The Olympics are underway (and curling starts Tuesday). We spent tonight glancing at the games while putting together a fondue feast for 8. My sister and her boyfriend Matt celebrated with us, and everything went off without a hitch.
One of the things we strive for when planning our menus is making everything fit together into one nice, neat little package. We look to use ingredients in different ways throughout the week so that we’re benefiting from the ability of do-aheads and being able to buy in bulk.The Menu:
Monday – Chipotle chicken fajitas with peppers and onions, Spanish rice, guacamole
Tuesday – Chickpea and spinach salad with cumin dressing, flatbread (make only the flatbread portion of this recipe without the toppings)
Wednesday – Chicken fried rice, ginger garlic green beans
Thursday – Spinach and feta quiche, bacon, seasonal fresh fruit
Friday – Mediterranean Pasta and side salads
The Preparation:
–On Monday cook ALL the chicken for the week. Marinate and cook the fajita meat, but then also salt and pepper and grill the meat for the chicken fried rice and the Mediterranean pasta. this will make meal preparation easier later in the week.
–You’ll notice the feta cheese, rice, onions, half and half and spinach are all used twice. The chicken is used 3 times, but if you don’t want to eat chicken a 3rd time in one week, simply substitute one of them. Perhaps you want pork fried rice or shrimp Mediterranean pasta. Substitute to suit your tastes.
–In the Mediterannean pasta recipe it calls for heavy whipping cream, but just substitute the half and half. You’re just looking for a bit of a bind there by adding the cream, so the difference shouldn’t be noticeable.
The Shopping List:
6 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 ounces bacon
1 pound feta cheese
1 pint half and half
16 ounces fresh baby spinach
8 ounces fresh mushrooms
2 cups bean sprouts
3 green peppers
2 large onions
1 red onion
1 bunch scallions
2 avocados
1 orange
1 lemon
seasonal fruit
1 bunch parsley
1 cup fresh basil
1 pound green beans
10 fajita-sized tortillas
15.5-oz. can chickpeas
14-oz. can artichoke hearts
small jar of pitted kalmata olives
Things you may need:
angel hair pasta
rice
plain yogurt
sun-dried tomatoes
rice wine
sesame oil
cumin and other spices
Last week at Food for My Family:
General Tso’s Chicken finally made an appearance to complement those cream cheese wontons.
Thanks for posting the Chicken Fried Rice tutorial, it looks so yummy and I need rice recipes right now. I am doing a Rice Giveaway and part of it is a Rice Throwdown with another local blogger so hopefully recipes like this will give me a bit of an edge 🙂
We lucky to live next to a Mexican speciality grocery store. They prepare their own fajita meats and they’re inexpensive. We can feed all of us for around $10 with plenty of leftovers.
I’m always on the lookout for yummy menu choices. We’re still having to watch our pennies.
.-= Rona´s last blog ..Utah Mulls Eliminating 12th Grade to Save Money =-.
Hi; I’m Veronika. Thank you for posting your weekly menu plan – complete with the shopping list! I’m going to use this for my menu next week. Your recipes are fantastic, and very much enjoyed by my children. Thank you!