A weeks worth of dinners...

[mom2dolls]

Sunday - Spaghetti, Salad and garlic bread
Monday - Thin pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beans
Tuesday - Sandwiches
Wednesday - Pork Carnitas in the crock pot and homemade guac (Sooooooo yummy!!)
Thursday - Chicken Tostadas, Spanish rice and refried beans
Friday - Taco Salad

 

[Puppmom]

I'm ashamed to say I have no idea. Meals are a real challenge for us. We are a family of four and DH is vegetarian, I'm not, DS1 is a super picky eater with food issues (hides to eat, gags, cries, avoids - you name it) and DS2 can't have most dairy. Sometimes this is so overwhelming to me I don't even know where to start...so I don't. And, DH doesn't know how to cook...like anything. One time we were making asparagus and I told him to cut the ends off...I shouldn't have been surprised when he cut off the wrong end. So we had chopped asparagus!

On most days my kids eat (or don't lol) something like organic chicken nuggets with yogurt (soy for DS2 and dairy for DS1) and some side....sometimes organic granola, or a fruit that's in season that they'll actually eat. RARELY does a vegetable cross their lips.

I'm drooling over some of your posts though!

 

[arkieb1]

I am totally amazed by everyone's meal planning as well. We don't plan that far ahead at all it's like whatever one person feels like on the day gets bought, we buy maybe two at most three nights worth of meals when shopping but that is about it, there are no plans. Last night we had BBQ for example, steak, Moroccan spiced lamb chops, sausages cooked on the BBQ/grill. Last weekend we had fresh seafood- large prawns (shrimp) Moreton Bay bugs, sand crabs. I must have Osso Bucco on the brain because tonight we are having Osso Bucco either on rice or mashed potatoes....No clue about tomorrow night, whatever someone (either my husband or myself) buys tomorrow will be dinner on the weekend.

 

[momhappy]

I wish that we actually scheduled a weeks worth of dinners, but we don't. Even a trip to the grocery store typically only provides for a single meal (or two at best). We eat out probably one (sometimes two) weekday dinners and we eat out or order takeout a lot on weekends.

 

[Gypsy]

The Opah

 

[Loves Vintage]

So, I have to say, I am really surprised by how much meat, and how much RED meat, people eat! I should say that I've been veg for over 20 years, so maybe that's why I'm so out of the loop. Does anyone else eat rice and beans for dinner? LOL! And, we spend a ton of money on groceries, and we buy no meat. I can only imagine how much some of you are spending!! No judgment, but just surprised.

 

[momhappy]

^Sure, we sometimes eat rice and beans, but it would be a side and not the whole meal. We try to focus on high protein/low carb (not no carb, but low carb) meals, so that means we eat a lot of red meat, chicken, fish, and pork. We try to minimize things like pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.

 

[Elizabeth35]

Mon-Worked late so we had leftovers from weekend--mussels in garlic butter with crusty bread and a salad
T--Thomas Keller's roast chicken (I add cut up potatoes in the roasting pan), roasted veggies, salad, garlic bread. More carb-heavy because we had some of the kids over.
Wed--Adult son brought some amazing sweet corn from Iowa so we had some nice steaks on the grill, grilled corn on the cob, brussel sprouts with bacon drizzled with balsamic reduction and grated parmesan, salad and garlic bread. Again more carbs due to company.
Thurs--Rosemary/Ranch Chicken kebobs and a salad---just the two of us.
Fri--Pan seared salmon, roasted asparagus and salad.

Weekends we usually do a bigger family type meal--maybe a tenderloin and mashed potatoes.
We will also make appetizers on the weekend so we have plenty of food on hand if anyone shows up.
I always make breakfast for DH on Sunday---omelet, breakfast pannini, or herb-baked eggs. Every once in awhile DH will make Eggs Benedict and we will have champagne---best if the weather allows us to eat outside by the fire with the Sunday paper

We avoid processed/frozen/prepared food as much as reasonable. Make our own salad dressings, grow herbs in our kitchen garden, make our own ice cream and baked goods, homemade soup, etc.
We always cook extra for unexpected company and for leftovers. Sometimes we end up with 2-6 extra people on the weekends---anyone who is here is welcome for dinner.

 

[Gypsy]

Elizabeth, you made me totally crave mussels. That's what I want for my birthday dinner next weekend!

This weeks menu. We didn't end up having the Tikka Masala tonight so we're having it next week

Tomorrow: Kabob Koobideh (ground beef kabob) with pita and herbs
Sunday: Fresh Pasta with Shitake and Leeks
Monday: Flank Steak Fajitas with fresh guacamole
Tuesday: Unstuffed Cabbage (a stew that is essentially stuffed cabbage, but half the work)00
Wednesday: Shakshuka (Persian version)
Thursday: Paneer Tikka Masala with Naan
Friday: Drunken Mussels with French Bread

 

[Elizabeth35]

Gypsy---just googled Kabob Koobideh. Yum!
Ordered flat skewers on Amazon and will try next week.
Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[TooPatient]

This last week was crazy with no prep time in Sunday.

Mon: terriyaki take out (DH had tummy issue and said this is what he wanted)
Tues: marinated beef strips grilled with fresh grilled tomatoes, basmati rice, corn with chiles, and salad
Wed: enchiladas made with homemade sauce (roasted hatch chiles, jalapeno, ancho, and something else from the farmers market)
Thurs: NY strip steak (DH pick) with a tomato pilaf and peas
Fri: orange glazed chicken (more like chicken stewed in orange sauce, but whatever you call it, it is yummy)

Need to plan and prep better this week. I like to have it mostly figured out ahead of time so it is easier during the week. We do stay flexible so if something comes up we can go with it. Leftovers either get used as part of a meal coming up (either reheat or tweaked a bit) or is lunch for the next day.

