Drafting Dinner: Meal Database

I’ve been planning our weekly menus for a while now; however, I still find that there are times I get “stuck” on what to plan for each week. I’ve decided to work on compiling a list of meals we frequently eat and enjoy so that I can refer to the list to make menu planning even easier. I’m categorizing my meals in lists below; some meals may appear on more than one list. At least twice a week we eat a meal that I can make ahead of time – either in the slow cooker or that I can simply pop in the oven when it is time to cook it. (Writing this list out has also reminded me of some meals that we enjoy that I haven’t made in a while!)

Make Ahead Meals

• Chicken enchilada casserole
• Beef enchilada casserole
• Roast
• Country style steak
• Chicken spaghetti
• Lasagna
• BBQ chicken quarters

Beef

• Taco salad {ground beef}*
• Beef enchilada casserole {ground beef}*
• Hamburgers (we usually go bunless and add awesome toppings like caramelized onions, bacon, and sometimes for me, a fried egg) {ground beef}*
• Warm, toasted roast beef sandwiches
• Roast
• Beef fajitas
• Beef fajita quesadillas
• Pasta with meat sauce {ground beef}*
• Hobo dinners {ground beef}
• Taco soup {ground beef}*
• Grilled steak
• Stuffed bell peppers {ground beef}*

*For recipes that use ground beef, sometimes I substitute part or all of the ground beef with ground turkey.

Chicken

• Chicken enchilada casserole*
• Chicken spaghetti*
• Baked chicken breast
• Crispy yogurt chicken
• French fried onion chicken
• Chicken fried rice
• Chicken pot stickers
• Chicken pot pie (drop biscuit or regular pie crust)*
• Chicken and dumplings
• Chicken fajitas
• Chicken fajita quesadillas
• Chicken and sausage jambalaya
• Chicken enchilada soup
• BBQ chicken quarters

*I make homemade chicken stock about once every six weeks. When I make the chicken stock I also freeze portions of the cooked and shredded chicken. I then use that shredded chicken in many different recipes. (By the way, the trick I saw on Pinterest about using your KitchenAid stand mixer to shred chicken does work! It works best with warm/hot chicken)

Pork

• Pulled pork
• Grilled pork chops
• Pork tenderloin

Other

• Breakfast for dinner
• Pizza
• Stuffed bell peppers {could be stuffed with ground beef and cheese OR breakfast sausage, cream cheese, and shredded cheese}

Favorite sides

• Grilled corn
• Grilled asparagus
• Grilled squash
• Roasted broccoli or roasted broccoli and carrots
• Roasted asparagus
• Sautéed green beans
• Sautéed broccoli or sautéed broccoli and carrots
• Sautéed squash
• Sautéed cabbage
• Black-eyed peas
• Mashed potatoes
• German potatoes (still trying to master these!)
• Crash hot potatoes
• Coleslaw
• Asian coleslaw salad
• Rice
• Couscous
• Cornbread stuffing (if I’m feeling ambitious)

Breads

• Cornbread
• Parker house rolls

 

We really don’t eat much seafood, but I would really like to implement eating more fish in our diet regularly. Hopefully I can add some favorite fish recipes before long!

Weekly Menu on Monday: August 16th

1. Breakfast for dinner: Eggs, bacon, and biscuits.
2. Roast with vegetables (I never got around to making this a couple of weeks ago).
3. Grilled steak, grilled corn, and salad or maybe grilled asparagus if I can find a good price on it.
4. Chicken and sausage pasta. I don't have a specific recipe, but I'm thinking I'll sauté green bell peppers, onion, and garlic with the chicken and sausage, and serve with a light cream sauce.
5. Crockpot broccoli beef. This was yummy last time I made it, so I thought we'd do it again!

For previous menus click here!

Weekly Menu on Monday: August 2nd

Ah, after a few weeks missing my weekly menu posting, I've finally planned a weekly menu again this week (although abbreviated since we have some things going on where I won't be cooking dinner):

1. Migas and Fajitas. Migas are a wonderful scrambled egg mixture generally containing tortilla strips, onions, jalapeños (or Serrano peppers), tomatoes, and sometimes topped with cheese. They are one of my absolute favorite Mexican breakfast (or lunch or dinner!) items. You can eat them alone, inside a tortilla, or even with some fajita meat inside a tortilla. Yum! Another plus side is that this meal is low carb for my gestational diabetes diet- the only carbs come from the tortilla strips in the eggs and the tortillas (if you choose to eat with tortillas).
2. Slow-cooker roast. What is your favorite way to prepare roast? I've tried lots of different ways, but haven't found a favorite yet.
3. Shrimp scampi. I've never made shrimp scampi, but I saw this recipe on one of my new favorite food blogs (Annie's Eats), and thought it looked so simple and yummy!

