Oops, I missed week 17.  Well, we ate healthy dinners, I just didn’t plan them out ahead of time.  Instead of beating myself up about it though, I’m just jumping right back onto the wagon and away we go!

Sunday: Vegetable soup and bread

Monday: Dinner out with friends from 1/2 a world away

Tuesday: Crock pot chicken cacciatore, pasta, and broccoli with almonds

Wednesday: SnB night, which means I don’t cook! 

Thursday: Leftovers

Shabbat: My mom cooks this week, all I’m responsible for is the challah

Saturday: If the weather holds out, I think we’ll grill some steaks, throw some potatoes in the oven and have whatever veggies I have left.

Sunday: Gumbo, with andouille, and 3 kinds of greens

Monday: Spaghetti (held over from last week)

Tuesday: Grilled fish with lemon, broccoli, and pasta

Wednesday: SnB night, DH gets to feed the kids and I eat at Panera!

Thursday: Steak fajitas, guacamole, black beans, and rice

Shabbat: Challah, leg of lamb, crash hot potatoes, veggie of some sort, and a fruit cobbler

Saturday: I’m hoping to convince DH that we need a date night. 

Have I really been meal planning for 15 weeks already?  Wow.

Sunday: Fish with homemade cocktail sauce, avocados. We worked hard in the yard all day, and only at 5 p.m. did I realize I hadn’t planned dinner!  Ugh.  I usually do my plan on Saturday, and now I know why!

Monday: Steak, artichokes, baked potatoes.

Tuesday: We are going to the zoo today!  So, we’ll have dinner out.

Wednesday: SnB night for me, and Pesach is officially over.  I have a feeling DH will be ordering a pizza.

Thursday: Hamburgers, on the grill if the weather holds, pasta salad, pickles, cole slaw, the works!

Shabbat: Challah, and it is mom’s night to cook. I’ll be surprised!

Saturday: Spaghetti unless Shabbat is an Italian meal, in which case we’ll do something else.

Inspired by Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, I made tiramatza for dessert for our second Seder.

1 box egg matza (you won’t need all of it)

1 cup coffee

1/4 cup marsala wine

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups marscapone cheese (my brother-in-law made ours from scratch as I couldn’t find Kosher for Pesach marscapone)

Cocoa powder (1/8 of a cup or so I guess)

In your stand mixer, beat the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla until they are light yellow, smooth, and fluffy. Fold in the marscapone cheese.

Combine the coffee and wine. Lay a piece of matza in a pyrex type square baking dish. Brush with the coffee mixture until the matza is fairly saturated.  Scoop some of the cheese mixture on top and spread it out, fairly thin.  Lay another piece of matza on top, and brush with the coffee.  Spread more cheese on top.  Keep going until you run out of cheese, alternating matza and marscapone. I think I had 8 layers. End with the cheese layer, and dust evenly with cocoa.

Let the whole thing rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours so the flavors can meld.  Serve VERY small slices.  It is extremely rich.  My husband took a large slice later that night, and it nearly killed him. 

Passover is this week!  Lots and lots of food, and some fun challenges ahead.

Sunday: Cooking all day to prepare for the seders and then dinner out with my husband and my parents.  We’ve even hired a babysitter!

Monday: 1st Seder. Matza, horseradish, charoset, parsley, hard boiled eggs with salt water, gefilte fish, chopped liver, chicken soup with matza balls, prime rib, parsleyed new potatoes, roasted asparagus, sponge cake, strawberries, and did I mention the 4 glasses of wine?

Tuesday: 2nd Seder. Matza, horseradish, charoset, parsley, hard boiled eggs with salt water, gefilte fish, chopped liver, chicken soup with matza balls, herb roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, broccoli, tiramatza and again, 4 glasses of wine

Wednesday: SnB night for me, husband gets to feed the kidlets leftovers. Don’t worry, there should be plenty

Thursday: Lake trout with lemon and parsley, mashed potatoes, salad with homemade dressing, matza

Shabbat: No challah this week, matza instead, and my sister is making Shabbat dinner.  We’ll end with a vanilla cheesecake (almond crust) in honor of my dad’s birthday!

Saturday: Probably leftovers again, because there should still be plenty.  If not, then grilled steaks, artichokes, and matza.

Sunday: Argentinian Steak, ribeye steaks with chimichurri, asparagus, black beans and rice

Monday: Gumbo with rice

Tuesday: Fish from the fish market on the north side, pasta, broccoli

Wednesday: Irish stew and soda bread

Thursday: Pizza, possibly at Lou Malnotti’s

Shabbat: Challah, stuffed shells, veggie

Saturday: Chicken enchiladas, salad

Sunday: Pizza!

Monday: Seafood boil with new potatoes and corn if I can find it.

Tuesday: Roasted chicken, hodgepodge of whatever veggies are left in the crisper, and noodles

Wednesday: Pasta, tuna, and veggie bake

Thursday: Steaks (hopefully grilled if the weather is nice), noodles, broccoli & cauliflower

Friday: Challah, and whatever my sister makes for Shabbat dinner.  It’s her week to cook.

Saturday: Beans and rice

We missed week 9.  Between travel, a funeral, oral surgery, a sick baby, and a birthday party, the meal plan just never even got made.  One less thing to have to throw out though!

So, on to week 10.

Sunday: Today is Purim, where nothing is as it seems.  A day of costumes, drinking, revelry, games, and Breakfast for Dinner!  Tonight we will have pancakes, scrambled eggs, and fruit.

Monday: I have to drive my husband to and from work today, so either we’ll have dinner with my parents, or we’ll pick up takeout.

Tuesday: Cream of Krab soup

Wednesday: Cod in a potato chip crust, broccoli, carrots, and squash

Thursday: Chili and cornbread

Shabbat: Challah, chicken soup with matzah balls, roast, veggies, potatoes, and wine

Saturday: Spaghetti with meatballs, salad, and garlic bread

Busy week ahead. I could be flying out to D.C. at any point, so trying to plan fairly easy meals, especially for later in the week.

Sunday: As it is both Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, we are having Shabu Shabu, otherwise known as Hot Pot. Shrimp, scallops, oysters, lamb, fish balls, crab sticks, baby bokchoy, enoki mushrooms, spinach, daikon radish, glass noodles, udon noodles, all in super spicy broth. YUMMMMMM.

Monday: Steaks, crash hot potatoes, veggies

Tuesday: Mardi Gras! Gumbo, Chicken ala Louisana, King Cake

Wednesday: Baked fish, rice, veggies

Thursday: Veggie soup, homemade bread

Friday: Shabbat dinner, it’s my Sister’s turn this week. I’ll be making the challah, the rest is up to her.

Saturday: leaving flexible

1 lb split peas, rinsed
1 smoked turkey drumstick
3 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
1 cup baby carrots, chopped
3 very small onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp thyme
salt & pepper
1 qt chicken stock
water

Layer everything into a slow cooker. Add enough water to make sure that everything is covered with liquid. This will vary depending on the size of your cooker, and the size of the turkey leg you use.

Cook on low 8-10 hours.