Category: Menu

Menu Monday: Dinner for 3

franciscanmom3 Comments

menu Monday

I’m joining up with Mary Ellen’s Menu Monday feature. I used to publish meal plans, way back when, and I do miss that!

IMG_0237-0This is no guarantee I’ll stick to this plan, but that’s why I do my menu plan in pencil. I have everything I need to make all these dishes already on hand except for the rolls and provolone for Tuesday’s dinner and the fresh produce.

My biggest cooking challenge right now is Dinner for 3. It’s been a whole month since Middle Sister left for college, and over 6 weeks since Big Brother moved to a townhouse near his job. I haven’t yet gotten the hang of cooking in smaller quantities. When Middle Sister was living here, I usually just cooked for 5 even if she wasn’t home for dinner, because she’d eat the leftovers at midnight while working on homework, or for breakfast, or after school. I’m trying to scale back, but I’m still eating a steady diet of leftovers for lunch every day.

Here’s the plan:

MONDAY:  Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans. I’m still in the habit of buying the biggest Oven Stuffer I can get. We’ll eat the drumsticks, thighs and wings tonight, and the white meat will be frozen for future dinners. Based on the size of this chicken, we’ll get 4 meals out of it, and I’ll use the carcass to make some broth, too.

TUESDAY:  Roast-beef sandwiches with provolone on Italian rolls and a salad on the side. Easy dinner before Little Brother’s soccer practice.

WEDNESDAY:  Spaghetti and meatballs (we have this almost every Wednesday! It’s folk-group practice night, and this is easy to cook and clean up before we have a houseful of musicians. I host folk-group practice AKA Music Therapy; people bring their kids, we celebrate birthdays, and, oh yeah, we practice Sunday’s music, too!)

piccata bites 3THURSDAY:  Chicken piccata bites with rice and a vegetable to be named later.

MEATLESS FRIDAY:  Vodka pasta and a salad. (Pre-soccer-practice fuel!)

SATURDAY:  Takeout pizza. This is our one weekend a month when we play at the 5:00 Mass, and we’re busy ALL day.

LaSalle explorersSUNDAY:  “Miss Jill Chicken” with potatoes and a vegetable. This is a quick and easy dish, which is not usually needed on a Sunday, but we’re going to Mass and brunch for Family Weekend at LaSalle to see Middle Sister. Big Brother will be there too!

Crockpot Festival!

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Barbara is hosting a Crockpot Festival at her cooking blog!

Normally I save this kind of message for my own cooking blog, but I figured that someone else might be in the same position I’m in right now. I just got Big Brother’s school calendar in the mail today, and I know the other kids’ calendar will soon follow. Then it will be the cross-country meet schedule, and basketball season, and, well, you know the drill! I’m going to need all the great ideas for slow-cooked meals I can find–and all of these are family-tested.

So despite the fact that I haven’t even finished my August menu plan, I’m using this excuse to think ahead and browse among the offerings in the Crockpot Festival. Check it out!

Friday Fast–Not Fast Enough!

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It kind of grosses me out that my kids enjoy the occasional can of Chef Boy-ar-dee ravioli. I make my own spaghetti sauce which they happily eat. So I’m not sure what it is with their craving for the canned stuff.

But when it’s on sale, I pick up a couple of cans and keep them in the pantry for days when they’re extra hungry after school.

Days like–today.

I wasn’t paying much attention when Middle Sister used the microwave. There weren’t any screams or anything, and Big Brother was in the middle of a long story about something that happened in his history class today. But Big Brother saw what she was cooking.

“Ooo, Chef Boy-ar-dee! If there’s any left over, it’s mine.”

That got my attention. “Who’s having Chef Boy-ar-dee?”

Middle Sister said, “Me!”

“You’re not supposed to eat that today! It’s got meat in it!”

Big Brother thought about that for a second. “I doubt if there’s any real meat in there, Mom.”

All these years of Catholic school, plus what we do at home, and the idea of Meatless Friday appears to be a new concept. I think it’s time to get the kids more involved in the menu planning!