Menu Plan Monday

Here we are, headed into week 3 of 3 of my new rotation system. So far I love it! Hopefully we'll be sticking with it for a while. It certainly is a load off my mind! And I love that I only had to shop once for the meal ingredients, with just extra trips for milk, bread, etc.

I still don't know what I'm going to do about lunches and weekends. I like having the flexibility of moving the meals around to different days and having open days for impromptu plans. But that can backfire and we end up eating cold cereal for supper. Or in tonight's case, ice cream! The boys don't seem to mind, but I don't want to make a habit of it. ;)

At any rate, here is this week's plan:

Monday: Meat loaf (crock pot, of course), mashed potatoes, veggie

Tuesday: Cheesy chicken & noodles (crock pot), broccoli

Wednesday: Beef & Bean burritos (found a recipe for this and have no idea where it is. Saved on my computer, hopefully!)

Thursday: Spaghetti, green beans

Friday: Breakfast for supper (usually scrambled eggs with either pancakes or waffles)

Do you make any special plans for lunches at home or weekend meals? Please leave a comment and let me know!

To see other menu plans, stop by Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday

Here we go.... entering week two of my three-week plan! Last week I loved being back on a menu plan. I've already learned that I need to plan something for the weekends or we end up doing weird snacking or getting fast food.

Ah well... we'll get there eventually.

Here's what's coming up this week:

Monday: Crock-pot roast chicken, veggies on the side
Tuesday: Pinto beans & cornbread
Wednesday: Chicken & dumplings (crock pot again) with carrots & onions, english peas
Thursday: Crock pot enchiladas, refried beans (from Tuesday's leftovers), salad
Friday: Macaroni & cheese with tuna & peas

Have a great week & happy eating! :)

See other menus at Organizing Junkie.

Yay me! I have a plan!

After weeks and weeks of sort-of-but-not-really menu planning, I finally quit trying to be so fancy and creative and just DID IT.

On a whim one afternoon last week I sat down at the computer and made a list off the top of my head of all the meals that I most often make. I think in the past I've gotten way too bogged down in searching out new recipes. Half of which I would end up actually... you know... cooking.

So with my list of our old favorites and stand-bys made, I have over 15 main dishes! I went back an added in sides to go with them.

I spread them out over 3 weeks, arranging by beef, chicken, or other meat and separating any dishes or sides that were similar.

And since I had time on my hands and was really on a roll (and knew all these dishes by heart) I made a master grocery list for anything I would need to cook for three weeks.

It feels so good to be heading into this 3 week rotation. I feel like a major part of my life has been simplified! I'm planning on penciling in (on my printed sheet) what we have each day for breakfast and lunch and maybe purposefully planning for those in the future.

So, without further explanation, this week's menu:

Monday: Crockpot Lasagna, green beans, salad
Tuesday: Pressed chicken, veggies on the side
Wednesday: Salmon patties, macaroni & cheese, english peas (or pea salad)
Thursday: Smoked sausage, black beans, & rice
Friday: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie

Yes, I'm actually going to FRY chicken... in SHORTENING.

I know - I can't believe it either. I hardly ever ever ever fry anything. But it's so good. Once every 3 weeks can't hurt, right?

Here's the how-to for our other chicken dish this week, one of our very favorites (and good with fried okra! But what isn't good with fried okra? Huh. Well.... ok. Apparently I fry more than I realized.)

Pressed Chicken
bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
seasonings
olive oil

butter

Sprinkle chicken on both sides with seasonings of your choice. Be generous. A little salt (or seasoned salt), and then plenty of black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, red pepper... whatever you like and whatever you've got on hand.

Heat enough olive oil and butter to generously coat the bottom of a large skillet. Place chicken in hot oil; cover with a piece of foil. Place a heavy skillet (I like to use my little iron skillet inside the big one, for extra weight) on top of the chicken. Rachael Ray uses a brick.

Turn the chicken only ONCE, halfway through cooking. About 10 minutes, I think? Depends on the thickness of your thighs. :) Either way, when they look about halfway done, turn, replace your weights on top and cook the rest of the way.

So good!

Interested in seeing what everyone else is eating this week? Head over to Organizing Junkie!

Meun Plan Monday

Believe it or not, I used to make menus. I would search my notebook of favorite recipes, my old Taste of Home, Quick Cooking, Kraft, (this one's free!) & Hometown Cooking (out of print) magazines, and the Internet and plan out 1-2 weeks worth of suppers.
And then....I quit.
And now....I usually don't have a plan until about 4:30...if I'm lucky.
And then...I started seeing "Menu Plan Monday" on people's blogs and thought it would be a great way for me to get back in the action.
And since I just happened to be headed to town for one of Alan's prescriptions, and just happened to be out of milk, bread, eggs, etc, what better time to make a menu and go for it.

So....here we go. I left Monday blank because winging it usually works best for Mondays. And then I found a package of brats on sale! So, remember to grab hot dog buns on the way out, and... brats! :)

Monday - Brats
Tuesday - Spaghetti Bolognese, Salad
Wednesday - Chicken Patty Sandwiches
Thursday - Crock Pot Cantonese Dinner, stir-fry veggies
Friday - Leftovers, Sandwiches

And since I'm here talking about groceries and things, I might as well tell you our trips are never dull. For one thing, instead of sitting in the basket in the forward position, facing me & Dale, Alan prefers to twist around as far backwards as possible, with the seat belt cutting into his ribs and one arm wedged against the back of the seat. Most uncomfortable looking, but the only way he will ride.
But the advantage of this is once Mom has put enough groceries in the cart, you can reach stuff. Thankfully, this is usually toward the end of the trip. Today the Reach-it Item of the Day was a bag of spinach leaves. A crinkly bag of spinach leaves. So as we headed over to the pharmacy right quick to get our prescription before checking out, Alan was entertaining himself with the crinkly spinach bag.
And it opened! The pharmacy lady saw it as it happened, so we avoided a major spinach disaster. Just about a 1/2 a cup was sprinkled over our groceries in the cart.

Dale ate it. Yes, I know. Germs, ew, ew. But he was hungry and there it was.

And how can you tell a kid 'no' to fresh veggies? Just before the spinach/pharmacy incident, we were in produce. I saw a bag of baby carrots and picked them up to put them in our cart, saying to Dale, "Let's get some baby carrots."

He grabbed a second bag and said, "Okay! I'll get some for us, too!"

(Of course, a quick lesson followed in how the 'baby' referred to the carrots, and not their eaters. It's definitely true... learning happens everywhere!)

For your own menu ideas (or if you just like to see how 'everybody else' does it) go see Laura, the Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday! :)