What We're Eating This Week

this week I'm doing a combination of make-ahead and quick day-of dinners. As of this morning Deputy Handsome is back on day shift for four months so this allows me a little more flexibility. I still want to make ahead as much as possible to make evenings run smoother, but there are some things that taste better right away (pan-seared steak) and some things that taste better after a day or two (lasagna!), so it's nice to have the option.

Here's what's on the schedule for cook-day today:

• White Veggie Lasagna
• not really a recipe, but based off a suggestion in a vegetable cookbook I got from the library
• good way to use up some leftover produce in my fridge and just calling it "white" makes it seem more appropriate for summer than traditional heavy, cheesy, gooey (delicious) red-sauced lasagna
• Meatloaf
• a recipe I haven't tried before from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pan in Your Kitchen
• it has cheese in it ... I have never seen cheese in a meatloaf recipe before and I am super intrigued
• Sweet Potato Pancakes
• making a big batch! store leftovers in the fridge and pop in the toaster all week
• Granola Bars
• to use up the leftover almond-cherry granola I made last week. recipe for the bars comes from the current issue of Runner's World magazine
• Filling for Chicken Pitas
• cook and shred a couple chicken breasts
• make a sun-dried tomato and pepper puree
• recipe designed to be an ideal post-run meal. You can check out this and other no-cook recipes for runners here

What I'll be making on the same day we plan to eat it (both recipes from the August 2011 issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray):

• Ruby Plum Chicken 
• Latin Steak with Pan-Roasted Corn and Salsa Verde

This weekend is bachelorette weekend so I'll be leaving Deputy Handsome alone with both kiddos for two nights. I'm hoping that there will be enough leftovers from these dishes to last them until I get home again. If not, my husband is quite possibly the best mac and cheese chef on the planet, so they won't starve.