Sunday, September 13, 2009

we might be eating

In an attempt to both motivate myself to actually cook and to save money by doing so, I have crafted a dinner menu plan for this week. It's been ages since I've done so and I've threatened multiple times since to once again commit meal ideas to paper. I think I'm up to once this year. Maybe twice. We'll see how this goes.

Here's what it's supposed to look like at our dinner table this week:

Mon: baked ziti and broccoli (now, if only I knew how to make baked ziti...anyone? anyone?)

Tue: cauliflower fritters, cannellini, broccoli (why yes, we do have a vast amount of broccoli)

Wed: chicken taquitos (to be made by Cardo)

Thu: zuke-a-ganoush, brussels sprouts (maybe some broccoli)

Fri: Mélange of Kale, Potatoes, and Tomatoes with Parmesan (I'll probably have enough kale left to make kale chips)

Sat: pizza (most likely of the from-the-freezer variety)

So, here's hoping that I actually stick with this. I'll post pictures as I make the dishes, as usual.

4 comments:

Kat said...

Not lowfat as is (you can do full fat or health it up by using chicken instead of beef, less or lowfat cheese, and sometimes I sneak a little grated zucchini into it the red sauce w/the meat.

This makes a HUGE amount, so half it if you don't want a lot. But it does freeze pretty well.

Baked Ziti
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground meat (beef or chicken or turkey)
2 (26 ounce) jars of your fave spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces shredded mozarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese


DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.

In a large skillet, brown onion and ground meat over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 inch baking dish w/ pam spray. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti,1/2 Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Cover w/foil. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses melt.

Coach J said...

Here's the freaking easy way (or lazy way... whatever) to make baked ziti:
1) Boil the pasta (any pasta will do here)
2) Drain pasta, return to pot, stir in one jar of pasta sauce (your fav jarred variety) and 2/3 of a bag of shredded mozzerella.
3) Put in oven dish (I use a corningware dish), sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

I'll sometimes add fresh basil if I'm feeling fancy.

Coach J said...

BTW... Kat's sounds waaaay better.

The Furie Queene said...

My baked ziti is a combination of Kat's and Coach J's.

Brown a chopped onion and your choice of ground meat (or soy product) in a skillet. Once browned, mix with (cooked) ziti, stewed tomatoes (or spaghetti sauce), mozarella, and ricotta cheese. Bake as per Coach J's directions.

I really like the ricotta in it. It does a lot for the texture.