#SApro Tips: Weekly Menu Planning

"I wish I could cook like you do, but I just don't plan well."

"My biggest challenge is deciding what I want to eat in advance."

"Teach me how to not eat like a toddler!"

These are some phrases I hear a lot, and it seemed to be time to share some tips and tricks on how to make menu planning and your food life a success.  We'll go through the process of menu planning and then use my actual menu from the past week as an example to show how to implement the system and make a grocery list.  Big thanks to my professor, friends and colleagues who contributed to the ideas for this post: Dr. Chris Linder, Tim Mousseau, and  Chandler Thompson (check out their blogs too)!  I hope that you find planning in advance will help you have less stress, reduce food waste, and save money.

The Process

Make it a habit:  I think the most important way to make weekly menu planning a reality is to incorporate it into your weekly ritual.  For me that means I sit down with a cup of tea and Pinterest (you can follow me on Pinterest here) every Sunday morning to create my list.  Some weeks I'll do this on Saturday if my Sunday plans prohibit me from going shopping, but it's almost always a Sunday endeavor.  Pick whatever day works best for you and stick with it.

Figure out your formula: There's no prefect formula and this will be different for everyone depending on your appetite and the size of your household unit.  I'll share what works for me and offer some amendments for you to try to have enough food for your needs.  Most people who know me know that I'm all about moderation; I generally eat pretty healthy and I'm also not too concerned with things like calories and carbs.  Especially carbs, this Italian guy loves carbs.  My rule of thumb is to have at least one vegetable with every meal, including breakfast.  With that in mind, I cook four meals a week which is enough for dinner and leftover to bring to work for lunch.  I always have pasta once a week (a self-imposed restriction because I could eat pasta every day) and one meat-free meal.  Since I don't buy anything additional for lunch this could be an easy way to make the same four meal system work in your multi-person home.  Play around with the proportions until you find what works for you.

Check your calendar:  This step is especially important for my student affairs colleagues.  With all of our late nights, programs, and after-hours meetings we need to be cognizant of what our time limitations are.  I know that on Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't get home until around 7 because of meetings for the organization that I advise so those evening have to be quick and easy dinners that don't require a lot of prep.  On Wednesday nights I have an evening class that doesn't end until 8pm, so Wednesdays are always a night for leftovers.  For the extra-busy weeks, like Welcome Week, where I have an event every evening I switch up the plan and cook a couple of big things on Sunday that will last all week. For those weeks I'll do something like a big batch of chicken enchiladas and a sausage and superfood hash.

Utilize leftovers: Now that you're ready to start making a menu and list, take stock of things that are left over from last week.  I always seem to have leftover tortillas and fresh herbs.  This week I'll use the leftover tortillas to make egg and arugula quesadillas for breakfast, the leftover rosemary for the panko crusted chicken and roasted sweet potatoes, and the leftover chives for kotlety.  If you use Pinterest you can search by ingredient if you need ideas for what to do with something leftover.  You can also search "just my pins" as a way to cull the results down to things you had already shown interest in.

Look for overlapping ingredients: Similar to repurposing leftover ingredients, looking for ingredients that overlap throughout recipes is a good way to cut costs and reduce waste.  I make a point to do this whenever I'm buying bagged greens like arugula, spinach, or kale because any leftovers are unlikely to remain fresh into a second week of cooking.  This week arugula is becoming a big overlap player as a filling for my breakfast quesadillas, a bed for my panko crusted chicken, and a side salad for my kotlety.  The panko breadcrumbs will do double duty as a coating for the chicken and a filler in the kotlety.  Lemon zest will be used in the chicken coating and the juice from that lemon will be used to make the salad dressing.

Pick a splurge item: Do something good for your emotional health each week and pick a splurge item.  This could be something luxe like prosciutto, a fancy cheese, or an expensive cut of meat or something downright comforting like a frozen pizza or boxed macaroni and cheese.  Either way I think it's important to incorporate some little food items that make you happy as long as you do so in moderation.  This week I got an awesome frozen pizza from Trader Joe's, the Tarte d'Champigon (not as fancy as it sounds), and had absolutely no regrets about it. Self care, y'all!

