Menu Plan Monday - May 31

Last week turned out a bit different than I planned...I think that happens a lot around here! It was mostly changed by family being in town and then a short visit "out of town" to visit family, with a bunch of salad in between using lettuce from our garden.

This is lettuce and herbs!

And our garden is ready to pick about this much again! Good thing we like salad! 

Breakfasts: 

Yogurt and Almond Ginger Granola

Butterscotch oatmeal

Baked Oatmeal

Lunch: 

Salad! with a variety of toppings and dressings depending on mood and availability

Dinner:

Snobby Joes (never got to last week)

Poppy Seed Chicken (also never got to)

Snacks: 

Homemade granola bars

popcorn

For more great meal ideas, head over to Orgjunkie!

Menu Plan Monday - May 17

 Last week was pretty much filled with leftovers and food from my freezer stockpile. It was great for saving time and renewing my desire for cooking and trying new foods (and a great thanks to Super Healthy Kids for some fun, new ideas!).

Breakfast:
Yogurt with granola (so far, this is my favorite granola! I do make some alterations, but it's a great recipe to start with!)
Oatmeal
Power Puff Pancakes
Gnarly Muffins

Lunches:
Chicken BBQ with cole slaw
Salad with Fruit

Dinners:
Black Bean Burritos
Catalina Cranberry Chicken
Dinner on the grill with a side of veggies

Snacks:
Home made bread with nutella
Banana rollups
Granola Bars

This post is connected to Menu Plan Monday with I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday - May 10

(go to Orgjunkie for more meal plans)

I made more granola and granola bars this past week when we returned to town and a little bit to normalcy. I made "the best granola i've ever had" with some variations of course, and also these "superpower granola bars" (you have to scroll down the page a bit) with minor changes. Both were good. The bars were sweeter than any I have made thus far, and the granola was a crunchier one, which I like!

My husband made this orzo chicken and it was great! It said it served 4, but the first time we ate it there were 4 adults, and we had more left in the pot than what we ate! Guess our servings weren't as big, maybe since we had a salad with garden-fresh lettuce on the side! mmmm.

This week may be a lot of leftovers with the chicken dish and also making some meals with leftover beef tenderloin that my husband grilled for mother's day! It was fabulous, and I am thrilled we get to have more. If you have a great recipe that includes leftover meat I'd love to hear about it. I am thinking maybe a stir fry and maybe on top of another salad from the garden, but I am open to other ideas too.
We will hopefully enjoy a couple of salads, more strawberries and avocados, and corn on the cob that is coming into season now too, as well as simple grilling meals.

Baby Food Galore!

I am at an in-between stage right now, with a 16 month old who is eating more in the way of table food now and an 8 week old who is definitely not eating food yet. But I made all of my own food for the first kid and am very excited for even more possibilities the second time around. My first actually would never eat the store-bought stuff. I tried with a few things that were freely given to us, but I was secretly okay with him liking my food better!
I am linking up over at 5dollardinners today and wanted to select a few posts that I wrote when I was on this adventure with my first son.
Carrots
Bananas and Apples
Bananas
Applesauce cost comparison
More cost comparisons here and here
I didn't have any cookbooks, didn't have any special tools, didn't even have a submersion blender at that point. Just used the food, water, pots, a blender, ice cube trays (and as he ate more I used muffin tins to make the portions bigger), baggies and a freezer. It's all quite simple and cost-effective, there are tons of combinations you can do with putting foods together (like avocado and banana or peaches and pears, etc). Can't wait for this stage and more experiments with son #2!

Menu Plan Monday - April 26

Well, last week's menu plan did not happen AT all. Oh well. We did eat, we just ate random other things, like lots of avocados since they are great right now. And lots of strawberries because they are in now too. And some pizza that my husband got from a place we like from out of town...yeah, it was an off week and I am excited to get back on the plan.

Breakfast:
Five Grain Hot Cereal
Baked Oatmeal
Yogurt and Granola (going to make a variation of this basic recipe)

Lunch:
Chicken BBQ Sandwiches
Baked Chicken Fingers (a definite favorite around here)
Hopefully a salad from the garden

Dinner:
Leftover Pizza from the weekend
Black bean burritos (but without the tortillas, served with chips, and with avocado on top)
Macaroni and Cheese (to take to a potluck meal)
Clean out the fridge

We will be out of town Friday through Monday for work/play, so we will be eating out some next weekend and don't need to make as much this week.
For other great meal ideas, head over to Orgjunkie.

