On the menu this week: October 27 - November 2

I can hardly believe that the last week of October is already upon is.  I just never know where the time goes.  'Tis the season for slow cooker casseroles and warm soups, so we've got more of those kinds of things on the menu this week, and a few old favorites.  

I always try to plan ahead when I'm making something, to think about what other meal(s) I can also use it in. 

Some comments and recipe links at the end, but first I'll get you right to the menu.  

View fullsize

A bit more detail about this menu: 

• We had pancakes for breakfast on Sunday, so they will show up again in the kids breakfast and lunches this week.  I always make extra and freeze them, so I can just pull out and reheat for a quick meal.  Here is my pancake recipe. 

• We had burgers on Saturday night, so I made a bunch of extra mini burgers for the kids lunches.  I made homemade buns, using my basic bread recipe (and put a bunch in the freezer for another meal), and I cooked the burgers in the oven (genius! I'll write a post about that soon!)

• Monday night I'm going to try my hand at an enchilada casserole in the slow cooker.  I've been wanting to try one of these for a while.  I haven't settled on the exact recipe yet, I'll probably just read a few and make up my own.  But I am thinking about making my own enchilada sauce, because it seems like the store bought ones are just too spicy for my kids, no matter how "mild" they claim to be.  I think I'll use something like this recipe. 

• For Tuesday night I'm trying a new noodle soup recipe - A Burmese Noodle Bowl.  I came across this one last week and it sounds so good.  Chicken, asian flavors, broth, noodles - it sounds right up my alley.

• For breakfast one day I'm going to make some Muesli. The real kind.  Have you ever had it? This is not the granola like cereal stuff that people put in boxes and pour in a bowl with milk.  Real Swiss muesli is raw oats soaked overnight in milk and yogurt, and flavored with honey and grated apples.  You can also add any other kinds of dried or fresh fruits, or nuts.  It's so delicious. I haven't made it in a long time, so I'm curious to see if my kids like it. I'll share a recipe after I make it.  

• I'm thinking some kind of fish sounds good for Saturday night, I"ll probably do a simple coating and cook in the oven - something like this.  I'm not sure yet what kind of fish I'll use, I'll go to the store later in the week and see what they've got for a good price.  I'll probably cook some spaghetti squash to go with it - this is my favorite spaghetti squash recipe. 

• Sunday I'm going for a comfort food family favorite - spaghetti and meatballs.  I have a great one-pot spaghetti recipe that everybody loves, and I'll cook a big batch of meatballs to go with it.  I don't usually follow a recipe for meatballs, but I'll try to write down what I do.  I like to do a combination of meats for extra flavor - beef, turkey, and some lamb or pork.  And when I make meatballs I always make lots extra - they are so great to have in the freezer. 

On the menu this week: Oct 20 - 26

I'm still working on that big blog post about how I approach menu planning - it's taking longer than I thought.  I promise I'll get it to you soon!  And it will include my templates that I use for my menu planning and shopping list, and lots of detail about the method to my madness.  But I thought I'd at least go ahead and share what I've got planned for the meals for the coming week.  My plan is to start sharing my meal plan every week, so please keep me honest and ask me for it if you haven't seen it posted!

(click for a biggger view)

Whenever I cook something that involves a bit of work, I ALWAYS cook extra.  Why go to all that trouble and only get one meal out of it?  So as I'm making one meal, I'm already thinking about what the next meal will be using the same food - sometimes that's just reheating the leftovers and eating as-is, and sometimes it will be re-purposing the leftover into a completely different meal. 

• This morning for breakfast I made some blueberry muffins.  I'll write up exactly what I did and try to post it later, but it was essentially my basic pancake recipe, with all whole wheat flour and I added oat brand and oats, and a couple extra eggs, and frozen blueberries.  I made big batch and put a bunch in the freezer.  The kids will have those for breakfast one day this week, and lunch one day.

• We had pot roast for dinner Sunday, so I will take the leftover meat, mushrooms and potatoes and make that into a stew - I'll thicken the leftover juices to make a gravy, add some carrots and maybe a few other veggies, and it will be a super easy dinner.

• Saturday night I cooked a bunch of chicken thighs, with a creamy mushroom gravy.  I'll take all the chicken off and dice it, and that will become a creamy chicken & mushroom stew for dinner Tuesday, and I will make some biscuits to go with it, and a simple coleslaw.

• For Thursday's kid food dinner I've been wanting to try a corn dog muffin for a while.  I've looked at a few recipes, and basically they use a corn bread recipe and put a piece of hot dog in it.  So I will use my favorite corn bread recipe for this one, with Applegate hot dogs. If there's any leftover they might get it for lunch friday, or maybe I'll see how well they freeze.

• Saturday night I'm going to make burgers, and I"m thinking about making some extra mini burger sized ones, to use for a lunch one day next week.

• Sunday dinner will be whole chickens in coconut milk.  I loosely follow this recipe, and it is so good.  I always cook 2 chickens so there is plenty of leftover meat, and enough bones to make a really good broth.  So then I'll have chicken and stock for a dinner the following week.  We will have some rice with it, which I cook in my slow cooker.  When I'm making some kind of Asian flavored dish like this, I like to put a can of coconut milk in with the water for the rice.  It's a super simple way to make a really delicious rice. 

Noodle salad, two ways

It seems that every summer I come up with a salad that I am somewhat obsessed with.  Last year it was kale and quinoa.  This year it has been a very simple cold Chinese noodles.  The basic version of this could not be any simpler - but start adding more goodies to it and it goes from being just really good, to something amazing.  It's not just a salad actually, the noodles are really good warm as well.  And best of all - my kids love these noodles, and as long as I don't push it too far, I can put some veggies in and they will eat it.  We have had this a lot this summer, it's a super easy one to pack up and take to the pool.

Sesame noodles - the basic version:

• noodles. The one pictured is with Chinese egg noodles, and that is what I prefer to use when I have them, but really this works with anything.  I have used soba and udon, or even just spaghetti. 

• Sesame oil

• Soy sauce

• a little bit of grated veggies - squash or carrot or cucumber

I don't have quantities here because I have never measured.  I really just add stuff until I like the way it tastes.  Cook the noodles.  I like to start with them a little firm (5 minutes for the Chinese egg noodles), because they will absorb moisture as the veggies lose their liquid.  Toss with sesame oil while hot so they don't stick.  Add soy sauce to taste.  And mix in your veggies.  When using zucchini I like to toss it in while the noodles are still hot, so they cook a little.  But other veggies I wait until it has cooled.  Serve warm as a meal or side dish, or let it cool and serve as a salad.  A little splash of rice vinegar is also great in the cold salad.

Now here's where it gets fun - you can add whatever you want to this, to make it a really complete meal salad.  In the version picture here, I added:

• Sliced cucumbers that had been marinated for a couple days in rice vinegar, soy sauce and furikake

• Red cabbage

• Purple carrots

• Edamame

• Kale

• diced leftover grilled teriyaki chicken (I made the teriyaki sauce and will share that recipe later)

We packed this up and took it to the park for a picnic dinner - eaten out of plastic cups with plastic forks, and a thermos full of crisp white wine - it was the perfect summer dinner.