The Menu

• Breakfast all week: Arugula and Egg Quesadilla 
• Sunday: Lemon Rosemary Chicken (from The Country Chic Cottage) and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

• Monday: Kotlety (from Natasha's Kitchen), Orzo, and Arugula Salad

• Tuesday: Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry (from Skinny Taste)

• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Chickpeas (from Buzzfeed)

The List(s)

Each week I go to both Kroger and Trader Joe's.  I love Trader Joe's and find that some produce items like mushrooms and bagged greens are much cheaper there (organic spinach for $1.99, what?!).  Other TJ's items are simply much better quality.  I get everything else from Kroger.  The two stores are across the the street from each other so going to both is not much of a hassle, but all of these items would be available at your grocery store.  Please note that these lists are not exhaustive of everything you would need to make all of the dishes for this week.  The lists do not include things like rice, pasta, oil, spices, and seasonings that I always have in the house so take stock before you go shopping!

• Trader Joe's
• 1 head fresh broccoli
• 1 head fresh cauliflower
• 1 lemon
• 1 bag arugula
• 1 package white button mushrooms
• 4 apples (for snacks)
• 3 sweet potatoes
• panko breadcrumbs
• frozen pizza
• smoked gouda cheese (for snacks)
• Kroger
• 1 lb. chicken cutlets
• 1 lb. chicken tenders
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 inch fresh ginger
• 1 lb. pasta
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/2 dozen eggs
• 1 bag shredded Mexican cheese blend

I hope this guide helps you to plan your weekly meals and run a more efficient kitchen.  Let me know if you have any questions or other tips and tricks in the comments!

Farm to Fork Challenge! Tomato and Okra Stew

This weekend Colleen, a wonderful friend from my cohort, and I took on a farm to fork challenge with the most beautiful tomatoes and okra from Colleen's friend Becca's farm.  The vegetables were so incredibly fresh and delicious, so Colleen and I wanted to do something pretty simple that would let them shine.  The combination of tomatoes and okra made us think of gumbo, and we used a gumbo recipe as a very (very) loose base, but this is definitely more of a light, brothy, summery stew than a traditional gumbo and I'm sure my friends from Louisiana would be very upset if I called this a gumbo.  Neither Colleen nor I had cooked with raw okra before so we dove in headfirst and hoped for the best.

We started by dicing the tomatoes and half of a large onion and slicing the okra into small rounds, discarding the stem and the tip.  Then we sautéed the onions until they were almost translucent and added two cloves of crushed garlic and the sliced okra.  Season with salt and pepper.  Many people say they don't like okra because it's slimy and this is true if you don't cook it long enough.  Colleen and I were legitimately concerned when the okra started emitting gooey, gelatinous strands and stuck together (see below).  Our recipe said to cook the okra for 10-12 minutes or until all of the slime is gone so we forged ahead and probably cooked them just a little bit longer than that until they looked normal and slime-free again.  

Once the okra has cooked through add the tomatoes and season them with salt and pepper.  Allow the tomatoes to cook down for a few minutes before adding water, vegetable stock, or seafood stock.  You can make your own seafood stock if you buy shell-on shrimp and you have all the time in the world (i.e. you don't work in student affairs).  I found this recipe from my spirit animal, Ina Garten: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/seafood-stock-recipe.html.  If you use water add a little bit more salt and pepper.  Season liberally with tobacco sauce and bring to a simmer.  Once the stew comes to a simmer add the peeled, deveined, and seasoned shrimp and cook until they are just done and in the shape of a C (never and O).  Serve your stew over rice.

