The Menu Series: Comfort Food

Most of the time, Seattle rain is more of a gentle, misty rain. You might get slightly wet, but it's not wet enough to prevent you from going outside, going for runs, or doing yard work. Sometimes, though, we get solid, serious rain. This weekend, we had a few of those days back to back and it put me in a comfort food sort of mind.

Mashed potatoes and parsnips? Yes, please. Braised cabbage? Absolutely.

This week's menu is for unhappy weather when you need a little pick-me-up. As last week, as I make things and remember to take pictures, I'll come back and link to the recipe.

Also? This week? I bought half a goat. You read that correctly. Half a goat. I can't wait. It's pre-butchered and has about 7 different cuts. I can't wait to experiment and see the options available to me.


The Menu:
Chicken and Broccoli
Braised cabbage with apples and pork chops
Wild rice and mushroom pilaf
Chicken soft tacos
Pork medallions with roasted figs

The Grocery List:
chicken thighs
broccoli
white rice
1.5 lb apples
1 head red cabbage
pork chips
avocado
2-15 oz cans black beans
tomatoes
green chiles (canned)
1 lb mixed mushrooms
parsley
pork loin
figs
1.5 lb parsnips
1.5 lb yukon gold potatoes
heavy cream
chives

The Menu Series: Fall is Here

I make menus every week when I make my grocery list. It helps keep me focused and means I'm less likely to come home from the grocery story with cheese sticks and beer and call it good. It also means we seldom go to the grocery store more than once a week. That's a huge improvement from when we were going two or three times a week because we'd forgotten the baguette, or the pork chops, or the spinach.

I'm going to start tracking my menus here so that you can use them and so I can reference them on those days when I just can't think of any inventive meals. I'm also going to include my grocery list. If you choose to use the list, you might want to do some double checking against the recipes. If I have something in my pantry already, it probably won't make it onto the list.

As I make them, and if I post them, I'll come back and link to recipes.

The Menu:

Tuscan bean soup

Squash Risotto

Roasted Beet Salad with pork chops

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Rolled Eggplant

Scallops and Oranges

Grocery List:

mozzarella cheese

4 oz pancetta

1 can cannelini beans

spicy italian sausage

parsley

carrots

celery

chicken broth

pork chops

beets

4 oz goat cheese

1/2 c walnuts

spaghetti

2-28 oz cans tomatoes

1 1/2 lb asian eggplant

bulk sausage tomatoes

1 naval orange

1 blood orange

1 lb scallops cilantro

1/2 lb ground pork

1/2 lb ground turkey

squash

risotto rice