Menu 1/8/23-1/15/23

As you can imagine, it can get pretty expensive to feed a family of nine. One way we cut down on food costs is to menu plan. I have a running list of menu ideas and what meat and protein we have available and then I go through each week and stick in the day we're going to eat each thing. It ends up looking something like this.

This week we're having.....

Sunday-taco soup

Monday-chicken schwarma with saffron rice

Tuesday-pulled pork over rice

Wednesday-pork chili verde

Thursday-salmon patties

Friday-Venison chili

Saturday-lentil topped potatoes

Of course, there will be lots of veggies in/beside each of these. I don't fully cook by recipe but I'll try to give you an idea of how some of these are made by us.

Taco Soup

Dice and saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Once the onion is tender add ground beef (we do 3lbs of 97% for the nine of us, my parents, and my brothers) and cook until no longer pink. Add diced tomatoes (we prefer petite diced), broth (we'll be using homemade broth), corn, salt, pepper, a healthy dose of taco seasoning, and diced chilies if you want a little more spice (sometimes I add this, sometimes I don't). Sometimes we also add some beans and sometimes we add some diced olives, but not always. Bring to a boil and then simmer for a while (basically, until you're ready to eat. We like to top it with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and sometimes avocado. You can also do this in the slow cooker, which is what we probably will do. Mine has a handy saute function so I'll just use that until I add the tomatoes, etc, and then I'll switch it over to slow cook. Since the meat is already cooked it doesn't need to be done super long but we'll probably have it on high for 2-3 hours while we're at church.

Pork Chili Verde

This will probably go in the slow cooker as well. The pork will be pre-cooked and shredded. Start with sauteing onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Add shredded pork, green enchilada sauce, corn, diced green chilies, and whatever white beans you have (we usually use a mix of navy, cannellini, great northern white, and sometimes pinto). Sometimes I also add broth if It needs more fluids. Bring to a boil and simmer until ready to serve or slow cook for a few hours. Top with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and sometimes avocado. Sometimes we also like to serve tortilla chips alongside it, especially if we're really trying to stretch it.

Lentil Topped Potatoes

First, we start with baking potatoes. We do this by washing them, piercing with a fork a few times, rubbing with oil, and salting them. Then we cook them in the oven on a baking sheet. I think it's something like 45 minutes to an hour at like 425 but I'm not certain of that, I honestly look it up every time. Then, in our dutch oven, I saute onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper, and sometimes carrots. I then add a pound to a pound and a half of lentils and 6-8 cups of broth along with some seasoning (this really depends on my mood as to what seasonings but it's frequently taco-type seasonings). Cook according to lentil directions. Once everything is ready we cut the potatoes in half, top them with a hefty serving of lentils, and then top them with cheddar cheese.

Some of the other things are Greg's recipes or new things we're trying to find a good recipe for so I'm not ready to share those.