Quick side note on rice:  Many people find cooking rice challenging, but this simple method has never steered me wrong.  Use two cups of water for every one cup of white rice, this recipe can be increased infinitely - I made five cups of rice for a organization retreat and it still cooked perfectly.  Pour two cups of water into a small saucepan and add some salt and a tablespoon of butter.   Bring the water to a boil, add one cup of rice, reduce heat to a simmer (on an electric stove I've found that just above low is the best temperature) and cook for 22 minutes covered.  After 22 minutes uncover and fluff with a fork.  You can omit the salt and use any kind of broth.  If you're using brown rice read the package for directions because it will take significantly longer to cook.

Enjoy this recipe with friends and a cold beer like Colleen and I did - after a long summer internship it was great to be back in Athens with all the great people in my cohort!

Tomato and Okra Stew

Ingredients

• 5 roma or plum tomatoes
• 3 cups of sliced fresh okra
• Half of a large onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 cups of water or vegetable, or seafood stock
• Tabasco sauce, lots of it (or to taste)
• 1 lb. of raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and seasoned with salt and pepper
• 2 cups of uncooked white rice
• 4 cups of water
• 2 tbsp. butter

Instructions

1. Dice onion and tomatoes and slice okra.
2. Sauté onion until translucent, add okra and crushed garlic and season with salt and pepper
3. Cook 10-12 minutes, or until all okra is no longer slimy
4. Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, cook for 3 minutes
5. In a separate pan bring water, butter and salt to a boil, add rice, reduce to a simmer, and cook covered for 22 minutes.
6. Add water or stock and tabasco sauce and bring to a simmer
7. Add raw shrimp and allow it to cook in the strew (about three minutes)
8. Serve over cooked rice.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Spinach and Feta Meatballs

These delicious little turkey meatballs are one of my favorite recipes.  They are a great main dish when served with rice, cous cous, or orzo, and have been a perennial cocktail party favorite plated up in a large bowl.  I use ground turkey in this recipe and in almost every ground meat application in my kitchen, but you can feel free to use beef, a beef/pork combination, or even ground lamb for a particularly Greek inspired meal!

Start by finely dicing a small onion and letting it sauté in olive oil over medium heat.  While the onion cooks roughly chop 4-5 cups of baby spinach and add to the pan with the onions.  Add two cloves of crushed garlic, season with salt and pepper and allow the spinach to wilt and the onions to become translucent.  You may substitute a box frozen chopped spinach for the fresh spinach, but I've made it with both and really prefer the fresh spinach for its texture and flavor.

Set the spinach and onion mixture aside in a bowl and allow to cool before mixing with the raw meat.  This will take a few minutes, so feel fee to pour a glass of wine or having a little cooking break with some cheese and crackers...just me? Okay.  Speaking of cheese, I use a great Mediterranean seasoned feta from Trader Joe's, but if you can't find it plain feta will be more than sufficient.

Once your spinach and onion mixture is sufficiently room temperature combine with ground turkey, egg, feta cheese, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  If your mixture is very loose, which turkey sometimes can be, add some breadcrumbs to the mixture.  I've found these meatballs are much more tender without breadcrumbs so try to avoid it if you can.  So if you're impatient like me, use a spring loaded ice cream scoop to portion your meatballs and transfer them directly to the pan.  If you don't have a scoop, or have a virtuous level of patience, you can roll your meatballs by hand.  I prefer a slightly smaller meatball for this recipe because they cook more quickly and help the turkey from getting too dry.

Pan fry the meatballs in batches in a non-stick pan.  I've discovered that the non-stick pan is a meatball making essential so the cooked, caramelized part doesn't break away from the uncooked part as you flip the meatballs.  Don't worry about them becoming less spherical as you cook them.  All of my meatballs turn out kind of pyramid shaped and they remain lovely and delicious.

