Quarantine Menu Planning

Welcome to the stay at home world of COVID-19.  These are strange times we're living in, folks.  We're at the end of our second week mostly at home.  This was spring break, and for my daughter I hope it will go down in history as the most boring spring of her life, because I'd hate to think she'll ever have one more boring than this!  She's basically been home since this all started.  Went on a bike ride with a couple of friends the first week, but other than that she's only seen friends by video chat.  Thank goodness for video chat! 

My hubby's still going to work every day - his company can't close because they manufacture and repair a tech product used by banks and other essential services and he's a repair guy.  I'm mostly at home but, as a fundraiser, still going to work to process donations a few times a week.  It's a ghost town there, though, with just a few people around.  We had our biggest fundraiser of the year scheduled for late April, which we've canceled and are now scrambling to move online.  It's been a whirlwind! 

The first weekend of March, when talk of all this really started ramping up, I did a monthly grocery shop, and picked up some things to have on hand if any of us got sick.  I didn't hoard (couldn't, even at that point, as things were pretty picked over already), and I didn't buy toilet paper, since I'd just gotten a shipment from Amazon.  By then the hand sanitizer was gone but we've done well with what we already had in the house so far.  I'd also recently accidentally gotten two boxes of EveryPlate meals so we still had several meals worth of ingredients from those (by the way, the EveryPlate meals were all delicious, but I won't order from them again for a variety of reasons, including an issue with changing the delivery date that resulted in my receiving two boxes when I only wanted one).

When I got home and put things away, I did an inventory of what we had in the house and came up with 46 dinners we could make.  I told my husband my compulsive grocery shopping habits were finally paying off because our freezers and pantry had become well stocked over time and we could eat well.  In February I got a bee in my bonnet to do a long overdue pantry cleanout, so I knew all the food was good, and I'd done a similar cleanout of the big freezer not long before that.  Since my initial list, I've added other items and have the list up to 60, counting the ones we definitely will eat twice.

I'm still going to the grocery store basically weekly to fill in dairy and fresh produce as needed, but it's not 100% necessary, as plenty of these meals can be made with just pantry and freezer staples, just makes life a little easier.

Here's the list, with links where I have them (Note: if the menu doesn't list a veggie, it doesn't mean we didn't eat one - we do salad or frozen veggies as side dishes a lot but I don't necessarily plan them):

1. Taco Salad
2. Creamy Cajun chicken sausage penne
3. Roasted butternut squash risotto 
4. Vietnamese Steak Bowls
5. Loaded Baked Potato Chowder
6. Cheesy Tuscan Chicken
7. Thai Peanut Chicken Satay (freezer meal)
8. Potstickers and eggrolls (frozen from the store)
9. Roasted turkey tenderloin and mashed potatoes
10. Steak and pepper sandwiches (had enough for two meals of this)
11. Street tacos
12. Pot pies (frozen - we like Marie Callendar's brand)
13. Sheet pan dinner with flank steak, sweet potatoes, and roasted cauliflower
14. Chicken and mushroom casserole (I don't have a recipe for this...yet...)
15. Impossible ham and broccoli pie
16. Kielbasa and cabbage
17. Baked chicken with blackened cabbage and boiled potatoes
18. Corned beef hash (we have enough for two meals of this)
19. Creamed tuna on biscuits
20. Tuna casserole
21. Sausage and potato skillet meal
22. Roasted sausages and Tater Tots
23. "Snacky Dinner" - assorted frozen appetizers like jalapeno poppers, baked potato skins, mac and cheese bites, etc.
24. Homemade chicken noodle soup
25. Picadillo con Papa
26. Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry
27. Broccoli Beef
28. Pan-fried steak and potatoes
29. Ham hocks and white beans
30. Hot dogs or chili dogs and oven fries
31. Sausage and potato soup
32. Baked ziti
33. Spaghetti with meat sauce
34. Oven nachos
35. Chicken taquitos
36. Sweet and sour chicken
37. Pan-fried pork chops and rice pilaf
38. Chicken and black bean burritos
39. Irish Sundaes
40. Ramen eggflower soup
41. "Mayo Chicken" and buttered noodles 
42. Chicken Caesar salad
43. Garlic noodles with chicken
44. Shipwreck (I really need to blog this recipe)
45. Salsa chicken and Mexican Rice
46. Swedish Meatballs and Spaetzle
47. Bean tostadas
48. Cashew Chicken
49. Chili and Cornbread
50. Crazy Crust Pizza
51. Pizza noodles
52. Mini pizzas on naan bread
53. Chicken and Stovetop
54. White Beans with Mushrooms and Marinara
55. Chicken strips and salads (macaroni, potato, coleslaw)
56. Fajitas
57. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes
58. Orange Chicken (frozen from Trader Joe's)

