Menu Plan Monday - 12/7/09

Well I seem to be behind on my blog posts this week. What can I say? I've been busy... I don't know exactly why I feel so much busier than I usually am, but that's the way it goes.

Last week I ended up skipping the carnitas I had scheduled because we had some leftover turkey pot pie that needed to be eaten, so carnitas is back on for this week. I'm still on a mission to use up stuff that has been lurking in the freezer. I used a couple bags of frozen tomatoes in making a large vat of spaghetti sauce, so that was dinner on Sunday, plus four more servings went into the freezer. Seems a little pardoxical, since I'm attempting to USE frozen stuff, not make more, but its one step closer :)

Anyway, here's the menu!

Sunday

Spaghetti

Salad

Monday

Beef Enchiladas

Mexican Rice (extra rice put in freezer for Saturday)

Salad

Tuesday

Turkey Noodle Soup

Biscuits

Wednesday

Leftovers/Fend for Yourself

Thursday

Meatloaf (from freezer)

Twice Baked Potatoes (from freezer)

Salad

Friday

Leftover meatloaf

Twice Baked Potatoes (from freezer)

Salad

Saturday

Carnitas Tacos (from freezer)

Mexican Rice (from freezer)

Salad

Now that I've typed the whole thing out, I realize that almost the entire week consists of some form of ground beef and salad :) I told you I've been busy!

Check out what everyone else is eating this week over at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday (11/29/09)

Well I think we're just about turkey-ed out. Seriously, we've been eating nothing but leftovers for lunch and dinner for three days now! So tonight's the last leftover night, and aside from the turkey I've stashed in the freezer for soup we're just about done with it.

So tonight I'm trying something I haven't done before and making a "Turkey Club Ceasar Salad". Which will basically be romaine lettuce, turkey meat, bacon, croutons, parmesan cheese, and creamy ceasar salad dressing (because I haven't had salad in days and want some).

The rest of the week is focused on trying to use stuff from the freezer that needs to get used - leftover pulled pork I made a few weeks ago, a whole chicken, some smoked sausage, and some of those Steamfresh lightly sauced pasta and veggies that I keep getting for $.50 a bag but haven't eaten yet so don't even know if they're any good (yet I keep buying them). I'm on the tail end of an almost no shopping week, so it should be interesting. I already know I need to bake some bread because we finished off what there was eating turkey sandwiches, but other than that we should be pretty set until my next shopping day on Thursday.

Sunday
Turkey Club Ceasar Salad
Rolls

Monday
Carnitas (Pork Tacos)
Mexican Rice

Tuesday
Crockpot Roast Sticky Chicken
Roasted potatoes and carrots

Wednesday
Leftovers/Fend for Yourself

Thursday
Cheeseburgers
French Fries
Salad

Friday (new recipe)
Sausage with Penne and Vegatables

Saturday
BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches (from freezer)
French Fries
Salad

Check out what everyone else is eating this week at Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday (11/22/09)

Well the big week is here. Our wedding anniversary is Monday. I have two really good steaks stashed in the freezer that I've been saving, and this seems like the perfect occasion for them. And Thursday, of course, is Thanksgiving. Its just the two of us this year, but I'll still be doing the big meal and then relaxing for a couple of days while we dine on the leftovers.

Sunday

BBQ chicken legs
Salad
Leftover Crockpot Honey Wheat Bread

Monday - Our Anniversary!
Ribeye Steak
Salad
Leftover Crockpot Honey Wheat Bread
Twice-Baked Potatoes (from freezer)

Tuesday
Spaghetti and Meatballs (from freezer)
Salad

Wednesday
Pizza (Homemade or frozen, depending on how tired I am)
Salad

Thursday - Thanksgiving!
Roast Turkey
Sage and Onion Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Rolls
Peas

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
Leftovers

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Check out what everyone else is eating over at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday (11/15/09)

I never got to the homemade chicken noodle soup last week. We decided to go out ot Applebee's on Veteran's day to get Ninja Hubz a free Veteran's day meal, but it was too crowded (over an hour wait at 3:30 in the afternoon!) Fortunately, we still had some leftover casserole in the fridge that needed to get eaten, so it all worked out :) Anyway, hopefully I'll be getting to the soup this week!

Since I did a pretty gigantic shopping trip last week, I'm making a point of planning meals from things I have on hand in abundance (like the 4 dozen eggs in the fridge and the 10 lb sack of potatoes on the counter...) and hopefully only grabbing a few items at the store this week.

