February 5-13 Mealplan

I anticipated a very busy grocery store on Super Bowl Sunday so I decided to go earlier on the rainiest day of the week. It was a pain to get there and back, but I was the only one in the store so that made up for it! I only spent $67 and saved $92. Pretty fine for a rainy day. My mother in law, (or ‘other mother’, as I like to call her), is coming to stay with us for a night this week. I love house guests, especially during the week. I guess it’s because it adds a little bit of excitement to the normal work-filled week. Anywho, here’s the plan…
*Chicken Taco Salads
We’ll have this when my other mother comes for dinner. It’s always fun to have ‘make your own’ types of meals with company, whether it’s pizza, burritos or these taco salads. (I’ve posted my method for baking the salad shells before, they’re super yummy and you’ll never miss the fried version.) For breakfast the next morning I’ll make my Should-Be-Famous Cranberry-Orange Scones
*Sweet Potato Cannelloni with Brown-Butter-Sage Sauce and Caramelized Onions and Peas
I’ve had a box of cannelloni shells in my pantry for awhile and just discovered them yesterday. I didn’t want to go traditional with them, so this is what I’ve come up with. Sweetened and spiced, pureed sweet potatoes mixed with creamy ricotta cheese will be the filling and once they’re cooked, I’ll top them with the brown butter sauce. And I thought I needed something green on the side so that’s why the peas are here. Don’t you just love frozen peas? Instant veg.
*Sweet BBQ Pork Shoulder, Macaroni and Cheese, and Salt ‘n’ Vinegar Spinach
The ultimate combination of sweet, savory, salty, and sour. Slow cooked savory pork shoulder with a homemade sweet sauce, rich and creamy macaroni and cheese, and slightly sour sauteed spinach.
*Shrimp and Calamari Fra Diavalo with Spinach Salad and Crusty Italian Bread with Pesto
‘Fra Diavalo’ means ‘Brother Devil’ in Italian and here in America it’s basically a red sauce with crushed red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, garlic, parsley, white wine, and onions, and it’s usually served with linguini and some type of seafood. Mine will have shrimp and calamari rings from the freezer.
*Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Potato Crisps
I still have some leftover pineapple from last week and I know I’ll have some leftover pork shoulder from this week so… those combined with some sweet onions and sharp cheddar cheese will make up these yummy sandwiches. And the potatoes will be sliced thinly lengthwise, then baked til crispy so they turn into really big potato chips.
*Beef Satay with Coconut-Peanut Sauce and Carrot Noodle Salad
Who doesn’t like eating off a stick? Kebabs, Brochettes or Satays are super easy to make and always fun to eat. I’ll marinate the beef cubes in soy sauce and brown sugar then grill them on skewers until charred. The dipping sauce will be a home-made sweet and spicy peanut sauce mixed with coconut milk to make it extra creamy. And for the salad, I’ll use my mandolin to julienne a bunch of carrots to make them look like noodles and mix them with cilantro and a dressing made with yogurt and honey.