And that's it for the time being!  I'm still adding to the list as I set aside bits of this and that, or find other things in the pantry or freezer that I hadn't noticed or thought about.  If nothing else, we'll eat well for the duration.

How's your quarantine going?  Hope you and yours are staying healthy and well and finding ways to pass the time.

Meal Plan March 31 - April 6

Just wrapping up spring break here in our neck of the woods.  It was a fairly normal week for us as hubby and I both had to work.  Our daughter came to work with me most mornings and then went to a Lego camp in the afternoons, which was a blast according to her!  I did take one day off since she had a dentist appointment and I'd made plans to have lunch with one of our friends. 

This coming week is the last week before our evenings get crazy with activities again.  I'm going to have to dig up some of my old menus for quick and easy dinner ideas!  Volleyball actually starts on Thursday this week, but we'll be on an overnight field trip to an aquarium at the coast (sleeping in the shark tunnel!), so she'll miss the first practice. 

Here's the plan for this week:

Tonight: Chopped Cheese (my daughter's night to cook)
Monday:  Frozen chicken skillet meal
Tuesday:  Broccoli Beef
Wednesday:  Copycat Taco Bell Shredded Chicken Burritos (with copycat Fire Sauce)
Thursday:  Out
Friday:  Tuna casserole
Saturday:  Maybe carnitas.  Maybe something else.  Playing it by ear. 

Have a fantastic week!

Meal Plan March 18 - 30

It's been a while since I posted a meal plan!  I've still been planning, I just haven't been as good about recording it.  And I miss having the posts for reference, so here I am.  I will say, since I picked up our half pig and stocked up on beef and chicken, it's actually HARDER for me to plan than it is when there aren't as many options!  That feels very backward to me.  We have a TON of food in the house right now so I'm focusing on using up what we have.

My daughter is focusing right now on developing a taste for zucchini.  I'm really proud of her.  She's really not a picky eater - there are only a handful of things she just won't eat, and zucchini has always been one of them.  But she read something not too long ago that talked about how your mouth chemistry changes to appreciate the taste of something if you eat it multiple days in a row, so she decided to try with zucchini.  And I'm happy to say it's working!  So we've been eating roasted zucchini and zoodles, and I think they will become a regular fixture on our menus.

Without further ado, here is our menu for this past week and next week!

Monday:  Coconut Chicken, frozen fries, and roasted broccoli and zucchini
Tuesday:  Korean Beef Bowls, green beans
Wednesday:  Grilled pork chops, zucchini spaghetti with peas, garlic bread (I have to say, I LOVED that zucchini recipe.  The rest of my family?  Not so much.  *sob*)
Thursday:  Shredded beef tacos (fantastic recipe with enough meat left over for another meal!)
Friday: Big Mac Salad, rolls (so, so good)
Today:  Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry, roasted broccoli and zucchini
Sunday:  Cheese manicotti, salad
Monday:  Sausages and Crispy Crowns, veggie sticks
Tuesday:  Quick chicken and dumplings
Wednesday: Pork chops with mustard sauce, buttered noodles, green beans (my daughter's night to cook!)
Thursday: Hawaiian Haystacks (I've never actually made this, but I've been reading about them a lot lately so I thought I'd give it a try)
Friday: Taco salad
Saturday: Baked ziti

What's on your menu this week?

Menu Plan December 2 - 8

I am here today to tell you that I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE'RE GOING TO EAT THIS WEEK!!!  AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!  This is my "menu planning as I write this" post.  I've been so good for the last few months, planning my meals two weeks ahead, but life has suddenly become completely overwhelming and I've lost all my menu planning mojo.  I barely know where I'm supposed to be at any given time.  Seriously.  What day is it?

