havocandmayhem.com

It’s the first full week back to school and time to get menu planning, I’ve slacked off badly this summer, especially this month. Meals have been very haphazard & slipshod. I’ve been at the end of my rope by late afternoon and it has been too damn hot to turn the oven on & too rainy to use the grill. I attempted a crock pot dish last week. We have taekwondo 2 evenings a week. We have to leave about 25 minutes after the bus arrives and we get home about 10 minutes before we are used to having dinner. The crockpot seemed ideal. (btw, it is an actual Crock Pot, not a generic slow cooker. It was a wedding gift from 1993. I’ve maybe used it a couple dozen times since then) Except I suck at crock pot cooking and I have never been wild about hardly anything I have cooked in it that came out decently. It always tastes like food that has been on a steam table for too long. Plus with the can of cream of soup nearly every recipe calls for it tastes like salt that has been on a stea...

I haven’t done much advanced menu planning lately because I have 30lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast, 22lbs of ground beef and I am not sure how many cheap cuts of beef in my freezer (lots! they had London Broil on sale for $1.99 a pound back in January). So I have more or less known what was for dinner – chicken or beef & have been falling back on tacos, meatloaf, broiled beef, rolled stuffed chicken and chicken nuggets with random breading, and the occasional frittata (18 egg set, BOGO!).  But it’s gotten a tad boring. So yesterday I dug out my recipe cards and we will be having Thai inspired noodles with beef & veggies Cider vinegar braised chicken & potatoes Chipoltle chicken rolls with avocado dipping sauce BBQ chicken pizza and the usual suspects Tacos Mini meat loaves (which later become) spaghetti with meat balls Goldfish breaded chicken strips Scotch eggs & salad Soup and sandwiches Plus we have a parent teacher conference duri...

I envision this conversation between my sons, some Thanksgiving far in the future, when they are sitting around the table with their children & grandchildren. Havoc: Remember the savory mashed sweet potatoes? Mayhem: What about the apricot glazed turkey? Havoc: the one with the cornbread & oyster stuffing? Mayhem: No the sourdough and fig stuffing. Havoc: Oh yeah. I'm thinking of the stuffed maple turkey breast. How about the prime rib that one time? Mayhem: with the horseradish mashed potaotes! Havoc: *sigh* Our mom made the best reservations didn't she? Mayhem: Yeah, no one could dial like our mom. She was a wizard with the phonebook. Havoc: Remember the time Dad did Thanksgiving dinner? *laughter* Together: Waffle House!!! I don't *do* Thanksgiving dinner you see. We go to my folks in Florida for a week every year, we alternate between Thanksgiving and Xmas. Mom controls Thanksgiving. Attempts to help or change or add anything to the men...

I have really fallen down on dinner planning for the past few weeks. Meals have been very haphazard & food is being wasted. Today I inventoried my freezer & pantry, then locked myself in the bedroom with my recipe cards and planned out 12 meals for the next 2 weeks. I only actually cook about 10 of them. We go out for dinner once a week, do rotating cookouts with friends on Sundays & at least once in 2 weeks dinner will be courtesy of Kraft or Mrs Paul. This is what I have come up with for the rest of the month, in no particular serving order. Chicken with cider & parsnips Pocket sandwiches - chicken & veggies Pesto chicken pizza Miso chicken sandwiches Scotch eggs & salad Baked eggs with potatoes Greek marinated steak & feta salad Steak chimichuri & veggie kabobs (our turn at grill night) Spaghetti carbonara Pizza di spaghetti Turkey croquettes with spinach mashers (new to me Rachel Ray recipe) Sweet pea soup with parmesan garlic...