Week 28 Meal Plan

I really enjoyed making all of these new meals this week! It's a pretty short shopping list, but has some meat. Try to find pork chops and pork shoulder on sale. I've got a few quick meals on here; perfect for a fast dinner, or even a lunch.

These meals came from "Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast" and other blogs. Credit is given in the recipe.  Enjoy!

Day 1: Spicy Baja Beef Tortilla Wraps. Uses deli meat for a quick but tasty meal!
Day 2: Sweet Pork Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw.  Slowcooker meal!
Day 3: Asiago Tortellini. Another fast meal with great flavor.
Day 4: Pork Tamale Pie. Use the leftover pork from day 2.
Day 5: Pork Chops in a Mushroom Cream sauce. Served with Rice and Honey Almond Green Beans
Day 6: Cheesy Cauliflower Soup
Dessert: Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars


Download the menu, recipes, and shopping list! Enjoy!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Comfort food. In all it's glory.  Since I've started this blog, my family hardly ever gets our good "old" loved meals anymore. It's all about trying new recipes and methods. After sitting down and planning 3 weeks of menu's- all with new meals- I decided to bring some of our favorites to the table. 

Now, I PROMISE that I'll have some new recipes and pictures up for you next week. I've fallen behind in that area, but I have a few to post, and lots to make!  For now, please enjoy some of my favorite meals!

Teriyaki Flank Steak

Banana Bread

Mussaman Curry

Chicken Alfredo

And for dessert...

Chocolate Butterscotch Bars

I hope you enjoy some of my favorite meals! You can look forward to new meals coming next week. Maybe they will become your next favorite! 

The ABC Food Challenge! Week 2

Good Morning! I hope you all had a terrific weekend! Today is week 2 of our ABC Challenge. Last week we made an entire meal with the letter "A". Now, you may have noticed that I didn't even post my meal! That is because last week turned into a crazy, crazy week. We mostly ate leftovers, or ate at other people's houses.  I was planning on making Angel Hair pasta with Asiago cheese; Asparagus on the side!  What did you make?

We are going to skip around and do the letter "S" this week! This is another easy one: Sandwich, Salad, Shrimp, Salsa, Spaghetti, Sausage... and on and on!

Here are links to some of my posted "S" recipes. Enjoy!
Spinach Dip
Strawberry Scones
Chicken Satay
Salsa
 and lots of Salads! There are more great recipes to be found in the "recipe" tab!

Leave a comment if you plan on participating. Come link up to Mr. Linky when your post or recipe is up!

Are you up for the challenge? Here are the rules:

1. Only the main components of the meal have to start with the assigned letter. You can use other foods to compliment or season the meal. For ex., on the "C" meal, you can use garlic on your chicken as well!

2. The letter of the week will be posted on Monday.  You have until Friday to link up your recipe or post.

3. The letters will not go in order, and will not be announced until Monday. However, if you tell me that you would like some advance notice, I can post a few weeks at a time.

4. Have fun! I am always available by email or twitter or facebook if you need ideas! 

Week 13 Menu Plan

Here is what I am planning on making for my family this week. My health issues have been acting up, so I haven't really been making meals. Since my husband isn't home most night for dinner, we have been lazy! Enough is enough though!! Time to get back to good, homemade meals. Plus, we should be getting a BBQ this week, so I'll have to try it out! (All of the BBQ meals can also be baked) Try some of these meals with me this week, and let me know if they are keepers in your house!



Day 1: Chicken Satay with Jasmine Coconut Rice and Steamed Broccoli
Day 2: Pork loin with Chimichurri Sauce on the BBQ. Grilled Potatoes and veggies
Day 3: Lime and Chili rubbed Chicken breast. Warm Lime butter tortillas and Pineapple Paradise for dessert. (All new meal from Betty Crocker Quick and Easy Cookbook)
Day 4: Homemade Pizza
Day 5: Baked Breakfast Taquitos. Freezing leftovers for quick breakfasts. (New meal)
Day 6: Chicken and Bacon Pastry Pockets (New Meal)

Recipes and Shopping list are available for download!

Enjoy!

Week 12 Menu Plan

I just made a menu plan for my family, and thought I'd share it here. I used to do plans for my readers weekly, but life has gotten in the way, and interest in the plans seemed to ebb. You can find all of the old plans up above under "menu plans" on the tab bar.

We are going to be trying lots of new recipes this week! I'll include the link to the original recipe here, and then I'll be back to critique them. If you try it before me, let me know how it was for you!

When I make menu plans, I don't plan the days. I just plan a list of meals, shop for them, and then cook them as they sound good. Most times, my meal plan lasts for more than a week because of leftovers, or just because of lazy Mac N Cheese nights.

Day 1: Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach from Recipe Shoebox with Perfect Dinner Rolls from Mels Kitchen Cafe
Day 2: Delicious Black Bean Burritos
Day 3: Mom's Spaghetti An old favorite! With salad and homemade bread
Day 4: Meatloaf Muffins with potatoes and salad
Day 5: Trinidadian Chicken Curry from Pioneer Woman
Day 6: Chicken Soulvaki pitas with Tzatziki Sauce from Sandra Lee at Food Network
Dessert: Lime and Coconut Crumble bars from Baking Bites

You can find all of the recipes and a shopping list here!

Week 7 Meal Plan

Here we go again! Please comment if you are using my meal plans! I need to know if they are worth posting or not. Thanks!!

This week offers 6 dinners, including one Crock-pot meal, and 1 desert.






