menu for the week Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by Meaghan Barry on April 11, 2013

I just wanted to squeeze in a quick post since we haven’t had any this week! My husband accidentally left our DSLR in the trunk of his car earlier this week and today our laptop is getting a little TLC at the Apple store. My mom also was visiting us earlier this week. Is that enough excuses for you because I’m sure I could come up with a few more?

I made this meal plan for this week starting on Monday. We have started to get some warmer days in so I have included a lot more fish and grilling recipes than I did for the winter. I’ve already made the salmon burgers and fish tacos this week and they were both really, really good! I will definitely be making them both again hopefully many times this upcoming summer. I’m also looking forward to trying some new recipes in the second half of the week.

Day 1: Salmon Burgers with Lemon Dill Mayo from The Picky Palate Cookbook
Day 2: Blackened Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa and Chipotle Aioli, side of chips and guacamole from Tide and Thyme (I have linked to this recipe before- you must try it soon if you have not already!)
Day 3: Take-out (late afternoon doctor’s appointment)
Day 4: Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce and Garlic Rice Pilaf, from Annie’s Eats
Day 5: Spice-Rubbed NY Strip Steaks with Avocado Lime Salsa and Corn Muffins from Cooking Light, April 2013
Day 6: Panko-Crusted Cod with Tomato Basil Relish from Cooking Light, April 2013
Day 7: Chili Lime Shrimp Skewers over Garlic Butter Quinoa from The Picky Palate Cookbook

What’s on your menu for the week? Are you passing over the soup recipes yet and trading them in for some grilling time?

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on October 22, 2012

It’s a Monday and I am working on my menu for the week so I thought I would do a quick Menu Plan Monday post! I have been letting my cooking magazines pile up so I vowed to finally go through them today and pull out some recipe ideas for the week. Have you seen this November’s issue of Cooking Light– it’s huge! I’m looking forward to sitting down and reading it in its entirety, but for now I just flipped through. They list the top 25 best Cooking Light recipes ever from 1987 through 2011. I’m thinking about making all 25 dishes and doing a post about each one- might be a fun challenge and a sure fire way to try some great recipes!

Anyway, here’s my menu plan for the week. I’m taking a few nights off here and there from cooking. My husband has requested low-carb meals, which is always a challenge because I enjoy making carb-y dishes.

Monday: going out to eat
Tuesday: Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken and a side salad from Cooking Light, November 2012
Wednesday: Poblano-Turkey Sausage Chili from Cooking Light, October 2012
Thursday: Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca with steamed haricots verts from Cooking Light, November 2012
Friday: Beef and Broccoli Bowl from Cooking Light, October 2012
Saturday: night off from cooking
Sunday: Soy-Ginger Pork Chop with Stir-Fried Bok Choy from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, November 2012 – recipe not available on-line, but here is a similar recipe

What is on your menu for the week?

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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on September 17, 2012

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Menu Plan Monday and since I actually planned my menu for the week today, I thought I would share the recipes in a post. With the fall chill now in the air, I’ve been filing away my summer recipes and started to look for colder-weather meals. I have to admit that I had to put the heat on for the first time this season this morning- it was 52 degrees in our house! Here are some meal ideas sure to warm you up for the week:

Menu Plan for the week of September 17th:

Monday: Slow-Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala with Indian Basmati Rice

Tuesday: Beef Noodle Salad Bowls with Steamed Broccoli

Wednesday: Quick and Easy Beef Chili from Whole Foods Meals for 4 under $15, Fall 2012 (could not find recipe on-line)

Thursday: Shrimp Enchiladas from Whole Foods Meals for 4 under $15, Fall 2012 (could not find recipe on-line)

Friday: Jambalaya and a side salad

Saturday: night off from cooking!

Sunday: Sunday Roast Chicken, Apple, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad, and Classic Apple Crisp for dessert

The picture above is the Boston skyline and Charles River on a fall day from a previous year. What’s on your menu plan for the week?

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on February 27, 2012

Yesterday, I was sitting down to write a post about my weekly menu and the process I go through every week. I looked at 2 Sisters 2 Cities and noticed M had the same exact post! Wow, are we sisters or what!

My weeks tend to be really busy with work, my commute, and going to the gym. I am also quite the stickler of getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night, meaning I have even less time to make dinner, clean up and relax before I need to hit the sack and start again the next day. Since the beginning of this year I have been trying to cook healthier and more often. To be able to do this I need to plan ahead.

All week I keep track of recipes I think I would like to make for the following week and keep them in a note on my iPhone. On Saturday morning I plan out the menu for the whole week and make my grocery list. I use Ziplist to make my list and am able to pull it up on my phone while I am at the grocery store. I am in love with this app and website because it makes grocery shopping so much easier and I hardly ever forget an item. The website can also pull a list of ingredients from a recipe online and add them to your list.

