Monday, February 05, 2007

Weekly cooking

No photos, sorry, but I thought I would at least post some of what I've been cooking, not that it seems very exciting, but all these meals are fairly fast and easy to make - all within 1/2 hour to 1 hour and there is enough variety to keep things interesting...


Night 1:

Pot roast - I cooked this in the crockpot on high for 4 hours - I added 1 cup of water mixed with an envelope of pot roast seasoning, plus 1 bag of baby carrots. To serve - remove the meat to cutting board and slice - put on platter. Put carrots and gravy in a bowl. Serve with plain egg noodles tossed in basil/garlic olive oil. I also made an artichoke/spinach casserole that I was experimenting with. This was a really good meal with very little work!


Night 2:
Chicken drumsticks - these were on big time sale at the grocery store this week! I froze 1/2 of them and cooked 1/2. I bought a pre-seasoned mix - country chicken. You combined the mix with water and put everything in the handy-dandy oven bag and baked it. I also made rice - got to have something to sop up all that gravy, butternut squash and brocolli, buttermilk biscuits.

Night 3:
Boneless pork chops - again on sale this week and I bought a big family pack and froze most of them. I baked them in a covered casserole dish with a can of cream of mushroom soup, plus the left-over rice - gravy again! Served with acorn squash. I also made carrots - both my son and Dad love carrots boiled to death with butter. I saved the water for soup. I know, I know - 2 orange veggies, but they are yummy! Apple sauce.

Night 4:
German weistwurst - or is it bratwurst? The light colored sausage. Served with potatoe salad, bread and butter and dill pickles, plus frozen vegetable mixture.

Night 5:
Soup - I combined the left over squash, a little of the rice and vegetables, plus the gravies from the drumsticks and pork chops - added the carrot water... pureed it all with one of those hand held stick blenders - that was my base. Now, I added cooked carrots, corn, peas, more rice and the left over drumsticks - chopped. Served with grilled cheese sandwiches. That pretty much empties the fridge of left-overs!

Night 6:
We went to my sister's for pizza!

Night 7:
A pre-cooked roasted chicken picked up from the grocery store, sweet potatoe, acorn squash, a frozen vegetable mixture. Apple sauce.

Night 8:
Fried chicken tenders - I set one aside for my 3 1/2 year old son who prefers plain food. The rest I chop and add to a frozen stir-fry vegetable mixture, plus I add 1/2 a can of chunk pineapple. I add a bit of terriyaki sauce and plum sauce, but you can also use your favorite stir-fry sauce. Served with rice.

Night 9:
Baked porkchops - I make stuffing from a box - then put the porkchops in a oiled casserole dish - put the stuffing on top and bake (covered) at 450 for 1/2 hour, 350 for 15 minutes and then uncovered at 350 for another 15 minutes. Served with mashed potatoes, carrots mixed with frozen peas/corn mixture and extra stuffing on the side. Apple sauce.

I think that's it for the week and I am fairly sure that is the correct combination of things! I go shopping 2X a week, but here is a pretty decent breakdown, minus juices, desserts, breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc.!!!

Shopping list:
Pot roast
Chicken drumsticks
Chicken tenders
Boneless pork chops
Bratwurst
Roasted chicken

Carrots
Baby carrots
Yams
Potatoes
Butternut squash
Acorn squash
Brocolli

Frozen veggie mixtures
Frozen stir-fry veggies

Chunk pineapple
Dill pickles
Potato salad
Buttermilk biscuits
Apple Sauce

Pot roast seasoning mix
Country chicken in an oven bag mix
Stuffing mix
Cream of mushroom soup
Stir fry sauce
Rice

Bread
Butter
Cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches