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.
And breathe. Valentine’s Day was a bit of a whirlwind here, what with a sick child at home and swimming lessons right in the middle of it. Here we are on the other side, ready to head towards another weekend. (Is Tuesday too early to be looking at Friday?)
In the haze of recovery, I’m feeling like easy meals that don’t take much to get them on the table. A quick-cooking shrimp, leftover hash, a simple soup and an oven-baked egg tortilla. That should get me to Friday soon enough.
Monday – The Valentine’s Day Menu with Filet Mignon
Tuesday – Shrimp and Pasta in Tomato-Chile Cream Sauce
Wednesday – Leftover Steak and Potato Hash with Poached Eggs
Thursday – Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Soup with Wilted Watercress
Friday – Potato, Parsnip and Watercress Tortilla
The Preparation Shortcuts:
1. Keep leftover steak from Monday for Wednesday’s steak and eggs. Use up potatoes in both the hash on Wednesday and the tortilla on Friday. Buy a few parsnips and add them into the hash on Wednesday, keeping the leftover for Friday.
2. Make all the potatoes at once and store some for Friday’s meal.
3. I usually find watercress in a large clamshell or bunch. To avoid waste, use it Monday, Thursday and Friday.
4. But a pint of cream and thin it half with milk to make the half and half for the soup, but also use the cream itself for the pasta.
The Shopping List:
2 pounds beef tenderloin
1/2 pound bacon
1 pound large shrimp
3 pounds potatoes
2 jalapenos
2-3 parsnips
1 head celery
1-2 tomatoes
1 whole head cauliflower
3 bunches watercress around 16 ounces
10 ounces portobello mushrooms
3 small shallots
fresh rosemary
fresh parsley
2 cups heavy cream
4 ounces Parmesan
8 ounces pepper jack
Pantry Items:
butter
eggs
milk
sugar
onions
garlic
extra virgin olive oil
red wine
vinegar
apple cider vinegar
balsamic vinegar
chicken stock/broth
ground mustard
paprika
oregano
onion powder
thyme
bay leaf
kosher salt
pepperLast week from Food for My Family:
Buffalo Chicken Pizza with 10-Minute Pizza Crust
On Lifetime Moms:
Winter Soups
Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers
On Babble’s Family Kitchen:
Brownie Balls Versus Cake Balls
Dark Chocolate Brownies
The Story of Bock Beer
Starbucks Secret Menu
Aww… Hope the lil’ one feel better soon 🙂
I love your new header, Shaina! Hope you’re all feeling better, miss you O6.
This sounds like a delicious menu Shaina!
Shaina, I always love your healthy weekly meal plans. This is a great round up for those of us without too much time these days 🙂 xo
SOOOO organized! Awesome. I usually just do 2-3 dishes on the weekend and have those reheated during the week. But the point is that i only cook on Sundays and then my dinner takes 15 minutes to prepare during the weekday evenings.
Love this blog!
This is great – I strive to stay this organized but somehow by the end of the week it ends up somewhat falling apart. Great tips!
Absolutely fantastic! A sick child on lovey dovey day? Boo-hoo! What a GORGEOUS photo of the cake pop. Shirt to match, and all! I love you detail and through in each of these posts. The well stocked pantry is so important and your reference on that is one I am going to get built up on my site (with photos of how I organize) that is scary as everything is over flowing and there are only 2 of us at home now.
Sounds like a healthy delicious week to me!
🙂
Valerie
Hello! So happy to have found your blog–I’m also a work-at-home mom with four kids, but I don’t do so well with the healthy/organic thing. Looks like you can inspire me!