A week of dinners

[OakLeaf]

wow, that's two of you - we've pretty much given up on homemade pizza, even with a pre-made crust, because it takes just as much effort as a "real" meal but has the feel of something that ought to be "fast food." By the time you dice and saute onions, mince garlic, roast a red pepper, wilt spinach, slice and saute mushrooms, grate cheese, heat sauce (and season it if you're starting with unseasoned tomato sauce), etc., etc., etc., pizza takes a HECK of a long time! It's delicious, but it never seems like it's really worth the effort.

[Pax]

We really branched out last night...I'm home with a bunged up back and was feeling down, my honey brought me haagen dazs for dinner.

[Becky]

wow, that's two of you - we've pretty much given up on homemade pizza, even with a pre-made crust, because it takes just as much effort as a "real" meal but has the feel of something that ought to be "fast food." By the time you dice and saute onions, mince garlic, roast a red pepper, wilt spinach, slice and saute mushrooms, grate cheese, heat sauce (and season it if you're starting with unseasoned tomato sauce), etc., etc., etc., pizza takes a HECK of a long time! It's delicious, but it never seems like it's really worth the effort.

Our pizza topping are rarely "from scratch", unless I'm feeling particularly gourmet and have the time.

Lessee here:
Onions- diced frozen ones from the store.
Garlic- jarred.
Roasted peppers- jarred.
Fresh veggies- whatever I chopped up after shopping over the weekend.
Cheese- shredded from the store.
Sauce- canned from the store, or frozen homemade, depending on the garden's yield that year. And never pre-heated- the oven takes care of that while baking.

Now, that's not to say that I never prep produce, roast peppers, or shred cheese myself. I often do (except onions- too many tears! DH does that task!). But sometimes, there's just not the energy or time. And that's when prepared stuff is a life-saver. It might cost a little more, but if it saves me from ordering take out that night, it's worth the expense.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I wish I could get back on track with dinner. It's just me most of the time. I'm trying to clean up my eating again, I have no idea why I eat worse on the east coast than the west!

You know, you can freeze cooked rice. I have a rice cooker and I cook up a big batch of brown rice. Measure it out, put it in sandwich bags and freeze em up. I just take it right out of the freezer and dump a baggie into a stir fry. It actually tastes a little better than just keeping it in the fridge!

[redrhodie]

How about if you roast a bunch of veggies, like squash, peppers, carrots, parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes on Sunday, then make a few different meals with them during the week? You could put everything in one pan, or separate the sweeter veggies into another pan, and you only have to heat the oven once, saving energy.

You could then make roasted veggie soup by adding some liquid, herbs and pureeing. You could add them to canned veggie chili another night. You could make a frittata. They could go in a burrito with rice, cheese and salsa. I make quesadillas with butternut squash, cheese and salsa. May sound weird, but it's really good and easy. You could serve them with couscous, which is super fast and easy to cook, and maybe add some dried fruit and cashews or pistachios.

My mother used to cook that way, but usually it involved meat. She'd make a turkey (or chicken, or roast beef), and all week we'd have turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie, turkey a la king, turkey soup--you get the idea. She actually did it so well we didn't ever get sick of the main ingredient. She also made tomato sauce, and it would be used over pasta, on pizza, over meat loaf, stuffed peppers. She would freeze the leftovers. There was always something good to eat.

[emily_in_nc]

This time of year my DH (who is retired so does about 95% of the cooking, lucky me!) makes huge pots of soup, freezes some, keeps the rest in the fridge, and we eat different soup leftovers all week with a salad for dinner. Yummmmmmm!

[Andrea]

Thanks for all the ideas! I'm definitely going to put my freezer to better use than I have been.

Oh yeah, and my crock pot beans turned out to be AWESOME! I used Alton Brown's recipe but used butter instead of rendering bacon fat to cook the onions, etc. (just to keep it meatless).

