{"id":6883,"date":"2010-11-08T09:03:11","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T14:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankymouse.com\/?p=6883"},"modified":"2011-02-23T00:50:05","modified_gmt":"2011-02-23T05:50:05","slug":"weekly-dinner-menu-virtual-thanksgiving-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/2010\/11\/08\/weekly-dinner-menu-virtual-thanksgiving-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Dinner Menu: Virtual Thanksgiving Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/a>.<\/em>
\n\"\"
\nI woke up today on West 35th Street in New York. One cab ride, followed by a very long security line and a plane ride, and I found myself back in my own state, surrounded by tiny people who call me mom. I had such a wonderful time this weekend connecting with my fellow bloggers<\/a>, cementing relationships and growing new ones. Thank you again to my roommates and friends, Brooke<\/a> and Jen<\/a> and to Jaime<\/a> for spending the day on Saturday. I miss you already.
\n
And here I sit attempting re-entry and dreaming of bed, but I’m diving in head first, for this week is the week of the Virtual Progressive Thanksgiving Dinner. Today, Aimee from Simple Bites<\/a> and I are kicking off the party with a mustard-crusted turkey<\/a> and stuffing<\/a>, and I hope you’ll join us for the rest of the week when Tiffany from Eat at Home<\/a> shares apples and cranberries baked in a pumpkin, Real Mom Kitchen<\/a>‘s Laura makes carrots and mashed potatoes, Tara of Deal Seeking Mom<\/a> and (recently launched!) Unsophisticook<\/a> shares her cranberry salad and Liz from Hoosier Homemade<\/a> whips up a pumpkin gingerbread trifle. We’ll take you through a Thanksgiving Dinner from start to finish.
\n
If you’re looking to get organized as Thanksgiving approaches, please check out the FREE Thanksgiving ebook<\/a>, as well as a planning checklist to get your started<\/a>, how to pick your turkey <\/a>and when to order it<\/a>.<\/p>\n


Monday \u2013 <\/strong>Butternut Squash Risotto<\/a>
\n
Tuesday \u2013 <\/strong>Spinach and Brie Chicken with Orzo<\/a>
\n
Wednesday \u2013 <\/strong>Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage and Pine Nuts<\/a>
\n
Thursday \u2013 <\/strong>Orzo Pasta Salad with Chicken<\/a>
\n
Friday \u2013 <\/strong>Grilled Pear, Brie and Chutney Sandwiches<\/a>
\n
<\/p>\n

The Preparation Shortcuts:<\/h3>\n

1.<\/strong> Cook the butternut squash ahead for the pasta while you’re making the risotto. This way you won’t need to wait for it when making the pasta, and you can just warm it up long enough to work with it.
\n2.<\/strong> Make extra chicken breasts seasoned lightly with salt, pepper and lemon while making the spinach and brie chicken, shred and save to add to the orzo pasta on Thursday.
\n3.<\/strong> Use extra vegetables in the pasta salad on Thursday and then extra brie is used as grilled cheese.
\n4.<\/strong> Buy naan from your favorite Indian restaurant for the grilled brie sandwiches to avoid having to make it.
\n
<\/p>\n

The Shopping List:<\/h3>\n

10 thin chicken cutlets
\n3 medium tomatoes
\n2 plum tomatoes
\n2 butternut squash
\n2 cucumbers
\n1 ripe pear
\n2 lemons
\n1\/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
\n1\/2 cup fresh sage leaves
\nchives
\ngreen pepper
\nred pepper
\n10 ounces frozen leaf spinach
\n4-6 slices naan
\nmango chutney
\n8 ounces crumbled feta
\n10 ounces Brie cheese
\n10 ounces Parmesan cheese<\/p>\n


Pantry<\/a> Items:<\/strong>
\nbutter
\nmilk
\nwhite wine
\nchicken broth
\nonions
\norzo pasta
\nfarfalle pasta
\narborio rice
\nDijon mustard
\nkalamata olives
\npine nuts
\nolive oil
\nred wine vinegar
\noregano
\ncurry powder
\nbasil
\nsalt and pepper<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last week from Food for My Family<\/a>:<\/h3>\n

FREE Thanksgiving ebook<\/a>
\nPumpkin Bread and Cinnamon Cheesecake Spread<\/a>
\nOld Fashioned Italian Meatballs and a Chance to Win<\/a>
\nBlank Canvas: Vanilla Ice Cream<\/a>
\nNutella Ice Cream Sundae with Toasted Hazelnuts<\/a>
\n<\/center><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For more menu plans:<\/center>Org Junkie<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n
Never miss a recipe! Have them delivered right to your RSS feed<\/a> or to your inbox as an email<\/a>!<\/center><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-menu-planning","7":"category-the-monday-menu","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":null,"thumbnail_uri":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6883"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7954,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883\/revisions\/7954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}