menu of the week

(image via a farmgirl's dabbles)

Each Sunday I spend about a half hour planning our meals for the week to simplify grocery shopping and hectic afternoons. I decided to start sharing my weekly menus here because I figure that I'm always looking for new recipes, so maybe you are, too.

pan seared flat iron steak from Rhodemont Farm with roasted potatoes and broccoli - I haven't made beef at home in a while so this is going to feel like a treat for us. The potatoes and broccoli are a great combination - I love to roast them simply with extra virgin olive oil and salt & pepper at a high temperature so they get all those crispy brown bits that I can scrape off the pan and eat as an appetizer.

frittata with spinach, potatoes, and leeks - This is a new recipe from Cooking Light's way to cook vegetarian that my friend Kayla let me borrow. I'm planning on adding mushrooms because in my opinion mushrooms make almost anything better. Unfortunately for Matt, he doesn't agree with me but he can just pick them out.

lasagna soup - My cousin Stephanie recommended this recipe to me a few months ago and it was so yummy and perfect for a cold winter night. The cheesy topping makes it.

black bean and sweet potato tacos - We can't get enough of these sweet tacos and have been having them probably every two weeks. Matt likes his with a dollop of sour cream and I like to add chopped avocado.

pork jowls with beans - This is going to be an experimental dinner as I've never cooked with pork jowls before, either cured or fresh, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'm successful! The folks at theKitchn were super helpful, but if you have any tips, please share!

Every week I only plan for five dinners assuming that one night we'll have leftovers or go out to eat, and I try to make a green salad every night. Our breakfasts are pretty standard - oatmeal with nuts & fruit, eggs, the occasional German pancake - and lunches are usually leftovers or, if there aren't any, grilled cheese or peanut butter & jam. Sometimes I plan for snacks or dessert, but one of my resolutions involves less sweets so I'm trying to bake less, as sad as that is. Read more about how I plan meals here and here.