Today my main computer crashed and burned…Big time!
My wonderful husband, Michael, spent from 7:30 AM till 2:00 PM trying to recover, but to no avail! By 3:00 PM he had a new laptop for me and is setting it up as I type (on my little netbook where I store recipe files). He is so good to me! By tomorrow I hope to be back up to speed on this blog. If you see Michael anywhere give him a little hug, if you don’t, just blow him a kiss!
The Sticky Menu Plan came to the rescue again, or did it? When I was working on this last week’s plan I thought my busy days would be Wednesday and Thursday…NOT! Wednesday’s treatment appointment got moved to Friday, but I had some advanced warning. Since Michael grilled extra chicken when he helped with the Spinach and Mushroom Smothered Chicken on Monday, Wednesday’s Almost Abblebees Florentine Chicken Ravioli was prepared with no problem. Thursday was when the menu plan started to fall apart. We didn’t get back to town until 8 pm, too late to reheat the freezer food, so our late supper was at the closest restaurant. That slid the freezer food, Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, till Friday, and Fishy Friday’s scallops off the calendar again! Simple Saturday’s plan for not really cooking will be Carol’s Brunswick Stew, also from the freezer, and maybe Chili Cheese Corn Muffins. We’ll see. I’m writing this draft on Friday night and it’s late. Now I have to figure out what’s up for the coming week, but maybe not till tomorrow.
Oh, and I’ve almost got my Layered Strawberry Pie recipe nailed down. I’m going to try the latest version tomorrow to take to Emily’s. I’ll post it if it’s really right, otherwise I guess I’ll just keep working as long as it’s still Strawberry Season. Be thankful for what life gives you.
Have I been busy. Last Wednesday we went up to Brown Farms in New Market, AL to get a gallon of strawberries. By Thursday I had used them all up! Here’s what I did:
Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream with Magical Ice Cream Topping
Strawberry Cupcakes with Rich Chocolate Glaze
I also played with a recipe for a layered Strawberry pie, but it still needs some work. I tried for a pretzel crust with a cheesecake layer and then a glazed fresh strawberry top, but there were too many problems. I think I know what to do to fix it, but I’m out of strawberries and the one’s at the store just don’t compare with farm fresh! Hopefully, we’ll have enough time to go get another bucket tomorrow. Be thankful for what life gives you.
So grilling may not be an option. Let The Sticky Menu Plan come to the rescue! According to the Weather Chanel tomorrow is going to be “mostly sunny”. Now we all know that the best way to predict the weather is to stick your head out the door, but for planning purposes I’ll go with their prediction. Meatless Monday will swap out with Sunday and we’ll just do grilled cheese sandwiches today. Usually grilled cheese is paired with Campbell’s tomato soup, but I may pull one on Michael and do Free Broccoli Soup instead.
I don’t have a clue what we are going to eat this next week, but give me a little while. I’ll look at my freezer inventory and the sale ads before I decide among my choices.
The Sticky Menu Plan served it’s self well again this week. Tuesday’s Beef and Bean Burritos slid all the way until yesterday (Friday). Don’t tell him I said so, but Michael will do anything he can to avoid Fishy Friday unless we are at the beach!
So far, all I’ve figured out for this coming week is Spinach and Mushroom Smothered Chicken and Italian Sausage and Pepper Burgers. I think next Saturday we’ll just have some Pulled Pork sandwiches. The Pulled Pork recipe makes so much that, unless we have company, I freeze several meals.
It was supposed to be rainy and nasty today. Here in Huntsville it traditionally rains on the weekend of the Panoply Festival, but so far today it hasn’t.
Be thankful fot what life gives you.
OK, so I get a little carried away, but it’s all for a good cause. I love to grind my own meat. It’s economical if you find the right cuts of meat on sale, you controll the fat ratio, and most importantly, you know what you’re eating… no scraps off the butcher’s floor.
