March Menu Plan

February flew by…I guess that is what happens when a month only has 28 days!  With a new month comes a new menu plan.  We’re eating some yummy food in march.  Here it is:

February Menu Plan

I tried menu planning for an entire month for January and it worked great!  I loved that I only had to plan once for the month.  I didn’t end up making all the meals that I planned for (which is normal for me.)  I just added them to the beginning of this month.  So far I’m loving this only plan once a month thing!  

Here’s what we’re having this month:

1: Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches with chips

2: Super Bowl Sunday: Subs, mini dogs wrapped with bacon

3: Pioneer Woman Chicken Spaghetti

4: Ranch Pork Chops & Potatoes

5: Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

6: UsBorne Book Party: Buffalo Chicken Dip Bites, Meatballs, Cream cheese with Cherry Pomegranate sauce & crackers

7: Crockpot Lasagna Soup

8: Easy Sausage Skillet

9: Steak, Baked Potato, veggie

10: Crockpot Beef & Noodles

11: Enchiladas

12: Easiest Crockpot Chicken ever, roasted potatoes, veggie

13: Homemade Hamburger Helper

14: Creamy Lemon-Pesto Chicken & Linguine

15: Nana cooks! It’s a surprise!

16: Stuffed Pork Chops, potato, veggie (The Man cooks)

17:  Chicken Biscuit Roll Ups

18: Mini Meat loafs, veggie, mashed potatoes

19: Collard Green Stew with Chorizo & garlic

20: Chicken & Rice Casserole

21: Nachos

22: Nana Cooks!  It’s a surprise!

23: Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken over rice

24: Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork, veggie

25: Chicken Bacon Ranch Crockpot Meal

26: Taco Stroganoff

27: White Chicken Chili

28: Pizza (Nana cooks!)

 

What are you eating this month (or this week?)

 

I’m linking up with:

Menu Planning

I, like many others, menu plan.  I don’t love doing it.  I do it because I hate trying to figure out what to eat everyday and it helps us save money.  I was planning for every two weeks.  The two week plan would end and I’d put off making another and I’d have to scrounge for food.  Which I can do but don’t love that either.  

I decided to try something different for 2014.  I’m going to plan a month at a time.  I’ll shop every two weeks.  I’m hoping that making that mid-month shopping list will be much easier since I already have the meals planned out.  I’m planning on keeping the monthly lists and there is a very real possibility we’ll eat almost the same menu next year.  That would be a dream…to just be able to copy the previous year’s menu and add a few new recipes through out the month.  I really hope this works!

Here’s what we’re eating for January.

3rd: Beef Faitijas

4th: Rice and Beans

5th: Homemade Hamburger Helper

6th: Buffalo Chicken Soup

7th: Cattle Drive Casserole

8th: Chicken & Rice Casserole 

9th: Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops & Potatoes with a veggie

10-13th- At a friend’s wedding (no cooking, YAY!)

14th Chicken Yakisoba

15th: Beef Stew

16th: Baked Chicken, Homemade Rice-A-Roni, veggie

17th: Tacos

18th: Homemade Pho

19th: Lasagna (mom cooks)

20th Zuppa Tuscana (The Man cooks)

21st: Crockpot Beef & Noodles 

22nd: Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

23rd: Cream Cheese Chicken

24th: Cheesy Chipotle Chicken Rice Bowl

25th: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (mom cooks)

26th: Spaghetti Carbonara

27th: Steak, Baked Potato & veggie (The Man cooks)

28th: Pasta with Sausage, Kale & Beans

29th: Cashew Chicken with Rice

30th: Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches with chips & veggie sticks

31st: Crockpot Lasagna Soup

What are you eating?

 

I’m linking up with:

Menu Planning Monday

It’s Monday again and its gorgeous in the PNW! We are in the middle of a heat wave and I must admit I’m loving it! It’s been in the 80’s for the past two days.  It’s so nice!  I haven’t really been wanting to cook so we’ve been grilling.  It counts, right?!?

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Monday: Crockpot Beef & Noodles, with veggie sticks and fruit.

I’m also making chicken broth in the crockpot.  I love that I can have two of them going and it doesn’t make the kitchen any warmer! And homemade chicken broth…YUM!

Tuesday: Steak, baked potato, & a veggie.

Wednesday: Chicken Spaghetti

Thursday: Fiesta Chicken

Friday: I have no idea yet but I’ll be using up whatever it in our fridge.  I’m thinking a stir-fry might be nice.

