A New Plan

Well I guess the summer was more "miss" than "hit" with menu posting. I guess when you combine adjusting to three kids, a busy summer and a stolen laptop that's what you get! I did make menus each week, but they never made it to the cyber world.

As I try to get our family in some sort of groove for the school year, I've come up with a new menu plan. A friend of mine introduced me to e-mealz and I've decided to give it a go. This is a weekly service that provides either a 5 or 7 day menu and grocery list! (Cue the angels singing!) You can pick from a few different grocery chains and in doing so, the menus are planned around the weekly ads to save you money. There are also specialty menus such as low-carb and vegetarian. You have to pay for 3 months at a time which comes to $15. My plan is to try it out for three months. If I like it, I'll stick with it another round or two. If not, I'll use the menus/lists I received and integrate them in with family favorites and new meals we'd like to try. I'm hoping to re-vamp our meal list in the mean-time to make this whole process more stream-lined. Menu planning has just become such a beating for me so I'm hoping this helps.

If anyone is interested in looking at some of the menus/lists or going in on a subscription with me, let me know. We can all use a little help some days! :)

June 11 - 17

Just when I was getting back into the groove of making and posting menus, summer hit! Without preschool I'm having to find different days and times to get to the store so this will probably be pretty hit-or-miss until the fall.

Before I get to this week's menu, just a couple of quick reviews. Only one of the 3 chicken recipes I posted previously worked out for us - the cordon bleu bundles. The other 2 were just ok. I've made the bundles twice now and they look so fancy and taste just as good! Also, the sesame cold noodles were very tasty and perfect for the hot summer weather we've been having. The only downside was it made way more than we could eat before it went bad. I need to remember that recipe for the next bbq we're invited to :)

Orange Marmalade Chicken

Chillie Lime Cobb Salad

Pizza

BBQ Beef Sandwiches and Cole Slaw

Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

Lemon Linguine with French Bread

May 23 - 29

I stumbled upon a new recipe while shopping for last week's groceries. I was planning on buying potatoes to mash them for a side dish when I found 1lb packages of bite-sized potatoes in various varieties - golden, red, purple and mixed. On the back of each was a recipe. I ended up choosing the goldens and making creamy lime potatoes. It was quite good warm or cold (think potato salad). On top of that, it was super easy: boil the potatoes whole for about 15 minutes & drain. In a bowl combine 1/2 cup sour cream with the juice and zest of 1 lime. Toss the potatoes with the sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Done!

For this week I found 3 easy chicken dishes while watching the Nate Berkus show the other day (as much as it embarrasses me to admit that!). I'm planning on cooking up an entire family size package of chicken breasts to help with the prep.

Chicken Dishes:

• BBQ Chicken Penne




• Chicken Cordon Bleu Bundles




• Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Sesame Cold Noodles with Zuccini and Cabbage


Cheese, Crackers and Fruit


Tacos

May 10 - 16

Once again I forgot to post my menu for last week. I don't remember trying any new meals, but I did try a new snack recipe - kale chips! They are so good and good for you! Here's what I do:

Wash and completely dry one bunch of kale. Tear the leaf part into chip-size pieces (do not use the thick stem part). Toss the pieces with about a tablespoon of olive oil (don't use too much oil) and some sea salt (or whatever seasoning your heart desires). Spread onto a cookie sheet spacing out the chips a bit and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until crispy, but not burned. So far I've over-seasoned one batch and under-seasoned another. It's kind of a trial and error thing. To me they taste like roasted pumpkin seeds and are super addictive!

This is a short menu week for us and we still have one last game of t-ball so easy meals are on the list.

• Swedish Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes

• Fish Tacos

• Pizza

• Firecracker Enchiladas (left-overs in the freezer)

• Sub Sandwiches with Chips and Fruit

April 26 - May 2

I'm still getting my groove back in the dinner-making arena. I managed to make a menu last week, but never got it posted here. Sorry about that. The only new recipe we tried was for Chicken Picadillo out of the Penzey's spice catalog. Keenan called it a Jamaican wrap and everyone enjoyed it - including the kids! I'll try to post it another time.

On to this week. Tomorrow's Chick-Fil-A family night which means I can feed the 4 of us that eat solid food for $7 with 2 free kids meal and a BOGO deal card! We also have visitors this week who will be taking us out to dinner one night. A nice, easy week for me. When it comes to cooking anyway ;)

• Chipotle Mac and Cheese

• Firecracker Enchiladas

• Sausage Pepper Pasta

• Orange Marmalade Chicken with Rice

• Crockpot Braised Short Ribs with Cabbage and Carrots

April 12 - 18

Well I did pretty well for my first full week of meals after a month off. Some friends invited us over for dinner one night and we ended up eating out another (nothing like remodeling the kitchen for a good eat out excuse!). Now I have one roll-over for this week! Here we go! Turkey Meatloaf Spaghetti Pizza Chicken Tacos Grilled Chicken & Orange Skewers with Zuccini Rice (from my latest Real Simple) Roast Sausage and Potatoes Special Treat: Orange Rolls

Back in the Saddle - April 5 - 11

Well, it's been a month with our new baby and I've definitely been spoiled. We had family in town for almost 3 weeks straight and during the in-between times our lovely church family provided meals for us. There was a night or two here and there that I needed to provide a meal for my family, but I was able to pull together something quick using freezer and pantry supplies.

Now it's time to get back at it. I'm not sure how this is going to go with t-ball 3 times a week and a month old baby, but we'll see. I already warned Keenan there may be some impromtu take-out nights :)

• Greek Pasta Salad with Chicken


• Baked Tofu with Rice and Sugar Snap Peas


• Orange Marmalade Chicken and Rice


• Tacos


• Turkey Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes


• Hot Dogs with Baked Beans


• Breakfast - Trail Mix Breakfast Bites