It is a very chilly Monday but! my child is going to spend it IN SCHOOL, which is good for everyone.
This week, I think my husband and I will try to do a lot of Ham Sandwich for dinner. But here are some other things that I have been wanting to try, and if the mood strikes, may actually MAKE.
Dinners for the Week of January 22-28
- Chimichurri Bowls with Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas: This sounds SO good to me right now. Probably my husband will want a roasted chicken breast with his, but that’s easy enough to do.
- Shrimp Scampi: California Pizza Kitchen has an entrée that I love, which is shrimp scampi with both noodles and zucchini ribbons, so I think I am going to try making it for myself.
- Roasted Broccoli and Sweet Potato Salad: Is this too similar to the chimichurri bowls? Maybe but I don’t care. I will probably have salmon with mine and make a chicken breast for my husband.
For lunches, I am craving butternut squash soup. I wonder if there is a way to amp up the protein in it… hmmm. Something to look into.
You can fry feta? I read the recipe for the Chimichurri Bowls and it looks delicious, but never have I ever heard of frying feta. Color me amazed.
I have not done an acutal meal plan for the week in ages. Yesterday we ran out of frozen chicken breasts and the world stopped spinning. Coach did the grocery shopping and that forced me to THINK and to PLAN. I made pizza casserole (doubled for leftovers and so I can give a chunk to my folks) last night. Tonight is super busy, so Italian Beef sandwiches. I planned to do honey mustard chicken before I realized that I acutally have lemons, but am low on honey and brown spicy mustard. Sigh. That will have to wait till later in the week after we have time for a mid-week grocery run for whatever I didn’t have to Coach’s list. I’m also gonna do chicken and carrots in the crockpot. Easy breezy.
Thank you for posting your weekly dinner plans/ideas/links. I’ve made a few of them (or at least as close to/used them as base/inspiration) — and enjoyed them. The 3 from today look really good!! Off to the store to grab a few items!
I have been having this same debate about protein in a butternut squash soup. Could you try adding beans? This recipe adds lentils. I’ve not tried it, but I think I will when I make my squash soup next time.
https://reciperunner.com/creamy-red-lentil-butternut-squash-soup/
I love mixing pasta with veggie noodles. Hey it’s been a while since I’ve done it so what am I waiting for?
Hi, Birchy. I hope you and Suzanne don’t mind my responding to your post here. But I wanted to let you know I followed you to your blod (I think maybe from Elisabeth’s site) late last year…and have enjoyed many of your posts. I don’t have Blogger so I couldn’t comment. I wanted to say that I bought my husband that Loving Frank book for Christmas, and he loves it. He loves the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, and I told him about the link you had about the list of FLW sites we could visit. So thank you!
Oops…a typo — your blog! LOL
How nice! I’m sure that Suzanne doesn’t mind if we hang out in her house;-) And sorry I know that commenting on my blog is so awkward. Enjoy the FLW visits!
I have been pretty much living on ham sandwich for the last month. Sometimes I will make up some chicken and rice, but more often than not, it’s noodle bowls, rice bowls or even yogurt for dinner (! I know!) lately!
Anytime I have pureed soup I LOVE to top it with pumpkin seeds – they’re very high in protein. Also, you could crush up some protein crackers like croutons. I’m a big fan of doing that in soups, too.
Adding in some lentils and pureeing them in would bulk up the protein and fibre content easily!
Re protein in the soup: add tofu (silken or medium is best) then blend the soup and it should be imperceptible
Does milk count as protein? Ina Garten’s winter squash soup has milk and is DELICIOUS. She uses 1/2 and 1/2, I use 2% milk, so I’m sure mine is not as luscious as heres. When I make it, I add some shredded chicken for my husband, and I KNOW that counts.
We’re having ham sandwich this week too, either tomorrow or Wednesday. Probably tomorrow. That means soup from the freezer, and grilled cheese. Yum.
Ooooooh those bowls! I am always on the hunt for a MYO meal that can be customized.
YUM. The chimichurri and the broccoli/sweet potato salad both sound amazing. If you wanted to make them less similar, you could make one with brown rice instead of quinoa. And the flavors look very different. My week is slightly complicated and I have no idea what dinners will look like (last night was leftovers from Sunday.). Sigh.
Hooray for school! North is in school now for the second day in a row, which they commented on as they got ready this morning.
Simple idea for a digital planner: Google calendar. I love having easy access on my phone when I’m making upcoming appointments at the doctor’s office. I keep our family’s schedule, my appointments, birthdays all in one place.
These all look delicious. I LOVE shrimp scampi.
All of these look so nourishing and delicious. That’s an interesting idea to serve zoodles WITH noodles! I always thought of it being either/or, but why not?
The chimichurri looks so good but I can guarantee I would be the only one in my house to eat it currently. Maybe in ten years once my kids’ palates have matured, and I could throw some steak in there to mollify my husband 😉
Butternut squash is so underrated. I just made farfalle with browned ground Italian sausage and roasted butternut and onions. Adding pasta water and grated Asiago helps make the sauce. So good and so easy.
I second the positive review of Ina Garten’s Winter Squash Soup. It’s been in my rotation for ages.
I second Nance’s pasta…I used to make this dish after she mentioned it on my blog, and it’s delicious. My daughter said the best bites were the ones where you got some butternut squash and some sausage both. Now my daughter is vegetarian and my husband doesn’t eat pasta and it sucks.
I always chuckle when you mention this ham sandwich dinner. A few years ago we took our family to Mexico – adult kids, spouses & grandchildren. Of course the parents had the kids in their room. It became a thing that they’d head off back to the room midday and when someone would ask where a couple was the answer was always “they’ve gone to make sandwiches”. Not sure where the expression came from but making sandwiches has taken on a whole new meaning in our family!
Yum, the chimichurri bowls sound so good. I would also need to add protein for my husband.
I made chicken wild rice soup on Saturday and a pasta sauce on Sunday. And now we will skate through the week on leftovers as we are hopefully going to my parents on Friday afternoon!
When I have made butternut squash soup, I will just add some poached/shredded chicken on the top of my bowl! And some red pepper flakes. I used to eat that soup when I was in my “healthy eating phases” (LOL) a lot because it’s high volume and yummy. But I always wanted to add protein. During my eat-more-protein phases I usually always will prep a bunch of just plain, salted shredded chicken and keep it in a container in the fridge.. Then I can add it to salads or toss a handful even in with my scrambled eggs or top my soup with it!
Nice collection of menu ideas! As many have said, beans/lentils in the butternut squash soup sounds like an easy way to up the protein. I like Nance’s idea of some kind of ground meat/fake meat as well. I once accidentally made a soupy butternut pasta with ricotta and spinach and it was delicious.
Can I come over when you do the chimichurri bowls please. They look delicious.
I have some pumpkin soup in the freezer that I will eventually serve with garlic shrimps kebab. Maybe that is an idea to add protein?