Sunday

Chuck Roast with potatoes
Salad

Monday
Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry
Brown Rice

Tuesday - Breakfast for dinner
Omelettes
Homemade hash browns
Fresh Fruit

Wednesday
Fend for yourself

Thursday
Spaghetti with Meatballs (from freezer)
Salad

Friday
Homemade Pizza
Salad

Saturday
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Crockpot Bread

See what everyone else is eating this week over at Menu Plan Monday!

Menu Plan Monday (11/8/09)

I'm trying to keep it pretty easy this week, so I'm planning on leftovers for several meals. Yay leftovers! And Wednesday is a holiday for me (yay holidays!), which I would rather not spend in the kitchen so I'll try to find an easy soup recipe to try.

Sunday
Ground Beef Tacos (with cheese and lettuce)
Mexican Rice

Monday
Chicken Salsa Casserole
Leftover Mexican Rice
Carrot Sticks

Tuesday
Leftover Chicken Salsa Casserole
Leftover Mexican Rice
Carrot Sticks

Wednesday
Chicken Noodle Soup
Crockpot Bread

Thursday
Crockpot Pulled Pork sandwiches
French Fries
Salad

Friday
Leftover Pulled Pork sandwiches
French Fries
Salad
 
Saturday
Homemade Pizza
Salad or carrot sticks

See what everyone else is eating this week over at Menu Plan Monday!

Menu Plan Monday (11/1/09)

I've been looking forward to fall, and figured I'd start November off with a nice hearty stew. And then of course it was about 85 degrees out today. We still had stew! I refuse to submit to this warm weather, and am planning two different soups this week. I made the potato and ham soup last week - it is soooo good that I'm doing it again this week. I have all the ingredients already, plus it makes a ton which we have for lunches and leftover nights, always a great convenience. And talk about frugal! I estimate this probably costs about $.50 a serving using home made chicken broth, and it really fills you up.

Sunday
Crockpot Beef Stew (I was going to post the recipe for this but it really wasn't that great, maybe next time!)
French Bread Rolls

Monday
Ham and Potato Soup
Leftover French Bread Rolls

Tuesday
Spaghetti and Meatballs (from freezer)
Leftover French Bread Rolls
Salad

Wednesday
Fend for Yourself/Leftovers

Thursday
Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
Mexican Rice (from freezer)

Friday
Pork Fried Rice

Saturday
Crockpot Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

See what everyone else is eating over at Menu Plan Monday!

Menu Plan Monday (10/26/09)

Better late than never! Even though I've been on a blogging hiatus I have been diligent about my menu plans. I'm at the point where I can't even remember how I survived my pre-menu planning days... oh yeah, it involved a lot of Taco Bell!

• Sunday: Grilled chicken ceasar salad
• Monday: Ham and Potato Soup
• Tuesday: Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas (similar to this, but with pre-cooked taco seasoned chicken instead of beef)
• Wednesday: Leftovers/Fend for Yourself
• Thursday: Orange Chicken, Rice with veggies
• Friday: Pasta Bake
• Saturday: Leftover Pasta Bake

See what everyone else is eating over at Menu Plan Monday!

Menu Plan Monday (10/4/09)

Okay before I get to the menu, I'm hoping to get some ideas from you all. My parents will be visiting next week and my dad is on a low cholesterol, low saturated fat diet since he had a heart attack a while back. So, I need some ideas for healthy meals to make while they are here. So far I have thought of pot roast, chicken & brown rice soup, and maybe beef stew or a roast chicken. I'm not a huge fish person so that's not really a good option - I'm hoping to stick with items I already have on hand, which would include some lean cuts of beef, whole chicken, and chicken breast. For breakfasts so far I'm thinking of egg substitute, whole grain toast, and maybe these Applesauce Oatmeal Pancakes. If you have any ideas or recipes for low cholesterol meals (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) I would be grateful if you shared them. Thanks!

Last week I tried several new recipes (menu with links is here), so I thought I'd give a quick verdict on each:

• Spicy Honey Glazed Pork Chops - not spicy at all, but really yummy anyway. They were easy to prepare, and I just threw them in the oven with some baked potatoes for an easy and tasty meal. Ninja Hubz loved them.
• Asian Chicken and Noodles - pretty good. I thought they were a lot better after adding a bit of soy sauce.
• Chicken (Crock)Pot Pie - an experiment I tried. Came out quite good! I will post the recipe when I get a chance, probably tomorrow.

And at last, this week's menu! A couple repeats that we didn't get to last week. Ninja Hubz volunteered to make home made macaroni and cheese on our usual "fend for yourself" night, and the pasta bake casserole  lasted for several nights of leftovers, so we just didn't get to some of our planned meals.

