Meal Plan • 11/30/15

• Monday: Linguine with hot pepper, caramelized onions & gremolata, served with lemon-basil bruschetta
• Tuesday: The Any-Vegetable Frittata (made with whatever veggies are in the crisper), roasted Brussels sprouts
• Wednesday: leftovers
• Thursday: Creamy spaghetti with blue cheese, spinach, & walnuts (the linked recipe calls for escarole, but I prefer to substitute fresh spinach)
• Friday: The musician is cooking, but he cannot be pinned down to a specific recipe at this time
• Saturday: Baked mac & cheese, Braised green cabbage
• Sunday: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't cook on Sundays

It happens every year after Thanksgiving.  I lose all interest in cooking for a few days, and I am still so traumatized by the crowded grocery stores from the week before that I refuse to shop until the kitchen has been completely laid bare.  

Thus, this week's menu is based entirely on (1) what gets me out of the kitchen in the least amount of time, and (2) what can be thrown together with what's already in the fridge & the pantry.  Frittatas are great for using up things like the last bell pepper in the crisper drawer, the single potato that didn't get roasted last Thursday, the last 2 ounces of mozzarella, the single stalk of fresh chives, etc.

And then there is that lonely bag of fresh spinach still in the refrigerator from the night before Thanksgiving.  That was the evening when I was too busy baking pie and chopping fruit for the next day's feast to make the pasta salad I had planned, and so I sent The Musician to pick up pizza instead.  That spinach will be perfect for the creamy spaghetti with blue cheese recipe.

Recipes that clean out the fridge are my faves.

The Musician will be staging as the guest chef on Fridays for the next few weeks while I teach a dinner hour yoga class, but he prefers the creative leeway to surprise us at the last minute doesn't plan that far ahead, so details are scarce for that night.  

Is anyone else even bothering to cook this week?  I'm not even all that hungry...