Menu Planning Monday: Jan 10 - 16

Classes started again, so I'm short on time. Here's this week's menu plan:

Monday: pernil, sweet potatoes, broccoli
Tuesday: Tuscan Chicken and White Bean Stew (from the freezer, but I got the recipe from The Working Mother Cookbook), baguette (from Costco)
Wednesday: BBQ pork sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, sauteed cabbage
Thursday: Leftover Buffet
Friday: cheese ravioli (from Treasure Box) with red sauce, Italian sausage, green beans (or something from the CSA box)
Saturday: Chicken & Rice Casserole, CSA veggies (something green)
Sunday: tomato basil soup (from Angel Food Ministries) and grilled cheese sandwiches

For more menu planning ideas, check out the Menu Planning thread at I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Menu Planning Monday: Jan 3 - 9

(I thought I posted this days ago! I guess something went wrong?)

Monday: turkey rice soup (made from leftover turkey, turkey stock, chopped up veggies from the NYE veggie tray, and brown rice), cheese & crackers
Tuesday: meatloaf (made from a mixture of ground beef and leftover ground roast turkey), roasted veggies, Romanesco cauliflower
Wednesday: crockpot corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes
Thursday: Peppercorn Chicken with broccoli (the original recipe calls for spinach, but I think broccoli will do)
Friday: Leftovers Buffet
Saturday: Sticky Chicken, roasted veggies
Sunday: spaghetti with red sauce & meatballs, green beans

Menu plan for Dec. 26 - Jan. 1

Oh, dear.... it's Wednesday again, isn't it? I guess this is actually "Menu Planning Wednesday" instead, but I don't have a graphic with the right title.

Here's what we had and will have:

Monday: roast turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, Spanish Green Beans
Tuesday: beef barley vegetable soup (made from leftover prime rib meat, stock made from the prime rib bones, and frozen veggies), blueberry muffins
Wednesday: BBQ turkey pizza (based off of this recipe), fruit (lots of fresh fruit leftover from Christmas)
Thursday: turkey enchilada pie (based off of this recipe)
New Year's Eve: our traditional NYE meal of appetizers/party food - taquitos, veggie tray & dip, pizza, chicken nuggets
New Year's Day: kielbasa, fried cabbage, pierogies
Sunday: Leftovers Buffet (or turkey chili, depending on what's left)

For more menu planning ideas, go to I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Christmas Week Menu

It's been so busy, I've neglected sitting down and plotting out a menu. Same old story. So here's what's in line for the rest of this week:

Earlier tonight (Wednesday): Roast Sticky Chicken, waffle fries, and green beans
Thursday: hamburgers, waffle fries (we have 10 lbs of them -- seriously!), stir fried carrots and bok choy
Christmas Eve: shrimp cocktail, spaghetti with meatballs & Italian sausages, garlic bread, salad, grape juice
Christmas breakfast: quiche made with ham, cheddar, and broccoli, orange juice
Christmas dinner: roast prime rib, baked potatoes, rolls, green beans, mini dessert cups (found at Costco)

For more menu planning ideas, go to I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Thanksgiving cooking/prep

Here's the cooking/prep schedule:

Saturday: pick up turkey, stick in cooler with plenty of ice

Sunday: dice celery and onion for stuffing, put in containers in fridge
mix up green bean casserole (minus the onion topping) in oven safe dish, put in fridge
cut up sugar pie pumpkin, saving the seeds
bake pumpkin pieces, scoop cooked pumpkin out of the shell
make pumpkin puree for pie, put in cheesecloth lined colander in the fridge

Monday: make the Make-Ahead mashed potato recipe found on the Pioneer Woman website
put drained pumpkin puree in sealed container in fridge
buy bread for Thursday (rolls for dinner, gingerbread bagels for breakfast)
clean part of the kitchen
realize the probe thermometer is broken & there is no way to properly cook the turkey without it

