Category: Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday

After a fun weekend at Mom’s I’m not really ready to get back into the groove of the work week. I wish I had another day or two off to relax. The past few weeks at work have been really stressful and hectic (hence the blog “light” lately) and I feel like I’m just finally winding down from that and it’s time to wind up again!

We had a really nice weekend, though.  On Saturday, SuperMan and I went for an afternoon excursion downtown in Savannah.  We walked along Broughton Street and acted like tourists (well, not really, but it was fun to wander around downtown).  We reminisced about growing up and spending time downtown and marveled at how much it had changed in the last ten or so years.

We went to The Tea Room and got some yummy teas – I’m drinking “Savannah Breakfast” right  now and it is wonderful.  I also purchased some “Morgan’s Midday Blend”  and “Savannah Grey” which I can’t wait to try.

From there, we wandered down to Savannah Bee and did a honey tasting. Seriously? Tasting HONEY!?!  Yummy.  It was really interesting, though, to taste the different honeys and see the different flavors each had.  I fell in love with the Acacia honey. It was so mild in flavor, almost like a simple syrup, and I thought it would be perfect for sweetening teas.  I also got some of the winter white honey. It was soooo good.  I can’t wait to make some homemade bread and smear it all over the top of a piece of toast.

And we had to stock up on our favorite oatmeal cookies at Byrd Cookie Company.  I had planned to go by their shop on Friday and didn’t make it there but was pleasantly surprised to find that they now have a gift shop open downtown that is open on Saturdays so we picked up a box of our favorites.  I’ve been eating those cookies since I was a girl and I have to say there are no other oatmeal cookies to compare. And, believe it or not, they are better (to me) stale!

It was a very nice afternoon – the weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed just hanging out together with no particular agenda.

And now we’re back to the crazy at home …

So, this week’s cooking is going to be comfort food and easy recipes – crock pot stuff in particular.

What’s on your menu for the week?

Monday Musings & Menu Plans

Happy Monday, everyone!img_1211

The weather is feeling rather fall-ish around here. It’s a gloomy day today, but the temperatures are really nice. I’ve pulled out my trusty fleece vests, happy to snuggle up in them again for a few months.

And that means hearty soups and stews for dinners – comfort food at it’s best. I am so happy.  Love cooking that stuff – love eating it even more!

Last week, the girls’ virus derailed my dinner plans for a few days. Pretty much all they wanted to eat those few days were bagels and ginger ale.  So, I have a few things that I’m carrying over from last week to this week.

I think I may have the virus myself, so haven’t really been feeling up to cooking much – so I’ll be focusing on simple things (read crock pot friendly) and comfort food favorites.

Dinners

Lunches
Monday Shredded Beef Burritos Leftover Baked ravioli from last week (recipe coming soon)
Tuesday Cheesy Chicken Pasta (requested by kids)
Wednesday Chicken Fried Rice (carried over from last week) leftover chicken pasta
Thursday Cheesy breadsticks w/ marinara sauce sub sandwiches
Friday Dinner out – Friday night Mexican cheesy breadsticks with a salad

I’m also craving some chicken tortilla soup but won’t be making that until my tummy feels a little better. Right now, the only thing that tastes good to me are saltine crackers and ginger ale. Ugh.

Hope you all have a great week!!

Monday Musings & Menu Plans

 

Oh, my, it’s Monday again.

How did this happen?

Over and over and over again – Monday just keeps sneaking up on us.

Someone really should do something about that.

I’m sitting in my office on this gloomy, rainy Monday morning with my Jabba-the-hut kitty cat sitting in my lap (my legs will be numb soon) and I’m contemplating the week’s activities and menu planning.

It is supposed to rain all day and into tomorrow – which means, to me, it’s a day for soup!  I’m trying out a white bean chicken chili. If it turns out well, I’ll share the recipe with you later in the week. I’ve just concocted something based on reading several recipes online and taking a little from this one and a little from that. We’ll see how it turns out.

As for the rest of the week, here’s what I’ve got planned.

