{"id":7442,"date":"2011-01-04T11:59:53","date_gmt":"2011-01-04T16:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankymouse.com\/?p=7442"},"modified":"2011-01-05T10:57:34","modified_gmt":"2011-01-05T15:57:34","slug":"weekly-menu-plan-a-clean-start-in-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/2011\/01\/04\/weekly-menu-plan-a-clean-start-in-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Menu Plan: A Clean Start in 2011"},"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\"\"
\nSo this is the New Year, and things look a little different. It’s a Clean Start for the New Year, and I hope you’re as excited about it as I am. My dear friend Erin Riley of Jane Reaction<\/a> made the adorable whisk and spatula with the header, and I’m thrilled with how it turned out. She’s incredibly talented and patient, and she’s gorgeous, both inside and out. I think Conor would agree, and I have Natalie Norton<\/a> to thank for introducing us.
\n
Along with a new look for 2011, I have a few new projects underway as well, the first of which launched today. If you would, I’d love for you to join me over at the Clean Start Challenge<\/a> that I’m doing in conjunction with Lifetime Moms and SC Johnson. I’m involved as a Team Coach for Team 3<\/a> with Beth Feldman of Role Mommy. Together we’re working towards building self-esteem in kids. My personal goal is to raise awareness with families that family meals and knowledge of food can help lead to healthy children that are secure with themselves because of both family and food relationships, which is a topic near and dear to me having dealt with an eating disorder in the past.
\n
So, along with the New Year, a new menu, filled with soups to get you through January. For some reason, January is soup month for me. The days are short and the snow is deep here in Minnesota, perfect for a blank slate to create a new year upon.<\/p>\n


Monday \u2013 <\/strong>Brick-Grilled Chicken Dinner with Scallions and Lime Butter<\/a>
\n
Tuesday \u2013 <\/strong>Kale Caesar Salad with Savory Croutons<\/a>
\n
Wednesday \u2013 <\/strong>Baked Eggs with Herbs<\/a>
\n
Thursday \u2013 <\/strong>Garlicky Tortellini Soup with Kale<\/a>
\n
Friday \u2013 <\/strong>Chicken Alfredo Calzones<\/a>
\n
<\/p>\n

The Preparation Shortcuts:<\/h3>\n

1.<\/strong> Use the chicken carcass and make chicken stock for the soups.
\n2.<\/strong> Kale tends to come in large bunches. We’re using it to make the salad on Tuesday, eggs on Wednesday and soup on Thursday.
\n3.<\/strong> Make the dough for the calzones ahead of time and store in the refrigerator.
\n4.<\/strong> Leftover herbs, chicken and other vegetables can all be used in the calzones.
\n
<\/p>\n

The Shopping List:<\/h3>\n

1 whole roaster chicken
\n6 ounces fresh\/frozen tortellini
\n8 ounces spinach
\nfresh herbs: thyme, parsley, rosemary, basil
\n1 bunch scallions
\n1 tomato
\n1\/2 pound bacon
\n1 1\/2 pounds kale
\n1 cup alfredo sauce or make your own with cream
\n8 ounces mozzarella
\nParmigiano Reggiano<\/p>\n


Pantry<\/a> Items:<\/strong>
\neggs
\nbutter
\ngarlic
\nchicken stock
\nflour
\nyeast
\nolive oil
\npesto
\ncanned diced tomatoes<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

Gingerbread Pancakes<\/a>
\nAnd a Happy New Year<\/a>
\nFood Your Way:<\/em>
\nExploring Food with Your Kids<\/a>
\nBabble:<\/em>
\nDr. Oz Diet: 11 Weeks to Move It and Lose It in 2011<\/a>
\nDo-It-Yourself Mini Donuts<\/a>
\nHoppin\u2019 John Recipe: Get Your Black-Eyed Peas for a Lucky New Year<\/a>
\nGinger Cream Sandwich Cookies<\/a>
\n<\/center><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For more menu plans:<\/center>\"orgjunkiempm1\"<\/aokay \n<\/p>\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":[523,344,345,709,550],"class_list":{"0":"post-7442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-menu-planning","7":"category-the-monday-menu","8":"tag-meal-planner","9":"tag-meal-planning","10":"tag-menu-plan","11":"tag-menu-planning","12":"tag-weekly-menu","13":"entry","14":"has-post-thumbnail"},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":null,"thumbnail_uri":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7442","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=7442"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7460,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7442\/revisions\/7460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}