Weekly Menu

Time for my weekly menu planning! I'm so curious to hear how many of you out there do weekly menu planning! What's your strategy?

This week, we really need to use up some things from our freezer, so while I cannot call this a full pantry challenge, I am trying to keep my supermarket purchases really basic this week.



Here's the plan:

Sunday
Lunch: Rice, Tofu, corn, assorted leftover vegetables
Supper, Baked potatoes and sweet potatoes, hard boiled eggs, carrots, roasted kishuim, and some figs

Monday
Lunch: Random things from the fridge that need to be used up (potatoes, veggies, polenta, yogurt...)
Supper: Shabbat leftovers

Tuesday
Lunch: Sandwiches, carrot sticks, apples
Supper: random freezer findings

Wednesday
Lunch: Random freezer findings
Supper: Baked Ziti, make-your-own-salad

Thursday
Lunch: Any random leftovers from the week
Supper:Pizza (homemade),  salad, steamed veggies

This is not such a detailed menu, but hopefully it will do! It's time to do a good freezer cleanout in any case!
How's your menu for the week shaping up? Do you find menu planning saves you money? Do you waste less food?

Weekly Menu

Time to plan my menu for the week!

Do you plan your menus? I find that when I do, it's so much easier for me to make sure we have relatively healthy food to eat, and it minimizes my panicky trips to the makolet for emergency ingredients, since I plan my menus around the foods that are in my house already. Obviously, sometimes I have to switch things around, or I run out of time to cook, and we have to improvise, but the few minutes I spend planning is really worthwhile!

This way, also, when someone wants to know "What's for supper?" I can just nonchalantly say, "Check the blog!" instead of having to think about the answer...

So here's the plan this week:

Sunday: 
Lunch (for the non fasters): PB&J sandwiches on whole wheat bread, red peppers and cucumbers
Supper: Tomato Soup with Black Beans and Rice, cut veggies and crackers with chumus, and watermelon

Monday:
Lunch: Random Pareve and Dairy Leftover Shmorgasbord
Supper: Leftover Chicken, Cholent, Kugel, etc from Shabbat

Tuesday
Lunch: Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Salad
Supper: Spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese, make your own salad

Wednesday
Lunch: Leftover Pasta and Salad
Supper: Baked Tuna Patties, smashed potatoes, carrot sticks

Thursday
Lunch: PB&J sandwiches, whatever fruits and veggies need to be used up
Supper: Sloppy Sams on fresh rolls, oven fries, and make your own salad

This week I get to keep Shabbat super simple, as my pickiest customer heads off on a Shabbaton (good luck to him there, really...)! 

Oh and snacks for the week will be popcorn, roasted chick peas, watermelon, and whatever other cheap fruits we find!

What's on your summer menu?

Cooking for chag

It's that time of year, when every week there is a special Jewish holiday, requiring lots of food preparation. Not to mention the other preparations of getting a lulav/etrog set (or 3!), and building a sukkah! And decorating a sukkah, which requires lots of patience and creativity...

I'll try to post about our decorations later, but for now, I will write about my food prep plan.

I'm cooking today for my sukkah building crew plus a family with a new baby.

Chag is us plus some guests.

Today: 

Garlic Foccacia Breads (making it the Quick Bread way) 
Pasta two ways (with tomato sauce, veggies, and cheese, and with macaroni and cheese style) 
cut veggies - we have cucumbers, carrots, kohlrabi, peppers... 

Planning to make enough to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow too. (Just how many bags of pasta do I need to have enough for a total of 18 people...?)

For Chag:

Challot
Vegetable Soup
Vegetarian Chopped Liver
Roast chicken with rice
Tofu lo mein for the vegetarian
Potato Kugel 
Apple Crisp
Salads (whatever I manage to pull together)
Brownies
Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'd love to hear how all of your holiday preparations are going!

Shabbat menu

Just a quick note about what I'm serving this Shabbat. It's Thursday night and I should really get things going!

What are you serving for Shabbat?

I'm showcasing the organic zucchini I got (for cheaper than the regular kishuim at every store I checked), and organic corn on the cob I scored for 6 shekels/kg!




Baking:

Fresh Challot (if I actually get around to making the dough, otherwise I have a few emergency loaves in the freezer
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Some sort of muffins

Friday night:

Vegetable soup with noodles
Spicy Roast Chicken
Oven-baked Rice
Corn on the Cob
Roasted Zucchini
Roasted Butternut Squash
Salads

Lunch:

Black Bean Cholent
Oven fried shnitzel
Salads
Corn on the Cob
Potato Kugel from the freezer
Cake (brought by guest)

Seudah Shlisheet:

Challot
Spreads
Cucumber and Carrot sticks
Potato Salad
Pasta Salad
Grapefruit
Apple Cake (from the freezer)

And now I must get to work!

