Menu Plan Monday

Since I've been out of town all weekend visiting my best friend, I'm getting around to planning my menu a little late today.  Since I had such a bad food waste week last week, I'm trying to keep things a little simpler this week to (hopefully!) prevent that from happening again. 

Monday: Memorial Day dinner with my parents - ribs (made with our favorite pork marinade), Asian coleslaw, pineapple casserole (no recipe just yet; if it's good I'm sure I'll be posting it!), BBQ bread

Tuesday: Out to dinner with a friend

Wednesday: Creamy Caprese Pasta

Thursday: Grilled chicken salad with lemon vinaigrette

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: TBD

Breakfasts are toast (trying a new bread recipe!) and yogurt, SlimFast, and frozen breakfast sandwiches.  Lunches are leftovers or sandwiches.  I think I might make a pan of blondies for dessert this week.

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday

In keeping with my May goal of cooking more, I'm trying a new plan where I cook one to two servings of a dish.  This a) allows me to cook more dishes, b) helps prevent food waste, and c) gives me some tasty lunches.  It seemed to work well last night; I had just enough leftover pasta to pack for my lunch today.  So lunches all week are leftovers and breakfasts are lemon raspberry muffins.

Sunday: Springtime Shrimp Pasta (recipe coming tomorrow!)
Monday: Sandwich (I'm babysitting and don't want to eat out)
Tuesday: Pasta Florentine
Wednesday: Zucchini and ricotta galette
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: No plans because I'm going to see my best friend!!

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

No Menu Plan Monday Today

I don't have a menu plan for this week since I'm conferencing it up in Minneapolis for MLA until Wednesday.  I imagine I'll be eating takeout or whatever frozen dinners are languishing in my freezer until I can get to the grocery store, but I'm not really all that concerned at the moment. :)

I'll be back next week with a great (hopefully!) menu plan featuring some new recipes.

I'm sure you're not out of town, so what's on your menu for the week?

Menu Plan Monday

Apparently, it's pasta week at my house.  I didn't mean to plan three pasta-based dinners, but in trying to use what I already had on hand, I ended up with a lot of pasta.

It's a good thing I like pasta. :)

The end part of this week and all of my lunches are dedicated to cleaning out my refrigerator.  I'm leaving at o'dark hundred on Friday morning for the Medical Library Association conference and I don't want to leave any food waste behind. 

Side note: I'm an official conference blogger for MLA this year, so look for some reposts from the official MLA blog here so you can keep up with what I'm learning!

Anyway, back to the menu...

Saturday: Spinach white pizza ended up having takeout burgers with my parents
Sunday: Mother's Day Meal: Chicken, asparagus, and mushroom pasta, crusty bread, strawberry swirl cream cheese pound cake
Monday: Gnocchi with mushroom-cream sauce
Tuesday: Spinach and sun-dried tomato pasta
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Clean out the fridge/freezer
Friday: Gone to MLA!

What's on your menu for this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

Happy May everyone!  Can you believe it's May already?  I'm SO ready for fresh vegetables that I find at the farmer's market.  I'm most excited about sweet, juicy tomatoes and really good corn.  What in-season fruits and veggies are you most looking forward to?

And on to the menu plan...

This weekend I enjoyed:
Saturday: Girls' Night In Potluck - I served Chicken Divan 
Sunday: Pasta with Mascarpone, Chicken, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Spinach

On this week's menu:
Monday: Quinoa "Mac and Cheese"
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Chicken and Gruyere Turnovers
Thursday: Cinco de Mayo party - thinking about setting up a taco bar
Friday: TBD

Lunch will be leftovers mostly with the occasional sandwich or cup of soup thrown in.  Since I'm trying to cook more, I'm going to have a lot of leftovers so I'll have to eat it for lunch to prevent having any food waste.  Breakfasts will be blueberry almond muffins, cereal, and yogurt parfaits.

What's on your menu for the week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

This is one of those weeks where I plan my menu as I'm wrote this post.  I was out of town this weekend, the grocery store was closed yesterday, and I have plans for today and tomorrow, so I'm not even going to get to go to the store until Wednesday.  Luckily, I have plenty in my fridge and freezer to keep me fed. 

I probably have enough stuff in my refrigerator and freezer to keep me fed for three weeks.  But that's a different story.

Sunday
Dinner: Stuffed shells (verdict: decent, would buy again if I had a coupon)

Monday
Lunch: Beginning my post-Lenten gorging with a Soho Club wrap from Wall Street Deli
Dinner: Continuing with the gorging at Mugshots and a huge hamburger

Tuesday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: grabbing something on my way to babysit

Wednesday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Roasted shrimp, green beans (bumped from last week)

Thursday
Lunch: Soup and sandwich
Dinner: Happy hour with friends

Friday
Lunch: Leftovers, a sandwich, or something else boring
Dinner: Celebrating the royal wedding with Britain's unofficial national dish of chicken tikka masala and homemade naan 

Saturday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Girls' Night In  - we always have a potluck and I'm in charge of the main dish and bread.  I think I'm going to make turkey divan, but with chicken because I don't have any turkey.  And possibly the best rolls ever. 

