We had a lovely Mother’s Day brunch here yesterday, with J.’s homemade caramel sauce, espresso ice cream with ribbons of dark chocolate and caramel, and Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies for dessert. Hello, decadence. There was watermelon on the dessert table, too, but I sure didn’t see too many pieces of the fruit eaten!

Monday: Grilled Honey Spiced Chicken, challah, Sweet Potato & Kale Bites (pretending it’s Shabbat)

Tuesday: Delicious Dinner Rolls, sliced cheese, Mediterranean Eggplant & Barley Salad

Wednesday: Spaghetti & Slow Cooker Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs, garden salad

Thursday: Easy Chicken Chili (from the freezer). whole grain tortilla chips, garden salad

Friday: Chicken soup with noodles (from the freezer), challah, roasted cauliflower and broccoli

Saturday: Grilled hamburgers & hot dogs, grilled vegetables

Sunday: Picking up new foster pups! Eat out or order in

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

A new spring schedule means we’re not home until after 6 more weeknights than not, which is new for us. I used to find time to cook dinner in the morning, but now I am finding myself using those bits of time to volunteer at our local SPCA instead. And hey, I usually get a warmer reception from the dogs I’m walking than I do from my kids receiving a home-cooked dinner.

Monday: Make your own pizza

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Soup, Quinoa Chickpea Salad, roasted asparagus, Italian bread

Wednesday: Spaghetti & meatballs, garden salad, Fig & Carrot Slaw

Thursday: Hummus, leftover Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Soup, spinach salad with sauteed red pepper and onions, bagels

Friday: Chicken soup with noodles, challah, roasted broccoli and cauliflower

Saturday: Out to eat

Sunday: Out to eat

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

We made a great family meal tonight: salmon, baby potatoes, and asparagus on the grill; plus Baked Ziti for the non-fish eaters. And, because we were celebrating a birthday, there were homemade brownies and Mint Chip Ice Cream for dessert.

J. did at least half of that cooking, but today’s puttering in the kitchen plus a batch of Chocolate Chip Banana Bread muffins make me feel somewhat primed for a week of real dinners after a long hiatus.

Monday: Easy Chicken Chili, whole grain tortilla chips, sugar snap peas

Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce, salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Make your own vegetable stromboli, salad

Friday: Grilled chicken, Citrus & Garlic Grilled Broccoli, Pull-Apart Challah

Saturday: Eat out

Sunday: Grilled hot dogs & hamburgers, Grilled Steak Fries, salad

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

I had a plan in my head, and now it’s written down. Not in stone, though.

This week I’m getting a chance to eat out for lunch twice, for Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. On Monday, I tried the Birdsall House in Peekskill (my first time there). Lunch was very good, and we were able to sit outside on their patio. Not what we expected in March! I chose to start with the Chicken Liver Pate, served with cherry preserves and warm crusty bread. I am a sucker for liver, and I don’t make it myself, so it’s hard to resist when I see it on a menu like this. Then I chose the Beet and Grain Burger, served with wilted spinach, caramelized onions and apples, goat cheese, honey mustard, and a challah roll for my entree. If you follow Chick in the Kitchen on Facebook, you saw a picture of it yesterday. I loved the flavor of this vegetarian main, though there was nothing burger-like about it; the beets and grains had the consistency of risotto and could not be eaten as a sandwich. Dessert was Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake with Rocky Road ice cream. Needless to say, I was stuffed.

Tomorrow I’m headed to Cafe of Love in Mt. Kisco for lunch, and I am already dreaming about their Truffled Chickpeas.

Monday: Spaghetti with Lentils, Spinach, & Red Pepper

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Chicken & lentils (using Amy’s lentil dressing) with orecchiette pasta and roasted broccoli

Thursday: Make your own pizza or calzone (white pizza with spinach for me; mozzarella and sauce for the boys)

Friday: Roasted chicken, shredded & roasted Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, Pull-Apart Challah

Saturday: Eat out

Sunday: Leftovers

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

Back to school and our regular routine after a week off for winter break! The pizza and roasted chicken are G.’s choice; the spaghetti & meatballs and bagels & lox are A.’s request.

Monday: Make Your Own pizza or calzone (I wanted to try braiding one), sugar snap peas

Tuesday: Rolled Turkey Breast Stuffed with Swiss Chard & Garlic, Cauliflower Mash, garden salad

Wednesday: Baked Meatballs with marinara sauce and spaghetti, garden salad

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Roasted chicken, roasted butternut squash, steamed green beans, Pull-Apart Challah Rolls

Saturday: Eat out

Sunday: Bagels and appetizing, sliced tomatoes and lettuce

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

We had a packed weekend of cooking. On Friday night, I prepped the dough for Pull-Apart Challah Rolls and made Roasted Potato Salad with Garden Vegetables (the tarragon dressing is so unique). I also baked a couple of layers of brownies for my half of a two-person birthday cake project.

On Saturday, we assembled the birthday cake. J. made a batch of mocha chip ice cream with a new KitchenAid attachment the boys got me for my birthday, and we layered it with the brownies. Once it was frozen, we slathered the whole thing with whipped cream. Whoa, I know. The recipe came from Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book, and although it tasted out of this world, our construction didn’t quite work. The brownies froze too hard; the ice cream didn’t freeze quite enough; and the whipped cream slid off the cake and onto the tablecloth while we wrestled with trying to slice the whole thing. None of our family cared, though, because it was still delicious. In fact, people started putting in orders for what flavors of cake and ice cream they’d like us to make for their upcoming birthdays!

