February 2022 Menu Plans

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DahliaDoll

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Jampss ~ Sounds like a problem. Let us know if you work out a solution. Personally, I might just alternate fixing one or the other on different nights, and whoever doesn't like it can just deal with it.

DH doesn't like curry, so I fix some curry-ish flavored soups and eat them myself for lunches. He will do his own lunch, so no problem there. It's difficult when I have the whole family to cook for with several big meat eaters, one vegetarian, one who is trying to avoid dairy, one who doesn't like tomatoes/red sauces ...
 
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Miss JoDee

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It's difficult when I have the whole family to cook for with several big meat eaters, one vegetarian, one who is trying to avoid dairy, one who doesn't like tomatoes/red sauces ...
Sounds like you need to do a potluck buffet. Everyone brings a dish they can eat.
 
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Ahorsesoul

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Trying to think ... I wish to not have so much white flour pasta. I have gotten GF at Aldi's. I have even tried a soy bean and black bean and lentil noodle. DH doesn't care for rice but loves potatoes. DS doesn't care for potatoes! DS and I would eat "zoodles" but DH wouldn't touch those. :rolleyes:

My brain is tired. Any good ideas guys? Toss those my way. :)
The corn and rice together is not too bad to eat. I buy this GF brand sometimes found at Walmart. Other wise at some of the other higher price grocery stores. Just be mindful of cooking times. Over cooking just just a few minutes can turn gluten free stuff to mush. People tell me they can’t tell it is gluten free. Comes in several different types including spaghetti.

Gluten free potato pirogies or gnocchi are pretty good instead of regular noodles. Spaghetti squash is worth a try if you haven’t tried it.

If cooking spaghetti withs sauce always have it with meatbalss or sliced Italian sausage and make your zoodles. Hand DH a loaf of French bread and he can have a Meatball sandwich.
 

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jampss

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Ooooooooooo! Thanks y'all!! I think I will do some noodles for DH and zoodles for me. I do also like the GF noodles and Aldi's price is pretty good. I did precook up some ground turkey with onions, green peppers, and garlic and .... spaghetti squash! I think DH won't be able to tell as I will put it in tomato sauce and over spaghetti noodles. Trying to get that veggie fiber component in!!!!!!!!!!! He wouldn't ever never eat spaghetti squash on purpose. LOL Gluten free potato pirogies sound GOOD ... I will look for those. Oh! I had forgotten about gnocchi ... love that! Thanks.
 
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DahliaDoll

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Sounds like you need to do a potluck buffet. Everyone brings a dish they can eat.
That would be a good idea, but they come from far away (flying) and stay for a week or so. I do all the meal planning. They will help though. We figure it out somehow. No one starves. LOL
 
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AnnieClaus

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Jampss- I have heard rave reviews about the chick pea pasta.

Katrina- Thanks for sharing the recipe. I was curious about that as well when you posted.

Annie
 
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Lori K

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Posting a little early. Wanted to get my menu for the week planned, so I know what I need to pick up at the grocery store. One trip, going early tomorrow morning, before church gets out and people are stopping to pick up last minute supplies for their Super Bowl parties

Feb. 13 - Feb. 20, 2022
Sunday -- Super Bowl --
Chili, coleslaw, corn bread ... or maybe sloppy joes, roasted potatoes, and slaw??? Will make a small layered taco dip, too. (DSis#4 lived in Cincinnati for 12 years before moving back home, so I'll be cheering for the Bengals, hence the Orange. Wish it included the Bears, but we all know that's a pipedream.)
Monday -- Valentine's Day -- casual dinner out with Widows & Widowers group
Tuesday -- baked mostaccoli, salad
Wednesday -- oven roasted chicken, rice, green beans, salad
Thursday -- sausage and peppers (in crock pot), salad, garlic toast
Friday -- pepperoni pizza, salad
Saturday -- cavatini pasta casserole, salad
Sunday -- pot roast (Yay! It's on sale!), potatoes, carrots, salad
 
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Miss JoDee

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That would be a good idea, but they come from far away (flying) and stay for a week or so. I do all the meal planning. They will help though. We figure it out somehow. No one starves. LOL
I have a gluten free menu made up for when my son and his family come for a visit. I don’t have to rethink it every time.
 

