Menu Monday

It's been a while since I've done Menu Monday again, so I figure it's about time.  One of these days I'll become more organized and store all my menus and recipes in one place.  I have about 8 weeks worth of menus plus grocery lists in a binder from one year when I got really organized.  I'm not sure what happened, but I lost my motivation.  I guess we all go through seasons!

Here's this week: (I've already been to the grocery store.)
Monday: Crock pot chicken stroganoff over wide egg noodles
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday: Sausage Rice Casserole
Thursday: Baked Potato Bar
Friday: Bacon-wrapped Chicken in the crock pot
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Leftovers or Breakfast

I'm so excited for Spring, and garden planting!  We don't have much room, but tomatoes are a must.  Beyond that, I don't know.  I am anxious to see if my grapes come back this year.  They should start showing signs of leaves here soon.  (Although it's still getting down to freezing temps at night here.)

Anyone else out there starting their Spring planting?

Menu Monday

Oh yeah, it's that kind of Monday.  I finally have a moment to sit down and post my menu for the week.  I am trying really hard to cook from my pantry as much as possible this month.  Any left over grocery money I have at the end of the month will go towards stock piling (freezer/pantry) during an upcoming trip to Costco and Winco with my mother in law.  It's a fun day trip for us, about an hour away.

Tonight's meal has already been devoured, cleaned up, and leftovers put neatly in the fridge for when hubby gets home.  It was chicken and potatoes with gravy.  Yum!

Tuesday: Kari's Mexican Casserole (A favorite)
Wednesday: Unstuffed Shells
Thursday: Omelets
Friday: Parmesan Chicken
Saturday: Chili and cornbread
Sunday: Chicken Fajitas

I'll be making banana bread tomorrow.  Anyone have a good raisin bread recipe?  My kids love raisin bread, but I don't like how pricey it is in the store.

Have a great week!
~Melissa

Menu Monday

Hello and happy Monday!  I didn't post my menu last week because I got busy but you'll just have to take my word that I had a menu and I stuck to it.  :)

This week as I was planning I noticed that a lot of my pantry items that I like to stock up on are on sale, so I spent a little over my grocery budget for the week.  I don't ever feel guilty about that as long as it is a really good deal and I know that it will pay off in the end to buy it now.

For example...
Albertson's had GM cereal on sale AND I have coupons...makes it less than $1.50 for a box of Chex.
Safeway had 93% lean ground beef on sale for $1.99.  I am a total lean beef snob so I stocked up, divided it into 1lb portions and put it in my freezer.

Those are just two things.  I also bought coffee for an ultra low price because I can't live without my cup of joe in the morning.  Yep.  I'm a hopeless coffee addict.

And now on to this week's menu:
Monday: Kari's Mexican Casserole
Tuesday: Sweet 'n Sour Chicken
Wednesday: Turkey BLT Quesadillas
Thursday: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Breakfast
Sunday: Pizza!

Well, have a great week all!  Hopefully wherever you are, the groundhog won't see his shadow and Spring will come early this year. :)

~Melissa

Menu Monday

Well, I may not have time for much more lately, but at least I've been trying to be consistent about putting a menu plan together here once a week!  It finally snowed last night so went out and enjoyed playing in it with the kids for a while, who have the day off from school for Mr. Luther King Jr. Day.  There wasn't very much snow, but LR asked me to help her make a snowman with what we had.

Snowy the snowman :)

I had a friend request last week's easy lasagna recipe so I'll share it here.  It was actually given to me by a friend/co-worker many years ago when I worked at a bank.

Easy Lasagna:
1lb Italian Sausage (I use the kind in a tube)
1 Jar Prego - Traditional
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 16 oz container ricotta
shredded parmesan
9 cooked lasagna noodles (I cheat and buy mine fresh)

Brown Sausage and Add Prego.  Simmer
Layer 3 cooked noodles on bottom of 13x9 pan and cover with sauce mixture.
Layer 3 more noodles.
Spread Ricotta Cheese over noodles and then cover cheese with  1/2 mozzarella and parmesan
Layer 3 more noodles and cover with sauce mixture.
Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Well, maybe it is not the most cost effective, but I like my lasagna to be extra cheesy and the sausage gives it lots of flavor.  I look for the sausage on sale and freeze it.  I also make two pans so I have one for the freezer. :)

Here's this week's menu:
Monday: Chicken Enchilada Soup in the Crockpot
Tuesday: Stew in the Crockpot
Wednesday: Chicken Stroganoff in the Crockpot
Thursday: Taco Salad
Friday: Mexican Chicken and Rice
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Breakfast

Well, that's what we're eating this week.  I have a very small grocery list because most of this is coming out of my pantry and freezer.  It's going to be a good week on our grocery budget! :)

Have a great week all!
~Melissa

Menu Monday

Is it Monday again already?  The first week of the year sure did go by in a flash.  I've already got dinner in the oven for tonight but I haven't had a chance to post yet today.  So here's a quick glance at what's for dinner at our house this week!

