Some of you have asked for a sample of my menu plan for a week.  Truthfully, my menu planning isn’t very well organized.  It usually involves looking at my deep freezer at the beginning of the week to see what I have on hand and keeping my fridge well stocked with fresh vegetables and fruit for side dishes.  I do get a lot of inspiration from watching cooking shows although my TV watching has significantly decreased in recent years.  More recently, I get inspiration from food bloggers that I follow.

I’m not entirely sure what I’ll cook this week but this is what I made for suppers last week for my family.

Sunday Night

Skillet roast chicken, mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot and roasted cauliflower with paprika.  I do find that making a roast chicken once a week helps with stretching out the meal for another night.  I will save the bones to make chicken broth for soup.

Monday Night

 Leftovers.

Tuesday Night

Tuesdays are currently a little frazzled since my older two have Cotillion starting at 5:15 p.m. so we eat at at 4:30 p.m. (early birds!) Last week I made tacos and Martha’s cumin rice with beans.

Martha Stewart’s Cumin Rice and Beans

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt
• 1 19-ounce kidney beans, rinsed

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups of salted water and cumin to a boil.  Add rice, cover, and reduce to a simmer.  Cook 15 minutes, remove pan from heat, and add beans.  Cover, and let stand for 1 minute.  Fluff rice with a fork and serve.

Wednesday Night

Beef Drip Sandwiches

This recipe is from my favorite blogger, Jenny Steffens Hobick.  If I had been a bit more on top of my game, I would have made this in the slow cooker but the beef wasn’t quite thawed in the morning so I opted for the oven.

Beef Drip Sandwiches by Jenny Steffens Hobick

• 3-4 pound chuck roast
• 2 teaspoons of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cups of beef broth
• 1 cup of water
• 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke
• 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire
• 2 teaspoons of onion powder
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder

Coat the roast with salt and pepper on both sides.  In a large dutch oven, sear the roast on both sides for about 3-4 minutes per side.  Remove beef, set aside.  Add beef broth and stir the pan with a wooden spoon, releasing all of the brown bits.  Whisk in the liquid smoke, Worcestershire, onion powder and garlic powder.  Add the roast back in to the pot.  Cover and cook in the oven at 300 degrees for 4-5 hours until it is tender.

Take it out of the oven, let it sit for 30 minutes.  Remove the beef from the liquid and either shred with two forks or cut into smaller pieces with a knife.  Add the cooking liquid and shredded beef back into the pot.  Serve on hoagie rolls with melted cheddar or other favorite cheese on top.  I served it with Terra veggie chips for an easy meal. 

Thursday Night

Steakhouse steaks with Roquefort chive sauce, lobster macaroni and cheese, roasted asparagus and chocolate ganache cupcakes

We usually don’t have filet mignons on a weeknight but it was Valentine’s.:)  The kids exchanged valentines with each other and we had cupcakes leftover from party celebrations from school.  Since I have already posted the recipes on Facebook, I thought I’d just link the recipes here.

Friday Night

Small Group Appetizer Night

Two Fridays a month, we have our church small group gathering.  This past Friday night, it was at our house and it was appetizer night.  My contribution was an easy cheese fondue with dippers.  It had been years since I had pulled out my fondue pot but this recipe was really easy.  This alongside other appetizers made for a great meal.

Cheese Fondue by Tyler Florence

• 1/2 pound imported Swiss cheese, shredded
• 1/2 pound Gruyere, shredded
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• pinch of nutmeg
• assorted dippers

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and cheeses, set aside.  Rub the garlic clove inside of the fondue pot.  In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine wine and lemon juice and the garlic clove.  Bring to simmer and remove the garlic clove.  Gradually add shredded cheeses and stir until fully melted.  Once smooth, add nutmeg and mustard and transfer to fondue pot.  I served the fondue with cubed bread, steamed cauliflower, diced Granny Smith apples and diced cooked ham.

Saturday night was our night to celebrate Valentine’s Day without the kids and we went here.

And that was our sample menu from last week!  Enjoy!