DahliaDoll

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I have a gluten free menu made up for when my son and his family come for a visit. I don’t have to rethink it every time.
Yes, I go tried-and-true, too! Last visit, though, we were camping, so some of those had to be re-imagined.
 

jampss

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jampss

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Oooooo! Just watched this recipe!
 
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DahliaDoll

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February 14 – 20
  • Monday (Valentine’s Day) ~ Kaffee und Kuchen (afternoon dessert – chocolate-raspberry upside-down cake) with Pete & Kathy; light leftovers or salad for dinner if hungry
  • Tuesday (Julie overnight) ~ Brisket dip sandwiches with caramelized onions; chop salad
  • Wednesday (après ski) ~ Cat House pizza
  • Thursday ~ Leftover chile verde
  • Friday ~ Grilled whole chicken
  • Saturday ~ Lentil Bulgar Pilaf (with eggs) or Shrimp, chop salad
  • Sunday (DH cooks) ~ TBD
 
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Ahorsesoul

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Oooooo! Just watched this recipe!
This recipe is so good. I keep jars of tamed peppers on hand for this recipe. I love hot peppers but no one else does in the family. My husband thinks green peppers are hot. lol
 
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DahliaDoll

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Jampss ~ That recipe is perfect for me to suggest that DH make one of these Sundays when he cooks. Thank you for sharing it. We don't like much heat in our meals either, so usually go for the "mild" chilis. I use a lot of the Italian Dressing mix to make a marinade that I use on chicken, pork and shrimp. I finally found a pretty good copy-cat recipe for the dressing:
Good Season's Italian Dressing Recipe - Food.com

When I consider the price of food, I can rationalize the expense if I compare it to what we would spend if we went out to dinner. DH smoked a brisket yesterday that will make many, many meals for the price we could have paid for one meal (each) at a restaurant. So many people eat at restaurants these days. Well, DH and I say "We are rational people. We can rationalize anything." LOL


OMG! Did you look at her dinner plate? Bread with gravy underneath the roast, potatoes, peas, and mac & cheese! What a carb load! I'm trying to eat fairly low carb, so I notice those things. I'm sure she has some young'uns to feed. If I lived on a farm and did all the work she does, I could probably handle the carbs, too.

One note about the recipe. She adds water to the slow cooker. I would add that water to the sauté pan after browning the meat to deglaze the pan so it's easier to clean, then add that (now flavored) water to the slow cooker pot.
 
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Lori K

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OK, not sure if this is the right place to post or not, but I just HAVE to share this recipe. It's for a CopyKat Pizza Hut Cavatapi dish. In the summer, when I was home from college, I worked as a day manager at Pizza Hut, and this was often a go-to meal during my shift, and I'd forgotten all about it until this recipe crossed my Internet feed. I used this recipe as my base and made a few adaptations -- https://copykat.com/pizza-hut-cavatini/.

It looks really complicated, but a lot of it can be prepped ahead or prepared for use in multiple meals. Also, I'm a household of one, so I cut the recipe (which serves 12!!!!) in half. AND, I still have enough leftovers for another 3 to 4 meals! AND, I couldn't get a third layer into my casserole, so there's even more left over, still sitting in the pan!

