Menu Plan Monday… May 12, 2008

I have every intention of making Pasta Bake this week. Last week just got away from me. We were out and about and by the time we got home, I just decided to make some homemade pizza instead. 

Monday - Three Cheese Pasta Bake

Tuesday - Tacos

Wednesday - Chicken & Spinach Calzones

Thursday - Sloppy Joes & homemade fries with cheese sauce

Friday - Baked Orange Chicken

Saturday - Eggplant Paremesan

Sunday - CORN (Clean Out Refrigerator Night)

Come share your Menu Plan here…

Menu Plan Monday… May 5, 2008

I need to go grocery shopping. In an if-I-don’t-we’ll-all-certainly-starve kind of way! Right now I have stuff for turkey stroganoff. And some apples. And maybe some boxes of macaroni and cheese. We don’t even have any bread - or bread products. Very disheartening to our carb-loving family! And the scariest part? We might not even have time to hit the grocery store today! We’re leaving early this morning for Springfield because we have a birthday to celebrate (Seth turned 3 last Friday but we were busy and Chip’s parents couldn’t join us). We’ll do Starbucks, Build-a-Bear, Dicks Sporting Goods (Kait needs a new ball glove), Toys R Us, and Chuck E Cheese and still somehow make it back for Kait to be at softball at 4pm and then Noah has tball at 5:30pm. But we still have to eat, so we’ll find time in there somewhere to go to the Kroger.

Monday - Turkey Stroganoff

Tuesday - Grilled chicken legs with

Wednesday - Hamburgers and homemade ovenbaked fries

Thursday - Spaghetti with garlic bread and salad

Friday - Homemade pizza

Saturday - Three Cheese Baked Pasta (this is our friend Karen’s recipe - I’m hoping it’s half as big a hit with our family as it is with hers).

1 lb uncooked pasta (I use mostaccioli)
1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped
6oz mozzarella cheese
6 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce (Use your favorite spaghetti sauce)
6oz provolone cheese thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheesePreheat oven 350 degrees. Brown ground beef and onion in skillet over medium heat. Drain meat. Stir in Pasta sauce. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, then drain. Lightly grease 9×13 inch pan/baking dish. Layer ingredients as follows: Half of the cooked pasta, all of the provolone cheese (layer evenly), all of the sour cream (spread an even layer), half the sauce, remaining pasta, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce. Top with grated parmesan cheese. Bake in oven 30 minutes.Sunday - CORN (Clean Out Fridge Night) because this momma isn’t cooking on Mother’s Day!

S - CORN (Clean Out Refrigerator Night)

Sunday bulletin… May 4, 2008

• I’ve gone without coffee first thing in the morning for the past two mornings. We ran out and had no time to get to the store.
• I’d rather *not* drink coffee than drink Folgers.
• It’s my fault we ran out of coffee.
• We *will* be stopping by Starbucks in the morning on our way to Springfield. I cannot face Build-a-Bear and especially not Chuck E Cheese without coffee.
• I’ve been popping Excederin the past two days merely for the caffiene kick.
• I bought a Veg-o-Matic today. We’ll be having oven-baked fries a lot more often now.
• We had a successful sale at the church but still only raised half of what we needed. I’m sooo glad that’s done for another year!
• I think someone should make “I twitter therefore I am” tshirts.
• Twitter makes the world significantly smaller - even moreso than blogging.
• Our weekends are full through the middle of OCTOBER! That’s right - booked for the next 5.5 months!
• Mother’s day is next weekend.
• I put that bulletin in there hoping that maybe I’ll actually remember to send my mom a card this year.
• My mom shouldn’t hold her breath! But I think she knows that (or at least she does now! Hi Mom!)
• I things cards are fun - but I’d rather someone just give me the $4 they’d spend on a card so I could go to Starbucks.
• We’re doing a study on a Gordon Fee book on Sunday nights. When you throw around words like exegesis, hermeneutics and eschatology, it makes me remember how much I hated going to classes in college. *Loved* the college experience. *Hated* the classes with too many big words!
• I had couscous for dinner tonight. I love couscous.
• Kait is going to be mad that I ate it without her! Sorry, Kaitlyn!
• I don’t have to babysit this week. Which means I won’t have to change any diapers this week! YAY!
• I had a great nap today and feel like I caught up on some much needed sleep.
• I’m still looking for inspiration for new meals for my menu - all recommendations need to be tried and true recipes though.

Menu Plan Monday… April 28, 2008

I’m really, really struggling with a menu this week. I want fast, simple, so-easy-my-kids-can-make-it meals. I should have thought ahead. I should have frozen something for this week. I should have, would have, could have if I had actually looked at my calendar for this week in particular. Things are crazy busy and I’m going to be crazy tired by the ends of the day. But I’m pretty sure Chip and the kids are going to want to eat, so I’ll come up with a menu of sorts.

Monday - Frozen Pizza

Tuesday - Chicken & Couscous

Wednesday - Spaghetti

Thursday - Enchiladas (because I never made them last week)

Friday - Grilled Chicken Legs (because I can make Chip cook them if they are on the grill)

Saturday - Turkey Stroganoff

Sunday - Leftovers

Sunday bulletin… April 27, 2008

• Chip preached his face off this morning. GREAT sermon on a touchy subject. It’s great to see him really preach when he’s passionate about it.
• My kids are getting too big. It’s that time of year where we go through stuff and redo the dressers. They’ve outgrown so much in the past 6 months.
• It’s birthday week in our house. Elijah’s was last Saturday and Seth’s is on Friday.
• I have a migraine. Again. And it sucks!
• Chip and I compared calendars and we are busy every weekend from now until the middle of June and that doesn’t count baseball/softball/tball schedules. That will just make things even crazier.
• My desktop computer is starting to die. I really need to get everyone off that we need and restore it. We’ve had it for 4 years and have never had to do a total restore so I guess it’s about time. We’ve been fortunate.
• Looking forward to the new Indiana Jones movie coming out in May.
• I’m completely addicted to Twitter. Y’all should go join and follow me.
• I need some inspiration for my menu for this next week. Anyone have any suggestions?

