest board that is specifically for meals of the week. Even if the recipe is mine, I'll pin something that looks like it as a reminder. I also have it as a note on my phone. I don't designate anything to days of the week, just have a running list of what we have. Then I look at recipes+our pantry and make a grocery list of what I need before I go to the store(s). Here's what it looks like this week (just copy/pasted from my phone): 

Breakfast

Smoothie bowls

Oatmeal/grits

cereal 

smoothies 

bagels with v. cream cheese

lunch

sushi

avocado toast

vegan spring rolls  

leftovers

dinner

1. engine two lasagna ✔️
2. broccoli and cheddar potatoes
3. jambalaya✔️
4. vegan nachos ✔️
5. minestrone soup
6. sun dried tomato basil pasta
7. vegan macaroni and cheese

snacks 

fruit

dates + almond butter

animal crackers 

grocery list

pink sea salt ✔️

nutritional yeast ✔️

vegan chocolate chips✔️

Loaf of breadx2✔️

bananas✔️

Savoy cabbage ✔️

onion✔️

broccoli✔️

white rice✔️

vegan cream cheese✔️

can stewed tomatoes✔️

can diced tomatoes ✔️

thyme✔️

dried basil✔️

spinach ✔️

frozen green beans

sun dried tomatoes✔️

roasted red peppers✔️

raw cashews✔️

kidney beans ✔️

white beans ✔️

bag of tortilla chips ✔️

avocados ✔️

more fruit✔️   

vegetable spring rolls✔️

ff refried beans ✔️

bagels?✔️

berries✔️

tinattt23

@dmontgo I spent months honing my meal planning system. Everyone has their own system of what works best for them. I hated every single one that I saw online and eventually peiced together something that worked for me. 

I spend time one day a week (usually Friday evenings/Saturday morning) planning the following week. I shop on Sunday's. I have two binders, one full of recipes and one for plans. In my plan binder, I have a master list of all meals I typically make in a chart with a column for each month. My OCD says I can't make the same meal twice in a month. So I mark off when it's been made each month. The list is organized by category (casserole, pasta, Mexican, Asian, etc) since my OCD also demands no two meals of the same category in any one week. So I use my master list to pick meals for the week. I try and keep in mind what ingredients may be left over from one meal and find another meal that could use the rest for another day to try and keep produce from going bad. Then I make my grocery list (OCD organized by aisle) from what I've planned. I also print the weekly menu list and post it on the fridge. 

It took me awhile to set up the system, but now I just have all my templates saved (yeah, OCD took over template perfecting too). It takes me maybe 15-30 minutes to fill them in each week. 

aframe77

OMG you guys are inspiring! Thanks for the ideas!

dmontgo

Thank you so much ladies! I have pinned so many recipes, but I need to make a binder to keep everything together since it's easy for me to get overwhelmed with all of the recipes.

@caseyewhitaker I love your menu! 

A goal I have is to get better at this by the time baby gets here!

jandd2014

@tinattt23  I aspire to be like you!

I spend some time Saturday mornings (usually when I first get up because DH sleeps later than I do) planning what we will eat for dinner the following week, then make my grocery list and usually shop Saturday mornings too. We have a few meals that we eat every week, but I try to switch it up a few nights too. We usually have turkey tacos, hamburgers, pizza, salmon, and chicken most weeks. Some weeks I feel ambitious and make lasagna, enchilada casserole, or stir fry. Most of the time I rotate through chili, pasta/meat/sauce combos, quesadillas, or pork chops. DH is pretty picky so I cant branch out too much or he wont eat it I try to jazz things up with marinades or sauces. Luckily DH likes to grill so most of the times on Sundays he makes a bunch of meat and we eat it for dinner that night and he takes that for his lunch the rest of the week. 
Our "branching out" for this week is corn dogs at the county fair

mysteryship

Thai pork salad tonight, last night unstuffed pepper skillet. DH made couscous salad with eggplant & zucchini a few days ago.

We don't really meal plan, but we keep a lot of the same staple ingredients around and then make decisions day to day based on what's growing at the farm and our mood. We have lots of really broad standard meals we like that can adjust based on what we have - couscous salad, stir fries, pasta, quesadillas, soup.

@maamawaabangi I made corn and squash (and potato) chowder last week, with buttermilk. Felt crazy making it in the heat but it was so good!

cgss11

Monday we were supposed to have chicken and sweet potatoes in the crockpot, but I forgot to plug it in. Oops. So I made the Lo Mein I was planning on later in the week. Now I need to figure that out still. 

I cook twice a week, Monday and Wednesday and we have the leftovers Tuesday/Thursday. Sometimes I plan ahead to make something Friday, sometimes we go out, sometimes I stop at the store on my way home to grab something. I sit down one evening to plan to the next and make a grocery list. DH and I also pack lunches. When I get home from the store Saturday, or Sunday morning I do as much prep as I can. Chop and wash veggies and fruits, make lunches (I usually take some type of quinoa/lentil/bean type salad), just generally have everything ready to go. Makes weeknights go much faster.

Christinaruth74

You meal planning Mommas inspire me. I can never get it together... 
So far this week- 
Monday- KFC
Tuesday- sautéed salmon (read- "sizzling in loads of butter"), roasted potatoes and corn on the cob
wednesday- probably some sort of creamy chicken and broccoli type crock pot dish

thats all I've got so far. 

kbduke

@tinattt23 I love your method! DH was talking the other day about how we should have a master list of all the recipes we use for meal planning. I also organize my list by grocery store aisles. I feel that it really helps keep me organized. 

I sit down sunday mornings and write out a meal plan and master list. I cook Sunday through the next Friday and Saturdays are DH's one night to choose. We usually eat out on Saturdays. I ask for suggestions for the next week but usually I just look through my binder of recipes and use Pinterest for ideas. 

sourlemon

I suck at meal planning and DH is so picky it's depressing. 

But...I made zucchini feta fritters tonight and he ate one! It was served with chicken nuggets. DD only ate the chicken. 

Gizmo1231

@dmontgo when I make my grocery list for the week I plan out a week of dinners so I know what to buy. That is the easiest way for me! 

allicat89

Had a day off so I made fried chicken, which is DH's favorite. https://www.food.com/recipe/southern-fried-chicken-look-out-kfc-paula-deen-108364

It's not hard to make, but if you have a small deep fryer, it takes a little while to cook all the pieces. I skip the hot sauce (because we don't like spice) and add salt and pepper to the dredge mix. Also, buying a whole chicken and cutting it up? No way! I just get a pack of drumsticks or thighs, whatever is cheapest. I had forgotten how delicious this recipe was until I had two drumsticks for lunch today. Soo good.