Menu Monday: Week of January 31

I've been meal planning for about a year and a half now. I liked the idea for longer than that, but I was overwhelmed by the idea. Now that I've been doing it though, the idea of not doing it seems overwhelming. I go over my process in another post, but for now, I want to start posting my weekly menu (which I actually make on Friday, but Menu Monday sounds better than Menu Friday!). My sister Carisa told me that she looks at my recipe pictures on Facebook and tries quite a few. We were talking about how we were sort of having a long distance dinner party. I love that.

So here's what's cooking in our house this week:

Sunday:

Leftovers (I've been cooking a lot so our freezer is full. Plus, we were running around this day).

Monday:

Gingerbread Steel Cut Oats*. I love steel cut oats, and I love trying new variations. I'm trying to get away from processed foods (i.e. Cheerios) so I'm getting in the habit of making some sort of breakfast item I can eat all week. I'm eating them as I type this and while they are very good, I would use half the molasses next time, maybe even less as it overpowers the spice mix. (I also only used 3 cups of water, because I like my oats thicker).

Frittata Bites with Chard, Sausage, and Feta*. I've never made a frittata before and it's on my "cooking challenge list" (guess that's another post idea). This one uses a few things I already had so I'm looking forward to trying it. We are actually going to use kale instead of chard.

Tuesday:

Chicken Fried Steak*. Another item on the challenge list. I'm feeling ambitious this week! The hubs has dropped quite a few hints that he loves this dish, which is a lot like the Dutch schnitzel, so we'll give it a go.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes* I can't believe I've never made mashed potatoes before, though I've made some Dutch meals that are practically the same thing.

Leftover Parmesan Roasted Broccoli. We have a bit of this left, and it completes my goal of veggies at every meal.

Wednesday:

Leftovers for dinner.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread*. Since we've having leftovers again, that gives me time to make some bread. I tried adapting a bread recipe before to make cinnamon raisin (which the hubs loves), but I guess you're supposed to soak the raisins first. Who knew. So we'll see how this one goes.

Thursday:

Indonesian Pilaf* One reason cooking isn't too stressful for me anymore is that I give myself lots of grace. If I'm having a bad brain day, we can always have leftovers (now that our freezer is stocked) and I can make the meal the next week. January was pretty rough on my noggin so we employed this strategy more than once lately. This pilaf recipe is a carry-over from last week.

Friday:

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken. I love easy crockpot recipes. Since I have an appointment with my neuro in the morning and don't know how I'll feel afterwards, the crock pot is my sous chef.

Saturday:

Leftovers for dinner.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto. I LOVE sun-dried tomatoes. I don't care for regular tomatoes so much, but love them sun-dried. Our adaptation of one of our favorite recipes (Elegant Orzo) uses sun-dried tomato pesto and since I just used up the last of it, I'm going to whip up some more.

Dill Croutons. A week or so ago, I made some dill bread using a new bread recipe. We've had so much luck with our other recipe that I was feeling cocky. It was awesome right out of the oven, but the bread was a little denser, which the hubs does not prefer. So, I have a bit left over. I've made croutons before using this recipe, so I thought I'd try to make a variation with the dill bread.

* New to me recipe