Monday Meal Planning 2.13.12

Here we are, at the beginning of another crazy-busy week! This week we have ballet class, Valentine's Day and its related parties, two nights of 10K training for my husband, and I swear that this will be the week that I finally get my butt into the company provided gym that is loaded and which I get to use for free. I really have no excuse not to go!

Anyway, I was thinking this weekend that we have gotten in the rut of eating too much meat again. For a while we were only eating meat once or twice a week and I liked that, but now we're back to having meat almost every night. I'm hoping to work on that starting this week.

On to the meal plan!

Monday: Brisket, 7-layer salad, potato salad, macaroni and cheese (for the kiddos)

We actually had almost this exact same dinner last night, and since I made enough for two families, we're having it again tonight. It doesn't hurt that this is one of our favorite meals. I hadn't planned on cooking a big meal last night, but then we went to the butcher shop on Friday and brisket was on sale, and, well, I love a good brisket. I'll share the recipe for this and the salad tomorrow, probably. (I LOVE 7 LAYER SALAD, and I don't care who knows it.)

Tuesday: Valentine's Day Dinner! Heart-shaped Pasta with Four Cheese Sauce, Salad, Foccacia

On Saturday I hit my limit of togetherness with my toddler, and abruptly decided to leave the house for a little breathing space. With no plan in mind on where to go, I ended up at my favorite Italian grocer/bakery and purchased heart-shaped pasta, some pink pasta sauce, and a beautiful foccacia (not to mention some cannoli and eclairs, but those are long gone). I think pink sauce on heart pasta will be perfect for Valentine's day dinner.

Wednesday: Schweine-Schnitzel, Saurkraut Pierogi, Broccoli

Another of our favorite dinners, and another butcher shop impulse buy. We all love this dinner. Last time I made it I had a visiting toddler in the house and both she and Gabbie asked for seconds, which NEVER, EVER happens. It's that good! I'll have to share this recipe, too.

Thursday: Vegetarian Chili in the slow cooker, Corn Bread

I haven't settled on a chili recipe, yet. The cornbread is my mom's recipe, and is the perfect companion for any kind of chili.

Friday: As usual, Homemade Pizza, Salad

I love traditions, especially this one!

Saturday: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

I know I said this would be a meat-lite week, and meatloaf is pretty much the opposite of that, but it's a request from the husband, so I put it on the plan.

Sunday: (Breakfast) Sweet Potato Hash with Fried Eggs and Toast

This is one of Aaron's specialties, and I actually don't know what all he puts in it, because he usually makes as a treat for me and gives me a chance to relax with a cup of coffee while he cooks. He's pretty awesome sometimes.

Monday Meal Planning 1.6.12

I don't know what it is about 2012, but both my husband and I have started out this new year with renewed motivation. However, this has led to schedules that are way more crazy-busy than normal. This is also conference abstract season, which means I'm doing a heck of a lot more writing than normal, and, due to a very sad and unfortunate situation at work I'm possibly taking on a little heavier workload than normal for a couple of months. (Oh, and my favorite member of my team is taking on another, well-deserved role in our program, but that means I have to hire another person, and that takes months too, so even more work.)

So, what this all means is that I am having to find meals to make that are even quicker than usual. There are a couple repeats on this menu from last week, because I made last minute substitutions a couple of times when I wasn't in the mood for what we were planning on eating that night. (We had cheeseburger salad instead of squash, and spaghetti and turkey meatballs instead of tomato soup.)

On to the plan!

Monday: Broccoli Cheese Soup (half recipe), and fruit
Tuesday: Salsa Verde Chicken tacos (using my Foodie Penpals salsa from Elizabeth) and refried beans
Wednesday: Tomato Parmesan Soup, salad, fruit
Thursday: Butternut Squash Coconut Curry, Naan
Friday: Homemade Pizza (I'm thinking of doing something different this time using some fun ingredients from my pantry)
Saturday: Pappardelle Bolognese, Salad, No-Knead Bread
Sunday (brunch): Piggy Pudding (an old favorite that I haven't made in a long while - Aaron will be super excited!), smoothies

Monday Meal Planning 1.30.12

I was so busy last week that I felt like the week actually ate me. Needless to say, there was no meal planning, there was only fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants, last minute, what the hell are we going to eat tonight kind of dinners. Turns out, that's super stressful!

We're doing better this week, I swear it.

Here's what we're eating this week (weekdays only, we're undecided about plans for the weekend, so I'm not planning anything as of right now):

Monday: Ravioli Soup, Salad, Garlic Bread
Tuesday: Butternut Squash with Coconut Milk and Curry, Rice, Naan, Fruit
Wednesday: Mongolian Beef, Steamed Broccoli, Rice (making a double batch the night before)
Thursday: Tomato, Basil, Parmesan Soup, Salad, Bread
Friday: Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans, Salad

Monday Meal Planning 1.2.12

Today is the last day of my 11 straight days off of work, and I am growing increasingly sad about this. I think that calls for a warm, homey meal tonight and quick, easy meals for the rest of the week, don't you?

Here's what we're eating this week!

Monday: Clean out the fridge soup, a salad, and pretzel rolls

We have so many little bits of leftovers from the past week or so, and they are just begging to be added to a big pot of soup. This one will probably contain: chicken and apple sausages, diced tomatoes in juice, chicken stock, red and green peppers, diced onion, carrots, celery, garlic, beans, and rice or pasta to be added at the end.

Tuesday: Spicy Thai Noodles, steamed broccoli

I pinned these a while ago and have been wanting to eat them ever since. This is my week!

