Menu Monday

Oh my gosh could it be true? Am I actually planning our menu again?! Yup I am sure gonna try because I have found it keeps the grocery bill down not to mention makes it that much easier knowing what choices I have to make for dinner! So I don't grocery shop until Friday and Saturday this week so this is actually a menu plan for next week. Those that have not seen my past menu plans just a word of warning, we don't do big meals! I am mostly about quick and easy peasy! I like to get home and get dinner done and then be showered before 8pm to chill the rest of the evening :) So here is our exciting menu plan for next 2 weeks :) and in no particular order since I do not like to have things set in stone but more a plan that I then can pick from each night easily.

•  Starting off with Easter Sunday which will involve a low key buffet of the following since it is just my parents and us this year

ham and turkey on croissants, greek pasta salad, crab rangoon dip, cheesy spinach artichoke dip, pinwheels (u know those tortilla wrapped goodness things!), BBQ chicken drummies, deveiled eggs, and some sort of desserts.

• Chicken Pot Pockets (Hungry Girl 300 under 300)
• Cheesy Pigs in Blankets (Hungry Girl 300 under 300)
• Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken (Hungry Girl 300 under 300)
• Johnsonville Turkey Cheddar Sausages (a new fave in our house since they only have 3 WW points + per sausage!)
• Funky Chili Mac (Hungry Girl 300 under 300)
• Southwest BBQ Chicken Quesadilla (Hungry Girl 300 under 300)
• Pizza Puffs (Hungry Girl 300 under 300)
• BLT Pizza (Hungry Girl 300 under 300)
• BBQ Beef Sandwiches (recipe on EmilyBites)
• Pampered Chef Chicken Broccoli Braid
• Chili Dogs
• Steak and veg
• Hot Wing Pizza (made up recipe based off a fave at local pizza place)
• Burgers

As you can see I got a new cookbook :) Plan to try out lots out of Hungry Girls new cookbook over next month or so! Stay tuned for reviews on these recipes as I plan to post my faves for you all.

Menu Monday

Ok I have already given up on the formatting for meal planning...mainly because this was my last meal planning session before we leave for England so I had to be cheap and wanted things that were easy since I am working later than normal several nights to make up for some doc appointment time (have to save all my paid leave for England!). So we won't be eating the healthiest but here is what is on the agenda for next week and a half in no order.....many I don't have sides figured out yet usually a veg though

1. Homemade meatball subs (had this last night yum)
2. Frozen pasta meal (not sure what one I grabbed think it has chicken in it and a creamy tomato red pepper sauce)
3. Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes and veg (def one of those quick meals that isn't very healthy but one we rarely do)
4. Sausages on buns and prob fries for hubby
5. Turkey Burgers
6. Pasta with creamy tomato alfredo sauce (so happy I found this again as we love it! It's by Classico)
7. Hotdogs
8. General Tsos Chicken over brown rice
9. A hamburger tomato rice hot dish (one of my now fall back recipes for sure!)
10. Quickie enchiladas but I bought chimichangas to do it with this time

Think that is about it....we have other things in freezer and pantry for me to be creative with if need be :) I won't be doing a menu Monday next week since we will be leaving for across the pond next Thursday which is why I just included next weeks on this post as well since I have no idea what we will end up eating on what night :)

Happy Monday All!!! Looking forward to meeting some new followers from some Monday blog hops!

Menu Monday

New Format thanks to Shannon sharing this meal planning scheduling idea via Women Living Well blog

Mexican Monday (tacos, burritos,mexi casseroles etc..)- well I did have mexican for lunch today but tonight we are having ham,broccoli,carrot,cheese ring ala Pampered Chef style

Tomato-ey Tuesday (pasta,pizza,anything with tomatoes we love em!)- Cheese raviolis with Marinara Sauce

Wild-Card Wednesday (leftovers or something new anything goes!)-Turkey burgers and steak fries

Thrifty & Thankful Thursday (a cheap meal that we love)-Tomato Hot dish (lean ground beef or turkey with tomato soup seasonings mixed with brown rice... surprising tasty frugal meal!)

