Menu Monday

This week's menu:
Sunday: London Broil, Herbed Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli; Hodgepodge of leftover baked-goods for dessert
Monday: Lasagna, Garden Salad, Sourdough Bread, and French Apple Pie for Dessert
Tuesday: Indoor Grilling Burgers, French Fries and Pie for dessert
Wednesday: Leftovers!
Thursday: Indoor Grilling Chicken breast, Rice and Spinach with Freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies
Friday: Mom's Night Out!!! The DC Fam will be fending for themselves this night!
Saturday: Mystery Night =o)
Sunday: Roasted Chicken with garlic smashed potatoes and broccoli with a Sunday Cake for dessert

I rarely do meatless meals. We are huge meat eaters in my fam. I actually feel horrible when I don't eat meat at least once in a day.

I love seeing everyone's menus - am just recently trying to get back into planning meals. I find that vegetarian/vegan meals are more satisfying (less of the getting hungry an hour later stuff) if there's enough fat in the dish, and if they're with some whole grains of some kind.

Monday- Was at a fundraiser. Had a meal there. yay! A no cook day!
Tues.- steaks on the grill, baked potatoes and sweet potoatoes, steamed broccoli
Wed.- C.O.R.N. (Most likely- left over grill-smoked turkey (fajita style?), poblano rice, tomatillo salsa, corn tortillas, refried beans)
Thurs.- homemade pizzas with assorted meat and vegetable toppings. (Still have lots of zucchini...)
Friday- Southwest corn-potato-turkey chowder (the bones and bits make great stock), jalepeno corn bread
Saturday- ziti casserole with spinach, ricotta and marinara sauce, garlic bread, salad
Sunday- To be determined (might be another c.o.r.n. day) or the pork loin in the freezer (leftover dependent)

Heather, when you want to make steak, I have a great and really easy recipe that truly takes less than 30 minutes to make.

We're huge meat eaters here. Whether it's beef, chicken or pork. Occasionally I can get them to eat seafood, if it's shrimp. Jay and I are the only ones that will eat catfish. I don't find myself "full" from meat. I get full from breads and pastas. However I'm always ready to try a new recipe, so I love your recipes.

The meat thing for me is 2-fold; beans can rob your body's iron stores, and fat is essential for the brain to function properly.

Ever since I've been on this "soft food diet" for my jaw, I've been eating a lot less meat, which has really been bank account friendly. That said, however, I'm just about ready to rough someone up for a NY Strip. I think that after I am able to eat anything I want to again I will probably eat less meat, just because I like a lot of stuff that is meat free.

This week's menu: http://smartestgirl.typepad.com/sgitw/2009/10/men...

My family and I are full-time vegans and I'll tell you it really does save on the grocery bill. I still love seeing menu plans that are not vegan, though, because I can usually find some inspiration that I can turn into a vegan meal. Our fall-back menu items tend to be beans & rice; veggie pizza (no cheese); spanish rice sans ground beef; bean burritos loaded with salsa, veggies, and some tofu sour cream; and whole wheat pasta with marinara and garlicky broccoli rabe. I also have a favorite main dish Asian salad recipe that uses baby spinach, segmented oranges, shredded carrots and zucchini, edamame, crushed peanuts, and a wasabi dijon dressing. Keep those ideas coming!

Our main meat sources are venison and fish (my husband hunts and fishes) and chicken. I do try to do one meatless meal a week and then another, like soup or stir fry that has very little meat. I started doing that to help the budget but the health factor is a good added benefit. My daughter isn't fond of meat anyway so that helps. My husband and son are OK with some lighter meat days as long as there is a nice burger or roast in there every so often.
I really would like to experiment with more bean recipes though...and maybe that lentil recipe from last week!

