A Week In Food

I was recently asked what a typical dinner plan for the week is like at my house. Here’s what the last seven days’ menu has been at Chez Jennifer:

Saturday: Homemade clam chowder, popovers and salad. I make the chowder with lots of canned stuff too but you’d never know. Brown 5 strips of bacon in the bottom of a soup pot. Remove from pan. Saute the following, chopped, in the bacon fat: 1 medium onion, 3 ribs celery, 2 big baking potatoes. When the onions are soft, add one small bottle of Snow’s clam juice and the juices from two small cans of chopped or minced Snow’s clams. (the cans are the same size as tuna cans.) Bring to a simmer and cook partially covered until the potatoes are mostly soft, about 10 minutes. To make the chowder a little thicker, dunk a stick blender in the pot to mash up the potatoes a bit. Then, add a cup of 1% milk, a cup of heavy cream (I never said this was a light recipe!), the chopped clams, and a tablespoon of butter. Bring back to a simmer and then serve with the crumbled bacon on top.

Sunday: Roasted turkey breast, gravy, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and stuffing.

Monday: Pot roast in the crockpot with potatoes, onions, and baby carrots.

Tuesday: Shepherd’s pie, made ahead on Sunday. I cheat a lot with this one. I brown hamburg along with a small chopped onion and layer that in the bottom of a casserole dish. For the next layer, I mix one can of regular corn and one can of creamed corn and pour just a little milk over that. Then, I make a double batch of Betty Crocker instant four cheese mashed potatoes, layer that on top of the corn, and top it all off with some flavored bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Don’t knock it till you try it.

Wednesday: Leftovers from Sunday. This didn’t go quite as planned as the kids ended up eating most of the leftover turkey as an afterschool snack on Tuesday. I spread out what was left into little sandwiches and reheated the squash and stuffing & potatoes with the gravy poured over the top.

Thursday: Baked flounder with rice pilaf and snow peas (frozen) on the side.

Friday: Tonight’s dinner will be stir-fried chicken and vegetables, unless my husband talks me into a pizza instead.

I’m not sure exactly how typical this week has been. In general, I tend to make more complicated dishes on the weekend like fried fish and roast chicken. Things I make on the weekend ahead for during the week include lasagna and chicken pot pie. I use the crockpot a lot to make meals like beef stew or meatballs. By mid-week, there is usually some consumption of leftovers, and maybe something more creative but less time consuming than a big weekend meal, like a frittata or the chicken chili. Ham steak is another typical midweek quick meal, and if there are any leftovers they go nicely into something like the frittata. By the end of the week, I am usually hoping to go out to dinner or get take-out, which brings us back to that possible pizza tonight.

Of course, all of this will change come the warmer weather and grilling season. I am a wuss and I don’t like going out in the cold to barbecue, despite the fact that we no longer have the groovy circa-1960 direct gas line grill in the far reaches of the back yard and the new grill is right outside the kitchen door by the deck.

What are some of your favorites in your regular meal rotation? Are you in a dinner time rut? Discuss in the Wine & Dine Forum.