Menu Plan Monday: June 14-20

I can't believe its half way through June. Our time in Maryland is ticking by and I need to do better at enjoying it before we leave. We still have to eat though. I've started to wonder about how we're going to eat in New Jersey. Sounds over dramatic I know (how will we eat?? Jerry does have a job, don't worry all). Really its my apprehension about where the nearest grocery store is, and whether it will be fairly priced and what about Trader Joe's and how often will I really get down to Aldi with two kids along and will the grocery stores double coupons there and so on. One step at a time. I can always order food from Amazon.com. (anyone ever tried it?)
Anyway, this week's menu:
Sunday: Cuban steak, potato salad
Monday: Caribbean Pork & Rice
Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff w/ egg noodles
Wednesday: Pierogies w/ spinach & peppers
Thursday: jerry jerry
Friday: Cheesesteak sandwiches
Saturday: Aloha pizza

Menu Plan Monday: June 7-13

Planned meals are back at our house. I hope. Its so much easier on all of us if dinner is not a last minute thing... I just need to do better!
Sunday: Crock Pot Black Bean & Shredded Pork soup (all you mag)
Monday: Fettucine Carbonara (thanks Joy of "cooking"), broccoli
Tuesday: Shrimp & zucchini Tostadas (Everyday Food mag)
Wednesday: Tacos
Thursday: Its all Jerry.
Friday: Hamburgers
Saturday: Spring rolls

Menu Plan Monday: Mar 29- Apr 4

Sunday: Crock-pot roast, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, onions (classic)
Monday: Stuffed Peppers (All You magazine)
Tuesday: I'm eating Navajo Taco's at Enrichment meeting; Jerry is jealous
Wednesday: Chicken Sausage & Pepper Alfredo Pasta (I'm winging this one)
Thursday: Beans & Rice (Jerry's winging this one)
Friday: Apricot Baked Chicken (All You magazine)
Saturday: I'll be dropping off Jerry at the airport that evening, so Calista and I may go for dinner at IKEA or something fun. Or not. I keep having looming thoughts of how I should be super frugal and responsible if we're going to buy a house this year. We'll see which side wins (lazy mom or responsible mom).

Menu Plan Monday: Mar 15-21

We did eat last week but several meals were out or out of town and the rest were not worth posting about ;). Not that any week is that exciting either. But here you go.
Sunday: White Chili (back to the crock pot!)
Monday: Lentil Soup
Tuesday: Spinach Pie
Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday: Lasagna
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: a Jerry special

Menu Plan Monday: Mar 1-Mar 8

Sunday: Enchiladas... not in the crockpot (which I am trying to use each sunday, but really we wanted these for dinner and it's faster not in the crockpot). Funny thing- when Calista saw me chopping the onions she cried out "Crockpot!". She was disappointed we weren't puting the onions in the crockpot.
Monday: Cilatro Pesto Salmon- this was pretty good and healthy!
Tuesday: Teriyaki chicken stirfry
Wednesday: (Broccoli Soup) This got updated for the can of Chicken Corn Chowder, and I whipped up a new recipe for Quick Breadsticks that were de-lish! I made them with WW flour too. I like quick. And I like breadsticks, so what could be better?
Thursday: Personal Pane Pizzas
Friday: Navajo Tacos
Saturday: out. I'm in the mood for a Veggie Boat at 3 Brothers!

This week's menu was planned by Jerry. I was busy reviewing some KSA's for his job application so I traded him for the menu planning ;). Thanks hon!

Menu Plan Monday: Feb 15-21

Sunday: Crock pot Roast
Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: Cafe Rio pork salad
Wednesday: Chowder & cornbread
Thursday: Cilantro-Pesto Salmon
Friday: something in the 5 minutes I have at home before going to babysit (for my coop neighbor)
Saturday: Phillip's Shrimp (Safeway super coupon + manu coupon= great deal for shrimp!)

Menu Plan "Just forget that Monday was 3 days ago" Feb 8-14th

I planned our menu this week. I did. I'll even tell you about it. Never mind its Thursday though, k? This way I can tell you a little about the food we already cooked.

Sunday: Apricot-Orange Pork chops + chicken = a feast for 10! Delicious!
Monday: Sloppy Lentils
Tuesday: "No-Fuss" Potato Soup (Fix it & Forget it cookbook pg 62)- notice the "no fuss" in quotes- I think its a relative description. I felt like there was definitely fussing involved, but it was delicious.
Wednesday: Taco Ring (see photo above)I do this with ground turkey instead of beef, and half the recipe
Thursday: We'll see what Jerry turns up!
Friday: Egg Rolls, asian veggies & rice
Saturday: Heart-shaped Pizza- pure love!

