Monday, July 23, 2012

Weekly Menu Retrospective #75

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!

If you'd like a whole book full of inexpensive, quick and kid-approved recipes,
check out my book, Cheap Appétit : The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) on Amazon (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble.  It's gotten multiple 5 star reviews!! I've included page references to recipes that are in the book in my menu plans so you can locate them quickly. For more details about the book, go here.   

This week was a bit of an unusual one in our household - my 14 year old son is away at camp, and my hubby was not around for dinner much. So meals were a little bit more "casual" than normal as it was often just myself and my 12 year old son. I also can't help but notice how many more leftovers we had this week with one less teenager in the house (I'm really missing him, though!)


Breakfasts:
Granola (p. 92), Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, p. 114), peanut butter toast, pancakes, cherry clafouti (p. 223)

Lunches: 
Toad-in-the-hole (p. 180), leftovers, sandwiches 

Dinners:

Monday: Lime and Garlic Chicken (p. 184), Skillet Millet, Build a Bean and Cucumber Salad (p. 209)

Tuesday: Out for dinner with friends (me), grilled cheese and assorted leftovers (hubby and 12 yr old)

Wednesday: Classic Beef Burgers (p.125) and Easy Oven Fries (p.194)

Thursday: Swiss Chard, Bacon and Cheese Egg Puff (variation of the recipe on p. 181), green beans

Friday: Spicy Pork Pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Saturday: Leftover pasta

Sunday: Pizza, Colourful Cabbage Salad (p.207)

In keeping with my local and organic challenge, I'd also like to note the local and/or organic items on this week's menu:

Organic: coconut, canola oil, brown sugar (in granola), cane sugar (in coffee/tea),  raisins (in granola), sunflower and pumpkin seeds (in granola), flax seeds (in bread), millet, bananas, lemons

Local: potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers, red peppers, cabbage, chicken legs and ground beef (from VG Meats), milk, eggs, sour cream  

Local AND organic: oats (in granola), sesame seeds (used to top bread loaves) green beans, Swiss chard and garlic (from West Hamilton Produce Cooperative*), herbs and cherry tomatoes from our backyard garden

*The WHPC produce is not "certified organic" but is pesticide-free.

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

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1 comment:

  1. Hello, I'm stopping by from Organizing Junkie today.
    Congratulations on your 5-star book review. That's very impressive.
    You have some wonderful meals planned this week.
    The humidity has arrived in Las Vegas. It has me wishing for our dry hot days.
    Enjoy your week!

    ReplyDelete

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