Menu Plan Monday 08.13.2012

Menu Plan Monday… on Tuesday! ;-P

I got busy yesterday and didn’t get around to typing it all out, but better late than never, right?

I’ll get right to it and then follow up on last week’s new recipes. Also, we had a few things come up last week and we needed to change our menu around, so 2 meals from last week were pushed to this week. Remember my plan starts on Sundays…

Sunday: Sesame-Ginger Pork Patties with Grilled Pineapple, served with long grain wild rice. This was very good, and very easy to put together. The kids ate theirs on buns, the hubby and I ate ours on beds of spinach and arugula because I couldn’t find watercress at the grocery. Low cal, even with the rice on the side!

Monday: Warm Tortellini and Cherry Tomato Salad, served with crusty italian bread. Yum! You could pretty much add any veggies you liked, and in the reviews some mentioned roasting the veggies first rather than tossing them in raw. I think it’d be delicious either way. The kids surprisingly LOVED the artichokes, they were eating them straight from the can and I had to shoo them away. They picked around the onion, though. This is a really great weekday meal, the longest part of prep time was chopping the veggies. Actual execution was super quick. We had olive oil and freshly ground pepper to dip the bread in, but I thought the dressing in the bottom of my bowl was even better!

Tuesday: Leek, Potato and Chicken Pies (this is one of those pushed from last week).

Wednesday: Apple, brie and ham grilled cheese sandwiches, served with roasted potato salad. No recipe – just something we’ve thrown together before and liked. We went apple picking over the weekend so we have an over-abundance of Honeycrisp apples at the moment. I think this is a perfect way to eat them up! Melted brie, crisp fresh apple, some sweet sliced ham on toastie bread. Yum!

Thursday: (quick and easy meal day) Grilled hot dogs and baked fries. The kids have school orientation that night, so I wanted to keep it super quick and easy. Let’s pretend there’s a veggie on that plate, mmmkay?

Friday: Pizza Friday! Hubby and I are going to try a new wood-fired pizza place in town after the kids go to bed. Can’t wait!

Saturday: Sesame-Soy Meatballs, served with long grain wild rice and green beans. (the other meal pushed to this week) I made these in advance and froze them. Of course, I sampled them as I made them and they are so good! Can’t wait to eat the rest!

As for last week’s new recipes, there was only one and it was the Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms. HUGE hit with the family, in fact my husband happily ate on the leftovers for 2 days afterwards and he’s not a big leftover fan. My only complaint is the prep time is long and leaves a big mess in the kitchen as it requires lots of bowls and measuring cups, etc. And I’m not sure cooking it in the slow cooker was helpful. I’ll definitely make it again (on a weekend, when everyone’s home to help with cleanup) and I’ll bake it in the oven. By the time the dishes are washed, it’ll be done!

Happy eating this week, y’all!

Menu Plan Monday 08.06.2012

Lookie here! Two Menu Plan Monday posts in two weeks! I’m on a roll! 😉

I’ll start with this week’s menu and then I’ll update on the new recipe we tried last week.

 

Sunday: grilled hamburgers, corn on the cob and broccoli salad. This salad is delicious, I add a couple of strips of crumbled bacon – yum!

Monday: Portobello “Philly Cheese Steak” Sandwiches (second week in a row, these are so good!), baked fries and a green salad

Tuesday: Chicken soft tacos, and corn and black bean salad. (To keep mine a little more low cal, I skip the tortilla, cheese and sour cream, and have my chicken in a bowl over the corn and black bean salad, and then I top with a couple tablespoons of homemade guacamole, fresh salsa, a few crushed tortilla chips and I squeeze a fresh lime over the entire thing – so good this way!)

Wednesday: Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms (first time trying this – it’s a slow cooker recipe!) and a green salad.

Thursday: Chicken, Potato and Leek Pie (I’ve been hungry for some comfort food lately, so I’m going to try this Cooking Light version of a pot pie, I’ll let you know how it turns out!), and a green salad (we like our salads).

Friday – Pizza Friday!

Saturday: Sesame-Soy Meatballs (first time trying this recipe!), with rice and green beans. I like to buy meat in bulk, so we have lots of ground beef left from the hamburgers Sunday. I always make the meatballs in advance and freeze them so we have an easy meal later. I’m making the meatballs this afternoon, the rice is steam-in-the-bag and I’m using frozen green beans that I’ll flavor up with some shallots and garlic. Easy and relatively non-perishable – perfect for the end of the week!

Now to update on last week’s new recipe. The Baked Ziti with Summer Veggies was a huge hit with the family! It was very flavorful, even when we warmed up leftovers the next day. It’s earned a place in our family recipe binder.

We never got to try the Flounder Piccata because we found out last week that I’ve developed an allergy to fish. So we’re left with $20 of frozen flounder and I can’t report on the recipe. Boo! But maybe you’ll try it and like it! Comment on last week’s post and let me know if you do!

Menu Plan Monday – 10.04.2010

Throwing this list together at the last minute! We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary over the weekend and after a big night out Saturday night, I didn’t do my usual menu/grocery list writing on Sunday and instead had a big fat lazy day.  🙂

My oldest child is on fall break from school, and one of the Boredom Buster activities I have planned is a kids’ choice night, where the kids get to plan, shop and cook a meal (or at least help prepare in an age-appropriate way).  I’ve noted this night as Kids’ Choice since they haven’t decided what they want this meal to be yet.

Monday:  Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells with Caesar salad and garlic bread

Tuesday:  Kids’ Choice

Wednesday:  Chili and cornbread

Thursday:  Turkey sandwiches, pasta salad and raw veggies

Friday:  Breakfast for dinner! Buttermilk pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit

Saturday:  Mushroom and Provolone Patty Melts, roasted potatoes and a green veggie

Sunday:  Teriyaki glazed chicken sandwiches, sweet potato fries and a green veggie

I buy whatever green vegetables look good or are on sale for the week.  I haven’t shopped yet, but it usually ends up being broccoli and asparagus, although last week the brussel sprouts looked good so maybe we’ll have those.

Also, as an update to last week’s menu, the pasta with kale, caramelized onions and parsnips went over SO WELL with my family! Two of my three kids even had second helpings! And surprisingly, the spiced pork tenderloin with sautéed apples didn’t go over well at all with the husband and kids (I liked it, though). I thought for sure that would be the hit of the week.

This week, the patty melt is the only new recipe we’re trying. I’ll be sure to report back with how that goes.

Menu Plan Monday – 09.27.2010

Haven’t done a Menu Plan Monday in a while!

Monday: homemade pizzas (my husband makes a killer homemade pizza dough)

Tuesday: pasta with kale, caramelized onions and parsnips (my local grocery didn’t have kale today, so substituting spinach)

Wednesday: blackened tilapia, wild mixed rice and brown sugar glazed carrots

Thursday: turkey sandwiches, pasta salad, raw veggies

Friday: spiced pork tenderloin with sautéed apples, and a spinach salad with a raspberry vinaigrette

Saturday: breakfast for dinner! french toast, fresh berries and bacon

Sunday: turkey sandwiches, pasta salad, raw veggies (again)

I cut all the fresh veggies, mix up a vegetable dip and make the pasta salad in advance so we’re all set for those easy sandwich nights. All we have to do is pull everything out of the fridge and plate!