Weekly Dinner Menu: 8/23/10

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. We also benefit from a well-stocked pantry.

I have been loving my garden. From tomatoes to zucchini to herbs and more, I can’t get enough of it. Over on Smithfield I shared some of the benefits we see from gardening and why we think it’s important. I’d love if you’d take a minute to check it out.

This week we’re continuing to try to get rid of the zucchini, but in a completely new way. Plus, I saw this chicken salad recipe that Todd and Diane posted just this morning, and I instantly knew I needed to try it out. Who doesn’t love a good chicken salad, and one that can be made on the grill without boiling the chicken on the stove gets 10 extra points from me. Also, our farmers’ markets are overflowing with eggplant right now, and I’ve successfully converted my former-eggplant-hating husband into eating it on a regular basis. The sauce is amazing, and I can’t wait to eat it again.

Monday – Easy Beef-Stuffed Eggplant

Tuesday – Best Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Wednesday – Eggplant Parmigiana Sauce with Pasta

Thursday – Zucchini Meatballs

Friday – Buffalo Chicken Pizza

The Preparation Shortcuts:

1. Make extra eggplant stuffing. Actually, I ended up with plenty, but you can make extra if you need to. Simply save, heat with a few extra herbs and tomato sauce and your Wednesday dinner is complete.
2. Grill extra chicken when you’re making chicken salad for the buffalo chicken pizza.
3. Save money by buying some ground beef in bulk for both the eggplant and the meatballs.
4. We love doing pizzas on Friday night with all the leftover vegetables and meats from the week. Make your pizza dough ahead of time and freeze so it’s always ready to go.

The Shopping List:

2 whole fryer chickens or 3 pounds chicken breasts
3 pounds ground beef
1 head napa cabbage
1 bulb ginger
4 limes
6 small eggplants
fish sauce
1 bottle Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce
1 bottle ranch dressing (or make your own!)
8 ounces mozzarella cheese
6 ounces Parmesan cheese
8 ounces cream cheese

Pantry Items:
flour
yeast
salt
sugar
eggs
bread crumbs
peanuts
garlic
onions
grape seed oil
olive oil
fish

Garden Items:
basil
cilantro
mint
carrots
shallots
tomatoes
zucchini

Last week from Food for My Family:

Lemon Frozen Yogurt
Over on Babble:
Egg Recall List for Wright County Egg Salmonella Outbreak Expanded
Buffalo Burgers with Blue Cheese Spread and Celery Slaw
Salmonella Outbreaks and Latest Egg Recall News
On Smithfield:
Benefits of Gardening