Feb 22 - 28

This should be the last menu I'll post for a little while ;) Tomorrow night is "Family Night" at Chick-Fil-A and kids eat free so we'll be taking advantage of that! Also, some sweet friends from our Sunday school class offered to bring us a meal this week which will help a ton! Other than that, it's old stand-by's and a couple of recent repeats since Keenan didn't have a sense of taste at the time. See you in a few weeks! :)

Breakfast for Dinner - quiche in a cup, yogurt waffles, turkey bacon and yogurt, fruit and quinoa crunch parfaits.

Hamburgers and French Fries

Chicken Tikka Masala with Rice

Orange Marmalade Chicken with Rice

BLT's with Avocado, Fruit and Chips

Aug 9 - 14

After getting home much later than planned, I just don't have the energy to make/plan a 2 week menu this go-around. Luckily some recipes caught my eye earlier this week to help me on my way.

Mini Taco Cups (will post a recipe soon)

Pinwheels with Roasted Veggie Sauce

Hamburgers and Baked Beans

Zuccini and Ricotta Gallete (roll-over from last week)

Easy Paella

French Dip Paninis with Fruit and Chips

July 12 - 18

Our unexpected 2 week menu turned out great! Unfortunately I don't have the energy tonight to make another one. We have a trip coming up at the end of the month so I'll make my next menu gets us through until we leave - just shy of 2 weeks.

Five-Spice Burgers with Warm Mu-Shu Topping, Pineapple and Exotic Chips

Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup

Burgers and Hot Dogs - Meal Night with Home Group

Turkey Meatloaf with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Salsa Verde Steak Burritos

Veggie Pie

Honey Mustard "Fried" Chicken with Mac 'n Cheese and Veggies (for K's 2nd b-day!)

Special Treat: Lemon Ice Cream

May 10 - 16

The only new recipe for us from last week was Eggs Benedict. I'm not sure if I just don't like that dish or if the recipe wasn't great, but that was a big 'no.'

On to happier thoughts. Kelsey and her family will be visiting us this week so I'm planning some meals that will feed all of us without a lot of fuss. We're planning a trip to the children's museum and just letting the kids hang out together. Should be fun!

My Real Simple magazine came to the rescue this week filling in the gaps. I hope they're good!

Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower

Tappas with Marinated Chickpeas

Soy Glazed Fish with Summer Squash

Spiced Chicken with Couscous Salad

Buttermilk Chicken, Green Beans with Pecans and Maple Vinegrette and Creamy Potato Salad with Bacon (RS - these recipes weren't online yet)

Hamburgers, Baked Beans and Corn on the Cob

Chicken Fajitas with all the fixin's

April 19 - 25

Let's see...reviews. The Baked Lemon Pasta was nice and light especially for a spring meal. It was just missing a little something. I used fortified pasta to make up for the fact that it was a meatless meal, but it needs some more herbs or something. When I figure it out I'll let you know. For now I'm pairing the leftovers with smoked sausage hoping to balance things out.

The Jerk Chicken was a big hit. I changed it up a bit by using boneless, skinless chicken thighs and having Keenan grill them along with the fresh pineapple. I think that really helped bring the dish to the next level. Yum!

Keenan's going to be busy most evenings this week and all weekend helping with our church's high school retreat. I've planned a lot of easy, kid-friendly meals in preparation. I usually have the luxury of Keenan being home to help with the kids when I need to cook dinner so this will be a challenging week (not to mention going solo on bedtimes as well). We know it's well worth it, though.

Smoked Sausage with leftover Baked Lemon Pasta

Mexican Bean Wraps


Mac 'n Cheese with Fish Sticks and Peas


Hamburgers with Sweet Potato Fries


Spaghetti with Meatballs

Turkey Meatloaf with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Dip Night! (I plan to make all the dips listed except for the Enchilada dip)

Breakfast: Slow-cooker Oatmeal

April 12 - 18

Our only review from last week is the Shrimp, Tortellini and Spinach - yummy! I didn't have the roasted red pepper dressing it called for so I used sun-dried tomato dressing instead. It came together quickly and was a perfect spring/summer Italian dish. I love that we're getting back to the time of year with more fresh veggies and fruit at reasonable prices. Everything just tastes better :)

Pineapple Jerk Chicken and Rice

Turkey Tacos (found some taco-seasoned ground turkey on super-sale last week!)

