menu plan monday // Khrista 06.27.11

This week's menu is brought to you almost entirely by the Martha Stewart Everyday Food App for iPhone! I love this app! I have many favorite MS recipes and now they are all in one place! yay! I highly recommend it! I also have another app that has been incredibly useful to me that I love and hope to do a post about soon!

..::MONDAY::..

Spinach Lentil Soup with Hillbilly Bread

..::TUESDAY::..

Penne alla Norma (Martha Stewart Everyday Food App Rocks! :)

..::WEDNESDAY::..

Mexican-Style Lasagna

..::THURSDAY::..

Eggplant Mozzarella Melt

..::FRIDAY::..

Homemade Pizza Night - We may have guests so I might make both Funky Lime (I make this a little differently than Bonnie. I should post my tweaks.)  AND Taco Pizza! (My new FAVORITE pizza!)

..::SATURDAY::..

Early 4th of July feast - undetermined as of yet...

..::SUNDAY::..

Eat Out


Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

My Menu - Bonnie - 15 June 2011

i'm nothing if not a serious multi tasker
it's rare that i'm only doing one thing ... i'm not sure if this is
good or bad, but it is the way i am ...

my menu planning this week happened in the bath tub ! with bubbles !
and a top up once the water got cold ...

if you've been following along on facebook you will know that i've
been on a bit of a 'cook out of the freezer/pantry' kick.
here's a few of the meals i made last week ...

anyway ... this week, i decided to plan for the 16 days we have left before our trip using as much as i could out of the fridge and pantry. i started by taking an inventory of all the core ingredients (whose been watching masterchef?!) we had in our freezer/fridge/pantry and trying to plan meals around those so that i will only have to do minimal shopping. i then took that, and my iPhone (with the beans blog mobile friendly page !) to the tub with a pen and paper and planned away ! i'm pretty excited with what i've come up with !!

wed june 15
pizza (had dough in the freezer)
funky lime X2
pepperoni (had pepperoni in the freezer)
tapenade with mushroom (making this one up)

thurs june 16
sloppy lentil pie (using the sloppy lentil leftovers that i froze)
i'll add peas and corn and make a pie with puff pastry
serving with roasted cauliflower and broccoli


fri june 17
lumpia (but i'm going to use been mince because i have it in the freezer)
black bean spaghetti with calamari (i bought the spaghetti ages ago to try ....)

sat june 18
falafel (why do i have so many cans of chickpeas in my pantry !?!)
with salad and tsatsiki

sun june 19
spanikopita meatballs but not serving with rice
serving with spicy potatoes and leftover greens/tsatsitki from saturday

mon june 20
buttered egg noodles with parsley
cajun flavor (?? maybe ?? we'll see how it develops) chicken pieces
with lemony rosemary carrots

tues june 21
chicken rogan josh (leftovers frozen a while back)
with jasmine rice and corn (yeah ... i have a HUGE bag of corn in the freezer!)

wed june 22
chicken chimichangas (using leftovers frozen tortillas)
with guacamole and sour cream

thurs june 23
burrito bowl
basmati, lime, coriander
black beans, olives, tomatoes, cheese
sauteed onions ? salsa and sour cream if any is left from wednesday.

fri june 24
mexican cous cous
will use tinned tomatoes and a can of green chilies if there is no salsa left

sat june 25
nothing planned ... gotta leave some nights open for weekend spontaneity !

sun june 26
crock pot baked potato soup (use frozen avocado on top)
(have you tried frozen avo? - i love having it in the freezer !!)

mon june 27
garlic and coriander chicken
with bok choy and rice

tues june 28
we have an individual serve of ham bone soup in the freezer
also some leftover frozen spinach and pumpkin dahl
going to also try Jill's Channa dal (curried chickpeas)
and i will make naan

wed june 29

thurs june 30

i'm leaving the final two days unplanned because i am sure that these meals will not all get eaten on the exact days as our lives need a bit of flexibility and you know ...stuff happens. so ... we will either eat leftovers or meals that got missed during the weeks due to plan changes. if none of those are an option, we'll do eggs on toast or something like that ...

all of that ... and i only have 30 things on my shopping list ! for over two weeks ! amazing.

and that is all i will plan until i am PLANNING MEALS WITH MY MOM !! and my Dad. and my cousin Pam. and my brother Jimmy. and my cousin Jill when she arrives from Nicaragua. And then with my sister Ellie & Ryan (my bro b/c he married my sis) And Shay and Shawn when we spend some days with them ... and Rory of course ... I am soooooooooooooooo excited !! soooo soooo excited !!

