Menu Monday ~ July 18, 2011

This is going to be another busy week but I’m determined to have good meals nonetheless!    

We are all attending a city council meeting this evening at 5:30 so dinner will probably be late.  I have leftover penne pasta with a vegetable marinara sauce.  I’ll put it in a baking dish, grate some cheese on top, cover and put in the oven on low just before we leave.  All I will have to do when we get home is heat the bread and toss the salad.

I think I will be home all day and don’t have any meetings scheduled yet.  Although I’m still waiting for confirmation on one.  I’ll make the potato salad early in the day so it will be well chilled by dinner time.  I have a smoked sausage, shrimp and okra in the freezer which I’ll use along with fresh veggies to make the gumbo.  For dessert I’ll slice some fresh peaches, sprinkle a little brown sugar on them and drizzle with cream.  

I will be picking up my co-op order this afternoon in a town about 30 minutes away.  It happens to be the peach capital of Oklahoma so I plan to go early and hopefully buy a couple of baskets of peaches to make jam out of.  I’ll also make a quick trip to the grocery store for a few items.  I don’t think I’ve been to the real grocery store for over two weeks, just quick stops at the dairy store or organic bakery.  I have beans which I cooked from scratch in the freezer and I’ll put some rice in the rice cooker before I leave the house.  The casserole is easy to put together and while it’s heating up, I’ll mix up some fresh guacamole and toss the salad.  

• rice and bean casserole
• salad
• tortilla chips and guacamole

I have a 5:30 meeting this night but should be home by 7 p.m.  I will have all the ingredients prepped for the salad, the carrots cleaned and slice, and the muffins made before I leave.  It won’t take long to put the meal together when I get home.  

• Chinese chicken salad
• glazed carrots
• blueberry muffins

I’m still trying to use up things in my freezers.  I have a package of bacon and a bag of frozen peas so Fettuccine Carbonara seems like a logical use for those.  This is an easy meal which I’ll no doubt be grateful for at the end of a busy week.  

• Fettuccine Carbonara
• salad
• garlic bread