Monday: Clam Chowder with Salad and Bread
Tuesday: Mussaman Curry over Jasmine Rice
Wednesday: Cilantro Lime Burritos with Dressing
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Asparagus, Feta, Couscous Salad (Meatless)
Saturday: Pizza (can be meatless)
Sunday: Crockpot BBQ Pork Sandwiches with Veggies
Dessert: White Ch0colate Lemon Bars

Download the menu, recipes, and shopping list from Google Docs.

Week 2 Meal Plan

Are you ready for another great week of meals?

Here's my menu for the week! The link is below so you can download the recipes, menu, and grocery list too! Enjoy!



Monday: Pesto Pasta
Tuesday: Enchiladas
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Baked Chicken
Friday: Smokey Black Bean Soup
Saturday: Chicken Satay w/ coconut rice
Sunday: French Dip sandwiches

Download the recipes and grocery list!

Please!!! If you download the recipes, or use any of my recipes, please let me know!

Also, give a holler if you are looking for different kinds of meals! Thanks!

Organizing your meal list

Welcome back to Meal Planning 101!

Hopefully, you've taken some time and have a list of 15 main dinner meals.

Today, we're going to find a way to organize those meals!

There are many ways to keep track of what meal is going to be done on what night. Some examples include:

Paper Calenders
Computer calenders
Binders

We'll go through each method, and the problem I have with each ;). Keep in mind, that while an idea might not work for me, it might be perfect for you!

Paper Calenders

The most basic way to keep track of your meals, paper calenders are simple and easy to use. You can use your existing calender, or print out a template from Microsoft Word.
Then, you simply write the meals you are having in each box.


Here's my problem with paper calendars. I write in pen.
I could use pencil. But I dare you to find a pencil in my house that is both sharp and has an erasure. then, I dare you to keep that pencil for 7 days straight.
Good Luck.

So my calenders started becoming very messy!

What happened? We went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and bought some Basil. Well, I could either make a whole bunch of Pesto right then and there and freeze it... but we know that isn't happening. So, I have to use it within a few days before it goes bad.

So, we cross off Sunday's meal, and substitute the Pesto.
But, then the In-laws call Sunday morning, and invite us to dinner.
So, we cross off Monday's hamburgers instead, and put the pesto there.
But what happens to the produce I bought for the hamburgers?
So, they get moved to Tuesday, and both Sunday and Tuesday's meals get canceled.

It's a mess.

Computer calenders don't work for me because I like to have something tangible in my hand. I also need it to be in the kitchen so it's near the food I'm preparing.


Binders

When putting this presentation together for my church, I talked to a lady who schedules her meals SIX WEEKS in advance! (is your jaw open in astonishment? Mine was!)
Oh, just wait. It gets better. She doesn't repeat meals during that time!
NO REPEAT MEALS!!! Can you imagine?

Now, that's not a goal that you have to strive for, especially if you really don't care for cooking.
But, I do! So I did it.
I created a 6week menu plan without repeats!
Now, you'll see "Mexican" in there more than once, and of course "leftovers". And I left some spots open for "new meals" that I find recipes for. But, overall, there are 6 weeks of unique meals!

I organized these 6 weeks in my binder.

The current weeks menu goes in the front.
There is a grocery list for every week, and relevant recipes as well. Everything is in one place.

Hopefully, I gave you some new ideas!

Do you have a different one? Let's hear it!

Day Two assignment! You'll have a few days to accomplish this one.

Discover a system that works for you. Write down at least 2 weeks of meals.

Next, we'll talk about grocery shopping!

Week 1 Meal Plan

What am I having for dinner this week?

Check it out! Join me in making these delicious meals.

Monday: Lasagna
Tuesday: Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ dressing served as burrito filling
Wednesday: Pork Chops and Rice
Thursday: Fettucine Alfredo w/ leftover chicken, or meatless
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Taco Soup
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner

Here is a list of 6 meals (one leftover night) with recipes and shopping lists! Print this out, go shopping, and enjoy a week of delicious dinners!

Download the document HERE

Let me know if you downloaded this document, or made any of the meals! If providing menus is helpful, I'll continue to do so!

Meal Planning 101

Welcome to Meal Planning 101. This is a workshop that I did with a group of women in my church. I thought you might be interested in it too!

Menu Planning 101

What is it? Menu planning consists of planning meals for a week at a time, or longer. Placing your planned meals on a calender, and grocery shopping for those meals.

Why? Menu planning is a great tool to use in your home for many reasons.

• Saves Time

How many nights have you wandered in the kitchen, and stood in front of the cupboards wondering what you were going to make for dinner?
If you had your meals planned out, you would know what you were making right away.

It also saves time in the grocery store, by utilizing an organized shopping list. No more random purchases!

*In my house, my husband is only home for dinner 2 nights out of the week. It's so easy and tempting on the other nights to just feed the kids something simple and easy. Microwavable. Ten second dinners. However, that is not healthy! By having my meals planned ahead of time, I can get a good meal made with less stress.

• Saves Money

And who doesn't like to save money? By planning your meals, and your subsequent grocery list, you buy only what you need.
Having meals planned, and groceries in the home, also cuts down on grabbing food at a fast-food joint on the way home!

• Saves You!
  

No matter how crazy your day is, you know what's for dinner. You can glance at your calender in the morning, and get out the meat to defrost, or set the crockpot up!
No matter how tired you are, dinner is almost done!

So, here's the first assignment!
Write down 15 meals that you enjoy in your house.
Brainstorm.
Free-write.
Ask your family.
Just get those meals on paper!

Here is my list if you need some help getting the juices flowing!

Come back on Wednesday to see what to do with your list!

**If you already plan your meals, WHY?