Menu Plan Monday - April 19

This Rigatoni with Chicken, Bacon and Mushrooms from last week was probably our favorite. Actually, my husband's favorite by far! An exciting moment for me though was my picky toddler son actually eating all parts of this Brown Rice Casserole we had with peas. It was another successful week of meals.
This week will be a bit off for us. We have my in-laws in town and went out to eat last night, for lunch today, and quite possibly for dinner again tonight.
I have a dish that was in the freezer, a past with ground turkey dish, that I will reheat and have available for one dinner and possibly lunches.
Other meals we will be having:
Mozzarella Chicken and Rice Skillet
Breakfast for Dinner
Spinach Lentil Soup
For other great meals and ideas, head on over to Orgjunkie today!

Menu Plan Monday - April 12

Last week was a good week for food! The smothered chicken was really good. My husband raved about it, and he doesn't normally like cooked carrots, so this was a double positive. And my son ate some of the chicken and bacon with us! This omelette was also amazing and got great reviews! We used less apple in smaller chunks with colby cheese and no walnuts. Would definitely make both of these again...easy, good, frugal! I forgot I didn't have all the ingredients for the granola I was going to try, so I made this baked granola again that we really liked. It wasn't as crunchy this time for some reason, I must have done something wrong because it was great the first time!

Slow Cooker Oatmeal (nice to wake up on Sunday and have breakfast already made! first time using steel cut oats. no sugar in it, could be a little sweeter, but I did omit the apple since my son was weird about it in the oatmeal last week. would like to try these oats again with a different recipe)
Granola and yogurt
Rigatoni with Chicken, Bacon and Mushrooms; asparagus
Brown Rice Casserole; peas
Tuna Panini; fruit
Banana Pancakes made while listening to Jack Johnson sing about it!

I am excited for this week of food too! Will report back about what exceeds our expectations!
For more great meal plans and recipe ideas head on over to Orgjunkie today!

Menu Plan Monday - April 5

I mentioned last week how excited I was to make a special grilled cheese sandwich one day last week, and it totally lived up to all of my expectations and more. Read more about my excitement and the sandwich here.
For the past few months I have experimented with different forms of oatmeal and granola. I have found some good ones, some easy ones, some that I will try again and some that I probably won't. So far, my favorite granola by far is this Baked Granola, with one alteration of using applesauce instead of the oil. I think what I like most about this one is the crunchiness. I still love to try new things and I am going to keep experimenting, and this week I am going to try this baked oatmeal recipe and this granola recipe.
Other meals we will be eating this week:
Egg Salad sandwiches (leftover colored eggs, of course)
Hearty Tomato Soup (out of the freezer)
Smothered Chicken
Caramelized Apple and Cheddar Omelette (same site as the grilled cheese from last week!)
Balsamic Salmon Spinach Salad
I'm pretty excited about our meals this week! For some other great suggestions and meal planning ideas, head on over to Orgjunkie.

Menu Plan Monday - February 15

Still Pregnant!
Still cold and snowy around here!
Still trying to stock my freezer and get my house and life in order for having baby boy #2 any time now...
Still making lots of soup since it is simple to make and simple to freeze, and great in cold weather!

We've been trying to eat a wee bit healthier over the past week or so, trying out some new things for breakfasts and lunches. Been eating a homemade baked oatmeal for breakfast a lot as well as tuna, yogurt/fruit/granola (homemade granola), and eggs for lunches (or sometimes breakfast too). Also getting in more raw fruits and veggies (harder to find decent deals this time of year), nuts, and dried fruits for snacks.

Here is what I am working towards for dinners this week:
Curried Chicken and Cider Soup (this has been on my list for a while, but I roasted my chicken and made my chicken broth, and I am ready to make the soup today!) I have made this one before and greatly enjoyed it!
Hearty Tomato Soup is on my list again, loved it the first time and looking forward to it again!
A simple Hamburger Macaroni Bake
And hopefully this Maple Apple Chicken

Find more great ideas and recipes at Orgjunkie.

