Tag Archives: menu plan Monday

In which I follow my own plan

08/23/2010 Nichole 3 Comments

I have kind of a template that I try to follow for my weekly menu planning. My in-laws come over for dinner on Sundays, so that’s designated “big meal” day — even though I rarely actually make a big, boisterous meal like the Sunday dinners the people in the movies have. The plan also includes meat on Mondays, kids’ choice on Tuesdays (the kids take turn picking), sandwiches on Wednesday, vegetarian on Thursday, pizza on Friday and a new recipe on Saturday. The categories are rather open-ended, so you’d think it would be easy to keep to it. Even so, I have a hard time with it. This, in fact, is the first week that I’ve managed to do it in a long time!

Saturday: Banh mi burgers: I made these banh mi sandwiches awhile back. The flavor was great, and I thought they might translate well to burger format. I used half ground pork and half ground beef, but otherwise I stuck pretty close to the Bon Appetit recipe.
Sunday: Mu shu tacos: Good Housekeeping calls this a “quick mu shu pork,” which I guess technically it is. But I don’t generally associate mu shu with ground meat, so I’m calling it a taco. Whatever you’d like to call it, though, it was tasty.
Monday: Roasted chicken & veggies.: I might start roasting my own chickens once fall comes around, but for now I’ll rely on the grocery store’s rotisserie.
Tuesday: Grilled cheese & black bean soup.: Poppy picked grilled cheese sandwiches for her kids’ choice week. The kids will be having standard-issue cheese, but I’m going to make use something like a pepper jack to go with the black bean soup for the grownups.
Wednesday: Grilled pork sliders.: I picked this recipe up from Relish, a meal-planning website to which I’d like to subscribe.
Thursday: Grilled tuna.: I grilled fish for the first time last month, and it was delicious. I didn’t intend for it to be a once-a-month meal. Maybe I’ll get to it again before another month goes by!
Friday: Pizza.: Again, I might start making my own pizzas once it gets cooler out. For this week, though, it’ll be Papa John’s.

‘This is the start of a difficult day’

07/26/2010 Nichole 3 Comments

“This is the start of a difficult day.” Poppy has told me that at least four times this morning. She’s only been up for four hours. There’s some truth in what she says, though. Last night my throat started to hurt. And this morning I woke up with a full-blown cold, complete with a vocal range that moves from Very Croaky to Entirely Nonexistent. I don’t know that her day’s been all that difficult, though. The kids get to watch far too much TV when I’m sick.

On the bright side, at least now I kind of have an excuse for not going out into the broiling hotness that’s been our weather lately. Anyway, it’s a good that I’d already planned The Laziest Menu Plan Ever for this week. Here ’tis:

Monday: Breakfast for dinner.: I had an omelet for breakfast this morning. I’ll probably have another tonight!
Tuesday: McAlister’s Deli.: Tuesday is Kids Night at our McAlister’s, which means the kids will eat free. If I’m still feeling rotten tomorrow, we’ll probably get take-out.
Wednesday: Undecided.: We’re supposed to have dinner at a friend’s on Wednesday, but I’d rather not infect them. So we’ll see.
Thursday: Fish sticks and mac & cheese: The kids will undoubtedly be excited about this one.
Friday: Pizza.

menu plan Monday

Take a chance and eat some food

07/19/2010 Nichole

I faced down one of my culinary fears this weekend: Grilled fish. I’ve thought about making grilled fish many times, but I always picture watching my dinner drop through the grate as the delicate little fillets flake and fall to bits. The recipe for Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Thai Coconut Sauce in this month’s Bon Appetit sounded so good, though, that I decided to take a risk. After visiting two grocery stores in my quest for mahi-mahi failed, I turned to tuna steaks. Which are imminently grillable, I learned. I overcooked them a bit, but they were still tasty, and the sauce was light, flavorful and a lovely shade of green.

So that was Saturday. The rest of the week isn’t going to be quite so daring, but I hope it’ll be delicious just the same!

Monday: Chicken sausages and mac & cheese.
Tuesday: Spaghetti.
Wednesday: Pork stir-fry.
Thursday: Poblano, Potato and Corn Gratin.
Friday: Pizza.

Grilled Tuna with Thai Coconut Sauce
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
4 ounces bottled clam juice
4 ounces water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons minced seeded serrano chile
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1 tablespoon minced green onions, divided
4 6-ounce tuna steaks

Heat grill to medium-high. Combine first 7 ingredients — coconut milk through fish sauce — in medium skillet. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons serrano chile, depending on level of heat desired; boil until sauce thickens slightly and is reduced to generous 3/4 cup, 8 to 9 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 1 tablespoon cilantro and 1 tablespoon green onions. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Remove 1/4 cup sauce from saucepan and brush onto each piece of fish; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill fish until opaque in center and grill marks appear, 5 to 6 minutes per side, depending on thickness of fish. Divide coconut sauce among four plates; top with fish.

*Bonus points to you if you know the title’s inspiration!