You know those weeks when you are adrift in the meal-planning doldrums? When it just seems so far out and unimaginable that people actually make dinner every night? Asking yourself: What do people eat?? Wait, I’m a person, I should know this one…
I have those weeks, but thankfully this isn’t one of them! In case you find yourself in the doldrums this week, peruse my menu and see if it puts some wind in your sails.
Rotisserie Chicken (store-bought) and Warm Sweet Potato Salad (save the carcass and scraps to make your own chicken broth!)
Collard Green Gratin with Andouille Sausages on the side
Pad Thai (yum!) with tofu and leftover chicken bits (I used the recipe on the back of the box of noodles, with the addition of diced red jalapeño pepper, julienned mini peppers, and julienned carrots).
Winter Squash Carbonara with Pancetta (what!? wow.)
Steak Fajitas (I found a bag of pepper and beef strips I had squirreled away in the freezer – score!)
Cheese Ravioli (store-bought, on sale – woot!) with Homemade Pesto (made fresh from the garden this summer then frozen) and Chicken Basil Sausages
Pizza with Kale and Caramelized Onions (sorry no recipe to link for this one, got it from a cookbook many moons ago)
If for some reason none of those appeal I’ve always got Indian food on hand in the freezer and in those shelf-stable packets. I don’t tend to assign a day to each meal, I just buy the stuff and text the hubs in the afternoon to see what is sounding tasty that day. If all else fails there’s that half a green cabbage in the crisper, queso fresco in the freezer, black beans in the pantry and the undeniability of Crispy Black Bean Tacos (I do q fresco over feta, and generally always have a lime on hand).
Poetry is inherently inspirational, right? So here’s a bit o that since now I’m daydreaming not just of dinner but also about sailing…sigh!
“The sail, the play of its pulse so like our own lives: so thin and yet
so full of life, so noiseless when it labors hardest, so noisy and
impatient when least effective.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Love it!
The winter squash carbonara turned out "meh…" – too sweet for grown ups, even with the pancetta. However the sauce from winter squash carbonara would please ANY child! It is so yummy in a way they would appreciate. You could probably convince a kid who doesn't know better that it is macaroni & cheese. I froze the remainder (we only needed about 2/5ths of the sauce) flat in a gallon ziptop bag – that way it freezes in a thin sheet. Whenever I want to make my daughter some pasta I can just snap off a bit and let it melt over the hot pasta! Or I can add some to conventional mac & cheese to up the nutritional value.