August Meal Planning

I still have quite a few freezer meals from last time so I don't have too much to plan out - woo hoo!!

BUT I bulk ordered sides - so in the cupboards I have Near East Mediterranean Curry Cous Cous and Near East Roast Garlic and Olive Oil Pasta. Both are delicious and the Monkey eats both so no worries on finding a starch.

Meal planning is so weird. I look at other blogs for meal planning ideas and while recipes LOOK FANTASTIC, I realize that when I put it down on my calendar that A) I don't have time; B) I am missing 2+ ingredients that I probably won't ever buy again; or C) I just don't want to make it because it's too involved.

Another thing about meal planning - there are things that I don't like that I see quite a bit -

• I hate quinoa, 
• I'm not much for elaborate breading of meat (I don't have room for all of that), 
• I don't deep fry things, 
• I don't have time to make a sauce or make a mix and then make dinner

And also there are only certain vegetables that I like and that the Monkey will actually eat:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Green beans
• Corn
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Water Chestnuts (I know, weird)
• Broccolini stalk thingys

Please notice what is missing - potatoes, asparagus, carrots, eggplant (which I don't like either), peppers and a few other veggies. I make french fries, tater tots, and homemade french fries but the Monkey refuses to eat plain baked potatoes or roasted potatoes. I don't know why (because she'll eat curried rice, LOL!). 

So in general when looking at other blogger's meal plans I have to switch up sides and make changes to recipes to suit our meal needs (like omitting hot sauce and switching from potatoes for a side to jasmine rice). 

I also have to work within our budget, so if that means that I only buy some lettuce, milk, butter, and eggs at the co-op, then so be it. My grocery budget sometimes has to be eating out of cupboards only (which is fine because they're usually stocked in general because every few weeks/months I buy certain items in bulk).

And the other thing with meal planning - I buy organic. We're up to eating 75-85% organic except for some frozen pizzas, cheese, and some pantry items. Organic can be expensive so I need to choose meals that fit within our budget. There are meats that we can't afford (like $17.99/lb for some meats at Whole Foods, seriously....) so I switch up marinades to cheaper organic beef and chicken cuts. Whole chickens are cheap but boneless, skinless breasts are the easiest for me to work with (Costco has organic chicken and beef for bulk purchases or else I order from my organic meat lady at the farmer's market).

So, as you can tell, I'm a super picky freezer meal planner and regular meal planner.

Onto what I have in stock...

Below I'm going to list my freezer inventory and my cupboard inventory so you can see what we usually have in stock. Then I just pick and choose what's for dinner from both lists. I choose a protein, starch, and veggie (sometimes I do two veggies and no starch).

I think this is the easiest way to meal plan for myself - that way I'm not tied down to a certain menu item because who in the heck knows what we'll actually be hungry for on Friday!!

Freezer Inventory

• Greek Chicken (Italian seasoning, olive oil, salt & pepper, sliced lemons), just marinated chicken in a freezer bag
• Plain "Just Bare" chicken breasts
• Sweet Glazed Chicken (ketchup, apricot preserves, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, olive oil) in a freezer bag
• Margarita Chicken (alcoholic margarita mix, parsley, olive oil) in a freezer bag
• Thin cut beef roast
• Taco Meat
• Pasta sauce - meatless AND beef sauce
• Pesto
• French fries
• Peas
• Chicken sausage
• Ground turkey (which I think the dog might end up eating)
• Pork chops - two different marinades
• Steak (5 steaks)
• Mixed veggies - a few bags of random seasoned and plain veggies

Cupboard Inventory

• Annie's Mac & Cheese (mostly for lunches)
• Near East Garlic & Olive Oil Pasta
• Near East Mediterranean Cous Cous
• Black beans
• Tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Jasmine rice
• Honey
• Spices
• Flour & sugar
• Black olives
• Wildtree Organic spices, flatbread mix, cinnamon rolls
• Pasta - spaghetti and rotini

Gah. I know there's more but that's what I know I have off the top of my head. I stopped at the farmer's market and got broccoli, two types of beans, lettuce and a few tomatoes for this week for fresh veggies. 