A couple of notes --
  • There's a lot of discussion with this recipe about whether or not the original formula used ground beef or not. What I remember was that we had to use the same ingredients we'd use for making pizzas and their other dishes. I recall chopping up meatballs to use in this dish. Don't know if all Huts did that, but that's my recollection. For tonite's dish, I used 1/4# bulk mild Italian sausage and 1/4# ground beef -- a perfect mix in my opinion. My grocery store has a small meat case and I can usually get bulk sausage there. If not, you could remove the casing from an Italian sausage link (usually about 1/4# each). Since I'm making pizza on Friday, I got 1/2# -- part for this recipe and part for the pizza. I pulled a package of ground beef from the freezer and used a portion of it; the rest will be used for a pot of chili later in the week.
  • I used a pint jar of home-canned spaghetti sauce; pick your favorite, commercial or home made.
  • Instead of thinly slicing the peppers and onions, I chopped them -- I chopped one very small onion, a 1/4 green pepper (leftover from something else) and grabbed a couple of yellow and red mini-peppers from a bag I'd bought for a veggie tray. Leftover onions and peppers will be used for pizza on Friday.
  • Wheel pasta is nowhere to be found right now, so I used cavatini (3/4 c. dry), elbow macaroni (1/2 c.), and mini shells (1/2 c.) -- I started the cavatini first, then added the mac and shells 2 minutes later. This is a great way to use up the ends of various boxes of pasta that are sitting in the pantry. Cook pasta al dente, since it will cook more in the oven.
  • I forgot to buy pepperoni, so it was omitted. Oops! You can also add sliced mushrooms -- that was in our Cavatapi Supreme! Easy to customize this one to make it your own.

I found the instructions for this recipe to be unclear and hard to follow (and the same recipe appears on numerous web sites and no one has revised it), so here is my explanation:
  • Brown your ground beef and sausage together, and drain.
  • While it's cooking, chop your onions and peppers and set them aside.
  • Add the spaghetti sauce to your meat mixture and reduce to simmer, stirring occasionally. These first thee steps can be done ahead, if you want. Just reheat meat sauce, before continuing with the recipe.
  • Cook pasta al dente and drain. Add pasta to your meat sauce and mix well.
  • Grease your casserole dish / spray with oil.
  • Add 1/3 of pasta and sauce mix to the bottom of your casserole dish.
  • Sprinkle with a layer of onions and green peppers.
  • Top with 1/3 of your pepperoni.
  • Sprinkle with part of the parmesan and mozzarella.
  • Add a second layer -- pasta, peppers and onions, pepperoni, cheese
  • And add a third layer if you can. Make sure cheese is your top layer.
  • Bake 45 minutes in preheated 350* oven, or until cheese is starting to brown. (I checked it at 30 minutes and it needed additional time.)
To round out your meal, serve with a salad and garlic bread.

Enjoy!
 

missjane

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We've been eating down the freezer. We still have a lot of chicken and a couple of beef roasts that are very small (look more like extra think steaks). I need to see what we have in the pantry that needs to used to make meals. Something that agrees with my stomach.

Tonight - baked chicken, rice (mild and easy on my stomach)
 

DahliaDoll

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February 21 – 27
  • Monday ~ Leftover chicken; chop salad
  • Tuesday (Open Sew) ~ Brisket dip
  • Wednesday ~ Lentil Bulgar Pilaf (with eggs)
  • Thursday ~ Pork chops; chop salad
  • Friday ~ Cod; chop salad
  • Saturday ~ Stromboli or hamburgers
  • Sunday (DH cooks) ~ Mississippi Pot Roast (twist) ?
 
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Lori K

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Feb. 21-26
DD came yesterday and helped me prep for the week. No set menu this week. I have chicken noodle soup, leftover from Thurs. and a little of the cavatapi still left. Went to my fav Ital deli and got a small pan of mostaccoli and some stuffed green peppers that only have to be popped into the oven. If fridge starts running short, I can easily pop back over there and get some lasagna, ravioli, or other pasta-to-go or from their freezer section. Swelling going down so easier to type, but doing kitchen stuff left handed is difficult. Had to ask a friend come over to slice my banana bread! @DahliaDoll, I'd planned to make pot roast for Sunday dinner; it went into the freezer for another time.
 

missjane

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We're in revival at church this week, so I'm opting for fast and easy...not always healthy. :confused:

Monday - Hamburgers and French Fries
Tuesday - Leftover Potato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Wednesday - Grilled Chicken Breasts, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Thursday - Hotdogs with Chili, Chips
Friday - Pasta Salad with Cornbread
Saturday - TBD (going to thrift stores in Shreveport)
 
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