Monday: Turkey and Bean Burritos
Tuesday: Lemon Chicken Pasta
Wednesday: Easy Lasagna
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chicken and Potatoes
Saturday: Paninis
Sunday: Breakfast

I am really trying hard to stick to my menu plan as closely as possible but I caved last night and brought home pizza.  My DH is sick, and I am sporting a cold myself, so neither of us wanted to cook.  The kids didn't complain all that much!

Have a great week all!
~Melissa

Menu Monday

There's nothing like planning a menu to start the year off right!  I won't go grocery shopping until tomorrow so I needed to make something easy with what I have in the house for tonight.  What's better than a little comfort food on the first Monday of the year?

Monday: Teriyaki Chicken over Rice
Tuesday: Tater Tot Casserole
Wednesday: Kari's Mexican Casserole
Thursday: Baked Potatoes
Friday: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Lemon Chicken Pasta

I have some leftover zucchini bread that we will use for snacks plus I will make some apple muffins later in the week. 

It's good to be back in a routine.  Even though there were a few protests about getting up early this morning, the kids were happy to go back to school. 

And now, I'm off to widdle away at my to-do list!  Have a great Monday!
~Melissa

Menu Plan

I didn't get around to posting yesterday.  Too much on my plate.  We finally had someone come out and take a look at our leaky pipes.  It appears that he was able to fix the leak, but he thinks maybe there is another one somewhere that we haven't found yet.  I guess we'll see what the winter brings.  That's what you get when you buy a house "as is."

Anyway, here's my menu for the rest of the week:
Tuesday:  Baked potato bar
Wednesday: Lasagna (I've been craving it...it's a super easy recipe, but not the cheapest.)
Thursday: Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff
Friday: Ham and Hashbrown Casserole Bake (Shh!  If I call it a casserole my husband won't eat it.)
Saturday: Chicken Quesadillas (Per request of my 9yr old.)
Sunday: Leftovers

There it is folks!  I've done my weekly shopping and I'm fully prepared.  Love that feeling!  What's on your menu this week?

~Melissa

Menu Monday

Well, it's the last day of October and I am ready to face a new month.  November is one of my favorite months.  Not just because we have three birthdays in November to celebrate, but because family gathers together for Thanksgiving, and this year, my Brother in Law is returning home from Afghanistan and he and his fiance will be joining us here in town for the holiday.

Tonight's meal is already in the crockpot, so it will be waiting for us after a fun round of "Trunk-or-Treating" in the parking lot of my in-law's ACE Hardware.  I also baked banana-chocolate-chip muffins for snack this afternoon.

Monday: Round Steak and Rice
Tuesday: Chicken Enchilada Soup
Wednesday: Tater Tot Casserole
Thursday: Chili and Corn Bread
Friday: Breakfast
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Pizza Night

Have a wonderful week!
~Melissa

Menu Monday

Last week was a good menu week!  Everyone liked the dinners I had planned.  The sweet and sour meatballs was a huge hit.  I had a friend request the recipe so I'll just share it here.  I actually got the sauce recipe from a friend in a "freezer meals swap."  We got together with 5 other couples and each of us made our recipe for all the other couples.   So the meatballs and sauce are freezable, but make the rice fresh.  The meatball recipe I used is just a simple recipe from All Recipes.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs
Ingredients for meatballs:
2 T. Olive Oil
1 (20oz package) ground turkey
1 egg beaten
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with the olive oil, and place it in the oven while preheating.

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, and bread crumbs using your hands. Using an ice cream scoop if possible, form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs. Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.

3.Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over, and continue baking for about 5 more minutes, or until somewhat crispy on the outside. 

