Upcoming Meals for February

Here are some of the dinners in planning for next month.

• Beef Hash
• Citrus Marinated Shrimp
• Lasagna
• Beef and Vegetable Soup with Lentils
• Mexican-Style Lasagna (made with ground turkey)
• Crab Cakes (not sure how these will freeze, though)
• Tacos
• Spaghetti
• Asian-Style Chicken Skewers

January 2010 Schedule of Meals

January 2010 Meal Calendar

Note about Pork Tenderloin Recipe

I made this recipe last night. The way I prepped in advance, was to combine the lemon zest and kosher salt, cover the tenderloin, and wrap in plastic wrap before freezing. The original recipe says to apply the rub right before cooking. Next time I would do either that, or cut the amount of salt in half to freeze with the rub already applied. The tenderloin turned out very salty after marinating in the freezer and in the fridge for a few days while thawing.

Let me know how it goes...

If you try any of the ideas below, have a question for me, or have any suggestions of your own, please feel free to share!

What's for Dinner Next Week?

Sunday: Lemon Salt Marinated pork tenderloin: Recipe Here

Monday: Tacos

I browned and seasoned 3 pounds of ground meat on my prep day; divided and froze into thirds

Tuesday: Broiled chicken with Asian BBQ sauce

I separated a large package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs into two zipper bags and mixed enough BBQ sauce (recipe below) for all the meat. Then I divided the sauce into two quart size bags and froze everything together.

Asian style BBQ sauce: amounts are approximate

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 T rice vinegar

2 T honey

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

1 T sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients mixing well. Add a little water if needed to thin consistency for brushing. Broil chicken 8-10 minutes, brush with BBQ sauce. Turn meat over, brush on more sauce, and broil 5-8 minutes longer until done.

Wednesday: Pork Chops- We had this last week too. It didn't reheat well, so I am going to try something different with this half of the recipe this week. I'll let you know how it turns out...

Thursday: Sausage French Bread Sandwich

Brown your favorite variety of sausage with chopped onion. Drain fat. Combine 1/4 cup of room temp cream cheese with 1/4 cup room temp butter, 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, salt and pepper (to taste). Spread evenly on both sides of french loaf. Layer provolone cheese over spread. Place sausage crumbles on top of one side of cheese, close up the sandwich. Cut french loaf into two halves and wrap in foil to make sandwiches for two nights (each half will serve 2-3 people). To heat, place wrapped sandwich in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Cut into servings and wrap in damp paper towel, Heat in microwave for 30 seconds each to soften the bread.

Friday: Steak Fajitas

Slice onions, red, and yellow peppers into strips. I also sliced meat (flank steak) into thin strips across the grain. I followed the directions on packaged fajita seasoning to prepare the marinade and poured it over the meat which I froze into two separate bags. I placed the veggies in another bag and froze everything together. Fajitas take only a few minutes to cook, so I'll whip everything up on Friday night.

Saturday: Spaghetti- Your favorite recipe or my shortcut recipe below.

Brown 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound sausage with chopped onion and sliced crimini mushrooms. Salt a pepper to taste. Add two jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce, 1 can of diced tomatoes, and 1/2 cup water (I put the water in the jars and then shake to get all the sauce out). Add more salt and pepper if needed and any herbs you like- Italian seasoning and a couple of bay leaves work well. Simmer for about an hour. Pour into three separate containers and freeze for three meals that will serve 3-4 each.

Why I decided to plan my meals in advance...

If you have kids you know how sketchy the evenings can get. Everyone is tired from the day, hungry, and irritable. For me the minutes between 4:30 PM and 5:30 PM, when my dinner preparations occurred were the ugliest. Even if I tried to entertain my two young children with a DVD, I inevitably spent more time keeping my two-year-old from sticking her fingers in the baby's mouth than I did getting the meal ready. It also seemed that anytime I got my hands in something really messy in the kitchen, something even messier would occur in the family room.

We needed an intervention...

So I decided I would create my menu for the month, shop, and prep it all in a single day (a day when my husband could assume supervision of the kiddos). And that is just what I did...

I had three basic concepts

1. Plan for meals that incorporate the weekly specials at my grocery store.

2. Make enough of a single recipe to cover multiple meals.

3. Plan for the leftovers

So far we are a week and a half into the plan. We've eaten four of our frozen meals that I prepared on New Year's Day and we have enjoyed them all. There has been no waste, nothing that will eventually turn green and furry in the back of the refrigerator. The plan seems to be working.