Feb 8 - 14

Our only new recipe for last week, the Corn and Kielbasa Chowder was a winner!. I went ahead and made a double bactch and stuck half in the freezer for these upcoming weeks/months :) I'm very thankful that my latest Real Simple came this week. My energy and creativity levels are pretty low with two sick kiddos and being a week from full term - yikes! The magazine has a great slow-cooker section that I've picked two of our meals from as well as a yummy-sounding soup. We're hoping to go out to dinner with friends this weekend, but I've planned plenty of meals in case the kids aren't well when the time comes. Is it spring yet?

Turkey Tenderloin with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna (in the crock-pot, Real Simple)

Creamy Chicken & Biscuits (in the crock-pot, Real Simple)

Curried Tomato Bisque Soup (Real Simple) with Fresh Bread

Orange Marmalade Chicken and Rice

Bratwurst with Baked Beans

Turkey Bacon BLT's with Avocado

Breakfast Treat: Lemon Rolls

Nothing to review this week as I chose all tried and true recipes last week. I did, however, test out my new pressure cooker (thanks to my MIL both for getting it for me and showing me how to work it!) making some pinto beans to flesh out our Spanish Beef and Rice meal. Now that I'm over my intimidation, I definitely need to use it more often - what a time saver! I'm hoping to stock-pile some beans and chicken in the freezer for these first few months with a newborn in the house again :)

Another "easy" menu for this week. It's supposed to be pretty cold the next few days so I tried to pick some hearty/feel-good meals. I guess I'm on a roast turkey/chicken kick :)

Roast Chicken and Veggies with Breadmaker Rolls

Chicken Tacos (using leftover roast chicken)

Corn and Kielbasa Chowder

Cottage Cheese Blintzes with Strawberry Sauce

Turkey Breast, Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Carrots and Celery for Super Bowl Sunday!

Pizza (out)

Jan 25 - 31

After my friend posted her menu last week, I suddenly realized I forgot to post mine! Sorry about that. We did have a highlight new meal last week - Crock Pot Braised Short Ribs. It was so easy and so tasty and gave us plenty of leftovers. Yummy!

On to this week!

Chili and Cornbread

Tofu Stir Fry

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo with French Bread

Roast Turkey Breast, Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Spanish Beef and Rice

Stuffed Poblano Peppers using left-over Spanish Beef and Rice

Jan 11 - 17

The only new recipe from last week was the Italian Wedding Soup and it worked out great. The only down-side was the orzo soaked up most of the broth for our leftovers. It still tastes good, but not really soup-like anymore. Definitely a nice light, but warming winter meal.

Here's this week's plan:

Cranberry Muffins for Saturday breakfast

Pan-Fried Spinach Ravioli

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs (roll-over)

Chicken Tacos (using leftover roast chicken)

Tofu Stir Fry

Chili and Cornbread

Reuben Sandwiches with Chips and Fruit

Eggs and Potatoes

Jan 4 - 10

Time to get back at it! Somehow this week's menu wasn't too tough to pull together. I had some roll-overs from last week (that I forgot to post) and a couple of old stand-bys we haven't had in a while. Here we go!

Smothered Bean Burritos

Spaghetti with French Bread

Turkey Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

Italian Wedding Soup

Roast Chicken and Veggies with Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs with Crunchy Veggies

Dec 14 - 20

The Spicy Monte Cristos from last week were a huge hit! So much so - we're having them again this week :) I was hoping to make a menu to get us through to Christmas, but that's just not happening tonight. At least next week's run will (should) be a quick one.

Beef Stroganoff with Noodles and Peas

Spicy Monte Cristos with Chips and Fruit

Baked Fish and Chips with Veggies

Chicken Cesar Salad with Fresh Bread

Lasagna with Salad and Fresh Bread

Beans and Cornbread

Bean Burritos (using leftover beans)

Dec 7 - 13

As for reviews, I only have 2. The spinach and brie chicken was just ok. It just lacked a little something. The orzo salad that went with it, however, was quite tasty and the kids loved it. The veggie enchiladas were also just ok. I'm pretty sure it was the sauce that I was underwhelmed by so I'm considering making them again with Rachael Ray's Firecracker Enchilada sauce.

Keenan helped out some friends and neighbors this past week with various projects and his (our) payment was in dinner! So, I have a couple of roll-overs this week. I also remembered some shepherd's pie in the freezer that we should eat making for an easy menu this week. Next week will be more of a challenge trying to get us to Christmas with only one major grocery trip! We'll see how that goes!

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo with fresh bread

Sausage, Chestnut and Apple Stuffing

Shepherd's Pie (from the freezer)

Brinner: home fries and eggs

Hot Dogs with Baked Beans

Paella

Spicy Monte Cristos with Chips and Fruit