Weekly Meal Plan {3/12-3/18}

Happy Monday everyone!  Here is our meal plan for the week ahead:



Monday: 
Pork Chops - We get these from Costco for a great price and freeze most of them right away. 

• Rub each side of chop with generous salt and pepper.
• Saute in heated pan at medium-high heat in olive oil for a few minutes on each side until brown.
• Transfer to an oven preheated to 375.  Bake for 10-12 more minutes or until done. 

Sauerkraut - I am going to make my own with a great attachment piece for my Kitchen Aid mixer that my in-laws gave me for Christmas, but you can buy already made sauerkraut for a pretty cheap price to save time.

Potatoes - Mashed or baked, your choice.  (we haven't decided yet!)

Tuesday:
Pork and Baked Beans in Crockpot (note: I will significantly cut back the number of pork chops from what this recipe calls for - probably to 2-3 chops, halved or quartered)

Spinach Salad with walnuts, craisins, and shredded mozzarella


Wednesday:
Leftovers from yesterday's meal


Thursday:
Rosti - A simple Swiss potato dish. I use a recipe from Simply in Season, but this recipe is very similar and offers some helpful tips for perfecting the art of making Rosti. (note: I will use cheddar cheese rather than gruyere as this recipe recommends, simply because it is cheaper.)

Spinach Salad with bacon crumbles, vinaigrette, and hard-boiled egg slices


Friday:
OUT to eat!


Saturday:
Chili in the crockpot
Cornbread from Simply in Season (note: sometimes I like to add in creamed corn for a more creamy, sweeter alternative)


Sunday:
Leftover chili
Spinach salad
Freezer raiding for dinner (to each his/her own!)


If you haven't already, I would encourage you to check out (and consider purchasing) the Simply in Season cookbook.  It is full of many useful recipes, organized by season and featuring produce that is fresh in that season.  The recipes are simple and can be creatively adapted to your liking (often they add ideas for changing them up a bit).  It is my go-to cookbook on days that I don't know what to do with the produce I have around!

Enjoy your week!

Meal Plan for a Busy Week

Good morning! This week promises to be another busy one, although a little less busy than we've been lately... needless to say, the weeks are flying by!

This week, I'm posting our make-ahead meal plan for 2 featuring some wholesome comfort food for the chilly beginning to March.  Whenever I know I'm going to be particularly busy in the days ahead, I like to have a few make-ahead or low-prep meals planned so that food is one less thing to worry about each evening.  In warm weather, I usually turn to low-prep meals like salads, veggie burgers, and BLTs.  In cold weather, I like to use my crockpot or make casseroles ahead of time to have on hand when needed.  This week, I'm turning to warm, filling soup and a delicious corn and chicken casserole from a dear friend of mine from church.  Even if you're not a corn lover (like my husband...), you will love how delicious this recipe is (this one has been approved by my non-corn-loving husband!).


Monday:

Potato Soup (from Simply in Season)
- 2 TBsp butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
Melt butter in large saucepan. Add onion.  Saute until translucent.

- 3 c. potatoes, diced
- 2 cups water or broth
- 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
- 1/2 tsp pepper (to taste)
- 1/4 c. celery, chopped (optional - I don't include b/c I don't usually have on hand)
- 1/2 c. carrots, diced (optional)
- 1/4 tsp. paprika or celery salt
Add, cover, and cook at med-high heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.  For a creamier soup, remove some of the cooked potatoes and puree them, then return to the saucepan. (I have never done this - I like to have the whole potato chunks in the soup.)

- 2 c. milk (I usually add 1 c. skim condensed milk and 1 c. low fat milk)
- 3 TBsp. flour
Mix together until smooth. Add to soup and cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

*For a variation, you can add in 1/2 lb. of browned ground turkey or beef and 1 cup shredded cheese, and then stir in 1/4 c. plain yogurt before serving to make a cheeseburger soup.  My favorite variation is to add a little cooked and crumbled bacon into the soup to add a great flavor and a little extra crunch.


Tuesday:
Leftover soup and a baguette from the grocery store or homemade from your breadmaker (my favorite!)


Wednesday:
Chicken Corn Casserole

1/3 c. butter

1/3 c. flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. celery salt

2 c. milk

2 c. corn or if you are using fresh corn, can be a bit more

2 c. cut-up cooked chicken

 

Melt butter over low heat.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, celery salt.  Cook until smooth and bubbly.  Add milk.  Bring to boil for one minute.  If it happens to get too thick, add a bit more milk.  Should not be too thick.  Remove from heat. 

 

Combine sauce, chicken and corn.  Pour into 1 1/2 quart casserole (or 8x8 baking dish for a thicker casserole).  

