The 2020 Week 31 Menu Plan is formulated and I must admit it has been a struggle. Why is it with all of this “time” on my hands during this never-ending pandemic, that I have trouble planning for the upcoming week? I find that I am not creative at all…maybe a little down in the dumps. Originally this weekend a long awaited trip with my oldest granddaughter was planned. I reluctantly canceled the trip disappointing both of us. The civil unrest on top of the emergence of new hot spots, including our own, made the decision for me.
On top of that, our weather has been incredibly hot and dry making it impossible to enjoy our courtyard even in the evening. Stuck inside with no place to go makes for an unsettled existence.
All of that being said I will admit that the 2020 week 31 menu plan is unexciting and repetitious.
Breakfast
The plan for breakfasts includes mainly THM E meals heavily influenced by the fruit I have on hand. Since we really enjoyed the peach cobbler and I have 4 huge peaches ripening on the counter it has reappeared. A bag of Granny Smith apples, sourdough starter and plenty of zucchini round out additional ingredients on hand. The zucchini hash is a recipe from the Trim Healthy Mama website. It basically sautés cubed squash in butter and then cooks the eggs in the same skillet on the side. Nutritional yeast flavors the eggs and pieces of bacon or onion can be added to the hash as it cooks. The remaining meals we have enjoyed in the past.
Lunch
If the 2020 week 31 looks familiar, it’s because it is. In fact it is an exact repeat of week 30. I am not repeating the menu due to ultimate success. I am repeating because we totally ate leftovers for lunch all last week. No need to stock up on anything…it is already here.
Lunch Recipes (carried over from week 30)
Dinner
The dinner plans for the week have a host of new offerings. Initially my daughter will be fixing her famous risotto which I am assuming is completely off plan. I am making the queso chicken which we never got around to having last week as well as a Thai Basil Chicken. I hope to combine the best of two recipes and make it as close to plan as possible.
Hit and Misses
We have really enjoyed upside down oatmeal in the past, but this recipe took a different take on an E combination. We really enjoyed the more moist consistency and the juiciness of the fruit. It did take longer to bake, but eating it warm out of the oven was delightful. Using nectarines worked just perfectly.
I have a great Go-To recipe for salmon which is a definite family favorite. Unfortunately on the day my fresh salmon arrived from Costco, I realized I did not have a zesty Italian salad dressing mix in the pantry. Major failure. A grocery run being out of the question I simply googled “Ultimate Salmon”. Fortunately I had all of the ingredients and after reading the reviews it became our Tuesday night entree. May I just say…the word ULTIMATE perfectly describes this salmon. The cheddar cheese and broiling at the completion of preparation was abandoned after reading the reviews. The rest of the recipe was followed exactly. Restaurant worthy…in fact the best salmon I have ever eaten! (Unfortunately I took a picture before popping it into the oven, and not when it was completed).
As I have reported in the past, I have trouble “throwing away”. This recipe utilizing the sourdough “throw away” proved to be delicious.
I tried a new plant based slaw to serve with the salmon and it proved to be quite tasty. I did not add the hot sauce, electing to let each individual add their own. All of us opted out.
Not a Hit…Not a Miss
I did make a new meatball recipe by combining portions of Bobby Flay’s roasted vegetable meatloaf recipe and the cream cheese sauce and mushroom creation from Green Chef. I served them with mashed cauliflower. We enjoyed the meatballs, but the recipe needs more work before I share it. We have enjoyed these meatballs on two separate evenings and still have enough left for an additional meal.
Food for Thought
A question was asked this morning as we grabbed a quick breakfast that was not planned. The ‘Ole Buckeye was planning to have yogurt and blueberries and I wanted to finish up some strawberries before their life was over. I decided on fat free cottage cheese and berries. The ‘Ole Buckeye opted to do the same. He was concerned however that the cottage cheese was lower in protein. One google later…ahh ha…cottage cheese is higher in protein. However, Greek yogurt supplies probiotics, has fewer calories, less sodium and is higher in calcium. Plain low fat Greek Yogurt is a better choice overall.
Week 30 is over and 31 begins. 2020 has been interesting to say the least. We continue to do limited grocery runs, opting often to do a pick up rather than personal shopping. When shopping at Costco we utilize the early Senior shopping hours. When shopping at Aldi I scout out the parking lot and only enter if there are limited cars.
The Hampton Roads area is experiencing an uptick in virus cases and has been identified as a “hot spot”. For the first time in all of these months, I am feeling “locked up.” Our dream of travel has been severely impacted. We continue to hope for our trips planned late in the year, but as each month passes, our concern grows. In the interim, we continue experimenting with exciting recipes and learning about sourdough. It is fortunate for us that we enjoy meals together that are just as enjoyable as restaurant fare. 2020 continues. Bon Appetit.