Tuesday: more kitchen cleaning
wash & trim Brussels sprouts
pull apple pie filling out of the freezer and put into the fridge to thaw
pull pie crusts out of the freezer to thaw
move things from family room to the garage
get Munchkin to vacuum the front room
clean off island in kitchen (I hope?)
buy a new probe thermometer

Wednesday: locate matching placemats and napkins, wash if needed
scrub out big 5 gallon beverage cooler (used only for turkey brining)
mix up turkey brine, bring to a boil, let cool
locate & wash gravy boats
get Munchkin to vacuum family room

Wednesday night: make pies, leave on island to cool, cover with tea towel
cut up squash, save seeds, put squash pieces in container in fridge
unwrap & rinse off turkey, put giblets in container in fridge
put turkey brine, turkey, and ice in the brining cooler
mix up frittata for breakfast, put in fridge
prep mushroom filling ingredients for pastry shells
gather aromatics for turkey, place on counter near work area
put new stick of butter in butter dish, put jar of cranberry-apple butter next to butter dish

Thursday morning: make breakfast frittata, toast bagels, turn on Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
pull out side dishes to come to room temperature, preheat oven to 500F
put sparking juice and Spicy Cider in the fridge
drain brine from cooler, pat turkey dry, put on rack in roasting pan (with turkey neck in pan underneath the rack)
steep turkey aromatics in microwave, stuff them in the turkey, rub turkey with oil
roast turkey for 30 mins
toss pumpkin/squash seeds with oil and roast in toaster oven, salt to taste
eat breakfast using paper plates

Thursday, after breakfast: turn oven down to 350F, then leave alone until turkey reaches 161F.
after turkey has roasted for an hour, rub squash with olive oil and roast in toaster oven for an hour
set appetizers/snacks out on table
dot mashed potatoes with butter, top casserole with onion topping, toss Brussels sprouts with olive oil in a baking dish

After the turkey is finished: set turkey on top of the stove to rest, tent with foil
place mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and Brussels sprouts in the oven
warm mushroom gravy, make turkey gravy
make the mushroom filling
heat green beans (not casserole) in microwave

After side dishes are finished: turn oven up to 400F
Put rolls and pastry shells in oven
Have Munchkin pull beverages out of fridge and set table

After rolls & shells are finished: Turn off oven
Fill pastry shells with mushroom filling, call people to table
put pies in still warm oven to hold while everyone eats
enjoy Thanksgiving dinner!

I'm sure I've left out something.

Thanksgiving dinner menu - 2010

Here's what we're eating:

Snacks/appetizers to munch on while waiting for the main meal to finish cooking

• marinated asparagus & roasted red peppers
• crackers with assorted cheeses
• hummus and pita crisps and/or carrot sticks
• sweet potato chips
• roasted pumpkin seeds (maybe)

Main meal

• turkey
• mushrooms in puff pastry shells (for the non-turkey eaters)
• stuffing
• mashed potatoes (2 batches - one vegan, one dairy)
• gravy (2 batches - one turkey, one vegan mushroom)
• green bean casserole (for the ones who think Thanksgiving will be all wrong without it)
• green beans (for the ones who don't like green bean casserole)
• roasted Brussels sprouts
• baked Sweet Dumpling squash
• orange-cranberry sauce
• buttermilk rolls with cranberry-apple butter (or just plain butter -- or both!)

Desserts

• apple pie
• dairy-free pumpkin pie
• possibly a raisin pie if I have time or room for leftovers
• vanilla ice cream and vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream to go with the pies

Drinks - sparkling cranberry-cabernet juice or TJ's Spicy Cider

We've taken a few shortcuts. The vegan potatoes and gravy were purchased, but I might do them from scratch in the future (the potatoes look pretty simple... potatoes, olive oil, vegetable stock, salt & pepper). The fresh orange-cranberry sauce is also purchased; I can make this from scratch, but this one tastes exactly like it would if I made it and saves me a little time. The rolls are a higher end brown-n-serve variety. The stuffing base is a seasoned mix (but not Stove Top!) that I'll enhance with sauteed vegetables and stock. The pies will be a bit of a contradiction -- while I know how to make pie crust, I'm using purchased frozen pie crusts this time. On the other hand, all of the pie filling is made from scratch (including from fresh pumpkin).

