Each week I make a tentative meal plan, or let what is left in the refrigerator makes the plan for me. This past week featured a lot of leftovers and honestly we are tired of eating them. Fortunately they were all consumed and this week I can start on some new meals.
This was what the universe decided I needed to eat last week:
Leftover Chili, coleslaw, cornbread
Leftover beef stew over noodles, tossed salad
Leftover collard green soup, cornbread or rolls or Orange ginger chicken, rice, broccoli
Chicken roll-ups, broccoli, something else but undecided right now (leftover dry stuffing) Chicken parm over spaghetti, tossed salad (using leftover marinara)
Ball game meal: heavy apps (Have tons frozen)
Egg-roll in a bowl (everything is on hand but al least it's not leftovers)
And this is what we actually ate:
Monday: It was a ball game night so I hauled out several frozen apps and we had a game night meal.
Greek spiral, artichoke feta strudel, stuffed olives, raw veggies
Tuesday: I had some frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs, and a half a jar of Rao's.
Chicken parm (kinda, baked instead of fried chicken) tossed salad
Wednesday: This was one of those, ladle it out of the container into bowls and zap it kind of meals.
Leftover collard green soup
Tuesday: TheHub was home early, we had some work going on at the house so we did what we do best.
Takeout from Zaxby's I really do like the grilled chicken salad
Friday: Covid date nights leave a little to be desired, but there is nothing I can do about it.
Leftover beef stew over orzo, tossed salad
Saturday: The day was pretty cool then the night was cold. Perfect for this leftover!
Leftover Chili, coleslaw, corn chips (TheHub did not want cornbread)
Sunday: We had some chicken leftover from our lunch Saturday, so it was only a natural that is became dinner.
Leftover Chicken, tossed salad
Which brings us to this weeks possibilities:
1. White chicken chili, coleslaw, cornbread (This is your fault, Kim)
2. Chicken roll ups, Brussels sprouts, Waldorf salad
3. Sloppy Joe's, caulitato salad, "fried" pickles
4. Lentil soup, tossed salad, crescent rolls
5. Takeout
6 Tacos with fixings, guacamole,
7. Eggroll in a bowl
I do not need a single thing for the week, though I might run to Aldi because they are supposed to have a 10 pound bag of leg quarters for .49 a pound, and I do need to add to my frozen chicken stock. Other than that and a 10 dollar run to ThePig to get 12 ounces of free Maxwell House coffee, I plan on being conspicuously absent from the grocery stores this week.
Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all!
We like those chicken salads from Zaxbys too. They are so big! I am making something with the leftover taco meat I have today. That is all I know for this week so far. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Zaxby's salads are huge but really good!
DeleteEnjoy your meals. I do love the way you make plans and then 'treat them roughly'.
ReplyDeletePlans here are just ideas! Day to day living creates changes, usually omissions, but that is life.
DeletePlanning at least lets you know what's in the house and to try and use up. My "inspiration" is cottage cheese, zuchini, and spinach that needs using up, hence pasta primavera in the crock pot.
ReplyDeleteI think the plan really is just a way to let me know what is in the house, either frozen or like last week just lingering foods.
DeleteSounds good. I am having leftover mustard greens soup, chicken salad made from leftover chicken and onions, mulberry cobbler ( I have a tree in my front yard so I freeze mulberries), baked potatoes, and baked carrots. Will probably do hamburgers for middle kid on Thursday when I head to Tuscaloosa. I have no idea what I will eat on Friday. Maybe takeout but who knows… maybe tomato soup and grilled cheese. Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteI know what I would do if I were going to be in Tuscaloosa on Friday. I would head to Archibald's for some ribs!
DeleteI just love being the cause of all this joy and heartburn and maybe gas?
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice of you to share inspiration and heartburn! Truly after you wrote about it, I knew we had to have it this week.
DeleteWe ate all the leftovers, finally! It seems we had plenty to eat without cooking for almost a week. I will be cooking the bscb that I needed to cook on Saturday. Have you ever eaten at Chicken Salad Chick and how is it? We keep saying we need to eat there? Since the place always has a long line, we figure it might be good.
ReplyDeleteI have eaten there several times pre-covid. I think some of the chicken salads there are good and some of them are not appealing to me at all.
DeleteAnytime we go down South and go by a Zaxby's I get that salad! I am just gutted that we don't have that chain up here.
ReplyDeleteWhat's a Greek spiral?....a Greek spiral what?...8-)
That song transported me back to the British Virgin Islands, being on a boat drinking rum punches....oh, to be there right now instead of in this freezing hell of PA!
The appetizer is a Trader Joe's product from the freezer section. I am putting up a pic of it. I think its real name is a 5 Cheese Greek Spiral. It is pretty tasty.
DeleteAnd being in the BVI would not be a bad place to be right now!
I need to make room for fish in the freezer. So, I will be eating from the freezer in the coming days. I know there are plenty of meatballs, some chicken and chopped meat.
ReplyDeleteI had two Eggo waffles for dinner tonight and my son gets the leftover pasta bake from last night. I'm refusing to make a new meal before the leftovers get eaten. We'll see how long that lasts, because he is not a fan of leftovers.
ReplyDeleteYour meals are much more interesting and varied than my own.
A waffle for dinner does not sound bad at all! TheHub is not a fan of leftovers unless he can have them several days later and then he is OK with them. I try but sometimes you just have to have re-runs the next night.
DeleteI like your menu planning style! :D I did a grocery pick up today and cleaned the fridge drawers. Salvaged what I could and composted the rest! I hate having to do that, but, it is what it is. We are starting out this week with salmon, quinoa for daughter, corn for me, and Brussels sprouts. There might or might not be salmon and sprouts left over for tomorrow. There is spinach to be used up and a few other leftovers that need to be eaten, so that's the week's menu plan! :D
ReplyDeleteYou gotta do what you gotta do! This week, even though it has"new" meals still finds me using the produce that I have left and all the other little packs and bits of frozen meats, or foods I have on hand.
DeleteYour meal plans constantly amaze me. My only plan is to open the freezer and select what looks good.
ReplyDeleteI would love to do that (and sometimes I do because whatever I planned sounds unappealing)
DeleteI have been trying to use up some of the lurkers in our freezer but also cook things that are great for cold weather. I've done well the first 2 days of this week cooking enough for one serving of leftover beef stew and one serving of leftover tex mex chicken for my hubby to take for his lunch. So I will call that a win. Kids had leftover hotdogs yesterday for lunch. So right now there are no leftovers in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great then! Having kids at home adds an extra dimension to meal prep (and leftovers). When My sons hit double digit ages there was never anything left over!
DeleteI had been gifted 3 pkgs of a branded spice mix that motivated the menu last week. So....roasted chicken with the "rotisserie" blend; honey garlic meatballs; chicken stir fry with rice/cabbage. There's still roasted chicken left to top a green salad & for sandwiches topped with the home-grown sprouts. New menu item this week: Italian skillet supper with Italian sausage, peppers, onions, rice, tomatoes. Like you, the menu plan is a suggestion not written in stone.
ReplyDeleteThat all sounds very good! I certainly understand the suggestion aspect of a meal plan, plus sometimes what sounds good when I make the plan does not sound good at all when it comes time to cook it.
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