Menu Plan Monday: Feb 1- 8

Sunday: Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup ala crockpot
Monday: Denver Omeletes and hashbrowns (didn't eat this last week because I got suckered into Giant's meal deal- pizza, soda & ice cream for $5, minus my coupon = $4. Couldn't resist)
Tuesday: Crockpot Gyros ooohh I can't wait for this!
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken salad
Thursday: ? Jerry?
Friday: Mom Fails is visiting- she won't know we just had Bean Burgers last week ;)
Saturday: Apricot-Orange Pork chops

Menu Plan Monday: Jan 25- 31

Sunday: Chicken & Dumplings ala crockpot
Monday: Ham and au gratin potatoes (courtesy of shopper triples- on again now!)
Tuesday: Cheesy Broccoli shells from Real Simple magazine 10/08
Wednesday: 7- layer dip and Spanish rice
Thursday: Salad
Friday: Omelets
Saturday: Bean Burgers

You can tell (well, I can anyways) when I do my meal planning in front of the computer or not. Last night was a not. Its good for me to do it this way sometimes because it forces me to think about what's in the fridge and cupboards, rather than getting excited about a colorful picture I found online, and going out to buy more groceries in order to make the meal.
We're glad to be home again!

Menu Plan Monday: Jan 12- Jan 18

This is the easiest week of meals I've planned in a while.
Monday- we're going out tonight
Tuesday- cleaning out the fridge
Wednesday- Sunday- out of town. And half of the following week too.
I hope I can get back to my game when I need too...

In the mean time, I wanted to share a fabulous meal plan I found that uses *just* foods you can buy at Aldi. Even if you are an Aldi fan, you probably also shop elsewhere because you can't pick up the green onions or panko breadcrumbs you need for that recipe at Aldi. This site (look at the column on the left) gives you a couple weeks worth of meals that you can make from just Aldi food. Its genius! I like to shop other places (where I can use my coupons) so I won't give that up anytime soon, but I am amused by the meal plan nonetheless. I will save my comments about cooking in the dishwasher for later.

Menu Plan Monday: Jan 5- Jan 11

Monday: Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup
Tuesday: Jambalaya (probably with chicken since Jerry has shunned the turkey leftovers in any form)
Wednesday: Indian Spiced Salmon and au gratin potatoes
Thursday: Personal Pane Pizza's (Jerry's new idea for pizza on our favorite Trader Joe's pane (bread)) You may have noticed that I could eat pizza every week, and I have been ;)
Friday: Oh bother. I don't want to cook more by Friday night. We'll have to eat cake. Or more like chocolate, since we have a plethora of that around. OK, ok, we'll eat some butternut squash soup if I don't find something cheap in the frozen food isle at Aldi.
Saturday: Roasted Winter Veggies and mac n cheese. Pure comfort.
Sunday: Slow Cooker Beef Tacos

I have a couple resolutions for 2009 that have to do with food. First, I will use my crockpot on Sundays to prepare dinner since we have church at 1:00pm now. I'll use my time in the morning to make sure we have something for dinner when we get home from church, and the house will smell yummy too. Unless it burns. But I think I have learned that lesson.
Second, I will buy more local foods. You know I am a thrifty shopper extraordinaire, so this may seem like an oxymoron if you've checked the prices for CSA's or at Whole Foods lately. So I will start small. I will buy my milk from CVS, where they sell Cloverland Dairy milk, which comes from a farm near Baltimore and has no growth hormones (and, of course, I can buy it with my extra care bucks!). I will either buy a share of the Clagget farm's harvest (we might qualify for the reduced price share, or maybe I'll find someone who wants to share a share? Let me know if that's you), or schedule regular outings to do a workshare (I'll pick for 4 hours to get a share for the week). I think the outings option will be fun for Calista and myself. I miss working outside and having a yard. I miss the pleasure of eating something that I tended, watched, and harvested.

Eating with the fullest pleasure –pleasure, that is, that does not depend on ignorance –is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we experience and celebrate our dependence and gratitude, for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehend. - Wendell Berry (1924- )

Menu Plan Monday: Dec. 28-Jan 3

Monday: Speedy Sweet and Sour Chicken
Tuesday: Crockpot Turkey & Wild Rice soup using our Christmas turkey breast carcass
Wednesday: out to par-tay
Thursday: Happy New Year! Chicken Makhani in the crockpot
Friday: homemade pizza, using this crust I froze last month
Saturday: Curried Salmon Cakes

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 21-27

It's really cold here this week, so I'm in the mood for warm wintry soups.
Sunday: Cordon Bleu (from the freezer- we made this a couple weeks ago)
Monday: Tortellini White Bean Spinach Soup (I was pleased to see that other cooks rated this 5 stars; its a favorite of my family's for sure)
Tuesday: Orange Chicken
Wednesday: Crockpot Chili (not sure if I'll do my own recipe that the S loves, or if we'll try Barack Obama's recipe for fun!)
Thursday: Turkey breast et. al- MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Friday: Turkey et. al ala sandwiches or whatever; or pizza if we can't stomach the turkey again
Saturday: Out to Medieval Times (thanks Mom Fails!)