Oy, meal planning is hard. We'll see what we end up eating this month!

Pasta With Tomatoes & Fresh Basil

One of my favorite summer meals.

This is just a can of diced tomatoes, a small diced onion, a small spoonful of honey, salt, pepper, olive oil and fresh basil for sauce over spaghetti. You can really use any sort of pasta - I plan on making this same sauce with a different pasta tonight.

Pseudo Shrimp Scampi

Shallots, no onions, just chop until you feel like it.

Butter, shrimp, chicken broth (or white wine), salt and pepper.

Boil the peas in the last few minutes with the pasta. Combine all into a bowl with some fresh grated parmesan and there you go.

Doesn't this look similar to a recipe I made earlier? Well, it is... I kind of took the pea-cooking suggestion a bit too far and now that's all I can think about. Peas. Peas. Peas with pasta. YUM.

Coming up this week:

1. My seedlings are growing like weeds
2. The painting in the bedroom is well, I'm slacking on it
3. Some more recipes

Fettuccine With Peas, Shallot & Herbs

It's thisclose to summer and fresh herbs and veggies from the garden. I'm tempted to plant peas, but knowing what happened last year with tomatoes, I think I should probably buy a bigger fence for my veggies!

This recipe has mint - feel free to leave out or sub with basil. I just love how green it is!

Cook the peas with the pasta the last few minutes of the cooking time. This recipe is from my Real Simple recipe app on my iPhone - it's so nice to have while standing in Byerly's. I don't think I can go grocery shopping without recipes in front of my anymore, isn't that awful?

Saute the shallots, I cut them up nicely since I didn't really know if I wanted big hunks of shallot in my teeth.

And cheese. I love cheese.

Mix all together and enjoy. YUM.

Fettuccine With Peas, Shallot, and Herbs

* 12 ounces fettuccine (3/4 box)
* 1 10-ounce package frozen peas
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 6 shallots, sliced
* kosher salt and black pepper
* 1/2 cup grated pecorino or Parmesan (2 ounces)
* 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
* 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the peas during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, drain, and return the pasta and peas to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the shallots, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Toss the pasta and peas with the shallots, ¼ cup of the cheese, and the reserved cooking water.
5. Fold in the parsley and mint. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of cheese and serve.

Homemade Pesto

Green is a favorite color of mine. Oh, yum. This spread on slices of a baguette topped with mozzarella cheese and then toasted for 10 minutes... It's a serious slice of heaven!

CLASSIC PESTO

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  coarsely chopped walnuts or pine nuts
• 2  garlic cloves, peeled
• 3  tablespoons  extra-virgin olive oil
• 4  cups  basil leaves (about 4 ounces)
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt

Preparation

Drop nuts and garlic through food chute with food processor on; process until minced. Add oil; pulse 3 times. Add basil, cheese, and salt; process until finely minced, scraping sides of bowl once.

Jean Kressy, Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2002

And freezing is VERY easy. Put into an ice cube tray, top each square with a thin film of olive oil and you're good to go!

AHHHH... Pizza with pesto sauce instead of tomato sauce (for individual pizzas, I use pita bread)... Oh, pesto, it's so dang good and it's so easy to use and come up with ideas of what to eat. Not to mention healthy!

Penne with Chicken, Tomato & Basil

Easy. Isn't pasta just so easy? It's a go-to meal when you only have 30 minutes. Or 25. Or maybe 15. In any case, pasta is fantastic.

And so was the fresh basil from my garden!!!

So here's the ingredients:

1/2 lb of pasta, I like penne
2 chicken breasts, grilled and then sliced thinly
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt, pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for topping
Fresh basil - about 1/2 cup lightly packed and julienned
1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water

Make the pasta. Reserve 1/4 cup of the water.