• Sunday: Roast beef, noodle stuff, mixed veggies
• Monday: Beef fried rice with veggies
• Tuesday: Crockpot vegetable beef soup
• Wednesday: Leftovers/Fend for yourself
• Thursday: Italian breaded chicken, noodle stuff
• Friday: Homemade Pizza
• Saturday: Carnitas

Check out what everyone else is eating over at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday (9/27/09)

Its been over 100 degrees here almost every day this past week, so needless to say I've enjoyed being lazy and eating meals from the freezer and crockpot. Thankfully the heat is supposed to end this week, and it should start cooling off considerably. I'm glad because I've been itching to try a few new recipes which require actually being in the kitchen, and some even turning on the oven!  Here's what's in store:

• Sunday: Spicy Honey Glazed Pork Chops - this is a new one I'm trying, it's from the e-cookbook "America's Favorite Pork Chop Recipes" - you can download it here (requires signing up for a free newsletter).
  
• Monday: Asian Chicken and Noodles - another new one
  
• Tuesday: Pasta Bake
  
• Wednesday: Leftovers/Fend for Yourself
  
• Thursday: Carnitas (from the freezer) - I had a TON of leftovers when I made these last week, so I put some in the freezer to enjoy again this week.
  
• Friday: Homemade pizza from freezer (I use this recipe when I make dough - it makes enough for 3 pizzas - I cook one and freeze 2 for future use)
  
• Saturday: Chicken (Crock)Pot Pie - I haven't done this before, but I'm going to experiment and try my favorite chicken pot pie recipe in the crockpot. I'll post the recipe if it comes out good :) If it comes out bad, we'll just never speak of it again, deal?

See what everyone else is eating over at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday (9/20/09)

Bah, it's super hot here again today, so I'm feeling lazy. I also have a hectic week coming up (yay work), so I'm trying to keep it fairly simple. Thank goodness for stuff in the freezer!

• Sunday: Leftover Meatloaf, baked potatoes, salad
• Monday: Orange chicken, rice with veggies
• Tuesday: Crockpot Carnitas (shredded pork tacos), Mexican Rice from the freezer
• Wednesday: Leftover carnitas
• Thursday: Spaghetti (from freezer)
• Friday: Homemade pizza from freezer (I use this recipe when I make dough - it makes enough for 3 pizzas - I cook one and freeze 2 for future use)
• Saturday: Crockpot Peppercorn Steak (omitting the mushrooms), baked potatoes, salad

See what everyone else is eating over at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday (9/13/09)

Well I had another week of deviating from my menu plan! It's like dinner anarchy over here. OK, not really, I'm just being dramatic :) What happened was (for reasons too stupid to go into) I accidentally defrosted a bag of cooked turkey that was in the freezer. Rather than letting it go to waste, I made some fantastic Turkey and Wild Rice Soup in place of Thursday's spaghetti and Friday's fajitas. So all that stuff is still in the freezer. Maybe this week I'll get to the spaghetti :)

The soup left me with 1/2 a bag of spinach, so I'm making a point of using that up. I'm also trying to use some frozen taco meat and frozen enchilada sauce, as well as diced ham and boxed cheesy potato stuff.

• Sunday: Bacon and Spinach Alfredo
• Monday: Crockpot Enchiladas (Inspired by this recipe, but I'll be changing it to use ground beef and other stuff I have on hand... recipe to come), Mexican Rice (from freezer)
• Tuesday: Leftover enchiladas
• Wednesday: Fend for Yourself
• Thursday: Spaghetti (from freezer. for real this time)
• Friday: Cheesy potatoes and ham casserole
• Saturday: Meatloaf (from freezer)

See what everyone else is eating this week over at Menu Plan Monday!

Menu Plan Monday (9/6/09)

I actually deviated a bit from last week's menu (*gasp*) - I had planned on spaghetti but we skipped that and ate leftover quesadillas. So its back on the menu for this week.

I'm feeling very lazy today (long holiday weekends do that to me), and I think this week's menu relfects that. Lots of crockpot recipes, one dish meals, and food from the freezer. I love that I can take it easy and still have some good and inexpensive meals for my lack of effort.