My daughter and I are TOO DARN BUSY, but that's a topic for another post.  I will say right now that I am not adding one more thing to our weekends between now and Christmas.  That's mostly because there's no room in the schedule to add anything else!

So, as I type this, I'm coming up with our plan.  And I'm grocery shopping with ClickList this week - that's the Fred Meyer service where you order your groceries online, then pull up to the store, call them, and they bring them out to you.  We just got it at our store a few months ago.  It's free this week but it would be worth the $5 even if it wasn't!  I've been shopping more at Winco than Fred Meyer to save money, but I think my sanity is more important this month.

Here's what we're eating:

Sunday:  My daughter and I went to see my niece in The Nutcracker a couple of hours from home.  We stopped at my parents' house for waffles and bacon on the way home.

Monday: My daughter has her piano lesson at 5:00.  Thank goodness swimming lessons are over, because those were at 7:00 for a few months.  We were eating QUICK dinners!  Tonight we'll have Trader Joe's Orange Chicken and rice with green beans.

Tuesday:  I'll pick up my grocery order on the way home from work.  I'll make Chicken and Bows - it's easy and fairly quick (and I think I have everything in the house for it already!).

Wednesday:  My daughter is in a play during the Sunday School service at church next Sunday, so she has play practice from 5:00 - 6:15.  Another quick dinner needed - we'll have chili dogs, chips, and carrot sticks.

Thursday:  My daughter has (are you sensing a pattern here?) youth group at church from 6:30 - 8:00.  Normally I work from home on Thursdays so I have some leeway with our dinners but we have a new person starting in our department today so my boss asked me to come in.  This all but eliminates my time to cook at home.  We'll have chicken strips, potato salad, and coleslaw. 

Friday:  I'm going out for dinner and to a play with a friend.  My husband and daughter are on their own!  They'll probably go to Panda Express.

Saturday:  I'm spending the day cleaning house and preparing for my daughter's birthday party on Sunday.  So I'll be home to cook but I won't want to!  We'll have pork chops and mashed potatoes. 

Hope your week is calmer than mine!  What's on your menu?


This is posted to Menu Plan Monday on orgjunkie.com where you can find lots of other menu ideas!

Thanksgiving food 2018

In our house, we do two Thanksgivings.  Fortunately, I don't host either one and they're both potlucks, so I don't have to make too much food or make sure my house is presentable!  My husband's family gets together on Thursday and my family gets together on Saturday, at which time we also celebrate the five November/December birthdays in the extended family, including my daughter's, which is in early December.

There were a couple of recipes I tried for the first time that were definite keepers, so I want to be sure to make note of them here!

For Thursday:

• Garlic and Herb Stuffed Peppers 
• Spinach dip (I use this recipe but I use the Spring Vegetable mix instead of the regular Vegetable - much better flavor!) with baguettes for dipping
• Homemade cranberry sauce (it was a little too tart so I added an extra 1/3 cup of brown sugar)

I think there was something else but I can't remember what it was!

For Saturday:

• Hot Double-Onion Cheese Dip (I'll admit I had doubts about this recipe - especially the lemon zest - but it was delicious!!!  I used Jarlsberg cheese because it was less expensive)
• An assortment of veggies, crackers, and chips 
• Ranch dip made following the recipe on the Uncle Dan's dressing packet  
• Homemade Mini Strawberry Strudels, with homemade quick puff pastry using this recipe (this was my daughter's choice for her birthday dessert this year)

All in all, a delicious weekend! 

Menu Plan November 4 - 10

How'd everybody do on their menus last week?  I did a few switches but for the most part we stuck to it.  We ended up picking up Taco Bell on Tuesday because we made a last-minute trip to the pumpkin patch rather than getting our carving pumpkins at the store.  And, I switched Friday and Saturday's dinners because I didn't get the enchiladas made in the morning so I needed something quicker after Zumba class on Friday night. 

Funny story - I told my husband we were supposed to have enchiladas Friday night and he said he didn't like those (which I know isn't true).  I said I was making the creamy kind, not the red sauce kind (I've never found a red sauce that didn't taste like a can so I don't make that kind).  I asked if he liked those and he couldn't remember.  I said (with a smile on my face) "well I'll just make them and you can tell me how gross they are."  He ate them, and then ate the leftovers for lunch yesterday, so I think they were acceptable, LOL.