long time, no blog... and needing some menu suggestions

Hello, little blog. I've thought of you often, yet I've had a hard time stopping by to talk with you. Life always seems to get in the way. I know, I know... you've noticed that I've been hanging out a lot with the little blue bird, but he doesn't require much of my time. Mere seconds, really. But I do need you, dear blog. Life seems to run so much better when I remember to visit you more often and discuss my weekly plans.

That being said...

I need some help figuring out menus for the next month. I feel as if I've fallen into a rut and I'm using a lot of the same things over and over again. I have several things that I need to use up, especially since we're trying to empty out one of our freezers so we can unplug it.

Here's what I have to work with:

4 lbs. chicken leg quarters
3 lbs. whole split chicken
1.5 lbs. boneless pork roast
1.5 lbs. beef tips in gravy (I'm worried that it's more gravy than beef... might have to stretch it by adding veggies & using it in a stew)
1.5 lbs. boneless turkey breast
1.75 lbs. fully-cooked breaded party chicken wings
1 lb. beef hot dogs
20 oz. steak fajitas (I think this is a mixture of beef strips, pepper strips, and sliced onions... so it won't go terribly far among 5 people. What can I do with this other than making fajitas?)
1 lb. battered fish pieces
1 lb. ground beef
several lbs. of breakfast sausage links
several lbs. of smoked sausages
1 lb. frozen green pepper and onion mixture
3 lb. frozen green beans
1 lb. frozen peas & carrots
several lbs. frozen corn
20 oz. frozen shoestring fries
1.5 lbs. frozen rice with red & green peppers
4.5 lbs. frozen potato medley (diced potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion... definitely a soup/stew mixture)
1 lb. dried 16-bean soup mix
several lbs. of pinto beans
several lbs. of black beans
several lbs. of rice
corn muffin mix (as well as other flavors of muffin mix)
several boxes of mac & cheese
3 lbs. sweet potatoes
2 heads of cabbage (1 red, 1 green)
lots of fresh apples
lots of potatoes (both red and smallish white or Yukon)
lots of carrots
lots of onions
lots of beets
This is by no means an exhaustive list of what we have in our freezer/fridge/pantry. There's also the usual pantry staples like cans of soup, tuna, powdered milk, pasta, etc.

Any tips? I welcome any and all suggestions (although the simpler the better).

Christmas Week - Menu Plan Monday

Finally, the week we've waited for all year! It seems like each year the month of December gets shorter and shorter, and we end up not having enough time to do it all. I keep reminding myself to slow down, to not worry about doing everything, and to just focus on the important stuff. The presents will be shipped out late, we won't get to all of the holiday activities in town, but that's ok... we'll enjoy time together as a family and have a couple of really nice days with each other.

And to ensure that the next few days are a little less hectic, here's the menu plan for this week.


Breakfasts
scrambled eggs w/ bacon or sausage (we're using up the powdered eggs in my pantry), assorted toasts (might be frozen waffles, bagels, etc.)
Christmas morning: Breakfast Bread Pudding (from Dream Dinners), sausage, orange juice

Dinners
Winter Solstice: turkey medallions w/ cranberry sauce, apple-sausage stuffing, green beans
Tuesday: chicken with roasted root veggies (beets, rutabagas, turnips, carrots) and leeks
Wednesday: Leftovers Buffet
Christmas Eve: shrimp & crab cocktail*, spaghetti and meatballs, sourdough bread (shaped like a Christmas tree!), salad, grape juice
Christmas: prime rib roast (Dream Dinners), roasted potatoes with rosemary, green beans, chocolate cheesecake
Boxing Day: homemade chicken vegetable soup, sourdough bread, applesauce
Sunday: Leftovers Buffet or chicken fried rice and orange segments