Wednesday: Cheeseburger Salad

From The Pioneer Woman. I think that about says it all.

Thursday: Brinner

I think we'll be having breakfast burritos for brinner this week: eggs, sausage, peppers, onions, salsa, hash browns, and cheddar all wrapped up in a flour tortilla (or separated out for the kiddos).

Friday: Homemade pepperoni pizza, raw vegetables and fruit

We have some sandwich-sized pepperoni, which I think will be fun on this pizza. On mine I'll add either black olives or tomatoes and banana peppers.

Saturday: Balsamic Roasted Chicken, basic parmesan risotto, steamed broccoli

Sunday: Leftovers

We've been doing a big breakfast on Sundays as our main meal, and then snacking or eating leftovers the rest of the day. This is how my mom did things when I was growing up, and it seems to be a nice way to round out the weekend. I understand why she did this now. :)

And now that I'm all done typing this, I'm starving. Good thing it's just about lunch time!

Monday Meal Planning 10.24.11

I needed to flex my writing muscles this morning before I launch into proposal and report writing for the rest of the day, so I thought what better place to start than with food so that I'm completely distracted thinking about all of the yummy things coming up on our meal plan for this week.

(I'm such a dork!)

Anyway, the meal plan for this week is abbreviated due to some exciting-to-us happenings occurring later this week. A short meal plan doesn't mean that there's nothing good, though, and I can't wait to dig in to a few of these meals.

On to the food!

Monday: Chicken and Dumplings, roast beets

Last week sometime, Aaron and I were chatting about memorable meals. He brought up a bowl of chicken and dumplings he had once at a restaurant near where he grew up that he can still practically taste because he loved it so much. They were on special that night, and he looked for them every time he went back, but they never had them again while he was there. Talk about disappointment!

Anyway, last night I stewed some chicken to make stock and chicken allegedly for soup, but little does he know that I'm trying the Pioneer Woman's recipe for chicken and dumplings instead. I hope he's very pleasantly surprised!

Tuesday: 3 Packet Pot Roast, Celeriac Mash

A few weeks back, when I watched The Pioneer Woman's show where she made pot roast, I noticed she served her roast with mashed potatoes instead of with potatoes cooked with the roast. Since I still have plenty of potatoes and celeriac left over from the CSA (which has, sadly, ended for the season), I thought I'd serve my roast with this celeriac mash recipe (and of course, with carrots cooked with the roast, because those are about my favorite thing, ever). However, my celery roots are nowhere near the size mentioned in the recipe - I don't think the three I have reach the weight of the one listed - so I'll be halving this and using Yukon gold potatoes instead of the russet listed. So yeah. We'll see how that goes!

Wednesday: Quiche, fruit

I have a lot of eggs I need to use up, plus some leeks, orange and yellow peppers, and feta, so I'm thinking a roasted pepper, leek, and feta quiche sounds pretty darn good. I had something similar from a local food truck not too long ago, and it was fan-freaking-tastic. The main difference was they used goat cheese, but I think the feta I have on hand will substitute nicely. I will let you know for sure how it turns out.

Thursday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches, raw vegetables, fruit smoothies

This is kind of a clean-out-the-fridge meal, and the kind that usually goes over better with Gabbie. After she cleans her plate and asks for more after a meal like this one, I often wonder why I kill myself to make more elaborate meals on a regular basis, but then I realize, it's because I love to cook. And eat. It all works out.

Monday Meal Planning 10.17.11

My life has become so out-of-control crazy busy lately, that I have to admit that I am incredibly proud of myself for continuing to cook a dinner for my family nearly every night. Especially since what I really want to do is crawl into bed, throw the covers over my head, and hide, but that's neither here nor there. Onto the meals for this week!

Monday: Wild rice stuffed acorn squash, bread, salad
Tuesday: Grilled chicken breasts, macaroni and cheese, roasted purple cauliflower
Wednesday: Taco Rice
Thursday: Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, salad
Friday: Pizza and salad
Saturday: Butternut Squash Enchiladas, Quick Spicy Rice
Sunday: Chicago dogs, french fries, roasted beets

Monday Meal Planning 9.19.11

Just a quick list this week - September is about to swallow me whole!

Monday: Chicken Fajitas and quick spicy rice
Tuesday: Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches, fries, watermelon
Wednesday: Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Roasted Garlic, and Kale (except with swiss chard this time)
Thursday: Chicken Strips, green beans, watermelon
Friday: Homemade pizza - individual style (i.e. everyone gets to top their own) - I cannot believe that this is the first time I've posted this link here. I love this pizza dough and it makes a pizza that I think is better than any takeout or delivery we can get near our house. So yummy!
Saturday: Dinner w/Aaron's family - I'll probably take a dessert as usual. Peach pie sounds fantastic.
Sunday: ??? I've been leaving Sunday dinner up to Aaron lately, so who knows what we'll end up with this week. I'm fully expecting something grilled; he wants to use up the last of our propane before grilling season is over.

Monday Meal Planning 8.29.11

I am in total shock right now after writing the title for today's post, because we're in the final days of August already. How in the heck did that happen so fast? I'm sure the month has passed in the blink of an eye because of how busy we've been, and it's just about to get even more busy! Here is what we busy people are planning to eat this week:

Monday: Take Out

Tonight we have Gabbie's preschool open house (she starts next week!) and then Gabbie's first ballet class, so I'm not even going to pretend to have time to cook. Chinese it is!

Tuesday: Twice Baked Potatoes, Salad

One of my favorite, fairly simple meals. So, so good and comforting!

Wednesday: Pepperoncini Beef, green beans

I didn't end up making this last week, but I want it really, really bad, so we're having it this week for sure.

