Menu Plan Monday (9-5-11)

Monday:  Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenderloins,  Corn on the cob, Grape salad

Tuesday:  Crockpot Baby Back ribs, Wax Beans, Cheesy bacon mashed potatoes

Wednesday:  Cheesy potato soup, French bread

Thursday:  Spaghetti carbonara, Garlic sauteed spinach, Italian salad, Cheesy garlic bread

Friday:  Pizza

Saturday:  Cooper's Birthday Party Menu:

Appetizers:  Pan fried onion dip w/ Krunchers, Green herb dip w/ crudites, Salsa and tortilla chips, BLT bites

Main:  Bacon cheeseburgers and Hot dogs, Pretzel salad, Awesome salad, Baked beans

Dessert:  Birthday cake and ice cream


Linking up with Organizing Junkie Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Grilled cheeseburgers, chips, fruit salad, chocolate malts

Tuesday:  Leftovers

Wednesday:  Taco/nacho bar, fresh fruit

Thursday:  Guinness corned beef, cabbage, boiled red potatoes, marble rye bread

Friday:  Homemade french bread pizza

Saturday:  Bacon wrapped turkey tenderloins, grilled potatoes, grilled veggies

Sunday:  Garlic lime chicken, brown rice, corn, fresh fruit

Menu Plan Monday 1-3-11

I am starting a detox later this week so trying to figure out a weekly menu plan was a challenge.  I have a basic idea of what I will be able to eat, but won't know for sure what I am restricted on until my appt tomorrow.  I still want to make meals that my dh and boys will enjoy.  No sense in all of us suffering.  ;)

Monday:  Glazed meatloaf, Butternut squash puree, Baked potatoes

Tuesday:  Turkey sandwiches, chips, veggies

Wednesday:  Baby Back Ribs, Corn, Cheesy bacon mashed potatoes for guys (dinner out for me)

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Frozen pizza for the guys (salad for me)

Saturday:  Salmon, grilled veggies, grilled potatoes, salad

Sunday:  Garlic lime chicken, brown rice, corn, fruit

Shopping list:
Veggies for grilling
Fruit
Salad ingredients

Check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie for links to many menu plans.  Maybe you will find a new recipe to spice up your menu plan.

Menu Plan Monday 8-2

Monday:  Butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sage sauce (cheese ravioli for the boys), garlic sauteed spinach (beans for the boys),  chopped salad, french bread

Tuesday:  (GNO for me) Venison roast in the crockpot, mashed potatoes, wax beans

Wednesday:  Garlic lime chicken, brown rice, corn, fresh fruit

Thursday:  Dinner out before church

Friday:  Frozen pizza, salad

Saturday:  Grilled shrimp, grilled veggies, grilled potatoes, fire and ice salad

Sunday:  Spaghetti and meatballs, italian flat beans w/ garlic, salad, french bread


Desserts:
Chocolate chip cookies
Homemade ice cream

Summer Cooking

Hello ladies.  I have been a bit AWOL from the blog world, but I do assure you I am alive and well and enjoying spending every minute of summer vacation with my boys.  Well let me rephrase that, I am enjoying spending the minutes the three of them get along, and refrain from fighting, arguing, and teasing each other.  Those minutes seem to be few and far between on some days.  :)

I definitely enjoyed the leisurely pace to my days this past week.  My oldest had FB(that would be football not facebook) conditioning Mon and Wed mornings for an hour.  He also had two nights of BB practice.  The oldest two had golf camp Friday morning.  Having one thing to do during the morning is perfect.  It gets us out of the house, but doesn't overwhelm our schedule.

I have had lots of time to cook more elaborate breakfasts than we normally have.  The favorite of the boys seems to be ham and cheese scrambled egg with bacon on the side.  We had that one morning and another morning we had the same type of eggs with sausage on the side. 

I have been stocking up on all sorts of fresh produce.  We have had watermelon, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes.  The boys like to make fresh fruit and yogurt parfaits.  I always have fresh limes and lemons for cooking, slicing up to flavor water, salad dressing, or baking.

I have purchased many fresh veggies for salads, lunches, and snacking.  Staples in my fridge/pantry are lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado (I know that is really a fruit, but I treat it like a veggie), broccoli slaw, organic carrots, celery, peppers, onions.  I haven't bought mushrooms, but those are a typical staple.

