Meal Planning Monday (on Tuesday)

If you add our trip to Hawaii plus my time at BlogHer together, I've been away from my kitchen for almost three weeks.  I was rooting around in the cupboard today and it was like being in someone else's house.  There are things in there that I don't remember buying so meal planning for this week has been interesting and frustrating.

Since I'm not sure what I have, I stopped into the natural foods store yesterday for the bare basics: enough milk, fruit and veg to tide us over until the farmer's market this weekend. 

This is what I've got planned this week. I'm noticing it's pretty carb heavy (just what I need!) because I want to use up some of things we have on hand before the weekend big shopping trip.:

[The * indicates locally grown or sourced items.]

Monday (yesterday) we had spaghetti with butter* and tomato* sauce and a salad* made with my patio cukes* and cherry tomatoes*. My girls were begging for this pasta. I made it and they loved me so much after.
Tuesday—Chili con carne (local, grass-fed ground beef)*, cut-up apples and plums*. My girls apparently don't like plums anymore so I guess I'll be making a plum clafouti later this week. If my kids ate jam I'd do that, but they don't (because they are weird) so I won't. If you have other plummy ideas, please share!
Wednesday Sandwich night—Fra' Mani Salami* sandwiches (on Esther's German Bakery bread*) with Cream of Tomato* and Basil* Soup.
Thursday—Leftover veggie lasagne made with zucchini* and yellow squash*, Caesar salad with local lettuce*.
Friday through Sunday—my family is visiting. We'll probably do lots of meals out and barbecue at least once.

Tell me one thing you are looking forward to cooking this week. (Or one thing you cooked that turned out great.)

Comments

[nottryingforaboy]

What about plum dumplings? My Austrian grandmother used to make some that were so good. I don't have her recipe, but if you google plum dumplings, there are a bunch of recipes.

Oh geez, now I want them. I better muster up the courage to make them.

One thing I did make recently that I thought turned out well was an orzo salad with fennel, green beans and dill sauce. It was in Bon Appetit a few months ago.

[KS]

I know you've done a yogurt marinade for a roasted chicken (which looks fabulous), but I do it with chicken thighs and cook it stovetop with a grill pan. I let the thighs marinate overnight and the finished product is delish.

The thighs cook quickly which is great for during the week since both my husband and I work full time out of the house. Its perfect with basmati rice (or couscous if in a hurry)+ veggies. The leftover chicken is awesome the next day with spinach salad (+ golden raisins). Yum.

[mamagingertree]

I'll take the plums. My kids can't get enough of them right now.

I've been craving Thai food so I'm looking for something coconutty and spicy to chef up tomorrow. Perhaps this:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/THAI-CHICKEN-COCONUT-SOUP-241463

[De in D.C.]

We're big fans of poached plums in this house; served warm with vanilla ice cream. Yum.

Tomorrow I'm thinking fried zucchini and cauliflower with some kind of potato dish (roasted, or scalloped perhaps).

Thurs we're all out. Fri depends on if a friend is coming to visit or not. If so, then vietnamese. If not, then leftovers. Sat. is my company picnic and I can't imagining anyone wanting to eat after that!

[msmaria]

I tried your spaghetti with butter and tomato sauce and it was A.Ma.Zing. Patrick was skeptical -- how can something so simple possibly be that spectacular -- and he ate his words...along with most of the pasta. If anyone hasn't tried this recipe, they *must*.

[Kayris]

I've been trying a bunch of new recipes lately, and a lot of them come from the latest issue of Clean Eating magazine, which I LOVE.

My super picky son went bonkers for Light Ensalada Rusa tonight. Cleaned his plate. And my H really really liked the BLT's I made with center cut bacon, avocado, honey wheat bread, and faux mayo made with FF yogurt and homemade pesto.

This week I'm looking forward to Spinach, Cheese and Apple Paninis with carmelized onions.

This is my favorite time of year for cooking, because all the fresh produce makes everything taste so amazing.

[Amelia Sprout]

I found a couple of msg free marinades at a local Asian grocery store that I used on chicken and everyone loved. Chicken isn't very popular with anyone in our house except me, and I'm usually pretty uninspired, so it was nice to find something that worked.