Thursday: Oven-baked ratatouille and bread (Plus possibly some rosemary ranch grilled chicken kabobs so that there's something other than bread that Gabbie will eat)

Friday: Burritos, Quick Spicy Rice

Saturday: ??

Sunday:??

We haven't decided what we're doing for the weekend, so I didn't plan that far ahead. I cannot wait for the 3-day weekend!

Monday Meal Planning 8.22.11

Last week was a week of easy, dad-doable meals like sloppy joes, hot dogs, french fries, and macaroni and cheese, because I was out of town for most of the week. Then we were bad and ate out all weekend (except for breakfasts; I  made awesome breakfasts), so I'm forcing us to eat in all week, using all the wonderful produce we have from the CSA,the meat we have stocked in our freezer, and ingredients from my overflowing pantry. Even though I'm (really not, because I have a lot) limited to what I have on hand, we're eating pretty well.

Monday: Aloo Gobhi, vegetable rice, naan (and possibly baba ganoush to use up an eggplant before it goes bad)

I'm making the rice slightly more fancy than plain basmati, because I have a feeling Gabbie won't eat the cauliflower and potatoes. I'll start by sauteing onions in butter, use broth instead of water to steam the rice, and add in carrots, peas, and possibly corn to give it a little more nutritional punch. Because otherwise, my carb loving child would eat just bread and rice, and I just can't let that happen.

Tuesday: Stuffed zucchini, bread, fruit salad

We're down to our last gargantuan zucchini, and I plan to stuff the whole thing (it's seriously about 18 inches long) with all sorts of tasty vegetables and sausage. Aaron didn't notice the turkey sausage last time, but I'm a little wary of buying any right now due to recent ground turkey recalls, so he gets the full fat version this time. Really, though, it's only about 1/2 a pound at the most that I usually put in, so it could be worse.

Wednesday: Pepperocini beef sandwiches, sweet potato fries, cole slaw

There was a buy-one-get-one sale on roasts at the store last week, so I have 4 roasts to use up now (it ended up being about $2 per pound, I really couldn't pass it up!). I also have a jar and a half of pepperocinis in the fridge, so this works out perfectly. I've been making my sweet potato fries seasoned lately, using paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and they're fantastic.

Thursday: Marinated hot dogs, potato salad, fresh vegetables and dip

I read about marinated hot dogs a while ago, and was completely intrigued, so they're on the menu this week. I'm also making Aaron's grandma's recipe for potato salad, and if she told me the truth and it works out, I'll share the recipe. She's famous for leaving out "the secret ingredient," so you can understand why I'm feeling a little dubious.

Friday: Baked sweet potato and black bean burritos, quick spicy rice cheesified

I was looking for a second vegetarian recipe to add for the week, and these just look fantastic, plus they got great reviews, so they're going on here. I made a "cheesified" (TM Aaron) version of my quick spicy rice last weekend, and it was a hit, so I'll probably make it to go with these. Basically, I made the rice, then mixed it with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and a little softened butter, and baked it for 20 minutes, and then we all devoured the entire caserole dish worth in ten minutes flat (we had help from my parents and sister, lest you think we are complete gluttons).

Saturday: Pasta with pepperoni sauce, foccacia, salad

This is what you make when you have plenty of pepperoni and pizza dough left over from recent pizza making experiences, and a sick-of-pizza husband. (I really think he's just sick of the mess I make when I make pizza. I manage to get corn meal everywhere, I admit.)

Sunday: ???

Either leftovers, brinner, or a last minute, what do we have that needs to be used type meal. Or beer can chicken, because I've really been wanting to make that.

Monday Meal Planning 8.1.11

I'm sitting here in disbelief that it's August already. August! The last month of summer! The last month before my oldest starts preschool! I'm so not ready for all of this!

Anyway, we still have to eat, so here's what we're having this week:

Monday: Spice-rubbed rib-eye with Bar Americain Steak Sauce, Grilled Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Mayonaise, and steamed fresh peas

For Aaron's birthday back in May, I bought him a Bobby Flay cookbook to inspire him to use our new grill. He decided he didn't really want it, but never took it back, and now we're stuck with the cookbook, so we're using it tonight. We also have some fresh peas from my parents' garden which need to be used (and Sophie gets peas for the first time tonight!), so those will be accompanying this dinner as well. Fresh peas are one of my favorite foods, hands down.

Tuesday: Perfect poached eggs and sauteed kale on toast, fruit salad

As adventurous as I usually am in the kitchen, I've never tried to poach an egg the traditional way. Well, I'm trying it this week. Wish me luck!

Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese, brats and hot dogs, broccoli

This is a request from Gabbie, and I don't know why I'm giving in, because she almost never eats the macaroni and cheese even though she swears that she will! I was inspired this recipe for the macaroni and cheese, so I think I'll try something similar, leaving out the taco-type ingredients (and then making it as written next time, because, yum!).

Thursday: Garlic Greens and White Beans over Polenta

I may be the only person in my family that eats this meal, but it sounds completely heavenly to me. There will be leftovers and other options for the nay-sayers if there are any. I'll win them over on polenta eventually, I swear!

Friday: Pot Stickers, Vegetable Fried Rice

I have been making pizza of some sort every Friday for a couple of months now, but I think it's time to change it up and do home-made take-out type dishes. We all love pot stickers, and I have a pound of ground pork in the freezer, so these fit perfectly. The fried rice is an awesome way to use up extra CSA vegetables that we haven't gotten to yet. Plus, I love fried rice like no one's business.