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was a bad week.  Not in terms of menu planning or eating according to plan, but just a bad week in general.  I always feel like Mondays are a clean slate.  And I really need a clean slate after last week.  I think a week of simple, easy to fix, but still well-planned meals is a great way to climb out of my slump and get back in the swing of things.

Sunday
Homemade pizza (recipe coming soon!)

Monday
Lunch - peanut butter and jelly, chips, carrots, hummus
Dinner - leftover pizza

Tuesday
Lunch - leftover pizza, fruit
Dinner - grab something while on the way to babysit

Wednesday
Lunch - soup, crackers and cheese
Dinner - roasted shrimp, green beans

Thursday
Lunch - veggie burger, macaroni and cheese
Dinner - out with friends

Friday 
Going out of town!

This week looks terribly boring doesn't it?  Since I'm leaving town on Friday, I wanted to eat up a lot of things in the fridge and freezer that could potentially go bad.  I don't have that much in there, but it's always best to be on the safe side.  Plus, with rising food and gas prices (not to mention all the money I spent at the mall yesterday), I thought it best to keep the grocery bill down as much as possible this week. 

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

PS: Have you noticed the blog changes I've made?  Look for more coming later this week! 

Menu Plan Monday

This weekend was crazy so I didn’t plan my menu until very late Sunday night.  I had an absolutely terrible week last week for food waste; I was so embarrassed I didn’t even do a post.  Trust me when I say it was that bad. 

This week I’m trying to prevent that from happening again, so I’ve drafted a menu that uses up things in my refrigerator (spinach and a variety of cheeses being the two biggest things I’m concerned about).  I also seem to have an abundance of chips and crackers in my pantry; I foresee them making an appearance in my lunch box this week. 

I had dinner with my parents on Sunday and am cooking for dad on Tuesday lest you think I’m suddenly cooking major meals just for me. :)

Sunday

Shrimp and asparagus risotto

Monday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Leftovers and fruit

Tuesday

Lunch: Out with a friend

Dinner: Mushroom and spinach pasta, garlic-cheese flatbread  

Wednesday

Lunch: Soup and sandwich

Dinner: Leftovers

Thursday

Lunch: Leftovers if needed; sandwich if I’m out of leftovers

Dinner: Breakfast for dinner

Friday

Lunch: TBD

Dinner: Homemade pizza using either my own pesto pizza recipe (minus the chicken of course!) or this awesome looking recipe (I was also thinking of adding caramelized onions to it.  Thoughts?)

Breakfasts this week will be blueberry-almond muffins and Greek yogurt parfaits.  

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week a few things got moved around, but I did a much better job sticking to my menu plan.  I also plan to stick to my menu this week and try to eliminate any food waste. 

This week’s plan is a little different because I have two work functions and I’m cooking dinner a friend’s house.  My friend, who is Japanese, is going to teach me about tofu but I have no idea what we are making. 

As usual, I’ve planned both lunches and dinners.  Breakfasts are a choice of orange-oatmeal muffins, yogurt parfaits with fruit, and poptarts. 

Sunday

Lunch: Leftover Chinese takeout

Dinner: Celebrating my dad’s birthday with macaroni and cheese, green beans, squash and zucchini casserole, cornbread, and chocolate cake

Monday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Quinoa “Mac and Cheese”

Tuesday

Lunch: out with a friend

Dinner: Work function – Research Week awards dinner

Wednesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Work function – CME committee meeting

Thursday

Lunch: Soup, peanut butter sandwich

Dinner: Cooking with a friend

Friday

Lunch: Leftovers (if needed)

Dinner: TBD

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday

Last week I did not do a good job of sticking to my menu plan.  I had lunch out more than I planned and ate dinner out with friends when I had a perfectly good meal at home.  Lately, I've also noticed myself falling back into my old single girl routine of eating too many snacks, ordering pizza way too much, and baking too many sweet treats.  

Not that any of that is bad every once in a while, but too much of anything is a bad thing.  So this week, I'm making a committed effort to stick to my menu and eat at home.  I'm also trying to fix healthier meals.  I had hoped that going vegetarian for Lent would lead to a small weight loss and healthier attitude towards food, but so far that hasn't been the case.  I don't think I'm getting enough protein because I've noticed that I'm always hungry, so I'm incorporating some lentils, shrimp, and leafy greens into this week's plan to help combat that. 

Sunday

Lunch: Leftover pizza

Dinner: Roasted shrimp, potatoes and zucchini (bumped from last week)

Monday

Lunch: Leftover pizza

Dinner: Lentils and rice (check the comments in this post for how I prepare this)

Tuesday

Lunch: Leftovers lentils and rice

Dinner: Leftovers aka clean out the fridge

Wednesday

Lunch: Soup, toasted cheese sandwich

Dinner: Pasta Florentine (made without the meat)

Thursday

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: Veggie burger, frozen vegetables

Friday

Lunch: PBandJ sandwich, chips and hummus

Friday: TBD

Breakfasts are orange-oatmeal muffins or Greek yogurt parfaits.  I'm thinking of making cookie cake bars for something sweet to have around the house and to take to work. 

