Monday Menus

It’s the first full week back to school and time to get menu planning,

I’ve slacked off badly this summer, especially this month. Meals have been very haphazard & slipshod. I’ve been at the end of my rope by late afternoon and it has been too damn hot to turn the oven on & too rainy to use the grill.

I attempted a crock pot dish last week. We have taekwondo 2 evenings a week. We have to leave about 25 minutes after the bus arrives and we get home about 10 minutes before we are used to having dinner. The crockpot seemed ideal. (btw, it is an actual Crock Pot, not a generic slow cooker. It was a wedding gift from 1993. I’ve maybe used it a couple dozen times since then)

Except I suck at crock pot cooking and I have never been wild about hardly anything I have cooked in it that came out decently. It always tastes like food that has been on a steam table for too long. Plus with the can of cream of soup nearly every recipe calls for it tastes like salt that has been on a steam table too long.

I know this is my fault because plenty of people turn out a good meal in a crock pot. Just not me. Last week’s dinner was so bad that just the smell of it by 4pm had me calling DH to get him to bring home a pizza.

So I have instead a collection of fairly quick stove top meals and a couple grills for the weekend. I’ll revisit the crock pot thing another day

In general order of serving:

Frittata with zucchini

Turkey Croquettes with mashed potatoes & asparagus

Penne with roasted eggplant*

Pretzel breaded chicken strips with veggie TBD

Steak tips with grilled mushrooms and beets

Sweet pea soup with toasted cheese bread

Chicken & orzo with veggie TBD

Chicken, bean & antipasti

Veal/Chicken Milanese with spinach salad

Grilled Garlic pork loin and corn & sweet potatoes*

Grilled steak with potato & beet salad

Homemade pizza – toppings TBD*

*depends on the weather. It’s too hot to run the oven most afternoons & still rains almost daily.