Menu Planning

I don't have a menu plan this week.

No, not becuase I am being adventourous and flying by the seat of my pants. But, rather becuase it is so cold outside that there is no way I am going grocery shopping. So instead we are eating whatever we can find in the freezer this week. Hopfully by the weekend this cold spell will be over, and I will venture out.

Soups on

It's cold, and snowy. The wind is blowing and only on a good days does the sun seem to peak from behind the clouds. To top it all off, it is only half way through January and here we have many more weeks of this to go before the snow starts to melt and the temperature warms up.

So depressing, the winter blahs. At least it is a good excuse to make and eat lots of soup. Here are a couple of recent ones from our kitchen:

Potato, Leek and bacon soup:

• half pound bacon, roughly chopped
  
• 4-5 medium leeks; cleaned, dark green part removed, and sliced thin
  
• 4 small yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubbed
• 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  
• salt and pepper, to taste

In large pot, cook bacon until starts to turn golden, but not crispy. Add leeks and stirring occasionally, cook until soft, approximately 20 minutes.

Add potatoes and broth to pot. Increase heat to medium-high in order to bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer approximately 45 minutes, or until potato is tender.

Remove from heat. Either using immersion blender, or blender, puree soup until smooth. Slowly stir in heavy cream, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

For a vegetarian option, omit bacon and use 3 tbsp of butter to cook leeks in.

Enjoy!

Italian Turkey soup: (Original recipe courtesy of Epicurious)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
  
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
  
• 6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
  
• 1 large zucchini, diced
  
• 2 carrot, diced
  
• 1 9-ounce package fresh cheese tortellini
  
• 2 cups diced cooked turkey

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onion, garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper and sauté until vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth. Cover pot and simmer 10 minutes. Add zucchini and carrot. Cover and simmer until carrot is almost tender, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to high and bring soup to boil. Add tortellini and boil until tender, about 5 minutes. Add turkey and cook just until heated through, about 1 minute. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Serve, passing cheese separately.

Enjoy!

Menu Planning

Well it is going to be an interesting week. My situation at work is kind scary at the moment, requiring longer hours that I normally care to put in. On top of that Hubby is getting the remaining three of hiw wisdom teeth out tonight! I am surewon't have to much of an appetite for the next few days, but I guess we will haveto wait and see for sure.

Yes, those are my excuses for not posting more. I know it is getting to be the same thing week after week. I am sorry!

Wednesday: Italian Turkey Soup (I have quite a substantial amount of turkey in our freezer from the holidays!)
Thursday: Going to the in-laws for supper, my MIL worries to much about her son :)
Friday: I am having a girls night out!
Saturday: Well, Hubby gets to fend for himself again, I have a shopping date with my Mommy :)
Sunday: Slow cooker French dip sandwiches. With these I want to try my hand at some type of homemade bread or rolls, haven't figured out what exactly, but I have time.

Have a good week.

Menu Planning

I know I am am bad blogger! We have just been going a mile a minute at our house since well before the holidays, and we are just starting to settle back into things. To be completely honest I haven't even bought groceries for the house in almost a month, which of course means I haven't really cooked in sometime. Well aside from our Christmas dinner extraordinaire, which was fantastic! I will share the detail with you all as soon as I get the opportunity, which at this rate does feel like never!

Anyway, Hubby and I will be hitting the grocery store tonight, along with the crowds for 15% off day. Of course that means I need a list, and that means I need a menu, and that means I have to actually do some planning. I need to ease myself back into this cooking thing, so here we go:

Tuesday: East Indian take out, yummy...you can't shop on an empty stomach after all :)
Wednesday: Grilled cheese, probably some recreation of this
Thursday: Soup and Bread
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Ginger-Chili Shrimp
Sunday: Sake Steak
Monday: Leftover