We like to keep a variety of potatoes on hand:  baking, red,  and yukon gold.  I also like to have yellow(vidalia when in season), white, and red onions for cooking, salsas or pico, and salads.

I have been craving Gazpacho for awhile now and made the linked recipe last night.  I cut it in half (good thing as it still leaked out of my cuisinart).  I did not use the three herbs suggested, but added half a chopped jalapeno (no seeds), and lots of fresh cilantro.  I have to say I was not dissapointed in the results.  It was delicious as well as fresh tasting and refreshing.

We have a very extensive herb garden that we plant every year.  So far I have been mainly using the chives and basil, but there are several herb I plan on incorporating into recipes. 

I made these delicious Nectarine Muffins the other morning.  I have made this recipe before and it never fails.  I always just use nectarines.  The other day I think I used three and then had enough batter to make 12 regular sized muffins.  These are some seriously fabulous muffins and I highly recommend you try out the recipe.

I tend to a lot of sandwiches and salads for lunch for myself.  One fabulous sandwich that I recently discovered and made several times this week, was an Arnold Sandwich thin round, ham, fresh sliced mozarrella (must some in the liquid), tomato, and basil with salt and pepper.  This is so yummy and fresh tasting with the basil picked fresh.  A side salad that I ALWAYS have the ingredients for is my Broccoli Slaw.  I take that and add 1 T sunflower seeds, balsamic vinegar, and garlic olive oil with salt and pepper.  I seriosusly never get sick of this and it's a great way to eat a veggie.  We get all our olive oils and vinegars from The Oilerie.  I cannot recommend them enough.  I use the garlic olive oil ALL THE TIME!  We usually hit the store in Fish Creek when we in Door County for a weekend, but we also can just go to the store in Brookfield.  I use their balsamic vinegar too.  We have many different flavors of both vinegar and olive oil.

We have been making a ton of different flavors of homemade ice cream, but I will do a separate post on that next week.  I hope you are all being able to enjoy that fabulous produce available this time of year (we relish summer produce in WI).

Menu Plan Monday 4-26

Monday:  Sandwiches, Chips, Spinach salad

Tuesday: Balsamic roasted pork loin, Mashed potatoes, Beans, Arugula salad

Wednesday:  Leftovers (Hair appt for me)

Thursday:  Trader Joe's Ham and Gruyere Pizza

Friday:  Pot luck at Church for Drew's Communion Milestone (haven't decided what I am bringing)

Saturday:  Garlic lime chicken, Brown rice, Corn, Fresh fruit

Sunday:  Cheese manicotti, Garlic italian flat beans, Antipasta salad, French Bread

Menu Plan Monday 4-12

Monday:  Sandwiches, chips, fruit and yogurt parfaits

Tuesday: Glazed meatloaf (last time I made two so I just have to take this out of the freezer), Baked potatoes, Maple Roasted Butternut Squash (Barefoot Contessa recipe)

Wednesday:  Leftovers (Exec board meeting for me)

Thursday:  Chicken fried rice, Toast, Citrus fruits (fresh from FL)

Friday:  Pizza

Saturday:  Grilled pork chops, Grilled potatoes,  Salad,   Dessert:  Fruit pizza

Sunday:  Garlic lime chicken, Brown rice, Corn, Fresh fruit

Menu plan Monday 3-15

Monday: Pizza hotdish (recipe follows), green beans, fresh baked bread, pineapple, pear, cherry side

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Guinness Corned Beef, cabbage, red potatoes, marble rye bread, irish soda bread

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Garlic lime chicken (recipe follows), brown rice, corn, fresh fruit  We ended up having leftovers again

Sunday: Dinner at PF Chang's




Pizza Hotdish:
Brown 1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground chuck in an electric frypan. I season the meat with Mc Cormick's Pizza Seasoning Grinder and also add sliced mushrooms. Cook one 12 oz bag of whole wheat egg noodles al dente while browning meat. Once meat is browned drain any fat and then add one 15 oz can of pizza sauce and parmesan cheese to taste. Mix in drained egg noodles. You can also add sliced black olives if you like at this point. Top with 8 oz shredded mozarella cheese and cook until melted.



