More Dinners For This Week

I've already described the steaks from Sprouts on deck for tonight. On to tomorrow night, which will be a sweet potato and sausage soup, from a recipe published in Bon Appetit. Sweet potatoes abound right now, without huge price differences between stores, so I'd buy wherever you find it convenient. I deviate from the recipe by using chicken sausage that I cook well, which this week means any of the varieties on sale at Sprouts for $2.99/lb (convenient to get the steaks and the sausage in one trip). That will be accompanied by a salad with my own dressing, that I'll describe later. The salad will definitely include avocado, since they're on sale for 4 for a dollar at Sprouts! They're Hass conventional ones, but I'm not a purist for organic, especially for things that get peeled anyway, and this is an extraordinary price for Hass conventionals anywhere! I'll make a special trip to Whole Foods to get a bread for this soup, as no one does fresh bakery bread like Whole Foods. I'll freeze half for the repeat of this dinner Tuesday.

Monday we'll be back to vegetarian, with a nicely lightened version of Fettuccine Alfredo from Cooking Light. Recipe with video is here. I'll be experimenting with a light cream cheese picked up at Sprouts for just $1.99/lb this week. Have always made it before using Horizon Organic's light cream cheese. As previously noted, I almost always use stocked up whole wheat pasta, always on sale for $1.39 at Sunflower (but I'll use linguine since they unfortunately don't do a fettuccine cut). More salad, and of course, a 25 cent avocado. I seem to be leaning towards Sprouts this week, but I go wherever the bargains and my inclinations take me.

Tuesday will be a snap - a reheating of the sweet potato and sausage soup (cooking for two, it makes plenty for two dinners), another salad (with a 25 cent avocado!), and Whole Foods bread taken from the freezer.

Wednesday we'll be celebrating more fall produce with a butternut squash and shrimp risotto, published in last month's Bon Appetit. Looking for quick cooking, I never do the teeny broth additions for a risotto anyway, so I love how this recipe vindicates my addition of all the broth at once. Pancetta is a glorious addition, and for a small amount, is not too expensive at the deli counter at Whole Foods. The shrimp can be pricey, but I'll be pulling mine out of the freezer from a past sale, and won't be using the full pound that the recipe calls for. Also, watching the cholesterol, I'll add a touch of low fat milk at the end, rather than the cream.

Thursday is still up in the air, but I'll keep you posted. Hope some of this is helpful as you plan your own dinners. Comments most welcome.