Saute the onion and garlic until clear. Add in the tomatoes. Cook until the tomato juice has reduced by about half (but I was in a hurry, so I didn't really wait that long...). Then add in the salt and pepper and the basil, along with the pasta water if it seems to need it. Mix with the chicken and hot pasta.

Serve topped with parmesan cheese and garlic bread for sopping up the sauce.

YUM.

P.S. While I was making this, I thought that I should wear a shirt that showed cleavage, a la Giada...

Basic Pasta With Tomato & Spinach

Do you have a secret ingredient? I do - it's Tabasco.

And spinach. Love me some spinach, though I do have to admit that when I was younger I thought that spinach tasted funny - maybe it's because my parents just gave me iceberg lettuce as a kid.

Pasta sauce is super easy.

1 can of tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
Tabasco
Salt & pepper
And a LARGE handful of spinach

Melt the onions and garlic until the onion is clear, then add in the tomatoes and Tabasco, simmer for about 10 minutes. Wilt in the spinach and voila!!

You got your pasta with tomatoes and spinach.

I can't wait until my roma tomato and cherry tomato plants start producing. I'll be making so many fresh pasta sauces and salads. Woo hoo!!!

Pasta Salad. With No Picture.

Sorry, no picture today! I made pasta salad for book club and I swear, it's the EASIEST ever.

Seriously.

1 box of rotini pasta
1/2 to 3/4 cup of Italian dressing
1/4 cup Greek dressing (I ran out of Italian, oops)
1 box of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 or 3 roasted red peppers, chopped finely
Black olives (optional)
Feta cheese (I used half a package of Athenos plain feta, but you can use a flavored feta too)

Cook the pasta, then combine everything in a bowl and refrigerate. Serve with some extra feta on top. If you like pasta with more dressing, just add more Greek or Italian dressing.

See? I swear, so easy!

Chicken, Tomato & Bean Something-or-Other With Cous Cous

From Blog Stuff - Food

So I needed something to make with all the leftovers and cans of food in the cupboards.

Turns out, a random modge podge of food tastes pretty good!

So here's what I mixed together:

Leftover shredded lemon pepper chicken
1 can artichoke hearts
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can Cannelloni beans
1/2 cup Tuscan house dressing
1 cup chicken broth
1 small onion, finely diced
2 turkey sausages, browned & casings removed
Salt & pepper

I just simmered it all for about 20 minutes, then poured it over a mound of cous cous.

I was impressed because normally when I throw stuff together, it doesn't really turn out that great.

So, be bold, throw everything but the kitchen sink into a pan and pour it all over rice, cous cous or pasta. You never know what you're going to get!

Spaghetti With Turkey Meat Sauce

I love spaghetti and pasta and sauce and garlic bread and salad. And so does Bimmer Man. He used to not like spaghetti. At all. Now, if I give him a choice of spaghetti or penne, he'll take the spaghetti hands down (but if gnocchi is thrown into the mix, he'll take gnocchi).

And so, I've memorized an easy way to get rid of your leftovers and single cans of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes or whatever else you have. Seriously. Mostly I just throw stuff in the pan and hope that it turns out. I think that's what a lot of people do, so you'll notice that most what I cook for pasta sauce is similar but I like to change up the seasoning. This is my throwback meal when I need to clean out the pantry and take stock of what I need to buy at the grocery store.

So here it is:

1/2 to 1 lb ground turkey (or pork or beef or chicken, whatever)
1 - 2 cans tomato sauce
1 - 2 cans diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes or whatever
1 onion, chopped
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic, mashed through a garlic press or chopped (do you really want to smell like Rachael Ray tomorrow???)
Couple dashes of hot sauce OR cayenne pepper OR red pepper flakes

And optional:
1 medium eggplant cut into 1 inch pieces
1 summer squash, spaghetti squash or any squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 bell pepper, diced fairly finely
Any other vegetable that would hold up to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes without being too mushy

And then spaghetti, cooked 2 minutes AFTER al dente so it swirls around your fork correctly but it still has a bite.

