Menu Plan: October 11 - October 17

Food porn.  Staring me right in the face.  Lying smack dab in the middle of a half-price table at Barnes & Noble.  And I couldn't pull my eyes away.  Thoughts of lovingly placing the same dish on the table for my family kept me gazing at the cover photo.  My mouth watered and my mind raced taking mental stock of all the necessary ingredients and whether they were on hand at home.

At the early morning farmers' market, we scored Brussels sprouts, onions, baby red potatoes, an end-of-season casaba melon, a pound of free-range bacon, a pound of buffalo stew meat, and a free reusable "green" bag from a political candidate that we can't vote for because he represents the county and not the city (weird jurisdictions mean that our cities and counties are entirely separate as opposed to other states where cities are in counties and under both jurisdictions).  At the meat co-op, we bagged up three broilers, three stewing hens (the layers that are past their laying prime), two packs of pork ribs, three pounds of bacon (I forgot I had ordered bacon), and our Thanksgiving turkey (frozen, but I didn't want to run the risk of their selling out). 

The meat co-op is all free-range, grass-fed meat.  Beef, pork, chicken, turkey, eggs.  Sometimes they work with neighboring like-minded farmers to supply duck, duck eggs, lamb, and rabbit.  The co-op delivers every eight weeks, so stock up.

Then there are the last of the backyard crop.  Carrots, onions that didn't "bulb", and a few beets. 

Do I have enough to put together that gorgeous food porn I coveted?  Let's try.

• Monday
• Breakfast:  oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar
• Supper:  meatloaf (need to use the ground beef in the freezer to make room for the turkey), creamed red potatoes, green beans
• Tuesday
• Breakfast:  cereal (early morning meetings at the Company don't allow time for more)
• Supper:  Peruvian stew with buffalo meat, hearty home-baked bread
• Wednesday
• Breakfast:  English muffins, fig preserves or tupelo honey
• Supper:  baked mac & cheese, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cornbread
• Thursday
• Breakfast:  melon, Greek yogurt
• Supper:  candied sweet potatoes, orange beets, creamed spinach, homemade dinner rolls (save half)
• Friday
• Breakfast:  baked apples, toast
• Supper:  moules (mussels) à la marinière, french fries, salad, baguettes (gotta have something to soak up the broth)
• Saturday
• Breakfast:  pancakes, bacon
• Supper:  Maeve's birthday party (finger sandwiches, carrot and celery sticks, cake, and homemade lemonade)
• Sunday
• Breakfast:  bacon, eggs, grits, toast
• Dinner:  coq au vin, quinoa pilaf, salad, dinner rolls (saved from Thursday)

So coq au vin isn't quite the food porn I drooled over.  But most of the ingredients are readily available from what's on-hand.  And I don't have to buy a new cookbook for one food-porn recipe.