Menu Plan Monday: 3/2 - 3/8

It's a no-frills kind of week around here. Lots of simple meals that (mostly) everyone will eat with no complaints. The only ones I'm a bit hesitant about are Wednesday and Saturday. Jackson (our 3 year old) doesn't really like creamy or cheesy sauces, so I will probably keep some chicken breast separate before mixing in the alfredo sauce on Wednesday. He's never had steak florentine, but loves cheeseburgers - on or off the bun - so he will probably try it, but without macaroni and cheese on the side.

It's a funny thing actually. None of my boys liked mac and cheese for years. I think E and A might have both been 5 before they liked it. Of course, now, they LOVE it, at 12 and 9, especially the homemade baked version we usually have. This week, though, I am cheating. I actually bought the 24oz box of the blue box creamy mac and cheese (not the powdered stuff. Blech! None of us like any brand's take on that, even Annie's) instead of homemade or our usual "quick" choice of Annie's. The way my nearly teenage son - he'll be 13 in 5 months - Ethan can pack away food lately, I've got to make sure we have enough to serve him! ;) And Alex, our tween (10 in just 3 short months!) is right behind him on that. Just waiting for the growth spurts!

A couple of notes:
Our favorite store-bought spaghetti sauce is Muir Glen Organic garlic roasted garlic and it's actually reasonable in comparison to other national brands. Honestly I think it may be the best jarred pasta sauce I've ever eaten. *I say store-bought and jarred, because my dad still makes THE best spaghetti sauce I've ever had. I need to make some soon. That, his chili and his bean soup. MMMMM! Too bad it would only be Jason and I enjoying the chili and the bean soup. Or maybe the boys not digging soup is a good thing, more for me ;) *
Also Monday is usually our leftover night, to clean out the fridge before Tuesday morning trash pickup, but we don't have much in there!

Monday: Spaghetti with meat

Tuesday: Pizza buffet at a local restaurant (school fundraiser)

Wednesday: Chicken alfredo with broccoli, applesauce

Thursday: Leftovers - if there are any - otherwise, pancakes or other easy make-on-the-fly food.

Friday: (It's Lent) Broiled Salmon for us, fish stick for the boys, roasted sweet potatoes

Saturday: Steak Florentine, macaroni and cheese, carrots

Sunday: ? We will be out of town most of the day, so may eat dinner at a restaurant there or something quick and light once we get home depending on the time we leave.

Check out more menu ideas at I'm an organizing junkie.

Menu Plan Monday: Jan 26 - Feb 1

We ended up switching up a few days' of meals last week - Jimmy John's on Monday, Cheeseburgers on Friday, out to dinner with family on Saturday, and homemade sloppy joes on Sunday.

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Spaghetti

Wednesday: Chicken and Gruyere sausages, roasted sweet potatoes, green beans

Thursday: Ham and cheese croissant "pockets", roasted broccoli, applesauce

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Cracklin' Chicken, roasted potatoes, carrots

Sunday: Spicy tuna cakes, fish sticks, fries, veggies

Menu Plan Monday: Jan 12-18

Changing the game from Whole30. While the first two dinners below are Whole30/paleo, the rest are not fully. Three slow-cooker meals again this week, and Monday's recipe is new to us.

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: The best whole chicken in a crockpot, roasted sweet potatoes, and salad

Wednesday: Garlic roast beef, potatoes and carrots

Thursday: Chicken breasts, baked macaroni and cheese, roasted broccoli

Friday: Organic hot dogs (we like Applegate or Simple Truth uncured beef hot dogs from Kroger), french fries, baked beans and salad

Saturday: Chicken tacos - using chicken thighs cooked in the slow-cooker.

Sunday: Kabob Koobideh (from Nom Nom Paleo), rice, roasted cauliflower

Check out more ideas at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

MPM: 7/28 - 8/3

This week is an eclectic week when it comes to our menu plan, as well as our schedule! Tomorrow we have a birthday. Wednesday is a yearly physical for the birthday boy. Thursday we have our first ever chiropractic appointment. Then on Saturday, we have my husband's family reunion to attend. It's a very busy week for us, compared to lately. Throw in some last minute grocery shopping and clothes shopping (for mom) today, and we need to find something laid back and fun to do this week!

