Menu Planning Monday

This week went from "nothing's going on" to overful...

Monday--
L: Ham and cheese sandwiches, banana, milk
D: Clean Out the Refrigerator Night (CORN)
Tuesday--
L: Lunchables, apple slices, milk
D: Grogonzola and Sundried Tomato Burgers (with beef, not buffalo), sun chips, cucumbers and carrots
Wednesday--
L: quesadillas, fruit, milk
D: half my advisees over for dinner. Salad, Cumin Lime Pork Tenderloin, corn, dressing, apple crisp
Thursday--
L: Leftovers :)
D: Life group in Lafayette. Most likely McD's.
Friday--Patrick at a wedding.
L: ??
D: Something kid friendly!
Saturday--
brunch for a friend with a couple of pictures in the local art show. Overnight cinnamon rolls (my mom's version of this--use 1/2 as much yeast, rise on countertop), crockpot hash browns, egg and sausage strata, blueberry muffins and fresh fruit

Come back next Monday for part 2 of having the advisees over--Asian theme :)

Menu Planning Monday (well, Sunday night)

I've been hit early by no sleep nights--I still have three months of pregnancy before middle of the night feedings, and insomnia has hit hard. I've been waking up between 2 and 4 am, starving; I eat something (cereal or toast with something), but then I can't go back to sleep. That plus "back to school" stuff this week makes it imperative I actually plan what we eat this week--else we'll have a week like last week (hello Mexican restaurant, Pizza Hut and Steak & Shake!) The good news is we did a freezer food exchange, so the freezer is well stocked! I've also lost my daytimer (a very bad week for that), so I'll include what's up each day:

Monday (Harmony dance at 3:30; tea for women faculty, 3:30-5)
Lunch: Ham and cheese sandwiches, grapes, milk, monster cookies
Dinner: Salad, Bean and rice enchiladas (thanks Jen!), cucumbers from the garden

Tuesday (kids to dr at 3, reception for new faculty 5-7)
Lunch: Pancakes, yogurt, peaches
Dinner: Adults will eat at the reception, I don't know what we're doing with the kids yet!

Wednesday (lunch meeting, 2 pm meeting, opening picnic at the President's)
Lunch: Hot dog, mac & cheese, carrots, apple slices
Dinner: Kids at the Little Greenhouse; whatever they serve :)

Thursday (training all morning, grad school reunion dinner, Patrick out of town)
Lunch: Sandwiches, fruit, veggies, juice
Dinner: Kids at picnic with church friends???

Friday (grad school reunion, may have friends down for dinner, prep for garage sale)
Lunch: Clean out the fridge :)
Dinner: New favorite Italian sausage dish (see below), bread, salad, Cherries Jubiliee

Saturday(garage sale, students moving into apt upstairs, meet my freshman advisees)
Lunch: sandwiches, fruit, chips
Dinner: OUT!

Sunday (teach Kid's church, 15 freshmen advisees over for dinner)
Lunch: Either pack a picnic or out with friends
Dinner: Cumin lime pork tenderloin, salad, corn, stuffing, brownie sundaes

OK, I just realized how RIDICULOUS this week is. But I don't know what can go--all the school events are required, and the garage sale is to get rid of the stuff from the last set of tenants (so it needs to go before this set moves in!). I don't like weeks like this, with multiple evening events where kids aren't welcome--luckily those are a rarity. Advice and prayers are welcome, especially for sleep!

Italian Sausage Bake (variation on last Sunday's USA today recipe)
1.5 lbs italian sausage (or turkey sausage), cut into 1 inch slices
3 cups cherry tomatoes (ours are going crazy!)
1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped
1 red pepper (from our garden!)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp thyme
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T olive oil
2 cans white beans (I'm blanking on their names)

Toss all ingredients except beans in a roasting pan. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes. Stir and add beans and 1/4 c of the liquid from the beans. Roast 15 more minutes.