And so, without further ado, here's this week's menu (also posted to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com):

Sunday:  White chicken chili (I used this as a base recipe)
Monday:  Leftover chili
Tuesday:  Bean and Cheese Burritos (something like this)
Wednesday:  Chicken Divan over rice 
Thursday:  Rice ball casserole
Friday:  Boboli pizza
Saturday:  movie night at my sister-in-laws means a bunch of junk food for dinner!

Have a great week!

Menu Plan October 28 - November 3

I've been to the grocery store twice this weekend, and spent a ton of money, but did I get the food I need for my meal plan?  Naturally, no...I was focused on Halloween festivities (and substitute festivities as we missed the family party due to illness). 

Fortunately I did a quick switcheroo on my running meal plan (that thing is a godsend - why didn't I do it years ago?) and all I need to do is run and buy bananas while my daughter is at Sunday School this morning and then I don't need to REALLY shop until my day off on Wednesday!

So here's the current plan...and I should note that we're going pork heavy in the upcoming weeks as we've entered the USE UP ALL THE PORK time of the year, as the new pigs will be ready soon.

Sunday:  Sausage hash
Monday:  Leftover pizza roll-ups
Tuesday: Chicken divan over rice
Wednesday: Sausages and Tater Tots (quick Halloween food!)
Thursday:  Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry
Friday:  Chicken Enchiladas (maybe.  If I get my act together and can make it ahead of time)
Saturday:  Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches

What's on your menu?  This will be linked to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. 

Have a great one!

Party Food Oct. 27

Tonight is our annual pumpkin carving party with my sister-in-law's family.  Not sure who else is coming (if anyone) this year, but it will be a great time! 

Last night I went to start preparing food, and Pinterest was down.  Now THAT is a Halloween horror story if ever I heard one!  How on earth would I get my recipes???  Fortunately, through the magic of Google, I pieced it all back together.  But it reinforced that I need to be saving tried and true recipes on my computer, not just out in Pinterest-land. 

Normally I try to go all out and make some fun Halloween-themed food for this party, but the funeral for the father of a couple of my friends is today, so I'm keeping it simple.  Here's the plan (my sister-in-law is also cooking a bunch of things so this isn't all we'll be eating!):

Pimento cheese with crackers
Spinach Dip with bread (tip - use the Spring Vegetable soup mix instead of the regular vegetable - it  is so much better in this dip!)
Pizza Roll-Ups (just pepperoni and cheese this time)
Veggie Tray with Ranch dip
Chocolate Chip Dip (I use this recipe but I don't make it into a ball) with Scooby Snacks

Carb heavy and delicious - just the way party food should be! 

What are you cooking up for Halloween?

Menu Plan October 14 - 20

I realized a couple of days ago that I totally forgot to post the menu for this past week!  Wouldn't have mattered much because we deviated a bit...but here's what we did eat!

Sunday:  Ham and Broccoli Impossible Pie
Monday:  Chili Dogs
Tuesday:  Panda Express
Wednesday:  Skillet fried pork and potatoes
Thursday:  Chicken and rice
Friday:  Leftovers for the win!
Saturday:  Instant Pot "roast" chicken with mushroom risotto

A note about that risotto - I'm totally out of white wine, so I substituted apple cider.  It was DELICIOUS!  I also made that in my Instant Pot.  I made Instant Pot spaghetti for lunch today (and now have five lunches' worth of leftovers for my daughter to take to school!). And I'm cooking dinner tonight in my Instant Pot...normally I just make ingredients with it - beans, rice, stock, stuff like that.  But apparently I'm in a meal-making mood these days.

My daughter made the chicken and rice.  She's been working on her "Simple Meals" badge for Girl Scouts.  She was tired and cranky and didn't want to make it and I said "look.  It literally takes TEN MINUTES to put chicken and rice together.  You can do it!"  So she did it.  And then she remembered she doesn't like the chicken in chicken and rice.  Sigh...

