Meal Planning Post

I honestly am the most terrible meal planner now because I don't buy food in a normal manner.  We get a CSA and shop at the corner produce market and then supplement from a larger grocery store.  So we do usually eat healthily, but I tend to make whatever is on hand a lot. I decided that I would share last week's menu of meal planning because I can retroactively think but not future think when it comes to food.  So here goes.

Day 1: Noodles, Jarred Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs with a side of Butter Sauteed Brussel Sprouts

The one part I needed a recipe for here was the meatballs. I used the Betty Crocker Meatball Recipe.
The brussel sprouts I cooked in butter and added some Mitchell's Steak House seasoning from Penzey's Spices. For the noodles and sauce, they were boxed or jarred. I know, lame, but easy. :)


Day 2: Ham, Cabbage and Potato Skillet with tortilla chips and bought spinach artichoke dip

We get a lot of cabbage in our CSA. It grows well in NE Ohio. Ham, Cabbage, Potato Skillet from allrecipes is simple  and makes me like it more than normal because it gives it a nice flavor.  The added chips and dip helped fill out the meal for the kids.

Day 3: Pork, Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes and apple sauce

This is a New Years traditional meal for me. I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country and so its a must on January 1st. I actually didn't use a recipe for the pork and sauerkraut this time because I was lazy and just threw it in the crock pot with a bottle of beer and some spices and called it a day. It turned out okay, but next time I should probably look at a recipe. :) For the mashed potatoes, the recipe I usually follow is from Simply Recipes.

Day 4: Spelt Berry and Tomato Soup with Toasted Cheese Sandwiches

This one surprised me, two out of my 3 children really liked it and it was full of veggies. We got a bunch of spelt berries from the CSA and last time we had them I didn't really use them well.  This time I found a recipe for things I had on hand from Whole Foods found here.  I didn't have kale, because I had already used it in a morrocan stew the week before, so I subbed it out for napa cabbage and it worked really well.  For the toasted cheese sandwiches, we were low on butter, so i subbed out the butter for frying with coconut oil. They were pretty yummy.

Day 5: Take Out - For the day I just can't pull dinner together

Day 6: Left overs - There is usually at least a dinners worth of planned excess from other meals.

Day 7: Kielbasa Sausage, Beer Bread and Chopped Raw Carrots with dip

My children usually gravitate towards raw veggies, so instead of cooking the carrots, I leave them raw.  The sausage is just pan seared and heated, since it is already cooked. Beer bread is a favorite in this house and is really easy to make. I love it because it doesn't require yeast which can sometimes be hit or miss. The recipe I use is found on Food.com here.

And there you have it a week of meals of what we eat.  We don't eat take out every week, but sometimes its a must for those rough or busy days.  It can get expensive though if we aren't careful.  Happy meal planning!