Menu planning Monday

Gotta get back on track--we've been in "vacation mode"! I'm continuing to clean out the freezer--all of the meat is coming from there :) I can't guarantee the order, but here is the gist:

Lunches:
M: Waffles and apple slices
T: Grilled cheese, grapes, carrots
W: Hot dog for Henry, corn dog for Henry (the last of each!), yogurt, cantalope and blackberries
Th: Turkey and cheese or PBJ sandwich, whatever fruits and veggies are left :)
F: Left overs

Dinners:

M: Hamburgers, corn on the cob, watermelon
T: Pork in orange sauce with brown rice and spinach salad
W: French toast with bananas and apples
T: Curry chicken, veggies and couscous or curry chicken apple salad
F: Spaghetti carbonara, spinach salad, strawberry sorbet

For more ideas, see Menu Planning Monday!

Menu planning Monday....a failure

I know that if I don't have a plan, it spells bad news for the week. And I don't have a plan. There is tons of food in the house, but I have no clue what we're eating...other than working on stuff from the freezer and trying to not eat out.

So if you're inspired, send some my way!

Monday:
L: Harmony got leftover mac and cheese, Henry got a ham sandwich. They both got cantalope, strawberries, and chocolate milk.
D: Homemade Pizza (we made two, as we had two extra kids for dinner)

Tuesday:
L: Leftover pizza, fruit, veggies and milk
D: Breakfast (I have tons of eggs and bacon that needs to be used)

Wednesday: (Here's where we run into trouble...)
L: Grilled cheese, veggies
D: Curry chicken with veggies and couscous?

Thursday:
L: Remaining pizza
D: Some kind of pasta with salad

Friday:
L: ??
D: Strawberry festival!

Saturday:
L: Strawberry festival!
D: Middle eastern dinner party at a work colleague's

So if you're feeling inspired, send some my way...Though the Strawberry Festival gets us off the hook a little...we got $5 free per person from work, but that's not going to even be close. At least I know where our eating out budget is going this week :) I think I'll be reading everyone else's menu plans for some ideas!

Menu planning Monday

Well, it's legally still Monday for a few more hours! And if I don't get a plan, we'll be in trouble soon. Right now we're dealing with hiking trip left overs--specifically bread and ham (the packages were open, so we couldn't donate them). We also have four open containers of peanut butter (I brought new jars from our stash at home to the hiking trip) and eighteen eggs. So mission #1 is to use up that stuff! We'll be eating lots of strawberries, since they're ripening right in our front yard!

Monday:
L: Ham sandwiches, watermelon (the end!) and pudding
D: French toast, bacon, strawberries and chocolate pudding

Tuesday:
L: Left over french toast, fruit, milk
D: Sausage, green beans and potatoes; salad; strawberries

Wednesday:
L: Mac cheese for Harmony, hot dogs, apples,
D: Monte Cristo sandwiches, strawberries,

Thursday:
L: Ham or PBJ sandwiches, salad, apples
D: Patrick's in charge :)

Friday:
L: Kid's choice
D: Pasta

Saturday (Harmony's recital)
L: Grilled cheese, salad, fruit
D: Probably out with the grandparents

What's on your menu? For ideas, visit MPM!

Menu planning Monday

One thing I've learned from previous attempts at this is it's at best an estimate! Something ALWAYS comes up and scrambles the week's menu, whether it's being invited to someone's house or someone saying "but can we have____ instead?" So large grain of salt with this menu... It's mostly a "clean out the fridge" and pantry from good deals at Kroger in the last week (prices included where I know them)

Monday:
L: Late lunch at SIL's
D: Leftovers at SIL's

Tuesday (Dance lessons):
L: Leftover pizza, watermelon ($3.88 for a whole one--we'll be eating it all week)
D: Spaghetti carbonara (1/2 pkg 10/$10 spaghetti, 1/2 pkg 10/$10 bacon, 2 eggs ($1.18/dozen), spinach salad

Wednesday:
L: Grilled cheese, apple slices
D: Hamburgers ($1.47/lb), hash browns(10/$10 minus doubled $0.50 coupon=free!), corn on the cob (4/$1)

Thursday (Ann in meeting all day, life group shopping for hiking trip):
L: lunchables (10/$10), watermelon, carrots (10 lbs/$10), pudding (10 4 pks/$10)
D: Chic Fila with life group

Friday:
L: ??? Something kid friendly (my kids + three?)??
D: ??? Something using up the diced ham?

