Weekday Dinner Ideas

Sunday mornings, I usually figure out what the Monday through Thursday dinner plans will be, but this week, my family will be on their own for most of those while I'm in Monterey. Here's a quick rundown of really, really easy dinners they can pull together.

First of all, last night, I made a big pot of smoky shrimp and halibut stew, that will make for an easy reheat one of those nights. I'd also suggest the large cinque formaggio pizza that's an excellent deal this week for $7.99 at Whole Foods. They could either pop it in the oven as is, or dress it up a bit with Yves veggie pepperoni and maybe some sliced mushrooms. Finally, there's always pasta, opening a jar of Muir Glen organic pasta sauce that's always in stock in my kitchen from those excellent sales that Vitamin Cottage holds periodically.

I'll be back in the cooking action by Thursday, for which I'm planning Mark Bittman's winter squash and pork stir-fry from the New York Times. I make this even easier by using pork stew meat that's already cut up, and since it's on sale through Wednesday at Sunflower, it will be waiting in my freezer. All the rest of the ingredients will be waiting for me too, since they all keep well. Some edamame, also coming from the freezer, will get steamed on the side.

So in a strange way, that gets us through to next Friday's planning.