Boy, did I learn my lesson! Never again will I not really plan a menu for the week. It was almost too loose last week, and we kept on just goofing off and not eating what was on the sort-of-plan. Mostly as I didn't have it really planned out, so none of the prep would get done (mainly, defrosting). So, a good lesson but one I hope I don't have to learn again.

BTW, a couple notes from things I actually DID make last week. First off, the catfish. Whoa, we had forgotten just how amazingly good this is, I am not a huge fan of catfish and I loved it! Jeff picked up three fillets, one on the smaller side for Emi. She ate the whole thing, and then ... had some of mine! She was put off at first at the looks of it (she's not into crumbly textures right now), but I shared a bite of mine and then she couldn't get enough. We had wild rice (a fav of her's) and peas (another fav), she barely touched either. It was fish fish fish! This is another SUPER easy dish to make. Really, it's hard to not make it just right. I set up two wide bowls, one for the butter (I halved the amount) and one for the breading mixture (used less than the recipe called for on the bread crumbs as I wanted to really be able to taste the cheese). Then the baking pan (spray it good) was next in line. Took no time at all! This is a recipe that would lend itself very well to a few people or a crowd. It was just like having it breaded (heavily breaded, not lightly like this was) and deep-fried. It was tender on the inside and crisp and fun on the outside! I think you could use any fish that can hold it's shape, I wouldn't use Tilapia or sole as they are pretty thin, but the catfish was perfect and I'd even try it on salmon, grouper, sea bass, halibut, etc.

The other thing I did was make the Stuffed French Toast, but I did it MY way and thought I'd share. See the recipe for my changes.

In keeping with my post on Saturday, I am looking for healthy foods and recipes for this week but also want to keep working on clearing out the freezer, fridge and pantry. Jeff and I talked about what we wanted to do this week, so here is the plan we came up with:

  • Monday: Leftovers from last week (we still have spaghetti left and some odds and ends)

  • Thursday: Ham steak (I never used the one I bought a couple of weeks ago), quiche (not using the bacon, going with mushroom, onions and zucchini with maybe some ricotta cheese as I still have quite a bit left in the fridge)

  • Friday: Chicken Tortilla Bake (requested) – one-pot meal!
    • One change I make to this, I halve the amount of refried beans. Jeff's not crazy about them and I don't need them!

  • Saturday: Free Nite
    • We tend to go out one night a week. Scratch that. Trying to not go out as much. But I am going to keep this as my ‘whatever night’ as we still will probably need a night of not making dinner for various reasons. I am factoring this in my menu plan each week, but it won’t necessarily always (or often) be on a Saturday. We may use this as our leftover night if there are any by this time.
P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!


Original Post: Menu Plan (Jan 4 - Jan 10)

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