Menu Plan Monday - February 8

The countdown is in effect.
Not only am I 35 weeks pregnant, and not only was I already realizing how close I was getting and how much I wanted to get done, but also found out last week that the baby is already in the right position and I am starting to dilate, and now I am going back weekly for checkups. Shouldn't be too much longer...I'm thinking when I was at this stage with my first it was about another 2 weeks...will try to make it to 37 weeks so I am "full term" but who knows...
So, I need to get a little busier stocking my freezer...
I didn't get as much done as I wanted to this past weekend...used some extra time to shovel snow with the family so we could get out of the house. And watched the Super Bowl.
So, for this week:

Curried Sweet Potato and Apple Soup
Baked Chicken Fingers

Pea Soup (for my son, seems hard to get him to eat his veggies lately, unless it is raw carrot with dip)

Apple-Spice Muffins

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Meatless Chili
Bran Muffins
Curried Chicken and Cider Soup
Blueberry French Toast Bake (for a breakfast meeting)

So, I am excited (need) to spend a lot of time in the kitchen this week. Hopefully I stay motivated and have the opportunities I need.
What's your plan for cooking this week?
For more great meal ideas, head on over to Orgjunkie.com.

Filling the Freezer Friday!

I don't usually add an update at the end of the week as to how I have done with my menu planning for the week, but it has been a great week and I am pretty excited. I have been cooking and baking and getting my freezer stocked! I did a good amount on Wednesday just because I got in the mood. Then I had my 34 week check-up yesterday and found out that baby is in the right position and I am starting to dilate, and this got me even more excited to make sure I am getting things done around the house. Not only have I been working on my organizing that I talk about here, but I have also been really good this week about making the meals we are eating as well as making food to store away for when the baby comes.
So, here is my progress and some of the things I have been working on this week:
So far this week we have had:

Cream Slow-Cooker Chicken
Chili Cheese Biscuit Pies
Slow Cooker Turkey Stew
And by the end of today I plan to make the:
Curried Sweet Potato and Apple Soup
Baked Chicken Fingers (maybe...)
I put some of the chicken in the freezer and also plan on putting some of the stew in the freezer.
Other things I have worked on specifically for the freezer (since Sunday):
Baked Oatmeal

Apple and Cheese Pancakes

Blueberry Bread (sorry I don't have a picture for this one...)
Zucchini Bread (my favorite so far!)

 

Broccoli Potato Soup

Breakfast Cookies

Banana-Oat Muffins 

And some more food for my son that I plan on having done by the end of tomorrow (it helps that we have had lots of snow and are in the middle of a storm again so I am getting lots done inside!):

Pea Soup

Apple-Spice Muffins

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

...and who knows what else I may come up with...

And some other things I have made just for fun and because I have had the ingredients and because I have had a sweet tooth...

Jello Magic Mousse 

A recipe similar to this but with a store-bought crust, orange jello and mandarin oranges. 

 

And the old standby, Jello and Cool Whip mixed.

Yeah for progress! And also for accountability because now I need to make this stuff I have mentioned above! Good thing I have so much motivation right now! Off I go to get more done!

Menu Plan and Stocking the Freezer

I am 34 weeks pregnant. I delivered at 37 weeks with my first son. I figure it's about time to get started with stocking my freezer, unpacking all the newborn clothes and necessities, and getting myself and my stuff ready as well...
Since  our area was expecting a big snow this weekend I decided that maybe it would be a good time to stock up on groceries and spend some time in the kitchen, since I probably wouldn't be able to get out anyways...it was worth the insanity at the store as everyone was nervously stocking up on bread and milk.
So far I have mostly worked on stocking for my 1 year old. I know some people often do everything in one day, but I prefer to do a couple things at a time, but not for the whole day. Just my way. Yesterday I made baked oatmeal (my new favorite breakfast for my son, and he loves it too!) and these breakfast cookies. They have similar ingredients, but the cookies have bananas and raisins.  Today I made banana muffins (a combination of two of his favorite foods: bananas and cheerios!) and broccoli potato soup (very simply onion, broccoli, potato, stock, and cheese). My son tried a muffin and enjoyed it greatly, and he has had the soup before and loved it! It feels great to be filling my freezer!

For the meals we will actually be eating this week:
Curried Sweet Potato and Apple Soup
Slow Cooker Turkey Stew
Cream Slow-Cooker Chicken
Chili Cheese Biscuit Pies

And some other recipes that I will be working on to add to my freezer collection:
Meatless Chili
Baked Chicken Fingers
Pea and Spinach Soup

We'll see if I really get to all of this. But I do already have all the ingredients for all of these recipes, and that excites me! It's the little things...
Head on over to Orgjunkie.com for more great ideas for meals.

