Menu Plan Month- A month of meals

Is it really February already??? How time flies when you're having fun. Or something to that effect.

Last months' planning of a month worth of meals worked out so great I'm doing it again. Really, it was so nice to have a plan, know I had all the ingredients (cause I did all my shopping immediately after my planning) and know that things were going to be taken care of. It made my life less stressful and it made things easier on my husband who has to feed kids 3 to 4 of the night out of the week. We won't go into why I have to plan and get everything ready. It's our reality and sometimes it's just easier to go with what works than to fight.

Biggest hit meals last month were the crock pot pulled pork from Living Well Spends Well , and shakshuka from  Nourish Atlier

I figured I should fess up for a moment. While I'm not one to reinvent the wheel, I also don't follow recipes to the T. While I almost always link to others recipes, I hardly ever follow their steps exactly. I tend to view recipes as more as guidelines than rules. I say this because this month especially I'm going to be deviating from what is written on the recipes. I may even take the time to post about how I changed things up and how it was received. We'll see.

Reminder: I have a kid who eats gluten free. So I always substitute corn starch from flour, use GF noodles instead of wheat and make sure that the meal does not contain gluten when I serve it. I realize this doesn't help you if you are new to a gf diet because I'm not giving you instructions on how to do so as well. But it does show that it's almost always possible to rework recipes so they work for you and yours.

February's Menu 
Week 1
Monday: leftovers -clean out the fridge day
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Mexican Rice
Wednesday: Broccoli Cheddar Soup in the crockpot
Thursday: Baked Egg Ham Cups with tater tots
Friday: Fend for yourself
Saturday: Crockpot Pulled Pork, chips, carrots
Sunday: Popcorn Cheese and apples

Week 2
Monday: Frito Taco Pie- use Pillsbury's Gluten Free pizza crust
Tuesday: Crockpot Rice lasagna 
Wednesday: Crockpot Ranch Onion Chicken, roasted potatoes, peas
Thursday: Sweet Potato and Chicken Hash
Friday: FFY
Saturday: Groundnut Stew in the crockpot- original recipe from More with Less Cookbook- going to see if I can convert it to the crockpot. More information to come later
Sunday: Popcorn Cheese and Apples

Week 3
Monday: One Pot Shrimp and Rice 
Tuesday: Crock pot Ham and Bean Soup
Wednesday: Crock pot Coconut Chicken Curry- recipe to come later
Thursday: Lo-mein 
Friday: FFY
Saturday: Crockpot Lentil Casserole - original recipe found here
Sunday: Popcorn Cheese and Apples

Week 4 
Monday: Sweet Potato, Bacon and Sage Pasta
Tuesday: Crock pot Pesto Minestrone 
Wednesday: Crock pot Beef and Broccoli- served over rice
Thursday: Pizza Braid
Friday: FFY
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Popcorn Cheese and Apples

Need more inspiration? Check out Organizing Junkie and all the linked menus there.  Happy meal planning!

Menu Planning- Meals for the rest of January

Confession: I have NOT menu planned in a year or more. This has meant lots of frozen pizza, eating out, and panic, scrambling nights of "What do I cook?" This is made worse by the fact that 3 to 4 nights a week I'm not home for dinner due to work. Since my husband doesn't cook (ie hate cooking), I'm often left feeling guilty that I didn't plan ahead.

Well it's a new year. Sure we are already over a week in, but that doesn't mean I can't start anew. And rather than just plan my week of meals, I sat down and planned the rest of the month of meals. The internet and Pintrest are my friends. :) And should be yours two. So here it is. This months meals. Let my husband say he can't cook now. Blah! I won't believe it. Cause I have it all planned. All he has to do is follow the instructions.