How To Make Buñelos (Nicaraguan Doughtnuts)

Step 1: Peel the yucca with a large sharp knife

Step 2: Wash the peeled yucca

Step 3: Chop into cubes, rinse again to remove excess starch

Step 4: Add cinnamon and the crazy salty local cheese

Step 5: Steep cinnamon and cloves in honey for the sauce

Step 6: Throw the yucca mixture into a bucket, walk it down to the molina for grinding into a paste

And we're grinding...and we're grinding...

Step 7: Add sugar to the yucca paste

Step 8: Heat oil in a frying pan. While you're waiting for the oil to heat, try to amuse a baby.

Step 9: Add spoonfuls of the dough to the hot oil. Fry until buñelos resemble chicken wings

Step 10: Add honey sauce. Devour as fast as you can without burning your mouth.

Caution, do not get distracted whilst frying, lest your doughnuts end up thusly.

Ta da! This is how we make Buñelos

menu plan monday // Khrista 06.13.11

Has it really been since APRIL since I posted a weekly menu?! Whoa! I have been planning, just not posting! Here's our plan for this week:

..::MONDAY::..

Baked Ziti with Zucchini, Chickpeas, & Olives

(this is a new one for us and is delicious! I made so much of it the first time I made it that we were able to put away a pan in the freezer. We took it out tonight and it was just as good! Will share soon!)

..::TUESDAY::..

Okra & Tomatoes (our Okra in the garden is ready to harvest!)

..::WEDNESDAY::..

Caponata Linguine (a new recipe for us, using some of the BEAUTIFUL eggplant from our garden!)

..::THURSDAY::..

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes, Fresh Green Beans & Salad

..::FRIDAY::..

Homemade Pizza - Funky Lime

..::SATURDAY::..

Eat Out

..::SUNDAY::..

Father's Day - Eating Out & I'm making DR PEPPER CAKE

Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup

I saw this recipe over at the flour sack and just HAD TO TRY IT ! I am so glad I did ! This is one delicious soup. I made a few adjustments though. I LOOOOOVE roasted garlic and decided that it would be amazing in this soup ... it was.

Here's how I did mine ...

3 blobs of butter (I didn't really measure, just scooped)
1 leek, sliced (I just slice til I get up to the dirty bits)
1 bunch of spring onions (They needed to be used up but they were a good addition)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 whole garlic heads, chop of the top (you know, the part that holds them all together)
6 cups chicken stock
a bay leaf
salt
pepper
700g (1.5lb) potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
450g (1lb) red potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
1/2 cup cream (although, I didn't measure and may have used a little more)
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
a hand full of fresh chives, minced
garlic chips ... (thinly sliced garlic, shallow fried in olive oil til golden brown)

Preheat oven to 200C (400F), wrap your two garlic heads in tin foil and let roast in oven til softened. (I think it took about 30/40 minutes) Prepare rest of ingredients.

Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add leaks and spring onions, cook til soft. Stir in garlic and cook another minute or so, til it smells GREAT ! Add broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Partially cover and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and continue to simmer til potatoes are tender. 15 minutes ? 20 ? Pull out the bay leaf. By now, your garlic should be roasted. Squeeze garlic out of the skins into a small bowl. Smush it up with a fork. Put it, along with the cream and thyme into the soup. Check your seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Use your zoop zoop (stick/immersion blender) to process the soup til creamy ... leave a few potato chunks if you like. Sprinkle with garlic chips and fresh chives.