July 12-18 Mealplan

I’m baaaaack! We made it through one hell of a stomach storm. I’m very close to being back to normal and so are my boys. We can all eat food again, drink wine again (not the little one, he can’t hold his liquor these days), and wear normal people clothes again. I was so happy to go to the store today, I think I spend 2 hours there. I bought a cart-ful of groceries and only spent $70, but saved $72. (That made me even happier) Here’s the plan for this week…
*Gyros
I adore gyros. I adore anything Greek, actually. When I was little my mom would take me to the Greek Festival in Charlotte after my soccer games. We would fill up on gyros, greek salads, spanikopita (my absolute favorite Greek item in the world), loukoumades, baklava, and then drive home incredibly stuffed. A great gyro may be one of my all-time favorite sandwiches. In order for it to be great, it has to be made of lamb. The pita needs to be soft and warm. There needs to be an obsene amount of tzatziki, and juice needs to run down your chin. I got some gorgeous, soft, whole wheat pitas on the cheap today and still have ground lamb in my freezer from last week’s failed meal plan. Everything else I need is also in my fridge.
*Orange-Glazed Pork Chops with Prosciutto and Beet Salad
I found some thick, porterhouse-style pork chops on a ‘gotta get rid of this now’ sale today. That’s the only kind of pork chop I like to buy. It’s an incredibly moist and flavorful cut of meat. My mom gave me some gorgeous beets that she grew in her garden, and I love roasted beets with pork. I found some cubed prosciutto on sale (it’s one of my favorite ingredients so I buy it whenever it goes on sale), and goat cheese crumbles (also a fave of mine). So I’ll make a salad of roasted beets and onions, prosciutto, goat cheese, and fresh nectarine slices (also on sale), then drizzle it with a balsamic reduction.
*Jerk Chicken, Jamaican Banana Dumplings and Corn Salad
G and I spent our honeymoon in Jamaica (all 36 hours of it!). The best part of our experience was the food. It was wonderful and extremely unique, so I will try my best to recreate some of the flavors we fell in love with on our trip. I also saw Tyler Florence make a meal like this and thought it sounded wonderful. HT had split chicken breasts for $.77/lb so I bought 2 packs of 3. (They were under $2 per pack!) I’m most excited to try to make these dumplings. What I will make is more or less like a biscuit dough that I will roll into balls, stuff with a banana slice and poach. I have a fridge-ful of corn on the cob from last week so I’ll put it to good use this time around!
*Maple Pork and Vidalia Kabobs with Apple and Sweet Potato Chips
I have a pork tenderloin in my freezer that I’ll cut into disks and skewer along with thick slices of vidalia onion. Then I’ll make a glaze using maple syrup and maybe some orange juice. I have a lot of apples that are now starting to wrinkle on me so I needed something to do with them. I decided that I would slice them very thinly and cook them along side the sweet potatoes. (Using the same exact method as the posted non-recipe from a couple of weeks ago).
*Linguini with Shrimp, Tomato and Basil Sauce
I found some fresh, whole wheat lingini today and anytime I can get my hands on some fresh pasta I have to eat it with a light sauce so the flavor of the pasta has a chance to shine. I keep shrimp in my freezer that I’ll saute and toss with a raw tomato, basil and garlic sauce. Finish it with a little olive oil and shaved parm and you’ve got a perfect summer pasta!
*Steak Medallions, Creamed Spinach and Onion Rings
This is another one of our steakhouse meals. I’ve never been one to order onion rings with my steak. I never understood it, but I hear it’s a popular thing so I’ll give it a try! I think I’ll make a batter very similar to a pancake batter, coat the onion slices in it and then sear them on a griddle until browned…then probably finish them off in the oven. I got the steak today for very cheap and I always keep spinach in my freezer. (Cream cheese makes the quickest and yummiest creamed spinach!)
*Honey-Lime Chicken and Tequila Veggie Saute
I’ll use some more of those chicken breasts I got on sale for this meal. I think I’ll just season the chicken with s&p and roast it. Then glaze it with a combo of fresh lime juice, honey and cumin. The veggies for the saute will be red bell pepper, fresh corn, green beans, onions and garlic. When they’re cooked and ready to be served, I’ll add a little tequila to the pan and toss it around a bit before I serve it.
Happy Eating!