Menu Planning Madness

 Here is this week's plan:

Sun - Over baked Bar-B-Q Chicken Quarters
Mon - Gymnastics so something quick on the way
Tues - Leftover chicken or maybe Bar-B-Que Chicken Salad
Wed - Sandwiches before soccer
Thur - Tacos, Beans, and Rice
Fri - Shrimp Scampi Pizza and Salad
Sat - Something grilled
Sun - Easter Brunch

I hope everyone has a great week!

Menu Planning Madness

Menu Planning Madness

I want to start this entry with a huge success from last Friday.  I made a shrimp pizza.  My original intentions were to make the crust from scratch as well as make the pizza.  However, I got busy and could not find a way to get it done and get the pizza made and have us eat before 10:00 pm, so I cheated and used Pillsbury refridgerated pizza crust.  So here is what I did:

Sauted cooked shrimp, green peppers, and red onions in olive oil, garlic powder, and basil.  Then on the pizza crust I added a little spaghetti sauce (had some left over), the sauted items, and then covered with italian cheeses.  I baked it based on the instructions on the Pillsbury packaging.  Then I took my another pizza crust and brushed on olive oil and covered with cheese to make cheesy bread.  My MIL's response "You can cook this every Friday night during Lent.  Actually you can cook this every Friday night".  I love when my experiments go right!!!

Here is this week's Menu:
Sunday - Brats, Salad, and Mac and Cheese
Monday - Something light due to gymnastics
Tuesday - Taco Salad and refried beans
Wednesday - Sandwiches before soccer
Thursday - Pork Tenderloin, Mashed Potatoes, Green Veggies
Friday - Trying to decide between shrimp pizza again or lazy man's lasagna
Saturday - Hamburgers, veggies on the grill (I am hoping to go to a local Farmer's Market)
Sunday - Roast a chicken in hopes for good leftovers!

Leftovers is something I am working on this week.  I did not have good leftovers for lunches last week, and we bought too many at work!  I am going to really try and cook enough each meal for each of us to have lunch atleast once!!!

Menu Planning Madness

Here is this week's menu (in which I already had everything in my kitchen):

Monday - Gymnastics so something quick
Tuesday - At a resturant to celebrate Texas Independance Day with co-workers and friends.  If nothing else, the girls should have a great time!
Wednesday - Soup and Sandwiches since we have soccer
Thursday - Homemade Veggie Pizza (if I have time to make the dough on Wed night) and a salad
Friday - Baked Talipia, rice, and green veggies
Saturday - Maybe Ribs since I opted for going out on last Sat night instead of having the ribs

Hope everyone has a great week and Happy Menu Planning!!

Menu Planning Madness

I am doing a better job of planning my meals, but still not a great job staying on schedule.  I have also slacked in trying a new recipe each week as you will be able to tell by this week's menu. 

Sunday - Pork Chops, Rice, Asparagus, Brocoli (for the girls incase they did not like asparagus)
Monday - We have gymnastics so something quick
Tuesday - Red Beans and Rice w/sausage (requested by my MIL)
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Crockpot Chicken (from last week as I never did make it)
Friday - Tacos (Need to start using the Taco Shells and Seasonings from the Kroger Catalina Deals)
Saturday - A new recipe (even though I have no idea what is yet!!)

I hope you are doing better at your Menu Planning goals than I am this year!  I do believe all my portions this week will be large enough for my husband and I to bring lunch each day!!!

Menu Planning Madness

Last week's menu went ok, except the brisket ran out before I was planning on it so it reduced the leftovers.  On the other hand it means my experiment with the brisket went well.  All I did was throw the following into a crockpot and let it cook while at work:
Brisket
1 can of tomato soup
1 can of french onion soup
water

The only thing I would have done differently is add more french onion soup instead of water if I had any on hand.

Here is this week's menu:
Sunday - Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (using the broth made from my roasted chicken last week) and homemade bread
Monday - Gymnastics so something quick
Tuesday - Red beans and rice with sausage
Wednesday - Beef Enchiladas, spanish rice, and refried beans
Thursday - Left Overs
Friday - Baked Chicken, rice, and vegtables
Saturday - Porkchops and left over sides (hopefully it will stop raining so we can grill)

I did not do well bringing leftover lunches last week, so the goal this week is to cook large enough to feed the family dinner as well as have enough for 2 lunches per meal. 

What are you planning this week?

Menu Planning Madness

The menu from last week was a huge success. We had enough "real" meals (like port chops) and enough easy meals (like leftovers) that dinner did not seem too stressful. Also, the buffalo wing sauce drumsticks were a huge success. I had made enough for lunch leftovers - or so I thought. I was lucky to even get some.

All I did was:
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (easier to clean) and spread the drumsticks out
Bake at 500 degrees for 40 minutes
Put the drumsticks in a large salad bowl and poured about 1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce (I was not asked to review or recommend this product. It is a staple in our house) over the drumsticks and used tongs to mix it up.
Add as much or little sauce as you like. My Mother-in-Law took the bottle of the sauce to the table to add a little more on hers.

Here is this week’s menu:

Sunday - Slow Cooked German Short ribs (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooked-German-Short-Ribs/Detail.aspx). I realize that I don't want to use slow cook recipes that require the extra step like browning the meat. However, I heard so many good things about this recipe I am trying it on the weekend as no one wants me to brown anything at 5:00 am. I also have 2 large sets of ribs as I will be freezing one for another meal.

Monday - Leftovers as it is gymnastics

Tuesday - Lazy Man's Lasagna

Wednesday - Hamburger Helper

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Sandwiches and soup (I froze about half of the tortilla soup I made last week with the left over fajita meat)

Saturday - Chicken - I will be cooking a whole chicken in the Crockpot and then using the juices and bones to make more chicken stock as I used all mine for the tortilla soup
I hope everyone has a great week!

Menu Planning

It's the weekend which means Menu Planning and Grocery Shopping. This week I am again trying to cook out of my freezer/pantry (since I have already spent more this week than I wanted and it is only the second day).

Here we go:

Sunday - Having friends over for beef/chicken fajitas, refried beans, and Spanish Rice
Monday - Gymnastics so quick dinner of sandwiches
Tuesday - Leftovers from Sunday (I love this meal as DH has Fajitas, MIL has nachos, and girls have whatever they want but it is very little cooking)
Wednesday - Pork chops, Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, and a green veggie
Thursday - Breakfast Food - eggs, bacon, and pancakes (another favorite and I have all the eggs from the deals this week)
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks since they were on sale at Kroger's and I had a Tearpad coupon for $1 off of chicken with the purchase of Velveeta and 2 Rotel (which we needed for dinner on Sunday night)