Fun Friday (most likely will be our pizza or burger type night)-Pizza and Salad

Sumptuous Saturday (fancier meals that may take a bit more prep)-Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup attempt with some good bread

Sunshine Sunday (Breakfast for dinner night)-Pancakes, eggs, sausage(bacon for Gabby)

Menu Monday

Saturday-frozen Pizza(new fave Spinach and Garlic pizza!) and Southwest Salad(we love that mix in a bag, not too healthy but to die for good!)
Sunday- Little Casears (oops!)
Monday-Pasta and tomato sauce (had it simmering all day yesterday with ground italian sausage in it yum!)
Tuesday-Japanese Chicken Curry over brown rice (a fave)
Wednesday-Eggs in Tomatoes (Thanks Martha!) maybe some rice or couscous on the side
Thursday-Ham, Cheese, Broccoli ring ala Pampered Chef style
Friday-leftovers

Menu Monday

This week was a challenge! We are trying very hard (although not doing so great :s)to save money for our upcoming trip to England so this week I decided no grocery shopping and no take out just use what we had...which was not much LOL! 1 bag of frozen chicken, a box of boca burgers, bacon, and vegetarian breakfast sausage was our only meat to work with. So without further rambling here is what I came up with...

Saturday- linguine w/ jar marinara (the meijer brand is def not a fave but it was edible)

Sunday- Vegetarian mexican brown rice dish(this turned out so good! Brown rice, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of rotel tomatoes, chopped green onion, 1 can corn, 1 packet of taco seasoning, sprinkle of cheese on top)

Monday-Salads with chicken breast

Tuesday-Tomato(co-worker blessed us with fresh garden ones yum!) bacon  sandwiches

Wednesday-Savory Chicken Rollups (put red,yellow,and green peppers in YUMMO)

Thursday- Veggie Burgers maybe some homemade mac n cheese as a side

Friday- Quickie Enchiladas

Menu Monday

Sunday-Quincy Jones Ribs w/mashed potatoes gravy, broccoli
Monday-Cheddar Sausages on a bun
Tuesday-Pizza and salad
Wednesday-Chicken Parm over whole wheat pasta
Thursday-Breakfast for dinner (pancakes,bacon,sausage,eggs)
Friday-Chicken Fajitas

Menu Monday

Monday- Angry Pasta (recipe coming soon)

Tuesday- Rice Hot Dish (recipe coming soon)

Wednesday-Breakfast for Dinner

Thursday-Burgers

Friday- Southwest Vegetarian bake



Friday/Saturday-Grocery shopping! Gotta menu plan….

Menu Monday

Saturday-WW rotini w/tomato alfredo sauce and texas toast


Sunday- Quick Enchiladas (made w/frozen bean and cheese burritos)

Monday-Brown rice w/Japanese chicken curry (didn’t have last week)

Tuesday-Bacon tomato sandwiches

Wednesday-Stroganoff noodles with burger patties and gravy (using up some cupboard stuff)

Thursday- still not sure will have to dig in cupboards and see what I can come up with!

Friday- Buffalo Wing Pizza (didn’t make last week as didn’t have mozzarella cheese)

Menu Monday

Left with lots of ground hamburger this week so gotta get creative with that…




Monday- Tacos on flour tortillas with fat free refried beans (cheese to make up for the lack of fat though)



Tuesday- Lasagna (made the meat up along with the taco meat and then assembled it so I just have to pop into the oven!), texas toast



Wednesday- Pasta creation made with leftover lasagna noodles (seriously why do so many come in the box? I need to learn to not make it all up at once as usually toss all the extra!) No idea what I will do besides sauce and noodles….might make up something completely different who knows



Thursday- burgers, French fries



Friday- leftover lasagna most likely!



So all in all a not too healthy week planned but we are living paycheck to paycheck right now due to upcoming travels to England this fall so we gotta do what we gotta do!

Weekly Menu

Monday-BLT's along with some fresh cut up melon and plums

Tuesday-Quickie Enchiladas (frozen burritos;we use bean and cheese with red and green enchilada sauces poured over top and baked with additional cheese on them)

Wednesday-Japanese Chicken Curry and brown rice

Thursday-homemade Lasagna and garlic toast  chili dogs and french fries(too hot to make up lasagna need something that is quick!)

Friday- BernieO's pizza as our friend is treating us before he flies home Saturday

Saturday-thinking Chicken Tikka and rice

Sunday-chili dogs

We have a fridge full of fresh fruit so that will serve as side dishes as needed or dessert!

Menu Monday

I keep meaning to post these weekly and so far I haven't been too good about it...but here we go...in no particular order this week we will be having...
1.Southwest Salads (a corn,blackbean,tomato salad ontop of romaine)
2.Spaghetti Bolognese over whole wheat pasta
3.Spicy Green Bean stiryfry over brown rice
4.Jerk Pork chops
5.5 spice Tenderloin steak with baked potatoes (I hated this recipe! Seasonings were real funky together will not make again!)
6.Inside out eggroll casserole

It is super muggy today and I am wearing a skirt even though my knees have 2 inch long blonde hairs sticking out of them...shhhhh don't tell! Off to the eye doctor as well tonight for first time in 3 or more years! So excited to order some new cute glasses though!