What are some of your favorite food blogs?? I love new places to seek out recipes!

For more weekly menus, click here!

Weekly Menu on Monday: July 12

I know it has been a couple of weeks since I've posted a weekly menu, but that is because we've been busy running here and there (away from home), and thus, I had no need to post a weekly menu for myself. Here's this week's menu:

1. Grilled flatiron steaks with summer corn fettuccine. The recipes from this Rachael Ray episode look so yummy! I can't wait to try them.
2. Crockpot Broccoli Beef. I've never tried this before either, but it looks very easy and yummy! Would be perfect for Wednesday night's meal when I'm always rushed.
3. Grilled chicken with pasta with jalapeño pesto. I make a variation on the link I posted - I use pine nuts instead of walnuts, all spinach (no arugula), plus more jalapeño than the recipe calls for.
4. Baked chicken (probably bone-in so it will good and juicy) with sautéed green bean (with pine nuts - so yummy!) and couscous.
5. Grilled chicken salad.

To check out other weekly menus, click here!

Weekly Menu on Monday: June 21st

Here's this week's menu:

1. Hobo dinners - If you've never had a hobo dinner, or don't know what I'm talking about, let me introduce you to a super easy meal! In a foil packet (one per person), form a hamburger-like patty of ground beef (or you could use ground turkey). Season the meat (both sides!) with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, etc. (whatever flavors you want really, but be sure to salt and pepper the patty if you don't add any other seasonings). On top of the patty, layer potato slices, onion slices, and carrot slices (or any other veggies you'd like - these are my favorites to use). Be sure to season all the veggies as you did with the meat. Once you've got all your veggies in the packet, seal the packet up, and cook in a 350° oven until the meat is cooked to your liking. These are a great camping/cookout meal - just throw them in the fire or on the grill. Hobo dinners are also a great way to get the kids involved - they can create their own packets.
2. Red fish with cajun rice and a green vegetable
3. Slow-cooker chicken tacos with mexican rice and charro beans
4. Breakfast for dinner - Eggs, turkey bacon, and french toast
5. Grilled steak, roasted corn-on-the-cob, and a green vegetable

For previous menus, click HERE!

Weekly Menu on Monday er Wednesday

In an effort to be more organized and better prepared, I'm going to start trying to plan my weekly dinner menu on Mondays (We had some company the past couple of days, so I'm a little late this week, but I haven't had to cook at home yet!).

I will start this out by saying that I like flexibility and variety when it comes to dinner, and I doubt I'll ever be one of those folks that plans out exactly what we will be eating for dinner on every particular night of the week. Rather, I'm going to plan out 5-7 meals per week, and then make whatever sounds good each night! :) I'm planning on trying out lots of new recipes, so I'll have to report back on how they turn out.

1. Chicken Enchiladas (casserole)
• Layer corn tortillas, green chile enchilada sauce, cooked chicken, and Mexican shredded cheese twice. Top with an additional layer of corn tortillas, sauce, and cheese. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with tortilla chips. Super easy!
2. Chicken Pasta Bake with a green vegetable (either salad, green beans, or broccoli) - I'm not sure where this recipe came from so I can't give credit. I've never tried this recipe, but it looks good. I'll be substituting an Italian shredded cheese mix for the Monterey Jack cheese.
• 8 oz cooked bow tie pasta; 1 small onion, chopped; 1 Tbsp. butter; 2 eggs; 1-1/4 cups milk; 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, 1/4-1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper; 2 cups cooked chicken; 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese; 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese; 1/2 cup bread crumbs; 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1 Tbsp. butter.
• Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium skillet cook onion in butter and garlic over medium heat until tender. Remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, seasoning, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir in chicken Monterey Jack cheese, half of the grated Parmesan, cooked pasta, and onion. Transfer mixture to a baking dish. Bake, covered, 20 minutes. In a small bowl, combine remaining Parmesan, bread crumbs, paprika, and melted butter. Sprinkle mixture over pasta. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more until golden.
3. Chicken and Sausage with cornbread and black-eyed peas
4. "Quick" Lasagna - This is a Rachael Ray recipe, but I tweak it some (for instance, I use whatever pasta I have on hand, use all beef stock instead of red wine, and eliminate the panchetta or use bacon instead). I also plan to use ground turkey instead of ground beef.
5. Grilled chicken, potatoes (not sure how I'll cook them yet), and fried yellow squash

We don't normally eat that much chicken every week (I like variety in the proteins we use) but we got a lot of chicken at the store, so we're eating more chicken this week. I plan to start stockpiling more on my meats, but because we've been out of town so much lately most of my supply has completely diminished.

On a side note, due to Ella's milk allergy, I often have to prepare her alternative dinners or pull parts of our dinner out before I add anything with milk in it.