Today I went to THREE grocery stores.  I have a new routine - on Sundays I drop my daughter off at Sunday School and then have about an hour to myself before I have to pick her up (yes, I could go to adult Bible study, but I don't, for reasons which are my own).  I used to just go to Starbucks and drink coffee and read my book, but I'm trying to scale back on all forms of eating out, so the coffee had to go (and I just realized I'm a cup short on my coffee drinking today, so maybe that's why I've been cranky all afternoon, but I digress...).  Last weekend I decided to check out Grocery Outlet and wow, it's so much cleaner than it used to be!  I haven't been in ages.  So I went back again today.  I took my list and grabbed a few things that I knew I needed plus a few things that were too good to pass up.  Then on the way back I decided to check out the Super Mercado, which I also haven't been to in a long time.  Then this afternoon I went to Fred Meyer (where I completely blew my grocery budget and bought very little that wasn't on my list - I really need to be shopping at Winco).  But, we are stocked up for the week and just about out of money for the month so I'll be getting creative moving forward!

And, without further ado, here's the menu for this week:

Sunday:  Cube Steak and Gravy over mashed potatoes
Monday:  Pasta Salad
Tuesday:  Irish Sundaes
Wednesday:  Tuna casserole
Thursday:  Chicken Lazone, maybe with cornbread or biscuits.  I haven't decided.
Friday:  Chicken strips and salads
Saturday:  Beef and Noodles (made with ground beef)

What's on your menu for the week?  Remember to visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com for tons of great ideas!  

Menu Plan Sept. 30 - October 6

I made it through one of the busiest weeks of my year!  Woo hoo!  Last week's menu showed that my daughter and husband would eat out on Thursday.  Instead, my daughter made dinner (I was working at a fundraiser) as part of a Girl Scout cooking badge she's working on.  So there was that money saved! 

Here's the plan for this week (which is another busy one at work but at least I get to leave on time every day):

orgjunkie.com has so many amazing menu ideas!

Sunday:  Sausage and potato soup
Monday:  Hamburgers/Pork burgers (leftover patties that I froze) and fries
Tuesday:  Barbacoa soft tacos (also leftovers that I froze)
Wednesday:  Jambalaya (Zatarains)
Thursday:  Garlic noodles with chicken
Friday:  Shipwreck
Saturday:  Swedish Meatballs and Spaetzle

What's on your menu this week? 

Menu Plan September 23-29

We are entering one of the two busiest weeks of the year for me at work.  I'm thankful for my meal plan because that's one less thing I need to think about!  Since I had it done well in advance, I was able to grocery shop on my lunch hour last Thursday, the day I work at home, which was fantastic because I was gone most of the weekend on a Girl Scout campout with my daughter.  Like last weekend when I was out of town, I got to come home and actually stay here instead of having to run back out to the grocery store!  Planning for the win!

Later in the week there are two meals out.  I'm noticing from the budget that we're starting to eat out less and less.  This is great because we're definitely saving money and eating healthier food.  But, I'll still rely on it when we need to!  I'm in fundraising and we have an auction Thursday night.  I'll see if my daughter wants to cook (she's working on a Girl Scout cooking badge), but it's just as likely that they'll want to go to Panda Express because I don't like it as much as they do, so they're happy to go when I'm not around.   Friday is Grandparents' Day at school, and my parents always have dinner with us afterward so they don't have to sit in rush hour traffic for two hours to get home.  But...I have to be at a conference downtown, so I'll be home late.  So...my parents will bring my daughter home, my husband will stop and pick up take-and-bake pizza on his way home, they'll cook it when they're ready, and I'll eat some whenever I get there!

Here's the plan for this week:

Remember to visit orgjunkie.com for many more ideas!

Sunday:  Chili and Cornbread
Monday:  Sausages and Tater Tots
Tuesday:  Chicken Taquitos
Wednesday:  Skillet meal
Thursday:  Take-out, most likely
Friday: Papa Murphy's

What's on your plan for the week?  

Menu Plan September 16 - 22

I may have mentioned that I'm now keeping a running list of menu plans on my computer.  It goes out a couple of weeks, and I note recipes that I have most of the ingredients for, that sound good to me, or that my family requests.  Because I'm working into the future, I can easily rearrange and adjust as requests are made or as I encounter ingredients that need to be used up.  Well, that menu list totally saved me this week!

