I'm a little depressed this morning, but I'm still going to do a menu plan, because when you're depressed, sticking to your organizational plan helps!
Anyway, it looks like the democratically elected minority Conservative government up here in Canada is about to be overthrown by a coalition that includes separatists. That's right: people who want to blow up our country will be the deciding vote on everything. This is disgusting, and there's not a darn thing I can do about it.
Until today Canada's economy was doing the best of all the developed countries. We weren't suffering from recession yet at all. But our stock market and dollar are about to tumble like we've never seen it before.
So it's time to cook! Luckily I have a full freezer.
Now, onto food. I am a firm believer in making more than you need because you can then freeze half. Some recipes it's a pain to make double: recipes where you have to chop a large number of vegetables, or where preparation takes a long time. But where it really makes no difference, you may as well make a bunch!
Monday: Meatloaf/Meatballs. I'm going to make up four pounds of ground beef and use one pound for meatballs and put the rest in the oven for meatloaf later.
I love meatballs! I just mix 1 1/2 pounds ground beef with: 1/2 cup breadcrumbs 1 egg 3 tbsp ketchup 1 tsp worcestershire sauce 2 garlic cloves salt and pepper 2 tbsp dijon mustard
And I think that's it! For the sauce I just pull out anything resembling barbecue sauce/mustard/ketchup out of the fridge and mix them all together til they taste good. It's a very exact science, obviously! And then you get to use up all those tiny bits in bottles.
So I'll triple it and make some into meatballs, and the rest will go into pans for meatloaf.
Tuesday: Chicken pie. I cheat on this. I buy the ready made pie crusts, and then I mix: 1 can cream of broccoli soup leftover gravy (or canned gravy or instant gravy) cooked chicken frozen peas frozen corn chopped carrots salt and pepper
Mix it all up and then put it in a long 9x13 pan. Cover with two pie crusts. You kind of have to squish them to make them fit, but it works! As long as you have enough leftover chicken or turkey you can make up two pans' worth. Then just freeze the pie part for one pan, make the other, and add the pie crusts to the frozen one once you're ready to eat it.
Wednesday: tacos Another meal that's easy to double! Cook three pounds of ground beef and add the taco seasoning. Separate half of it out and freeze it, and use the other half tonight. I always put salsa, cheese, peppers and lettuce as extras for people to load up with. And remember to freeze any leftover tortilla shells!
Thursday: Spaghetti. You can double this one, too, quite easily. You don't have to add more meat; just bulk the sauce up with veggies like carrots or mushrooms. We just add one can of spaghetti sauce with one can of pureed tomatoes, which is cheaper. Then we add our own spices. And you can freeze the leftovers!
Friday: Roast chicken. I think it's time! I'll roast a whole chicken, which is really easy, and add garlic under the skin. Then I'll add mashed potatoes (the only part of the meal that is time consuming) and veggies, and make some gravy. I'm going to make a big chicken so we have lots of leftovers, because I'm using them all up earlier in the week!
That's my menu for this week. There. I've almost forgotten about politics. What are you doing?
Thanks for stopping by! Why not stay a while and look at other To Love, Honor and Vacuum posts? I've got stuff on marriage, parenting, giveaways, and more!
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
Stumble It!
I love to make pot pies, and I have never thought to use canned soup! Thanks for the idea.