November 29 - December 3

December... yikes!

Sunday

Using the turkey leftovers I brought home from my mom and dad's dinner -- tenderest turkey EVER! Mom, don't let anyone tease you for getting a good happy chemical-free turkey. It was fabulous! And now, it will be part of one of my favorite soups. The soy sauce makes the difference:

Turkey noodle soup

Good bread

Monday

Mongolian beef (but with venison -- we're trying to plan our meals based on what's already in the freezer, not just what our latest whim is)

Tuesday

Salmon -- probably oven-roasted, since I think it's supposed to be cold and maybe even snowy, so grilling might be less fun than usual

Sauteed swiss chard

Sweet potatoes -- probably diced, coated with oil, salt and pepper and roasted

Wednesday

Personal pizzas on naan. With whatever veggies are hanging out in the fridge.

Thursday

Phil's making spaghetti!

No side dishes, he has decreed: the sauce will have everything we could possibly want.

Except maybe bread, for mopping up aforementioned sauce.

November 22 - 25

Happy Thanksgiving! This will be a short week. Not complaining, just sayin'.

Sunday

In an effort to use up the last of last year's venison (before our new stuff comes back from the processor), we're having venison chops. Quick, quick saute in a pan with a little bit of butter and garlic. Gorgeous. They're kinda small, so we'll have a bit of a smorgasbord:

Venison chops, sauteed with garlic and butter

Pan-seared scallops (just a couple)

Sauteed shiitake mushrooms

Broccoli

Sauteed cabbage (just olive oil, salt and pepper -- I do love it so)

Monday

Sausage-stuffed acorn squash (Cut a squash in half, turn face down in a baking dish with an inch of water, cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Meanwhile, saute some turkey sausage with casings removed to brown it. I'm thinking there might also be some onion involved here. When the squash is cooked, put brown sugar on the inside, then stuff with the sausage & onion. Bake for 15 minutes more.)

More sauteed cabbage (and the joy of cabbage is that when you buy one, it lasts for so darn long!)

Tuesday

I'm betting it'll be time for leftovers. The acorn squash I bought is pretty big.

Maybe we'll saute some cabbage!

Wednesday

Grilled salmon fillet

A side dish of some kind: perhaps cabbage? ( I know, it's not even funny anymore)

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm not cooking. I get to bring appetizers and a side dish. Here's the plan:

Appetizers:

I'm going to drag out some of the stuff I pickled and canned this fall: Pickled cauliflower, pickled beets, and sun dried tomatoes soaked in white wine vinegar and olive oil. We'll also have some marinated mushrooms and kalamata olives. And cheese. Always cheese.

Side dish:

Brussels sprouts with bacon: Cook some bacon, drain, cool and crumble. Chop big sprouts in half, leave the little ones whole. Heat some olive oil in a pan, put the sprouts in, let the parts touching the pan brown up a bit. Add some garlic, stir around a little, add some stock (veggie or chicken) or wine (white semi dry is good) and let it all steam up a bit and make a little sauce. Add the bacon, some salt and pepper. Drool.

Friday

You thought I'd say turkey, huh? But I'm thinking it will probably be pizza. :)

November 15 - 19

I feel like we're in a bit of a food rut lately. We've been sticking with the tried-and-true super quick stuff during the week because of the massive number of meetings in our lives (have you noticed that, be they monthly meetings, quarterly meetings, or whatever, they almost all seem to fall about two or three weeks before Thanksgiving? Gotta get 'em in before the holidays! -- but I digress) and that means the same old stuff. I don't know that I've done any better this week, but my eyes are open for some inspiration to smack me upside the head. Yoo hoo, inspiration, I'm ready...

Sunday

Beer and cabbage soup... with different sausage. Last time I made this, I used some sausage I bought at the farmer's market, and I know everyone has their own sausage preferences, but the stuff I used just did not go with the soup. And I so love this soup. So, I gave it a few weeks, and I'm trying it again. With different sausage.

There will also be bread.

Monday

More soup, should the sausage perform as expected. Otherwise, maybe Easy Mac. :)

Tuesday

Gnocci with tomato sauce

sauteed green beans

Wednesday

Flatbread pizza: Piece of naan, top with sauce, veggies (maybe some marinated mushrooms), mozzarella, bake at 400 degrees for about 12 - 15 minutes.

Thursday

Grilled salmon, roasted sweet potatoes, salad.

November 8 - 12

We saw Anthony Bourdain last night at the Michigan Theatre. Love him, love him, love him. Even though we went to dinner beforehand, I was still hungry again by the time the show was over. And of all the great stuff he talked about (great food, the evilness of Ronald McDonald, why he's going to stop bashing Rachael Ray) the thing that kept popping up in my brain on the way home was noodles. Maybe with pork. And spicy. I don't know that he talked specifically about this, but a combination of topics led me to believe that it's the only thing we can cook tonight for dinner.

Sunday

Some kind of noodle-y thing with some rice noodles, pork, bok choy, onions, chile paste, soy sauce. It will probably be a "what else should we add" kind of dinner, as opposed to a set-recipe kind of dinner.

Monday

Maple-glazed Salmon with Crispy Proscuitto Salad

Good bread

Wednesday

Huevos Rancheros

because I don't usually like eggs, but every now and then crave a fried one where I can cut it and the yolk gets all mixed in with the food underneath it and it's spicy and delicious. And when I crave that, I make huevos rancheros.

Thursday

Gnocci with tomato sauce

Salad