Menu Monday 1/30/2012

Caldo Verde

This Week’s Meal Plan: 1/30 – 2/5

Breakfast

Strawberry & Pineapple Oatmeal Bake, Yogurt and Granola, Tasty Fritatta (this was so good last week and I still have some sauce left), Boiled Eggs and Banana Flax Muffins, Egg Puff

Lunch

Left-overs mostly; Frozen soup; Quesadillas; PB&J

Snacks

Spelt crackers with cheese (didn’t get to this last week), Banana Flax Muffins, Popcorn, Trail Mix, Hummus and Veggies, Fruit

Dinner

• Monday – Chickpea & Kale Paneer with Rice and Chapatis
• Tuesday – Chicken and Bean Sopes/Chorreadas
• Wednesday – Scallops and Salad
• Thursday – Braised Venison with Cinnamon Red Currant Marmalade (p. 94) and Butternut Squash Polenta
• Friday – Baked Pasta in the Manner of the Lady of the House (p. 116) and Winter Salad (p.214)
• Saturday – Soup from the freezer
• Sunday – Pizza

I haven’t done the exact calculations yet, but I believe that I saved about $50 this month on groceries by planning and shopping for two weeks at a time instead of just one week. And that’s not including the fact that I spent a lot less on gas this month, even though we traveled out of town twice instead of our usual once a month trip. Only time will tell if this is a fluke or a trend. I do have plans this month to visit a local store that carries organic meat from a nearby farm. I have been craving some meat cuts that I haven’t found reasonably priced through my CSA or co-op.

This week I am trying some recipes from a cookbook that I received for Christmas, Regional Foods of Northern Italy. I’m very excited to try them and I’ll let you know how they turn out. I’ve noted the pages above in case you have a desire to purchase the book (or check to see if your local library carries it). I may even try making fresh pasta per the recipe in the book, but I should probably make sure I have lasagna noodles on hand in case I run out of time or it doesn't go well. I do, however, plan on making mascarpone cheese and possibly ricotta too - we'll see how much time I have for this one recipe.