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 spent the last two days at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago with Hoover. My family holed up in Minnesota missing me like crazy. I think. Those bacon and blue cheese fries from Kuma’s Corner up there? Insane. Their burgers served on pretzel rolls? Oh my. Tara (from Deal Seeking Mom and Unsophisticook) and I split it all and couldn’t finish it. Huge thank you to Rob for suggesting it and then accompanying us there.
The rest of the week, I’m getting ready for St. Patty’s Day with green beer and soggy cabbage. No, I’m not. Instead, I sought out some great recipes I wanted to try over at Foodily for a proper St. Patrick’s Day feast with Irish beef stew, colcannon and Irish Cream cheesecake for dessert. They have a great catalog to browse through to get ideas for the upcoming day. Check out my complete St. Patrick’s Day menu. They have plenty of pretzel roll recipes, too, so I can try my hand at recreating yesterday’s burger. Plus, I’m prepared for a whole week of corned beef and potatoes, too.
Monday – Honey-Mustard-Glazed Corned Beef and Cabbage
Tuesday – Mujadarah (Rice, Lentil, and Caramelized Onion Pilaf)
Wednesday – Potato Leek Soup
Thursday – Corned Beef Hash with Poached Eggs
Friday – Black Lentil Burgers
The Preparation Shortcuts:
1. Make your corned beef and save leftovers for hash. You can just loosely chop it right before you put it away to save time on Thursday.
2. Cook extra lentils on Tuesday and store them in an airtight container in the fridge to make burgers on Friday.
3. Boil extra potatoes in advance while making the soup and then dice them for the hash while the soup is simmering away.
4. Friday’s black lentil burgers can be served up on extra rolls from soup night, and any leftover vegetables can be used to top them off.
The Shopping List:
3-pound corned beef
1 bunch carrots
1 head celery
3 leeks
1 red bell pepper
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
3 pounds white onions
flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Pantry Items:
eggs
butter
milk
onions
garlic
honey
marmalade
white wine
olive oil
brown sugar
brown rice
black lentils
bread crumbs
Dijon mustard
bay leaves
thyme
black peppercorn
whole cloves
cinnamon
cumin
white pepper
saltLast week from Food for My Family:
Dr. Seuss’s Birthday: Baked Green Eggs and Ham Crêpes
How to Make Crêpes Without a Crêperie
Vegan Oatmeal Almond Butter Cookies with Apple
Butter Battle Butters
I am part of a team of paid Foodily ambassadors. The opinions within this post are my own.
Sounds like a great plan for the week!
Shaina, thanks for sharing this menu as I have notta clue what to make for St. Patty’s Day. Those bacon blue cheese fries look amazing!
SOunds like a fun two days away! What else did you do there? Was it fun? Have you ever corned your own beef? That would definitely be a fun project, wouldn’t it?
🙂
valerie
Thanks for the great insight to your few days away.
Love the new take on corned beef.
Not usually a fan myself but I will admit it does sound very tempting, not to mention, those blue cheese fries look mouth watering. I am going to have to try to recreate those.
Atruly great idea as I’m always going to the supermarket buying things I don’t really need and also buying because I’m hungry. Helpful post, many thanks.
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