Saturday (Hiking trip)
L: Sandwiches, apples, chips, cookies (I'll be making a batch of Monster Cookies sometime on Friday)
D: Probably out

Any suggestions on what to do with a cup of diced ham? I used some for omlettes one day, but there is a bunch left over and I need to use it soon!

For more ideas, check out Menu Planning Monday at Organizing Junkie!

Menu Planning Monday...the Sunday night version

So I don't want to talk about how much we ate out this weekend :) Between catching planes and running the race (and recovering), cooking was low on the priority list. But I don't want to blow our entire food budget the first week of the month, so it's back to menu planning! So here it is:

Monday:
L: Weekend left overs (pizza, Chinese), cantaloupe or pears (kids pick), chocolate milk
D: Spaghetti and meatballs, spinach salad with strawberries

Tuesday:
Harmony dance lessons
L: MYO pizza lunchables, cottage cheese, apple, pear or cantaloupe,
D: Grilled cheese, strawberries, broccoli, and carrots, ice cream bars

Wednesday:
Go to grocery store before dinner
L: Ham sandwiches, pudding, grapes, carrots
D: Rotisserie chicken (on sale at grocery store for $3.99), green beans, potatoes

Thursday:
Life group
L: Left over chicken sandwiches, milk, fruit and veggie
D: Hamburgers (from freezer), sweet potato fries (if I can find them), salad

Friday:
L: Homemade pizza (if friends come over) or a picnic
D: Cumin lime pork tenderloin (from the freezer), corn, au gratin potatoes, salad, lilac sorbet

The interesting things are on Friday! Here are the recipes:

Cumin Lime Pork Tenderloin (from Rachel Ray 365)
2 lb pork tenderloin (I buy a whole pork tenderloin when they're on sale for $1.77 (like now) and have it cut into three roasts and the rest as pork chops)
1/4 c lime juice
2 T olive oil
2 T cumin
1 T coriander
2 cloves garlic, sliced

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place tenderloin on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Rub in olive oil, then drizzle EVOO over the roast. Mix together the cumin and coriander, then season the roast with it (it will be heavy). Make small slits all over the top of the roast, and stick the garlic in the slits (make sure they're all the way in the roast else they'll burn). Roast for 45 minutes or until 140 F. Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes under an aluminum foil tent. Slice and serve!

Lilac Sorbet Very delicate--tastes like frozen spring! I make the flavored syrup and freeze it for later, so we can enjoy spring later in the year :)
1/2 c sugar
2 c water
1 c lilac blooms, rinsed and chopped

Mix together sugar and water in a pot; bring to boil to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to a simmer, and add lilac blooms. Let steep for 5 minutes. Cool thoroughly and strain blooms (if desired). Follow manufacturer's directions for freezing in an ice cream maker.

Menu plan Monday

Ok, it's really Sunday, but if I wait until Monday it's too late. Two things I've learned are 1) if I don't have a plan by Monday morning, we're out of luck and 2) plan easy things on busy days (like Monday I have faculty meeting, Tuesday Harmony has dance, and Thursday we have life group). So here's the plan...any advice on cooking orange roughie or tilapia? Patrick and I either have left overs or the stash of Lean Cuisines I have in the freezer at work.

Sunday night--grilled cheese and tomato soup, grapes
Monday kids' lunch--left over French Toast and sausage, apple slices, yogurt
Monday night--gorganzola and roasted red pepper turkey burgers, green beans
Tuesday kids' lunch--MYO pizzas, milk, carrots and broccoli, mangoes
Tuesday night (Harmony has dance, Patrick gone)--Spaghetti and meatballs, salad
Wednesday lunch--ham sandwich, pickle for Henry, homemade cereal/chx mix, apple for Henry, peaches for Harmony
Wednesday dinner--Asian pork lettuce wraps, brown rice, Asian veggie mix
Thursday lunch--left overs or sandwiches, fruit, pudding
Thursday dinner (life group)--scrambled eggs, toast, turkey sausage, applesauce
Friday lunch--don't have to worry about--Jen feeds them :)
Friday dinner--something with the fish that's in our freezer that I don't know what to do with--google cooking, here we come!
Saturday lunch--Clean out the fridge :)
Saturday dinner--TBA :)
Sunday lunch--Easter dinner at MIL or SIL's house
Sunday dinner--Egg salad sandwiches