Oops, I had no idea tomorrow night is the Oscars. I knew it was coming, I just didn’t realize it was coming so soon. If you’re already doing a lot of prep for a party, go ahead and make the meatballs and sauce today. Or you could just order pizza. If it’s good enough for Meryl…
Here’s how the rest of the week comes together. If you’re new here, you’ll find the menu and shopping list on the website.
Sunday
Prep a Bunch of Meatballs and a Pot of Easy Sauce
If you’re making the meat-balls, you only need to set aside about an hour. Vegetarians, you’ll have a leeetle more work. You need to get your double-batch of mushroom-based “meatball” mixture into the fridge early in the day—it needs at least four hours of chill time before you roll the balls. In both cases, follow the instructions “to freeze to serve later” in the meat recipe.
The great thing about Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter is that it takes so little of your attention. You can totally go off and do other things while it simmers, as long as you remember to come back and give it a stir every so often. Once the sauce is ready, transfer 1 1/2 cups to one container for Wednesday and put the rest in another container for tomorrow. Refrigerate both.
Monday
Spaghetti & Meatballs and a Green Salad
First things first: Get those meatballs cooking. For both versions, follow the baking instructions for frozen meatballs from the meat recipe. While they’re baking, get the larger quantity of sauce heating in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, and put on water for pasta. Transfer the baked meatballs to the sauce and simmer for at least 15 minutes, and cook the pasta. Once the pasta goes into the water, make a simple salad with the pre-washed greens, the cucumber, and some cherry tomatoes. Toss with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Tuesday
30-Minute Smoky Black Bean Soup and Everyday Cornbread
Before you start cooking the soup, get the double-batch of cornbread baking (use a 9 x 13 baking dish). Now, the soup: If you’re using the fresh jalapeno and you have little kids, make sure you wash your hands really well before touching them! While the soup is simmering and the cornbread is baking, prep the optional green onions and avocado, and set them out in separate bowls along with the optional pico de gallo, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Let everybody top their own soup.
Before you go to bed tonight, put the leftover cornbread in an airtight container. Transfer 8 frozen meatballs to the fridge to thaw for tomorrow.
Wednesday
Spinach and Meatball Calzones
This is so straightforward, I don’t have anything to say! Except this: If you’re feeding picky eaters, obviously you don’t have to include meatballs, sauce, spinach, and cheese inside each calzone. Let your kids assemble their own.
Thursday
Tex-Mex Cornbread Salad
You’re starting with ready-made cornbread, so you can skip to step 4 with this recipe. If you’re adding canned beans, drain and rinse them and add them along with the cheese and cherry tomatoes. And if you’re serving picky kids, set aside some of whichever elements they like to eat—toasted cornbread, cheese, tomatoes, beans, pumpkin seeds...
If you bought frozen strawberries for tomorrow, transfer them to the fridge tonight.
Friday
Heart-Shaped Whole-Wheat Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce
Cook the package of bacon before you start the pancakes—to do a whole package, I use the oven. Wait until the bacon is almost ready before you heat the pancake skillet, since you’ll need to lower the oven to keep everything warm.
Happy Valentine’s Day, you sweet things.
See you on Thursday,
Debbie