Weekly Menu

Ok we have been doing lots of quick and easy meals due to me having limited time to cook when I have a little zombeebee that wants to be attached to me during dinner time haha! So usually no side dishes (which isn't that rare anyways for us) We need to really up the veggie intake and I personally plan to start doing more salads for lunch so I meet my veggie requirements each day!

Sunday-homemade bbq pulled chicken served on hamburger buns
Monday-burgers made in frying pan and ore ida sweet potato fries (hubby did not like the fries but I did!)
Tuesday-turkey cheddar sausages and cheddar broccoli rice
Wednesday-Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Thursday-(I have to bake a cake so will be something quick and easy like hotdogs,burgers,or pizza since that is what we have in freezer)
Friday-(Gabby's slumber party so not sure if we will indulge in Little Casears pizza with them or not...)
Saturday-We have a friends son's birthday party where dinner will be served YAY!

Attempting to Cook

So now that we are attempting to lose our pregnancy weight (yes my husband also put on 20 to 30 pounds) we are trying to STOP all the take out food! What arrived just in time? Why my free subscription to Food Everyday magazine (thanks coke rewards!). Here are the recipes we have tried thus far and what we thought....

30 minute Spaghetti and Meatballs- Will not make again. The sauce was only made from canned whole tomatoes smashed up with some onions (yuck) but the meatballs were made from ground italian sausage which Gareth did enjoy so will make those more often but using tried and true fave jar sauces haha!

Chicken and Cannelini Bean Salad- We loved this! It originally called for tuna but we don't do that...so I put some shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken in it instead. Was quite a bit or prep that made me feel very chef like ;) tasted very fresh and healthy too!

Chicken Tostadas- these were really tasty and again tasted fresh and healthy! The most prep was for the garnishes but you can always do that ahead of time and chicken again was from the rotisserie chicken (those things can make at least 3 meals for 2 adults pretty cool and economical and easy!)

Sorry I don't have links to the exact recipes used as Martha must not allow the current magazines recipes to be posted online or something....

All in all we are doing good for the eating part of operation get healthier and I am sure it will get better once I am at work next week and we can be even more set on schedule!

Now for the exercise portion....I went on a walk today with Lainey on me and WHEW am I ever OUT OF SHAPE! Prob only went a half mile! Also angry as dug all around in basement to find my pedometer only to find the battery was dead SIGH.

Our treadmill should arrive next week though and I also need to start doing some wii fit (which of course is still telling me I am obese....have about 30 to 40 pounds to lose before I get to overweight status soooo depressing but all my own fault!).

Meal Planning Monday is Back!

At least I am hoping I can keep up with it this time LOL...I actually Have 2 weeks of dinners planned as just worked out easier for the shopping this past weekend :) So in no particular order here is what is on the agenda!

1. Eggs,Bacon,Pancakes
2.Taco casserole
3.Frozen mexican pizza
4.Breakfast skillet meal (hashbrowns,eggs,green peppers and onions) prob with toast
5.Buffalo chicken strips with salads and maybe fries
6.Cream of mushroom porkchops, mashed potatoes, salad
7. hotdogs and baked beans
8.ham steak, cheesy potatos, peas
9. potpies over rice
10.homemade fettucine alfredo with grilled chicken and salad and garlic bread(Had this last night and turned out fabulous if I do say so myself!)
11. leftovers
12.swedish meatballs/creamy meatballs over egg noodles, salad or veg
13. Japanese curry over rice
14. Taco Rice (basically taco meat and all the fixings over white rice instead of chips or on taco shells....fell in love with this in Japan it is so good even though sounds weird)

Grub o' The Week

Ok so it is Wednesday evening and I am totally stealing Shannon's idea to start menu planning and posting it here on my blog :) I figure the zofran has kicked in so why not become a bit more organized with menu planning. I mean shoot I have done it before and it truly makes cooking and life that much easier! So this week was a bit off of course due to me being sicker than sick and not wanting to deal with food so please disregard all the junk we ingested ;)

Monday: No idea what the husband ate and frankly I did not care

Tuesday:(Got meds and was feeling MUCH better) Baked up some ready meal bbq pork riblets we then put on hamburger buns ala McRib sandwich style along with salads

Wednesday: (Ready meal time again) salsibury steaks with mashed potatoes and salads(I even cut up cukes and tomatos wowsa!)

Thursday: Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken (first seen on Shannon's site) over whole wheat pasta and served with salad (what can I say I prefer cold veg over hot ones!)

Friday: Marinated steaks, salad, (wish I had potatoes) and prob some sort of rice

Saturday: Going to a grill your own pizza party

Sunday: (another recipe I am trying from Shannon) Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole made with the leftover chicken from Thursday, salad or maybe a hot veg!