Garlic Lime Chicken

Mix together:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp thyme

Sprinkle mixture on both sides of:
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

In a skillet heat over medium high heat:
2 TB butter
2 TB olive oil

Saute chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side.
Turn down the heat, remove the chicken (keeping warm) and add:
½ C chicken broth
4 TB lime juice

Whisk up the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Keep cooking until sauce has reduced slightly.

Add chicken back to the pan to thoroughly coat and serve.

Serves 6. Per Serving: 343 Calories; 11g Fat (31.1% calories from fat); 55g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 612mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 7 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat.

Menu Plan Monday 3/1

Monday:  Ham sandwiches on bakery buns, bacon coleslaw, chips

Tuesday:  Glazed meatloaf, baked potatoes, squash

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Pizza hotdish, green beans, fresh baked bread

Friday: Date night at Bacchus for Greg's birthday dinner

Saturday:  Bacon wrapped chicken, Crash hot potatoes, Corn

Sunday: Greg's family birthday dinner out



Check out Menu Plan Monday for lots of menu plans!

Menu Plan Monday 2-22-10

Monday:  Chili in the crockpot, served with sour cream, cheese, scallions, pepper rings, crackers, and fritos

Tuesday:  Crispy chicken, Corn, Baked potatoes, cranberry

Wednesday: Soup bar: Broccoli cheese, chicken wild rice, or tomato

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pizza 

Saturday:  Bacon wrapped chicken, Crash hot potatoes, Prince Edward Vegetable Medley

Sunday: Glazed meatloaf, baked potatoes, squash


Check out Menu Plan Monday for lots of menu plans!

Menu Plan Monday 1-25-10

Monday: Leftovers from BD Mongolian's

Tuesday: Parmesan crusted pork chops, maple glazed butternut squash,

Wednesday: Crispy chicken, baked potatoes, corn, cranberry

Thursday: BLTs

Friday: Frozen pizza (I will be gone at a church retreat)

Saturday: I will be gone at a church retreat, not sure what the guys will eat

Sunday: Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic italian flat beans, antipasta salad, french bread

Menu Plan Monday 1-18

Monday: Glazed meatloaf baked potatoes, squash  

Tuesday: Hair appt for me Tovers  

Wednesday: Sloppy joes, chips, fruit  

Thursday: Taking the boys to my parents for the weekend, not sure if we will meet them somewhere for dinner 

Friday: Boys gone dinner out at Bacchus  

Saturday: Boys gone; My staff Christmas party, lots of great food!  

Sunday: Penne alla Vodka, Salad, French bread




If you are looking for more menu ideas check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday 1-11

Monday:  Roasted pork panini with cranberry walnut chutney, arugula, and brie, bacon coleslaw, chips

Tuesday:  Crockpot Baby Back Ribs, Corn, Baked potatoes, bacon coleslaw, applesauce

Wednesday: Exec board meeting for me, Chicken fried rice, toast, fruit They ended up having leftover ribs and bacon wrapped chicken

Thursday: Chicken fried rice

Friday:  Penne alla Vodka, Salad, French bread We had frozen pizza: pepperoni, canadian bacon, and TJ's ham and gruyere flat bread pizza

Saturday: Venison steaks, mashed potatoes, creamed corn

Sunday: TBD



Check out Menu Plan Monday for lots of menu plans!

Menu Plan Monday 1-4-10

Monday:  Tex-Mex Turkey Soup, served with sour cream, scallions, cilantro, cheese, and tortilla chips
ETA:  This soup was fabulous.  It was a new recipe I made.  It got 5 stars on Allrecipes. 

Tuesday:  Leftovers for guys (I have a meeting)

Wednesday:  Balsamic roasted pork loin, Mashed potatoes, Maple-roasted butternut squash p. 158 barefoot contessa back to basics cookbook, Hot French bread   ETA:  The balsamic roasted pork loin was a hit and super easy.  I baked it in my Le Crueset  Cocoette.  I will definitely add it to my menu rotation.  The maple-roasted butternut squash was fabulous.  YUM YUM YUM!

Thursday:  Spaghetti and meatballs, Garlic sauteed italian flat beans with julienne carrots, Antipasta salad, Garlic bread  We ended up changing up the menu plan and just had ham and cheese or meatball subs.  I wanted to use up the leftover french bread from Wed and some meatballs I had.  Mission accomplished with much less effort and mess in the kitchen to clean up!

