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Monday, June 9, 2014

A month of dinner menus for our house this June


June brings more variety in the garden for me to plan with. The beginning of the month will still have plentiful salad greens, spinach and mustard greens. Later in the month, these spring vegetables give way to snow peas, Swiss chard, beet greens, new potatoes, strawberries and blueberries.

I was feeling nostalgic for old-time favorites as I planned this month's menus. Included are two dinners from my mom's 1957 cookbook. In addition, for the months of June, July and August, we think it's fun to plan a dinner almost entirely from our garden. I'll begin that little tradition at the end of the month. June is also the month for me to clean out the freezer. I believe there's some frozen cooked turkey, cranberry sauce and lots of soup stock to use up. Time to make room for freezing some summer produce.

Summer means simpler meals and lots of cookouts and barbeques. 

Here's what we're having this month.


week of June 1 through 7

1  soft rosemary polenta with quick marinara, marinated lentil-barley salad (double batch for June 4)
2  roast chicken (freeze 1 container of meat for June 19, make chicken stock w/meat for June 9), steamed spinach, biscuits and gravy, rhubarb sauce
3  leftover chicken dinner, green salad, leftover rhubarb sauce
4  lettuce wraps with leftover lentil salad, Asian-style greens, garlic and noodle saute (great way to use garden greens)
5  Retro Night -- Tuna Bake with Cheese Pinwheel biscuits, lemon-buttered carrots, creamy rhubarb jello
6  meatball sandwiches, spinach salad, leftover jello
7  burritos (refried bean -- double batch and freeze for June 20, rice, corn, peppers, sour cream), green salad, fresh fruit

week of June 8 through 14

8  grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, green salad, canned pineapple chunks
9  chicken noodle soup, pumpkin muffins, green salad
10  baked bean casserole from the freezer, steamed garden greens, brown rice, rhubarb pie
11  Breakfast-for-dinner -- Corn-meal griddle cakes, ham slices, fresh fruit cup
12  Retro Night -- Home-style Macaroni and Cheese, green salad, roasted carrots, leftover rhubarb pie
13  Mexi-style rice and beans, green salad, strawberries
14  hot dog cookout, pasta salad, rhubarb jello salad, s'mores

week of June 15 through 21

15  Father's Day (plans are still up in the air)
16  turkey, garbanzo & tomato soup, garlic bread (from freezer French bread), green salad, plum pie (use freezer plums/crust)
17  waffles with fruit topping
18  bean patties (double batch and freeze for June 25), sauteed garden greens and garlic, herbed brown rice, strawberries
19  Retro Night -- Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie, green salad, strawberry shortcake
20  refried beans (from freezer), Spanish rice, green salad, leftover shortcake
21  hamburgers, pasta salad (with canned tomatoes, olives, green veggies from garden), fresh strawberries

week of June 22 through 28

22  Breakfast-for-dinner -- Crispy-crumb Eggs, Cowboy Coffeecake, sliced bananas and strawberries
23  turkey, cranberry, cream cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, green salad
24  veggie quiche, herbed brown rice, fresh strawberries, green salad
25  bean burgers from freezer, microwave corn bread, sauteed garden greens and garlic
26  ham salad sandwiches, fruit, garden vegetables, chocolate-banana bread
27  marinated lentil-barley salad over greens, fruit cobbler
28  hot dog cookout, fresh strawberries, green salad, s'mores

week of June 29 through 30

29  sloppy lentils on buns, sauteed garden greens with garlic, strawberry sorbet
30  Garden dinner -- green salad, new potatoes, strawberries and blueberries, steamed snow peas, French bread (from freezer) and cheese

10 comments:

  1. this looks so yummy Lili!
    thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yum...that all sounds great. I like the idea of the Retro nights.

    Angie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Angie,
      Sometimes I like to "read" my mom's old cookbooks. The "tips" and "meal planning" sections are always a fun peek into home-life in the 50s.

      Delete
  3. Those all sound so good, Lili. I love to read other peoples monthly menus. They give me some great ideas when planning my own menus and I like to see what other people are eating too. :)

    I have my Grandmother's old Betty Crocker cookbook. I think it is from the 1950s. It is one of those 3 ring binders types, it is hard to turn the pages, so I have to be very careful with it.

    For dinner tonight, I am scrounging, but I do have spaghetti and sauce on hand and some pepperoni, black olives, and mozzarella cheese. I also have half a loaf of Italian bread, so I think I will make a baked spaghetti with garlic bread and serve broccoli on the side.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Belinda,
      One of my mom's cookbooks is a 3-ring binder. And I know what you mean about turning the pages very carefully. I keep thinking I should put the pages into page protectors, as the page edges are beginning to disintegrate.

      Your dinner for tonight sounds yummy, and will surely be devoured and appreciated by all!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      crispy crumb eggs are an egg dish from the 50s/60s that my mom would make from an ancient cookbook of hers. The "crispy crumbs" are bread crumbs toasted up in bacon fat, then they top cooked eggs. Comfort food.

      Delete
  5. What an interesting menu's you make! I have to try somethings like the sloppy lentils, sounds really good.

    ReplyDelete

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