Dinners Lunches
Monday White Bean Chicken Chili leftover chili mac
Tuesday leftover fajitas white bean chicken chili
Wednesday Chicken Fried Rice Salads
Thursday Cheesy breadsticks w/ marinara sauce TBD
Friday dinner out cheesy breadsticks with a salad
Saturday Atlanta Greek Festival (?) sandwiches

I’ve also got to make some sweets for the girls’ lunches. I’m thinking of trying the Pioneer Woman’s granola bars. I’m hoping they turn out better than the last type I made – those fell apart. They were tasty, but they didn’t hold up very well. More crumbly than bar-y.

I’ll probably also make a cake – I made an apple cake on Saturday but it disappeared last night at our gathering with our friends from church.  I love that – when people devour something I cook. Makes my heart happy.

So, that’s my week in the kitchen. If I come up with anything good, I’ll be sure to share with you here on the blog.

What’s cookin’ in your kitchen this weekend?

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A Mellow Monday of Menu Planning

 

Well, hello, there!  Happy Monday to you.IMG_1837[1]

I’m sitting here sipping a cup of my favorite tea, nibbling on a slice of pound cake and contemplating my week.  I’m thinking about what I’d really like to do versus what I have to do…

What I’d like to do includes some crocheting/knitting, a hike on the mountain, some baking and maybe some apple picking.  What I have to do includes work, laundry, early release for school and stuff like that.

Hmmm… which would you prefer? Yeah, me too.

Ah, well, it’s not to be, I guess. I’ll just fit in the fun where I can.

Here’s what I have planned for dinners/lunches this week.  The girls have requested no sandwiches this year for their lunches, so I’ve gotten creative and we’re doing a lot of salads, leftovers and things like that in their lunchboxes.  They’re loving it and I’m happy to see the empty containers coming home instead of half-eaten sandwiches.

Dinners:

Lunches:

  • Monday: bagel bites, apple/clementine, yogurt & granola bar
  • Tuesday: leftover ham slices, cheddar cheese, crackers & fruit
  • Wednesday: chili mac in thermoses
  • Thursday:leftover stir fry rice
  • Friday: salads with grilled chicken

I’m also thinking about making a batch of my baked oatmeal for breakfast and possibly an apple cake for snacks.

What’s cookin’ in your kitchen this week?

Hop on over to orgjunkie.com for more dinner ideas…

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Friday Adventures & Menu Plan Monday ~ 27 Aug

 

Last Friday, SuperMan and I had a big adventure. It started out as a trip to the store where I buy my wheat berries & sucanat for baking. I mentioned I needed to stop by the grocery store and he suggested going to the international market. I was game, but then we realized that it was over an hour away from where we were and we decided that was just too far to go and try to make it back for carpool.

So, SuperMan said, “Leave it to me. I know where I’m going to take you.”

I sat back and enjoyed the ride…

and we ended up at a SuperH Mart. Have you ever been to one of these? It’s a Korean market and they had the coolest things. SuperMan was laughing at me as I snapped picture after picture with my phone.  He said, “You’re not going to buy anything, just take pictures of it?” IMG_1967[1]

I decided that pictures were safer than purchases – IMG_1968[1]

This picture is titled “Things I’ll never eat”

But it was so much fun. (well, except for the overwhelming fish smell. me no likey raw fish smell)

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And then we went to lunch at a Cuban restaurant. (grin)

A great time together – almost like a “date” although we were being productive at the same time.

This week, we’re looking forward to an early release day at school and the long holiday weekend.  Seriously, we can’t wait.  SO ready for a little fun with the family.  It’s going to be busy, busy before we get to that holiday weekend. We have meetings and classes almost every night.  That long weekend will be well-earned, for sure.

In preparation for the week, here’s what I have planned on the menu:

  • Monday: Cuban Pork, black beans & rice
  • Tuesday: Taco salads
  • Wednesday: Pesto chicken with pasta & parmesan
  • Thursday: leftovers

So, what’s on your menu plan for the weekend?

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Menu Plan Monday ~ 20 August 12

 

Hello, and Happy Monday to you all!

