I’m off work for the summer, which has its good and bad points.  Right now I’m struggling to get things back in order.  Planning meals is a good way to review the week and make sure that meals fit into available time. 

Yesterday I pulled a rather large portion of a spiral sliced ham out of the freezer.  It had been served a month or so ago, but my family isn’t big on leftover ham (probably because the spiral sliced, while convenient, tends to dry out faster).  I plopped it in a stock pot with some onion and carrot (had no celery, oh well!) and let it go until it looked like broth (pretty much all day).  It was fatty, because I did no trimming.  I also soaked a pound of navy beans on the side.  After the broth sat for a while to cool, I poured it into a 2 gallon Tupperware pitcher that I reserve for things like this, stuck it in the fridge, then picked out the edible ham.  This morning all the fat had hardened into an easily removable disc.  I gave the beans a good rinse and they are now cooking in some of the broth (remainder will be frozen) and will be turned into soup, baked beans, and…other stuff.

But…onto the week’s meals.

Tonight we’re having a Garlic Rosemary London Broil which is marinating as I type.  It will be served with baked potatoes and a salad.  I’ll do the potatoes in the toaster oven because when I baked (yet another) Texas Sheet Cake yesterday it got too hot in the kitchen!

Marinated Grilled Shrimp is a favorite of my youngest.  It was on the menu last week while I was out of town, but they ran out of gas for the grill.   He really likes the bold flavor of the marinade.

My oldest is about tired of grilled pieces of meat, but I have pork chops thawing so I’m going to rework  Pork Soft Tacos by marinating the pork, then grilling and slicing fajita style. 

While I was gone, my husband made spaghetti.  He made a whole pound, so most of it is sitting in the fridge, and it’s….very al dente.  I could just pitch it, but I think instead I’ll use the crock pot and turn it into a goulash (also have some italian sausages that they did not finish).  Why waste it?  It will be pretty easy to salvage.  I’ll make some garlic bread to go with it.

Maybe…just maybe I’ll be inclined to try bagel dogs.  My boys love them, but they are darned hard to find (not to mention loaded with preservatives).  I have a stack of recipes that need to be scoured for best practices.

And last but not least…I’m going to be Slacker Mom and set out deli trays.  I put Mini Muffulettas and English Muffin Submarines on my meal plan so that I have all the things everyone likes.

The lack of fruits and vegetables on my plan is intentional.  Someone is waking up early tomorrow and acting as my porter at the Farmer’s Market…

Have a great week!