My daughter and I left after school on Friday and spent the weekend with my side of the family at a lake cabin that my grandfather built.  The cabin is no longer in the family, but my parents made arrangements with the owners for us all to go spend some time there to celebrate my nephew's birthday. 

Corner of the cabin with the lake behind

Having a menu plan already made up for the week meant that I could do my grocery shopping for this week on Thursday when I bought the food I'd be contributing to the weekend.  It was such a great feeling to get home at 5:00 last night and not have to unload the car, turn around, and go back out to the grocery store! 

I was also able to throw together a quick and simple dinner with some of the leftover ingredients from the weekend.  One of my contributions was flat bread pizzas for lunch on Saturday (I also made a fruit salad for Sunday), and I had a mixture of green onions, peppers, and mushrooms already all chopped up and ready to go.  I got a small package of chicken sausage out of the freezer, cooked and sliced it, cooked some rotini, and sauteed the leftover veggies with some more onions and mushrooms added.  Then I mixed it all together with a little pasta water and added a few red pepper flakes for kick, topped with shredded parmesan cheese, and called it dinner!  It's something I call "pizza noodles" because it has all the flavors we like on pizza.  I used to put tomatoes in, too, but my daughter doesn't care for cooked tomatoes.  I also left out the pizza seasoning this time because those flavors were in the chicken sausage.  It was delicious! 

Orgjunkie.com has so many great menu ideas!

Here's the menu for this week:

Sunday:  pizza noodles (see above)
Monday:  pot pies (frozen - hubby will cook these while we're at my daughter's piano lesson so we can quickly eat before her swimming lesson)
Tuesday:  pork and cabbage stir fry
Wednesday: chicken paprikash over baked potatoes
Thursday:  sour cream pork chops with noodles
Friday:  beef and broccoli lo mein (this recipe is new to us but sounds great!
Saturday:  My daughter and I will be at a Girl Scout campout so my husband is on his own.  He'll probably go out. 

What's on your menu this week?  Have a great one!

Menu Plan September 9 - 15

I know it's only the 9th but it already feels like September is flying by.  Now, if only the fall weather would hurry up and get here! 

I have to say I am quite impressed with how good we've been at sticking to the menu plan lately.  This week all the after school activities start, plus my daughter and I are leaving town next Friday for the weekend, so I've lined up some quick and easy favorites for the week ahead.

Visit orgjunkie.com for Menu Plan Monday and tons of ideas!

Today:  Cube Steak, baked potatoes, tomato salad.
Monday:  Chicken strips and cold salads
Tuesday:  Chicken stir fry
Wednesday: Baked Penne
Thursday: Instant pot "roast" chicken
Friday:  Out
Saturday: Family dinner

What's your go-to when time is tight and you need to feed your family a healthy dinner?

Game Night Menu

Every few months, we get together with my sister-in-law's family for game/movie night.  We almost always have "snacky dinner," which is basically just appetizer-type stuff and desserts.  I try a lot of things off of Pinterest and Allrecipes for these get-togethers, and I can rarely remember later exactly which recipes I tried.  So, I'm going to do better about writing down the menu with links.

For tonight, my sister-in-law said she was probably going to make nachos, so I came up with some things that fit the theme.  We've never made any of these before, except the fresh salsa.

We're taking:

• Beef and cheese empanadas, using this recipe for the filling and this recipe for the dough, plus I added some shredded cheddar cheese because I wasn't totally thrilled about the filling when I tasted it before we stuffed them.  We have enough filling leftover to freeze for another time. UPDATE:  These tasted great but were a little dry.  Next time I'll serve a sauce with them.

• 7-layer dip, using this recipe, except the guacamole is just avocado mashed with lime, cilantro and a pinch of salt.    UPDATE:  This recipe was DELICIOUS!  I will definitely make it again.

 

• Fresh salsa, made my my hubby, with homegrown tomatoes and peppers!
  
   

• And Caitlyn made Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies, without changing the recipe (unlike me she's perfectly capable of following a recipe as written!).  Can't wait to taste them.  She set aside a few extras to make ice cream sandwiches for a Girl Scout patch she's working on.  UPDATE:  This is an excellent recipe and is on our keeper list for sure!