It was another busy weekend at our house, filled with Saturday baths for the puppies, car washes and grass cutting.  And some great times with great friends on Saturday night.  The weekend was capped off by the very best part – Picking up Big Girl on Sunday from her Boot Camp weekend.  It’s a weekend retreat the church does just for sixth graders – to focus on them for one whole weekend as they transition to middle school.

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Little Bit has been sick with a cold.  And has tried to share it with us big people. I have been running a low fever today so I think she may have been somewhat successful. Big Girl sent me a text at 1AM on Sunday telling me she was all stuffy and had a sore throat. I guess she got infected before she left us on Friday. Sad smile

Regardless, it was a good weekend.  And I think she had a good time as well at her retreat.  Sunday was the best day of the two – of course – because Big Girl came home.  I couldn’t wait to see her!

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She was exhausted (of course) and ready for a hot shower and some peace and quiet.  We were all in bed by 7 last night! The power went out because of storms so we just all decided to turn in early.  I think we all needed the rest.

This week, I’ve got some comfort food planned for the first part of the week – at least until we kick this virus to the curb.

Here’s what’s on my menu plan this week:

I’m also making some homemade bread – trying this new recipe out.  Big Girl is making some brownies for lunch snacks and I’ll probably make some other lunch snack/sweet later in the week.

What’s on your menu this week?

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Pesto Palooza

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a good weekend. We did. It was full of friends and fun – and a little date night for SuperMan and I as well. So nice.  We went to a local German restaurant and the food was incredible.  We enjoyed our dinner so much, lingering over our food with just one more glass of wine and some great conversation, that we totally missed our movie!  It was just as well. I told SuperMan I’d rather sit and talk with him than watch a movie any day.

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Sunday afternoon the girls and I spent a few hours with our good friends – they invited us over to make homemade pesto!  Cindy and I both have prolific basil plants and we had been talking about making some pesto with the leaves.

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I had never made pesto, so Cindy offered to give us a lesson.  Our other good friends joined in on the fun and we had PESTO PALOOZA!

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All of the kids got involved, from mincing the garlic to loading up the food processor, measuring the ingredients and spooning the finished pesto into the storage containers.

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Many helpful hands make small work …

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Our junior chefs –

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The house smelled SO GOOD – one of Cindy’s sons came home as we were in the middle of a batch and he said the house smelled like spices. And it did! Such good spices…

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I think we ended up with ten or eleven cups of pesto by the time we were finished.  Each family took a batch home to freeze and enjoy this fall – and I know whenever I take a container out of the fridge to use for cooking this winter I’ll remember the fun we had on that Sunday afternoon.  Good friends and good times.

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We enjoyed our first batch last night for dinner. I grilled some chicken and served it with some sun-dried tomato pesto pasta. SO good.

Here is the recipe in case you want to make some of your own:

Basil Pesto

from Family Fun Magazine

Makes about 1 cup of pesto

2 c firmly packed basil leaves (fresh)
1/3 c walnuts of pine nuts
3 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
2 small cloves garlic (or 1 large)
1/4 tsp each salt/pepper
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil

  1. In a food processor, combine all ingredients except the oil. Pulse until a thick paste forms.
  2. With processor on, drizzle in oil in a slow stream until mixture is well combined. You may need to clean the sides of the processor to ensure all ingredients are mixed in.
  3. Transfer to an airtight container. Cover with lid, refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Total Randomness on Monday

Woo hoo, it’s Monday!  And it is the last Monday of the summer for us – school starts this Thursday for the girls. I have been vacillating the past two weeks between trying to get them in bed early and up early in the mornings and trying to squeeze every single moment of summertime fun from our final days. I’m hoping I’ve not done them a disservice but I figure getting up at the crack of dawn is going to be painful for all of us regardless what we do in the days leading up to the first day of school.

The weekend was a busy one – Saturday was “boot camp” for Big Girl – her first foray into the world of Middle School.  We got to meet her teachers and get her schedule – and more importantly (to her) – load up her locker!

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Quite a rite of passage – and now we’re all set for her first day on Thursday.  Today is open house and she’ll get another chance at practicing opening that combination lock…

Tomorrow, Little Bit gets to meet her new teachers and go to her open house.  She’s pretty excited, too, I think, although not quite as obsessed as Big Girl has been (understandably)

And me? Well, my biggest worry is a silly one – where the carpool lines are.  The girls are both starting new schools this year, so I wonder how the new lines for school will work. I’m sure I’ll figure it all out – and since that is my only “major” worry, I think I’m doing pretty good.

