Meal Planning

This week is Simran's birthday.  I haven't been cooking to plan much recently, so I have quite a few non-perishable ingredients getting backed up.  I've spent the last four hours making macarons for Sim's birthday party.  A lot of it is wait time, but it's still the most temperamental recipe I've ever worked with.  God willing they will freeze nicely and thaw well as the internet claims they do.  I plan to thaw them Friday, ice the cupcakes, and then fill the macarons with the same vanilla buttercream and keep them in the fridge until the party Saturday.  They aren't the prettiest -- I still can't get them uniformly flat and shiny, and I think I whipped the egg whites longer than I was supposed to -- but they taste really good.  Dinner time is in 45 minutes and I really don't feel like cooking anymore.  Here is what I'm hoping to make and get rid of this week:

Cheese Ravioli with Arugula & Pecorino Romano
I noticed a wedge of Romano in the fridge and decided to make this.  Unfortunately it required me to buy a pound of arugula -- the only size package available at the store -- and might have been a terrible idea what with my already full refrigerator.

Tofu & Veggie Stirfry with Brown Rice

No Huevos Rancheros with Pea Guacamole

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup and Vegan Mac 'n Cheese and Chik'n Tenders

Gardein Cheeseburgers and Crudites
Planning to save this one for Thursday, the night before Sameer's parents arrive, just to keep it simple and keep the kitchen relatively clean.  It's Sim's birthday, so I guess I'll make her a veggie dog in the hopes she'll actually eat something. 

Simran's 4th Birthday Party

Simran decided on an Octonauts themed birthday party this year.  That means lots of fun under-the-sea themed foods and decor for me.  She was also adamant she wanted a chocolate cake.  I've ultimately decided on the following menu, with input and approval from Simran:

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, topped with Orange Molded Chocolate Sea Creatures:  I've used this chocolate cake recipe for years now.  I'm sure one of the top reviews mentions how much to adjust the cooking time for making cupcakes.  For topping I'm just making a basic vanilla buttercream with really good vanilla extract and adding a hint of gel food dye (I have both sky blue and leaf green, which I think I can make yield a nice aqua).  For the decorations, I found a sea creature chocolate mold on Amazon and orange colored meltable chocolates that you can by at grocery and craft stores (you can use white chocolate chips and a tablespoon of vegetable shortening and presumably a touch of gel food coloring, but the white chocolate came out so strong and overpoweringly sweet when I tried this that I am hopeful the meltables will be milder just by virtue of having a larger variety of ingredients listed on its packaging).

Oyster Sandwich Cookies:  I've seen about fifteen variations of this cookie on the internet, especially Pinterest.  It basically consists of two cookies positioned half open to look like an oyster shell, frosting inside, and a chocolate Sixlet that looks like a pearl positioned atop the bed of frosting.  The version I've decided to go with will be blue macarons with more of the same aqua dyed buttercream I'm using on the cupcakes.  Macarons are a pain to make, and I am going to experiment with freezing them so I can have them fresh without having to make them when I'm pressed for time, but they impress guests greatly because they're hard to make and expensive to buy, and it's nice to have a gluten-free treat option when you might have gluten-free guests.  I have white pearlescent Sixlets for the pearls.  If the macarons don't thaw well, I figure I can buy simple ginger snaps or something (the spice and buttercream flavors go well together) and assemble the whole lot in ten minutes or less, and gluten free guests will be relegated to the ice creams.  Regardless, I plan to assemble these cookies when I frost the cupcakes, right after making a large batch of frosting.

I plan to have ice cream, though I'm not sure if I'll make my own or buy some.  The thing that makes ice cream good is freshness.  How good it tastes is inversely proportional to how old it is, which is the only reason to make my own.  If I make my own, I will probably use this recipe because it's eggless and one person who might attend the party has an egg allergy, so I always try to include an eggless treat.  I will omit the preserves from the recipe though.  I've never gotten them to mix in properly when making this previously and they stuck out kind of oddly.  This chocolate ice cream recipe is Sim's favorite and uses up the exact amount of egg yolks left over from making two batches of macarons, so I might make this too.  Or maybe I'll freeze the egg yolks and make the chocolate one next week with any leftover half-and-half or cream from making the vanilla.

I have a drink dispenser I've used for fresh lemonade or punch in the past, but I think I might skip the punch this year.  So much of it is left over each year that it seems like a waste when I can just put out various sugared sodas and unsweetened fizzy waters that, unopened, can be saved for later.  Maybe I can find a limeade or something at Trader Joe's and put that in the punch dispenser.  I don't know.

For savory snacks, I'm going to put out good cheese (probably Cotswold with chives and some smoked Gouda -- they're my favorites and yielded good feedback from guests last time) pre-sliced and store-bought crackers, a vegetable platter with homemade ranch dressing featuring a half-submerged bell pepper cut to look like an octopus (thank you, Pinterest), and a fruit plate.  The fruit might be cut with my melon baller or star shaped cookie cutter, it might be inside a personal watermelon carved to look like the Gup-A from Octonauts (thank you, Pinterest), or I might just throw it all together on a plate because I've run out of energy.  Simran wants to make sure we have strawberries, blueberries, and mango slices, so those will be included.  Based on previous birthday parties, the thing that makes the biggest difference to guests is the inclusion of a ridiculous sweetened fruit dip made from cream cheese and marshmallow creme and Cool Whip, so I'll make a bowl of that.  I think I'll buy some little snack packs of Goldfish crackers and put them in a bowl too.  That way any that don't get opened can just go toward Sim's school lunches for the rest of the semester.

 

 

Meal Planning

Homemade Veggie Dogs and Vegan Mac 'n Cheese and Crudites or Salad 

Tex-Mex Croquettes over Arugula/Spinach Salad with Fresh Guacamole

Tofu & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice

No-Huevos Rancheros  

Vegan Shepherd's Pie and Green Salad with Vinaigrette
I want to use up the last of the russet potatoes that don't go into the vegan cheese sauce for the mac 'n cheese, so I'm making shepherd's pie.  I'll make the salad from the last of the arugula/spinach blend.


Crispy Breaded Tofu and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup and other leftover sides