[AutumnBreez]

I buy the 6lb bag of frozen Italian meatballs from sams club.Med. Crockpot1lb frozen meatballs1 jar Chili Sauce1 - 16 oz Grape jelly1/2 cup Maple syrup (pure)*Heat on high 3place about 5 meatballs on one hoagie roll (whole-wheat pepperidge farms)Serve with veggies or salad.Easy and yummy.** It was a hit with my teens!

[carpaltunnel]

One night a week just to have something really easy, we eat a veggie burger on a whole wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and pickles. We like Morningstar Farms Tomato Basil Pizza burger. Maybe open a can of bush's pork and beans for a little extra protein and fiber. Lazy, quick and good.

[indigoiis]

We cook a big chicken on Monday nights, because we have my daughter two nights later on in the week (and every other weekend) and she is a vegetarian. So our week looks a little like this:

Mon: roast chicken, potato, steamed veggies
Tue: leftover chicken made into a curry with rice
Wed: (daughter night) pasta with red or white sauce, salad
Thu: (daughter night) veggie casserole with white sauce, homemade bread
Fri: (if daughter night) pizza; (if no daughter night) pork chops or sausages with potato or sweet potato, veggies
Sat: (if daughter night) Rice & beans; (if no daughter night) Steak or burgers
Sun: Leftovers or pasta - last night we had an awesome veggie lasagna.

We don't have it exact, but it is clearly similar week to week, because of the schedule I have with my daughter.

[bmccasland]

lesson re-learned yesterday evening. In order to have meal out of the crock pot, one must remember to turn it ON.

[roadie gal]

lesson re-learned yesterday evening. In order to have meal out of the crock pot, one must remember to turn it ON.

LOL

*sheepishly raising my hand* I've done that, too.

[Cataboo]

There's only 1 of me, and I usually can't be bothered to cook daily - so I tend to just make a huge pot of something at the beginning of the week and eat it once or twice a day till it's gone, and that's usually Friday night.

This week it's green curry with pork, potatoes, onions, egg plant, and bell peppers.

Whenever steaks or wild salmon is on sale at my supermarket, I usually buy 3 or 4 of them, and just shove them into the freezer. I thaw one of those on alternating weeks on Friday, at which point the boyfriend is around, and that usually becomes the weekend's meal. Grill that on Friday night, and Saturday's usually a long kayak or bike ride - so having left over steak or salmon is usually greatly appreciated that evening.

I usually go to costco and buy the big bag of spinach, minipeppers, portabella mushrooms, etc. and make salads out of those until they start looking not so fresh, at which point I make a huge pot of spinach soup usually - keep some out to eat, and the rest gets frozen in quart ziplock bags - so I always have some fresh soup to thaw and eat if there's nothing else available.

[Andrea]

LOL

*sheepishly raising my hand* I've done that, too.

Everyone who has a crock pot has done it or is a liar!

BTW- I made sweet potato chili last sunday that was scrumtrulecent

[singletrackmind]

Last week's dishes....
thu-chipotle burritos (crock pot)
fri-breaded pork steaks, baked potatoes, carrots
sat-turkey chili, cornbread (chili in the crock)
sun-turkey chili, cornbread
mon-chicken gumbo, mashed potatoes
tues-out or scrounge....it's family bike riding night, scrounge if weather cancels it
wed-spicy peanut chicken, rice

This week....
thu-stuffed cinnamon bulgur peppers
fri-bread wine cheese grapes ham halloween!
sat-out
sun-gumbo and potatoes....the last of my okra
mon-steak and potatoes, green beans
tues-out or scrounge....family bike ride!
wed-spicy peanut chicken and rice....on the table in 10 minutes!

Lunches are usually frozen steamer veggies and a sandwich or pasta

Breakfast
mon-cereal or oatmeal
tue-egg burrito
wed-cereal or oatmeal
thu-egg something
fri-pancakes


I try to try switch things around every once in awhile so nobody gets bored. A also try to do a fish at least once a week, but it doesn't always work out. Last week it was tuna sandwiches.
I also prepare and freeze certain ingredients like bell peppers and chicken or cook things in advance, like chili while I'm waiting for the chicken to bake.

My shopping day is thursday so that's why my weeks start on thursday. It's when Shop n' Save has its big no coupon needed day.