I don’t think I followed last week’s menu plan at all. I even did one of those cringe-worthy let the produce go bad in the fridge moves. Produce prices are too high for that to happen! UGH. Please tell me that still happens to some of you sometimes? Our week looked mostly like this:
It is actually possible to get sick of eating frozen pizza.
My husband was working long hours so he ate a lot of leftover chili (moved up from Thursday to earlier in the week) for his dinners. A few items from last week will get carried over to this week and some items were simply tossed out with the bad eggplant. I like eggplant and was quite upset about that it went before I could prepare the roasted vegetable lasagna. I did sort of salvage the zucchini at least as well as the lime I bought thinking of key lime cupcakes or pie. I added the zucchini to a pasta dish we ate for lunch yesterday and ended up making key lime bars with my lonely lime. We all agreed lime zest smells just like summertime. Ahhhhh…yes, I did stand around in my kitchen inhaling the scent of fresh lime on Saturday night. I also spent some time researching tropical menu items. Maybe next week I’ll plan a tropical menu but this week I’m sticking to basics as it is shaping up to be a “just get through each day” kind of week. Here’s what we’ll be eating (or did eat depending on when I finally get around to publishing this post!).
Monday
Make way for the return of the REGULAR taco. I tried making chicken tacos yesterday using a tequila-lime marinade mix and the boys were excited until they realized we were having chicken tacos not chicken AND tacos. I actually felt bad enough for them that I’ve opted to make regular tacos tonight. I didn’t care for the chicken tacos much either.
Tuesday
I have a PTA meeting so I’m leaving them on their own with a choice of spaghetti, leftover tacos, or whatever else they can find in the fridge. I’m thinking of finally trying this cake out although probably in muffin form as I need to start testing out recipes for Easter brunch and just happen to have a bunch of clementines that are in danger of going bad sitting on my kitchen table:
Source: somekitchenstories.com via Jean on Pinterest
Wednesday
Fried round steak and sweet potatoes, I may make this cake for dessert:
Source: stopandsmellthechocolates.com via Jean on Pinterest
Thursday
Pancake supper at the elementary school and I have yet another, different PTA meeting to attend. Eggo waffles here for anyone who might not want to attend the elementary pancake supper. I’m also volunteering at the school book fair in the morning so quick and easy is what we need.
Friday
Chipolte Chicken Sandwiches (just a marinade mix), chips or fries. Nothing exciting as I’ll probably be volunteering at the book fair once again to cover the morning hours.
Hopefully, my menu next week will be a bit more exciting. I really like the idea of a tropical menu plan. Does anyone have any good tropical recipes that a picky family would eat? I’m linking this menu up to Menu Plan Monday at over at Orgjunkie.com as well as Menu Monday at Erin Branscom.
Elizabeth
It’s been a little bit since I had stuff go bad in the fridge but only because the prices are (understandably) so high I just kind of skip the produce isle though I have also noticed that things bought out of season tend to go bad a bit quicker at least in my opinion.
Look. Forward to seeing next weeks menu and don’t worry about tossing last weeks out sounds like. You keep very busy!
No summery recipes here at least fruit wise since my husband won’t touch a fruit… any fruit. Our summer treats tend to just be chocolate peanutbutter pudding pie LoL which is not something you want. As standard fair otherwise you’d have to hirer help to roll you where you want to go
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Jean
Wow, I’ve never heard of someone not liking any fruit. Chocolate peanut butter pudding pie would be a big hit around here, I think.
OM
I have also let produce go bad in the fridge because I forgot I had it there! And it hurts so much, even if it was free… we’re not in a position as to waste food (and by “we” I mean everybody! So many people with no food and I have let a perfectly good lettuce go bad just because… ugh! the shame!). I have a serious case of the guilt every time it happens, which (thankfully!) is less often than it was before.
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Jean
I have managed to go a good while without wasting food so that made it worse when I realized what I did.
susan
you are so not alone! i’ve got some green goo in my produce drawer too. i had a sick kid all of last week and it threw everything off. but honestly, i don’t think i’ve EVER followed a menu plan exactly.
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Jean
Glad to know it’s not just me. For me, the main point of menu planning is just to make sure there are actual components of a meal in the house plus it does help on those I have no idea nights but I seldom follow my plan exactly.
Patty@homemakersdaily.com
You have got to stop mentioning chili. Every time you do, it makes me crave it again. I thought I was over it but then you mentioned it again. Everybody at my house is getting tired of chili but me!
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Jean
Don’t worry, I won’t mention it again for a while. I’m ready for warm weather foods. I was asking my husband to take the cover off the grill last night so we could grill our chicken but he didn’t want to mess with it. Isn’t it nice to look out the windows and see the ground again?
Kristy
I often let produce go bad in the fridge if I buy a type that I don’t usually use, just for an ingredient for one recipe I’m going to use. It’s a better idea for me if I just skip that ingredient in the recipe…. No gourmet here!
Our rate of produce going bad has dropped so much since we moved to a dry climate. We were in Florida before and I swear the humidity even affected produce inside the refrigerator. Anyone else have that experience?
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Jean
That is a really good idea to stick to what we normally use or eat although I do like eggplant and would have ate it
I think the humidity would play a big part of produce keeping for longer (or shorter!) spans of time.
Deanna
Oh my yes, sadly the produce going bad does happen here too
I was able to rescue some red pears a little over a week ago by cutting out the brownish stuff and making pear sauce. Jenna thought it was DEVINE! Go MOM!
Yes, it most definitely IS possible to get sick of frozen pizza – that’s why I make the rounds amongst the brands, including Market Day, which is very tasty if you like a cheesy/saucy type of pizza – which we do on occassion.
The clementine cake looks and sounds YUMMY! Did you make it? How did it turn out?
I like the Garlic Lime Chicken recipe from the Menu Mailer – Leanne Ely – should be on Flylady webside. It’s tropical in a sense
YUM
Jean
Wow, pear sauce–way to save the produce! My picky family ONLY likes Red Barron but I’ll buy different brands for myself sometimes. I didn’t end up making the clementine cake…I kept getting stumped by the need to boil the clemetines for 2 hours. Someday, I will make one though. Garlic Lime Chicken sounds yummy!