Menu Monday!

-




My newest challenge is learning to cook less food. I'm no longer feeding an army. So this year begins with readjusting my brain to know what is enough for 2 or 3 people for our meals.

Last weeks menu worked well. I had planned some sort of chicken and mushroom dish. I was not sure what I was going to do until the day came. I ended up making my own version of lemon chicken and it turned out so yummy. I'll be sharing that recipe tomorrow.

I made the Asian beef in the crockpot on Sunday and still have enough for us to eat tonight. Today is grocery shopping day and it will be nice to come home and have dinner ready to go.

This week I'm planning 4 meals. I'm not sure if I will use them all, it will depend on how many leftovers there are. It's all part of the adjustment to smaller meals.

Here is what I have planned..


Meatloaf
Basic, easy, and one 2lb meatloaf should feed us for a couple days. I'll serve tater tots and a salad to go with it.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Seafood is sounding good this week. I'll serve this with some french bread and either a salad or broccoli on the side.

Black Bean Soup
It's cold here and soup to warm us up on a cold windy night sounds perfect. It will be a mix of black beans, sausage, Rotel tomatoes and topped with shredded cheese. Tortillas chips and a salad will be served along side.

Chicken Parmesan
Bake chicken breasts covered in spaghetti sauce and topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Easy and good. Served with pasta, french bread and a salad, it will make a filling and delish meal!


 

Comments

  1. just meJanuary 4, 2016 at 6:17 AM

    I know you like your slow cooker too and this book has been a great help for me in cooking for two. The Complete Slow Cooking for Two by Linda Larsen. ISBN #: 978-1-942411-19-2. I really enjoy your website.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJanuary 4, 2016 at 4:03 PM

      Thank you for the recommendation!! I'll look into it.. sounds perfect for us right now!!

      Delete
  2. Mrs ShoestringJanuary 4, 2016 at 9:46 AM

    The menu sounds delicious, I'm very tempted by the black bean soup as we've been having lots of rainy, chilly days over here in the UK. Many thanks for making the recipes so easy to find !

    ReplyDelete
  3. MonicaJanuary 4, 2016 at 11:36 AM

    I always look forward to your new recipes! :) Happy New Year Crystal. And I too am learning to cook for fewer each year. Our middle daughter is hardly every home ad the dinner hour anymore. Work and college, she eats on the run out of a lunch box.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJanuary 4, 2016 at 4:04 PM

      Happy New Year to you too Monica!! Thanks for the comments! :) I know what you mean. Our youngest son is still at home.. but works full time and has a busy life.. so I never know if he will be eating dinner with us or not.. so it is a bit of a challenge!

      Delete
  4. Carol SueJanuary 4, 2016 at 2:39 PM

    I am also learning to cook for fewer people. It's very challenging. We like left-overs but not for days and days. Thanks for all the great posts. I have been a reader for years and have enjoyed watching your family grow and change and have also been encouraged by your desire to please the Lord.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJanuary 4, 2016 at 4:06 PM

      Hi Carol Sue!! I so agree! I love leftovers.. but as you said.. not for days and days.. I'm hoping I get this down soon.. for me, cooking for an army is easy.. cooking for 2 (and sometimes 3) is much more challenging! Thank you too for being a faithful reader.. :) Hard to believe I've been blogging for so many years now.. but it is my passion..

      Delete
  5. UnknownJanuary 5, 2016 at 12:02 PM

    I feel your pain. Our youngest moved out a few months ago after finishing college and I just haven't adjusted as well as I thought I would. I sometimes freeze my leftovers. I also make other uncooked meals to freeze if I have a large quantity meat thawed. For instance, meatloaf, hamburger patties, but we are having chili for dinner. The joke around our house is me having a freezer full of meals. When I thought I was going to run out of Halloween candy this year my oldest told me to give the children frozen meals with directions. Really enjoy your blog. Have a blessed day!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this ...
Read more

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine...
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my ...
Read more