Seasonal Meal Planning page

[Spyhop]

Although I would like to just go to the market and buy what's particularly on sale/in season/looking good and then come home and whip up delicious, seasonal meals out of those ingredients, that takes a lot of time and thinking that I just don't have right now. So, I meal plan.

Right now I'm working from a 14-day repeating Fall dinner menu; I'll probably make a new one come winter to keep in season. I have a master list for this menu so when I go grocery shopping I don't have to write up a new list. I like to look at other people's recipes and menus so I thought I'd post mine.

14-day Fall dinner menu (sorted by animal, not in chrono order)
- shredded pepperocini pork butt*, "taco-style" (with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado)
- other half of the shredded pork, with slaw
- sausage, sweet potato, and kale curry
- veggie latkes and bacon
- whole chicken soup*
- 40 cloves of garlic turkey breast* and sauteed chard
- other half of turkey and greens
- meatballs and fried cabbage
- stuffed peppers/stuffed pepper soup
- beef/onion/mushroom gravy (stroganoff-like) over mashed potatoes
- chili con carne*
- tuna patties and slaw
- cream of seasonal veg soup (this week butternut squash)
- wildcard (friend's house/out to eat/crazy recipe idea/IF)

*crockpot recipe

This is just for a 2-person household, so we generally have leftovers enough for most lunches. Master shopping list available upon request, but I didn't want to clog up the forum with it if no one's interested.

[Bushrat]

Although I would like to just go to the market and buy what's particularly on sale/in season/looking good and then come home and whip up delicious, seasonal meals out of those ingredients, that takes a lot of time and thinking that I just don't have right now. So, I meal plan.

Right now I'm working from a 14-day repeating Fall dinner menu; I'll probably make a new one come winter to keep in season. I have a master list for this menu so when I go grocery shopping I don't have to write up a new list. I like to look at other people's recipes and menus so I thought I'd post mine.

14-day Fall dinner menu (sorted by animal, not in chrono order)
- shredded pepperocini pork butt*, "taco-style" (with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado)
- other half of the shredded pork, with slaw
- sausage, sweet potato, and kale curry
- veggie latkes and bacon
- whole chicken soup*
- 40 cloves of garlic turkey breast* and sauteed chard
- other half of turkey and greens
- meatballs and fried cabbage
- stuffed peppers/stuffed pepper soup
- beef/onion/mushroom gravy (stroganoff-like) over mashed potatoes
- chili con carne*
- tuna patties and slaw
- cream of seasonal veg soup (this week butternut squash)
- wildcard (friend's house/out to eat/crazy recipe idea/IF)

*crockpot recipe

This is just for a 2-person household, so we generally have leftovers enough for most lunches. Master shopping list available upon request, but I didn't want to clog up the forum with it if no one's interested.

Are you only going to buy local produce?

[queen_sheba]

what is a pork butt?

; -)

[yodiewan]

@Spyhop: Sounds pretty good!

@queen_sheba: Pork butt is basically pork shoulder, sometimes called Boston Butt. It is delicious, but is one of those tough cuts with lots of connective tissue that must be cooked for a long time (low and slow) to break down the collagen and melt the fat. I visited my family this weekend and my graddad smoked one. It was utterly delicious.

Here in the South of the U.S., pork barbeque is close to religion/church and football in terms on importance in the typical person's life. My family actually has a recipe for barbeque sauce that my great grandfather made. He owned a grocery store and also cooked his own barbeque and sauce. After he died my grandfather (his son-in-law) started making the sauce, but it was a lot of work, so it's been on hold for the past few years (we still make enough to keep some on hand for our close friends and ourselves).

[queen_sheba]

cool - thanks! yeah i had to do that with some stewing steak this weekend, it was very sinewy and fatty veins in it (connective tissue probably) even 3 hours in it was tough. 7 hours in it was gorgeous!

We had pork shoulder in the supermarket, now I know what to do with it! Winter coming up here in Scotland, seems like an ideal casserole dish!

what do you have with it? What are your stew ingredients?

: - )

[Spyhop]

Re: only local produce. Unfortunately, no. I can't afford it right now. Fortunately I live in a big farming area so a lot of our grocery store produce is local by default (except tropical produce, of course).

Re: pork butt. Yes, pork butt is the same as pork shoulder- the pepperocini pork recipe involves dumping a jar of pepperocini peppers and their juice over the pork in the crockpot, then cooking on low for 8 hours or high for 4. Shredding optional.

[NorthernMonkeyGirl]

(sorted by animal, not in chrono order)

I love this

I wish I could plan ahead like that, but I'm very fickle in what I "fancy" each day. Bah!

[tulipwood]

this is great! just what i need - please post your winter season plan too.

[Sassy]

This is fabulous!! I'm very bad at meal planning but I really NEED to learn to do it. Could you post your shopping list too? or is it really too huge to put in here?

[Spyhop]

Now I've had multiple requests for the shopping list, so I'll go ahead and post it here.

14-day Fall dinner menu shopping list
notes: based on a 2-adult home, but there are often leftovers
we eat dairy, and white potatoes on occasion
since this should last 14 days, you may want to freeze some of the meat and use the most fragile produce first

MEAT
1 (~4 lb) pork butt/shoulder
1 whole chicken
4 lbs ground beef
1 package bacon (so a little less than a lb)
1 (~5 lb) turkey breast (the whole thing, not like a boneless chicken breast)
1.25 lbs of Italian sausage (1 package of 5 sausages, usually)

PRODUCE
1 small head lettuce
1 large head green cabbage
1 avocado
2 small or 1 large tomato
~2 lbs carrots
4 bell peppers
40 cloves of garlic (about 4 heads), plus one head for general seasoning
3 large white potatoes
3 large sweet potatoes
1 bag yellow onions
1 box button mushrooms
1 bundle of kale
1 large bundle of chard (or sub about 2 lbs spinach)
vegetables for the cream soup (I've used 1 big butternut squash, or 3 big zucchinis, or 2 broccoli heads)
vegetables for latkes (again, about 3 zucchinis/summer squash or equivalent amount of carrots)

DAIRY
1 half pint heavy/whipping cream
1 half-gallon of whole milk (I buy a gallon, but some is for drinking)
a dozen eggs
1 small block of cheddar cheese
1 (16 oz) tub sour cream (full fat)
1 lb butter

DRY GOODS
1 (16 oz) jar pepperocinis
3 cans of tuna
2 jars of tomato sauce (not strongly spiced)
1 jar Better Than Bullion (or a whole lot of stock/broth, I use chicken, and sometimes homemade)
1 can coconut milk
lemon juice
white vinegar
chili powder
red curry paste

This list does not include mayo for making slaw- if you don't want to make it yourself from eggs and fat, you could look for a version made with just olive oil, or make a slaw recipe with a non-mayo-based dressing.

Edited: to add spices not on the list since they're always in my pantry