The Michigan weather is all over the place the last week. Saturday was warm and a little humid, but yesterday was really hot until around 4:30 when a huge thunderstorm rolled through. We were actually in the mall at Sears, when they directed all the shoppers and employees to take cover in the hallway as a precaution! That was a little scary, especially to Ethan. He gets worked up quickly during tense events and can panic. I'm trying to teach him not to panic, but to assess the situation, follow directions of the adults or those in charge if necessary, and find the safest thing to do. I'm terrified if there's ever a truly dangerous situation that he'll either freeze and do nothing or just start screaming, and get injured :( Such is the life as mom with an Aspie. I just don't know what to expect or how to prepare him sometimes. And that's ok. I just have to be here for him, and try to guide him.

On to our menu:

We actually changed up our plan last week and didn't end up eating the pork tacos yet. I did FINALLY manage to get the nearly 8.5 lb pork shoulder in the crockpot first thing yesterday morning, but we had cheeseburgers (hamburger w/o a bun for me) last night instead, as the ground beef was in the fridge and needed cooked. That makes for a super easy meal tonight though, since the meat is already cooked and partially shredded!

Monday: Crockpot pork tacos (decided not to use the recipe I shared last week. Instead I put the pork shoulder in the crockpot along with about 6 T wildtree taco seasoning and filled it up with beef broth. It cooked on low for about 12 hours. Fell off the bone!), homemade guacomole w/ wildtree guacomole seasoning, coleslaw mix/lettuce/pico/salsa/onions/cheese, plus tortillas for the boys and green leaf lettuce for me.

Tuesday: Birthday boy's choice. Ethan picked Stevi B's pizza buffet (...) along with a chocolate chip cookie cake, summer berry cobbler and chocolate chip cookie dough ice creams. (Since I'm going to be eating some pizza and a small slice of cake, I am planning to pick up a quart of coconut ice cream and having a HUGE salad at the restaurant. That way I'm not going completely off track, while still indulging in the birthday celebration for my big kid :) )

Wednesday: Aidell's chicken and gruyere sausages, roasted potatoes and salad

Thursday: Steak, roasted sweet potato and roasted broccoli

Friday: Coconut-crusted chicken tenders, roasted cauliflower and baby carrots

Saturday: Reunion (hamburgers and hot dogs) We are taking a couple of sides this year: a veggie tray with baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, a watermelon, and Nom Nom Chocolate Truffles of which I'm making a double batch. We will just use cocoa powder, not coconut flakes to roll them in. One batch will be dark chocolate, the other will be mint chocolate! Honestly, I cannot wait to make and try these!

Sunday: Leftovers or breakfast or something easy for dinner tonight!

That's all I've got! Enjoy your Monday, and make sure to go to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more meal ideas.

Menu Plan Monday - Whole30 and Paleo: 7/21-7/27

What?! Two posts in two days? Holy crap! That's a record for me as of recent. This is just a quick one though with our menu plan for the week.

I do need to write an update on our yearly goals soon... Let's see if I can go for 3 days in a row!

I put Whole30 AND Paleo in the title because my Whole30 is over on Thursday and then we will be eating (mostly) paleo meals. There are few things I'm eager to eat again, though it's not what I anticipated wanting! *Hint: It's not pop, deep-fried foods, ice cream or even chocolate! Shocked? Yeah, me too!

Anyway, enjoy. I hope somebody finds something in here they like or want to give a try :)

MONDAY: Spicy tuna cakes and roasted broccoli (tossed with coconut oil, minced garlic, sea salt and pepper, then roasted at 350 for 20-25 mins - "recipe" from It Starts with Food.)

