Dinner Plans

Gommie and I have been brainstorming about meal planning and dinner ideas. Things have deteriorated here at Chez Twin and meals before her arrival have largely been uninspired or imported (i.e. take-out).

So, we've come up with a plan. To avoid ambitious planning, I'm going to grocery shop twice a week. This allows me to adapt the menu to our changing tastes and needs, instead of buying a week out. I can also stock up again on fresh fruits and veggies. In the past, I've picked recipes that we just never get to because of altered circumstances and so there are some strange ingredients in my cabinets for recipes I can't even remember anymore. I'm going to keep the menus very simple. For example, we made two new dishes with Gommie this week: Salisbury Steak and Shepherd's Pie. DS liked both; DD liked the first but not the second--she just doesn't like casserole-type foods (i.e. dishes where the foods are combined). So dishes need to be separate, much like the build-it-yourself I blogged about recently (those are still good ideas but I hadn't gotten to implementing them repeatedly). Lastly, we're going to have our big meal at lunch. This helps in two ways: the kids are always hungry at lunch and will therefore eat it (they are not always hungry at dinner) and they play better in the morning which gives me more time to cook (without having to resort to big crockpot recipes everyday).

We'll see if that helps. It's ironic that I love reading and writing about food and recipes but have such trouble getting dinner on the table. I want to combine the two desires successfully.

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Salisbury Steak

1 lb ground turkey
1 packet dry onion soup mix, divided
5-10 saltine crackers, crushed
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt, pepper to taste
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 can chicken broth

Combine ground turkey with 3 tablespoons dry onion soup mix, crackers, egg. Form into patties. Brown in skillet. Add mushrooms, onion, chicken broth, and remaining dry onion soup mix. Simmer until done, seasoning to taste. Serve with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.

Gommie


Shepherd's Pie

1 lb ground turkey
1 package frozen mixed vegetables
mashed potatoes
chicken broth OR leftover Salisbury Steak gravy with mushrooms and onions

Brown turkey. Add veggies to heat through. Pour into baking dish. Cover with mashed potatoes. Bake at 350F until bubbly.

Gommie and Me