[Amelia Sprout]

I founda couple of msg free easy marinades for chicken at my local Asian market. Chicken isn't very popular with anyone but me, and I usually can't figure out what to do with it, so I was pretty pleased that everyone gobbled it up. One was a satay and one was tandoori flavored. I need to get more of them to keep taking advantage of the grilling weather while we have it.

[Karen]

My girls love your spaghetti con burro e pomodori - you should have a "kids will eat it" tag on it.

You could sauce up your plums. On Monday I made tilapia with a soy-ginger-plum sauce with our wild plums. It was a big hit. Also, I think I saw a recipe for plum sorbet on Simply Recipes.

I got this great cookbook from the library with Moroccan, Turkish & Lebanese recipes. On Family night last Friday we had Turkish Night and we tried a bunch of Turkish recipes. We had a lot of fun so I think we will do a Lebanese Mezze this Friday with chicken wings w/lemon & garlic, chickpeas with toasted bread & yogurt, bread salad w/sumac or the eggplant w/pomegranate molasses, hummus and cheese/yogurt dip. Some of the recipes look easy enough that my girls can help. It's a beautiful cookbook called Arabesque by Claudia Roden.

[LizP]

Grilled plums?
Plum tart?
Make jam anyway and call it an "ice cream topper"

On Monday I made grilled chicken with a curry powder/cumin/tumeric/lime juice/olive oil rub (from Robin Miller-FoodTV), coconut milk rice (Chris Jordan-Ordering Disorder), and sauted zucchini.

Yesterday I made bbq beef sandwiches (well hubby made them, I fed the baby) but it was my idea.

Tonight is steak and corn.

Thursday we have teenagers and will probably have something containing pasta.

Friday is Relay for Life and we will be at the community college walking to cure cancer.

Saturday we will be recovering from Friday.

Sunday is the annual St. Catherine's bbq where they have the most delicious bbq'd brisket.

[Stefania]

nottryingforaboy, first, love your handle. second, i did see some recipes for plum dumplings, with your recommendation, i think I just might try making them!

karen, love the idea of turkish & lebanese night!

De, you reminded me that I have two zucchini to use up. I think we'll have zucchini pancakes for lunch today.

everyone else, i just love you. great comments as usual.

[Karen]

maybe it's a texture thing - my little one won't eat plums but she loves the Italian prunes we got at Costco

[Asianmommy]

We're having ribs this week. The girls love it. I'm also looking forward to the fresh strawberries.

[Lisa]

I made this quinoa risotto last week for dinner guests and it was delicious!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/ARTICHOKE-ASPARAGUS-AND-MUSHROOM-QUINOA-RISOTTO-1271250

[mandy313]

I live in beautiful Charleston, SC so I picked up some fresh tomatoes and cukes from the local farm stand (but skipped the boiled peanuts) and made a salad with those plus a little balsamic, some olive oil (from the Piggly Wiggly!), crumbled feta, little garlic salt, and lots of fresh ground pepper.

Kids loved it.

[Christine Tham]

Durian moussee cake. Now durians are in season and is very cheap - $5 to a kilo.

[Courtney]

Plum torte! My favorite July breakfast (hey, it has less sugar and more fruit than my coffee cake recipe!)

Cream 1/2 cup (1 stick) soft butter with 1 cup sugar. Add two eggs and 1 tsp vanilla (and optionally the zest of a lemon) and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt (and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and/or 1/4 tsp nutmeg too if you want). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into a well-buttered 8 or 9 inch springform pan. Arrange on top of the batter five plums (or however many will fit) cut into sixths. Sprinkle the top liberally with cinnamon-sugar (at least 1 Tbsp of sugar with 1tsp cinnamon). Bake at 350 for an hour (or even a bit more) until the torte is brown and the kitchen smells good. Allow the torte to cool slightly before springing the springform pan. Serve the torte warm, room temperature, or chilled (with whipped cream if you want).

[Rick Bucich]

Can’t help you with the plums, not my forté unfortunately. One of my favorites is a tomato, mozzarella, avocado and basil salad drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Another is a Panini sandwich like what msmaria mentioned; they are so fast and easy to make.

[Amanda Petite Mommy]

Your recipes also sound delicious. I think I'll try the spaghetti & butter one. It sounds like something I've made before.
Today I made salmon burgers and they were a hit with everyone.