Menu Plan Monday… April 21, 2008

It’s hard to get back into the saddle after having a week off from cooking last week. However, I can say that I am absolutely sick of eating out, so maybe it won’t be so hard after all. We eat out quite a bit when we’re up at my Gram’s because we don’t want her cooking for us the whole time and wearing herself to thin. Not to mention that Tuesday night we were able to go out for dinner with my nephew to celebrate his 10th birthday. Just doesn’t seem like he should be that old.

Monday - Pizza with salad

Tuesday - Chicken & Couscous

Wednesday - Hamburgers with fries

Thursday - Grilled meat with potatoes

Friday - Lasagna

Saturday - Enchiladas

Sunday - Leftovers

I can definitely use some inspiration for next week. What’s on your menu?

Sunday bulletin… April 20, 2008

• We don’t actually have bulletins at our church anymore. So it’s kind of funny that I call it that on my blog.
• The right person - Kristy Lee Cook - went home on American Idol last week. Not necessarily the worst of the week, but definitely the worst out of the people left overall. It was time for her to go. Hopefully Carly will go this week. Or David Archuletta.
• I thoroughly enjoyed my time of vacation this last week.
• I’d move to Chicago tomorrow if I could. I *love* that city! We were at Lincoln Park Zoo in downtown Chicago last Monday. My kids cannot stop talking about it.
• I’m seriously craving some Lou Malnati pizza right now. It’s just wrong that it’s not a national thing and I can’t get it down here. Another trip to the city is already in order and we just got home.
• I got the best new apron at Ikea on Thursday. It’s brown and orange and stripey and there is not a flower on it. Why do most aprons look like they were made for my grandma?
• My grandma would *not* wear an apron with flowers on it.
• Ordered some new books on Amazon today. Can’t wait until they get here. I love new books.
• My friends lost their brother in Iraq this past week. It’s weird because I can remember Ricky hanging around when he was just a little kid. It’s just not right. The funeral is later this week.

Menu Plan Monday… April 7, 2008

Last week went pretty good. We moved a couple meals around and never did eat the spinach calzones. We ARE having them this week though. We can’t go out to eat *on* my birthday, so I’m making them on Wednesday.

Monday - out for my birthday. Chip asked his dad to babysit so he could take me out for dinner. We’re going to Texas Roadhouse because I’m really wanting steak again.

Tuesday - Chicken & couscous. This is a staple in our house. We love us some couscous.

Wednesday - Chicken spinach calzones

Thursday - Grilled meat with potatoes. Not sure what kind of meat it will be - it will depend on what’s on sale or what I’m wanting when we wander the meat section at the Kroger tomorrow.

Friday - out for Noah’s birthday. We’ll do Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and then not sure for dinner.

Saturday - Pizza. I want something with minimal mess and even less leftovers. We leave after church on Sunday for Wisconsin.

Sunday - Gram’s Fried Chicken! My Gram called today as we were waiting on our table for lunch and asked what we wanted for dinner. In unison, the older three kids all started begging for fried chicken. I just can’t make it like Gram does so I don’t even try anymore.

It’s going to be a busy week. I’m hoping with a menu the temptation to eat out won’t be there. We’ll see how things go. Especially since I’m still not feeling very well.

Menu Plan Monday… March 31, 2008

Time again for another Menu Plan Monday… 

So, I’m struggling with the desire to cook right now. The truth is, I love to cook, but hate my kitchen. I’ve pretty sure that I’ve lamented about this all before. We did fairly well this past week, but ended up eating out on Friday and Saturday night. Friday was a special night and Saturday I had a headache and really just didn’t want to. Saturdays are long enough for me without having to cook something. Hopefully this week will be better…

Monday - Chicken & Couscous

Tuesday - Loaded Nachos

Wednesday - Spinach Calzones (that I didn’t make last week)

Thursday - Ravioli

Friday - Jambalya

Saturday - Pizza

Sunday - Leftovers

We’ll see how things go this week. I’m not real excited about anything on the list…

Crockpot pizza… March 25, 2008

Is probably one of the easiest things you can make for dinner. I’ve never made it! ROFL

But we had it at a friends house for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and it was super simple to make. I’m going to try it tonight and my kids can’t wait.

Basically, you boil noodles (whatever kind i you want to use - we’re using rotini) until they are tender. Brown 1pound of hamburger. Gather the noodles, pizza sauce, cheese, and hamburger and whatever toppings you like on your pizza.

Spray down the crockpot with cooking spray or olive oil (I usually let my kids “paint” the inside with a pastry brush because I don’t like the chemicals in the spray stuff). Layer some noodles, some hamburger, whatever toppings you choose (we’re using turkey pepperoni and mushrooms - although they don’t know about the mushrooms yet) and then top with sauce and cover with cheese. Make another layer and another until you either run out of room or stuff.

Then turn on the crockpot for 30 minutes and go write your own blog entry, or play Scrabulous with me. We’re having this tonight with garlic bread and cottage cheese.