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.
The sun is setting on summer, and my kids are headed off to school tomorrow. Still, my garden is flourishing, and there are plenty of tomatoes and squash blossoms to go around. Yes, squash blossoms. Rather than waiting for all those buds to turn into zucchini, we’re just going to fry them up this week because I’m pretty zucchini’d out and so is my freezer.
I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day. Do you have any big plans? We’re headed out shortly to have some sort of last summer family adventure, only we can’t decide on which one it should be just quite yet. The science museum? A state park? I’ll let you know what we decide over on the Food for My Family Facebook page.
Monday – Raspberry & Roasted Garlic Grilled Chicken
Tuesday – Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Golden Tomato Gazpacho
Wednesday – Salsa Verde Chicken with Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings
Thursday – Cornmeal Molasses Pancakes
Friday – Golden Tomato Sauce with Ricotta Gnocchi
The Preparation Shortcuts:
1. Make the salsa verde chicken stew while you’re roasting that raspberry chicken. Alice says it will keep for two days, so we’ll just serve it up on Wednesday after whipping up the dumplings.
2. Make the golden tomato sauce while you’re busy working those tomatoes for gazpacho. It will store great in the fridge until Friday, and if you want to make extra for later, just store it in the freezer for a golden winter meal in a few months.
3. Serve your cornmeal pancakes with a fresh raspberry sauce, or toss a few leftover raspberries right into the batter for another dimension and to use up any leftover raspberries from the chicken on Monday.
4. Freeze extra pancakes for easy breakfasts during this busy back-to-school season.
The Shopping List:
2 large rotisserie chickens
1 bunch scallions
2 lemons
1 orange
1 pint buttermilk
2 ounces soft chevre
1 ounce cream cheese
4 ounces Parmigiano
16 ounces ricotta
Pantry Items:
rice
flour
cornmeal
baking powder
baking soda
eggs
butter
milk
onions
garlic
red onions
horseradish mustard
worchestershire sauce
molasses
honey
red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
chicken broth
salsa verde
evaporated milk
paprika
nutmeg
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
Garden Items:
golden tomatoes
basil
cilantro
squash blossomsLast week from Food for My Family:
Lemongrass Scallops and a Nakano Giveaway
Babble-icious:
Quick Breakfast: Ham & Cheese Croissant Rolls
Spice it Up: Cajun Alfredo Sauce
Labor Day Picnic Fare: Ideas for Your BBQ Menu
9 Ways to Save When Dining Out as a Family
Chili-Lime Deviled Eggs: A Classic, Twisted
Smithfield Blog:
Make-Ahead Meals: The How and Why
One Deal, Five Meals: Spiral Ham
Monday’s chicken looks delicious – perfect for a Labor Day event. The raspberry and the mustard will go really well together. You have a great looking week.
Oh man… I am going to have to show my wife this site. She is going to flip out. What an awesome site.
She is always looking for longer term meal planning and ideas. She even did one of those cook for a month plans. If worked but the meals just didn’t quite have that personal touch.