Menu Plan Monday

Since the beginning of 2011, I have been making an effort (a good one, I think!) to really expand my cooking and baking repertoire, and skills.  I love documenting the new things I've tried, and I hope my thoughts are helpful to other people.  I'm planning to join the Monday meme of Meal Plan Monday on a somewhat regular basis.  I have gotten much better about planning our weekly meals, but I'm actually going to share our past week's menu because then I can include spur of the moment baking experiences too :)  This first post includes the half a week before we left for our trip to IL, and the week before that.  Enjoy!


***Almost all of the recipes are links, even if they aren't showing up in a different color.  Just mouse around to find them!***


Sunday: Buffalo Chicken Mac-n-Cheese

Monday: I can't remember :(

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: Crock Pot Pizza Soup

Thursday: Crock Pot Pizza Soup and Grilled Cheese

Friday: Korean BBQ Lettuce Wraps at Brandi's (recipe below with shopping list) and Smore's Bar Bake (This was not a hit :(  It was fine, and I think I could have eaten the whole pan before really figuring out my opinion.  We did add ice cream, and that certainly spiced things up!)

Saturday: Lou's pizza (one that my awesome brother had sent to us for our Christmas present!) and salad (The Dole Ultimate Caesar Salad Kit is AMAZING!  I think the key is the special spice packet they include...)

Sunday: Crock Pot French Dip and Shamrocks

Monday: Orange Chicken from Trader Joe's

Tuesday: Pizza Bake (I use a whole pound of elbow macaroni and bake in a 13x9 dish.  There is still plenty of flavor per bite, and it makes tons of leftovers!)

Wednesday: Crock Pot Potato Soup

Korean BBQ 
Typical Menu:
Rice
Lettuce Leaves
Green Onion Salad
BBQ Beef (bulgogi)
BBQ Pork (daeji bulgogi) 
*there is a special utensil to make shred the green onions, if you can’t get one or find one at the Korean market then you can just slice the green onions lengthwise.  I found mine on amazon and I just typed in green onion slicer…=) 
Prep:
cook the amount of rice you will eat
separate, rinse and dry the lettuce leaves (it’s pretty popular to use tortillas too!) 
Green Onion Salad:
bunches of green onion
spring salad mix
1 onion thinly sliced
1 cucumber seeded and thinly sliced
sesame seed oil
salt/pepper
*optional is the ground red pepper flakes you can get at the Korean market
*optional are sesame seeds 
1.  Shred the green onions
2.  Toss the green onions, spring salad, onion, and cucumber
3.  Season with salt/pepper and ground red pepper flakes
4.  Coat with just enough sesame seed oil and toss.  A little oil goes a long way. 
5.  Add sesame seeds if you like 
Beef BBQ (Bulgogi)
*for both the beef and pork, I usually use prepared marinades.  You can buy it as the Korean market. 
** both the beef and the pork can be bought at the Korean market already thinly sliced for you.  Down at the shopping list I wrote down exactly where you can buy it…it’s a life saver!   
5 lbs thinly sliced ribeye
12 tbsp Soy Sauce
6 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
minced ginger
minced garlic
1 kiwi or asian pear pureed (this is optional and it acts like tenderizer) 
1.  The marinade is a 2:1 ratio of soy sauce to sugar.  I use 2 tbsp of sesame seed oil for every 12 tbsp of soy sauce.  So you can make as much or as little as you want.  Just mix all the ingredients and pour over beef.  It needs at least a few hours to marinade.   
*again, the marinades in the jar are just as great and so much easier.  My mom makes a separate batch or another jar of marinade for veggies (sliced onions, carrots, mushrooms) and grill them next to the meat. 
Pork BBQ (Daeji bulgogi) 
5lbs thinly sliced pork butt
marinade 
*I usually don’t have all the ingredients on hand to make this marinade by scratch so I use the jar marinade. 
Assemblage
Take a lettuce leaf or tortilla and layer rice, meat, and green onion salad.  Roll or fold to the best of your ability.  It may get messy!  That's ok!  Enjoy :)
Shopping list: 
Super Q Mart
(This is a Korean international market where I buy the meats.  The meats come frozen located at the back left corner of the store right before you hit the seafood counter.  They are in the “open” freezer and the meats are labeled “Beef bulgogi” or “thinly sliced ribeye” and “thinly sliced pork butt.”)
*green onion slicer
*crushed red pepper flakes (it usually comes in a big plastic package but I don’t ever need so much so they package one the same size as the marinade jars!) 
Grocery Store:
Green onions
onion
cucumber
Spring salad mix
Red or Green leaf lettuce
Sesame seed oil
Sesame seeds
garlic
ginger
Beef Bbq marinade
Pork Bbq marinade
rice 


There are TONS of yummy menu/meal ideas at Meal Plan Monday hosted by Org Junkie!