• Sunday: Crockpot Cornbread Taco Casserole
• Monday: Turkey Pot Pie
• Tuesday: BBQ Chicken sandwiches (using cooked chicken from the freezer), sweet potato oven fries, salad
• Wednesday: Fend For Yourself
• Thursday: Spaghetti (from freezer), salad
• Friday: Crockpot Beef Fajitas, Mexican Rice (leftovers from freezer)
• Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Check out more great menus at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday (8/30/09)

Well I survived my business trip last week - not a single one of the potential problems I was stressing out over ocurred, and it was actually pretty pleasant. I returned home to over 100 degree heat and a few dead plants (Ninja Hubz forgot to water) and a somewhat messy house, but nothing catastrophic.

Since its been so unbearably hot I made a last minute change to our menu last week - instead of stuffed green peppers (requiring the use of the oven), we did a big BBQ on Saturday and will be enjoying leftovers for a couple of nights. We made steak, teriyaki chicken kebabs (used the bell peppers on those), spicy sausages, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad. We don't have air conditioning, so when it gets this hot the best course of action is to crank up the fans, and lie as still as possible :) I think its going to start cooling off a bit mid-week.

• Sunday: Leftover BBQ, Jell-O & Cool-Whip for dessert!
• Monday: Leftover BBQ
• Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas, Mexican Rice
• Wednesday: Spaghetti (from freezer), salad
• Thursday: Crockpot Pork Ribs, cheesy potatoes, salad
• Friday: Leftover Ribs, cheesy potatoes, salad
• Saturday: Dinner at family's

Check out hundreds of other Menus at OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday (8/23/09)

Well this week I will be out of town on work for a couple of days. Good thing I made a whole roast turkey this weekend - Ninja Hubz has assured me he can survive on leftover turkey and pizza hoagies from the freezer... I bought him a bag of baby carrots so maybe he'll eat some of those too :) I get home Thursday evening, and will be happily relying on a previously made freezer meal! It sure is nice to have those meals to fall back on. And I think the bell peppers in my garden will finally be big enough to harvest, so I'm excited to try a new recipe with them on Saturday.

• Sunday: Leftover Turkey Dinner
• Monday: Turkey Noodle Casserole
• Tuesday: Out of Town
• Wednesday: Out of Town
• Thursday: Meatloaf (from freezer)
• Friday: Leftover meatloaf
• Saturday: Stuffed Green Peppers 

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Menu Plan Monday 8/16/09

I've had a rather hectic weekend, before I knew it, here it is Sunday and time to plan some more meals! Luckily the Taco Cornbread Casserole I made last night was plenty big so we have some leftovers and I didn't have to cook tonight. I was planning on posting the recipe for that, but I think it still needs some work before I share it. It tasted good, but I think the cornbread to filling ratio was a bit high, so I will make it again in a week or two with some adjustments, and share it with you all when I get it just right :) (Edit: OK, you talked me into it... here's an outline of what I made).

I am still on a quest to clear out some of the old weird stuff in my cupboards, so a couple meals this week will involve boxed items. And since I have NO commitments for next weekend, I'm planning on staying home, relaxing, and roasting one of the turkeys still hiding in the bottom of my freezer. I really need to clear out some space in there!

• Sunday: Leftover Taco Cornbread Casserole
• Monday: Southwestern Chicken Skillet (Campbell's boxed dinner kit)
• Tuesday: Au Gratin Potatoes with ham and veggies (Betty Crocker boxed potatoes)
• Wednesday: Leftovers/Fend for Yourself
• Thursday: Spaghetti (sauce from freezer)
• Friday: Homemade Pizza
• Saturday: Roast Turkey

Check out a million or so more menus over at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday 8/9/09

Last week I made some good progress on using up stuff from the fridge and cupboards that were despartely in need of being used up. There was box of Chicken Helper in my cupboard that I hadn't been able to bring myself to prepare, so I used the noodles in a casserole and threw the powder "helper" sauce away. Despite having a "Better By" date that was... um... let's just say a while ago, it didn't kill us. It actually came out fine. I've got a few other boxed items languishing in my cupboards that I will be dreaming up things to do with in the next few weeks.

• Sunday: Cheeseburgers, Corn, Salad
• Monday: Orange chicken, rice, veggies
• Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
• Wednesday: Fend for Yourself
• Thursday: Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup, Biscuits
• Friday: Homemade Pizza, Salad or Carrot Sticks
• Saturday: Taco Cornbread Casserole

Check out hundreds of more meal plans at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday - 8/2/09

This week I'm trying to focus on using up stuff I've had around forever and need to use up. That means delving down to the bottom of the freezer for a turkey breast I got several months ago for $.88/lb, and a whole chicken that's been in there a while. Along with the turkey I'll be using up some mashed potatoes from the freezer, and some canned Pilsbury biscuits that are past their "best by" date. I also have a number of boxed dinner kits lurking in my cupboards that I don't really want to eat. I'm not sure why I have them, I suppose they were a good deal and I thought I'd try them out, but evidently I shouldn't have bought more than one, because I think they're kind of gross. I can't STAND wasting food though, so I've decided that I will use the noodles from these kits and throw the icky sauce powder stuff out. They can't screw noodles up that badly, can they? :) I'll let you know how it turns out!

