Meal Planning : Weekly Eats with Whole Parenting Family {Vol. 5}

We've been making our way through the Turkey Day leftovers. It is quite incredible how many meals can be made from one turkey. Ours was about 8 lbs. but it was feeding only three people (two and a half since I doubt the toddler was pulling her weight as a third feaster).

Steve smoked the turkey over hickory so the smell permeated the entire fowl, including the bones. As I boiled the bones for soup stock, the entire house filled with the smell of hickory smoke. (I was actually alarmed for a moment about what was on fire.) Our soup was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. with the added addition of hickory flavor.

Here's a few other things we enjoyed this week:

Sunday - gingerbread pancakes  served with eggs and bacon

Monday - bean burritos topped with spicy salsa

Tuesday - shepherds' pie : I placed the leftover turkey and stuffing in a pyrex dish and whipped up a pan of mashed potatoes, enough to cover the top. Baked it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Wednesday - turkey soup : made something based on this recipe here

Thursday - sloppy joes in whole wheat buns served alongside zucchini

Friday - breakfast for dinner: omelets with cheddar and ham & whole wheat applesauce cake (oops, I guess I'm serving dessert for dinner -- don't tell my mom)


And, you, what's on your menu this week??

Link up here! Or to peruse more ideas.

Meal Planning : Weekly Eats ~ Thanksgiving Edition

To get you in the mood for prepping for Thanksgiving dinner this week, we're sharing our Thanksgiving dinner ideas on Nell's Weekly Eats link-up!

 

The 2008 turkey that wouldn't cook. (Like the one from 2005.) Don't let me near your turkeys, guys.

This will be our first Thanksgiving with just my husband and the girls. It is a little intimidating being in charge of all the dishes, but, then, I'm only making enough for four (three, really). We're planning on having a little Pilgrim and Indian party to make it fun for the girls (and to commemorate the night my husband and I met -- yes, we met at a Pilgrim and Indian party hosted by the man himself -- so it only seems fitting). ;)

And, yes, we blow dry turkeys at my parents' house. It started when one of my brothers got the ingenious idea when my mom told him to dry it off. She meant with paper towels.

Here is the dinner plan for the evening:

Appetizer
baked brie with cranberries 
I won't follow this recipe to a T but it will be something similar. We'll serve this alongside some multigrain crackers. 

Main course dishes
turkey

We're actually going to bbq ours this year. My husband is a pro on the grill and he has the extra large one. So to the grill it will go.

stuffing

I tend to just do one of the boxed kinds (and will probably do a cornbread one), following the instructions on the back. Exciting, I know.

gravy
Not sure yet.

cranberry sauce

Unless I get really daring, I will stick to my tried-and-true simple recipe of cranberries, sugar and water. MUCH, much better than the canned jelly stuff. Do yourself a favor and make it fresh. It is fast and easy.

brown sugar-glazed sweet potatoes with marshmallows
My family didn't do sweet potatoes growing up but they are my favorite (as well as my husband's) so we'll put them on the table this year. This recipe looks amazing.

braised dijon brussel sprouts 
They're in season and a great addition to the Thanksgiving table. This recipe will be the one.

honey whole wheat dinner rolls
I don't often do freshly baked bread (although I wish I did), but during holiday meals, I like to make an exception. These will go splendidly with our dinner.

Dessert

maple pecan pie

The one we are making will not have corn syrup but brown sugar and maple to sweeten instead. I wish I had the recipe to share with you but it comes from the November edition of the Martha Stewart Living magazine. I couldn't find it on the site but with a google search you can probably find something similar.

Also, a few wines that won't break the bank but are wonderfully paired with Thanksgiving fare. 

What will you be serving on your Thanksgiving table?

Meal Planning : Weekly Eats with Whole Parenting Family {Vol. 4}

It's that time again -- Saturday Weekly Eats with Whole Parenting Family!

We've got a pretty basic meal plan this week. Quite a bit of comfort food and a whole lotta protein 'cause this cold weather (finally!) is making us hangry! (Yes, hangry. This household gets a bad case of hunger anger when our stomachs are growling.)

 

Food photos are lacking this week, but there's the bbq!

Monday - Bacon and cheddar quiche and carrots (Just a basic quiche recipe -- placed cooked bacon and grated cheddar in the bottom of a pie crust, mixed together 6 eggs and 1/2 c. of half and half {you can use cream or milk too), and poured it on top. Baked at 350 F for one hour.)