Spinach and Feta Meatballs

Adapted from Itsy Bitsy Foodies

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 4-5 cups baby spinach
• 3-4 oz. Mediterranean seasoned feta
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Breadcrumbs, if needed

Instructions

1. Finely dice onions and sauté with roughly chopped spinach and crushed garlic
2. Let spinach mixture cool to room temperature before adding to meat
3. Mix spinach mixture with meat and all remaining ingredients, save the breadcrumbs, until they are thoroughly combined, breaking up larger pieces of feta with your hands.
4. If the mixture is too loose to roll add breadcrumbs until you find the desired consistency
5. Use a spring loaded ice cream scoop or hand roll meatballs before cooking through in a non-stick pan

Fried Artichoke Salad and Summer Internship Reflection

I just got back from a wonderful summer in St. Louis working with the First Year Center at Washington University in St. Louis.  I loved being at Wash. U. and in St. Louis for the summer and wanted to share this recipe for a great salad I had at Katie's Pizza.

Now it's pretty rare for me to get excited about a salad and I generally don't view salad as the main part of a meal, but this salad is really wonderful and substantial enough to be a complete meal.  Take the time to roast the asparagus ahead of time, preferable to use in another meal during the week.  I always seem to have a few leftover asparagus and this is the perfect place to use them.  Look for thin asparagus for this application and save thicker asparagus for stir fries and purees.

Lightly dredge halved artichoke hearts in the seasoned flour and fry to a golden brown in oil.  I used canned artichoke hearts, but you could also use fresh or frozen.  While the artichokes fry arrange greens (I used a spring mix), asparagus, crumbles of goat cheese, and pistachios.  Top the salad with fried artichokes and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  You could make a real dressing by whisking it all together, but I was feeling artistic/lazy and just drizzled the dressing over the salad and it was just fine.

Fried Artichoke Salad

Ingredients (per salad)

• 2 artichoke hearts, halved
• flour
• 4-5 spears of roasted asparagus
• 2 cups of mixed greens
• 1 oz. goat cheese
• 2 tbsp. pistachios
• 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

1. Lightly dredge halved artichokes in flour seasoned with salt and pepper
2. Fry artichokes to a golden brown in oil
3. While artichokes fry, add salad greens, asparagus, pistachios and goat cheese to bowl
4. When artichokes are golden brown transfer them to a paper towel lined plate and allow them to drain before transferring to the salad
5. Drizzle salad with oil and vinegar and serve immediately.

Quick Dinner: Marinara Sauce

I've hesitated to add this recipe to the blog for a long time - not because it tastes bad or anything, but because it seems too easy to actually be a recipe.  After numerous requests to add a marinara sauce to the blog I realized that not everyone has a wonderful Italian mother who whips up this sauce when she doesn't have time to make "real" sauce.  With that in mind it translates to a perfect quick dinner for a #SApro because it will be finished in the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta.  Even better is that it lends itself to a bunch of second round recipes for later in the week like chicken parmesan, meatball heroes, pizza, stromboli, etc.

Coat the bottom of a large pot or dutch oven with olive oil and bring to medium heat.  Use your garlic press to crush two large cloves of garlic and add them to the pot with crushed red pepper flakes.  Feel free to add more or less red pepper flakes based on your preference - add more if you're serving this with seafood! Let the garlic cook for a minute or two, being careful not to let it brown, then quickly add the red wine.  Use any red wine that you have open and around the house.  For me that means its most likely a cabernet sauvignon or a shiraz, but any red will do.  My non-drinking friends can skip this step without worry.

Once the wine has reduced, about two minutes, add the crushed tomatoes and the small can of tomato sauce.  Be careful not to use sauce with seasoning - we're taking care of that ourselves. Add salt and stir the sauce together.  Bring to a rolling boil before you add the fresh basil and simmer semi-covered for 20 minutes.

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

• 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 8 oz. can of plain tomato sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup of red wine
• 2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Coat the bottom of a small pot in olive oil and bring to medium heat
2. Add crushed garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for 1-2 minutes
3. Add red wine and let it reduce, about two minutes
4. Add tomatoes and salt, stir, and bring to a boil
5. Add fresh basil and let simmer covered for 20 minutes

Quick Dinner: Pork Milanese with Arugula Salad

There's something about a hot, breaded pork cutlet topped with a cold, tangy salad that I can't get enough of.  The pork brings me back to when I lived in Iowa, where an Iowa pork tenderloin is truly a special experience.  What's even better is that it's such a quick dinner to throw together - about 30 minutes!  This is a great meal for when you're getting home from work just a little bit later than you'd hoped to...

