Monday, December 6, 2010

Cooking Ahead and Menus For the Week

I did a bit of planning ahead for the week this weekend and here's what I came up with.

Friday:

Pan fried steak, baked potatoes, fruit and veggie salad.

Chuck eye steaks were on sale at Food Lion this week. These are a relatively tender steak and when on sale are just a couple of dollars each. I bought a package of 5 for $10.00, cooked two for hubby and me and froze the remaining three.

Our grill was in the storage building, it was dark outside and it was cold, so I opted for pan frying the steaks. I just heated a small amount of oil in a pan, seasoned the steaks and threw them in. I turned them once, cooking each side until brown and then let them sit for about 5 minutes.

Saturday:

Southern style chicken and pastry; chicken salad

I don't roll out pastry the way my mother and grandmother did. You can buy this stuff at the grocery store in the frozen section in my part of the South. All you have to do is boil the chicken and then cook the pastry in the broth. I made chicken salad from the boiled chicken.

Sunday:

Stew beef with vegetables served over rice; fruit and veggie salad

This is the best beef stew I ever made! The meat was so tender that it almost melted in our mouths. I used THIS RECIPE found on the Family Homestead blog.



As most of you know, the secret is cooking the stew on a very low temperature for several hours. I cooked mine at 300 degrees for 3 hours and then for about 1` hour at 200 degrees and then cut the oven off and let it sit for a little while longer in the warm oven. Dusting the ingredients with flour help the liquid to thicken into a wonderful gravy.

The recipe says to use chuck roast instead of stew beef. This worked out well, since chuck roasts were also on sale this week at Food Lion. I cut the roast into bite size pieces. I put the fatty pieces in a pot of water to boil. This made a pot of beef broth to be used in vegetable soup later on in the week. I pulled the lean bits of beef from the fat and then discarded the fat.

I also cooked extra rice to be used in another recipe this week.

The fruit and veggie salad is made up of whatever you have on hand. This version contained banana, apple, raisins, broccoli, bell pepper, cheese, grated carrot and a heaping tablespoon of light mayo. Mix it all up and its a really good way to get some servings of fruits and vegetables in



Monday:

Lasagna, Green beans.

I browned the ground beef on Saturday to be used in this. I plan to put the lasagna together in the morning before going to work, then pop it into the oven as soon as I walk in the door from work.

Tuesday:

Chicken Fried Rice with garden peas

I will use boneless chicken from the freezer that was bought on sale. This is where the extra rice cooked on Sunday will come in handy!

Wednesday: Shepherd's Pie

I plan to make the mashed potatoes that are spread on top ahead of time, either the night before or Wednesday morning.

Thursday: Vegetable Beef Soup

I will use the beef broth with beef bits with vegetables added.

Friday: Chicken Potato Soup

Another Family Homestead recipe found HERE:

6 comments:

Denise said...

Great menu plan, I'm still struggling with staying consistant planning my menus.

Maybe you can get some sewing in since you may have some free time due to you great meal planning, LOL.

Anonymous said...

Hi Debbie,
Everything look wonderful. I gave up on menu planning. It just doesn't work for us.I love The Family Homestead Site. She has some wonderful information on there. Have a blessed week.
Elizabeth

Alexandra said...

I shouldn't read your post at dinnertime! Your meal plan is so delicious.

I like that site...I cook a lot like this, but it's nice to see some variations. I liked her chowder, salad, and homemade garlic rolls - yummy!

Anonymous said...

I wish I could get organized enough to do this!

Melinda

Deanna said...

That is a wonderful looking menu. Planning meals ahead saves time and money! You are a good example of this.

kim said...

Whenever I read one of your posts your organisational skills astound me.......I think I must be one of the most disorganised people in the world..........will keep reading and hope to pick up some of your good habits.
florrie x

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