 

Topping

 1 c. crushed saltine crackers

2-3 Tablespoon melted butter

 

Combine together and top casserole

with crumbs.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes. 

 

* This recipe makes six servings.

 

Thursday:
Leftover Corn and Chicken Casserole and a Green Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing


Friday:
Go out to eat OR make BLTs with leftover salad lettuce and homemade or store-bought bread.  Great with a quick homemade corn, black bean, and frozen green pepper and onion salad tossed with olive oil and apple cider vinegar!

Dinner Plan for a Busy Week

As a feature of this site, I will be sending out weekly meal plans via email to all the subscribers of our newsletter through Google Friend Connect.  To sign up for our Budget Cooking for 2 weekly dinner plans,  all you have to do is sign up in the right sidebar with Google Friend Connect.  The plans will be sent to your inbox each Monday morning - and it's all free!  (See the bottom of this post if you have trouble locating the Newsletter Subscribe button.)

 

Below is a close-up look at a model of a simple dinner plan for a week when you know will be busy with work, classes, evening activities,  etc.

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Thank you for signing up for the Cooking for 2 weekly newsletter from Married Living on a Single's Budget!

Each week you will receive an email in your inbox on Monday mornings with a dinner plan for the week.  This is a plan that we have followed ourselves at some point (and approve of!); therefore, they are taste-tested, but they are created for our portion preferences, etc.  Once you figure out how your preferences/appetites relate to ours, you can adapt the recipes/amounts as needed.



Each week will include:

• a basic layout of each day and its dinner,
  
• a grocery list,
  
• a list of staples you may already have for these meals,
  
• and recipes for each meal (if needed).

Enjoy, and pass it on to a friend!

Weekly Plan

Monday: Beef/Barley Soup with Bread and Salad

Tuesday: Leftover Soup with Corn Muffins

Wednesday: BLT Sandwiches (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato in a Grilled Sandwich - I like to add cheese and sweet mustard to ours)

Thursday: Stuffed Peppers (can also be made with zucchini) and bread

Friday: Out to Eat

Saturday: Turkey Sandwiches and Sweet Potato Fries

Sunday: No-Cook Day!! Eat popcorn, fruit, and yogurt for a light meal, skip right to ice cream for dessert, or make yourself microwave nachos with cheese, salsa, and any leftover stuffing for the peppers.

Grocery List

• Fresh bread (or make sure you have the ingredients to use your breadmaker)
• Soup mix (dried soup mix: CHEAP and in the dry goods/bulk foods section): ex. Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix
• Cabbage
• Hamburger Meat (2 lb., or more, if you're a meat lover!)
• Tomatoes (at least 2)
• 2 Large green peppers
• Onion
• Jiffy Cornbread Mix (CHEAP - at Walmart, 49 cents/box)
• Coldcuts (for lunch and Saturday's meal): 1/2 - 1 lb. should do it
• Frozen Sweet Potato Fries (from Walmart, grocery store, or Costco) - use and freeze the rest.

Items That You May Already Have:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Milk
• Chili powder
• Bacon (IF not, add it to the list above!)
• Egg

Recipes

Beef Barley Soup: (makes 6 servings)

1. If there are directions on back of mix, follow those.  If not, start your dry 2 cups of your dry ingredients mixed with water and milk on low heat in a large pot for 1 hour. 
2. Add 1/2 lb. - 1 lb. browned ground beef, 1 c. shredded cabbage, 1 c. diced carrots and tomatoes to the pot, cover and simmer for another hour. 
3. Stir occasionally for the last 15 minutes and serve with bread and shredded cheese if desired!

Stuffed Peppers: (makes 2 servings

1. Brown ground beef, diced tomatoes and onions, and 1 tsp. chili powder and 1 clove garlic in a pan with olive oil until just cooked through. 
2. Cut top off pepper and carve out seeds.  Rinse.  Fill with scoops of meat mix and top with cheese. 
3. Place in baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on size of peppers).  Serve with salsa and warm bread.

Jiffy Corn Muffins: (makes 6)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Stir together boxed ingredients with 1/3 cup milk and 1 egg.  Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes.
3. Enjoy!
4. 
   

Thanks again for subscribing to the Budget Cooking for 2
Weekly Dinner Plan!

Next week, look for a delicious homemade (and easy!) pizza, southwest potato salad, and homemade caesar salad!

 

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 Weekly dinner plans are essential for sticking to a budget and reducing stress.  Each week's newsletter offers suggestions for ways to adapt/substitute other ingredients within a recipe, as well as a no-cook Sunday light dinner/dessert plan! 

 We hope that these newsletters will inspire you with ideas, help reduce your meal-planning stress, and make you busy evenings a little easier. 

 

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