Shabbat Menu

Gotta make Shabbat, but I'm still not quite back to my normal self. Everyone else seems to have more or less recovered from being sick, but it's taking me a little longer to kick it. But I will kick it, just give me an extra week or two. It's one of those really annoying things - I am unlucky enough to have asthma and it has major repurcussions - like when I get sick, I get sicker than people who don't have asthma (or only have mild asthma), and I think it's so unfair. I guess that's why the medical establishment says that people like me have a higher risk of complications from regular illnesses. I find it completely frustrating and totally unfair.

But back to my Shabbat post:

I'm not sick enough to be contagious anymore, as far as I can tell, and we'd invited friends who just moved houses to come for lunch, since their place is completely topsy turvey, and we like their company.

So here's the plan for Shabbat:

Fresh challot (hoping I can manage that with help from the kids)

Friday night:

Vegetable soup
Roast chicken with rice
Vegetarian rice and pan fried tofu for my vegetarian teenager
Make your own salad (putting the kids on vegetable chopping duty!)

Shabbat lunch:

Black bean cholent
Oven Fried Chicken
Potato Kugel
Eggless Broccoli Kugel (will try to post the recipe)
Salad (guests bringing)
Black lentil salad (probably black lentils, brown rice, craisins, mango, sunflower seeds, in a vinaigrette dressing)

Dessert: fruit salad, coffee cake

Seudah shlishit:
Challah, spreads, vegetable sticks (cucumber, carrots, peppers), fruit salad 

What are you making for Shabbat this week?

Summer Menu Planning

It's ridiculously hot.
I cannot plan any meals that will actually require cooking!

I think we will be fine with sandwiches, salads, and any other cold food we can find today!
But then - I  really need to come up with a summer friendly menu plan!!
(And make it work with all of my family's food aversions, allergies, and intolerances, which will be quite a feat!)

I'd love to hear all of your ideas.

Here's what I have so far:

Vegetable Salad - make your own
Potato Salad
Felafel night (using premade felafel balls, because I can't make homemade ones when it's so hot)
Sandwiches of various kinds
Fruit Soup
Vegetarian liver, cold lentil dip, egg salad, other dips- to go with crackers or breads and cut vegetables

I wish I had more ideas!
Please help me out!

Menu Planning for the week

Wow, I can't believe it's time to start again... I feel like I just planned last week's menu (and failed to stick to it)!

I'm planning around what I have in the house - I have lots and lots of carrots, red peppers, yellow peppers, cucumbers, avocados, persimmons, and kale. I have some tomatoes, clementines, grapefruits, and bananas. I have no idea if I will make it to the shuk on Tuesday -- I would love to get some more veggies (weird but I SO want cauliflower and kishuim), but we shall have to see how I'm feeling AND what the weather is like!

So let's try that again...

Breakfasts will be mostly oatmeal and citrus fruits. I may try out making some homemade granola.
Snacks will be persimmons, homemade crackers with guacamole, and muffins

Sunday:
Lunch: Split pea and carrot soup and sandwiches
Supper: Leftovers from Shabbat

Monday: 
Lunch: Coucous with cooked vegetables (including kale), lentil patties, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes

Supper: Split pea soup, vegetarian stuffed peppers, oven fries, make your own salad

Tuesday
Lunch: Red lentil soup, sandwiches, carrot sticks
Supper: Baked ziti (cheeseless version for me), roasted veggies, sauteed kale, garlic bread


Wednesday:
Lunch: leftovers from the week, make your own salad
Supper: Red lentil and chopped kale soup, spaghetti with black bean "meatballs" and chunky tomato sauce

Thursday
Lunch: picnic??
Supper: Vegetable soup, macaroni and cheese (something else for me), make your own salad


What are you making this week? 




p.s. Be sure to find me on Facebook! See you there!

Meal Planning (for the week)

This week I'm doing very minimal shopping - my freezer is pretty full, and there's no reason not to use up some of what I've stockpiled.

This is NOT a pantry challenge, so I will buy some things besides milk, but I don't plan to do a large amount of shopping...

Sunday: lunch: spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese, carrots and peppers with chumus for dipping
Supper: Mushroom-barley soup, fresh rolls, tomato, red pepper, and avocado salad

Monday: lunch: corn bread, lentil patties with sweet and sour sauce (from the freezer), southern fried cabbage
Supper: whatever soup I find in the freezer, rice and eggplant casserole (from the freezer), kohlrabi and carrots with chumus

Tuesday: lunch: leftover soup, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tomato, red peppers, and kohlrabi
Supper: Red lentil soup, stir-fried vegetables with rice, ??

Wednesday: lunch: whatever is left from the week
supper: homemade pizza, salad, oven-fries

Thursday: lunch: sandwiches, carrots and chumus
supper: Red lentil soup and ???