TUESDAY: Breakfast for dinner - homemade pork sausage patties, fried/scrambled eggs, roasted carrots (same as broccoli above) and toast for the husband and boys

WEDNESDAY: Cracklin' chicken, baked sweet potatoes (fries for the boys), salad, applesauce

THURSDAY: Coconut crusted chicken tenders, salad, roasted zucchini and summer squash

FRIDAY: Overnight oven-braised shredded pork tacos - although I may cook this in the crockpot - with guacamole (I still need to find shallots and don't have aleppo pepper), diced onions, tomatoes, lettuce and salsa, plus cheese and tortillas for Jason and the boys. I may decide to have a bit of cheese on mine, but we'll see.

SATURDAY: Cheese/hamburgers, oven-baked sweet potato fries, fresh cauliflower

SUNDAY: Leftovers OR dinner out somewhere


I can't wait to try a couple of other recipes: Bacon, egg & cheese muffins and cinnamon & coconut pancakes as well as Paleo sausage egg "mcmuffin" and Porkitos.

Linking up over on I'm an Organizing Junkie who is the awesome blogger that hosts this each week!

MPM: Week of 3/2

Not only is it the very first (full) week of March, it's also the start of Lent on this week, beginning with Ash Wednesday. As a convert to the Catholic faith, growing up I had never even HEARD of Lent! Even though I was raised in a Christian home - but wasn't baptized and only went to church sporadically - we never really talked about much outside of Christmas Day and Easter Sunday for "holidays" or special occasions. Over the last several years, since joining the Church, I have tried to embrace the sacrificial and penitential nature of Lent, usually failing miserably. Still learning, and trying is a step in the "right" direction, I suppose.

How does this pertain to our menu plan this week, you ask? Practicing Catholics over the age of 14 are to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent, up to and including Good Friday, as well as those between 18 and 59 are to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The boys and I will sit down tonight to discuss their Lenten sacrifices and anything extra they would like to do (extra prayers, an extra weekly Mass, donating their allowance/toys/etc, volunteering, whatever else may pop in our heads), but I have already given some consideration for myself. I plan to, for the most part, Monday through Saturday, for the entirety of Lent, abstain from eating meat. It won't be easy for 2 big reason: 1.) I enjoy eating meat, whether it be a nice juicy hamburger or a piece of chicken or even kielbasa. 2.) Jason is definitely a carnivore, and while he will "give up" meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays for the next 40 days, I don't believe that he would ever willingly go an entire 40 day period without it! Now Sundays are not included in the 40 days of Lent, and so we will be open to a less restricted meal plan. (Lucky for me, my birthday falls on a Sunday, so I won't feel as though I'm "cheating" by not sticking to this on that day :) )

If one of the following meals calls for meat or the main entree is meat, after Wednesday, I will be just eating the other parts of the meal. I'm not sharing this to pretend to be "holier than thou" but as a way for me to be accountable to myself.

Last Thursday, the boys and I stopped and grabbed some frozen pizzas for dinner, and then Friday night, we opted for Chinese takeout. So much for sticking to the plan last week. We did have cheeseburgers on Saturday and the meat/chicken veggie dish - cooked in the oven in a baking dish rather than foil packets - on last night. That left us with one other true "hold-over" meal, which works out fine. See Friday below. It will be getting made this week, as the boys don't have school and I won't want to leave the house and go anywhere! HA!

Without further ado, here is our menu plan starting today:

• Monday: Leftovers
• Tuesday: Taco macaroni and cheese (made with homemade creamy mac and cheese - see last week's menu for link to recipe - ground beef and taco seasoning to taste)
• Wednesday: Individual cheese pizza - the boys have play rehearsal until 6:30 and Jason has class at 6pm so it's going to be a made-to-order-when-you-are-ready kind of night. Jack and I will probably eat with Jas before picking up E and Alex. They'll eat once they get home.
• Thursday: Spaghetti (with ground beef for Jason and if the boys want some)
• Friday: Tuna noodle casserole
• Saturday: Zucchini and potato pancakes (with sausage for the boys)

Check out more menu plans here: Menu Plan Monday

MPM - Week of 2/23 - 3/1/14

Sunday: Sandwiches for dinner. Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts today so we are eating our "big meal" of the day there at lunchtime

Monday: Breakfast (bacon/sausage, eggs, and toast)