So here’s what happened. I bought just one pound of New York strip steak, a little over 7 pounds of boneless chuck roast, and about 4 pounds of pork steak and spent $35.80 for it all. When I was through I had 22 dinners for two, plus 6 lunches and some pork broth, at an average cost of $1.49 per meal.
Here’s the breakout:
Meatballs – 8 meals
Taco Seasoned Beef – 5 meals
Steak Burgers – 4 meals
Salisbury Steak – 3 meals
Plain pork pieces for future recipes – 2 meals
Krystal Style Sliders – 6 lunches
I simmered the pork bones to make broth for my Vegan Red Beans and Rice, which weren’t then Vegan, but still worked for Meatless Monday.
There’s a malor typo (or maybe a screw-up) in Vegan Red Beans and Rice! Do not use 1 tsp of red pepper flakes unless you feel the need to punish yourself for some past wrong doing. The recipe should have read 1/4 tsp. It’s been corrected now, but I sincerely hope none of you tried it tonight. My apologies.
The Sticky Menu Plan was developed to provide flexability, but this week it wasn’t needed. My menu for the week could have been set in stone since nothing unexpected happened. At least I could have switched things around if I needed to. That’s the plan.
This has been a very productive week! I spent Wednesday on ground meat preparation and put together 24 meals worth. Whew! I’ll try to post the details later, but those 24 meals for the two of us worked out to cost $1.49 per meal. That’s just for the meat portion, but often the meat is the most expensive part. Wenesday night we enjoyed Zesty Oven Roasted Potatoes along with the Steak Burgers.
Sunday, I’ll be fixing another of the recipes from Wednesday’s marathon, Salisbury Steak with Onion and Mushroom Gravy. Sunday I need to remember to soak some beans for Monday’s Vegan Red Beans and Rice. I love that stuff! If I’m not going meatless I like to add a little smoked sausage that is sliced and browned before the veggies go in. Tuesday will be Beef and Bean Burritos, and Wednesday should be Paprika Pork. Thursday’s Freezer Food will be Baked Chicken Salad. I just made it last week, so it’s kind of soon to be serving it again, but I want to see if it froze alright. It has some mayo in it, which sometimes doesn’t freeze well. Last Friday I had planned to fix sea scallops, but king crab legs came up on sale, so we had those instead. I guess I’ll try for the scallops this week, we’ll see. We may just go out to dinner. I try to make sure to check and see if there’s anything in the fridge that needs to be used before it goes bad. I have an extra leek, so I’ll try to work in Creamy Leeks Parmesan. I need to tweak that recipe a bit.
When Michael asked what we were having for dinner tonight, I told him “Hot Chicken Salad”. After dinner he said it was pretty good, but it wasn’t “Hot”. He expected hot to mean spicy. Thus the recipe has been renamed Baked Chicken Salad. I never know when I say things what other people think I mean!
This last week went better than I expected. The only change I had to make to this week’s Sticky Menu Plan was to slide yesterday’s Spicy Tuna Steaks to today. Michael had to have his “Mexican Fix” yesterday so we went to Rosie’s, and I can’t complain about that.
For tomorrow (Sunday) I think Hot Chicken Salad sounds good. One of the stores had whole chickens on sale, so I’ll be able to replenish my Rich Chicken Stock as well as make Lizzie & Bella some Dog Treats with the dark meat. Monday’s Roasted Vegetable Medley will be served over Quick and Light Cheese Grits. I’ll save half of the grits to go with Thursday’s Freezer Food, Grillades. Broccoli is on sale, too, so Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry sounds good for Tuesday. Wednesday will be busy in a productive way. Chuck roasts are on sale, so I’ll be grinding meat. (I know, kind of obsessive) But we’ll grill some yummy Steak Burgers when I’m through. That brings me to Friday. I’m hoping to get some sea scallops for Scallops with Fettucini. They are knd of expensive, but it’s still a lot cheaper than eating out.
It’s a beautiful day! One couldn’t ask for any better weather. Be greatful for what life gives you.
The Sticky Menu Plan 