mmmmm, cheese grits sounds so good...@their
I've always wanted to try grits, but I've never come across them in the Pacific North-West (I'm in Canada, just north of the border and Seattle)
This week we're having:
Monday: snacks then 'brinner' (first night of floor hockey for my two boys, it's from 5 to 6, bleah, great planning, parks 'n' rec people)
houses
Wednesday: going all-out - roast chicken and potatoes, broccoli
Thursday: crock pot chili/cheese quesadillas for the boys (who don't like 'mixed-up' food)
Friday: is pizza/movie night @ my boy's request - copying my stepmom - frozen pizza, I'm burnt out by the end of the week
Saturday/Sunday/Monday: It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, we'll have Turkey and Roast at other people's houses

I have never thought about it, but my husband and I accidentally do vegetarian dishes all the time. It's not purposeful, as we're not vegetarians, but it's just what happens. My husband requires a gluten-free diet and we find ourselves in the strange position of just being uncertain about the safety of much meat! We make risottos, polenta, and frittatas a lot. Maybe once a week we have chicken or turkey, but that's about it. Red meat rarely passes through our house and until I read this and started thinking about it, I never really miss it!! (Hmmm...now I have a hankerin' for a good old-fashioned steak!)

Yesterday's post here got me to realize (yet again) that i really should do menu planning again. It seems like such a small, why bother, kind of thing, but it does make a difference when I make myself do it.

As far as meat - if I go for more than one day without at least SOME kind of meat, I can be reduced to non-functional. If i'm feeling exceptionally lousy and unable to think straight, my daughter has learned to ask me if I've eaten any meat lately. Even if it's just a couple bites, I start to feel better afterwards. Trying to just go with beans & grains, eggs or cheese don't cut it - I've tried. So, we don't usually go more than one day at a time without some kind of meat. More likely than deliberately going meatless, I'll do something with just a SMALL amount of mean, such as making a stir-fry for the four of us using only half a pound of meat, or I'll use meat as part of a dish with a cheaper protein source (cheese, beans & rice, eggs, nuts or nut butters)

Yesterday's post here got me to realize (yet again) that i really should do menu planning again. It seems like such a small, why bother, kind of thing, but it does make a difference.

As far as meat - if I go for more than one day without at least SOME kind of meat, I can be reduced to non-functional. If i'm feeling exceptionally lousy and unable to think straight, my daughter has learned to ask me if I've eaten any meat yet lately. Even if it's just a couple bites, I start to feel better afterwards. Trying to just go with beans & grains, eggs or cheese don't cut it - I've tried. So, we don't usually go more than one day at a time without some kind of meat. More likely than deliberately going meatless, I'll do something with just a SMALL amount of mean, such as making a stir-fry for the four of us using only half a pound of meat, or I'll use meat as part of a dish with a cheaper protein source (cheese, beans & rice, eggs, nuts or nut butters)

My menu this week:
Saturday - baked penne
Sunday - beef and potato stew
Monday - chicken enchilada casserole w/ Spanish rice and refried beans
Tuesday - beans & cornbread
Wednesday - porkchops, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, stovetop, & salad
Thursday - grilled or baked chicken w/ whatever is left in the pantry/refrigerator
Friday - Schlotsky's!

I try to incorporate at least 1 meatless meal a week, though it doesn't always happen. I'm feeding 4 adults and a 5 year old (my brother eats enough for 2, so I count 6 people) on about $125 a week. I try to buy meat only when it is on sale, then I stock up.

every time I mention having a meatless meal I get the "I don't think so" look from the hubby-if it doesn't have at least some meat it's not a complete meal....at least to him LOL.....I know what you mean though about wanting a GOOD STEAK sometimes--I don't eat alot of beef-it just doesn't agree with me and I end up sick each time I eat it but sometimes I'll just get a craving for a good old steak-nothing else like it!

julie
Meridian,ms
http://sweetmissmagnoliachat.blogspot.com/

My Chipotle-like burrito bowl ended up as a viable meatless meal kind of by accident. The first bowl of it I made, I forgot to put the meat into my bowl and it was good, filling, etc. Recipe here: http://www.recipezaar.com/mexican-burrito-bowl-37...

I would LOVE to have more meatless meals. However, I'm married to a guy who isn't "full" or hasn't had "enough" if the meal doesn't have meat in it. So now, I'm trying to incorporate more vegetables into our meals.

Hugs,
Melinda