February 6, 2011 Meal Plan

Mark's finally starting to feel better.  I had to take a quick look through my archives recently, and it was amazing how sick he tends to get, especially in the winter.  I think it's time to do some research into strengthening immune systems, although honestly I think it's just his bad luck.  For some reason he catches everything and gets it worse and for longer than anyone else I know.  Poor guy.  Anyway, he's about 80% right now, which is a huge improvement for which I am very thankful.

The two week meal plan was a big success.  We didn't eat every meal on the plan, sometimes because of leftovers, sometimes because I wasn't going to skate on the deck out to the grill to cook, as we had no means of cooking inside.  It's now been proven to me that I would have made a lousy pioneer.  We did mostly stick to the plan though.  As always, I learned I am much better when I have a plan and when I have groceries in the house to fit the plan.  Funny, no matter how much I have this axiom proven to me, there are still times I think life's too hectic for a plan and live to regret it.  Maybe someday...


Pioneer Woman's Tortilla Soup was a huge hit.  A surprise to me actually.  I figured Mark and I would enjoy it, Jacob I thought would probably like it, and I didn't think Julianna would touch it with the proverbial 10-foot pole.  There was a lot in there she picked around, but she was even asking if there was more chicken (I used leftover chicken from my Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salads that I had in the freezer).  Honestly, I served it the night of the science fair and we literally had 17 minutes to eat, clean up and get out the door, so I don't know what she would eat of it under more normal circumstances.  Still, I'm definitely planning on having it again.  Easy, healthy, and make ahead and freezable, all the markings of a terrific soup.

Tyler's Tortellini & Meatball soup I'm a bit more conflicted over.  I used Barefoot Contessa's chicken meatballs from her Wedding Soup, which we all love, but they were straight from the freezer and I simmered them for quite a while in the chicken broth.  I don't know if it was that, or the fact that the broth was from a box instead of scratch, but the base of the soup was "eh" to me, and if the base is off, it's hard to build from there.  Another knock against it for me was that it made a lot.  The first bowl I had was actually from leftovers, and let's face it, tortellini leftover is just never going to be a good idea.  I'll make it again, and hopefully I'll use homemade broth, not simmer the meatballs too soon, and have it when we have a lot of people here so there's no leftovers.  I'm betting in those circumstances I will be much happier with it.

I didn't get to the Gorditas at all, they were snowed out in favor of the leftover soup, so I look forward to trying for those again this week.  I have high hopes for them, they seem like that perfect combination of kid-friendly but yummy that I like to look for on nights I make dinner for both our family and another family.
Hoping for a "normal" week this week, at least as normal  as it gets.  No snow, ice, etc..  Here's what we'll be eating:

Friday:  Chicken Parmigiana, Caesar Salad, King Arthur Flour's Garlic Knots
Saturday lunch:  Out
Saturday dinner:  Mom & Dad's
Sunday lunch:  Mom & Dad's
Sunday dinner:  Pizza
Monday (ballet):  Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salads
Tuesday (dance, piano):  Gorditas, fruit, brownies
Wednesday (scouts):  Salmon patties, buttered noodles, creamed peas
Thursday (dance, haircut for me):  Chicken &  Dressing Casserole, canned green beans, baby carrots
Friday again!  Yay!  Do a happy dance.:  PW Sloppy Joes, Oven potato planks, carrots & apples

Did you know King Arthur Flour has a LiveChat feature on their website?  During business hours you can talk with a baker as well as a customer service rep.  I had a ton of questions when I tried to make the Garlic knots.  It was wonderful to be able to talk my questions through with someone.

This weekend's looking hectic enough already, so I will not be attempting to shop for 2 weeks worth of meals this time.  It's nice when it works, but it just doesn't fit into our lifestyle every week.  Maybe next week.  Check out other meal plans at Organizing Junkie's.