I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 28 years, disabled daughter, adult son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!So it's time to get back to meal planning again. I have been sick and lazy about cooking and relying on some convenience foods. During the holidays this year I need to make up some homemade convenience foods. I'd like to have pre-made enchiladas, lasagna, turkey TV dinners with stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy where I only need to open a can of green beans or add a salad to make it complete. I want some pre-made meatloaves and meatballs. I want to make up a bunch of Korean mandoo dumplings and some homemade French fries for the freezer.
I'd like to have some pre-made freezer kits for making quick stir-fries and for dumping into the crockpot. I need to get some potatoes canned. I need to make more meal plans that follow on from each other, like baked potatoes one night and baked potato soup the next, or spaghetti and meatballs one night and meatball sandwiches the next. I need to be thinking about double and triple batch cooking where I make one for now and one or two for the future.
I just need to make it easier to cook at home than to go get take out food. We are wasting too much money on take out. Anyway, I've made up a plan for the rest of the week, and I will start working on a plan for next week.
Tonight (Tuesday):
Homemade pizza with pepperoni, ham, onions, bell pepper strips.
Salad
Wednesday:
Spaghetti
Meatballs (made with pork and hamburger, garlic, and various cheeses I have on hand) (triple batch, 1 for the night, 1 for the next day, and one for the freezer)
Cole slaw
Thursday:
Meatball sandwiches made on homemade garlic bread
Green beans
Oranges
Friday:
Fried Rabbit
Baked potatoes (triple batch)
Broccoli/cauliflower
Canned peaches
Saturday:
Baked potato soup
Leftover broccoli/cauliflower
Leftover rabbit meat
Fresh baked bread
Canned pears
Sunday:
Chile Verde (double batch, one for freezer)
Fried potatoes made with leftover baked
Fresh baked bread
Canned pineapple
Next week is still a bit up in the air. I'm not sure yet what day we are celebrating with the in-laws. It was supposed to be the 21st, but someone's work interfered so now we are waiting to find out about the 27th or the 28th to see if my SIL can get her daughters on those nights. They are supposed to be with ex-BIL those days and he may not want to give up his time.
I will likely make a couple of lasagnas, one for whatever day we celebrate on. I do have another week's menu plan made up that I can slot into place once I know what is going on.
Meal Planning
December 18th, 2013 at 12:24 am
December 18th, 2013 at 02:07 am 1387332427
December 18th, 2013 at 02:57 am 1387335476
December 18th, 2013 at 05:42 am 1387345357
I'm also not used to buying food for the whole family for a whole week (plus an extra family member), because our kids eat breakfast and lunch at daycare 5 days a week. So this will be interesting to say the least.
December 18th, 2013 at 12:44 pm 1387370699
http://www.insanitytheory.net/kitchenwench/my-guide-to-perfect-korean-dumplings-aka-mandu/
Except I substitute savoy cabbage for the Chinese Napa cabbage, because it is easier to work with and we can use up the rest of it easier because it is a smaller cabbage and lends itself to coleslaw better. I have left the tofu out on occasion as well if I didn't have time to dry it or didn't have any on hand. I just add more pork instead when I do that. I also don't do the fancy crimp of the dumplings, but a more simple crimp. And we throw them in the deep fat fryer instead of pan frying them.