Tag Archives: menu

menu plan monday 8.14-8.20

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It’s a big birthday week around here. Yesterday my oldest turned 9 and on Wednesday my middle child turns 6! We celebrated with a friends and family birthday party yesterday. It was a little chaotic once the kids arrived, but I think (I hope!) everyone had fun. The mystery theme was hit, and I’ll write more about it during the week.

But now, as much as I didn’t feel like it, I drafted up a basic meal plan. There are a lot of things going on this week that may cause this to change, but it’s always good to be prepared. Right?

  • Sunday: Late-night take-out after all the party guests left
  • Monday: Super nachos with chicken, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, avocado… the works!
  • Tuesday: Dinner out
  • Wednesday: Lemon chicken, rice, broccoli
  • Thursday: Grilled steak, baked potatoes, steamed veggies
  • Friday: Dinner with family
  • Saturday: Dinner with family

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday 8.7-8.13

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I am so glad to be back to a schedule and home cooking!

Tomorrow is our bi-weekly CSA pick-up so I am also looking forward to some great, local vegetables. You might have noticed that I didn’t post a photo of our last share and that’s because we left for NC immediately after picking it up. (We brought most of it with us in a cooler.)

Here’s what I’m planning for dinner this week:

  • Sunday: Sandwiches
  • Monday: Stromboli supreme (turkey pepperoni, onions, peppers, mushrooms), tossed salad
  • Tuesday: Tacos
  • Wednesday: Drew’s Amazing Homemade Marinara, hot Italian sausage, pasta, salad
  • Thursday: Broccoli-cheese soup (slow cooker), sandwiches for the kids, Thai lettuce wraps for the grown-ups
  • Friday: Beef with broccoli, rice
  • Saturday: Leftovers or take-out

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday, of salads and slow cookers

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I’m trying to do as little shopping as possible this week, plus it’s going to be sweltering. So I’ve decided to use my oven as little as possible (especially since our A/C is out of commission and our plumber is on vacation). Luckily, we have all that lettuce from last week’s CSA! So my game plan is to either chop it and toss it in a bowl, grill it, or throw it in the Crock Pot.

The last time I made gyros I actually thought ahead and made a second loaf, which I stuck in the freezer to make things super easy. I’m currently roasting  a chicken in order to have the meat for lunches, and the bones to make stock so I can also make soup to go along with it.

Unfortunately, last week I never did get to try the copycat recipe for Ruby Tuesday’s Sonora Chicken pasta — I don’t even remember what the reason was. Nevertheless, last week I somehow managed to really overdo it on the carbs, culminating in a total indulgence at Red Lobster last night (their absolutely delicious shrimp and scallops alfredo — oh, all that spaghetti!) Anyway, that recipe will have to wait for another week. I really have to scale back on the grains this week and get back on track. Once I start eating that stuff, I find myself craving all kinds of breads and sweets, and I really can’t have that.

Here’s what this week is looking like:

  • Sunday: Burritos
  • Monday:  Gyro salads, avgolemono
  • Tuesday: Slow-cooker French dip sandwiches, cole slaw
  • Wednesday: Grilled filet mignon with blue cheese butter, smashed cauliflower, green bean, onion, and feta salad
  • Thursday: White chicken chili (slow cooker), salad
  • Friday: Leftovers
  • Saturday: Take-out

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday, summer camp edition

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Both boys have different summer camps this week. Jake is at all-day Cub Scout camp, and Noah is at half-day camp at our church. There is a lot of picking up and dropping off (and naturally both locations are in opposite directions), plus Tuesday evening I have to pick up our CSA share, so this week has to be easy.

As usual, this is subject to change, and often does, due to the veggies we get in our farm share and what we actually feel like eating 🙂

  • Sunday: Grilled chicken Caesar salad
  • Monday: Surf & turf (grilled steak and shrimp), macaroni and cheese with broccoli
  • Tuesday: Tandoori chicken, rice, vegetable curry
  • Wednesday: Sausage & peppers, cole slaw
  • Thursday: No cooking (picnic at Cub Scout camp for the boys, and I might treat myself to Thai take-out)
  • Friday: Pizza & wings, salad
  • Saturday: Copycat Ruby Tuesday’s Sonora chicken pasta, salad

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday

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Maybe this week I’ll actually post something besides my meal plan, but at least it’s a start! I’ve been reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re interested in nutrition, government, and politics. It is certainly having an effect on the choices I make for our meals. I’ve heard that Taubes’ recent book Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It is excellent too, and not as hard to get through as GCBC.

Anyway… I’m pretty lax about the end of the week, since it’s just me, Noah, and Laura. Drew and Jake will be on a Cub Scout camp-out, so I intend to treat N. a little bit 🙂 Our CSA pick up is on Tuesday, so I’m curious what will be in our second share. I’m ready to start pickling some vegetables, and I’m going to start with turnips if they’re available.

Today I’m not feeling great, so I’m indulging in some comfort food. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow!