Saturday: Fajitas on the Grill, Southwest Corn Dip

We bought a beautiful skirt steak yesterday, and I think fajitas (something like this recipe) sound like the perfect way to use them up. Yum! Also, the first corn is arriving at Farmers' Markets in the area lately, so I will be there ready to grab a bag full of fresh sweet corn.

Sunday: Something with Zucchini, fruit salad

I have zucchini coming out of my ears lately, so I need new ways to use them up. This recipe for zucchini pie/quiche is a strong contender, and uses up a bunch of other stuff I have in the house already.

Preschool Lunch Ideas:

What do you send with your kid for lunch? My preschooler has recently decided to eshew all foods that were previously deemed the only foods she would eat and I'm at a loss. She would eat yogurt and crackers every day for every meal, accompanied only by candy, if she could get away with it. Which she can't. So help me out, if you would. I'm fresh out of ideas!

Monday Meal Planning 7.25.11

We are back! We survived camping and had three fun meals made over the camp fire (and then got rained out and had to leave a night early, but still! Fun!). We didn't get extremely creative this time (hot dogs, s'mores, bacon and eggs, biscuits and grilled cheese in the pie iron), but we will definitely be heading out again sometime soon and I'll try some more adventurous campfire meals next time.

Since we didn't get home until about 9:00 last night, we still have most of our unpacking to do, so the week starts out slow, food-wise. However, my parents shared some of their garden bounty with us, so I can't wait to cook those amazingly fresh vegetables.

Here goes:

Monday: Grilled BBQ chicken, dilly potatoes, and carrots

Usually I peel and slice the potatoes for our foil packet dinners, but since I have a bunch of new red potatoes, I'm just going to wash and quarter them before adding butter, fresh dill, and salt. I'm going to try baby carrots in a foil packet tonight too, topped with butter, honey, and salt. I can't wait to see how these turn out!

Tuesday: Stuffed zucchini and rice pilaf

My parents had some huge zucchinis already, so I took one and we're filling it with all kinds of good stuff (except I'm using turkey sausage instead of regular - shh...don't tell Aaron!)

Wednesday: Spicy Garlic and Lime Black Bean Enchiladas, corn bread

I usually make some sort of rice to go on the side of Mexican dishes, but since there's rice in these enchiladas, I'm going to try corn bread or something similar on the side.

Thursday: Cowboy Quesadillas, chips and guacamole

This will use up any leftover BBQ chicken from Monday, and any leftver black beans from Wednesday. That's what a call a win-win kind of dinner!

Friday: Pizza Rolls, fresh vegetables, fruit salad

I've been making pizza of some sort every Friday that we're home lately, and this week I'm using some dough I have frozen for pizza rolls. I'm filling mine with pepperoni and black olives, Gabbie's will have straight up pepperoni, and I'm guessing Aaron will want his favorite - ham and pineapple. I love that these can make all three of us happy in one baking dish!

Saturday: Out

I have actually been really good with making and sticking to meal plans lately. In fact, we've only been out to eat twice in the past two weeks, which is pretty good for us (this includes lunches!). So, of course, I want to reward myself for being so good by heading out and ruining my streak. I'm totally craving Asian food of some sort, so I'll have to convince the rest of the family that they are craving it too.

Sunday: Dinner with the extended family

Once a month Aaron's family gets together at his grandparents' house for dinner. We've promised to make it to this one (we actually got more than a couple of days notice for this one, so we can plan accordingly), so I don't have to plan dinner for Sunday. However, I do have to make a pie, because that's one of the main reasons his family likes me (besides my winning personality and ability to create adorable babies, of course), and his grandpa gets disappointed if I show up without one of my "famous" pies (famous only to them). This week will probably be cherry crumb, since they're so delicious right now.

Monday Meal Planning 6.13.11

Thankfully the Work Project that Ate May (and Some of June) is finally done! To say May was a hectic month would be a bit of an understatement. I laid low last week to recover, thank goodness, and now I'm ready to join the ranks of productive adults once again!

This week is one of the most exciting of the year for me - our CSA starts this week! I am really, really looking forward to all the wonderful fresh vegetables and eggs. The only thing that is hard about the CSA is meal planning, because we get a list of possibly available vegetables at the beginning of the week and then don't get to pick them up until Wednesday, and so I have to make meal contingency plans. Early on, it's not too hard because it's pretty much just different kinds of greens, but as the variety increases and the possibilities list gets longer, it gets a lot harder.

Keeping in mind the greens we will have mid-week (and the farm fresh eggs, one of my favorite parts of the CSA) here's what we're eating this week!

Monday: Macaroni and cheese, roasted asparagus, turkey sloppy joes

Tonight is Gabbie's last tumbling class of the season, so it's the last week I have to take it extra easy and quick on Mondays. To celebrate we're having three of Gabbie's favorite foods (mine too!).

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken, baked sweet potatoes, broccoli

Aaron has been talking about BBQ chicken on the grill for longer than we've actually had the grill, and is determined that this will be the week it happens.

Wednesday: Margherita Paninis, cucumber salad, french fries

I have a large piece of fresh mozzarella, a bunch of tomatoes, and a huge container of basil in my refrigerator. Throw in the sliced sourdough boule I have on my counter, and what else could I possibly even think of making? Yum!

Thursday: Quinoa stir-fry with vegetables and chicken

We'll use left-over chicken from Tuesday to make this a super-quick meal

Friday: Brinner!

We'll be having fried or poached eggs over a mixed green salad, spiced cubed potatoes, sausages, and sauteed mushrooms. It doesn't get much better than that!

