Menu Planning Monday (December 20th)

I hope everyone has all of their holiday shopping completed and can enjoy the next few days. I finished my gift shopping last week. Yesterday, I decided to stock up on some of the regulars so I could avoid the stores for the next week or so.

We are still cooking out of the freezer. There are enough meals left to carry us through the second week in January. I talked to my sister today, and we decided to just do a two week cycle for January.

So, this week's menu...

Monday: Zanzibar Chicken (From Once A Month Cooking Family Favorites), Jasmine rice, Garlic zucchini (Very yummy meal even if the chicken wasn't pretty to look at)

Tuesday: Stuffed pasta shells, rolls, grape tomatoes and ranch dressing

Wednesday: Lemon Chicken, rice pilaf, English peas

Thursday: I cook soup for the family every Christmas Eve. We will have two of my favorite Rachel Ray recipes: Corn, Black Bean and Chicken Stoup and Smokey Black Bean and Rice Stoup. Other family members are bringing lots of snacks to go along with the soups. Should be a fun evening.

Friday: Merry Christmas!! We will be at my parents' for dinner. I will prepare the ham, but my mom cooks everything else.

Saturday: Sloppy Joes

Sunday: Eggs and Bacon

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas week!!

Menu Planning Monday (early)

Well, having all of these meals in the freezer is wonderful. We have enjoyed pretty much everything. I was also able to take a casserole to the departmental Christmas party (no stress involved). It was really yummy.

Hobbie is out of town until Tuesday, so the boys planned the menu by picking things from the list of freezer meals:

Monday: I am taking the boys Christmas shopping. They each need to buy their 4 cousins presents and also something for their Dad. I promised we could eat at their favorite Mexican restaurant.

Tuesday: Our 19th anniversary. Hobbie will be home today, so I am picking him up at the airport and we are going out for our anniversary.

Wednesday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread

Thursday: Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans

Friday: This is the first day of our three day stitching "retreat". I am hosting tonight, so we will have Chicken enchiladas, Black bean enchiladas, Spanish rice, Theresa's guacamole, and whatever else the ladies bring.

Saturday: I will be at the my friend's house stitching, so the boys will either have Sloppy Joes or order pizza.

Sunday: This is the last day of our stitching "retreat" so if I am home in time, I will make Breakfast Casserole. If not, the boys will most likely have eggs and bacon.

Hope everyone has a great week. Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu plans.

Menu Planning Monday

With all the meals in the freezer for this month, menu planning is quite easy. Usually, if I ask the boys or Hobbie what they want for the week I get "Whatever" or "That thing you make with chicken". Not very helpful. So, I have a list of all the freezer meals and I let them pick from the "menu". Much better.

Another benefit from the OAMC is how clean the kitchen is every day. Since I am not getting out all of the normal cooking utensils and just one or two dishes to prepare the meal, clean up is very easy. Love that.

So, our menu for this week is:

Monday: Nan's Indonesian Pork Loin, Steamed Broccoli, Glazed Carrots

Tuesday: Sweet & Sour Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Wednesday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread

Thursday: Pork Chops in Orange Sauce, Green Beans

Friday: Sloppy Joes with Fries

Saturday: Leftovers or sandwiches

Sunday: Waffles

For other weekly menus, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie

First try at Once-A-Month Cooking

My younger sister and I decided to give this OAMC thing a try. I bought the book and compiled our grocery list. We got up early Sunday morning and met at the local Walmart to buy all of our groceries. Now, we did things a little differently than the book suggested and decided that we would each buy the complete list so that we would both have a month's worth of meals at the end of this crazy project. I was surprised at the total for my all of these groceries. Including things like cereal, bread, milk, and other items we needed at the house, my total was $268. Bridget's was a bit cheaper because she didn't buy extras.

We started with a nice clean kitchen. I started cooking chicken at 8:30 a.m. Bridget showed up with all of her groceries around 9:30. We chopped and chopped and chopped veggies.

Finally we started assembling our meals. I was surprised at how easy most of this was. We were able to each put together more than 23 meals. Since she has little ones, Bridget split some meals.

We finally bagged up the last of the meals at 9:00 that night. I was exhausted, but we had such a great time. Last night we ate the first of our freezer meals and it was great. I think Bridget and I may do this on a regular basis.

Menu Planning Monday (November 9th)

We are continuing on the "cooking from the pantry/freezer" theme. At this point, though, we are truly down to the bear minimum and it looks like I will make a run to the grocery salvage store next week. We have one really great grocery salvage store about 45 minutes away. I can always find great deals on canned beans and veggies as well as paper products.

But for this week, here's the plan (warning: I allowed the boys to plan this week's menu):

Monday: Hawiian Burgers, Oven Fries (A local grocery had pineapple slices for $0.99/can. With double coupons, I was able to get these for free.)

Tuesday: Park City Cashew Chicken w/ rice (Rachel Ray recipe)

Wednesday: Hamburgers (I know, but my family is having the kids' fall pictures made at my parents and that is what my Dad wants to cook.)

Thursday: Black Bean and Corn Soup (Rachael Ray recipe)

Friday: Tacos w/mango salsa

Saturday: Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad

Sunday: Breakfast Casserole

Menu Planning Monday (November 2nd)

So, it is the beginning of another week and time to plan the menu. Fortunately, things are slowing down considerably here. Football season is over, so the band is also wrapping up the marching season. We have one final contest to attend this Saturday and the kids will be finished. The semester is also winding down for me, so I have lots of papers to grade and a few lectures left to fine tune, but, honestly, things will be pretty much done before Thanksgiving. Also, I have just two chapters left to "check" for the textbook and that huge project will be done. I am excited that the holiday season will be more relaxed this year.

I am still trying to plan our menu based on food that I have in the pantry or freezer. I was so impressed with how well I did last month on our grocery budget I want to repeat it.

Monday: Beef Kabobs w/ yogurt sauce (Rachael Ray recipe)
Tuesday: Chicken Satay Noodle Soup (Rachel Ray recipe)
Wednesday: Cornmeal-crusted Flounder w/ Spicy Pink Beans and Rice Pilaf (Didn't get around to cooking this last week.)
Thursday: Dinner at my parents' house.
Friday: Maybe lasagna from the freezer or just sandwiches, not sure
Saturday: Pizza for Hobbie and Nicholas. Patrick and I will be at the band contest.
Sunday: Waffles and bacon

Menu Planning Monday (October 26th)

This week is based almost completely on what we have in the freezer and pantry. I spent less than $60 this week on groceries and some of that was for Nicholas birthday party yesterday.

Monday: Chicken and rice, green beans

Tuesday: Moroccan lamb stew with couscous (another Rachael Ray recipe)

Wednesday: Pork fried rice

Thursday: Cornmeal crusted flounder and spicy pink beans (Robin Miller recipe)

Friday: Hot dogs (It's our last football game of the season!!!)

Saturday: Pizza

Sunday: Breakfast casserole