  • Sunday: Tacos
  • Monday: Grilled chicken paninis with fresh mozzarella and roasted red peppers, broccoli-cheese soup (crock pot)
  • Tuesday: Gyros in the crock pot (without the pita), avgolemono
  • Wednesday: Copycat PF Chang’s lettuce wraps
  • Thursday: Leftovers
  • Friday: playing it by ear
  • Saturday: playing it by ear

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday, busy week edition

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I don’t know about you, but around here the days are just packed with activities lately. We have doctor’s appointments, dentist’s appointments, school activities up the wazoo, and I also can’t forget to make my ultrasound appointment to check on my thyroid nodule (hard to believe it’s been a year already). So as school winds down and summer begins, my plan is to just go with easy meals that don’t take much time or brain power.

Speaking of my thyroid, my results came back from the Celiac panel, and they were within the normal range. Nevertheless, I am still going to try cutting back on carbs and gluten. The more I read, the less I want to consume them. Plus, I just feel generally better when I am not bloated after eating bread or pasta. And, of course, there’s my family history of diabetes. The less sugar in my system, the better. With all of the wonderful produce available during the summer, I think it’s good time to work on this. I’m not cutting them out entirely, but I’m going to be a lot more mindful of the carbs I eat. I currently have “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes sitting on the end table, and as soon as I finish “Catching Fire,” I am diving into it!

Anyway… on to my meal plan.

  • Sunday: Take-out
  • Monday: Beef & vegetable stiry-fry
  • Tuesday: Turkey & bean chili (slow cooker), green salad
  • Wednesday: Chicken curry, basamati rice, cucumber & onion salad
  • Thursday: Spinach & swiss quiche, green salad
  • Friday: Cub Scout picnic – no cooking
  • Saturday: Winging it — leftovers or something on the grill

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

csa 2011: share 1

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csa 2011: share 1

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer, they say. And when our CSA starts, you know that’s true! Oh, how I missed my bi-weekly bounty of fresh, local, organic vegetables last year. And this first share did not disappoint me.

Considering how wet the spring was, combined with the crazy heat of the last few days, I am really impressed with these greens. We got 2 heads of lettuce, 1 bok choy, 1 lb. spinach, 1 bunch of radishes, and 1 bunch of salad turnips. Instead of the turnips I could have chosen 1/2 lb. of mixed greens (arugula, tat soi, etc.), but I really enjoy those little turnips and between the lettuces and the spinach we have more than enough.

I’m already planning on making myself eggs Florentine tomorrow morning, perhaps with a little Swiss cheese. The bok choy? Sigh… I will dutifully search for some recipes and give it another try. There has got to be a way to prepare it that I will find enjoyable. If you have a favorite way to make it, I am all ears.

menu plan monday

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Is it really May? Then why is it weirdly chilly and so rainy? Eh… oh well. At least the weather makes for cozy days, right? This week is going to be so crazy. We have Drew’s dad & stepmom coming up from Miami on Thurs. We have various school activities. And I am doing all the prep work for Laura’s 2nd birthday party, which we are having on Sunday. So I am trying to keep things super simple because I don’t need to be more stressed out! I am also not doing much grocery shopping because I need to clean out the fridge for the party. (Have I told you how much I hate having a side-by-side fridge? It makes it very challenging when you have party platters and whatnot.)

  • Sunday: Grilled chicken salads
  • Monday: Sausage parm sandwiches, broccoli cheese soup
  • Tuesday: Dinner out
  • Wednesday: Grilled chicken, whatever I can find in the fridge for sides, LOL.
  • Thursday: Sandwiches, chips (In-laws are getting in from Miami, so I need something I can make the kids and us earlier and have for them later)
  • Friday: Grilled London Broil, grilled chicken with Piri-Piri Sauce, baked potatoes, tossed salad
  • Saturday: Whatever you can find in the fridge or freezer 😉

If I make it through this week with my sanity in check, then I will most definitely have earned that big slice of cake I am looking forward to on Sunday.

(Side note: while I have not been as diligent with exercising as I’d hoped to be this month, I am still down  2.5 lbs, which is awesome since I am really only trying for about 7 lbs. And really, this is just by cutting down on sugar. If I could eliminate carbs I’d be doing much better, but I have a Celiac panel later this month along with my routine thyroid bloodwork, so I have to continue eating bread and pasta, etc. at least until then. All in all, I’m pretty happy with my progress!)
For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday

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Another week, another meal plan! Nothing unusual this week, just recipes I can throw together pretty easily. I’m really looking forward to making the slow-cooker gyros again. They were a huge hit with everyone last time. I’m not sure what kind of quiche I’ll make this week. Maybe spinach, bacon, and swiss? Zucchini, tomato, and mozzarella? Anyway, here’s my plan:

  • Sunday: Turkey tacos
  • Monday: Crock-Pot Gyros
  • Tuesday: Beef & veggie stir fry
  • Wednesday: Quiche, salad
  • Thursday: BBQ chicken, cole slaw, baked beans
  • Friday: Broccoli-cheese soup, salad
  • Saturday: Leftovers or take-out

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday

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If you celebrated Easter yesterday, I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday! We spent the day with my husband’s family. The kids all loved the annual egg hunt and were thrilled to find money in a few eggs (no military coins, though). My MIL sent us home with a huge container of ham, so I can’t wait to make some split-pea soup. It also saves me a trip to the deli counter — the boys love ham sandwiches for lunch.

So this week is all about getting back into routines. School is back in session, vacation is over, and we’re back to the daily grind. And that’s fine by me! The first thing I did was draft up this week’s meal plan:

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.