* - Growing up, we always had fish, bread, and grape juice on Christmas Eve. I tried carrying on this tradition as an adult and we had a similar meal for several years. A couple of years ago I realized that most of the family disliked fish and actually dreaded the meal. We decided to instead have spaghetti each Christmas Eve and we've all been happy with the new tradition. All the same, I try to have some kind of seafood on Christmas Eve in homage to my childhood traditions. ;)

jFor more menu planning ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!

this week's menu plan (posted on Sunday, but called Menu Plan Monday)

Monday: beef stir-fry -- sliced beef, Napa cabbage, peppers, carrots (and possibly some mushrooms that have been hiding in the pantry) -- and rice, egg rolls (from the freezer)
Prep tonight: soak beans for tomorrow's dinner; pull Monte Cristo Chicken from freezer, put tray in fridge to thaw
Tuesday: crockpot chili -- ground beef and ground pork (really need to use up the pork), beans, canned tomatoes, peppers and onions (from CSA basket), spices, other veggies -- and leftover rice from yesterday
Prep tonight: Pull corned beef out of freezer, put in fridge to thaw
Wednesday: Monte Cristo Chicken (Dream Dinners entree... we haven't made any new entrees there in a while; still using up the freezer stash!), green beans
Thursday: MUNCHKIN COOKS DINNER -- meatballs (from freezer) and spaghetti, homemade garlic bread, peas (she picked out this menu by herself)
Friday: pot roasted (in the crockpot) corned beef with root veggies (carrots, potatoes, beets), onion, and green beans
Saturday: leftovers or quick homemade soup
Sunday: lentil & rice tacos (with shredded lettuce or cabbage, salsa, avocado, etc. -- this feels like it needs a side dish, but I'm stumped. If we load the tacos up with veggies, do we *need* a side dish?

Wednesday and Friday are busy days, so I hope I've planned accordingly. I've posted the little reminders so I remember to pull stuff out of the freezer in time!

Breakfasts: toast/eggs, baked oatmeal, yogurt & fruit parfaits*, cold cereal (with almond milk)/scrambled eggs

* - (tricky since we seem to be becoming lactose intolerant, but we need to use up the yogurt & are crossing our fingers with the hope that we'll be ok with yogurt -- we aren't ok anymore with glasses of milk or heavy cheese dishes)

Lunches: English muffin pizzas, soup & peanut (or almond) butter sandwiches, sliced chicken sandwiches, hummus vegetable wraps, green smoothies & hummus with tortilla chips

For more menu planning ideas, see I'm an Organizing Junkie!

camping out with Menu Plan Monday

We're going camping in Yosemite tomorrow! This means I had to plan the menu for this week a little more carefully, taking into account the meals that have to be eaten at the campsite (dinner on Monday, all of Tuesday's meals, and breakfast on Wednesday) and cooking after we get home. We're having some of the leftover ham from last Saturday's dinner for a few meals and making use of some of our dehydrated foods. Since I know we're likely to be tired when we get home, we're relying on one of our freezer meals for an easy dinner after traveling back.

I'm also planning on making a big green smoothie to drink before heading out and another when we get back since we're not going to have a lot in the way of fresh produce while camping. I'll also be taking a few packets of Greens To Go along with us.


Camping Day Meals
Monday: [B] eggs, toast, fruit [L] peanut butter or almond butter & jelly sandwiches, canned peaches, pickles [D] BBQ pork sandwiches, green beans
Tuesday: [B] scrambled eggs, ham, grits [L] cheese, crackers, ham, apple slices [D] baked beans, hot dogs, blueberry applesauce, green beans
Wednesday: [B] bacon fried rice, [L] burgers at Sonic on the way home, [D] chicken enchiladas (Dream Dinners entree), summer squash

The remaining dinners
Thursday: chicken vegetable soup with butternut squash ravioli (added instead of noodles)
Friday: sloppy joes, CSA veggies (no idea what's coming yet)
Saturday: Cornflake Crusted Chicken (Dream Dinners entree), buttered potatoes, CSA veggies
Sunday: all the fabulous leftovers!