 

A while back Elizabeth mentioned on Twitter that she signed up for a free course on Child Nutrition and Cooking.  I thought is sounded interesting so I checked it up and signed up too.  It started today and I’ve watched the video and so far: AMAZING!  So far it’s been simple stuff, things I already knew but it’s nice to be reminded of them.  The class started today and I'm not sure if you can still enroll.  If you can, GO DO IT NOW! 

Linking up with:

Menu Planning Monday

It’s Menu Planning Monday again! I need to come up with a more creative title for these posts but on a Monday morning it’s hard to do! 

Sunday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Crockpot Meal with Salad

Monday: Stuffed Shells with Salad

Tuesday: Pizza Casserole with Salad (notice a trend?)

Wednesday: Cream Cheese Chicken with Salad

Thursday Pronto Pasta & Sausage Skillet (Pampered Chef)

Friday: Loaded Baked Potato Chowder (Pampered Chef) This on the my last menu plan but it didn’t get made so it got put back on the menu!

Saturday: Beans & Rice…I’m going to wing this one and make it up as I go.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Cream Cheese Chicken & Veggie Soup

Sunday: Homemade Hamburger Helper

Monday: Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff with Salad

Tuesday: Ham & Hash Brown Casserole with Salad

Wednesday: Chicken & Rice Casserole

Thursday: 15 minute Skillet Cassoulet

Friday: Balsamic Chicken with Salad

Another two weeks down! I don’t plan for lunches because we usually do leftovers for that. If I don’t plan a second meal for Saturday or Sunday we’ll either eat out or scrounge something up from what we have. 

What you are eating this week?

Linking up with:

What’s for dinner? Chicken & Rice Casserole

Since becoming a mom I’ve been mostly cooking quick and easy meals.  Munchkin has a short window of tolerance for letting me cook.  Crockpot meals are ideal as are casseroles.  This casserole is yummy, easy and tweakable if you’d like to change it up a bit.  It’s perfect for hiding veggies in so feel free to add some!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice

3 cups cooked chicken breasts, chopped*

2 cups cream of chicken soup (1 can) (use whatever cream of something you have on hand. or a homemade one like SOS mix)

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup mayo

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

.5* I take 2-3 frozen chicken breasts and grill them on my stove with my grill pan and press.  I heat the pan with the press inside.  While it’s heating I brush the breasts lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with Greek seasoning. You can use whatever seasoning your family likes best.  They take about 8-10 minutes to cook.  Then I cut it up and add it in!

1. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl.

2. Place in buttered casserole dish (if you use a stoneware casserole you don’t need to grease it).  Top with 1/4 cup bread crumbs or French’s French Fried Onions.  Bake for 30 minutes.

I’ve added mixed veggies to this, as well as finely chopped cauliflower and broccoli.  The rice hides things beautifully.  Just don’t put too much broccoli in or it could overpower it!

What’s your go to recipe?

I’m linking up with:

Menu Planning Monday

I have a love hate relationship with menu planning.  I hate actually doing it but I love having it done.  When I first started menu planning, I just planned meals that we’d be having that week and made sure we had what we needed.  Then we needed to lower our grocery budget.  To make that happen, I started assigning meals to a certain day.  This way I can make sure to use overlapping ingredients before they go bad.  I love doing it this way because I don’t have to think about what’s for dinner…I just check the meal plan.  If for some reason we really don’t want what I had planned, I make something else, normally spaghetti.  It doesn’t happen all that often.

I plan in two week increments, so here’s what we’re eating for the next two weeks:

Monday: Pasta with Italian Sausage, Kale & Beans

Tuesday: Family Burrito Bake from The Pampered Chef’s Dinner in Your Deep Covered Baker (I call this recipe crack because it’s sooo good!)

Wednesday: Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken over Noodles

Thursday: Chorizo, Collard Green and Garlic Stew over Rice

Friday: Steak, Baked Potato, Cauliflower Casserole

Saturday: Loaded Baked Potato Chowder (lunch)

Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo (dinner; The Man cooks)

Sunday (Easter): Ham, Stuffing, Bacon wrapped Asparagus

Monday: Homemade Hamburger Helper

Tuesday: Chicken & Rice Casserole

Wednesday: 15 Minute Skillet Cassoulet

Thursday: Crockpot Flank Steak, Roasted Potatoes, Broccoli bites

Friday: Fajita Wantons & Eggrolls

Saturday: Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

I use pinterest to keep track of recipes.  I just pin things that look yummy and go back and check it out when I’m menu planning.  The italicized items are new recipes that we’re trying.  I’m hoping they are all yummy!

What are you eating this week?

I’m linking up with The Young Retiree and Taingamala for Menu Planning Monday.