Menu planning for the week

My menu this week (I need to use up stuff that's in the house -- not only did I go over-budget last week, but my freezer is kind of full too!):

Sunday - lunch: chopped salad (finally got all my kids to eat salad, instead of having to dirty multiple bowls with a make-your-ow-sald! this is HUGE) and whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce and cheese
supper: red lentil and vegetable soup, roast potatoes, and southern fried cabbage (the vegetarian version)

Monday: lunch: red lentil soup (from Sunday night), sandwiches, carrot and red pepper sticks
Supper:  fresh rolls, black bean burgers, tomatoes, pickles, roasted red peppers, rice, sauteed butternut squash

Tuesday: lunch: cornbread, rice and black beans with salsa, tomatoes, and avocado
supper: vegetable soup, pasta with cheese, carrot sticks, tomatoes

Wednesday: lunch: vegetable soup, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, salad
supper: grilled cheese sandwiches, oven-fries, squash soup, salad

Thursday lunch: squash soup, leftovers from the week
supper: split pea soup, casserole from the freezer, carrot sticks, red peppers, and tomatoes

I'm planning to only buy milk and cheese this week - everything else is already here in the house!

How's your stockpile -- is it too well stocked, like mine?

What are you all eating this week?

Menu for the week

I find it much easier to make sure we don't get "stuck" when I plan my menus for the week. Do you plan? If you do, feel free to link up your plan to mine, if you have it online somewhere!


Breakfasts: oatmeal with milk and cinnamon sugar or muffins from the freezer, clementines (cuz we still have a whole lot of them)

Lunches: whatever I manage - soups, sandwiches, cut veggies with dips...
Snacks: fruits, muffins, popcorn...

Supper:
Sunday: Leftovers from Shabbat (embellished with something, since we basically have lots of black bean cholent and potato kugel left - maybe I'll make some sort of vegetable patty to go with it?)

Monday: Split pea soup, stuffed baked potatoes, salad

Tuesday: Tomato soup, cheesy rice and green vegetable casserole, spicy roasted carrots

Wednesday: Split pea soup, Pita pizzas, avocado

Thursday: any leftovers, or I will have to pull something out of the freezer

Menu Plan for the week

If I don't plan some menus immediately, we will have nothing to eat!
I'll easily get overwhelmed by all the tasks I have to take care of, our new schedule, which includes chugim (special activities) at supper time nearly every evening, etc...

So... no promises that I'll completely stick to this plan, but it's better to have a plan than NOT to have a plan.

I'll start with Monday this week, since it's already Monday!

OH... and I'm only planning supper. Not sure what we'll be doing about lunches, but at least we'll have a supper plan.

(Can you tell I'm still feeling a little topsy-turvey from the move?)

Monday: Tomato soup with rice, fresh rolls, salad

Tuesday: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, salad, yogurt

Wednesday: Lentil patties served on rolls, oven-fries, salad

Thursday: Pea Soup (not split pea soup), Roasted Carrots, Some sort of Casserole

Here's hoping  we can get back into some sort of daily and weekly rhythm!

Menu Planning

So some of us are fasting today, and I am trying to figure out what we'll break the fast on, so I realized it's time to plan a "week-end" menu.

Here's the plan:

Thursday night: Lentil and vegetable stew, pasta for those who want, toast for those who want, fresh fruit, lemonade, granola bars

Friday lunch: the bane of my existence usually! we have hard-boiled eggs, apple muffins, anything in the fridge that needs to get used up

Shabbat:
Homemade Challot
Split Pea Soup
Vegetarian Cholent
Some sort of roast chicken
sides from the freezer
fruit, chocolate cake from the freezer

Purim night, melave malka: completely up in the air! This is also when I plan to finish up any last minute Purim baking that didn't get done!

Purim seudah:
Chocolate Bread, with chocolate-hazelnut spread
Split Pea Soup
Spinach and Feta Quiche
Broccoli Quiche
Eggplant Lasagna
Salad
Rice
Milkshakes
Various desserts

Ok, I totally have my work cut out for me. I must get back to the kitchen even though I am SO hungry right now!

Have an easy fast!

Menu Plan for the Week

We've been back from our trip for 5 days now. We're trying really hard to get back to normal. SOME of us had to jump right back into a work-a-day schedule (poor hubby, that was hard), and some of us have been taking our sweet time getting our body clocks back in sync with Israeli time (hello 5 yr old, sleeping at all hours of the day)... the rest of us are trying valiantly, but somehow 4 a.m. seems to be an awake time! (Sigh. I'd rather be sleeping and back on schedule.)

So instead of tossing and turning, I may as well be productive.

Here's my (supper) menu plan for the week, assuming I don't do a shuk day or other major shopping run:

Sunday (break the fast): Green Lentil Stew with Rice and Potatoes, Whole Wheat-Oatmeal-Flaxseed Bread (with butter), Fruit Salad

Monday: Shabbat Leftovers

Tuesday: Tomato Soup with Black Beans and Rice. Homemade Flatbreads with spreads (chumus, avocado) and roasted vegetables, scrambled eggs

Wednesday: Crock Pot Soup (not sure yet what kind, depends what's left in the house), flatbread pizzas

Thursday: Clean out the Fridge supper