Early on in the process I burned the *#(#@)! out of my hand, forgetting for a moment that the cookie sheet I was picking up had just come out of the oven.  So, while I whined and cried and rocked back and forth for a while, Caitlyn took over and made the dip, most of the empanada filling, and rolled the dough for me while I filled and sealed them.  She's so great in the kitchen and I'm so happy that I got her started cooking at an early age (she was stirring things on the stove at age two and just went from there).  She saved my tail today!  

Is it dinner time yet?  My house smells GREAT!!!

Menu Plan September 2 - 8

I think maybe, just maybe, fall has arrived!  I'm certainly ready for big sweaters and pumpkin spice.  Now, if we could just get some rain...

Last week's menu was a resounding success.  I discovered a fantastic new pork steak recipe (I need to post my version because, as usual, it was changed up a bit from the original and it was so good!).  Always looking for ways to use up the pig we buy every year! 

I've actually planned two weeks' worth of menus at this point.  I'm keeping a running list in a Word document on my computer.  As I realize we need to use something up, or if someone requests something or it strikes my fancy, I add it to the menu.  My goal is to try grocery shopping every two weeks and see how it goes.  I think it may save us money in the long run.  Definitely will save me time!  We'll see how it goes.

Here's the menu for this week:

Posted to Menu Plan Monday with tons of other menu ideas!

Tonight:  "snacky dinner" at my sister-in-law's (it's game night)
Monday:  hamburger casserole
Tuesday:  buttermilk chicken
Wednesday: turkey tetrazzini 
Thursday:  ham hock and cabbage soup
Friday:  taco salad
Saturday:  out

What's on the menu at your house?  Have a wonderful week!

Menu Plan August 26 - September 1

It's finally here!!!  The first week of school!!!  Our summer of chaos is officially over!  It's been a fun summer but I'm ready for my schedule to return to normal.  Bonus - I still have two weeks before evening activities begin so not only do we get back to a normal daily schedule starting on Wednesday (Tuesday's the first day but it's only three hours), we don't have to rush to be anywhere after dinner for a bit.  So nice!

Visit Menu Plan Monday for more great menu ideas!

I have exactly $5.90 left in the grocery budget for the month, and I'm trying really hard to stay within it (that would be the first time ever, I'm pretty sure!).  So I've planned the menu around what I have in the house.  We're a little shy on fresh fruit for general eating but the apple tree is full and ready to pick, so I'm planning to make applesauce, and we have some canned fruit that we didn't eat on our camping trip.  Only thing I might run out of is onions.  I have one left in the pantry and about six little ones in the garden.  So...I may be taking a lunch hour walk down to the store one day to buy a couple.  We'll see.  Can't cook without onions! 

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday:  Back to School Picnic (school is providing the meal)
Monday:  Irish Sundaes
Tuesday:  Pork chops and potatoes (I have some Trader Joe's frozen potatoes I'll probably use)
Wednesday:  Tuna Casserole
Thursday:  Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry (this is my base recipe but I add a few things to it)
Friday:  Fried Rice
Saturday:  I don't know where we'll be (we have a few plans for the weekend but no schedule set yet), so I can't plan.  If we're home I'll probably roast a chicken but I'm guessing we won't be.

Have a great week, everyone!

Menu Plan August 19-25

This is the last week before school starts!  Yippee!  My daughter has been going to camps all summer long and she is exhausted and ready to be back in the classroom.  We're coming up on week 10 of what I've been calling "The Summer of Camp."  This week it's just a four-day, half day clay camp at the local arts center.  She's excited for the break!

Here's the menu for this week:

Tonight:  burgers (pork or beef, diner's choice) and oven fries
Monday: Chicken BLT Tacos (trying a new recipe)
Tuesday:  Corned beef hash (note to self - get the corned beef out of the freezer and cook it!)
Wednesday:  Sweet and Sour Chicken
Thursday:  Kielbasa and Cabbage
Friday:  Broccoli Beef


Saturday my daughter is having a girls' day with my sister-in-law, so it'll just be hubby and I for dinner.  I imagine we'll call it a date night but we'll see...

Have a great week everyone!  This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday on orgjunkie.com.

