Being Flexible + 11/15-11/26 Menu

Thoughts on My Last Menu:

As I mentioned last week, my first 2+ week menu plan did not go exactly as…planned.   It started off well, but went off the rails a little on Monday when I discovered that the rice noodles I was planning to use for pad thai were in fact soba noodles.  This is why you should check your ingredients before you start making dinner.  After a bit of pacing around my kitchen in frustration, I opted to make Julie’s Soba Noodle Soup instead.  The soup was great, but the result was that we had even more soup on Thursday and Friday when I made chickpea noodle.  Good thing soup is one of my favorite things.

At the end of that week we headed to the Boston area to visit with my sister (thank goodness for 3 day weekends!), returning for the planned Monday night meal of kielbasa and pierogies from the freezer.  The following night’s dinner was supposed to be frittata, but apparently that’s difficult to make with only one egg.  After another evening that featured frustrated kitchen pacing, I changed the menu to lentil sloppy joes, partially because I somehow ended up with almost 3 pounds of lentils in my pantry.  Clearly I have a problem with either having none of the ingredients I need or way too many random ingredients.   For the record, it may have been the worst batch of lentil sloppy joes I’ve ever made.  The lentils would just not cook.  I returned to the plan of frittata for Wednesday, which was very successful and made for good lunches the next day.  The Smoky Butternut  Squash Sauce with Pasta and Greens disappeared entirely from the menu and the Crockpot chili turned into stove top chili because I was too lazy to prepare ingredients the night before or the morning of.  I also apparently failed to photograph anything I ate.  That kind of week.

The next installment of my menu plan isn’t quite 2 weeks.  Someday I want to plan a 2 week menu that corresponds with my CSA pickup and doesn’t involve a holiday in the midst of it, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be that organized.  So this menu takes us from yesterday to my Thanksgiving hiatus.  How in the world is it possible that Thanksgiving is next week?!  Also, it’s becoming increasingly clear that winter is basically here, as all I want to eat is comfort food.  I’m working hard to keep myself from making every meal macaroni and cheese or creamy soup or waffles and bacon, but it’s harder than you might expect.  As a result, this week is a little heavy, but at least I’ll be prepared for Thanksgiving.

Dinners:

Sunday – Winter Squash Curry (I already have a good story about how this one went.  Stay tuned!)
Monday- Fontina and White Cheddar Skillet Brussels Bacon Mac from How Sweet It Is + squash as a side
Tuesday – leftovers from Monday
Wednesday – New England Clam Chowder + beets or greens
Thursday – more chowder
Friday – TBD
Saturday – TBD
Sunday – Vegetarian Tikka Masala, from the December 2013 issue of Eating Well
Monday – Cheesy Mashed White Beans With Kale, Parmesan, and a Fried Egg
Tuesday – assorted leftovers

Lunches:  leftover winter squash curry and Mama Pea’s Squash Nuggets, because I got too many butternut squash from the farm and seriously need to use them up.