Saturday: Aaron's Choice

My sister will be in town from Arizona yet again this weekend, and it's the last time until mid-September, so we'll be seeing her on Sunday. This means we're celebrating Father's Day on Saturday, and Aaron gets to pick whatever he wants for dinner (and he hasn't chosen yet). I would not be the least bit surprised to see either meatballs or taco rice (depending on how involved he wants me to get) on the menu, nor would I be surprised if he chose breakfast out at our favorite local restaurant instead of dinner. I would be very happy with any of those options!

(Sunday is up in the air too, thanks to visits with family)

And with that all said and done, here are:

Pre-Schooler Lunch Ideas
Monday: Oatmeal with brown sugar, strawberries, yogurt (she wanted scrambled eggs too, but we had to draw the line somewhere!)
Tuesday: Ham and Cheese on Sourdough, carrots, blueberries, applesauce
Wednesday: Chicken, peas or broccoli, mandarin oranges, yogurt (and possibly some fruit snacks as a treat)
Thursday: Pasta with butter and parmesan cheese, peas or broccoli, strawberries
Friday: Peanut butter and honey sandwich, pretzels, yogurt, banana (and possibly some fruit snacks as a treat)

Monday Meal Planning 5.16.11

Do you know what I love? I love minimal shopping weeks. Groceries are getting so ridiculously expensive these days that any week I can use what we already have (which is typically a lot) is a great week for me. We have lots of leftover food from my husband's birthday party this past weekend that we only have to get a few essentials this week (milk, a few veggies and fruits, yogurt, and cereal) to be all set. Score!

Monday: Barbecue Spaghetti, Asparagus, Fruit and Yogurt parfaits

I saw this recipe in the most recent issue of Food Network Magazine and since we have some leftover pulled pork in the freezer and all the other ingredients already, it went on the menu immediately. Two of Gabbie's favorite foods are bbq pork and "snake noodles" (aka spaghetti), this should go over well!

Tuesday: Border Burgers, Salad, Chips and Dip

Amusingly (at least to me) Gabbie is all about spinach and lettuce these days (good thing because that's what we'll be getting from our CSA for the first few weeks), so salads are happening in our house with increasing frequency. Thank goodness! There's not much I like more than a good salad.

Border burgers are hamburgers topped with a heap of sliced banana peppers and sliced cheddar. They're SOOOO good.

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Enchiladas, Rice, Mangos

We didn't get to these last week, but they are so happening this week because we're all craving them.

Thursday: Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, broccoli

Yet more leftovers from the party, and also one of our very favorite meals. I may have to try this recipe from macaroni and cheese this week because it looks amazing.

Friday: Rodeo Burgers, ranch potatoes on the grill, cole slaw

Another burger variation to use up all of the burgers that we prepped. This one is topped with bacon, cheddar, and bbq sauce. Gabbie's daycare teacher told us about how they make ranch potatoes - in a foil packet, combine sliced or cubed potatoes, butter, a little diced onion, and a generous sprinkle of both ranch dressing mix and grated parmesan. Then grill until tender, about 20 minutes. Sounds fantastic, no?

Saturday: PARTY (redux)

Gabbie's birthday party is this weekend, and she is so excited she can barely stand it. Our menu includes chicken skewers (with the chicken having been marinated in Italian dressing), buttered naan, broccoli, fruit salad, and pasta salad, plus, of course cake and ice cream. Oh, and pink punch of some sort. The cake will be pink as well. We are having a "very pink" birthday party.

Sunday: Out.

My sister and parents will be in town, so we're going out at least once, and I think Sunday night will be perfect for that.

Toddler Lunch Ideas
Monday - Waffle, yogurt, mixed berries
Tuesday - BBQ spaghetti, carrots, banana muffin
Wednesday - Baked beans, broccoli, shredded cheese, tortilla
Thursday - Oatmeal, raisins, yogurt, stewed apples
Friday - Hot dog, mac and cheese, green beans and carrots

(Also posted over at I'm on Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.)

Monday Meal Planning 5.9.11

Oh, what a crazy week we have upon us! In addition to being horrendously busy at work again (and Spring/Summer being my least favorite time to be so busy), it's Aaron's birthday tomorrow and we're throwing him a big birthday bash on Saturday. Thankfully I have a husband who likes to clean, so he's taking on the majority of getting the house ready, but I have a lot of cooking/prep work to do so we can feed the crowd. I will admit, I love throwing a party, so even though it's a lot of work I'm kind of looking forward to it.

In the meantime, here's what we will be eating this week:

Monday: Macaroni and cheese with bratwurst and peas

With food prices being what they are these days, we're using up every single left-over we can. I'm going for a zero food waste week this week. So, leftover brats from this weekend are going into the mac and cheese. Actually, it sounds pretty delicious to me!

Tuesday: Spaghetti Bolognese, Garlic Bread, Salad, Ice Cream Cake

This is what Aaron has requested for birthday dinner. Seeing as this is one of my favorite meals, I don't mind a little extra work in the kitchen on a weeknight for something so delicious.

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Enchiladas, Cilantro Rice

I made these a while ago and had more filling than I had tortillas to fill, so these will be super quick and easy using the leftover filling that I froze. Also, they're probably the best enchiladas I've ever eaten, so there's that.

Thursday: ???

I honestly can't remember what what we put on the meal plan for Thursday. I will update later if I can remember.

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: PARTY TIME!

We'll be serving up hamburgers, bratwurst, hot dogs, fruit, a couple different salads, cut up veggies and dip, chips, and two kinds of cupcakes (margarita cupcakes for the adults, and vanilla cupcakes for the kiddos or the pregnant). We want to keep it simple enough that we don't spend the whole party in the kitchen, but also serve people a great meal. This plan should accomplish both of those things. (P.S. That hamburger recipe made the best home-made on a grill burgers I've ever had. Even Gabbie, who usually turns her nose up at burgers, ate a good bit of a cheeseburger last night!)

