As a blogger and educator, it is very important that I “walk the talk.” The popularity of the food movement is growing and I think there will always be a pessimistic sentiment that such values and ideals are incapable of seeing fruition. Therefore, it is my goal to practice what I preach (as best I can.)
Next week starts the after school “healthy eating and meal planning” class. With my list of food projects growing, I think it’s best that I consider each with the utmost regard. This to say, that if I’m going to stand up and tell a roomful of strangers what to eat and how to afford it, I must live by such statements. That said, let me restate the goal of the weekly menu postings:
To provide a post that includes the menu for the following week. We allot 100$ per week on food. The weekly menu is a preview of what can be afforded in Portland, OR for 100$ a week.
Since we do our grocery shopping over the weekend, I normally plan for 5-6 days, leaving room for spontaneous meals out and leftovers. One of the keys to meal planning is leftovers. When you take the time to make a large pot of soup or tray of lasagna, all that work pays off later in the week. Depending on your planning habits, you can also have a week where the leftovers are piling up and there’s a choice over what to have for lunch! For those of you who want to save money, leftovers are essential.
Considering this, for the week ahead here is our plan:
- Thai curry with vegetables
- Winter vegetable soup
- Rosemary lamb chops with parsnip puree and swiss chard
- Steak with mashed potatoes and glazed carrots
- Celeriac gratin with steamed broccoli and rice
As you can notice here and in previous weekly menu posts, we eat meat once or twice a week. We love our meat! I unabashedly support Afton Field Farms and always look forward to our monthly meat pick-up. Yesterday we received our order for the next month. One of the cuts we purchased was steak, one sirloin and another a round cut. This week I hope to indulge ourselves with the round steak. Though not typically a “choice cut,” a little thoughtful preparation can make a roast taste like a filet.
Besides meat, you will often notice a barrage of vegetables on our plates. When it comes to veggies, we try to stick to the seasons as best we can. Though, this being winter, root vegetables can begin to feel monotonous. So, when possible, I like to throw in some broccoli, cauliflower, carrots or parsnips. One day, I hope to have a root storage setup and then eating out of season will feel less guilty.
In the end, we may be walking the talk, but I think it’s better to suggest we are living by are values. We want to eat well, but more importantly we want to be healthy. Sometimes it takes the extra work of planning to make this goal a possibility. Lucky for us, I love to plan!
Related posts:
- Kale, how I love thee (weekly menu 5)
- Expectations (weekly menu 22)
- Hearty Food Returns (weekly menu 18)
- No Idea (weekly menu 24)
- Reality Check – where is weekly menu 25?
Tags: afton field farm, weekly menu
[...] menu, unlike previous ones, was written more by my wife than myself. Last week’s meals were dominated by winter’s root vegetables. Now, we both love the celeriac, parsnips, turnips [...]