Ingredients for sauce:
1 (20oz) can pineapple chunks
3 T. vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
approx. 1/3 cup water
1 T. soy sauce
3 T. Cornstarch
1 large green pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion cut into chunks
1 clove garlic

In a large skillet saute onion and garlic. Add the green pepper and cook for a few minutes.  In a bowl, combine the pineapple juice with enough water to make 1 1/2 cups. Stir in the vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and cornstarch. Add to the skillet and stir till thickened. Add the meatballs and pineapple. Simmer until the meatballs are hot and the green peppers are tender-crisp.  Serve over rice.

If you are going to freeze this, cool sauce completely and then just store it in a gallon freezer bag or a freezer safe container.  When you are ready to eat it, I recommend thawing it in the fridge over night.  I have never tried putting it directly from the freezer into the skillet.

And now, on with this week's menu!
Monday: Parmesan Chicken with rice and veggies
Tuesday: Italian sausage skillet with Penne Pasta
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken sandwiches (from last week because my in-laws surprised us with pizza one night)
Thursday: Turkey bacon paninis
Friday: Spaghetti
Saturday: Breakfast
Sunday: Leftovers!

Sometimes I end up doing leftovers mid week if our fridge is starting to fill up.  It's just nice to have a menu in place so I know that I have the ingredients and I don't have to think about what I have in the cupboard come dinner time.

I'm going to have to make some banana bread (oh darn...) this week because we didn't eat all our bananas in time.  I might even add a few mini chocolate chips if I'm feeling like a sweet treat.  There are also a lot of pumpkin recipes floating around out there this time of year that I wouldn't mind trying. :)

Have a good week everybody!

~Melissa

Menu Monday

Whew!  It's been a hectic day, and I am posting this as I wait for the rice to cook up for tonight's dinner.  We are actually having last week's Sweet and Sour Meatballs tonight, because we had a couple of sick days in there last week when I had to alter my menu a bit.

Here's what I'm cooking this week:
Monday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs over rice
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Sandwhiches
Wednesday: Stew in the Crock Pot
Thursday: Breakfast - French Toast with extras for the freezer
Friday: Steak and Potatoes
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Stroganoff

I'm still experimenting with muffins for snacks but this week I want to try pretzil bites also. :)

Last week's juice making session was fun, but I didn't get as much apple juice as I would have liked.  It turns out that it makes great apple cider though, so that's a bonus now that we are getting into fall weather.

Have a great week all!
~Melissa

Menu Plan Monday

This is starting to become a regular thing for me again, and I LOVE it!  Today's dinner, Crock Pot Italian Chicken and Potatoes, is already in the crock pot.  That means no fuss and no frustration for me around dinner time! 

Before I share the rest of this week's menu, let me just say that muffins for snacks and breakfasts have been a huge hit here lately!  I have to say, I never knew it was so easy to bake my own muffins from scratch.  I don't know exactly how healthy they are, but they've got to be better than your typical boxed kind, right?  (And cheaper.)  The favorite this week was blueberry muffins with orange glaze.  I have to give credit for these delicious muffin recipes to Tiffany, over at Eat at Home.  In fact, I get a lot of my favorite recipes from there, so if you need some menu planning ideas, hop on over there and take a look around! 

Monday: Italian Chicken and Potatoes in the Crock Pot
Tuesday: Green Salsa Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs over Rice
Thursday: Baked Potatoes
Friday: Homemade Chili
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Waffles (Will make extras for breakfasts next week.)

I'm still working on apple chips.  They are a big hit with the kids and my dehydrator only fits 7-8 apples at a time, so I've been making a batch a day.  I'm also going to make apple cider with my MIL this week so I'll let you know how that goes!

Have a great week all!
~Melissa

Menu Monday

Last week worked out so well that here I am again, menu planning!  The favorite dish last week was Pizza Chicken over Rotini.  As my DH would say, it was "a keeper."  Here's my plan for this week:

Monday: Turkey, BLT Quesadillas (Carried over from last week due to leftovers night.)
Tuesday: Goulash with home made bread
Wednesday: Pizza Night!  The school is having open house and providing the pizza. :)
Thursday: Pulled BBQ Beef Sandwhiches (crock pot)
Friday: Meatball Subs
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Breakfast

Things I'm baking for snacks and breakfasts this week: Bagels, Muffins, and apple chips in the dehydrator from the leftover apples.
Of course, now we have all kinds of peaches and applesauce for sides and snacks too! :)

If ever I get organized enough, maybe I will post recipes and grocery lists here too.  For now, I'm keeping it simple.

Have a great week!
~Melissa