Toddler (I should update this to pre-schooler!) Lunch Ideas
Monday: Oatmeal with brown sugar, mashed sweet potato, mangos, cheese (this is what she requested)
Tuesday: PB&J, banana, cucumbers
Wednesday: Noodles with butter and cheese, side of bolognese, broccoli, plum
Thursday: Rice, green beans, yogurt, raspberries and blueberries
Friday: Cheese quesadilla, salsa, peas, mango

(Also posted over at I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.)

Monday Meal Planning 5.2.11

Now that it’s May, I feel like the weight of a winter coat has been lifted off of me. I’m all kinds of crazy motivated, which resulted in our house being much more of a mess today than it was on Friday. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but what happened is that I wanted to organize everything (much more than I had time to organize, what with two little girls who decided they wanted to be on Mommy all day yesterday) so I took everything out and have yet to put everything away, all re-organized like.

This included my pantry, so has turned into a minimal-grocery shopping week, meaning all we had to purchase was milk, fruit, and a few veggies. I like minimal-grocery shopping weeks.

Also, we bought a grill this weekend, so it’s a meat and veggies for meals type week.

Monday: Chicken Kabobs, Evolution Carrot Salad, Asparagus

For the world’s easiest chicken kabobs, I marinate chunks of chicken breast or tenders in Italian dressing for 30 minutes to an hour before threading on skewers to put on the grill. We also skewered up some grape tomatoes and chunks of onion.

P.S. The evolution carrot salad is amazing, and you can add as many or as few of the extras as you want. We went with mint, clementines, salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and some almonds. Delicious!

Tuesday: Clean out the pantry soup, salad, hot pimento cheese and crackers

This week the soup will contain: chicken broth, lentils, tomatoes (from the batch I froze in the fall), spinach, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and whatever else catches my eye and needs to be used up.

Also the hot pimento cheese? Awesomeness in a bowl. Make it.

Wednesday: Spicy pulled pork tacos with homemade tortillas and all the fixin’s, rice pilaf

I cannot wait to try these tortillas. Cannot. Wait.

Thursday: Barbeque chicken, cucumber salad, evolution potato salad

We have some bone-in chicken breast halves in the freezer that are just begging to be grilled and topped with some homemade Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce, also in the freezer.

Friday: Grilled pizza

Another thing I have been wanting to try for FOR. EV. ER. I have no idea what I’ll top it with, but I’m sure I’ll find something. (Actually I want mine brushed with garlic oil and topped with black olives and feta, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the house who will eat it that way. We also like this version, and I think that with halved grape tomatoes instead of the romas and adding the olives in my salad, we’ll be all set.)

Saturday: Leftovers

We’re planning on some major house cleaning this weekend in preparation for my husband’s big birthday blow-out the next weekend, so I’m sure I won’t want to cook. Plus it’s my mother’s day gift to myself to not have to cook this weekend.

Sunday: Cheeseburgers, fries, fruit salad with yogurt dip, and some sort of pie

This is what I’ve planned for my family to make me for Mother’s Day (along with some sort of breakfast in bed, of course). However, I’ll probably have to make the pie, but that’s fine with me. I’m thinking maybe some sort of strawberry/cream cheese pie. YUM!

Toddler Lunch Ideas
Monday: Waffles, yogurt, mixed berries
Tuesday: Leftover grilled chicken, rice, peas, mango
Wednesday: Cheese, crackers, green smoothie, carrots
Thursday: Pulled pork, tortilla, cheese, cucumbers
Friday: Bean and cheese quesadilla, carrots, banana

(Also posted on I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday post)

Monday Meal Planning 4.25.11

Is this two weeks in a row I've posted a meal plan? I think it is! I may finally be getting my stuff together. I remember it taking forever after my first daughter was born, so I lowered my expectations this time. Life sure is crazy with two little ones. Add in Gabbie's extra-curriculars (tumbling and swimming classes), holidays and the associated get-togethers (Easter last weekend, plus our upcoming May birthdays and Memorial Day), and I'm barely holding on some weeks. As a result, I'm finding I have to put together more quick and easy dinners whenever possible. Also, I've set a goal for this week to not eat out at all, so I definitely need to ensure that these meals are easy enough that I'm not tempted by take out.

So, here's our fairly quick and easy meal plan for the week:

Monday: Egg Salad BLTs, chips, carrots, grapes

We arrived home yesterday with 8 hard boiled eggs that Gabbie colored at my parents' house. I'm not huge on egg salad, but I figure that adding bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes will help me like it quite a bit more.

Tuesday: Cashew Chicken, rice, steamed green beans

The way that Erica talked about this dish made me want to try it immediately. Plus, the ingredients make it sound like one of my favorite Chinese dishes from a restaurant in my hometown (which sadly has gone downhill in quality, so the dish isn't as good as it used to be). I can't wait to try this!

Wednesday: Taco Rice

My husband requests this every week. Seriously. I give in only every other week, though.

Thursday: Minestrone, bread, salad

This is going to be a "clean out the cupboard and fridge" type soup. I'm thinking potato, pasta, white beans, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, spinach, chicken broth...and anything else I feel like throwing in. We will definitely be topping it with what Gabbie now calls "Salty Cheese" (aka parmesan). (Hilariously, we used to call it "green cheese" growing up, due to the Kraft green container it came in.)

