September Menu Plan

School has started back and there is a chill in the air this morning. Time for some of our favorite Autumn and Winter recipes to be dusted off! We have a pretty quiet month ahead of us, Lord willing. No plans for major travels again until October. I'm looking forward to cooking, cleaning out some areas of the house, and working in the yard.

• Spicy Honey Chicken (using chicken breasts), coleslaw, and some type of potato
• (2) Spaghetti, salad, and Cheesy Garlic Bread Swirls
  
• (3) Homemade pizza and salad
• Creamy Corn Chowder with Chicken-Bacon Stuffed Pizza Rolls
• Chipotle Beef Taquitos, guacamole, and Spanish rice
• Chicken and Corn Chili with cornbread muffins
• Sour Cream Chicken, corn, and pasta with pesto sauce
• Beef Stroganoff with egg noodles and green beans
• Spanish Chicken and Rice Bake
• (2) Burgers and fries
• Crock Pot Lasagna with green salad
• Goulash and corn
• Creamy Ranch Pork Chops & Rice with broccoli
• Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn
• Meatloaf cups with Hash Brown Casserole and salad
  

Menu Plan - Week of August 31

Little man started back to 5 day preschool today and it has been all of 70 degrees here - Autumn is on it's way! I have thoroughly enjoyed this Summer - swimming, weekend trips, lots of field trips - but, I am feeling the "itch" for a change of seasons. I'll be bringing back some of our favorite slow cooker recipes and some soups this month. Look for the monthly menu plan tomorrow. Head over and visit Laura's site for lots more menu ideas! As for this week:

Weeknight Dinners:

• Spicy Honey Chicken (using chicken breasts), coleslaw, and some type of potato
• Spaghetti, salad, and Cheesy Garlic Bread Swirls
• Homemade pizza and salad
• Friday night we'll probably be with my parents. I usually take dessert ... how does Fresh Strawberry Sheet Cake sound?

Menu Plan Monday - August 24, 2009

It's been a busy Monday so far at our house ... grocery shopping, cleaning, baking, and it's only 3:00 PM! Whew! I'm trying to get chores done early this week since we have a full weekend planned at church. Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for more inspiration each week!

Dinners:

• Homemade pizza
• Cajun Chicken Strips with Sweet Potato Fries and corn
• Ribs, potato salad, and baked beans (been trying to do this for 3 weeks)
• Chicken Enchiladas
  

Baking, Breakfast, Snacks:

• Bacon cheddar biscuits
• Homemade Pop Tarts
• I'll be trying to make fruit leather ... I'll let you know how it turns out!
  

Over-run With Magazines

Does anyone else have a problem with magazines? Sure, they are shiny, colorful, and - sometimes - chock full of good information. Then, there are the rest ... they turn up when you least expect it, can't be recycled in the curbside box, and may have 1 good paragraph among 200 pages of drivel. There are VERY few magazines I love, but 3 that I adore are Consumer Reports, Kraft Food & Family, and Lowe's Creative Ideas. We keep 1 year of CR and I keep all of the issues of the other 2. So, what to do with them? Not this:


I spent less than 15 miunutes today and organized, separated, and put them in chronological order. The result - one happy lady!

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more simple projects you can tackle - on Tuesday or ANY day!

Menu Plan Monday - August 17, 2009

I love having a food stockpile to choose from to help me make quick, healthy meals each night. One thing I am totally out of now though is ground beef. Hopefully someplace will offer it on sale this week and I can re-stock. So, lots of chicken the week!! I am also trying to use up am much as possible in the 'fridge since we're heading out of town this coming weekend - the last beach trip of the summer! That also means I only need to plan for 4 dinners :) Head over to Laura's site for hundreds more menu plans each week.

Weeknight Dinners:

• Cajun Chicken Pasta with green salad and corn (carry over from last week)
• Lemon Pasta with Chicken, green salad and fresh tomato slices
• Ribs, baked beans, and potato salad
• Chicken Stroganoff, saffron rice, and broccoli

Baking, Breakfasts, Snacks:

• Banana Muffins - I start with this amazing recipe, add raisins, and cook in muffin tins
• Homemade Pop Tarts - These sound so good!! I'll let you know how they taste.
• Chocolate Cherry Muffins - Using cranberries instead; we'll take these to the beach
  

Menu Plan Monday - August 10

After an amazing week at Vacation Bible School last week, it's going to be a challenge to get back on track with cooking! Our church is blessed with several wonderful cooks and they fed us very well all week. I spent most evenings last week cooking and getting our freezer stocked with breakfast items. We have full batches of French Toast Sticks and Whole Wheat Cinnamon Waffles ready to heat up quickly for breakfast or snacks. Breakfast is always a hard meal for me - I don't eat much in the morning, but I know it's important for little man to start the day healthy. Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for over 200 menu plans each week!

Weeknight Dinners:

• Chicken a la King over puff pastry shells, green salad
• Shrimp Alfredo (using this sauce recipe), green salad
  
• Egg Rolls and Asian style slaw
• Cajun Chicken Pasta and corn
• I have a girl's night out planned, so the boys will likely hit up Chick fil A
  

Finer Things Friday - Sheer Joy!

A few weeks ago, the wonderful lady I work for suggested we get little man a butterfly garden. He has seen one before, but that was 2 years ago. We ordered one, tended our caterpillars, fretted over the chrysalises, and waited. This week were so happy to see beautiful Painted Lady butterflies one morning! We fed them for a few days and decided to release them in the backyard. The result - sheer joy on our little man's face. It was wonderful - definitely a Finer Thing!

August Menu Plan

Is summer really almost over? With our move and getting settled in, several weeks slipped by and I long for them back now. We intend to savor every late sunset, afternoon thunderstorm, and opportunity to swim and grill God grants us this month. A few weeks ago, after the move, I began to feel discontent with our eating situation again. It's amazing how quickly we slipped back into fast food, eating poorly, and scrambling for dinner come 5:00 every night.

So, even though it's still a relaxed time of year - it's definitely time for our structure to be back in the kitchen. We have several fun things coming up this month including a wonderful weekend event at church, Vacation Bible School (with dinner!), a party to welcome a new baby for our friends, and girl's night out. Here's what I have planned for this month. There are lots of links and recipes for you to use in your own homes also. Enjoy!

Breakfast:

• French Toast Sticks - I made a loaf of Oatmeal Applesauce Bread today to use
• Pancakes with homemade syrup
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Raspberry Coffee Cake
• Caramel French Toast
• Homemade Pop Tarts
• Chocolate Cherry Muffins (I'll use cranberries instead)
• Paradise Breakfast Buns
• Bacon Cheddar Biscuits (DH's standard fare)

Dinner:

• Taco Lasagna
  
• Goulash (ground beef, noodles, and tomato sauce in skillet - my mom's specialty!)
• Shrimp Alfredo (using this sauce recipe)
• Egg Rolls and Asian Slaw
• Cajun Chicken Pasta
• Grilled Pork Chops, potato salad and baked beans
  
• Ribs, potato salad and baked beans (not back to back though!)
  
• Meatloaf Cups, saffron rice, green beans
  
• Parmesan Chicken, Crash Potatoes, and salad
  
• Chicken Stroganoff, egg noodles, and corn
  
• Spaghetti with homemade sauce and salad
  
• Homemade Pizza (x2)
• Cajun Chicken Strips, mac and cheese, and broccoli