Skip to main content

Meal Plans

Except for the occasional magically delicious pasta salad, I am actually pretty bad at winging it. If I get towards dinner time and I don't have a plan then I end up saying “spaghetti” and grabbing the jar of sauce from the pantry. It's not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that I'm happier when I don't feel like I'm resorting to an easy meal quite so often. So I need to plan. I went to the grocery store today, and before I went my husband and I talked through a partial plan.

Here's what I'm going to make in the next couple of days:
  • Black bean quesadillas (actually made these tonight.)
  • Chili with beans and either chips or corn tortillas depending on the results of a future trip to the store.
  • Beans and cornbread, adapted from the Pioneer Woman's recipe
  • Braised cabbage with red beans and rice from the Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen
  • Vegetable soup

And there are two things I'd like to get to making in the next week:

  • Korean-style beef served with spinach, green salad and rice from Madhur Jaffrey's Cookbook, which I picked up from a used cookbook merchant at the Farmers' Market. The limiting factor here is that it serves 6 so I need to invite guests. (Yes, I suppose I COULD scale it down, but that violates the spirit of the book, so I feel duty-bound to feed this recipe to family and/or friends. Would you like to come over?)
  • Cinnamon rolls from Uprisings. I made them years ago, and really appreciated that they were a sweet breakfast treat that wasn't a sugar bomb. They definitely fit in here and I want to try them again.

What do you want to cook this week?
Labels:

Comments

  1. Justine LNovember 5, 2010 at 2:27 AM

    Actually, this will depend on my CSA ... and it's the last week for that! I get the list tomorrow afternoon, and spend the hour or so following stressing about how I'm going to use all of the vegetables. Though it's bound to be a little easier tomorrow, since I won't feel pressured to use them all before the next box comes ... huzzah!

    Love Madhur Jaffrey. I was thinking about picking up her _World Vegetarian_ cookbook. Wish I'd had the braised cabbage recipe two weeks ago. (!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jennifer ThorsonNovember 5, 2010 at 6:13 AM

    I recommend World Vegetarian. It's encyclopedic, and the African peanut sauce alone might be worth the price of admission.

    Let me know if you need the cabbage recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MaudNovember 5, 2010 at 3:51 PM

    This week? It's Friday. If I do any planning, it happens on a Monday and lasts till Thursday at the latest. By Friday I'm usually winging it with carbonara, and Ssturday and Sunday are totally free of plans - we might end up eating out, and if not there's always whatever's in the freezer. Though I have a vague hope to try your pumpkin coconut soup this weekend. Ask me again on Monday.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Thing with Feathers: A sermon for Proper 14, Year C

  “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me. ~Emily Dickinson   I love a new notebook: lined or gridded, sketchbook, or thick watercolor paper, a planner or just fresh, blank pages. I do a lot of writing, and a new notebook and a good pen is always the best part of a project. Together the pen and notebook represent the launch of something new; the anticipation of success. In fact I love new notebooks so much that I bought too many and now I am not allowed to buy any more. This is my own rule and I have only myself to blame. I get really excited about the new thing, but my enthusiasm wanes and the notebooks sit abandoned with only a f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Butter(less) Chickpeas

On Monday morning I got a call from a client, warning that my services would be needed soon. The threat of labor makes me pretty efficient. I filled and ran the dishwasher, cleaned the sink, took the boys grocery shopping, got the groceries put away, fed the boys lunch, emptied the dishwasher, made snack and dinner for the boys, filled the dogs' water, cleaned the dog' ears, and put the flowers in the vase. I spent the rest of Monday at the birth, watching a skilled nurse-midwife facilitate the VBAC my client wanted despite circumstances that might have sent some providers running for the operating room. It was a great birth, the baby was perfect and I'm glad I was there to witness it. But it meant that I didn't get to bed until 2:00 in the morning. When I say that I am a morning person, I do not mean 2:00 in the morning. A mere five hours later the sun was up and my children were up and my husband was getting ready to leave for work. I had a follow-up scheduled for...
10 comments
Read more

Precious and Beloved: A Sermon for the First Sunday after Epiphany, Year C RCL

 “Do not fear,” so says our reading from Isaiah.  ( Click here to listen to the sermon ) The book of Isaiah as we have it can be divided into three parts. The first part deals with the Babylonian exile. Our reading from today comes from the middle section, a collection of materials around the themes of hope, divine comfort, and an end to the exile. The period of punishment is over, and God will redeem Israel.  The God who created them, the God who calls them by name, makes a promise to bring them home. It is a forward-looking and hopeful message emphasizing God’s actions, and affirming God’s nearness and compassion.  The book of Isaiah is part of the biblical prophetic tradition focused not just on the historical prophet, but also on how the living tradition remained applicable across generations. So if you find yourself in the wilderness of our modern world, it might be helpful to look to Isaiah.  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and the r...
Post a Comment
Read more