Baked Lemon Pasta

Make Your Own Pizza

Loaded Baked Potatoes

Tofu Stir Fry

Hamburgers & Pan-Fried Potatoes

March 22 - 28

Last week's menu had some big hits for us. Among them, the Cheesey Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichokes (I now realize my typo last week - oops!), Mexican Meatball Soup and Hoisin Cashew Beef. The Ginger Noodles were ok, just nothing spectacular. I'll post the soup and pasta recipes next since they're not online yet. They're super easy and yummy!

This week has a rollover and a repeat because we liked it so much. We're also having guests one night so our chicken dinner will be featured once again.

Hamburgers with Carrot & Apple Slaw

Creamy Basil & Tomato Pasta

Spanish Tortilla with Red Pepper

Tacos

Roast Chicken and Veggies

Pizza (for Keenan and the kids - I'll be having a ladies night out at Pei Wei - woo hoo!)

Hoisin Cashew Beef

Last week's chicken dinner got us through two nights and we ate out quite a bit with my family in town so it'll be a roll-over week! On top of that, we already have dinner plans with friends one night this week. I have 3 recipes from my latest issue of Real Simple magazine (they haven't posted them online yet) this week. Reviews to come next week. :)


Leftover Paella

Cheesy Baked Spinach and Artichokes

Mexican Meatball Soup

Hamburgers with Carrot and Apple Slaw with Raisins

Ginger Noodles with Tofu

Hoisin Cashew Beef in Lettuce Wraps

March 8 - 14

All of our new recipes for last week were quite tasty (Salmon Bites, Quinoa Burgers and Black Bean Soup). My only adjustment will be to use fresh salmon vs. canned next time.

Our old standby - Turkey Meatloaf - never ceases to amaze me. The kids just love it! Between the 3 of us (Keenan was at band practice) we ate 2/3 of a loaf! I'll post the recipe again with my modifications after this post. I think I'm going to make it every other week or so because it has so much good stuff in it and they actually eat it!

This week's back to basics. My family will be in town and they're not quite the adventurous eaters we are :)

Tamales and Beans

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Ravioli with Tomato Sauce and Garlic Bread

Roast Chicken with Veggies and Dinner Rolls

Hamburgers and Baked Beans

Paella

Sept 28 - Oct 4

We had yet another great weekend visit with family. Between that and a massive allergy attack, my brain is not functioning tonight and it was a struggle to come up with this menu. Only 3 more weeks until my test then maybe I'll be back in the swing of things. I can only hope :)

Burgers

Creamy Green Chilie Chicken Enchiladas (it's been way too long!)

Italian Sausage Linguine

Shrimp Pad Thai

Loaded Baked Potatoes

Sloppy Joes with Veggies

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Sept 21 - 27

We ate lots of great food this past weekend including an impromtu cheese/cracker/apple and wine dinner. It really hit the spot! We have more family coming in this week to continue Ari's birthday celebration so more yumminess in store :)

Paella (this was bumped from last week by our impromtu dinner)

Broccoli Rice Casseorle

Hot Pastrami Sandwiches with Sauerkraut

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread and Salad

Chicken Fajitas

Hamburgers

Cheese, Crackers, Apples and Wine (too good to wait!)

Sept 13 - 20

We had a couple impromtu invites to dinner this week so I have some roll-overs. We're also going to have the Paella again when Keenan's parents come in for Ari's birthday - it's really good! The 3 cheese baked ziti was also a hit and will be featured tomorrow night as leftovers.

Leftover-palooza

Shake 'n Bake Chicken Nuggets with Sweet Potato Fries

Tofu Stir Fry with Brown Garlic Sauce

Garlic Hanger Steak with Sage Butter Gnocci

Burgers with Baked Beans and Chips

Easy Paella

Ari's Birthday Dinner (his fav) - Turkey Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes

Sept 7 - 13

I did end up making the Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cherries. They were good, but just not as good as I was imagining. The kids didn't care for them so I ended up taking them up to my old work when I went to borrow some books. The summer bean salad was great as was the soy dijon chicken. I used the leftover chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches and they were so yummy and flavorful.

I'm starting to get in the groove of studying so I'm trying to keep this short and sweet and my meals easy!

Bean Burritos (these keep getting pushed back for some reason)

Hamburgers

Easy Paella

Three Cheese Baked Ziti

Cous Cous Salad with peppers, chicken sausage and feta cheese

Tortillini with Alfredo Sauce

Shake 'n Bake Chicken Nuggets with Sweet Potato Fries

May 4 - 10

Monday - Hamburgers with corn on the cob

Tuesday - Firecracker Enchiladas

Wednesday - Chicken Pad Thai

Thursday - Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic, Mashed potatoes and veggies

Friday - Corn Dogs with Tater Tots

Saturday - King Ranch Chicken

Sunday - Spaghetti with meat sauce