For more menu planning ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!

another Menu Planning Monday!

Here's what we're having this week...

Monday: ham & beans, sliced beets, corn
Tuesday: hot dogs, sodas, cotton candy (we're going to the beach boardwalk for their 75 cent night)
Wednesday: Honey Garlic Orange Chicken (Dream Dinners entree), rice, carrots
Thursday: teriyaki pork tenderloin, rice, stir fried veggies
Friday: spaghetti & Italian sausages, garlic bread, Zucchini Moons

Saturday: Christmas in July! - ham, green bean casserole, glazed carrots, sparkling apple cider, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, Christmas cookies
Sunday: all the awesome leftovers

Breakfasts: eggs & toast, eggs & cereal, smoothies
Lunches: leftovers, bean & rice burritos, egg salad & crackers with fruit, PB&J, canned soup

For more meal planning ideas, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Weekend at the farm + Menu Plan Monday

We had a nice, relaxed couple of days this weekend. Saturday we went to our CSA's community day at the farm. This was Chickadee's first visit to the farm, although Munchkin has visited there several times. We got to see their new baby goats, pick blackberries, meet the farm dogs, and the kids climbed all over the straw bale forts. Chickadee had a great time pulling handful after handful of straw out of the bales!



Father's Day breakfast was the traditional cinnamon rolls and orange juice, and the girls presented Daddy with a bound picture book titled "Daddy's Adventure Book" (inspired by the scrapbook from the movie Up!). The book showed pictures of him with the girls (mostly Munchkin since Chickadee is less than a year old, and has had fewer years to accumulate pictures) from 2001 to the present. He cried and said it was the best present ever. :)

The rest of the day was spent dismantling Munchkin's bed and rearranging her room in preparation for her new bed arriving tomorrow morning. She has slept in one of those lofted beds with a ladder and a slide for the last 6 years, but she's a bit too big for it now. While she's going to miss her old bed, she's pretty excited about the new one.

Breakfasts:
eggs & cold cereal/toast/waffles, sausage or bacon, radish hash browns

Lunches: leftovers, green smoothies, tuna salad and crackers, Monterey Chicken quesadillas, cioppino (maybe... we have some in the freezer and only two of us like it, so it's a better lunch option than one for dinner)

Monday: pulled smoked pork w/ BBQ sauce, collards, cornbread
Tuesday: linguine with chicken & Alfredo sauce, salad or broccoli
Wednesday: veggie chili (from freezer), salad or broccoli
Thursday: Teriyaki Tomato Rice & Beef, zucchini
Friday: Leftover Buffet or grilled sausages, peppers and onions
Saturday: Blackberry Balsamic Chicken (Dream Dinners entree from freezer), salad, cornbread
Sunday: soup (canned or a simple homemade veggie soup) & grilled cheese sandwiches

For more meal planning ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!

This week's menu

Kind of an odd week -- trying to use up things in the freezer, so we have to make sure we schedule enough time for thawing. We're seeing Up! one night this week (thanks to Diaper Days at Camera Cinemas) and I have a meeting on Friday, so we also have to schedule around those events.

Monday: Italian sausages and hotdogs, sauteed mushrooms with peppers and onions, carrots
Tuesday: pizza (from the pizza place next to the movie theatre)
Wednesday: Orangey Asian Chicken (from freezer - never got around to this last week), rice, stir fried asparagus with onions and mushrooms
Thursday: stuffed shells (from freezer), summer squash, garlic bread (if there's any left in the freezer)
Friday: leftovers? (or dinner out, depending on length of meeting)
Saturday: Monte Cristo Chicken (from freezer - Dream Dinners), veggies
Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner (using waffles and sausage from freezer)

For more menu planning ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!

long time, no menu!

