Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Help me brainstorm my menu for the month!

OK, we're coming up to monthly cooking time soon (actually Apr 2 is cooking day, but there's a fair bit of planning before that!)  My goal for this month is to have two meatless entrees per week.  This is actually at Kelly-the-Carnivore's request!!  So, I need 8-10 meatless meal ideas.  And probably 15-20 meat meals.  I'm especially looking for tips for the meatless ones, I don't have very many in my recipe box and this month's pasta primavera was not very good. I like having extra meat recipes too, that way I can plan a menu heavy on whatever kinds of meat are on sale this month. 

Here's my thoughts so far

Beef/Venison:
Spaghetti with meatballs (x2)
Meatloaf (x2)
Beef Stew (x2)

Chicken/Turkey:
Chicken pesto casserole (x2)
Turkey sausages w peppers& onions
Chicken Corn & Blackbean stew

Pork:
Cantonese Pork & Pineapple
Enchiladas

Vegetarian:
Veggie Lasagna
Veggie Chili
Eggplant Parmesan
Lentil Soup

Any suggestions?

10 comments:

  1. chicken pot pie

    turkey artichoke and rosemary onion paninis

    texas caviar with tostitos scoops and bean burritos

    taco pie (corn bread, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, taco meat, cheese) all in a cast iron skillet

    breakfast skillet (bisquick, eggs, sausage, cheese in a skillet)

    if any of these sound good and you want more info let me know

    casey towne

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  2. Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

    Breakfast for dinner. Eggs, pancakes, turkey sausage/bacon, etc.

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  3. I have a lot of varied beans and rice type recipes- let me know if you are interested!

    Sarah Adelman

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  5. We love Baked Ziti here: Basically, prepare a box of ziti pasta. Once it is cooked, mix it with tomato sauce and ricotta cheese (we like lots so that it isn't dry). Spread it into a casserole dish and grate mozzarella cheese on top. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder over the cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes (or until bubbly). It is delicious with salad and garlic bread!

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  6. I've had my eye on the Five for the Freezer cookbooks from Saving Dinner. They are meat-heavy, I believe, but at least one's vegetarian. I asked my sister (vegetarian) for some ideas and I have a great three-bean chili recipe from a friend I can pass along too. I'll try and remember to dig it out in the morning.

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  7. So far she says potato-squash soup, mushroom polenta pie, cheddar pumpkin tart, cheese tortellini with a cannellini bean sauce, bean quesadilla from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook, and macaroni and cheese (of course!). She recommends the Moosewood cookbooks. I always love a savory (veggie-full) or sweet (French toast-blueberry) strata.

    I should probably take notes too...

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  8. Crustless quiche - I'll send you the recipie if you liked eating it @ my place. It's a great leftovers/veggies getting old recipie.

    Lentil soups are very tasty, easy, and meatless. Google Arabic lentil soup to get you started, but any lentil based soup has been good to me.

    Indian dishes require some new spices, but once you're stocked up, there are lots of easy vegetarian options!

    Google roasted root vegetable medley - typically beets, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc (you can omit the mushrooms, I guess... but I find mushrooms fill that undescribable lacking feeling from meatless dishes) with white wine. I usually eat it as a main dish, and its my go-to potluck dish.

    ~melissa

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  9. Sooo many suggestions!!!

    Casey - what on earth is Texas Caviar? I'm just too curious!

    Courtney - could your sister share that tortellini with cannellini bean sauce recipe? That sounds like it might work around here... Also do you have a good strata recipe? I've never tried making one, only eating. Do you think it would freeze? Bread, eggs, cheese, etc, all usually freeze great....

    Melissa, I'd love your quiche recipe. We have some mustard greens that I think would be great in there... But no mushrooms, Kelly won't go for it, unfortunately!!!

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