Weekly Menu Retrospective #9

 Welcome to my weekly roundup of the past week's eats. I prefer to report what we ate in the last week, rather than what we're planning to eat in the coming week. Why? The reason is pretty simple: although I usually have a general idea of what we're going to eat in the next week or so, life often unfolds a little differently than planned, and I adjust my menu plan on a near-daily basis to accommodate leftovers and other not-possible-to-plan-ahead circumstances. I find this is the easiest way to ensure that I minimize our family's food waste. I'm also willing to admit that I'm a rather spontaneous cook, given to preparing foods that strike me as the most appealing thing to eat right here and now!


Breakfasts: pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (subbed pumpkin puree for the bananas in this recipe), zucchini bran muffins, peanut butter toast, pancakes, cereal (I got a free box of Multi-Grain Cheerios - first bowl of cold cereal I've had in months, lol!), breakfast puffs (this is kind of a quiche-like topping on an English muffin, baked in the oven)
 
Lunches: tuna sandwiches, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers (free community BBQ at dh's office)

Suppers:

Monday: Lentil soup

Tuesday: Chicken and vegetable coconut curry (recipe coming tomorrow!)

Wednesday: Chicken fried rice (leftover chicken stashed in the freezer from last week's roast chicken, leftover rice from the curry)

Thursday:  Leftover buffet (lentil soup, curry, chicken fried rice)

Friday: Nathan's (11 yo ds) birthday party with friends -  Sloppy Joes, sliced raw veggies, nachos with cheese sauce, chocolate cupcakes with seven minute frosting)

Saturday: Leftover burgers from dh's company barbecue (it was just me and my older son as hubby and younger son got free tickets to a football game)

Sunday: Extended family birthday dinner for my younger son - hamburgers and hotdogs, apple and carrot salad, potato salad, assorted (home canned) pickles, sliced raw veggies, chocolate cake with seven minute frosting, apple crisp

The apple and carrot salad was a spur-of-the-moment invention that turned out fabulously. I wanted a seasonal salad using produce we already had on hand for my son's family party. We had just stocked up on 10 lb bags of carrots on sale and purchased a half bushel of apples at a local farm. I cut about 8 or 10 carrots into matchsticks, then chopped three large apples, leaving the skin on two of them for colour and texture. I tossed the apple chunks with the juice of a lime to keep them from browning, then tossed the apples and carrots with the Lime & Cumin Vinaigrette I use for my barley salad (I didn't add additional lime juice to the vinaigrette as I'd already used the juice of a whole lime for the apples). This was the hit dish of the gathering, with everyone raving about how delicious it was. I love it when that happens :)

For more great meal ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.