Friday: Hummus Wraps, fruit and yogurt parfaits

These are basically a pita or tortilla spread with hummus, and filled with cut up vegetables (cucumbers, green peppers, lettuce, tomatoes) and feta. Yum!

Saturday: I'm hoping we'll get to try out our new grill on Saturday. This depends on our ability (read: available time to go to the store) to pick one up this week. I am so excited about a having a grill finally that I can hardly stand it! (If we don't get the grill, we'll be eating leftovers.)

Sunday: Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce, salad

This looks delicious, and will hopefully provide lots of leftovers for Monday's lunch!

Toddler Lunch Ideas

Here's what I'm planning to send with Gabbie this week. I've been trying to make a plan so I don't end up staring into the refrigerator every morning, wracking my brain trying to come up with something healthy and easy to send with her.

Monday: Cheese, crackers, broccoli, strawberries
Tuesday: Mini Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffin (omitting the walnuts because I'm allergic), cottage cheese (something new we're trying out with her) or yogurt, banana
Wednesday: Cheese Quesadilla, beans, carrots, grapes
Thursday: Leftover cashew chicken, rice, green beans, banana
Friday: Cheesy pita (a pita, brushed with garlic butter, baked with cheese on top), marinara for dipping, cucumbers, grapes

(I, along with hundreds of others, posted my meal plan at I'm an Organizing Junkie. Check it out!)

Monday Meal Planning - 3.14.11

I was planning for this, my first week back to work full-time, to be a crazy week, but it's already proving to be more crazy than I had planned. To say this morning was hectic would be a drastic understatement. I was actually relieved to get to work this morning so I could relax, as weird as that sounds.

Our meal plan has already been revised due to the hectic morning (no time to even throw dinner in the slow cooker), but it should still be a delicious week!

Monday: Brinner

We bought farm fresh eggs on Saturday, plus we have some local, thick cut bacon, and fresh homemade sourdough bread (I can't wait to post about my starter). You can't really have a bad meal with those items at your disposal! Add in some hash browns and fruit salad, and I'm already ready for dinnertime.

Tuesday: Pearl Couscous "Risotto" with Butternut Squash, Salad

I bought a really big butternut squash, apparently, because we have enough left over from last week to make another vegetarian dish this week.

Wednesday: Italian Chicken Sausage and Mushroom Pizza

I have a pizza dough started, using my starter, and I can't wait to see how this crust turns out! We also usually use this recipe for sauce, and definitely will use it this week. Typing out our meal plan is making me HUNGRY!

Thursday: Corned Beef Brisket with Veggies, Irish Soda Bread

I'm curing my own corned beef (using this recipe from Foodmomiac), but adapting it to cook in the crockpot along with the veggies, and adding in a can of Guinness stout to the cooking liquid. I wanted to make this for St. Patty's Day last year, but for some reason I wasn't feeling up to handling raw meat, and the spices sounded horrible to me. A year, and one 3 month old baby later, I now know why!

Friday: Take Out

We're heading to my parents' house for the weekend (Sophie is being baptised at my parents' church), so we'll probably have pizza or Chinese, as is my parents' Friday night tradition.

Saturday: My Dad is making ribs!

Sunday: Brunch

Our big meal on Sunday will be a post-baptism brunch. I'm thinking some sort of egg casserole , cinnamon rolls, and fruit salad. Possibly also a cake, we'll see. Although I love my recipe for cinnamon rolls, I equally love the Pioneer Woman's recipe, and due to transportation issues with my dough I'll probably make her's instead (half the recipe though; we don't need quite as many as the whole recipe makes).

Toddler Lunch Ideas

We're being more organized when it comes to Gabbie's lunches lately (getting two kids ready and out the door in the morning is quite the undertaking!), so I'll start posting these here again.

Monday: Chips and salsa, cheese cubes, mandarin oranges
Tuesday: Waffle, strawberries, yogurt
Wednesday: Pretzels, sliced ham, sliced cheese, mango
Thursday: Quesadilla, peas, strawberries
Friday: Leftover Corned Beef, carrots, yogurt

Monday Meal Planning - 3.7.11 (Okay, so really 3.9.11)

I should probably change the title of these posts to “Weekly Meal Planning,” since Mondays aren’t happening. But, I want to post meal plans all the same. We’ll just pretend today is Monday for this one, right?

It’s my first week back to work, but I’m only working half days, so it’s kind of a mixed bag of quick and complex meals this week.

Monday: Chicken Strips, French Fries, Salad (cut up veggies for the kiddo who won’t eat lettuce)

These chicken strips are FANTASTIC, and super easy. My husband and daughter are huge fans. HUGE. I made the mistake of making them once and now they’re on frequent rotation in our house.

Tuesday: Hot sub sandwiches, chips, fruit salad

For the subs, I took a loaf of Italian bread from the supermarket, cut it in half and hollowed it out, leaving about a ¼ to ½ inch shell (and then the toddler and I ate the entire inside of the loaf of bread – delicious! Also dinner-ruining, but worth it). Then I layered on the deli meat and sliced cheeses of choice; this week that included deli ham, turkey, and salami, as well as muenster and Colby jack slices. I wrapped the whole thing in foil, and baked it at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes (it could have used another five if I wanted the cheese to be really melty, but 10 minutes was fine). After it came out of the oven, I sliced it into three parts, and topped each sandwich with chopped lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and Italian dressing. Delicious!

Wednesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, Salad

I had about a ¼ pound each of ground beef and pork, so I sautéed that up with some mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper, and added in a jar of marinara. Served over buccatini, this was a delicious meal.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Spiced Chicken Stew with Carrots, Orzo

Aside from using chicken breasts instead of thighs (Aaron has a weird thing about thigh meat. I don’t know.) we’re staying pretty true to this one. Looks easy enough and absolutely delicious! Also, it doesn’t use onions, which I still can’t eat because it makes the baby spit up a lot, so that makes it a winner in our book!