Tuesday: Whole Chicken in crockpot (making two to have plenty left over for freezer AND tacos), mashed red potatoes, corn

Wednesday: Chicken tacos - using yesterday's leftover chicken, refried beans in slow cooker

Thursday: Meat and veggie foil packets *new to us recipe*

Friday: Tuna noodle casserole - finally going to make it as we've had the ingredients in the house for weeks

Saturday: Cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, carrots and applesauce

There are so, so many recipes I want to try from 100 Days of Real Food, and 3 of the four above we've made many times before with great success. I have tried others that we didn't like, as well as many we have liked and want to make again. I hope to eventually make it all the way through all of their recipes, and I can NOT wait till August when her cookbook is set to come out. I already informed Jason that I want it badly!! I would also love Pioneer Woman's cookbooks. All of them. I've made several of her recipes over the last couple of years with rave reviews. Birthday's coming up in 6 1/2 weeks. Maybe I will get lucky and get a new cookbook ;)

Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday

We always have a menu planned out around here, and follow it pretty good for the most part. I always forget to link up though over at I'm an Organizing Junkie for MPM, which I used to do on my "old" blog over the years. Maybe sharing it on here will keep me accountable to following the plan even better as well as continuing to find and try 2-3 new recipes a month as per our health-related goals for 2014. After choosing this week's menu, we may be able to adjust that goal to one new recipe weekly!

I'm including Sunday's meal plan too, as I generally plan from Sunday-Saturday. Lots of crockpot meals this week - actually 5 of 7!

Sunday: *Cheeseburger soup (c)
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: *Honey sesame chicken with rice (maybe serve on rolls for the boys) (c)
Wednesday: Roast, red potatoes, baby carrots (c)
Thursday: *Taco chili with multi-grain tortilla chips (c)
Friday: Tuna noodle casserole - my mom's recipe, slightly modified: 1 box of rotini, cooked; 3-4 cans chunk light tuna in water, drained; 2 boxes organic cream of mushroom soup; 1 can sweet peas, drained. Mix together in casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, I think? I'm just going to kind of wing it, as it's been a long time since I made this and I can't find my recipe card :(
Saturday: *White chicken chili (c)

*these recipes are found at graciously saved
(c) means it's a crockpot meal

Menu Plan Monday

On Tuesday...

I actually used to do this on my old blog (that's no longer updated and not currently public - although there are a ton of really cute posts about the older boys when they were little that I'm considering bringing over here!) and thought I did on here a couple of times. I'd forgotten about it to be honest, until I saw Homeschool Camper share her family's menu plan yesterday!

It's hosted over on I'm an Organizing Junkie. Here's where you can find this week's linkup!

MONDAY: Leftovers was the plan, but 95% of them were either something that wasn't well-received the first time OR had turned into a science experiment after being forgotten at the back of the fridge for well over a week - some close to 3 weeks! EEK! - and they didn't want Sunday's dinner leftovers already. So Jas had ShakeOlogy before class, and we baked the last pizza in the freezer and it was just enough for E and A to each have 2 slices, J to have 2 smaller slices and me to have the last larger slice. The pizza came out of the box oval shaped so when I cut it, it wasn't really evenly sliced, LOL.

TUESDAY: Asian beef lettuce wraps, instant brown rice
 
WEDNESDAY: Homemade chicken nuggets (adapted from 100 Days of Real Food - I use panko bread crumbs and coconut oil, everything else I follow exactly. Seriously the best nuggets EVER!), baked french fries, applesauce
 
THURSDAY: Sesame seared beef (ribeyes for mom, dad, E and A, ground beef patty for J), sides to be determined but probably carrots as one :)
 
FRIDAY: Beef carnitas (cooking in crockpot) - using as a taco filling with organic refried beans, cheese, sour cream and lettuce on fresh-cooked tortillas
 
SATURDAY: Grilled cheddar smoked sausages, steamed golden and sweet potatoes, squash (yellow squash and zucchini) au gratin
 
SUNDAY: Sweet and tangy pork sandwiches, instant brown rice, sugar snap peas