Menu Plan Monday - January 11

Seems like I have a habit of planning for more food in a week than we actually get to. Or we have other random meals and don't fully get around to what was planned...either way, I still have all the ingredients and plan to make the tomato soup with some grilled cheese sandwiches Monday. It's still cold and I'm looking forward to this.
My review from last week: when making a soup with mostly milk, be sure and stir like the recipe calls for...I'm still trying to scrape the burntness off the bottom of my pan! And what a bummer how a little burning on the bottom makes the whole batch taste burnt, or as my husband graciously called it "smokey!" Even though my husband and my 1 year old turned their noses up at first glance of the vegetable soup, they both enjoyed it when they actually tried it! Success!

So, for this week:
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (out of the freezer)
Hearty Tomato Soup
Artichoke Chicken
Apple and Sausage Pie
Apple Chicken Quesadilla
Blueberry Snack Cake

Okay, so that looks like a lot of food again, but I don't have to buy too many ingredients to make it all happen, and there's a good possibility that at least one of these meals will carry over to next week. It's all good.

Menu Plan Monday - December 28

A little late with posting, but thankfully I did actually get up early yesterday to plan this week. Which made it possible for me to get to the store last night after my husband got home so I could purchase everything and be ready.
We just got back from a few days visiting relatives for the holidays and now it is time to get back on track with eating healthy, simple meals regularly.
My son recently turned 1 and with that is entering a picky eating stage. This makes it a little more challenging than just cooking for all of us, but has also been a fun challenge for me to find things he likes to eat (like pancakes) and find recipes that add main ingredients I would want him eating more of, like fruits, vegetables and proteins.
Although I am trying to "get us back on track" my husband is out a couple of evenings this week, we have a New Year's Day party to go to on Friday, and I still have a few random things in the freezer to eat before I can start restocking...so, it is still a light week here for food planning.

Apple Cheese Pancakes: I made these for my son today and he tried to turn his nose up at first and spit it out, but once I let him feed himself, he made his "I love these" noises and ate 1 and a half! success!! Unfortunately I do not remember where I found the recipe (I need to get better at tracking this info) but I have the recipe and will post my success story soon.

Easy Baked Oatmeal: My son loooooves his oatmeal, and this will be my attempt at making a healthier, cheaper, more filling version of the dish. Fingers crossed...

Pear Oven Pancake: Making this one for a breakfast meeting.

Creamy Corn Chowder: It's been very cold lately and this will be a warm and comforting meal a couple of nights this week.

Cabbage Sloppy Joes: I like an easy lunch that is also healthy and I'm excited to try this version that has cabbage in it.

Thai Appetizer Pizza: This one is to take to the New Year's party.

Also bought extra fruits and vegetables that both looked good and were on special this week. Trying to make this a very healthy week going into the new year!

What's on your menu this week? Need even more ideas? Head over to orjunkie.

Menu Plan Monday - December 14

I've got to get back on track!
We've been eating out of our freezer A LOT the past couple of weeks since our main freezer broke and we've needed to get the freezer cleaned out some to make room for normal everyday use...but now it's time to really start cooking again. And I am ready! I have a new desire and excitement when looking for recipes since I have a toddler who is starting to eat more of what we are eating and this makes cooking for all of us more fun. Also, my husband has been having a huge problem with heartburn and I know we could eat even healthier than we already do sometimes, but this makes it even more important that we are eating foods that are good for his stomach.

Spinach Tortellini Soup I've made this once before (it freezes great!) and it was delicious.
Making this Chicken Tortilla Bake when we have company over next weekend.
Cheese and Spinach Tart with Glazed Carrots (found this recipe in the January 2010 issue of Parents magazine, but can't seem to find it online to link to it)
A Pea and Potato Soup made similar to the recipes given here (to have some extra easy food on hand for my son).
Making this Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole for a meeting.
Trying out this Pumpkin Cake recipe on some company next weekend.
Some other snacks/breakfast foods I plan on making to have on hand for all of us, but mostly for my son: Lemon Yogurt Snack Cake, Banana Oat Muffins, and Applesauce Muffins.

For even more great menu ideas, head on over to orgjunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday - November 16

I'm a little ahead of things these week as I have already done my shopping! I've got some meetings this week that involve meals and I wanted to get a head start. Feels Good!

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

Cauliflower Mac 'n' Cheese I'm going to add some cooked chicken and make it a meal instead of a side dish.

Citrus Salad with Bacon and Red Onion

French Toast Sandwiches I've made these before and they are wonderful! I have made them with the eggnog and also with soy milk. They are good either way, but the eggnog definitely adds some good extra flavor.

I haven't decided if I am going to make this recipe this week or not. I got all the ingredients at the store to make for a friend that loves pumpkin and is coming over, but then I saw pumpkin flavored ice cream and bought that too. Either way, I will make it soon and I am excited for it!
Crunchy Pumpkin Dessert Squares

It's gonna be a good week for food! Head on over here for even more great ideas!