Now:

Brown the meat, add the onions and garlic. Then the spices and the hot sauce or whatever you're using to give it a kick. And then the veggies if you're adding those, let brown a bit, maybe 3 minutes or so. Add all the cans of tomatoes.

Simmer 15 minutes or until the flavors have melted together and it tastes like spaghetti sauce.

And then eat over a plate full of spaghetti noodles.

AND then loosen the top button of your pants and sigh with relief that you'll have leftovers for the next few days so you don't have to cook if you don't want to.

UPCOMING RECIPE:

Challah Bread & something with pumpkin, I haven't decided yet.

Garlic Broccoli Pasta

This is a really easy almost-one skillet meal (you need one pot for cooking the pasta, another one for the chicken and broccoli).

1 head of broccoli, florets chopped fairly easy to eat in one bite
1 lb of chicken, sliced into easy to eat pieces
1/2 cup Italian dressing
2 - 3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped (I used a garlic press)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 lb of pasta, penne preferred

Saute the chicken in olive oil over medium-high heat until about halfway cooked, add the broccoli, and keeping cooking about 5 minutes. Then add the Italian dressing and garlic, bring heat down to medium-low and simmer about 10 - 12 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and broccoli doesn't squeak in your teeth.

Serve with either feta or parmesan, garlic bread and a salad. An easy weeknight meal!

Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce

Penne is my new favorite type of pasta. And bell peppers have always been one of my favorite veggies. So I decided to toss them all together.

Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce

1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped into bite size pieces
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp oregano (eh, dried or fresh, I don't care)
1 tsp basil (go for more if it's fresh and don't add until the end if it is fresh)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
Salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to top

Put a large pot to boil for the penne. Cook penne until al dente.

Saute the onion until soft in a large saute pan. Then add the pepper, both cans of tomatoes, garlic and herbs. Add the salt & pepper.

Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Doesn't matter too much, just as long as all the flavors melt together.

Add about 1/3 cup water to the pasta sauce BEFORE you drain the penne.

Then, add the penne once drained to the pot with the sauce.

Top with parmesan cheese and serve with a salad and garlic bread.

Yum!

Marsala Pasta

I absolutely love pasta. This is a great dish, but to be quite honest, don't actually drink the Marsala wine. It looks like worchestershire sauce. And this isn't really vegetarian because of the ham, but I bet you could leave out the ham or substitute in some veggies. Like summer squash or even zucchini or tomatoes or... Well, any veggie. Chick peas???
My mom bought dry marsala.
And I used leftover ham instead of pancetta.
Crushed red pepper and thyme.
Saute ham in about 2 tablespoons of butter. I generally use olive oil and butter together but I was too lazy the other day. No worries.
Add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup marsala to the ham after it's sauteed for maybe 5 minutes. And also add in the red pepper and thyme. No salt though, the ham is salty and so is the parmesan!
Let simmer for a few minutes while the pasta cooks to al dente.
And then add about 3/4 cup to 1 cup cream. Notice that I'm slacking here. I kinda look at a recipe but didn't really follow it. I just liked the ingredients so I threw stuff together (um, FYI - it's inspired by Loni Anderson's Marsala Pasta. I will type it up one day but my mother is currently READING the cookbook. I can't take that away now, can I?).
And then add 3/4 cup of parmesan to the pan with the marsala sauce, drop in the unrinsed pasta with about 1/2 cup of pasta water (I don't like my fettucine too sticky). and this is what you have. Marsala pasta.

Now, I must say that cooking in someone else's kitchen is way too weird. I mean, I'm a REALLY messy cook and I feel like I can't really cook because I can't be too messy. Plus there's not much counterspace and I'm used to more.

But alas, I'm making excuses and I shouldn't do that.