Here is an example of how Ziplist pulls the ingredients from a recipe. I used a recipe for Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes from Annie’s Eats, as an example of how Ziplist works. This isn’t necessarily something I make for dinner, but I had this recipe up on my browser and they look soooo good. I am totally making these for my birthday… in July. After clicking on my Ziplist Recipe Clipper button of my favorite bar, the website pulls up this dialog box and you can then add them to you shopping list. Ziplist gives you specific directions on how to add the Recipe Clipper to your favorites bar.

As I had told you before, for Valentine’s Day this year, the boyfriend got me a bunch of items from Martha Stewart’s office line at Staples that I wanted. One of the items that I picked out was a weekly calendar dry erase board that clings onto the refrigerator for menu planning. I have been using this since to write out the menu for the week. It is a helpful reminder for both of us to see what dinner is going to be that night and gives us something to look forward to. Sometime I even send out an e-mail reminder of the weekly meals to his work email. May sound silly but who got flowers today for no particular reason?? Oh yeah… ME!

My menu for the week:
Sunday
LUNCH- French Onion Soup (I will post this later this week)
DINNER-Rotisserie Chicken, Steamed Green Beans, and Roasted Potatoes
Monday
DINNER- Ziti with Turkey Sausage (Posting this later this week)
Tuesday
DINNER- Stir-Fried Honey-Ginger Chicken with Peppers
Wednesday
DINNER- Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole
Thursday
DINNER- Linguine with Clam Sauce
Friday
DINNER- Panera Bread (this is our Friday Tradition after the gym- I get the Pick 2 Greek Salad and Broccoli Cheddar Soup which is 10 PointsPlus Weight watchers Points)

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on February 26, 2012

It’s a quiet Sunday morning and Baby T has decided to take his morning nap on the early side today (maybe since he woke up so darn early this morning!) I’ve been using the time to clean up some household paperwork and plan our meals and grocery list for the week. While I was starting to file away all the recipes I had clipped out of magazines or had printed, I came up with all our meals for the week.

Last week, I found a free printable menu planner and grocery list at mommy trackd. I’m all about these adorable printable lists lately! My week is looking very organized with this printable, although I’m sure baby boy will tear this list to shreds as we are grocery shopping.

Our menu for the week starting Monday, February 27th:

Monday: Cod Al Forno with Roasted Tomatoes
Tuesday: Broccoli-Cheddar Soup with Toasted Bread
Wednesday: Go out for my birthday! Leap day only comes along once every 4 years, so I need to celebrate 4 times as much :)
Thursday: Slow Cooker White Chili
Friday: Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry
Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Sunday: Chicken Tikka Masala

What’s on your menu plan for the week? Can you believe we are heading into March this week? Time to get in all those winter comfort foods before spring arrives!

-m

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Posted by Meaghan Barry on January 31, 2010

This weekend was a pretty fun and productive one! We went out to dinner in Cambridge with another couple on Friday night at a French-Cambodian restaurant called the Elephant Walk. They are expecting a baby in May so it was fun to catch up with them on their big news. Saturday, we went to a paper supply store (Xpedx) to get some additional supplies for my letterpress. Who knew there were so many kinds of paper out there! While we in the ‘burbs, we also decided to do some stocking up at Costco. On Saturday evening, we went out for Mr. M’s uncle’s surprise 70th birthday party at a really cute restaurant in Harvard Square named Upstairs on the Square. Today, we headed over to the Whole Foods in Cambridge to stock up on groceries for the week (we spent a lot of time in Cambridge this weekend come to think of it).

I sat down this morning and mapped out the menu for the week. I may not get to making all of these dishes as we tend to order take-out or go out if work is particularly busy or I just don’t feel like cooking one night. It does feel good to have a game plan going into the week and being able to get all the groceries ahead of time so there is one less errand to run after work. I bought a lot of meat at Costco so this week’s menu is a bit more meat-intensive than normal:

Sunday: Rosemary-roasted rack of lamb with roasted cherry tomatoes (recipe from Bon Appetit Fast Fresh Easy)
Monday: Beef Medallions with Cognac Sauce with a side salad (recipe from Bon Appetit Fast Fresh Easy)
Tuesday: Shrimp & Scalli0n Stir Fry with Basmati Rice (Martha Stewart Everyday Jan/Feb ’10 issue)
Wednesday: Spiced Pork Tenderloin with side of steamed green beans (recipe from Bon Appetit Fast Fresh Easy)
Thursday: Curried Cauliflower with Chickpeas (Boston Organics e-mail)
Friday: Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives and Lemon with a side of couscous (Bon Appetit May 2009…this recipe is amazing!)
Saturday: Pizza Night or go out to a restaurant
Sunday: SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Bourbon-Glazed Chicken Drumettes with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce (Bon Appetit Feb ’10 issue…if you are still looking for Super Bowl snack ideas, check out this issue’s Super Bowl section. The recipes all look really good!), Veggies and dip, Homemade Chex mix (so gourmet!)

-M