Menu Plan Monday - November 9

I have been a slacker with making meal plans the last couple of weeks. Our nights have been busier and it has been easier (and more expensive!) to eat out on the go. Gotta stop the madness!

Monday: Lasagna Stoup
Tuesday: Cincinnati Chili (I am all about finding the BEST chili recipe this year!)
Wednesday: Quick dinner on the go, not sure what yet.
Thursday: Possible we will be out of town for dinner, but if not, Creamy Potato Soup it is
Friday: Most likely leftovers from the week
Saturday: Another possibility that we will be out of town for dinner (we are in the playoffs for High School volleyball and it is all dependent on how far we make it now). If we are in town, I think we might make some burgers.
Special Breakfast: Cheddar and Chile Egg Casserole and Mini Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
Special Treat: Apple Pie

Meal Update

I did find a little motivation tucked down deep the other day. I picked some recipes, made sure of what we have going on in the next couple of weeks, planned my trip and even took my 8 month old with me. The one thing I would change about taking him with me? I would make a cart that allows him to sit facing where I am going. He doesn't want to look at ME while I am shopping! He is constantly trying to turn around and look at where we are going and what I am doing when I am getting stuff off the shelves. Why don't they make legs holes going the other direction...at least as an option??

Yesterday I thawed out some chicken I had in the freezer and cooked it in the slow cooker with a bbq mixture. When it was done, I shredded the meat and we now have chicken bbq for sandwiches for lunch for a few days.

For a breakfast meeting this morning I made Sausage and Cheese Crescent Squares. Simple and delicious!

Tonight for dinner we are going to have this Oh-So-Easy Tomato Cream Soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. The weather has cooled off a little here, very much on the way to truly being Fall, and I am very excited to start making more soups again!

Tomorrow I am going to make these Apple, Cheddar and Turkey Meatballs (I have made them before and they were great!) to have a few but mostly add to my freezer stockpile that has been depleting lately.

If I stay ambitious tomorrow, I am also going to make these Flaxseed Morning Glory Muffins to have in the freezer. They are really healthy, but they are really good too!

Hopefully this new motivation sticks for a few days so I can get all this made like I have planned. And with the holiday weekend I don't need meals planned as we will be away. Yay!

Menu Plan Monday - August 23

Once again, as I look ahead to make sure I have all our meals planned for the week, I quickly realize that tonight is our only night without something going on...makes it hard for making and planning meals...
I am also quickly realizing that I need better on-the-go options for us, better than a turkey or PBJ sandwich in the car. I am thinking about reversing our meals, making lunch a bigger meal for us like I would normally do for dinner, and make dinner more like a lunch meal, and more mobile. I just haven't totally figured out the more mobile meals. I would LOVE feedback and ideas if you have some great "road" food for your family!!!
Also, once again, we did not get to all our meals I had planned for last week (and I am way OK with this since it is keeping my grocery budget low this month!!).

Monday: We never got to the cashew chicken from last week, so hoping to make it tonight and then have for lunches one day this week.

Tuesday-Saturday: Still trying to figure out lunches vs. dinners and how to eat on the go a lot. I am making egg salad for sandwiches, making a cold pea salad I did not get to last week, and may also make this pasta salad.

Friday: I am having people over and still deciding on a finger food to share with the gang (instead of one big meal).

I did make the pork and apple curry last week and my husband and I loved it!

Menu Plan Monday - August 2

I am sorry that I have been MIA for a bit now. I hadn't noticed quite how long it had been until I looked at the date of my last post. Last week I didn't have much of a menu. I pulled some stuff from the freezer, made a dish from the pantry, and the rest was provided for us at a volleyball camp we were working. Yep, volleyball is now officially in session (although it never seems to actually end) so life will only get busier around here. But we love, and that's why we do it!
So, for this week, with volleyball tryouts and practices not ending until 630 at night and likely not getting home until 7 or 730, I am trying to make meals that are VERY quick, or that can be prepared ahead of time.

Monday: Garlic Zucchini Pasta, sliced tomatoes (from mom's garden!!)

Tuesday: Thai Chicken with Basil, Fresh corn salad (sour cream, worcestershire, salt, corn, red pepper, green onions)

Wednesday: Crock Pot Applesauce Chicken, rice, green beans

Thursday: Sloppy Joes (good and simple, but don't remember where the recipe is from), Corn salad (from above)

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: More Leftovers or Pizza