On Saturday night, J. got antsy about the milk and cream we had leftover in the fridge, and decided to make up a batch of David Lebovitz’s Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream Recipe so it could chill overnight and we could churn it the next day. I acted as sous chef. The recipe involves making caramel not once, but twice, and yes we did start the recipe about around 10:45 PM. At least we are crazy together. The ice cream is divine, but so incredibly rich that you can really only eat a spoonful at a time. We gave away a small sample to our dear neighbors, and I do have more to share if anyone wants it! Without any stabilizers, though, it melts quickly, so you have to live close.

After that batch of ice cream I informed J. that we could no longer keep the ice cream maker in the freezer — it was just too easy to whip something up. So now the ice cream maker is washed and put away, and it will come out in a month or so. Did I mentioned I got a pasta-making attachment for my KitchenAid, too? J. made pasta with the boys while I was in Hawaii, and he made another batch of fettucine on Sunday. I only had a tiny bit, but it was amazing. Are you seeing a theme here? Homemade food, made well, pretty much always tastes better than what you can buy in a store. Still, even homemade ice cream is ice cream, and needs to be a once in a while treat.

With all that cooking done this weekend and in the recent past, our freezer is close to packed with frozen overages, so I’m using up a bunch of dinners I’ve already cooked this week. After this weekend’s excess, I could use the break from doing dishes, anyway.

Monday: Leftover grilled chicken & salad, roasted cauliflower, homemade French bread

Tuesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade vegetable soup (from the freezer)

Wednesday: General Tso’s Slow-Cooker Chicken (from the freezer), whole wheat tortilla chips, garden salad

Thursday: Spaghetti with Eggplant Pasta Sauce (from the freezer), roasted Brussels sprouts

Friday: Chicken Soup with noodles (from the freezer), Pull-Apart Challah Rolls, Carrot Salad

Saturday: Onion soup (from the freezer), garden salad, rolls

Sunday: Out to dinner

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

Did you catch my posts this week about the Scallion Turkey Meatballs with Soy-Ginger Glaze and Peter Reinhart’s (Two-Day) Challah? They were both fantastic and worth a look.

My menu plans have been very simple lately, but that makes them easier to stick to! Lots of vegetable-based recipes this week.

Monday: Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup, Pumpkin Dinner Rolls (bumped from Sunday)

Tuesday: Spiced Lentils with Mushrooms and Greens, leftover Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup, leftover Pumpkin Dinner Rolls and challah rolls.

Wednesday: Beef meatballs in marinara sauce, spaghetti, Carrot Salad

Thursday: Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups, garden salad (I have got to find whole wheat lasagna noodles!)

Friday: Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup, Pull-Apart Challah Rolls, Cheesy Kale Crisps

Saturday: Out to dinner

Sunday: Out to dinner

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

The boys are suddenly very interested in my menu planning, asking to be part of the process and wanting to look up what’s for dinner online rather than just talking to me about it. It’s very cute, and makes me feel happy that I put in the work to plan.

Monday: Trying Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust for make your own pizza and calzones; garden salad

Tuesday: Baked Barley Risotto With Butternut Squash (+ spinach), Sweet Potato Rolls, sliced cheese

Wednesday: Scallion Meatballs with Soy-Ginger Glaze (from the freezer), spaghetti, sauteed broccoli

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Out to eat

Saturday: Grilled rib eye steaks, potatoes, and asparagus; garden salad

Sunday: Black Chocolate Cake with a White Meringue Frosting (I needed a non-dairy dessert) for an afternoon family birthday celebration; leftovers for dinner

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

I’m kicking off 2012 with some new recipes, some old standbys, and lots of vegetables. Did you cook something fantastic recently? I’m looking for new recipes!

Monday: Smoked beef ribs (from the freezer), barley & sauteed onions, pineapple

Tuesday: Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Greens, Light Wheat Rolls

Wednesday: Scallion Meatballs with Soy-Ginger Glaze, whole wheat spaghetti, sauteed broccoli

Thursday: Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups, garden salad

Friday: Chicken Soup with noodles (from the freezer), Quinoa Recipe with Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Leeks and Slivered Almonds, Honey Challah Rolls

Saturday: J.’s Favorite Goulash, whole wheat egg noodles, steamed green beans, garden salad

Sunday: Leftovers or eat out

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.

This is my final menu plan of the year! Next week, both the boys and J. are home on vacation, and since we’ll be out of our usual routine, we’re going to play meals by ear.

Monday: Make your own calzones or pizza (G. likes calzones, A. likes pizza)

Tuesday: First night of Hanukkah! Latkes with sour cream and applesauce, garden salad

Wednesday: Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup, Honey Challah Rolls

Thursday: Meatballs and penne, steamed green beans

Friday: Chicken Soup with noodles (new batch), Honey Challah Rolls (leftovers), Mujadarra, roasted broccoli

Saturday: Grilled hamburgers & hot dogs, Grilled Steak Fries, garden salad

Sunday: order in Chinese food

For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.