We didn't bother with a menu plan for the last week of the year, mostly because we were going out to see family, eating leftovers, or eating mustgoes (as in "must go"). We did, however, use up a lot of delicious food. We went to Jaimie's brother's for X-mas day and we were able to take home the turkey carcass. It not only had enough turkey left on it for tacos and then chili, but we made 5 or 6 quarts of stock out of it.
Mustgoes are different from leftovers in that leftovers are generally a full meal (at least using the terminology in this house), either for the family or just one person. Mustgoes includes whatever is in the fridge and it doesn't have to go together to use it up. One night we had hard boiled eggs, pickled beets, pickled eggs, pickles (yep, cukes), cheese and crackers. We were pretty satisfied with that meal too.
This is what we've got planned for this week.
Monday: out to eat while running errands
Tuesday: chicken breast, buttered noodles & corn
Wednesday: squash ravioli
Thursday: whole roasted chicken, baked potatoes and peas. We have a cow hide in our meat freezer so most of the meat is in the other freezer. I have an order for 6 more chickens coming and we need the space. Therefore, we are having more chicken this week to make the space. We're also having company, and roasted chicken is always good for company because Jaimie makes an awesome rub.
Friday: chicken tacos (using up the chicken - it was over 7 lbs). We'll add cheese, avocados and salsa. We won't be buying out of season tomatoes. We bought some last week and, while pretty good for the turkey burgers and turkey tacos, they tasted like out-of-season tomatoes. We can wait for the good ones.
Saturday: Squash and chicken risotto. I saw a recipe in, I think, Better Homes & Gardens for squash risotto. I think I'll just do the slow cooker method with lots of squash, broth, herbs, leftover chicken, and rice to make it. We got a BUNCH of squash from my mother as a holiday gift. We got butternut squash, a pumpkin, spaghetti squash and a squash that hybridized by itself that's a cross between squash and pumpkin. We'll be using them up this winter and I am SO happy to have fresh, local, homegrown, pesticide-free food at this time of the year.
I'd like to add some stews, polenta, and soups into our menus so those will likely be forthcoming. Plus, we need to use up some things from the freezer - those chickens will be coming soon.
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