My Menu Plan

You know one of the best things about menu planning?

You have the plan in place but if you need to stray from it, that’s a-ok. That’s life. You can save it for another day. Or another week.

We mixed up several things on last week’s plan – swapped out sushi for pizza, had steaks on Wednesday instead of Saturday – and it didn’t matter one bit because the plan was in place to alleviate stress and make life easier and it did, even when it didn’t go quite as…planned.

So here’s what we’re planning on having this week:

Sunday – the calendar says October but the weather says July, so grilling still feels right. Especially on a Sunday. I think we will do some simple chicken kebabs (we use chunks of chicken breasts, red onion and peppers and then marinate in Trader Joe’s Soyaki) with brown rice and arugula.

Monday – Spaghetti squash and meatballs. I have been buying the pre-made meatballs from the butcher and it makes life so much easier. Easy is always appreciated on a Monday. Kids will eat theirs with pasta, we usually give them whole wheat or one of the veggie ones.

Tuesday – Tuesdays are tough around here these days because Little D has an after-school French lesson and it’s a bit of a jaunt. So we don’t get home from that until 630pm and Kai is usually in bed by 7pm so a family dinner feels rushed and stressful for everybody. Another reminder of how lucky we are to have our flexible, work-from-home schedules. All that said, I have a husband who is always very willing to help in the kitchen when it’s needed so I think I will prep a pizza dough and let him work his magic on it (we did skip it last week, after all…). That way dinner is (relatively) quick, easy, and still homemade.

Wednesday – Salmon. This herb-roasted one looks delicious and simple.

Thursday – Pork tenderloin with honey mustard sauce (Giada’s recipe is great and easy) with roasted asparagus and sweet potato fries. It took me most of my lifetime to like asparagus; I toss with olive oil and lots of salt and pepper and roast them in the oven until they are crispy and probably nutrient-free…but it’s still asparagus, so I consider it a win. When I was doing The 30 Clean, they made a big deal about only eating homemade sweet potato fries because frozen or restaurant versions are typically laced with lots of bad stuff. It really is easy to cut and roast your own, but sometimes the frozen ones from Trader Joe’s are just fine. I won’t tell anyone. I toss mine with a little oil, salt, pepper and cayenne before cooking.

Friday – we are headed to the pumpkin patch for the evening with Kai’s little preschool. It’s a magical place at night with string lights, rides and games for the kids and pumpkins as far as the eye can see. The menu will be pizza (again, oops!) and juice boxes and lots of store-bought cookies covered in thick, sugary, orange-colored icing, I am sure.  Hopefully the weather will start to say October a little more by then.

Our sweet treat of the week: whole wheat coconut oatmeal dark chocolate chunk bars. Just because.

Update: I made the chocolate coconut bars and they were good, BUT I had to cook them for more than twice the time recommended. At 15 minutes, you get very soft, almost undercooked bars, which just wasn’t working for us. Even Kai said he didn’t like them. And Kai doesn’t say no to chocolate very often. Once I popped them back in for another 20 minutes or so, I got a crispier, harder bar which was great. Especially with my coffee in the morning.

Have a great Sunday! xx

*image above via my Instagram, you can find me @wwgwynethdo