Menu Plan: Week of March 17

Review of the Previous Week

We had some good luck on Tuesday when I defrosted the unknown Pyrex dish from our freezer, it turned out to be creamy beef tips so we quickly threw some egg noodles in water to boil.  I've definitely learned my lesson on labeling everything I put in the freezer.  I always figure I'll know what it is later on, but that's so not true.  So many things look different and smell 'flat' when frozen, which makes it difficult to identify them later.  And it's time to inventory the freezer again, I'm sure there are several things in there that aren't on my list. 

Pi(e) Day - Mexican shepherd's pie

Friday's Pi(e) Day dinner turned out great, Mexican shepherd's pie with a cheesy mashed sweet potato topping.  Previously I've cooked sweet potatoes in the microwave but I over-cooked them and they end up too dry.  This time I cooked the sweet potatoes in water as if they were standard white potatoes and it worked out perfectly.  Sonny D pretty much mashed the sweet potatoes by himself with the hand mixer, I only gave a little assistance to ensure he kept the beaters in the potatoes. I also made crustless pumpkin pie to use up the last little bit of Cool Whip in the freezer.  I've found I don't like pumpkin pie straight from the fridge, I either get it out when we sit down to dinner so it has time to sit out and take the chill off, or put it in the microwave for about 7 seconds. 

Our Friday "Me & D" time ended up being Sonny D and I going to the mall play area after dinner again, same as the previous week.  Sonny D can now go on the JC Penney's escalator himself rather than me carrying him. I was proud that he was brave enough to hop on by himself, it's great to try new things. 

Saturday we ended up having a delicious Irish meal at Husband Jeff's parents' house -- corned beef with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, salad.  Dessert was completely un-Irish but tasty strawberry cupcakes. :)  My contribution to the dinner was Irish soda bread muffins, they turned out pretty good but I wish I had caraway seeds to add since it's traditional.  I've never had Irish soda bread before but I could see how it would be really good when paired with a soup or stew. 

Choco hemp seed butter

On Sunday afternoon Sonny D and I made chocolate hemp seed butter.  It turned out fine (could probably use more sweetener), but this morning when I pulled it out of the fridge to make a sandwich for Sonny D's lunch it was completely solid and flaky.  I wonder if I need to add more oil.  Maybe this is why you don't see hemp seed butter very often.

Reuben brat filled with melty Swiss cheese
and chunks of corned beef!

Our Sunday dinner was excellent, I had Husband Jeff pick up Reuben brats at Jim's Meat Market.  I'm the only one in the house who likes Reuben sandwiches, so he only bought two of them, he also picked up two traditional ones and two jalapeno-cheese brats. He grilled them up out on the deck, I can't wait for actual grilling weather!  The brats were SO good but they didn't have sauerkraut in them like I expected, so I grabbed some homemade kraut a gal from work shared with me.  Heavenly!

This Week's Menu

• Monday - Sauteed shrimp with pasta with red sauce, along with sweet & spicy roasted butternut squash.  I think I'm going to make the marinara sauce to be more like a puttanesca sauce by adding anchovy paste (from a tube) and capers.  I might also sneak in a little chopped spinach as well. 
• Tuesday - Husband Jeff and I have been married 8 years today so we're going out for an anniversary dinner at L'Etoile. 
• Wednesday - I'm still set on making omelets in the waffle iron, so I'm hoping with Husband Jeff's help I can accomplish it today.  I also want to make pancakes of some sort, maybe blueberry.
• Thursday - Since I had to skip my exercise class on Tuesday for our anniversary dinner, I'm  definitely going to my cardio dance fitness class tonight.  Since my exercise class is right after work, Husband Jeff and Sonny D are on their own for dinner, which means I wrote down pizza since that's Husband Jeff's favorite and we haven't had it in a while.  And Husband Jeff is going to take Sonny D to get his hair cut since it is soooo long and shaggy.
• Friday - For "Me & D" night, we're hoping to go out with Aunt Terri for dinner, we're still ironing out our plans. I'm trying to encourage Husband Jeff to go do something on his own. 
• Saturday - I've got my regular Saturday morning Core Fusion class and afterwards we're meeting up with our friends for our Breakfast Club.  This time we're going to Crema Cafe, known for their local ingredients and inventive dishes.  For dinner I want to make hot dogs with mac & cheese and frozen sweet corn from this past summer.
• Sunday - I'm going out to lunch with Husband Jeff's mother, Cathy and then afterwards we're going to a taping of the White Jasmine cooking show.  For dinner I have three options written down -- tofu scramble, roasted tofu with noodles in peanut sauce, or baked buffalo tempeh "wings".