Menu Plan August 11 - 17

Happy to report we totally stuck to the menu last week!  This is rare, but since my daughter was away at camp the schedule was a bit calmer than usual.  That and we've basically decided that all but a couple of the restaurants around us are either rapidly declining in quality or way too expensive for what we get, so we're staying closer to home, eating much better, and saving some money.  We did pick up dinner at our local teriyaki place yesterday for my hubby's birthday. It's still a good bet, and since the portions are huge my daughter and I always share a meal and I have enough leftover for a workday lunch!

The highlight of the week for me was the fried rice. I always forget how quick and easy it is, especially since we almost always have rice in the freezer.  I cook up a big batch in the InstantPot or microwave rice cooker and freeze the extras.

Here's what's on the menu for the coming week:

Tonight:  Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Caitlyn asked for this before she went to camp and actually still was thinking about it when she came home four days later!

Sunday:  Grilled marinated chicken (I am loving marinating with Goddess Dressing from Trader Joe's right now), tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, crusty bread

Monday:  Sausage and pepper pasta

Tuesday:  Ham and Beans

Wednesday:  Chicken gravy over cornbread (the "Dixie Chicken Shortcake" recipe here)

Thursday:  Potato leek soup, salad, bread

Friday:  Korean Beef Rice Bowls


Have a great week, everyone!  And remember to visit Menu Plan Monday for tons of recipe inspiration!

Menu Plan August 5 - 10

It's been a while since I've posted!  I've spent the spring and early summer working on getting a few things under control - budget, my eating, my health (nothing serious, just working on eating better and moving more), and menus.  I've still been menu planning somewhat faithfully but I haven't been posting them, and I must say I miss being able to look back at what we've eaten in the past for ideas!

This week, my daughter will be away at her last sleepaway experience of the summer - three nights of Girl Scout camp.  Last month she did a five-night camp and in June she spent a week with my parents.  I think she's ready to be home in her own bed for a while!  So meals will be somewhat simple, since it's just my husband and I eating.  I'm definitely planning some leftovers for my lunches though!

Here's the plan...

Tonight:  Leftover pizza (we got home from a week of camping yesterday and hit Papa Murphy's on our way into town).

Tomorrow:  Taco salad

Tuesday: Sheet pan chicken and vegetables with sweet potatoes

Wednesday:  Fried rice (I found some leftover roast pork in the freezer and we already have rice frozen so this one will be quick to put together!)

Thursday:  Beef fajitas

Friday:  Out for my hubby's birthday

Saturday:  My daughter's choice, since she'll be gone Tuesday - Friday.  This typically means spaghetti.

What's on the menu at your house this week?



You can find menu inspiration and more at Menu Plan Monday!

Menu Plan January 28 - February 3

How have we reached the end of January already???  Where did the month go?  The pantry challenge I've been participating in ends at the end of the month but I'm carrying on... We have three freezers.  One is in good shape, but the other two are still a giant mess.  I know the fridge freezer in my kitchen just needs to be cleaned out and most of it thrown out because it's too old, but the deep freeze still has serious piles of meat to be eaten.  So, we keep plugging away...and I keep looking for fresh ways to use ground pork (though apparently my family is perfectly happy with pork and cabbage stir fry and I don't REALLY need to keep looking!). 

Here's what's on the dinner menu this week...

Sunday:  Hubby wasn't hungry (late breakfast and lunch), so I made french toast and bacon for my daughter and myself. 
Monday:  Crescent roll hot dogs and chips.
Tuesday:  Sausage and farro
Wednesday:  Jambalaya
Thursday:  Chicken and orzo soup
Friday:  Picking up Carl's Jr. 
Saturday:  I'm hoping to try ribs in the Instant Pot, but we'll see how the day goes.

My daughter's schedule is about to become overly full.  This week, she has something four out of five evenings.  She's either overscheduled or underscheduled - there is no in between!  So I'm focusing on quick dinners for the most part (except Thursdays, when I work from home and have a little more flexibility).  

I've decided to designate Friday as our take-out day, at least for the time being.  My daughter and I take a family Zumba-type class from time to time, and the new session starts this week.  It's on Fridays at 6:00 p.m., which makes it tricky to actually cook dinner.  Plus, we are huge fans of fast food in this house, and if I designate a day, it makes it far less likely that we'll just run out and get it whenever.  So...Fridays (for now) it is. 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!