Meal Plan Monday and What To Do With Cheap Summer Produce

Whaaaaa-Laaaah!  It is back in effect, Meal Plan Monday!

Since the kids are back in school and back in activities, I need to get back in my game of planning and organizing, so welcome to the re-appearance of my weekly meal plans.  Feel free to share yours below, I love seeing what people are eating.

This week was a tough one, coming off vacation I was feeling a little un-inspired on what to make, this is where "The List" comes in handy.  I keep notes on my iPad of different recipe or meal ideas I have to try, plus a list of meals I have made in the past.  If I am in a "what should I make" rut, I consult the list and just pick items from there.  Done and done.

This weeks menu includes:

 - Pan-Seared Chicken with Pears and Bleu Cheese, Bleu Cheese Creamed Spinach

 - Hawaiian Chicken Meatballs, Sugar Snap Peas, Brown Rice

 - Mediterranean Pizzas

 - Tropical Black Bean-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

 - Grilled Thai Peanut Chicken, Roasted Curry Cauliflower, Asian Cucumber Salad

 - Homemade Rosemary Black Pepper Biscuits, Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Fried Eggs

This is also such a great time for produce, everything is being harvested and is super cheap.  Take advantage of these sales and put up your own produce for the winter.  You can jar or freeze most of it, but I prefer to freeze it, just because it is easier and quicker.  Last week I froze 40 ears of corn, 40 limes, and 20 peaches.  These were the best sales I could find....have you seen anything else out there?

The limes are easy and will save you a fortune in the future.  Mine were on sale for $0.10 each, which is a steal compared to the usual $1.00 each or more.  I simply juiced them all, then poured the juice into ice cube trays (left over from baby food makin' days).  Froze them overnight, them popped them into freezer bags.  Each cube is approximately 2 TB of juice, and I got about 6 cups of juice total from the 40 limes.  Do this.  Especially because fall is coming, and you will need lots of fresh juice for your Autumn Spiced Rum Punch.  Ahhhhhhhh yeah!

Corn and peach take a little bit more work.  For the corn, you shuck it and then blanch it (about 3-4 minutes in boiling water, then ~4 minutes submerged in ice water), then cut the kernels off.  I use a Bundt pan to hold the ear in place and catch the kernels.  Then pop the kernels into freezer bags and you are done.

For peaches, cut a small "X" into the bottom, then blanch them for ~2 minutes in boiling water and 3-4 minutes in ice water.  The skin will peel right off, then you can cut them in half, remove the pits, and slice them.  Peaches do need to be treated with a preservative to keep the color (unless you want to freeze them in water or syrup...ummm, no), so I mix the juice from 1 lemon with 4 cups of water, then just toss the peach slices into the water, swish them around a little bit, and remove.  You can freeze them in bags like this, or what I like to do is spread them out on cookie sheets and freeze the slices overnight and them pop the frozen slices into bags.  I think this makes them easier to use for yogurt or smoothies, or frozen bellinis (yum!).

Whaaaaa-Laaaah!  It is back in effect, Meal Plan Monday!

Since the kids are back in school and back in activities, I need to get back in my game of planning and organizing, so welcome to the re-appearance of my weekly meal plans.  Feel free to share yours below, I love seeing what people are eating.

This week was a tough one, coming off vacation I was feeling a little un-inspired on what to make, this is where "The List" comes in handy.  I keep notes on my iPad of different recipe or meal ideas I have to try, plus a list of meals I have made in the past.  If I am in a "what should I make" rut, I consult the list and just pick items from there.  Done and done.

This weeks menu includes:

 - Pan-Seared Chicken with Pears and Bleu Cheese, Bleu Cheese Creamed Spinach

 - Hawaiian Chicken Meatballs, Sugar Snap Peas, Brown Rice

 - Mediterranean Pizzas

 - Tropical Black Bean-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

 - Grilled Thai Peanut Chicken, Roasted Curry Cauliflower, Asian Cucumber Salad

 - Homemade Rosemary Black Pepper Biscuits, Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Fried Eggs

This is also such a great time for produce, everything is being harvested and is super cheap.  Take advantage of these sales and put up your own produce for the winter.  You can jar or freeze most of it, but I prefer to freeze it, just because it is easier and quicker.  Last week I froze 40 ears of corn, 40 limes, and 20 peaches.  These were the best sales I could find....have you seen anything else out there?

The limes are easy and will save you a fortune in the future.  Mine were on sale for $0.10 each, which is a steal compared to the usual $1.00 each or more.  I simply juiced them all, then poured the juice into ice cube trays (left over from baby food makin' days).  Froze them overnight, them popped them into freezer bags.  Each cube is approximately 2 TB of juice, and I got about 6 cups of juice total from the 40 limes.  Do this.  Especially because fall is coming, and you will need lots of fresh juice for your Autumn Spiced Rum Punch.  Ahhhhhhhh yeah!

Corn and peach take a little bit more work.  For the corn, you shuck it and then blanch it (about 3-4 minutes in boiling water, then ~4 minutes submerged in ice water), then cut the kernels off.  I use a Bundt pan to hold the ear in place and catch the kernels.  Then pop the kernels into freezer bags and you are done.

For peaches, cut a small "X" into the bottom, then blanch them for ~2 minutes in boiling water and 3-4 minutes in ice water.  The skin will peel right off, then you can cut them in half, remove the pits, and slice them.  Peaches do need to be treated with a preservative to keep the color (unless you want to freeze them in water or syrup...ummm, no), so I mix the juice from 1 lemon with 4 cups of water, then just toss the peach slices into the water, swish them around a little bit, and remove.  You can freeze them in bags like this, or what I like to do is spread them out on cookie sheets and freeze the slices overnight and them pop the frozen slices into bags.  I think this makes them easier to use for yogurt or smoothies, or frozen bellinis (yum!).