Dinner Plans: Week 17

It’s Week 17 of Dinner Plans and this week it’s all about cooking budget friendly meals. 

After a couple weeks of work travel and big projects, we’re back in our weekly rhythm of meal planning. We picked up our CSA delivery this week and I was so excited to see the first bunch of mint this season. With loads more blood oranges, I’m putting the final test touches on a gorgeous citrus cake you’ll love. I will share that on the blog this week! We’re honing in on humble ingredients with carrots, onions, celery, and beans playing front and center this week.

Budget Friendly Meal Prep

Last Sunday, I diced up all the remaining onion, celery, and carrots. I saved the scraps of celery hearts, onion skins, and end of carrots and put them in a freezer bag for a new batch of “stock bits and bobs.” There was another freezer bag of veggie scraps so I tossed those into a stock pot for a quick batch of vegetable stock. I froze a batch of the stock and am using it in soup this week.

I’ve continued shopping the freezer, pantry, and fridge to plan our meals this week. We will cook up another batch of beans, make some rice for easy dinners for the kids, and have pasta on hand for a few meals this week.

Dinner Plans for the Week

Here is our game plan for dinner this week:

Sunday: Penne with Spinach & Arugula Pesto

Monday: Miso Butter Slow Roasted Radishes with Avo-Edamame Toast (recipe in development)

Tuesday: Vegan Mexican Sopes

Wednesday: Cranberry Bean & Farro Soup

Thursday: Spaghetti alla Nerano (using this recipe from Stanley Tucci; may use a mix of fresh mint and basil for garnish since we’ve got the mint)

Friday: Garlic Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Mint and Snap Pea Salad (recipe in development)

Saturday: Pesto Pizza with Sausage and Creme Fraîche

Cheers to a nourishing week. ❤️