Friday:  Leftovers

Saturday:  Bacon wrapped chicken, Crash hot potatoes, Prince Edward Vegetable Medley

Sunday:  Baby Back Ribs (recipe follows), Baked potatoes, Corn, Applesauce


Baby Back Ribs

4 lbs pork baby back ribs 
1/3 cup dark brown sugar 
1 tbsp paprika 
1 1/2 tsp chili powder 
1 1/2 tsp salt 
1 tsp ground cumin 
3/4 tsp black pepper 
3/4 tsp white pepper 
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 
3/4 tsp ground oregano 
1/4 tsp sugar 
bbq sauce 

Combine dry ingredients and rub over the surface of the ribs. Place ribs in slow cooker or crock-pot standing on their edge with the meaty side out. Cook for 6 hrs on low (8 hrs if crock pot is not powerful) Remove ribs from crock pot and brush with your favorite BBQ sauce.


Here is the link to Menu Plan Monday  at OrgJunkie.  You will find MANY MANY links to menu plans.  Enjoy! 

January Menu Plan

My January menu plan is basically the same as my December plan and I have to say that we did not make many of the meals listed in December.  This month I am going to a better job of weekly menu planning.

Spaghetti and meatballs

Chili

Glazed Meatloaf (1/18)

Tacos

Pizza hotdish

Sloppy Joes (1/20)

Grilled burgers

Steak fajitas

NY Strip Steaks (1/2)

Garlic lime chicken

Crispy Chicken

Rotisserie Chicken

Bacon wrapped chicken (1/10)
Chicken fried rice (1/14)
Tex-Mex Turkey soup (1/4)

Baby back ribs (1/12)

Pork tenderloin

Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin (1/6)

Pork fried rice

Parmesan crusted pork chops

Spicy shrimp

Shrimp tacos

Swordfish salad

Venison roast

Venison steaks (1/16)

Cheese ravioli
Penne alla Vodka (1/24)

Macaroni and cheese

Homemade Pizza (1/3)
Frozen Pizza (1/15)
Homemade subs: ham and cheese or meatball (1/7)

BLTs

Grilled Cheese

Brats/Italians

Turkey dinner with all the trimmings (1/1)

Menu Plan Monday 12-7

Monday: Leftovers from BD Mongolian's for the boys and me (Greg at a meeting)

Tuesday: Homemade pizza w/ Trader Joe's dough and sauce

Wednesday: Chicken fried rice, fruit, toast (I have a meeting) *I think they had leftover pizza

Thursday: Spicy shrimp, biryani, arugula salad * We actually ending up going out for mexican at Jalapeno Loco with my parents after we picked my mom up from the airport

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Garlic lime chicken, brown rice, corn, fresh fruit *We had italians (sausages that is, not people)

Sunday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, squash, green beans *We did the garlic lime chicken menu from Sat

December Menu Plan

Spaghetti and meatballs (12/14)
Chili
Meatloaf
Tacos
Pizza hotdish
Sloppy Joes
Grilled burgers

Steak fajitas

Garlic lime chicken (12/13)
Crispy Chicken
Rotisserie Chicken (11/30)
Bacon wrapped chicken

Baby back ribs
Pork tenderloin
Pork roast
Pork fried rice
Parmesan crusted pork chops

Spicy shrimp

Shrimp tacos
Swordfish salad

Venison roast (12/1)
Venison steaks

Cheese ravioli (12/3)
Macaroni and cheese

Pizza (12/8)
BLTs
Grilled Cheese
Brats/Italians (12/12)

Turkey dinner with all the trimmings

NYE Dinner

School starts tomorrow and we are ready!

I have not had time to keep up with both blogs and this is the one that suffers. I will tell you that I have been a busy bee getting things organized in my classroom and at home. I guess it is better that I am actually doing this rather than just posting about it on my blog.

If you are about to start school and feeling overwhelmed or disorganized here are a few tips for you. First of all start with laundry and menu planning. These both encompass two major areas in your life/household and if you can keep on top of them everything else should fall together.

When I say menu planning I am speaking of planning menus, grocery shopping, keeping a clean and organized pantry and freezer, and then actually cooking what you have planned. I made sure to clean out my fridge this weekend so we are starting with a clean and organized slate. Groceries have been bought and put away in an organized fashion. I am really lucky that my dh also was bit by the organizing bug recently and defrosted and organized our extra freezer, as well as, the pantry in our kitchen where we store canned goods.

