I do believe it’s time to get back to planning my menus. My poor family, who has been subsisting on variations of hot dogs (uncured, of course) and pancakes (homemade, of course) would really appreciate it if I’d get my act together again. Although, bless their hearts, they do not complain.
This is actually kind of a crazy week. I think one of us has something almost every night; in fact, we’re double booked a couple of the nights. So I’m keeping things simple. I boiled a chicken over the weekend and harvested the meat and jarred the broth, so I definitely need to use that up. I have a freezer full of beef in the basement, so I can pull something from there. And spaghetti is easy and always well-received by the fam, so that will undoubtedly be part of the game plan.
Even though I have a recipe binder full of great recipes, I’ve been stuck in a rut lately. I guess I need to spend some time paging through my book looking for fallish recipes. Now that the weather’s turned cooler, I’m ready to start making soups and stews again. I may dread the coming of winter, but at least I can look forward to soup!
So here’s the long and the short of it:
MONDAY: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Chunky Tomato Sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Note: I no longer use tomato sauce from cans, because most cans are lined with BPA, and tomato sauce is particularly friendly to BPA — for some reason the acidity causes more of this dangerous chemical to leech into the sauce. So I’ve been buying these Bionaturae Strained Tomatoes; you can find them at many conventional grocery stores in the organic section, as well as most whole foods stores. Of course, at this time of year, you can easily pick up a box of fresh, locally grown tomatoes and make your own tomato sauce. I might try that tonight. We’ll see how ambitious I’m feeling long about two o’clock.
TUESDAY: Beef Stew (Since it will just be the kids and me, I’ll probably make a simpler version of this — an old stand-by from my Betty Crocker Cookbook.)
WEDNESDAY: Chicken Chili with Cookie Corn Muffins
THURSDAY: leftovers
FRIDAY: Griled Burgers and various accouterments
SATURDAY: um, leftovers?
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5 Responses
I had NO idea re: tomatoes and cans! Thank you so much for sharing. Tomatoes were the only vegetable that I bought in cans previously. I guess that will go by the wayside now as well.
Jennifer at Hope Studios has a recipe up today for Chicken and Gravy with biscuits. I know you are always looking for variations for chicken. It might work for you.
Do the strained tomatoes come in a jar? I am trying to find a subsitute for canned tomatoes.
I have to say your “whole foods” section has really inspired me. We ate a (fairly) healthy diet before, but since reading your blog I am now almost finished reading “Real Food” by Nina Planck. I love it! We are making some major changes in our diet right now.
Thanks!
Katie
That’s awesome! 🙂
Yes, the strained tomatoes come in a glass jar.
Wow, I had no idea tomato sauce jars have BPA! As moms we try to hard to make sure our sippy cups, etc. don’t have it, and it’s lurking in our pantries! Thanks for the heads up, and also for the great recipe ideas