And with the new school year starting, I’m getting back on the menu planning bandwagon. This week we need it especially. We have afternoon appointments on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then school starts Thursday. And, of course, Thursday is my busiest work day. I need to be organized and somewhat “put together” so that I can accomplish all the things I need to this week.

Here’s what I have planned:

The leftovers from the baked ham will be for sandwiches for lunch and I’m planning to make some veggie chili for lunches as well.

I hope you have a great week – and that you’ll stop by again soon!

Menu Plan Monday

Summer is in full swing around our house – which means schedules are out the window and sunshine and swimming are high priorities.

We had a great weekend with SuperMan home for three full days – lots of family time and fun in between our chores.  This week the girls have an art camp to go to, which is a good thing because they have reached the point where boredom kicks in and harassing each other becomes the chief form of entertainment. Which is not good for anyone around here.

So, hopefully, the extra distraction of art camp will give them the push they need to get over the summer doldrums.

This week’s menu plan includes a few things left over from last week that never got cooked and a lot of easy-to-prepare items.  I’m all about making things easy on the cook – especially since that’s me!

The girls were brave this weekend and tried all sorts of new foods – spinach & artichoke dip, grilled polenta… the dip was a hit (why wouldn’t it be? it’s full of cheese!) and the polenta, well, not as much.  The consensus was that the polenta, which was a sun-dried tomato, store-bought variety, was bitter and mushy.  I may get brave one day and try to make my own, but I was really proud of them for being game enough to try something new not once, but twice in the same day!

  • Monday: Either Pizza Braid or some Asian Chicken Stir Fry (not sure yet which)
  • Tuesday: Chicken Noodle Casserole
  • Wednesday: Grilled pork chops, grilled corn & veggies
  • Thursday: Grilled steaks (SuperMan got a deal on some steak) buttered potatoes and veggies
  • Friday night Mexican (our tradition)
  • Saturday: something on the grill (seeing a pattern here?)

I’m also thinking I will make some of my chicken pasta salad to eat on – and maybe some chicken salad for sandwiches.  Cool and easy eating.

I’m hungry for some pasta carbonara – anyone have a good recipe they would share?

But now it is time to go wake up the monkeys and get them ready for their day. Hope you have a wonderful one as well!

Menu Plan Monday ~ 18 June

Happy Monday, everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend.  We did. It was busy on Saturday, but Sunday was all about peace and rest.  Other than church, we took it easy all day. I even managed a two-hour nap!! I cooked SuperMan some homemade spaghetti for his Father’s Day lunch and we enjoyed some grilled burgers and hotdogs for dinner. It was a really nice day.

I haven’t had a menu planning post for a long time – I have either not had a plan (eek!) or have been recycling the same menus from previous weeks and therefore didn’t really have anything to share with you. I have been so busy, I’ve been sticking to the same tried-and-true recipes that I knew were easy, sure to please the family, and easy for me to shop for and prepare.

I have gotten a little bored, though, and so I have decided to try to incorporate some new recipes into the rotation this summer. We are finally  hitting out “summer stride,” which means slower days and more time for experimentation in the kitchen.  I’m looking for things I can prepare ahead and/or use my crock pot to cook.

So, here are this week’s plans:

I’m also planning to try some new things for lunches this week. Still working on those, but I want to get away from processed, “convenience” foods for the girls’ lunches. I’m thinking salads, wraps, things like that… if you have any suggestions that would be kid-friendly, please pass them along! I am hoping to broaden their palates this summer – and teach Big Girl to do some basic cooking/food prep to help me out and grow her skills in the kitchen.

Well, that is it for me today. Not feeling too hot – I think I have picked up a virus – so I am off to mega-dose on some Vitamin C and take some Tylenol.

Hope to have some scrapbooking posts for you this week – I have THREE weeks of Project Life to catch up on! I think I printed 60+ pictures this weekend. Ay-yi-yi!