Food This Week 9

When a particular ingredient -- especially a main protein -- is in great supply, it can seem like every meal is made with it. Thankfully, my household is fine eating the same things several days in a row. And it's pretty simple to vary the style of dish on the menu to keep from being bored. A couple weeks ago, we had a lot of beef on hand. Next week it's chicken dishes, because my wife found a BOGO sale on chicken breast and put a bunch into the freezer. (We had a few seasoned packets in there already, and want to use those first.) I could get creative and make chicken soup and chicken curry and chicken salad and chicken sandwiches and fried chicken and poached chicken and... yeah, I don't have that much kitchen creativity right now. So I'm keeping it simple (and sticking with whole chicken breasts). I'll make my standby casserole, for sure, but I also want to try a few new preparations and see how they turn out.

CC by romana klee (Flickr)
(Not the chicken now in my freezer.)

Produce Box

We received 2 bunches of kale, some broccoli, a bunch of carrots, 2 oranges, 3 nectarines, 4 big plums, and 3 pale Roma tomatoes (which I'm not so sure about now that a second round of Early Girls has ripened on our hanging planter).

Menu

Friday: leftover taco bowls and black beans → burritos, raw veggies; pesto pasta, baked chicken, steamed broccoli

Saturday: baked potato with cheese, eggs, leftover broccoli; BBQ chicken breast, home fries, kale / DOUBLE FEATURE MOVIE / BONFIRE (bring hot dogs)

Sunday: oatmeal & nectarines; leftover pot roast & fresh noodles / TAKE OUT THREE CHICKEN BREASTS / CHURCH

Groceries:

• salmon
• chicken broth
• olive oil BOGO
• bread crumbs BOGO

Monday: oatmeal & dried berries; string cheese from work / eggs, crumpets & jam; white beans, rice, cauliflower, leftover kale

Tuesday: lentil soup, fruit from work; chicken & rice casserole, oranges

Groceries:

• canned soup BOGO
• game hens BOGO
• fish sticks BOGO
• sweet mini peppers
• deli ham
• bread

Wednesday: [WORK PROVIDES LUNCH] / ham sandwich, string cheese; fish sticks, leftover veggies/fruits / TAKE OUT CHUCK ROAST

Thursday: leftover chicken & rice casserole; picnic snacks, raw veggies, orange / OUTSIDE MOVIE NIGHT

Freezer
I managed to send the multigrain blend I didn't care for to a potluck barbecue - yay! I pulled out all the frozen food to scrub down the freezer right quick. Some odds and ends will be used up soon, and there's a pretty big BOGO sale at the grocery store that will let me stock up. *salivates*

Added this week:

• lentil soup
• ground beef
• frozen veggies (broccoli, peas, mixed)
• whole chickens (2)
• hamburger buns
• ice pops! (homemade)