Trust me, after we make a trip to the Farmer's Market next weekend, I'll have many more vegetarian recipes to share! And I might even post Loni's original recipe for Marsala Pasta. That's on my to-do list.

Pasta With Fresh Veggies

Or would it be veggies with pasta? Eh, whatever...
Just get some of your favorite veggies together and make them look pretty.
I used zucchini, tomatoes, red and green pepper.
I love a plate of fresh veggies. Generally I go for the Dill Dip and hope that it's low fat (but I just bought a running magazine for inspiration last night... we'll see how that goes).

I love the Al Dente Fettuccine that I bought - it only takes 5 minutes to cook and it's really good!
And now for the hard part. Saute the veggies with olive oil until tender but still nice and crisp. I added garlic as well about halfway through the cooking process. I'd add the tomatoes at the end of the cooking just so they don't lose their skins or get more tender/soft/mushy than what you'd like. I also added a splash of lemon juice to brighten up the flavors at the very end. But you can do whatever you want (maybe lime juice or orange juice???).
Top the cooked pasta with the sauteed vegetables. Et, voila!

If you want something a little saucier, you can add white wine or chicken broth and let it simmer and thicken. I didn't though, I was too hungry. And that sounds like something a chef would do, I'm not a chef.

Salt, pepper and a little drizzle of olive oil top it off.
There wasn't any leftovers of this meal! Unless you count one tomato and one piece of zucchini with a spackling of pasta in between.

Honestly - this is what most of my summer meals are. Veggies with either cous cous or pasta, you can't go wrong!

Gnocchi with Tomatoes & Feta

Gnocchi. I haven't quite mustered the strength to make it by hand yet. So Sam's Club it is... They have packages with LOTS of gnocchi and for some odd reason, a box always gets thrown into my cart. I'm not sure how it happens... Reminds me of Target!
So, I also use leftover chicken, but this is optional (because I wanted to make it a vegetarian meal, but then I also needed to use up chicken, so whatever... leftovers...).
To make a quick and easy tomato sauce, chop a medium onion into small pieces. Bimmer Man isn't much of an onion person...
Then mince 3 cloves of garlic. Use less if you want to, but I LOVE garlic!
Chop the leftover chicken into 1 inch pieces and save for later - you'll eventually just nuke 'em. Don't toss it into the tomato sauce, you want leftover sauce for pasta for lunch tomorrow.
Sweat the onions. And then after they're clear and soft, add the garlic and one can of diced tomatoes.
I also added one can of tomato sauce because I wanted leftover tomato sauce for pasta for lunch. Cook once, eat twice. Right?
Let simmer for anywhere in between 12 - 15 minutes. You can let it simmer for longer if you like - sometimes I wash dishes while sauces simmer. I try and multi-task but sometimes I end up burning something or letting boiling water run over. Oops.
Gently cook the gnocchi. It's done as soon as they float to the top - they're just starting to in this picture. About 1 more minute and then they're done.
Drain and add half the gnocchi to a deep bowl.
Put your nuked chicken on top (or leave it out or add another leftover meat instead of chicken).
Then the pasta sauce.
Top with a good handful of feta.
Repeat the layers and top with fresh basil.

This works great for leftovers too. It's very versatile - you can use a sage butter sauce with parmesan cheese. Or just plain butter. Gnocchi is fabulous!

Gnocchi with Tomatoes & Feta

1 package gnocchi
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped finely
5 - 6 fresh basil leaves, julienned
1 cup feta
Leftover chicken (optional)

Sweat the onions in a large pan. After clear and soft, add in garlic, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer sauce for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil water for gnocchi and microwave the leftover chicken.

When the water comes to a boil, drop the gnocchi in. As soon as they start to rise, let boil for one more minute and drain (but don't over drain).

Layer the gnocchi, leftover chicken, tomato sauce and feta in a deep bowl. Top with basil.

Serve with a salad and crusty bread to soak up the sauce.