Start by setting up your breading station: pork cutlets, two beaten eggs, breadcrumb plate, empty plate.  Keep some breadcrumbs on hand in case you need more than two cups.  Dip your cutlets in egg, than in seasoned breadcrumbs carefully coating each cutlet completely.  Some people also add flour to this menthol before the egg, but my mother never did that so I haven't bothered.  I also use this method to bread chicken cutlets that I've  very thinly pounded.

The irregular little croquette you see on the plate is what my family calls a bread ball.  Thrifty Italian ancestors refused to waste the leftover egg and breadcrumbs from coating the meat, so they would mix them together to form a croquette that's fried alongside the cutlets.  It's a delicious treat for the cook!

Once the pork has been breaded liberally coat a pan with oil and heat over medium-high.  I prefer vegetable or corn oil for frying because olive oil has a very low smoke point.  Peanut oil is also good for frying, albeit not allergen free.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until the pork has browned and cooked through.

While the pork cooks mix together your salad dressing: lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, salt and pepper.  Whisk vigorously until it is emulsified and let it sit until just before serving.  Once the pork is cooked through add arugula and pecorino romano (or parmesan) cheese to the salad dressing, toss, and top pork cutlets.

Pork Milanese with Arugula Salad

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork cutlets (may be labeled pork cube steak, or pork tenderloin)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
• 4 oz. arugula
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbsp. dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup pecorino romano (or parmesan) cheese

Instructions

1. Bread pork cutlets by dipping in beaten eggs and coating in breadcrumbs.
2. Fry pork over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes per side
3. Meanwhile, vigorously whisk oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper until the mixture emulsifies.
4. Toss arugula and pecorino romano with salad dressing and top cooked pork cutlets.

Make Ahead Meal: Tomato Basil Quiche

This summer I'm doing a NODA internship at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL).  The schedule for days when we have orientation sessions is tight, so taking time to cook is going to be on the back burner.  When I get busy I like to lean on some good make ahead meals like this quiche.  Make it on a Sunday afternoon and you can have it for breakfast all week, or have it for dinner with a salad.  You can also use this recipe as a base and add whatever ingredients you like - tomato and basil is perfect for the summer though!

Start by poking some holes in the bottom of the pie crust with the tines of a fork.  You could make your own pie crust, but I feel like that defeats the purpose of a time saving meal...  It will be delicious either way.

Next slice the tomato crosswise to maximize the surface area and make it look pretty.  Shred the cheese and cut the basil into a chiffonade.  Start with a layer of cheese, then tomato, then basil and repeat.  Top this off with a final layer of cheese and basil.  Pour four whisked eggs, heavy cream, salt, and pepper into the pie crust.  Bake at 350 for forty minutes.

This really isn't that hard - most of the time spent making it is not actively cooking so it makes a great time saving recipe.  Here are some of my other favorite quiche fillings:

• Turkey sausage, green chiles, and a mexican cheese blend
• Bacon, apple, caramelized onions, and swiss cheese
• Spinach, diced tomato, and feta cheese
• Asparagus and goat cheese

Tomato Basil Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 frozen pie crust
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp. heavy cream
• 1 and 1/4 cups of shredded smoked gouda
• 5 large basil leaves
• 1 beefsteak tomato 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Thinly slice 1 large tomato crosswise, about 1/8th of an inch thick
3. Use a fork to poke holes in the bottom of the pie crust
4. Layer cheese, tomato, and basil (in that order) in the pie crust twice.
5. Add a final layer of cheese and basil to the top of the pie crust
6. Beat four eggs with 2 tbsp. heavy cream, salt, and pepper and pout over the tomato and cheese layers
7. Bake on a foil lined sheet pan for 40 minutes, or until a knife comes cleanly out of the center