Tentative for week to come:
Saturday: leftover orange chicken
Sunday: leftover enchilada (freeze any extra)
Monday: either out for "A"s birthday or cook something she wants (stuffed shells?)
Tues: lamb & rice stuffed zucchini with either eggplant or hummus (or both?)
Weds: beef marinated in onion, lime, and tahini grilled and served with Gypsy's eggplant recipe
Thurs: leftover beef served cold with big salad with a fresh tahini & lime dressing
Fri: chicken with almonds and prunes

 

[Gypsy]

Gypsy---just googled Kabob Koobideh. Yum!
Ordered flat skewers on Amazon and will try next week.
Thanks for the inspiration!

Elizabeth. Skewering ground meat is a skill not unlike herding cats. It took me several tries with my parents showing me how to do it to learn.

Make sure you look up a You Tube video to see. Also your mixture has to have exactly the right comsistency or else it will slide right off. And you have to grill it a certain way else it will all end up om the grill not the skewer. The skewered meat never touches the grill. Just the skewer. And you do one side for 2 minutes then the second side for the same to make sure neither side is fully raw before you cook the meat to doneness.

My skewers were lost in the move. I could go buy more today at the local intrrnational food store. But I am not going to. We are just going to do thin patties for tonight.

So if all else fails. Mak thin patties and take it from there.

 

[Elizabeth35]

Thanks Gypsy! I tend to research intensively. I already know I have to use bricks (some people use square pipes) to keep the skewers off the grill. I can see that would end up with ground meat stuck to the grates.
And I expect a learning curve. I highly doubt I will make them the first time and neatly remove from the skewer looking like the beautiful photos--kind of expect a heap of messed up meat! But it looks super flavorful. Do you baste with saffron oil during cooking or at the end of cooking? I have seen both methods. Also saw one recipe that used gelatin instead of egg in the mixture.

I did read one recipe that said when all else fails--make patties!

Do you grate your onions or use a food processor and drain using cheesecloth?

 

[Gypsy]

I don't do most of that.

Egg is for people who can't manage to get the mixture to stay on the skewers without it, if you do use it, don't use the yolk it changes the flavor of the meat. But honestly, ground beef kabob doesn't need it (ground chicken is truly evil though, so I can see people using it for that, though I personally do not).

I do NOT use gelatin at all. Though some restaurants do.

Here's what I do. It's super easy, the mixture. The difficulty is in the skewering and the grilling.

I do about 1 medium/small onion per pound. So I did two pounds today (I wanted leftovers of this) with 1.5 big onions.

KEY: Do not use lean beef. It will come out dry and nasty. You NEED at least 15/85 and in my family we use 80/20. I also get mine from a butcher always, and make sure that it is twice ground (some butchers do this automatically, some you have to ask for the second grinding).

I take the chunked onion, put it in the food processor (mini prep is all I use) with salt and pepper. You can add saffron to this. Just a small amount of strong saffron goes a long way (properly pre-ground saffron). I process it until it's mush. I DO NOT drain it.

Put it in meat. MIX well with hands (wear gloves). Put in fridge for a minimum of a few hours up to 48 hours.

That's it. Now here's the tricky part. With BEEF, you have to take the mix out of the fridge (this is counter intuitive) well before you plan to skewer the meat. Let it get warmer until, it is cool and just above room temperature. Mix it up again (use your hands and wear gloves) once before you put it on the skewer. If you put cold meat on the skewer and put it on the grill all you get is a hot mess (this is why people use the egg and the gelatin).

If you didn't put saffron in the mix, you can do the butter/saffron mixture baste on the grill. I personally do not use saffron on my beef kabob unless it is for company. And my mother doesn't put it in the mix OR baste with it (the rice always has saffron). My mother's kabob is famous. Seriously.

Ground chicken kabob is harder. My aunt has it down to a science and all she uses is Whole Foods ground chicken thighs (always the same meat, as with the ground beef kabob the actual meat is very important). Do not use ground breast. It comes out nasty. Ground thighs are best if you can get it. If you can't you can just use 'ground chicken' without the breast designation. She DOES strain a LITTLE of the onion juice after the food processor and I do not remember the ratio she uses of onion to chicken and just adds salt and pepper and chills the mixture for at least 3 hours. Then she gets them on the skewer (I will have to ask how she does this, what temperature the meat is at, I always have to call her before I make this) and grills them. She makes the BEST ground chicken kabob. She also brushes with the saffron butter mixture on the grill when she wants to get fancy with it. For us, we don't. It doesn't need it.

I also don't use bricks. It puts the thing too far from the fire. We don't do anything fancy with the skewers. We just use the edges of the grill to keep the skewers off.

Be generous with your salt and pepper. Nothing like under seasoned kabob. You can also add any other seasonings you like.

 

[CareBear]

LOVE THIS THREAD. This menu changes all the time. My dad is the cook. I am allowed to set the table and clean up.

MONDAY Chinese BBQ pork, steamed gai lan (green veggie), beef stew regular, beef stew with curry, stir fried water cress, grilled wild salmon, brown rice,
TUESDAY. baked five spice chicken, steamed green veggies, stir fried Chinese long beans with egg and char siu. Stir fried water cress, brown rice, homemade chicken soup
WEDNESDAY. Chinese spare ribs, stir fried yam leaves, steamed egg, stir fried rib eye and veggies, brown rice, winter melon soup
Thursday spaghetti
FRIDAY. shrimp and egg, stir fried melon with pork, bitter melon with beef, stir fried bok choy, steamed rock cod, brown rice

I had to laugh because poor Thursday pales in comparison to the other weekday meals. I did a "YUM YUM YUMMY, eh?" Not that I don't love spaghetti or anything!