I am still formulating my menu plan for the first two weeks of school. The biggest challenge is that my two oldest ds play football and have practice several nights a week (and not always the same night). August was a challenge to actually sit down together as a family and eat meals. With it getting darker earlier I think practices will end by 7PM and we will just end up eating later than normal, but at least we will have a nice dinner together.

One thing I did with the boys was go through the Sept hot lunch calendar and I had them choose what days they are eating hot lunch. Now this is not set in stone and they are free to change their minds, but at least I will know in advance what days they are taking cold lunch. I have to say there aren't too many cold lunch days for them in Sept which actually makes my life easier.

Moving on to laundry. I made sure that ALL the laundry was done prior to school starting tomorrow. I washed all the bedding and towels today. It is so much easier to choose outfits when there is a multitude of clean clothes to choose from. This afternoon I had each of the boys choose four outfits to wear this week. I hung each pair of shorts and t-shirt on the same hanger and that way they can choose whatever outfit they want in the morning. They tend to have inherited their father's lack of color coordinating gene. :) New tennies were purchased this summer and are ready to go tomorrow.

We took all school supplies along with them to open house the other night so their backpacks will be empty tomorrow. It's nice to have all that out of the way. School supplies are another post I never got around to typing.

Because tomorrow is my first day of school with students I will not be around in the morning. We are used to this routine and even though I would love to be around to send them off, I have my own students starting their first day. This morning we had our back to school breakfast because I had time to make it. I made pancakes, sausage, and bacon. They loved it and I made enough pancakes that they will be able to eat some later in the week for breakfast. We met dh at TGI Friday's for lunch.

Don't worry if your house is not as clean nor organized as you wanted it. At the very least take time before the first day of school to make sure your kids have an outfit picked out, backpack is all packed and ready to go the night before, and lunch is taken care of. Make sure they get to bed at a decent time.

I am feeling pretty prepared for our first week of school which starts tomorrow. Bonus that it's only a four day week! Wish they all were. :)

Menu Planning Monday 3-23

Monday: Pizza hotdish, green beans, fresh baked bread

Tuesday: Macaroni and cheese, spinach

Wednesday: Crispy chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberry

Thursday: Brats, chips, fruit salad

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: T-bone steaks, baked potatoes, salad

Sunday: Spicy grilled shrimp, crash hot potatoes, creamy cucumbers

Menu Plan Monday 3-16

Monday: Pizza hotdish (recipe follows), green beans, fresh baked bread, fruit salad

Tuesday: Guinness Corned Beef, cabbage, red potatoes, marble rye bread

Wednesday: Garlic lime chicken (recipe follows), brown rice, corn, fresh fruit

Thursday: Ruebens, chips, fruit

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: T-bone steaks, baked potatoes, salad

Sunday: Brats or italians, chips, blue cheese coleslaw

ETA:

Menu plan changes for the week:

Monday: We ended up having leftovers and tacos for the boys

Friday: We went to Mc D's (yuck!)

Saturday: Grilled burgers, chips

Sunday: Cranberry grilled pork tenderloin, baked potatoes, roasted asparagus, fabulous salad


Pizza Hotdish:
Brown 1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground chuck in an electric frypan. I season the meat with Mc Cormick's Pizza Seasoning Grinder and also add sliced mushrooms. Cook one 12 oz bag of whole wheat egg noodles al dente while browning meat. Once meat is browned drain any fat and then add one 15 oz can of pizza sauce and parmesan cheese to taste. Mix in drained egg noodles. You can also add sliced black olives if you like at this point. Top with 8 oz shredded mozarella cheese and cook until melted.



Garlic Lime Chicken

Mix together:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp thyme

Sprinkle mixture on both sides of:
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

In a skillet heat over medium high heat:
2 TB butter
2 TB olive oil

Saute chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side.
Turn down the heat, remove the chicken (keeping warm) and add:
½ C chicken broth
4 TB lime juice

Whisk up the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Keep cooking until sauce has reduced slightly.

Add chicken back to the pan to thoroughly coat and serve.

Serves 6. Per Serving: 343 Calories; 11g Fat (31.1% calories from fat); 55g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 612mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 7 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat.