Menus 1/18/10 - 1/24/10

See tons more menu plans at www.orgjunkie.com! 

Third week of the Pantry Challenge; things are going okay! I don't have time to do a full report, but we  spent about $60 this week on cheese (shredded, from CostCo as well as Swiss slices), produce, eggs, orange juice, sack lunch makings, and a couple of "pantry items" that were necessities.

1/18 Mon: Turkey dinner! Mr. Mamie's mom gave us a frozen turkey a couple of months ago, and it's been hanging out, taking up room in our chest freezer ever since. We're going to prepare and roast it using this method. We'll also be having make-ahead mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls (from the freezer) and green salad.  Dessert is still debatable - depends on time available. Mrs. Igor and the Igor Kids will be here, and possibly GolfDad, too.

1/19 Tues: I teach university class - Chicken Chowder (CrockPot), green salad.

1/20 Wed: Mr. Mamie has class; I monitor an online class - Meatloaf Cups (from the freezer), scalloped potatoes or something similar from a box (trying to use that stuff up in our pantry, and won't be replacing it!), green salad.

1/21 Thurs: Mr. Mamie has class - Hearty Ham Casserole, green salad.

1/22 Fri:  Shredded pork tacos (in lightly-fried fresh corn tortillas) made from the frozen leftovers of our CrockPot Italian Beef (that we made with pork loin).

1/23 Sat: Kids here - Marie Calendar Chicken Pot Pies (there are exactly five left in the freezer), green salad.

1/24 Sun: Kids here - Thai Turkey, Never-Mushy Homemade Rice (the kids LOVE this rice!), green salad.

EVERYTHING we're cooking this week comes from our pantry/freezer, in keeping with the eat From the Pantry Challenge hosted by Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom.

Some notes about last week's menu:

The CostCo Meatball Bakes we had on Monday (inherited from Mom's freezer) were so-so but FREE, so we're good with that. The Lemon Parmesan Penne was very lemony and very yummy! Nephew ate the leftovers topped with feta and reported that it was a good combo.

Tuesday's Chicken Enchilada Soup was delicious! This will make it into our regular soup rotation. We all had leftovers of this throughout the week, with Niece having the last little bit for lunch on Saturday - she loved it too!

We didn't end up having the  Beef and Bean Cornbread Casserole. Instead, I made our "comfort food" of layered enchilada sauce, flour tortillas, shredded cheese and seasoned/cooked ground beef. YUM!

Honey Hoisin Chicken also did not happen. This (Thursday)  was the day of GolfDad's elbow surgery. I fixed frozen lasagna and salad for the two of us at his house, while GrandmaT and Mr. Mamie had leftovers at home. 

The Ginger Beef was tasty, but - not too healthy and kind of a pain to make, due to the frying involved. Also, I made it TOO HOT N' SPICY for some people, though I loved it that way. We always like these Sesame Noodles, which GrandmaT had for lunch the next day as well. I ate the remaining Ginger Beef for lunch on Saturday with some Never-Mushy Homemade Rice,

Saturday's dinner got switched up, and we had CostCo ground sirloin burgers with Ooey Gooey Macaroni and Cheese and green salad. The mac-and-cheese was very good - a simple recipe that baked nicely. It would be even yummier made with sharp cheddar cheese (all I had available was a cheddar/jack mix). The recipe made plenty for the five of us to have with our burgers for dinner, and gave leftovers to add to lunch the next day.

The Breaded Chicken Patties (inherited from Mom's freezer - served as sandwiches on buns) became lunch on Sunday, along with the leftover Never-Mushy Rice and Ooey-Gooey Macaroni and Cheese


Since I already made the Enchilada Casserole, for dinner on Sunday I switched to spaghetti (whole wheat, as always) with CrockPot Bolognese Sauce. This is a new sauce recipe for us, and so far its aroma is great! I used one pound of ground beef + one pound of ground mild Italian sausage. We'll also have the perennial favorite Italian Cheese Bread, of course!

Baking:

One day this week I sent Mr. Mamie off with a ham-and-Swiss sandwich on CINNAMON bread in his lunchbox - OOOOPS! He said it was "interesting." Good thing he's so flexible about food! Apparently it was time to take a look at the bread stockpile in the freezer. We have plenty of muffins, rolls, and specialty breads, but were lacking in the basic white and wheat department.  Mr. Mamie said he wanted a "soft, white" bread for sandwiches, so today I made a loaf of Amish White, which makes wonderful sandwiches and white toast.  Tomorrow I will make a loaf of the basic wheat bread we like, as that's what I prefer for toast.

With the few scroungy-lookin' pieces of regular bread that I turned up in the freezer, I made homemade croutons - DEEEELISH! It was hard not to just snack them all up! They're waiting for tonight's salad, and I hope there will be some left for tomorrow. This will definitely become a regular "baking" activity - they really are so simple and quick that they could be made while the rest of the dinner is being prepped. Ohhhhhhh noooooooo - I just went to put in the link for these, and it's NOT on my recipe! :(  I will do my best to track it down, becasue these are wonderful.

Breakfasts:
One of my "pantry challenge" goals was to eat up some of the pancakes and waffles that are lurking in our freezers. Also, as a sort-of New Year's resolution, I want to be eating better week-day breakfasts. This week we had some pumpkin pancakes from our freezer supplies on one day, and cinnamon toast with peanut butter and/or Nutella on another day. On GolfDad's surgery day it was granola bars in the hospital waiting room. One day was cheese and crackers (my downfall), and another was cold cereal.  There are still plenty of whole-grain blueberry pancakes, a few pumpkin pancakes, and a few buttermilk-blueberry waffles to be eaten in the coming weeks, along with a couple of random bagels and lots of muffins.

Today we had our favorite blueberry-oatmeal pancakes, following the recipe on the back of the Coach's Oats bag - mmmmmmmm! Even the kids now prefer their pancakes to have oatmeal in them. :)