Tuesday - Fajitas (grilled some skirt steak, and green bell peppers and onions; grated cheddar; avocado; salsa -- all on small flour tortillas)

Wednesday - leftover fajitas (it's always helpful to make enough in one night for two!)

Thursday - out to dinner with my mom at this wonderful restaurant

Friday - Chicken, Cheddar, and Broccoli Soup with sourdough bread (recipe for the soup to come this week!)

Saturday - Pizza with pepperonis, olives and mushrooms and salad (Trader Joe's dough)

Sunday - Roasted Sausages, Apples and Potatoes with salad (thanks to Laura at This Felicitous Life for the idea/link!)

What are you eating this week?

Meal Planning : Weekly Eats with Whole Parenting Family {Vol. 3}

I like trying new recipes. (I guess that is obvious since I also like to create them.) Most weeks, it works out about half old, half new recipes. I strongly suggest trying at least one, if not two new recipes a week. They don't need to be difficult. But just something to help expand your repertoire.

Always when you are thinking of trying a new recipe, read it ALL THE WAY THROUGH before you commit. Before you go grocery shopping. There may be a new skill involved that might take more time. There may be an ingredient that is too expensive, so best to substitute or move on. (I really love The Flavor Bible for substitution ideas. It is the number one book all those who love to cook should have.) It is just best to know what you are committing yourself to.

This week is heavy on the new recipes (including two I've developed myself). I suppose I felt a bit ambitious this week. Not always the norm. :)

Monday - Beef-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Tuesday - Frozen Taquitos and leftover stuffing from squash (I doubled it)

Wednesday - Butternut Squash Orechiette with Ricotta {recipe in progress...}

Thursday - Spaghetti with meat sauce and mushrooms and green beans (just basic ground beef, sauteed mushrooms and store-bought marinara -- frozen green beans)

Friday - Crockpot Pot Roast with mashed potatoes

Saturday - Chicken Cheddar Broccoli Soup with French bread

Sunday - Pepperoni Pizza {{for the birthday girl!}} (picked up pre-made pizza dough and toppings from Trader Joes)


What are you cooking this week?

Linking up with Whole Parenting Family for Weekly Eats Saturday.

Meal Planning {Link-Up}

Mama Nell over at Whole Parenting Family has come up with a brilliant plan for all moms (and dads if you're the ones cooking) to help each other out. She's hosting a weekly link-up on Saturdays for each of us to post our meal plans for the week, complete with recipes if available. (Don't know that I'll make every week, but here's to good beginnings!)

Hopefully, this will help motivate everyone to make the effort, but it also serves as an opportunity to share recipes so that we are not all stuck in the same twenty-recipe-shuffle every week.

I love meal planning as it keeps me from overspending when I go grocery shopping (SO easy to do!) and it also appeals to my organizational heart. :)

I don't really plan breakfasts and lunches to a T like I do with dinners. We just have a few options available for each, and many lunches are simply leftovers from previous dinners. Breakfasts are usually cereal or granola with milk or yogurt. On the weekend, we typically have at least one elaborate breakfast with eggs, meat, and a baked good which I do from scratch. (Many recipes for those up here on the blog as breakfast goodies are my speciality.) If it's not leftovers, lunch will be a sandwich of some sort -- pb&j, lunch meat, or grilled cheese.

As you will see, we are currently making more of an effort to eat seasonally and incorporate more whole grains into our meals. Also, if a meal doesn't have a recipe attached, it is probably because I'm developing a recipe for it. Watch for it later on the blog!

Without further ado, here is what's up this week:

Wednesday - Pizza (with pre-made dough from Trader Joe's) with mozzarella, fresh basil, tomatoes, and chicken sausage

Thursday - Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach, and Chick Peas in a Maple Vinaigrette served alongside grilled pork sausages

Friday - Zuppa Contadina with pork sausage and a loaf of crusty Italian bread for dipping

Saturday - bbq with friends -- pork shoulder, sides and dessert {better get on this!}

Sunday - dinner at my parents' house for my brother's birthday

Monday - tacos: typically, ground beef using this recipe for homemade taco seasoning (will never go back to the high sodium pre-packaged stuff) in hard shell corn tortillas served with refried black beans, grated cheddar cheese, guac, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, salsa and hot sauce

Tuesday - Roasted Stuffed Acorn Squash {recipe in progress...}

Wednesday - Nutty Barley Salad served with chicken apple chardonnay sausages