Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Menu Plan for the week of Aug 2, 2010

I have not posted our menu in many months, but this week, I've had the time to plan a menu and the time to post it. I like posting it because then I feel some accountability and am more likely to stick to it and not rely on deli chickens or take out.

I have been so tired this pregnancy, that it has been difficult to cook, much less plan for meals. In fact, many time in the last months, I've wondered how women through the centuries have survived having to prepare everything from scratch while exhausted and extremely nauseated in pregnancy. There were a few weeks when I could not even walk through the kitchen without retching. The family had a lot of chicken nuggets and deli chickens those weeks.

We are eating as locally as possible so I mark the local items in bold.

Breakfasts (with repeats):

Granola (homemade in the crock pot using local honey and pecans)
Yogurt (homemade and flavored with maple syrup or honey)
Waffles (made with local eggs)
Baked Oatmeal (made with local eggs)

Lunches:

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Muffalettos on homemade bread with cut up fruit
Bake Potatoes with butter and cheese
Leftovers from Dinner

Snacks:

Carrots and dip
Herb Cheese and crackers
Watermelon
Chips and Salsa (homemade with local ingredients)
Gingerbread (a favorite of our nephew who is visiting for the week)
smoothies (peaches, blueberries, strawberries)

Dinner:

Monday - we had roasted chicken with a green salad (cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes)

Tuesday - Homemade Pizza (some of the veggie toppings are local - banana peppers, for one) with sliced cucumbers and cantalope.

Wednesday - grass-fed beef burgers with steamed broccoli, fruit and sweet corn (in the freezer - our neighbor grew it and gave it to us).

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Roasted Chicken, black beans and brown rice and caramelized mixed veggies (most of the veggies are local - zucchini, yellow squash, red peppers, onions)

Saturday - Soup made from the leftover chicken - probably white bean chicken chili,but the final soup will depend on what we have a lot of and what we find at the farmer's market. We will have it with cornbread (probably) and anything fresh I can find a the market.

Sunday - Probably leftovers to clean out the fridge.

Preserving:

I have not preserved much so far this week since there were only 2 vendors at the market yesterday and they mostly had what I already have preserved in abundance. I have frozen more zucchini and am drying blueberries and peppers. Hopefully, there will be more tomatoes at the market as I'd like to can more sauce and salsa and maybe dry some, too. I am also eager to find the first figs of the season - hopefully this week.

2 comments:

Alea Milham said...

My oldest 2 children learned to cook during my last pregnancy. I just could not stand being around food. Have you ever read Angela's Ashes? I read it as part of a book club and the thing that stuck out (I'm sure I was supposed to get more out of it) was that the kids seemed to survive on bread and tea. I remind myself of that when I am pregnant and feeding my kids chicken nuggets or pizza. :)

Your menu looks great! It is wonderful that you are able to find so much of your food locally.

I wish I lived close enough to bring you dinner!

The Book Lady Online said...

Alea, you are so sweet :) I wish you lived close enough to visit :)

My oldest two are also learning to cook more out of necessity. Now that I'm feeling better, I am trying to teach them as much as I can so that when the baby arrives, they can help out with cooking. Plus, I'm sure their wives will thank me one day ;)