I did it again. I got too busy to make a menu, but found that the week(s) ended up even more hectic without one. I'm still pretty busy, but I'm going to try to post SOMETHING so I have some sort of a guideline.

The temperature was in the 90s today and it's expected to stay pretty hot for the rest of the week, so I'm gearing meals towards using the oven as little as possible.

Breakfasts:
smoothies
quiches (we have several single serving quiches from Trader Joe's)
blueberry bran muffins with yogurt (or another smoothie)
French toast (freezer) or waffles (freezer) with yogurt

Lunches:
Salads
Salads
Salads (chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, green salad, fruit salad, etc.)
smoothies with hummus and crackers
sandwich (PB&J, meat or egg salad, veggie, etc.) with yogurt

Dinners:
Beef Carbonara with noodles (Dream Dinner entree from freezer, make in crock pot)
Carrot Top Soup
Subway $5 footlong sandwich (evening activity at the school, so we're having dinner out)
steak tacos (cook steak on Foreman grill, slice, saute vegetables in skillet)
Brown Rice Vegetable Risotto (substitute broth for the wine)
BBQ Pork Sandwiches (Dream Dinners)
leftovers

For more meal planning ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!

slightly late Menu Planning Monday

Since I was out of town last weekend, I didn't have a menu plan. Once again I was reminded of how much easier the week flows when I do have one!

Monday: hot dogs, mac & cheese, assorted leftover veggies
Tuesday: Hoppin' John, greens
Wednesday: Steak & Onions with Potatoes (from the freezer, Dream Dinners meal), asparagus
Thursday: Chicken Parmesan (Dream Dinners), garlic bread, salad
Friday: lentil & rice tacos, corn, carrot sticks
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: frittata, salad or other veggies (depending on what produce we have left by then)

Breakfasts - Amish Baked Oatmeal and bacon or eggs, frozen breakfast sandwich, biscuits & sausage gravy with eggs

Lunches - egg salad, baked tofu, PB&J or corned beef sandwiches (made from last week's leftover corned beef), yogurt or cottage cheese and soup, cheese & cracker plate with fruit

See what other people are planning for their menus this week at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Menu Planning Monday - better late than never!

We're going out of town Sunday evening, so I only have to plan this weeks menu from Monday to Saturday.

Monday: pumpkin ravioli, oven fried chicken, sauteed greens
Tuesday: cheese manicotti (from freezer), garlic bread, sauteed greens
Wednesday: Oven Fried Pork Chops, roasted beets, sauteed cabbage, applesauce
Thursday: "Breakfast for Dinner" - sausage links (from freezer), waffles, applesauce
Friday: Bacony Lentil Stew (I have a bunch of bacon ends that I need to use up), sauteed cabbage, Mountain Pie
Saturday: leftovers

Breakfasts: yogurt, cereal; eggs, toast
Lunches: nori rolls (avocado, carrot, rice, nori), teriyaki meatballs; leftover oven fried chicken, fruit; PB&J/ham & cheese sandwiches, tortilla chips or pretzels; Crock Pot Falafel, hummus, pita chips, carrot sticks and/or cucumber slices; smoothies, popcorn

time for Menu Planning Monday (with recipe links)

Our schedule has been shuffled around this week -- my class on Thursday has been cancelled for the week, but Munchkin won't be riding in her usual carpool to class on Friday! Just when I thought there'd be a little extra free time, I find it's being traded elsewhere. Oh, well!

DINNERS

Monday: white chicken chili, tortilla chips, broccoli
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Hamburger Barley Stew, muffins
Thursday: Turkey Medallions with Savory Cranberry Sauce (Dream Dinners meal from freezer), stuffing, green beans
Friday: lentil & rice burritos with salsa, lettuce, and cheese
Saturday: pumpkin ravioli (from freezer), oven fried chicken tenders, green beans
Sunday: frozen or homemade pizza, veggies

BREAKFASTS:
quiche (from freezer)
muffins (freezer) and eggs
sandwich made from English muffin, sausage patty, and fried egg
smoothies (to use up the browning bananas)
cereal and eggs

LUNCHES:
yogurt and bacon & cheese muffin
PB&J or ham sandwich
leftover chili
smoothie
things from freezer like burritos, pot pies, etc.