Any vegetarians out there?  What are your favorite (and frugal) protein choices?  What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

I’m back from my trip! I had a great time relaxing on the beach and hanging out with my friends.  It was a much needed vacation from work and from reality.  

The view from our balcony at sunset.

I was super organized last week and prepared my menu so I wouldn’t have to worry about it when I got home.  I didn’t eat great while I was away, although I did stick to my Lenten promise and only ate seafood!  But I’m really looking forward to some easy and healthy meals this week.  I’m continuing to plan my lunches; it went well for the little bit that I was at home last week, so this week will be real the test.  I’ll let you know how I did next week.

Sunday

I was supposed to order pizza, but I was too tired from driving all day to even do that.  I ended up eating snacky stuff around the house.

Monday

Lunch: out with a friend

Dinner: veggie burger, frozen veggies (cleaning out the freezer)

Tuesday

Lunch: soup, crackers and cheese

Dinner: Lemon Basil Pasta, some sort of bread – I’m thinking either Italian Cheese Twists or Cheesy Garlic Bread Swirls (I’m having friends over for dinner lest you think all of this was for me!)

Wednesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Roasted shrimp, broiled zucchini and potatoes

Thursday

Lunch: sandwich, chips and hummus

Dinner: leftovers or something easy

Friday

Lunch: soup, grilled cheese

Dinner: leftovers or something easy

Which bread should I serve on Tuesday?  And what’s on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

This week I'm trying something new.  I'm going to plan my lunches and stick to my plan.  I'm doing this because I've noticed myself having a little bit of trouble getting myself together in the mornings (big shock, I know) and getting my lunch packed.  I prefer to take my lunch, both for budget reasons and because it's hard to find vegetarian options at the hospital.  I'm hoping that by planning and packing my lunch ahead of time, it will make mornings that much easier.

This is also going to be a short week because I'm going to the beach this week!  I did a good job eating through my leftovers last week, so I cooked one meal last night and I should (fingers crossed) be able to avoid any food waste this week.

Sunday

Penne a la Betsy

Monday

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: Pasta tossed with broccoli, garlic, and olive oil (dinner with my parents)

Tuesday

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: leftovers

Wednesday

Lunch: soup, crackers and cheese

Do you have any fun meals planned this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

I feel like all I do lately is eat out and eat leftovers.  It isn't on purpose; I would much rather be cooking small meals and eating my own (slightly healthier) food, but it seems like I have so much to do and all of it comes around dinner time.  My wallet and my waistline are cringing from all the heavy, fatty, overly priced restaurant meals and I have a feeling that I'm going to have a good amount of food waste this week.  

I guess I could start having people over for dinner.  Is it rude to serve your guests leftovers?  :)

This past weekend two of my closest friends from college came for a visit and I recreated one of our favorite sorority house dinners for us on Friday.  It didn't taste quite the same without 70 other girls eating it too, but it was wonderful to spend time with my sweet friends.  

Friday - Poppy seed chicken, rice, salad, oreo delight (recipe coming soon!)

Saturday - Out to dinner

Sunday - Leftovers

This week, when I'm not meeting up with friends who are in town for spring break (oh to still be in school!), I will be eating:

Monday - Out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory - YUM!

Tuesday - Leftovers (either from Friday or more of the never ending bowl of Spinach Cream Sauce. Side note: does anyone know if you can freeze cream sauce?)

Wednesday - Out again

Thursday - Yogurt-marinated chicken with mushrooms and sweet potatoes (I'll be making this without the quinoa since I don't need that much food.)

What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

This week is dedicated to eating what I already have on hand.  I needed a lot of staples at the store this week (stuff for breakfast, flour, chips, etc) so I decided, in order to meet my grocery budget (which I still didn't - oops), I would make my menu based on what I already had in the house and aim for a no-waste week.  

Sunday: Dinner with my parents - Poppy seed chicken casserole, rice, sauteed veggies

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Leftover spinach cream sauce with pasta

Wednesday: TBD - it's my mom's birthday and I want to make her something special

Thursday: Leftovers or Sweet Potato and Vegetable Tian (bumped from last week)

Is anyone else cooking from the freezer/pantry this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

It seems like my staid, slightly boring life has suddenly exploded into a whirlwind of social activities and trips out of town.  I was working on my calendar last week and just looking at my plans from now until July exhausted me.  Clearly, I’m going to be very busy so simplicity needs to be the name of the game for the next little while. 

I’m still trying to eat mostly vegetarian (for budget reasons) and I’m also sticking with my meal plan of cooking two-three times a week and eating on the leftovers.  I was out of town this past weekend so my meal plan reflects that.  Not that I didn’t come home in time yesterday to cook dinner, because I did.  I just gave into the temptation and ordered a pizza.  And I don’t feel 

guilty in the least.

At least until my pants stop fitting and I have to put on a bathing suit in less than a month.

Monday: Pasta with Spinach Cream Sauce

Tuesday: Going to a sushi making class

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Sweet Potato and Vegetable Tian

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: TBD 

How was your weekend?  Did anyone do anything really fun?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.