2021 Thematic Menu Planning (recipes linked!)

The post the prophecy foretold! Aka, a chance to share pretty much ALL of my favorite recipes.

As documented elsewhere, I love love love food — making it, eating it, finding new recipes. It’s all delightful. That being said, I don’t always find it delightful. When weeks get nutty and the stress ramps up, planning dinners can just about do me in. So this year I decided to do what loads of people have been doing for years. I assigned each day of the week a “theme” and selected our favorite recipes to go under each theme. Each week before grocery shopping, I’ll simply select the next recipe on the list for each day and use that to pull together my shopping list. This also has the wonderful side effect of keeping variety in our meals – I don’t think I’ll have a repeat all month.

Now, I’m not going to stick to this rigidly. We will sprinkle in a healthy dose of Papa Murphy’s take-n-bake (my favorite!!), frozen pizza, leftovers (though I like to turn leftovers into lunch), and others kinds of delicious takeout. (MAYBE dinners at restaurants, if COVID keeps behaving itself in Hawai’i.) I’m also leaving open opportunities for random cheese and cracker nights, when special cravings strike, special celebration/holiday meals (Chris loves corned beef), and nights when we don’t eat dinner at all. But having this plan in place will save me the stress of meal planning since I’ll always have a plan to return to, and it will also give me something to look forward to (“Only three more weeks until game hen night! WOO HOO!”). These are all favorite recipes for us, ones we love to eat, so every meal is happy-making.

So here is my thematic plan and list of favorite recipes. If you have any yummy dishes you think I should include, please reply below! I am always eager to try new things and find new favorites. Lists like this exist to be modified when the tummy demands.

Sunday – Something Special

Delmonico-marinated Steaks with chimichurri sauce, potatoes, salad
Skillet chicken pot pie with butternut squash and kale (you can read me waxing poetic about this meal and prep work here), salad
Homemade pasta (and whatever mixings I decide! Probably will involve homemade ricotta…)
Meatloaf, pan-seared brussels sprouts and gnocchi
Curried Shepherd’s Pie
Egg tart with whole wheat yeasted dough, salad
Whole roast chicken with sautéed broccoli or pan-seared brussels sprouts and gnocchi
Mustard- and Rosemary-Roasted Game Hens, salad, artisan bread

Monday – Sheet Pan

Blackberry hoisin pork, green beans almondine, rice
Greek chicken and potatoes, salad
Chicken skewers with peanut sauce, brussels/sweet potato/broccoli/asparagus
Smoky paprika chicken thighs, brussels/sweet potato/broccoli/asparagus
Ranch pork chops, brussels/sweet potato/broccoli/asparagus
Chicken sausage, brussels/sweet potato/broccoli/asparagus (are you sensing a theme in our veggie sides?)
Sage pork chops with apple cider and cream, salad, artisan bread

Tuesday – Stir Fry or Tacos

Orange chicken/beef and broccoli, ginger rice
Old school beef tacos
Pad Kee Mao
Short Rib Tacos with queso fresco
Baja Fish tacos
Black Pepper Chicken Thighs with mango, rum, and spiced cashews (can be served over rice or in tacos)
Slow cooker chipotle honey chicken tacos

Wednesday – Chris does, woo hoo! (this is the day of my evening class, so he is responsible for feeding us and I will eat whatever he puts in front of me unless that is Ravioli-O’s, in which case I will order Grubhub and glare at him witheringly)

Thursday – Soup or Salad