January Week 2
Monday: Chicken pot pie from More with Less
Tuesday: GF Orange chicken over rice, frozen green beans
Wednesday: Asian Chicken Salad (using leftover orange chicken)
Thursday: Roasted Squash Lasagna, frozen peas, GF Pamelas Bread
Friday: Fend for yourself Friday! (this just means that they can have leftovers or frozen pizza. I'm leaving it in my husbands hands)
Saturday: Crockpot Pulled Pork, chips, carrots
Sunday: Cheese Corn Chowder from More with Less

Week 3
Monday: Italian Wonderpot, frozen peas
Tuesday: Crockpot Porcupine Meatballs in mushroom sauce, rice, frozen green beans
Wednesday: Midweek meal at church
Thursday: Creamy Pasta with Bacon and Peas
Friday: Fend for yourself Friday!
Saturday: Crockpot Mexican Tortilla Pie
Sunday: Popcorn Cheese and Apples

Week 4
Monday: Shakshuka
Tuesday: Porcupine Meatballs in tomato sauce over pasta, frozen corn
Wednesday: Crockpot Fajtas and toppings
Thursday: Southwest One Pot Wonder (use leftover chicken)
Friday: Meatball subs using meatballs from Tuesday
Saturday: Curred chicken and coconut rice, frozen peas
Sunday: Coconut chickpea curry over rice (used leftover chicken)

Originally I started meal planning due to the lovey lady over at Organized Junkie. You can check out her meal plan plus tons of others by visiting her blog at orgjunkie.com.

Here's to eating well with less stress. And of course being able to answer that age old questions "What's for dinner?"

Menu Plan Monday March 10, 2014

Despise the lack of posts, I have been menu planning. In fact in the last month alot has happened that I really ought to record here on the blog. We'll see if I find the motivation. For those not in connection to me on Facebook, I have recently moved from a part time position at the local bookstore to full time Assistant Manager. :) I'm very excited about it and really enjoying my work. However this has meant lots of shifting and changing at home, and we are still working out the kinks. One shift has been more use of my crockpot. As I don't come home till after 6pm, dinner needs to be done when I come home. As let's be honest, Mark IS NOT going to cook unless it's maybe spaghetti. While I like spaghetti I don't want it every night. So slow cooker meals has become our saving grace. The internet is a life saver in the area. But I have also recently bought a new cookbook. Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. So far I'm pretty pleased, Although there are recipes I can't used because they only require a few hours cooking time or require you to add ingredients half way through. For someone else I"m sure that's not a problem but I just can't do that. So here is this weeks menu. I'm off Monday so that meal I'll cook without the use of my crockpot. The rest... well just look

Monday: Black bean and sweet potato taco salad (uses the Simple in Season Burrito filling)
Tuesday: Chicken with Onions and Cheese (Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker) potatoes and peas
Wednesday:  Corn Chowder (Not Your Mother's Slower Cooker)
Thursday: Breakfast Casserole
Friday: Sloppy Joes
Saturday: Left overs or simple meal
Sunday: Popcorn Cheese and Apples

For more menus be sure to visit Organizing Junkie. Happy Meal Planning!!

Menu Plan Monday- Feb 10th, 2014

Anybody else sick of cold weather? Despite the fact that I should be excited about all the snow and cold weather (we are going skiing this weekend) I find myself just wanting spring to be here already. What I won't give to see dirt and brown grass, anything other than white and grey. Not to mention that I would love temps to get above freezing. Or even just stay in the mid to high 20s. Anything more than the single digit and neg numbers we been having. On the up side, we are going up to Boyne Highlands, MI this weekend. Hopefully I'll have a renewed love of winter, since it doesn't seem to be leaving anytime fast. That makes this meal plan a short one, as we leave Thursday morning and won't return till Saturday night. But in order to hopefully be prepared and not have too many things in the fridge while we're away here is the menu.

Monday: One Pot Wonder: Thai Style Peanut Pasta- made with Asian style Rice Noodles
Tuesday: Sweet Potato Curry
Wednesday: Leftovers!!!
Thursday- Sunday: Skiing
I am in charge of Saturday's supper- I'll be making Green Spaghetti, roasted carrots and garlic bread YUMMY!!

For more menus go check out Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday_ Jan 13, 2014

Hello to anyone and everyone who still checks up on this blog. It's been awhile. But a week and a half into 2014, I figured I might start again with a meal plan. My boys are becoming more picky. While that doesn't stop me from continuing to cook the way I have for the past 7 years, it still  makes menu planning interesting. On the one had I want good, healthy food. On the other I want my boys to eat it. And more importantly I just plain don't want to hear them whine.  For those that may hear from personally or on Facebook, I got a part time job at a bookstore, which I love. However since I work more evenings then mornings/afternoons, that means I have to plan meals even more than before. Cause if I'm going into work at 3pm than I need to make sure that dinner is either already put together on the stove/in the oven or everything is out and ready to be put together by Mark. I believe he can cook. But he doesn't, so I try to make it easy on both of us by having it planned or even cooked before I leave.  This week my goal it to have some meals with leftovers. I am getting tired of grilled cheese or pb&j for lunch. Not that my boys care. But Mark and I do :)
So here is our menu for this week.

Monday: Salsa chicken over rice, (using home-canned salsa) some side veggie, probably frozen peas
Tuesday: Crockpot black bean and corn soup
Wednesday: Midweek meal at church
Thursday: Curry over rice
Friday: Creamy Pesto Pasta (Simply in Season)
Saturday: The boys are on their own. I'm going with the Jr Youth to snow camp. Mark gets to decided what's for dinner :)
Sunday: Popcorn cheese and apples.

For more menus be sure to head over to Organizing Junkie. Hope everyone one has a Happy Monday! and Happy Menu Planning

Menu Plan Monday- May 20,2013

Happy Monday everyone! Hopefully yours started off better than mine. Although the day has ended pleasant enough. I can tell we are at the end of the school year, as my 6 year old has become hard and hard to deal with. 6 Days left of Kindergarten. And only 3 left of Preschool. Arrgg when the end of the year come so close? On the up side that means we leave for Kansas in less than two weeks :)

I'm going to keep this short. Here is our menu this week.

Monday: Stir-fry noodles (Simply in Season)
Tuesday: Quiche
Wednesday: Quinoa Pizza Bits
Thursday: Groundnut Stew (More with Less)
Friday: Mexican Rice Casserole
Saturday: Black Bean Burgers
Sunday: Leftovers or other simple meal

It should be noted that weekend plans might change if we decided to have friends over. But I figure I could at least make some plan even if I change it  later. There more like guidelines, than rules :)

For more menus head over to Organizing Junkie. Happy Menu Planning!

Menu Plan Monday- 4/29/2013

After a month of trying to get back into routine and failing, I figure at least I could start menu planning again. Even it the rest of our lives is pure chaos, this is a small step to gaining some measure of control. At least that's my hope. With the sun shining and the weather warm enough for short sleeves we have starting grilling some. It's a nice change of pace. And being outside in the sun is doing us all some good. Me especially. So here is the menu. What's on yours this week?

Monday: Hotdogs and roasted potatoes on the grill. Eat outside on the pond deck
Tuesday: Macaroni and cheese with peas
Wednesday:  Chicken curry
Thursday: Taco salad
Friday: First Fridays- eating out - most likely the hotdog stand
Saturday: my mother in law is cooking- Cai and Aiden have a dance recital and while have dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house after
Sunday: Leftovers or simple supper- maybe popcorn and apples?

Head over to Organizing Junkie for more menu idea. Happy menu planning!

Menu Plan Monday- April 1st, 2013

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted a menu. Last week was crazy being Holy Week. Add to the fact we made a trip to PA, heading out Palm Sunday and arriving home late, late on Wednesday night, for Mark's grandfather's funeral and I was feeling exhausted. Despite the fact that Holy Week and Easter seems to fly right on by, I feel like I got to enjoy Easter. We had dinner at a friends house with another family which was so nice. Our host made ham , rice, peas and salad. I brought pies (chocolate pudding, peanut butter chocolate, and strawberry). And the other family brought cheese and crackers. It was wonderful. And we had a big egg hunt with some other families from church. Now we are on spring break. Which has it's advantages and disadvantages. Aiden has been cranky and I'm starting to wonder if it's because he has spent so much time with his brothers without a break. With our trip last week we are on week two of time together without school. On the up side, my mom and step-dad arrive tomorrow afternoon for a few days! We'll get to spend tomorrow afternoon and Thursday with them. They we'll all head to Chicago on Friday for the day. Mom and Andrew will head back home sometime in the evening and Mark, the boys and I will stay the night and spend Saturday in Chicago. Should be a fun weekend. :) With that all in mind here is our menu for the week.

Monday: sweet potato oven pancakes (Simply in Season cookbook- sub gf flour for wheat) with bacon on the side. (Ian went to the dentist and had to get a filling. He was told only soft food for the day.)
Tuesday: Cheese corn chowder (More with Less cookbook)
Wednesday: Egg curry (Extending the Table cookbook)- maybe make gluten free naan
Thursday:???? I'm going to leave this undecided and have my mom help me. :)
Friday and Saturday: Chicago!!
Sunday: Leftovers or simple meal such as popcorn and cheese

For more menus go visit Organizing Junkie. Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday- Feb 11th, 2013 and Fat Tuesday Meal

So clearly I have not updated in awhile. Of course we have been sick around here. I think I was sick for two weeks with only a few days in between. First the fever, ache body flu, then the stomach flu which Cai and Aiden gave me and I gave to Mark. Only Ian seemed to be spared. We are all healthy now. And I couldn't be more grateful. Really!!!!
This week will be different for my family as far as menus cause I'm leaving Thursday with a group of women to go to Meridian, MS for the weekend. We are helping out at the Women's Retreat at Jublee Mennonite Church and then our pastor Brenda is preaching there on Sunday. It should be lots of fun and I'm very much looking forward to the trip.
 For those who follow the Christian church calendar you know that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. It's so early this year. To be honest it's kinda freaking me out. I'm not sure I'm ready. But here we are. Which makes today (Tuesday) Shrove/ Fat Tuesday. So in honor of the day I made sure to prepare us a feast. :)

We had steaks with this marinate. Baked potatoes. Peas.

For dessert we had these gluten free yeast donuts.

 I used an egg and 1% milk in place of the flax seed and rice milk. They turned out nice.

Everyone liked them.

 It was a good feast. Mark especially liked the steak. I know he likes my cooking but on nights like tonight it is really nice to hear and hear multiple times. :)

Okay so here is our menu for this week.

Monday: Basic Curry recipe over rice (La Leche League's cookbook Whole Foods for the Whole Family)
Shrove Tuesday Feast: Marinated steak, baked potatoes and peas.
Ash Wednesday: Lentil soup
Thursday: I'll be eating on the road- Mark and the boys will eat Cheese Corn Chowder at Grandma and Grandpa Saner's house
Friday: Mark's cooking
Saturday and Sunday: Mark will cook one night and his mom will cook another. TBD

Mark has told me he plans on having Chicken Dijon one night. He loves it but I'm not a huge fan so I haven't made it since our first year of marriage. We have had it at his mom's on occasion.

For more menus head over for Organizing Junkie. There are always lots of ideas and recipe links.

Menu Plan Monday- Jan 14, 2013

I'm not sure what to say right now. Mark got back Saturday and I was very glad to have him home. Monday and Tuesday for the most part were good days. I decided to try something new for dinner and tried out the Curried Carrot Soup from Simple in Season. As I really wanted something more than just soup I thought it might be a nice topping over rice or quinoa. I tried quinoa. It wasn't as good as I thought. As a soup the topping would be great. It needed more salt but other than that it had a nice flavor. I used some sweet potato in addition to carrots. The boys liked the curried carrots but not so much the quinoa. They seem to like quinoa better when it's flavor is masked with a strong dressing, etc. Oh well. Now I know. Today has been crazy. Luckily I didn't have to cook. Got to love church meals! :) The boys all have activities on Wednesday afternoon now. Aiden has dance from 3:30pm till 4pm. Cai then has dance from 4:10pm till 4:55pm. Ian has tennis lesson from 4pm to 5pm. So today Aiden, Cai and I got in the car and picked up Ian from school. Then we took Aiden to dance class. Dropped Cai off at Mark's work, which happens to be right next door, and drove to Ian's lesson across town. Mark then picked up Aiden and made sure Cai got to his class before returning to his office to work till Cai was done. Ian and I then met up them at Mark's office after tennis. Then Ian stayed at the office to work on homework while the other 2 and I went to the grocery store. Martin's  in Goshen is currently selling a personal size gluten free frozen pizza for $2.99. I picked up 3 this morning and went back this evening for more. When gluten free frozen pizza is normally 6 to 8 dollars depending on the brand, I could not pass up this price. We have enough to last Cai for months. :) I don't remember off the top of my head what this brand was. It was not one I have tried before. But as Mark pointed out Cai won't care. Even when I don't like it, Cai will eat it if it means that he gets what everyone else is getting. If he gets to eat pizza he is happy. I feel very blessed that he is so good about trying almost anything. And the fact that for the most part he doesn't fight about not getting exactly what everyone else is getting is wonderful. He seems to accept that he can't have gluten and that means there are many things he can't have. Luckily there are so many things he can have. And the boy loves rice. What a blessing! Okay I've rambled enough. Here is the menu. Sorry it's late and out on Wednesday and not Monday.

Monday: Spaghetti with tomato sauce, frozen peas
Tuesday: Curried Carrot Soup (from Simple in Season) served over quinoa
Wednesday: Mid Week Meal at church
Thursday: Chili with corn bread
Friday: Family Movie Night- Order pizza- Book It coupon for Ian- Frozen GF pizza for Cai
Saturday: Spaghetti Pie, frozen peas for the kids and Grandma- Date night for Mark and I
Sunday: Leftovers


Go visit Organizing Junkie for more meal plans. You know you want to ;)

Menu Plan Monday- 7 Jan 2013

Okay, I'll be real honest here and say this will be a very very short post. Yesterday the boys and I drove Mark to the airport in South Bend where he flew to Atlanta, Georgia for the week. His company is having their annual meeting. He'll return on Saturday around lunch. Having him gone is weird for sure. Luckily our family is helping out. Yesterday we ate dinner with my in-laws. It was nice cause then I didn't have to cook. And given that it was alittle after 5 by the time we got back to town we got to eat almost right away. Anyhoo the menu this week is pretty lacking. Monday and Tuesday we ate at my mother-in-law's. Mark's aunt and uncle are in town in addition to his brother. It has been nice to spend time with them. My sister-in-law Rachel is bring us a meal sometime this week. She was just going to double one of her meals. I'm very grateful. For the rest of the days I figure we'll eat macaroni and cheese one night, cause Mark doesn't like this anyway, and enchilada casserole another.That should cover us till Saturday when we pick up Mark. Saturday night I think I'll make curry. And Sunday can be popcorn, apples and cheese. Pretty simple week. Well as least as far as meals. I'm not sure the week will be simple in any other matter. Wish me luck. I think I might need it.

Do be sure to visit Organizing Junkie as well. I'm sure there are much more impressive menus there. ;)

Menu Plan Monday- Dec 24th, 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

I hope everyone's Christmas Day was as joyous as ours. It was wonderful to have my little brother Josh here to celebrate with us. I hosted Christmas dinner this year, a first for me. I was pretty nervous about it, but I think it all went very smoothly. Of course Mark and Josh helped me get everything ready so that was a tremendous help. 

Our extended table with all the leaves in 

The big boys table

Mark and I made ham using coca-cola and bourbon as the marinade. We soaked it over night and then cooked it Christmas day.We bought the ham from Mattern's Meats and Deli I made my mom's broccoli and rice casserole. And between Josh and I we made mashed potatoes and gravy. My mother-in-law brought over a pork roast (tradition dish for their family), homemade cranberry sauce, and whipped sweet potatoes. My sister-in-law brought over a butternut squash dish. Plus apple crisp and an orange cranberry pie. Somehow the pumpkin got forgotten at their house but that's okay we had plenty. I made a gluten free blueberry crisp, using the canned blueberries from this summer. :) Add to that sliced veggies and salad and we had a feast. Mark made a layered jello but we never pulled it out of the fridge. We have been enjoying it today though. The food was all delicious. And everyone had a great time. 

We take Josh to the airport on Thursday. Mark is taking the day off and after we drop Josh off we are all going to the Field Museum of Chicago. It should be a good day. As long as the weather is okay. It's been snowing all day today. Which is nice cause we have snow on the ground now. The boys enjoyed playing outside. But I'm not sure I want to drive in snow tomorrow. We'll see. Okay I'll move onto listing our menu. I'll write some other posts about our other Christmas adventures. 

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Big Family Christmas Dinner 

Wednesday: Christmas dinner leftovers

Thursday: Eating out in Chicago

Friday: Ham and Bean soup?

Saturday: Shepard Pie

Sunday: Leftovers or popcorn

For more menus head over to Organizing Junkie. 

Menu Post Monday- 12/17/12

It's hard to believe that there is only a week till Christmas. I'm almost ready. I think. On the bright side, my brother gets in on Thursday. I'm so very much looking forward to seeing him and having him here for a week. It will be great fun. Assuming he doesn't become exhausted by the boys. I'm needing to go start dinner so I'll keep this short. Here is the menu this week.

Monday: Leftover Green Lentil Soup with Coconut milk
Tuesday: Homemade Hamburger Helper -using  these Gluten Free noodles
Wednesday: Winter Squash Risotto
Thursday:  Chili
Friday: Pizza Rice Casserole (More with Less cookbook)
Saturday and Sunday: I'll decided when we get there. I'm not sure what our weekend is going to look like right now so I figure it might be better to decided our meals once we know rather than before. :)

For more menus visit Organizing Junkie. Happy Meal Planning!

Menu Plan Monday- 12/10/12

It may be Wednesday, but I thought I would post my menu anyway. Half way into the second week of Advent and already I feel way behind. I had such good intentions has to having more prepared for Christmas. I still haven't finished decorating. Although really all that is left is our stockings (which I need to get hooks for) and some greenery that I want to hang (branches we cut off our tree that I thought would look nice in other places). So I guess the decorating could be considered done, even if there is more I want to do.  I've currently got cutout cookie dough in the fridge to cut out here in a few minutes. So while there are alot of other cookies I want and still plan on making, I've at least started the list. :) And with the exception of my brother I think I have everyone's gift figured out even if they are not purchased/made yet. Can I blame Ian? He has been home sick since Monday. Monday and Tuesday he had a fever. It finally broke sometime during the night last night but since his temp was still 100 when he went to bed we kept him home today.Poor kid. Being sick is no fun.

Ian and Cai looking at pictures on the computer. Can't you just see how yucky he feels

Especially when the first snow on the ground was yesterday and while his brothers got to go out and troop through the dusting of snow, I made him stay indoors. I'm so mean.

The list dusting of snow we got- taken in the morning

On another note, it was awfully cute watching Aiden make foot prints and raking snow with a stick he found. Oh and don't forget eating any he could get on his mittens. Which of course translates to eating dirt as well cause really there wasn't that much there.

Aiden raking with his stick he found

 It was mostly gone by afternoon and today you can hardly tell it had snowed at all. It's sorta a weird winter thus far. That lack of snow is disconcerting  Not to mention just plane disappointing for little boys who look forward to it every year.

The boys in the afternoon- eating snow off the grill and fence

Okay on to our menu.

Monday: Chicken noodle soup- using these Gluten Free egg noodles  

Tuesday: pancakes (Ian's choice)

Wednesday: Mid Week meal at Church- cookie bake- I'm taking Gluten Free cut out cookies pre-baked so kids can decorate. The hope is that it keeps Cai busy and away from the tons of gluten cookie dough. Plus then he has a treat to eat in the end too :)

Thursday: Green Lentil Soup with Coconut milk

Friday:  Sweet Potato and black bean taco salad

Saturday: Leftovers or simple soup

Sunday: Popcorn and apples 

For more menus be sure to visit Organizing Junkie. 

Menu Plan Monday- 11/26/12

Just got back from Kansas on Saturday. Despite the fact I left the house clean and we got everything unpacked and put away yesterday, I still feel unsettled. Why does it take time to resettle after traveling? You can dive right back into routines and still not feel the flow that your left. :( Oh well. Maybe tomorrow it will feel normal again. Maybe not. On the bright side, my mother sent home 15 lbs of ground beef, stews meat and leftover Thanksgiving ham. I'm a happy woman. And in celebration we had Cheese Burger Potato Soup tonight. I really love this recipe. It's just potato soup with ground beef and cheese added, but it's yummy. I don't make it often because I usually have something else planned for my beef. I don't buy it but once a month or so. Groundnut stew usually wins out. Anyway it's exciting to think about all the things we can eat with so much beef. Although I'm sure I'll try to stretch it, it's just who I am. :) Anyway here is the menu for the week.

Monday: Cheeseburger Potato Soup (from Simply in Season)
Tuesday: Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Curry
Wednesday: Fried Rice with Ham
Thursday: Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Simple meal or Popcorn and cheese

As always be sure to visit Organizing Junkie for other menus. Happy Meal Planning!

Menu Post- 11/5/12

Yes, I know it's Wednesday. I thought about posting yesterday. But since I had nothing profound to say about the election, it felt weird to think about posting a mundane menu post. Weird? Sure. Silly? Probably. But hey that's how I think sometimes. So here I am posting now. Don't have much else to share right now, so I think I'll just go straight to my menu.

Monday: Great Green Pasta (Simply in Season)), corn, chocolate gluten free cupcakes with blue icing- Aiden's choice for his birthday
Tuesday: Green Lentil Soup with Coconut milk and roasted sliced potatoes.
Wednesday: dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's
Thursday: Salsa Chicken with rice and beans
Friday: soup- probably some sorta winter squash soup. I have sweet potatoes, butternut and pumpkin to use
Saturday: Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito Salad (Simple in Season- served over tortilla chips rather than backed in tortillas)
Sunday: simple supper- most likely popcorn, cheese and apples.

For more menu's be sure to visit Organizing Junkie. Happy cooking and menu planning!!!

Menu Plan Monday- Oct 29th, 2012

You got a post yesterday. Just saying. Even if it wasn't a menu. I had no idea what I wanted to cook yesterday. In fact my meal for last night got changed at the last minute when I found out I was out of soy sauce. :( In the world of cooking, my life has been crazy. Seeing as I haven't posted in week, I have not had a menu plan for almost as long. Some weeks I would think ahead as to what I could make the next day or two, but last week especially it was a day to day decision. Not helpful to my sanity. This week I'm making sure to plan meals out. Life goes more smoothly when I do. :) So here it is. This weeks menu.

Monday: Cheese Corn Chowder (cause it only takes about 20 minutes to make - found in More with Less Cookbook)
Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash with tomato sauce. Peas.
Wednesday: Chili Party at friends house before trick or treating
Thursday: Pumpkin and Pistachio Risotto (from Cooking with Beans, Grains, Pulses and Legumes)
Friday: First Friday- eat downtown
Saturday:  Kale and Tomato Soup (from Love Soup)
Sunday: Something simple- most likely popcorn, apples and cheese slices

For more menus be sure to visit Organizing Junkie. Happy Meal Planning!

Menu Plan Monday- Oct 1st, 2012

 It's Monday! And I'm blogging :) I missed last week, yes. I had planned on blogging Tuesday night. I spent the night on my new Kindle that Mark got me for my birthday. And the next night. :) What can I say, he did good! Despite having practice till 6:30, thus I had to cook my own birthday meal, it was still very good. I had salmon in the freezer that I baked. Along with homemade gluten free bread, green beans, and salad. All the veggies in the salad except the carrots were from my garden. Have to admit to feeling proud about that fact.

 I also made a green tomato pie for dessert. Aiden thought I should have made cake. But I wanted to try this recipe. I told him we would have cake for his birthday. I found this green tomato pie recipe in one of the 2011 summer issues of Organic Gardening. I can't remember which issue. It was very yummy. Basically it was green tomatoes, brown sugar, cinnamon and gluten free flour. I refused to tell the boys what was in the pie till after they ate it. I told them it would taste sorta like apple (which it did). They loved it. And when I told them what was in it they didn't seem to mind. So that was good.

