Menu Plan Monday 1.30.11

errrrrr, Menu Plan Tuesday....

Yet another menu plan...I'm on a roll. If only I could keep this up for the rest of the year!

Monday: Sesame noodles w/chicken and sauteed red peppers

Tuesday: Beef barley stew, homemade bread

Wednesday: Slow-cooker pot roast (w/carrots, potatoes & onions) homemade bread

photo credit

Thursday: Pico de Gallo chicken quesadillas, salad

Friday: Beef curry (using leftover roast meat and curry from the jar!), rice, naan (I use a mix of white and wheat flours)

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Chili, cornbread, salad

Menu Plan Monday: Getting back in the kitchen edition

Since little Silas came along, friends and family have seriously blessed our socks off providing delicious meals for us several times a week. I have been spoiled not having to spend much time in the kitchen over the last 6 weeks, freeing me up to rest and snuggle with my kiddos. But, all good things come to an end, and it's time to fire up the oven and feed my family once more. Here's what we've got cookin':

Monday:: Veggie & chicken stir-fry, rice

Tuesday:: Slow cooker lasagna, mixed greens salad w/homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Wednesday:: Chicken and dumplings, spinach salad

Thursday:: Soy sauce-glazed salmon, miso soup, stir-fried bok choy

Friday:: Beef barley stew, wheat bread (see video below!)

Saturday:: Baked ziti casserole, breadsticks, mixed green salad

We have been enjoying lots of soups lately...what could be better than a hardy, steaming bowl of soup on a frigid, snowy day, right?! And what goes better with soup than some yummy, crusty bread. I've used the 5 minutes a day method in the past, but recently found the authors have come up with some healthier versions I'd like to try out. Here's the simple wheat bread I think I'll be using:

Menu Plan - Week of July 19th

I am posting my menu for this week, not because you are all on the edge of your seats wondering what the Tran family will be eating, but because this is literally the first menu I've planned for 3 months!!! I am back in the kitchen this week and starting slow.

Photo credit

Monday

No-knife pasta (my friend, Sarah, passed on this recipe to me before I went to grad school and I honestly ate it at least 3 nights a week, so quick and easy! I like to substitute shredded parmesan for the fresh mozzarella for a little different flavor. Yum-my!)

Salad

Tuesday

Rotisserie chicken in the crockpot

risotto w/tomato, corn and basil (Thang has been craving basil lately!)

Wednesday

Small group potluck (waiting to hear what the theme is to choose my dish)

Thursday

Chicken, spinach and tomato pesto pasta

Salad

Friday

Grilled pizza

grilled asparagus

Saturday

Marinated tuna steak

grilled summer veggies

crusty homemade bread

Sunday

Quinoa soup w/avocado, corn and chicken (I also got this recipe from Sarah, but found it at this link as well)

crusty homemade bread

Menu Plan Monday.

If any of my readers are mommy bloggers or mommy-/homemaking blog readers, you are probably familiar with "Menu Plan Mondays". Started at one of my favorite blogs, Organizing Junkie, this blog "carnival" is intended to help the cook in the family plan ahead so that we aren't scrambling to figure out dinner every night, give up and just head for the Taco Bell drive-thru (because this neeeeeeever happens at our house).

Menu planning has, by far, been one of the best ways to pinch pennies with our budget and has really cut down on the panic I used to feel at 4:00 when I would think "OH NO! What in the world should I make for dinner tonight?!". Hence the Taco Bell runs.

So here's this week's menu:

Monday: cheese ravioli w/pumpkin sage sauce, salad

Tuesday: marinated tuna steak, root vegetable medley, sourdough bread

Wednesday: black bean chilaquile, salad

Thursday: calzones, salad

Friday: peppered steak, oven-roasted asiago cauliflower, creamy spinach, chocolate pudding cake

Saturday: leftovers/eat out

Sunday: spicy rapid roast chicken, summer squash casserole, herbed oven potatoes, broccolli

In recent months, I've started doing a monthly menu plan that I repeat for the season (i.e. summer menu, fall menu). Making a menu plan each week was WAY STRESSFUL for me, so instead I make up the plan for a month and repeat it several times. This has worked really well and allows me to double up on some recipes and freeze half, cutting down on cooking for the next month.

I eat this stuff up, so hopefully it will spark some menu planning in your households!

Now, it's just a matter of sticking to it!!!