Recap of Hurricane Sandy & Menu Plan Monday (November 5-11)

Hurricane Sandy really got in the way of last week’s MPM. Monday night as I was heating up the oven to make roasted broccoli, our power went off. I guess I should have started cooking earlier. Luckily we have gas burners, so I was able to light the stove and sauté the broccoli, and with the residual heat from the oven we warmed up the leftover Thai Peanut Chicken and roasted sweet potatoes. We had a romantic dinner by candlelight followed by hot cocoa with mini marshmallows while reading by flashlight. It was rather peaceful (other than the loud winds and scary swaying of trees outside). We went to sleep a little earlier than usual and I woke up around midnight to find that we had power back – woohoo! That wasn’t so bad, I thought.

Tuesday morning I had text messages from friends in our neighborhood who had no power, but our routine proceeded like normal – I fed the girls breakfast and got dressed for the day. I felt pretty darn lucky that we were one of the few who got our power back so fast.  I even went out to get some groceries (not the smartest move considering supermarkets didn’t get any shipments). At 11 am I got a call that our power went out again. Turns out Con Ed turned off our power because of other outages around town. Hearing that, I figured surely they’ll turn it back on before nightfall. As the day went on and the sky darkened, we lit candles and got out our flashlights once again. I stuck with my original menu plan and made Peanutty Noodles with Tofu, Kale, and Red Peppers (modified from this Self Magazine recipe) – a fairly easy stove-top meal. Another candlelit dinner, but by this time the novelty had worn off. By Wednesday morning we were cold and out of hot water. We’d had enough. Luckily my in-laws have a generator for their house in Connecticut, so off to grandmother’s house we went, thinking it would just be for a night. As day turned into night and night turned into day we settled into my in-laws and stayed there through the weekend. Clearly the rest of the week’s menu did not go as planned. Wednesday night we had take-out, Thursday night we went out for dinner, and Friday I made chicken cacciatore with quinoa on the stove.

The whole week has been tough, but all in all I am counting our blessings that we are safe and we didn’t suffer any damage to our new home. So many people weren’t as fortunate and it is quite sad to see what is going on. The girls got some extra time with their grandparents, and because we were forced to eat out for a few meals the girls tried cheese quesadillas with peppers for their first time. They loved it (and the guacamole that came with it)!

Thankfully we are back in our home and ready to start a new week. Once I restock the fridge, I’ll be ready to get back in the kitchen and cook as planned. Here’s what (I hope) will be on tap this week:

Monday: Soy-Ginger Chicken with Stir-Fried Bok Choy (The original Everyday Food recipe made with pork doesn’t appear to be online, but here’s a similar one)

Tuesday: Tomato White Bean Soup with Kale Pesto and Roasted Brussels sprouts (moved over from last week)

Wednesday: Night off from cooking – not sure yet what we’ll have! Leftover soup and Roasted Cauliflower

Thursday: Fish with Mango Chimichurri and Roasted Broccoli

Friday: Cider Sage Steak with Roasted Carrots and Parsnips and Balsamic Pearl Onions (moved over from last week)

Saturday: Take out

Sunday: Veggie Chili Last minute birthday dinner for my brother and sister-in-law

Did Hurricane Sandy affect you? Have you ever cooked during a power outage?

Linking up at Org Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday.