Menu Plan Monday: Family favorites edition

Since my job in the words of my facebook description, "Cog in the wheel of family functionality," I am getting back to menu planning and closer attention to the financial aspects of home management. Here's what we're eating this week.

Monday: Tuna Noodle Casserole, Sauteed Green Peas
Tuesday and a visit from Grandma Alice: Baked Potatoes with optional fixin's -- broccoli, cheese, bacon, and my fave -- cottage cheese and onion, Chocolate Caramel bars
Wednesday: Frozen Ziti and Salad
Thursday: French Toast (Annalivia's request) with Fruit Salad
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: away at the last hurrah in Rock Falls
Sunday (after church): Roast Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Salad, Grammy's Apple Pie

Grammy's Apple Pie Recipe
6-8 large tart apples (I'm using Jonathan this week), peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
juice of a lemon
Mix together and pour into prepared pie crust. Apples should make a nice mound in crust.

1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
Cut butter into flour and sugar until pea-sized. Carefully pour over and press into apples. Dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Groceries for the week were $73 and included some crackers, peanut butter, cheese, potatoes, etc. that we don't really need this week. And I already had the pasta made and the apples purchased. I forgot cottage cheese, but hopefully, I can hold the budget down! We'll see how it goes.
For more menu planning ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday: Back at it again

In my constant struggle with making a plan and sticking to it, I am returning to Menu Plan Monday (follow the link for more!). Last week, Dennis and I figured out an easy basic plan. Each week, we'll basically plan the following:

• Pork night
• Beef night
• Vegetarian night
• Pizza night
• Ethnic night
• Breakfast night
• Extra night (i.e. chicken, fish, leftovers, eating out, etc.)

These reflect our family loves i.e. pancakes and pizza, and the 1/2 organic beef and 1/2 organic pork we have in our freezer and Dennis' desire to have a meal he can make weekly! :) So this is our basic plan. We'll see how it goes.

More specifically -- this week, here are our plans. Not sure of which day will be which meal, and that is probably a good thing. The thing about schedules and plans is I feel all contrary about following them to a T, so a little flexibility is a good thing. :)

Breakfasts will be:

• baked oatmeal
• breakfast ice cream (yogurt parfaits)
• toast and jam
• Cheerios

Lunches and dinners will be:

• Buttermilk Chicken Fingers (markdown on a big pack of chicken tenderloins at Kroger this week.)
• Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
• Pork Chops, Rosemary Potatoes and Green Beans almondine
• Spinach Artichoke Pizza, and salad
• Scrambled Eggs, Beef bacon, and Pancakes
• Homemade Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce, Garlicky Yellow Squash, Breadsticks, and Salad
• Beef Roast, Mashed Red Potatoes and gravy, and Sauteed Carrots
• Tuna Noodle and Mushroom Casserole and Peas
  

Desserts will be:
Homemade gelato!
Rhubarb crisp
Baked apples

We'll see how it all goes!

Menu plan Monday for the week of July 8-14

Three things are focusing my menu planning this week.

1. It's hot here.

2. It's Vacation Bible School week every evening at church. As pastor, I sort of have to be there.

3. It's hot here.

So, this week, for lunch, Annalivia and I will be having popcorn, cheese and apples one day and pasta salad for me/ pb&j for her, the next. All week. Dennis can take leftovers from this weekend for the next two days and then leftovers from the night before the other days. Snacks this week are going to be yogurt smoothie pops

For dinner -- it's SANDWICH WEEK!! Easy, tasty (most of the time), cold/ cooked outside, and did I mention -- easy?

Monday -- Egg salad or Turkey and Ham deli sandwiches, apples and salad.

Tuesday -- Grilled chicken, mushroom and onion with Muenster cheese on garlic ciabatta rolls, cantaloupe, salad

Wednesday -- Tuna salad sandwiches, crudites and dip, grapes

Thursday -- Hot Dogs from the grill, pretzels, watermelon

Friday -- Cheeseburgers from the grill, watermelon again, pretzels, and the rest of the salad

Saturday and Sunday, we may just lie about and groan. And eat sandwiches.

For legitimate menu help, see here.

Menu Plan Monday for the week of June 24

This week because of surgery on Tuesday for me, almost every main dish we will be eating will be from the freezer (denoted with*). My little church is unpredictable at best, when it comes to providing food to a pastor, so this is the plan and if food arrives, we can rearrange easily.

Monday -- Black Bean Burritos* (adapted from this recipe) with salsa, sour cream, avocado, and tomato; homemade Mango Yogurt Popcicles*

Tuesday-- classic Tuna Noodle Casserole*; Salad; Applesauce

Wednesday -- Sausage and Pepper Hoagies*; Salad; Cinnamon Apples (This is one of my dad's favorite sandwiches and since he is coming up to help post-op, I thought we'd have it. I cooked the sausage and the banana peppers and juice and then added the other peppers and onions, leaving them uncooked. All is frozen together so it will be easy to reheat and place on crusty ciabatta rolls.)

Thursday -- Lasagna*; Garlic Bread*; Salad; Oranges for dessert

Friday -- Olive Cheese Bread*; Italian Beans and Greens Soup* (recipe follows); Salad

Saturday -- lunch -- baked Macaroni and Cheese*; dinner -- Brats* on the grill

Sunday -- lunch after church -- Grammy's Meatloaf* (recipe follows) and baked potatoes; dinner -- Cheese Ravioli with Sauce*

Italian Beans and Greens Soup

olive oil

2-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion chopped

2 bunches endive, escarole, kale or spinach (though I prefer the bitter greens), chopped to whatever size you prefer

4 cups chicken broth

2 cans white beans (great northern or cannellini are good)

Saute garlic and onions in olive oil. Add greens and wilt. Add broth and beans. Heat through. If freezing, do not wilt greens much and don't heat broth and beans. FYI -- I think I adapted this from Rachel Ray

Grammy's Meatloaf

This is my favorite meatloaf. It is well-seasoned, but not overpowering and never, ever, ever dry. I usually make 2 or 3 at the same time and put the extras in freezer bags, pressed flat. This allows the meatloaf to defrost quickly. It can then be shaped and baked or put in the crockpot.

1.5 lbs ground beef or beef/turkey mix

1 envelope Lipton's onion soup mix

1/2 c ketchup

1 egg

1/2 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed in your hands (not finely crushed)

1/4-1/2 c. water

Leaving water out, mix all together with hands. Add water slowly to facilitate mixing til it is quite moist, but still holds shape. Freeze or form into loaf for baking. If married to Dennis Stewart, put ketchup only on top. If Grammy, mix ketchup and brown sugar for top and slice green peppers and onions very thinly to decorate the top. Cook uncovered, basting occasionally, until browned and delicious outside and moist and yummy (and done) inside about 45 minutes. Use a thermometer if necessary.

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Menu Plan Monday for the week of June 17

So as part of my small goals toward more peaceful living, I am creating a weekly menu plan. I am trying to do this on Sunday evenings because I've decided to take Mondays as our errand day when we will be running over to Clinton, IA where gas is 30 cents cheaper per gallon, the grocery store is large and has carts shaped like trucks thereby entertaining Annalivia, and the goat's milk we use for Daniel's formula is two dollars cheaper. Plus I get to get out of town and they have a drive through espresso hut over there where I can get an iced latte. And a Target. So we all end up pretty happy.

Anyway -- I found a link to the Organizational Junkie's Menu Plan Mondays on one of my blog jogs (the only kind of jogging I'm apt to ever do) and decided to participate this week. If you click here, you can find a list of lots of participants and lots of good ideas.

So here is our menu plan, fully realizing that usually these things don't work out quite like this because we get too many leftovers piled up. I'm trying to be bettter about planning that, though, so hopefully this week we won't make too many adjustments.

These menus reflect a.) mainly what is already in our freezer or pantry, in terms of main ingredients b.) the desire to use the grill or crockpot rather than the oven because it is so bloody hot and humid right now. FYI -- the pastas are whole grain, and since apples are on sale this week, we'll be eating lots of those with everything.

Mon -- Grilled Talapia Filets with Lemon Garlic Sauce, grilled zucchini, apples. -- Grill fish. Saute garlic in butter. Add lemon juice, little frozen pesto (about 1/2 teaspoon) and reduce a bit. Pour over grilled fish.

Tues-- BBQ Pork Sandwiches, crudites and dip, apples -- the pork is in the freezer from a pork shoulder roast I got on reduced sale and cooked in my pressure cooker a couple weeks ago. I'll put it in the crockpot with some BBQ sauce and let it defrost and heat while we are at the doctor's in Rockford. I have meetings at church on Tues., so even if I don't get back in time to eat supper, Dennis can handle this easily.

Wed -- Cheesy Broccoli and Alfredo Calzones, apples -- an attempt to use some leftover ingredients based on this recipe, though substituting alfredo for marinara sauce, obviously, and using whole wheat for the flour. If we have too many leftovers of the above foods, I will just cook this and put it in the freezer for later.

Thurs -- Chicken in Foil Packets on the grill, and Apple Skewers. This is a Dennis request, so we'll use whatever veggies he'd like and do the classic foil packet dinner.

Fri -- Homemade Mac and Cheese, sweet peas, apples. Hopefully this will be in the crockpot.

Sat -- Spaghetti with Bolognese sauce and salad. And apples.