I've never been a football fan. I can't even fake it on Super Bowl Sunday! I'm feeling like I might be coming down with a cold, so instead of going to a party with E, I'm going to stay home and do a little bulk cooking for the week.
In general, my weekly meal planning strategy is to cook as much as possible Sunday through Wednesday, and then ride the leftovers through the end of the week. This is a good fit for my energy levels: normally by Thursday, I'd be thinking about take-out if I didn't have a good stash of food in the fridge.
One of the easiest and most versatile things to make ahead is make a big beef roast. On a weekday, I would do this in the slow cooker, but since I have a little more time today, I'm doing it in the oven in my beloved Le Creuset dutch oven. This way, I can make a more flavorful roast by browning the meat and then sauteing some onions and garlic before putting it all in the oven. I'm loosely following a recipe from the Perfect Health Diet, although my roast is smaller (3.5 lbs). We usually eat pot roast as-is, but that recipe provides some interesting ideas for preparing leftovers with different flavor profiles. We have potatoes, rosemary, and cabbage in the house, so maybe I'll give the Italian one a shot later this week.
To go with the pot roast tonight, I'm going to make a parsnip and carrot puree. I've never made this particular combo before, but in general I've found that veggie purees are easy to prepare and forgiving as leftovers.
Nearly every weekday, I make scrambled eggs for breakfast for the two of us. I eat mine right away, and E takes hers to work to reheat. I don't mind this task, but once in a while it's nice to take a break from the routine and have something pre-made that doesn't produce dirty dishes. If I'm thinking ahead, I can make a batch of egg muffins on the weekend. I usually improvise the preparation, but here's a basic recipe if you'd like to try them out. Today, I browned half a pound of italian sausage and wilted some spinach to put in each muffin. I used 10 jumbo eggs for 12 muffins, but the cups wound up overflowing a bit. Probably 9 would have been perfect. These silicone-coated muffin cups are wonderful for egg muffins- no sticky mess in your pan, unless you overfill them as I did!
