Heather says:
We’re starting to swim in produce, in a good way. I love this time of year when friends become overwhelmed with their gardens. I’m more than happy to *ahem* assist.
Feel free to share what’s on your menu this week in the comments or leave a link to your own site. A lot of you have sent emails saying this helps with menu planning and the never ending search for dinner ideas.
- Monday – Chopped salad, stuffed tomatoes
- Tuesday – Shrimp éttoufée, sauteed zucchini
- Wednesday – C.O.R.N.
- Thursday – Taco salads with black beans and grilled chicken
- Friday – Sub sandwich night, vegetables with ranch dip
- Saturday – I’m leaving open, we may be celebrating out or have steaks at home
- Sunday – Grilled chicken with a bbq rub (will do 2 spatchcock or butterflied), macaroni and cheese, grilled zucchini and summer squash, tossed salad
Some of you have asked about lunch. We are somewhat boring in this regard, it’s leftovers or sandwiches almost every day, but we do vary the type: PB&J, deli meat, pitas, tuna salad, chicken salad. I’m going to try broadening the horizons a little by reintroducing hummus. One of the kids’ favorites is what we call a “pinchy” lunch, raw vegetables, fruit, cheese, occasionally chicken, just nothing that requires a fork.
Breakfast? I won’t lie, I love grits and I love them in a major way. At least once a week we have eggs, bacon, and grits. Granola cereal is becoming the go to as it gets hot and my husband actually enjoys making pancakes (oatmeal banana, apple, buttermilk pancakes), who am I to complain if someone else wants to cook?
You may have noticed we’re switching to a salad dominated menu. Homeschooling has been tabled until the fall (whee!). Our afternoons are a little less structured and dinner tends to run later. With the kids getting up at the crack of dawn, I’m considering throwing out our old schedule and adopting the siesta plan with later evenings to make it through. It’s not as easy as one would think to write as one would hope with three kids bouncing off the ceilings.
How does your menu and lifestyle change was we slide into summer?
If you’re new to menu planning, you may find the Meal Planning Primer Series helpful and feel free to ask questions. The Home Ec community loves to offer advice.
We've been trying to go for light and easy. Or, at least, I have.
Monday: Chicken enchilada casserole with rice and beans
Tuesday: Frittata w/ left over veggies and deli meats
Wednesday: grilled pork chops or stuffed peppers
Thursday: roast beef sandwiches – may be substituted with spaghetti, depending on the price of roasts
Friday: Nachos
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: sloppy joes
We're starting with "clean out the fridge" for the first few days —
NEW FRIDGE ARRIVES THURSDAY and I'm psyched!
I think the current fridge overheard us talking about a new one, coz it's actually making ice again.
Too late, buster. You're outta here!
1. You should give a grits tutorial for us non-southerners sometime.
2. You could try making eggplant dip–baba ganouj. It's better than hummous in my opinion, and easy.
Oh I do love grits. My mom is from Tennessee and we were raised on them. My sister and I both always have them in the pantry. As for menu planning… I'm still out of town but I will be home tomorrow night and will take stock then. I plan to take advantage of my remaining days off by stocking up at the farmers' market.
I'm coming over Tuesday…what time? I'll bring the fruit roll-ups.
I'm a big grits lover, myself!
In summer, we have veggie only meals on CSA pick up day. Grilled veggies, salad, raw veggies, you name it , we eat it. It's my favorite day of the week!
Monday…otsu (soba noodles, tofu, veggies, etc)
Tuesday…prosciutto, rhubarb, scallion, and cheese sandwiches on crusty bread
Wednesday…bangers and mash, kale
Thursday…eat out
Friday…mushroom, goat cheese, and caramelized onion pizza
Saturday…big dinner salads, bread
Sunday…pasta with vegetables and cream sauce
My husband is traveling this week, so I'm going easy with our cooking regime since it's only our toddler and me.
Monday: tomato sandwiches on zucchini rolls, peas
Tuesday: veggie chowder, finish zucchini rolls
Wednesday: sweet potato hash, roasted beets
Thursday: zucchini mock crab cakes (yes, there's a lot of zucchini this week), finish veg chowder
Friday: Farmer's Supper (fried potatoes with eggs and cheese)
Saturday: husband home and he can take care of meals
Sunday: breakfast for dinner-waffles, bacon, and eggs
We switched to a siesta schedule 2 weeks ago, even though the kids re still in school because it has been just to darned hot to do anything in the afternoons here. Everyone naps from 3-5 then stays up till 10 instead of the usual 7:30. Dinner is around 9 most nights.
I am on the road this week and for the next 2 months, so this is my meal plan
Breakfast: Hot tea
Lunches: Fresh tomatoes with tomato-based sauce pasta and green beans with eel
Dinner: Southern fried chicken with rice
Snacks: Cereal and fruit
That's it. 5 days a week.