Menu Plan Monday: Comfort Foods Edition

One of my fave things about living near the San Francisco Bay is the perpetual winter overcast.  Call me crazy, but I LOVE it!  The addition of morning fog, which often lingers into evening, blanketing the hill and mountain tops, makes it much more posh than your average midwestern overcast.  This is a melancholic writer's, with a serious bend toward Victorian Brit-Lit, dream weather indeed.  

What does the weather in San Francisco have to do with menu planning, you say?!

Well, it's purely inspirational, I say in return.  When the dampness of a coastal winter delightfully pierces unto the marrow of my bones, what better to eat than comfort foods?

Breakfasts:  Soaked Oats, Gingerbread Pound Cake, Yogurt Smoothies, Whole Wheat-Sourdough Biscuits w/Apple Butter, Eggs on Toast (with fresh fruits)

Lunches:  PB & 'nana Sandwiches, Seasoned Beans over Brown Rice, Tuna on Toast,  Egg Drop Soup w/Peas & Carrots, Canadian Pancakes (with fresh fruits & veggies)

Monday:  CP: Pork Carnitas with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, Chips & Guacamole, Seasoned Black Beans  ((this got lost last week thanks to a pizza surprise from husb'd--tho' I'm not complaining!  The easiest Monday night clean-up ev-ah!))

Tuesday:  Turkey, Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup; Cheese Bread Loaf

Cheese Bread

1-cup buttermilk

2-T butter

2-T sugar

2-cups whole wheat bread flour

2/3-cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 1/2-t yeast

(I use a bread machine to form the dough.  Alter as you may need for hand-making.)

Place ingredients into bread machine in the above order, except the cheese, which you will add when prompted by the machine during the mixing phase, much as you would add raisins or such for other loaves.

Set bread machine to form dough only ((or you could bake it right in the machine, if you prefer.  I have an older machine which makes a cube of bread in lieu of a loaf)).

If you, like me, remove the loaf from the machine before baking, do it now, and form a loaf, slashing its flesh for kicks and because it looks cool, too.

 Cover and rise in a warm place until doubled in size, another hour or more.

((I use my oven in winter.  Turn it on low for a couple of minutes and then turn it off.  As long as you can touch the door with a flat hand and without pain, the oven is not too hot to kill your bread, as long as you don't have some sort of sensory retardation which affects your ability to govern your fab five.))

Bake at 350, for 50 to 60 minutes.

One loaf.

Wednesday: Chicken Piccata, Mashed Red Potato, Romaine Salad w/Black Olives, Red Onion, Shredded Carrot, and Shaved Parmesan

Thursday: Black Bean-Turkey Chili, Wedge Salad, Cornbread

Friday:  Turkey Sausage and Lentils, which I throw into the Crockpot!!

Saturday:  Leftover Buffet!!

Sunday:  If we're not visiting family or friends, we'll do something easy, like Chorizo and Eggs or Toasted Cheese Sandwiches.

Have an inspiring week, y'all!  And, step over to The Organizing Junkie for more meal plans to peruse and recipes to snag.

((Update: Can I just scream about the sun deciding to show its gloomy face EVERY DAY thus far??!!))