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 14-20

Sunday: Tostadas
Monday: Slow-Cooked Corn Chowder (Last week's menu went to pot when I got the norovirus, so here we go again with this)
Tuesday: Chicken Ritz casserole
Wednesday: Baked Potatoes with the works
Thursday: Bean Burgers
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: we'll be eating all day long at parties, including our open house (so forget dinner)! Please come by for brunchy food from 9:30am-noon.

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 1-7

Monday: we did a mock-up turkey dinner, thanks to leftovers from Emma!
Tuesday: Split Pea Soup (not exactly that recipe, but close- we add potatoes and Tabasco!)
Wednesday: Fish n Chips (baked salmon, baked potato wedges)
Thursday: Pork Roast ($1.99 at Aldi, cooked and all!), asparagus
Friday: Garlic Bread Pepperoni Pizza (thank you, $1.50 Aldi clearance)
Saturday: Nachos (for Jerry- I doubt I'll be hungry after two parties during the day)

I am really looking forward to cooking less and eating more this month. Tis the season of parties and brunches and hot cocoa. I'll do my share of baking and cooking, for sure, but more for the masses and less for everyday.
I'm reading the Omnivore's Dilemma now, and Michael Pollan quotes a study that explains how rats will gorge themselves to death when they're faced with unlimited amounts of lard and sugar (foods they don't normally eat alone in their diets). Likewise, when we are faced with an unlimited amount of food, we will eat more than we need to. So I've painted myself a little mental picture of a gorged rat next to a vat of lard to keep in mind when I approach the buffet line at the next holiday gathering. Hope it works.

Menu Plan Monday: Nov. 23-29

This week I give thanks for food; boy do we have a lot of it right now. Thanks to the Shopper's Triple Coupon sale, we've augmented our food storage for the next year. Actually, I think this topic deserves its own post. Jerry did get a picture....

Sunday: Chicken Cordon Bleu
Monday: Navajo Tacos
Tuesday: Salads
Wednesday: Leftovers, clean out the fridge
Thursday: Thanksgiving Dinner with family- we'll contribute Swiss Medley and appetizers
Friday: out of town still
Saturday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Butternut Squash soup
Sunday: Manicotti

Menu Plan Monday - Nov. 16-22

Sunday: Chicken Stroganoff (one of Jerry's specialties)
Monday: Taco Salad
Tuesday: White Bean and Spinach Pizza
Wednesday: Soup from a can (lazy day!)
Thursday: Stir-Fried Broccoli and Mushrooms with Tofu

Friday: Pierogies (never had them last week)
Saturday: Sloppy Lentils
Sunday: (since I usually post after the fact) Chicken Cordon Bleu

Menu Plan Monday- Nov. 9-15th

Sunday: Lentil Soup
Monday: Ham & Broccoli Ring
Tuesday: I'm out to the Relief Society dinner; Jerry can make some mac n cheese (his fave)
Wednesday: Pierogies w/ peppers
Thursday:Crockpot Tamale Pie
Friday:Crockpot Curry
Saturday: Bean Burgers (still from the freezer- yay for cooking ahead!)

I discovered this lady who is using her crockpot everyday this year as her New Year's resolution. Her blog is at crockpot365.blogspot.com. I would be so sick of it, and I think she is too, but if you're looking for something innovative to do in the crockpot she's probably done it!

Menu Plan Monday (er Thursday!!): Week of Nov 2-8

I did plan on Sunday, just didn't get a chance to post until today! Last week I didn't stick to the menu completely, so there are a couple "roll-over" meals this week.
Monday: Chicken Enchiladas
Tuesday: Tuna Carrot salad
Wednesday: Stroganoff Meatballs
Thursday: Coconut Shrimp and salads
Friday: 7-layer dip & chips (i know this is not usually a "meal" but we'll make it one :))
Saturday: I forget... I'll get back to ya

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Oct 26

Sunday: Spaghetti w/ apple chicken sausage (thank you, Jerry!)
Monday: Broccoli Soup and cornbread muffins
Tuesday: Homemade Pizza, using this crust I froze last month
Wednesday: Tuna Carrot salad (recipe from my childhood!)
Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas (anyone have a good recipe??)
Friday: Spooky Eyeball Tacos- Happy Halloween!
Saturday: Out to Cafe Azul with my mama (thanks to Restaurant.com)

I HEART MY KITCHENAID
I just wanted to pay tribute to the other chef in our home. My husband can really cook, and I am the "pampered chef" when he does it (and I do something else). We've agreed that he does the cooking on Thursday nights himself, but he is always willing to chop or give me a hand while I'm cooking too. I never knew cooking could be so fun until he joined me in the kitchen.