See what other people are planning for their menus this week at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

...and we're back! Menu Planning Monday

I certainly missed having a menu plan last week! From Wednesday on, every night I had to figure out what we were having for dinner. Planning it out in advance certainly makes it easier.

Dinners -
Monday: roast chicken, roasted root veggies (sweet potatoes, rutabagas, beets)
Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner - since it's Fat Tuesday/Pancake Day/Mardi Gras for much of America, having pancakes for dinner seems like a fine idea! Pancakes, sausage, yogurt and fruit smoothies
Wednesday: black bean & vegetable soup, corn bread
Thursday: "Pizza Fondue" (pizza or spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese melted together) with meatballs, Italian sausage slices, mozzarella sticks, and garlic bread as dippers
Friday: Mango Glazed Pork Chops (from freezer), rice pilaf, carrots or sweet potatoes
Saturday: homemade chicken soup, crackers, fruit salad or smoothies
Sunday: leftovers

Breakfasts - scrambled egg burritos, smoothie and hard boiled eggs, breakfast sandwiches (the remaining pre-made ones from the freezer plus fried egg/cheese/toast sandwiches), cereal and eggs, waffles (from freezer) with sausage and eggs

Lunches - salmon burgers (from freezer), soup with bacon & cheese muffins (modified from this recipe), yogurt with bacon & cheese muffins, ham & cheese sandwiches or PBJ, grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, hummus with tortilla chips & veggies

For more meal planning ideas, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie!

short menu week - Menu Plan Monday

We won't be home from Friday to Monday, so it's a short menu this week.

Monday: burritos, Spanish rice, caulflower, greens
Tuesday: Thai ginger beef kabobs (freezer), rice, broccoli
Wednesday: spaghetti with meatballs, green beans
Thursday: crockpot chili, tortilla chips, corn

We have lots of yogurt and cottage cheese to use up before we leave, so they'll be included in this week's breakfasts and lunches. I haven't planned much beyond that!

For more menu planning ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Anyone have any suggestions for eating in hotel? The hotel's restaurants are EXPENSIVE. There are restaurants nearby, but I'll only get a chance to leave the hotel once a day (maybe). I might be able to eat from the hotel's continental breakfast selection, but it's mostly just starch and sugar. Technically they don't want us to cook in our rooms, but I've used a crock pot and a rice cooker in this hotel before... I just have to use them in the bathroom so the fire alarm doesn't go off. As it is, I'm not sure if I'm taking these appliances or not; we don't know if we're going to be able to get a fridge or not.

Monday

It's time for Menu Plan Monday!

It's been confirmed -- with the busier schedule now that I'm back in school, the menu plans really help.

Breakfasts

• eggs and toast/bagel/English muffin (with butter or butter & Marmite)
• homemade breakfast burritos (salsa, scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese in a tortilla)
  
• Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich
• eggs and hot cereal
• monkey bread and eggs (probably weekend morning)
  

Lunches

• cottage cheese (we have a lot!) and soup
• ham sandwich, fruit
• PBJ (or something equivalent made with cashew butter) and yogurt
• chicken nuggets (from the freezer, I swear!), mixed veggies
• taco salad (I'm hoping to make a batch of it sometime this week)
  

Dinners

Monday: homemade tacos, mixed veggies
Tuesday: Poppy Seed Chicken casserole, green beans
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: pork chops with raisins and apples (from freezer), roasted Brussels sprouts
Friday: chili dogs, corn, fruit cocktail
Saturday: roast chicken, rutabagas
Sunday: Soup & Bread Night -- hamburger soup, cornbread or scones

For more meal planning ideas, go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!