What's For Dinner?

Meal planning is an important part of my weekend.  When life get's busy with work, volunteering, social activities, and housework, it's easy to bump a good dinner to the bottom of the priority list.  I've found that just a small amount of planning on a Sunday afternoon  pays off in dividends throughout the rest of the week - having a tasty dinner is a nice way to spend some time with my husband, and having leftovers around for lunches and freezing for the really busy days, helps out a lot.

I like to check the farmer's market on Saturday to see what they have in season and new, and then spend some time perusing some of my favorite food blogs and websites for inspiration, and then putting together a list of meals that will keep us going for the week. I try to keep in mind which days are busier than others, as well as figure out which ingredients can work for more than one recipe.  Also, for my husband and me, we like to eat vegetarian a few nights a week, and also like to have something spicy and ethnic at least once a week.  Here's what I'm planning for the next seven days:

Sunday (tonight!): Vegetarian lasagna with Roasted Squash (Butternut & Acorn from the farmer's market - I'm semi obsessed with roasted squash right now, if you can't tell from the recent recipes!).  Fresh bread from the farmers market, arugula salad. The hubby is studying for a bit microbiology test, so I'm making something that tastes good after sitting around for awhile and reheated, in case he's home late.  This one will also make for some major leftovers.

Monday: Black Bean Chili with ground beef (the one night this week where we'll have red meat), corn bread. I'm always low on fresh ingredients the day before a grocery shop, and most of the ingredients for this meal come out of my pantry and freezer.

Tatsoi - my latest farmers
market discovery! the size
of a dinner plate, and very flat.
Can't wait to try it out!

Tuesday - Grocery Shopping Day:  Asian Chicken Salad with Totsoi - this cool new Asian green that I discovered at the farmers market yesterday - read more here - , I can't wait to try it out!).

Wednesday: Mediterranean Quinoa Burgers. These are fast, yummy, and vegetarian.  I top them with whatever I have in the fridge - usually that means, hummus, slices of tomato, baby spinach, cucumber, Greek yogurt, and Sriracha spicy aioli. I serve them bun-less, on an english muffin, or mushed into a pita pocket a la falafel style.

Thursday:  Thai Panang curry with tofu and shrimp, jasmine rice.

Friday: Italian Tuna Bean Salad - a no cook favorite in my family, perfect for a Friday when I'm exhausted from the work week.

Saturday:  Homemade Ravioli with squash, Marscapone and sage with brown butter sauce and parmesan. Spinach Salad.  Homemade pasta is always a bit time consuming so it's a fun meal to make on a Saturday. To save time, I'm saving some of the squash I'm roasting for the lasagna for this meal.

What are you eating this week?