Friday: Clean out the freezer vegetable bean soup, bread

I made this once before, and Aaron loved it. Basically, I use a box of stock, a quart sized bag of the tomatoes I processed and froze last summer, a bag of beans (also processed and frozen last summer), and whatever vegetables I have in the fridge or freezer. I also added slices of chicken sausage last time, which I think clinched it with Aaron. I think I’m out this time, though, so he may have to suffer without it.

My sourdough starter should be ready to use to make bread by Friday (another post forthcoming), so we’ll probably have a fresh loaf of bread on the side. Mmmm….

Saturday: Some sort of curry using up a butternut squash, Naan
 I typically make this dish, but Aaron wanted to try something else, so I’m not sure yet what dish I’m making. (This from the man who recently complained that I try too many new recipes, and he can never remember what he’s eaten. Poor guy.)
 Sunday: Leftovers (or possibly the meal from Saturday night if I don’t feel like cooking on Saturday)

Monday Meal Planning 12.6.10

Wow, yeah. So it has been two weeks. I blame pregnancy brain plus a rough week last week. But I'm back, and with a fairly easy meal plan because I'm very nearly 39 weeks pregnant and I don't want to do anything difficult. We also have two nights this week that require quick meals because we have evening activities, and one night that requires some input from all of you - I need an easy and delicious appetizer (or dessert) to take to my company's holiday party.

Here goes:

Monday: Grilled cheese sandwiches (w/tomato & avocado for the grownups) and sweet potato fries
Tuesday: Mediterranean Mostaccioli (this one is super easy for me, because it's a dish that Aaron likes to cook. Score!)
Wednesday: Taco Rice (I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was a BIG hit. In the words of Yo Gabba Gabba - Try it! You'll like it!)
Thursday: Hash Brown Casserole (Nothing like a dish where you don't have to chop anything!)
Friday: Here's where I need your help! Company holiday party: it's anticipated that I bring something delicious, while I want to put in a minimum amount of effort. So - easy appetizer ideas? Easy dessert recipes that wow? If all else fails I might make mini chocolate chip cookie pies. Because they're delicious!

I'm not planning for the weekend. Our weekends are my only time to really relax, and since I'll have a newborn soon I kind of want to be taken out to a restaurant while it's still a relatively easy task. Still, we'll probably make some Christmas cookies (cut-outs and corn flake wreaths), and I'll probably bake something for breakfast (we made these on Saturday and they were DELICIOUS!)

Okay, now onto Toddler Lunch Ideas:
Monday: Soy dog, mandarin oranges, yogurt, crackers
Tuesday: Bean and cheese quesadilla, carrot sticks, peaches
Wednesday: Buttered noodles, edamame, yogurt, blueberries
Thursday: Pancakes (probably whole wheat), apple sauce
Friday: Israeli couscous with peas and ham, apple slices

Monday Meal Planning 11.15.10

When I sat down to plan our meals for the week yesterday morning, I could not think of a single thing to put on the list. That rarely happens to me, as there are usually a few recipes I'm dying to try. So I surfed around the 'net for a while, then I surfed around my archives for a while, and I managed to put together several recipes that should suffice. This whole thing is made doubly hard since I can barely fit any food in my stomach lately, as it's being squished by the baby. Being able to only take a bite or five of food kind of kills my will to cook. However, there's the whole having a family to feed thing that takes precedence, so I will soldier on.

Monday: Taco Rice

Quick and easy tonight since we have tumbling class. I saw this recipe a few weeks ago and then again yesterday when I was surfing for ideas, and it sounds like some amazing comfort food. Now I just have to try to avoid mixing the rice with melted butter, sour cream, and cheddar cheese before adding the toppings, even though I think that sounds totally better.

Tuesday: Pot Stickers and Sesame Noodles, Edamame

We still have pot stickers in the freezer (I apparently made a HUGE batch), so we'll be eating those with a side of sesame noodles. I'm halving the recipe for the noodles because it takes us forever to make it through a whole pound of them.

Wednesday: Coconut Curry Butternut Squash, Rice, Naan

We have approximately a dozen butternut squashes (plus assorted other squash) from our CSA so it's time to start using them up. This recipe has become a total comfort food in our house because it's so good and filling.

Thursday: Egg Salad Melts, Fruit

I didn't get to these last week, but the craving is strong so they WILL be happening this week.

Friday: Leftovers/Take-out

Saturday: Pizza

I still haven't gotten around to making this pizza recipe, but it needs to happen soon, and I'm thinking Saturday will be the perfect day for it. I'm planning to top it with pepperoni and black olives (my current favorite topping combination).

Sunday: Something in the crock pot.

I haven't decided what to make for Sunday yet, but there are a few possibilities, including Italian Pot Roast, Split Pea Soup, and Jamaican Red Bean Stew

And now, for Toddler Lunch Ideas:

(As an aside, do you know what kills me? It's when my child will scarf something down at dinner time, eating second and even third servings, and then when I send the same thing to lunch for her two days later, she won't even touch it. I just don't get it.)

Monday: Bagel and cream cheese, mandarin oranges, peas
Tuesday: Soy dog, cheese slice, carrot sticks, grapes
Wednesday: Grilled cheese, green pepper slices, strawberries
Thursday: Edamame, naan slices, yogurt, sliced peaches
Friday: English muffin pizza, yogurt, fruit strip