Hello! This week I tried a new approach to meal planning since sometimes it feels overwhelming or other weeks I am like holy hell do we really have to eat. On Sunday I scrolled through Pinterest and my cookbooks and came up with general ideas that sounded good for this week, like enchiladas, and then on Monday when I was able to see the grocery store ad I made a set list filling out the recipe ideas with things that were on special. I really liked breaking it up this way and it made it way faster.
Monday – Tuna Noodle Casserole
Tuesday – Beef Enchiladas with Shredded Lettuce – Seriously thinly sliced lettuce piled on top of enchiladas is so good!
Wednesday – Pizza Lasagna Rolls – I am trying a new recipe and substituting ricotta cheese for cottage cheese so we will see how it goes
Thursday – Corn and Bacon Chowder
Friday – Tex Mex Burgers and Fries – Mr. H is going to try and make hamburger buns from scratch so fingers crossed they turn out good!
Saturday – Sausages and Pasta Salad – This is a great example of substitution as originally we were going to buy ribs that were on special but when we got to the store we found some sausages that were on clearance so we saved about 60 kr doing that
Sunday – Leftover Surprise!
_____________
For me this is a great clean out the cupboard dish because you can always tweak it here or there for what you have on hand. Also depending on how liquid you add you can change whether it is a soup, stew, or pasta dish.
p.s. When I write out these recipes I am doing so from my personal notes so they are a combo of measurements and Swedish and English terms so please let me know if you have a question!
Ingredients:
1 lb pork – I have used bone in pork chops cut up as well as pork loins really it is just whatever is on hand and needs to be cooked
1 onion shredded
3 garlic cloves diced
2 carrots shredded – I used my food processor and do the onion and carrot at the same time
1 can white beans in tomato sauce – for those of you in the US it is the blueish Heinz can, for this recipe I just use the ICA brand here since I am going to be simmering them anyways
Crushed tomatoes – I used a tetra pak of them but this is one ingredient that you can adjust to suit your tastes
1 cup tomato passerade
1 – 1 1/2 cups of small macaroni noodles
Apple cider vinegar
2 cups chicken broth
salt, pepper, thyme
For marinade:
1-2 spoonfuls of sambal olek or a few squirts of sriracha – I love spicy thing so I do a ton but you just want a subtle spice adjust this accordingly
1 tbsp mustard
Few dashes soy sauce or Maggi
Dash of apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper
What to Do:
Combine marinade ingredients in bowl big enough to contain your meat
Add your cubed meat into bowl and mix together – I just go ahead and use my hands
Cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours
Brown meat in large dutch oven or stew pot, set aside
Sauté onion, carrot, and garlic till tender seasoning with salt, pepper, and thyme
Deglaze pan with dash of apple cider vinegar
Add in passerade, beans, and crushed tomatoes – stir to get everything incorporated
Add in meat and enough broth
Let simmer until meat is tender
Add in macaroni and continue to cook until noodles are done- make sure to stir frequently as the noodles tend to stick to the pan when cooked this way
The Hemborg Wife 
This looks delicious! I really want to start meal planning because what you described is exactly how I feel every day, haha.
I am way to fickle to ever be as good at planning as you are! I sometimes think “oh I definitely want tacos etc this week” but then when the time comes I am never in the mood for said food! How do you combat that? x
The planning itself becomes the way to combat your fickleness. If you have made a list of what you shall eat each day, and bought all the stuff you need, then you MUST eat what it says on the list for each day. No matter how you feel about that on that specific day. At most you are allowed to switch meals between the days in the same week if you have a good reason but never skip them completely. Easy. :)
I am also going to try to cook this pork-bean-pasta stew some day because it looks yummy.
I really have to get on board with the meal planning – I “wing it” too often… not so good for time or the pocketbook. I think I’ll try your recipe sometime soon – I never do much with pork, but this looks like a good place to start
O please do try it, people are often scared of cooking with pork but it can be much more forgiving than people think especially if you marinate it first.