Back On The Wagon

I have a confession to make: for the past few weeks dinner has been a big fail. Meal planning has fallen by the wayside. Dinner at the table – what’s that? And more take-out has been consumed than I’m willing to admit. This week, I’m determined to get back on the healthy family dinner wagon. Of course, I’ve picked an less than ideal week to start. We’re going away for the weekend which means grocery shopping will be done in rush before we leave tomorrow morning and I won’t be in the mood to prep meals for the week when we get home on Sunday night. But I’m going to try anyway. I’m starting with some easy standby meals and if all goes well I’ll get more ambitious in the kitchen next week.

In other news, last night I started A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table by the lovely Molly Wizenberg of the Orangette blog. I was only able to read a few pages before falling asleep (see previous post on sleep deprivation) but I am already smitten with Molly.

I’ve also dipped my toe into the big, bad Twitterverse. I have been afraid of Twitter (irrational, I know) and am now trying to conquer my fear. Find me at @culinarybiblio for more food, book and mom stuff and/or @thebedwyrpress for my adventures self-publishing The Never King.

And now for what you’ve all been waiting for (yeah, right). My meal plan for the week. Wish me luck!

Monday: Pasta and salad. With sauce from a jar. Boring, I know, but both kids have swimming on Monday night (usually it’s only one) and I know we will be home late and boiling water and heating sauce will be all I will be able to manage.

Tuesday: Pork Chops in Apple Cider. This is a recipe I’m pretty sure my mom made up but it’s really, really simple, kid-friendly and yummy. Take boneless, center-cut pork chops (although truth be told, I’ve used bone-in) and brown them briefly in a skillet. Leave chops in skillet and fill skillet with apple cider (apple juice works too, in a pinch) until the cider level comes half way up the chops. Cook until chops are cooked through (about 10 minutes for boneless, but double check. Trichinosis is not fun!). Remove chops from cider and serve. If you really want to get fancy you can throw some sliced apples and onions in with the chops while they’re cooking.

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner –Omelets. The Scotsman is the omelet chef in our family so I’m delegating this dinner to him.

Thursday: Kids: French Bread Pizza Adults: Open-Face Caprese. The kids French bread pizza is pretty self explanatory – apply tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to slices of French bread. Bake at 350® for 10 mins or until cheese in melty. I’m going to kick it up a notch for the adults with this recipe from Rachel Ray for an Open-Face Caprese . 

Friday: Homemade Hamburgers. I don’t have a particular recipe in mind at the moment. I’ll probably just wing it.

So there you have it. What are you cooking this week?