So this week I'm heading to Kansas on Wednesday afternoon. I'm stay through the weekend, coming home on Monday. A college girlfriend, whom I lived with for a year, is getting married so I'm headed out to celebrate and attend the wedding. I"m so looking forward to this trip. Although I have to admit I'm freaking out alittle too. It will be the long time I've every been away from the boys. And I'm nervous about how things will be here at home without me. I though I'm sure everything will be fine. Sure it will be chaos. And Mark will probably get overwhelmed. But they will survive and have a good time without me. (I hope!) Anyway, because of this I"m only planning meals for today and tomorrow. So here it is.

Monday: Cheese Corn Chowder (More with Less cookbook)
Tuesday: Coconut Milk Curry over rice

Assuming I stay on top of things, I'll be back next week with a full menu! Have a good one.

Oh and don't forget to check out Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday

Yes, I know it's Thursday. Or maybe the time stamp says Wednesday. I'm not sure I started this the other day and didn't finish it. So it's Thursday now that I'm finishing it. (shrugs shoulders) Oh well. Life is crazy as always around here. JV Tennis is over, but Mark is helping with the Varsity team for the end of season. Tournament started yesterday and there are matches today and Saturday. Then three days of another tournament next week. After that (unless players do really well and they move on ) seasons over. :) Have to be honest. I'm so very glad Mark is enjoying coaching. And I'm happy to support him doing so. However I'm so very glad tennis season is short and that the end is in site. As celebration, I'm going to go to a college girlfriends wedding the first weekend in Oct all by myself. :) I'm really looking forward to it. Anyway, that I'll have I to share right now. Here is what we are eating this week. Pretty good is I do say so myself.


Monday: Leftover Great Green Pasta (from Simply in Season)
Tuesday: Spaghetti and meatballs (Quinoa Meatless Meatballs)
Wednesday: blueberry pancakes
Thursday: Veggie curry over rice
Friday: eating at the MCC relief Sale
Saturday: soup and biscuits
Sunday: simple supper or breakfast food

For more menus visit Organizing Junkie. And hopefully I stay on top of things and post next Monday or Tuesday if not before :)

Menu Plan Monday- Aug 27th, 2012

Good morning world! I'm feeling pretty cheery right now, even if it doesn't come across as so in my typing. Tuesday is my sweeping and vacuuming day. Thus far I already have 3/4 of the downstairs done. And to be honest for right now I might just skip the office. Hey there are boxes everywhere and until they get taken care of it's just easier to skip. Call me lazy but thus far I'm feeling pretty good about what I've done so far today. So I'm not sure one room will make me fell too guilty. Just saying. This week is going to be crazier than most. Mark has a match every weeknight except Wednesday. And on Wednesday I have a Jr Youth Leader meeting. Oh the joys of our schedule right now. Luckily Mark's matches on Thursday and Friday are home so if I want I can take the boys over to watch for awhile. It would at least get us out of the house. Thank goodness this weekend is Labor Day weekend. Means Mark will get Monday off and we get a three day weekend together. Although that being said more than likely we will spend it working outside in the yard. It's overgrown and wild out their. The weeds are so overgrown in my garden that they have killed off my cucumber plant by blocking all the sun. I'm still getting tomatoes though and one or two zucchini. Plus red noodle beans. So I'm feeling ok on about it all.  So now that I have rambled about my life (do you feel updated or bogged down with useless facts?)  here is our menu ;)

Monday: Stir-fry noodles (adapted from Simply in Season) I added canned salmon this time- it was ok
Tuesday: Taco salad
Wednesday:  Groundnut stew (adapted from More with Less)
Thursday: Sweet and Sour Lentils (More with Less)
Friday: Green Spaghetti with veggie of some sort
Saturday: ??? Leftovers???
Sunday: Big family get together!!!

Don't forget to check out Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday post and links.