• Sunday: Crockpot Roast Turkey Breast, Mashed Potatoes (from freezer), biscuits, salad
• Monday: Leftover turkey dinner
• Tuesday: Turkey Noodle Casserole (based on this recipe, but I'll use turkey instead of chicken and a homemade white sauce instead of the mushroom soup)
• Wednesday: Leftover casserole
• Thursday: Crockpot Roast Sticky Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Veggies
• Friday: Chicken Enchiladas, Mexican Rice, Salad
• Saturday: Leftover Enchiladas, Rice, Salad

Check out more great menus at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday - 7/26/09

Well this weekend has been as crazy as I expected it would be, and I'm sure glad I had my super easy menu plan for a lazy person set up. If I hadn't taken the time at the beginning of the week to plan ahead, we probably would have eaten out the past 4 days. Hooray for Menu Planning!

This week I forsee more laziness. Its hot and I'm tired - I don't want to be in the kitchen anymore than I absolutely have to. Sounds like a job for... Grill Man! We have a pretty big charcoal grill, and you know what? It takes just as much time and effort to cook one meal's worth of meat as it does to cook a whole mess of meat on it. So I took several bags of meat out of the freezer last night, had Ninja Hubz BBQ them all tonight, and that's going to be 3 days worth of dinners. For side dishes we'll be having some quick salads or carrot sticks, and whatever boxed potato or noodle dish that falls out of the cupboard first. I heart leftovers!

• Sunday: BBQ steak, chicken drumsticks, Spicy Italian Sausages
• Monday: Leftover BBQ
• Tuesday: Leftover BBQ
• Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken Alfredo
• Thursday: Crockpot Beef Fajitas
• Friday: Homemade Pizza
• Saturday: Chicken Pot Pie

Check out more Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie

Menu Plan Monday - 7/19/09

Last week I made this Honey-Garlic Pork Chops recipe, and it was fantastic. I highly recommend you try it! I also made a mega-batch of Crockpot Chicken Taco meat, and will be incorporating the extras into this week's plan.

So this week we have a lot going on. I am taking Thursday and Friday off work and doing some fun local stuff, a bit of a staycation. Details are fuzzy at this point, and I'm not sure what time we'll get home, but I know I will not have any desire to cook when we do. Its possible we'll end up eating out, but I would like to have food ready to go so we aren't FORCED to get take out. So I am planning some simple freezer meals for the end of the week and trying to make a plan that's flexible.

• Sunday: Chicken & Rice burritos (with leftover taco meat). I'm making a double batch and freezing extras for later in the week
• Monday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, garden salad
• Tuesday: Leftover meatloaf
• Wednesday: Fend for Yourself
• Thursday: Spaghetti (sauce from freezer, already made)
• Friday: Chicken & Rice burritos from freezer
• Saturday: Frozen pizza

Check out more great menus at Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday - 7/12/09

Last week's crockpot fest was a success - my new 6 quart crockpot arrived in plenty of time to make my roast chicken, and it came out awesome. The potato soup recipe I tried was pretty good, but I believe with some tweaking it can get better, so I'll be trying that again in a week or two.

This week I'm planning several new recipes. I seem to have an abundance of smoked sausage in the freezer, so I headed over to the Hillshire Farm's website and browsed some of their recipes and decided on the Garden Vegetable Linguini. And the pork chop recipe included in Org Junkie's menu plan last week sounded so good I decided to give that a try as well!

• Sunday: Garden Vegetable Linguini
• Monday: Honey-Garlic Pork Chops, Noodles, Salad
• Tuseday: Crockpot Chicken Alfredo (recipe below), Salad
• Wednesday: Leftovers/Fend for Yourself
• Thursday: Grilled Cheeseburgers, Oven Fries, Salad
• Friday: Crockpot Chicken Tacos
• Saturday: Eating out for hubby's birthday

Crockpot Chicken Alfredo

• 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 pkg Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 3 Tbsp margarine or butter
• 1 pkg cream cheese

Layer all into crock pot and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours, chicken will fall apart. Serve over cooked pasta.

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