Menu Monday - Mystery Weather

The weather is a mystery to me.  It's  not yet Spring and there's absolutely no need of insisting to myself that it is.  On the other hand, it's entirely necessary to keep tabs on the weather reports because I've no desire to decide to serve a cold salad plate on a day that has suddenly been capricious and gone from warm and balmy morning to frigid mid afternoon.  Having looked at the forecast for this week, I think we'll be just fine planning warmer weather meals.

That said, there's a plethora of things on hand this week.  The bulk of my shopping shall be done at our local store because of the good sales on meat there and that's merely stocking the freezer, not meant for our daily needs right away.  Lovely to find myself in this position of plenty, especially when the budget this past month threatened to get out of hand.

I'm afraid my food budget, like our work schedule is a bit skewed.  The last pay period of a month is the BEGINNING of our monthly budget period and that just seems backwards somehow but it won't straighten out until we have three pay periods in a month again, sometime around May I think.

So a new budget month even if the calendar isn't showing a new month just yet, and fingers crossed we'll stay on target this month...

Monday:  Cheese Tortellini Bake,  Broccoli with Garlic,  Green Salad, Crusty Bread
I'll make a sort of casserole of the Tortellini, by layering with chunky tomato sauce and cheeses then baking.  Broccoli will be treated to a garlic butter sauce, and a plain green salad shall be a nice touch to finish the meal.

Tuesday:  Chicken Sandwiches, Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad, Oven Fries
It may seem odd that I make a meal on the days when Chance is away from home but I do so for two reasons:  I get awfully tired of snacking a bit of this and a bit of that and overeating on it all.  I also find it's far less expensive to cook a full meal and store leftovers or use in work lunches than to buy take out for one person.  Chicken sandwiches will be homemade, I'll roast the beets while the oven fries are cooking.  Goat cheese is a creamy tangy cheese and I enjoy using it in small amounts in everything from salads to scrambled eggs.  I usually find some on sale in the clearance section of the grocery deli, so it's seldom expensive.

Wednesday:   Salisbury Steaks, Rice, Spring Salad, Yeast Rolls
Freshly ground sirloin will be used for the salisbury steaks.  A little mushroom sauce is a nice touch and tastes good over the rice.  Spring salad...One of my favorite salads to welcome a near end to winter: radishes, thawed frozen peas, green onions and tender lettuce, perhaps a bit of shredded carrot and ranch dressing over all.  So fresh and good!

Thursday:  Pasta Primavera, Green Salad, Garlic Toast, Tiramisu
With the green onions, asparagus, carrots and such in the grocer (and a planned meal out tonight) I thought this would make a light dinner for us. 

Friday:  Philly Cheese steak Sandwiches, Potato Chips, Red Cabbage Salad
Leftover Roast beef will be my filler, not steak as the name implies, but sliced thin, topped with caramelized onions and peppers and provolone cheese, no one will know the difference.  Nice use for the roast cooked over the previous weekend for work lunch sandwiches.

Saturday:  Take out Chicken Dinner
We usually get something to bring home after service and today will be no different.  Gone are the days when it cost a small fortune to pick up a meal for the entire family.  This is the luxury of merely feeding two...

Sunday:  Leftovers
Chance is working and I'm sure there will be leftovers to be had...And it will most certainly be helpful to use up some of them for my own meal today and Chance's work lunches as well.