Organizing Ourselves: Dinners Week of 02/01

Anticipating a return to work and trying to be budget conscious, I'm finally settling down into a week of menu planning. I sit down with lists on Sunday evening: what's in the freezer, the produce bin and the pantry; and I come up with the week of menus.


We're in week two and it's working out well. R. and the grandparents know not to touch something if it's on the menu list, everything else is fair game. There's less waste and I'm clearing items out of the freezer with a quickness.

Dinners Week of 02/01

o Monday: Chicken Soup, Salad and Bread
With everyone fighting colds, it's time for cheater's chicken soup: saute some diced onions, then simmer a chix breast in low sodium broth, add diced vegetables (celery, carrots and baby turnips in this case) and pastina or other small pasta. Instant comfort.

o Székelygulyás (Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Goulash): Mom's homemade, delicious

o Chicken Enchiladas + Sauteed Greens: The best enchiladas I've ever made, with leftover chicken from a Martha Stewart recipe (left over from the Super Bowl) and the quick sauce option and fillings from Jaquelyn Higuera McMahon's California Rancho Cooking. The carmelized onions made them!

o Kaddo Bowrani

o Sweet & Sour Cabbage Soup
I think I've finally perfected this! It's a mish mash of recipes from The Mensch Chef, Loaves & Knishes and Jewish Cooking in America (1st ed.)

3 lbs. flanken shortribs
2 yellow onions, large dice
2 28-oz cans diced tomatoes
1.5 T tomato paste
2 qts. water
1 t salt
1 small cabbage, coarsely sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 t sour salt
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring the first 6 ingredients to a boil, simmer together for 1 hour. Meanwhile place cabbage in a colander, sprinkle liberally with salt and allow to drain 1 hour. Rinse with hot water, add to pot with remaining ingredients. Simmer 1 hour, adjust seasonings (especially the sugar and sour salt) as desired.