Menu Monday: Dinners for the rest of March 2011

Well it is obvious I am quite behind on my menu posts... yep no excuses. However, I decided it might just be slightly easier (on me) if I just went ahead and posted our menus for the rest of the month. So here goes:
(Given the fact that this is going to be a lot, I won't be posting breakfast or lunch menus in this post. If I change my mind and feel like posting breakfast menus for the rest of March I will do it in a separate post.)

Monday. March 14:

• Baked Potatoes. Always a favorite. We usually do butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, and bacon bits on our potatoes. This week I also made a cheese sauce and ate my potato with cheese sauce, ham, green peas, and green onions. YUM! *A little tip on making baked potatoes, after you have washed your potatoes and pricked them with your fork coat the entire potato in olive oil and then a hefty sprinkling of kosher salt. Bake them at 425 for roughly an hour (depending on potato size) and you won't regret it.
  

Tuesday. March 15:

• Penne Rustica. If you haven't tried this yet you haven't lived. Although, there is a strong chance you will live longer than me do to the large amounts of heavy cream I have consumed...
  

Wednesday. March 16:

• Chinese/Costco/Five Guys. It was a late night shopping and what more can you say, we got hungry.
  

Thursday. March 17:

• Lasagna. It was a Relief Society function and so the lasagna was provided by Costco. One day I promise to post our favorite lasagna recipe... just not today.
  

Friday. March 18:

• Chicken Pot Pie... Soup. Okay, this is going to be an experiment. Cooper, my 4 year old loves chicken pot pie (we use this recipe) but he doesn't so much like the crust. He keeps asking me if I can make him a soup with chicken, potatoes, corn, and peas. I have leftover corn and peas from Sunday and Monday respectively and so I am going to play around and see what I get. I'll post what we come up with if it is a success.
  

Saturday. March 19:

• Hawaiian Haystacks
  

Sunday. March 20:

• Chicken Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Country Gravy. This has got to be one of my husband's favorite meals (and mine too) I just love country gravy and this meal is so homey and delicious. Mmm... we are both excited just thinking about it.
  

Whoa! Jr. Miss week for me this week so everything has got to be make ahead or 2 second simple. Here is what I've come up with:

Monday. March 21:

• French Dip Sandwiches. Yum. One of my favorite sandwiches of all time. Some thinly sliced deli roast beef, swiss cheese, hoagie or french bread subs, and some aus jus. Delicious.
  

Tuesday. March 22:

• Chicken Tortellini Bake. We thought we would give this a try this week. I've got some extra tortellini in the fridge and Landon, my youngest, seems to think it is the best ever. As always, if we love it lots you will see it appear on the blog.
  

Wednesday. March 23:

• Santa Fe Soup. This recipe is VERY similar to my mom's taco soup recipe which everybody loves... except husband. For some reason husband never thought he loved my mom's recipe, but he did love this one (probably because he didn't realize it was essentially the exact same recipe... and I used smaller tomatoes) Either way, both are worth trying.
  

Thursday. March 24:

• Meatballs with Cream Sauce. I'm excited to try this recipe. I'll be sure to post our reactions. As a side note, the site this recipe came from has a lot of meatball recipes and I have tagged everyone of them into my delicious account. Here are their links for you as well. If you try them be sure to share. Teriyaki Meatballs, Pineapple Meatballs, Sweet and Sour Meatballs.
  

Friday. March 25:

• California Chicken Yet another one to try. If you haven't noticed the trend yet, all of my to-try recipes this week are coming from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. If you feel like wasting 2 hours of your day looking at one delicious looking recipe after another head on over there. But don't blame me when your house looks like you've neglected your children for the better part of the day mmkay?
  

Saturday. March 26:

• Hot Hoagies This is the actual night of Jr. Miss so my family will need something simple and filling. Here is to hoping this is it.
  

Sunday. March 27:

• Cola Pot Roast
  

Monday. March 28:

• Cheeseburgers and Fries Depending on how ambitious I feel we might pair this with one of our favorite side salad recipes: Pasta Salad or Frito Salad. I might even go for homemade hamburger buns, just because they are delicious.
  

Tuesday. March 29:

• Asian Lettuce Wraps We have a copy cat recipe for PF Chang's lettuce wraps which is really yummy, but it makes far too much for my little family. I decided to try this recipe since I really love lettuce wraps.
  

Wednesday. March 30:

• Chicken with Cream Cheese and Black Beans... in the crockpot We've tried very yummy things similar to this but without the cream cheese. Being the firm believer in adding extra calories that I am I figured "why not?"
  

Thursday. March 31:

• Pork Chops and Funeral Potatoes My mom had such rave reviews for this recipe she posted that I am excited to try it out. I grew up in a pork chop eating family but my husband didn't and so he is never really chomping at the bit to try pork chops. However, my daughter loves them and we rarely, almost never, have them on the menu. So this month we do. Now, I'm pretty sure everyone has a recipe for funeral potatoes. If I am mistaken please let me know and I will post it. (Actually, I'll probably post it anyway... eventually.)
  

Menu Monday: Week of 3/7/2011

We are celebrating spring break so this is a little late... sorry.

Monday

• Breakfast: Pancakes

We broke the menu "rules" so we could try this recipe my mom just posted.

• Dinner: "Cafe Rio" Sweet Pork Burritos.

Always a favorite and definitely a staple at our house.

Tuesday

• Breakfast: Cold Cereal

... it was day 2 of spring break... I kind of just dropped the ball.

• Dinner: Steak Bites, Baked Potatoes, Popcorn Shrimp and Chipa.

So, we were supposed to have steak bites a couple weeks ago, but for some reason never did. They got transported to this week's menu with the addition of chipa. Little word of warning... the chipa is so delicious it will ruin your appetite. So, maybe use a little moderation. Or at least make sure it finishes the exact time the rest of your dinner does or you'll end up with a full plate of delicious food and not an ounce of room for it in your belly. (But you'll still be happy)

Wednesday

• Breakfast: Hash/Breakfast Potatoes

We have leftover baked potatoes from dinner tonight (Tuesday) and so I will cube them up and fry them in a skillet with some crisp bacon pieces, onion, and then finish it off with eggs. If you are unfamiliar with hash, look at this recipe from food network.

• Dinner: Zuppa Toscana, Potato Corn Chowder, and White Chicken Chili

I am hosting an appreciation dinner this night and we are serving soup, hence the three different soups. These three are three of our very favorite soup recipes.

Thursday

• Breakfast: Dutch Baby

We have German pancakes (or puffy pancakes) all the time. In looking at the recipe a dutch baby seems very similar so I am excited to give it a try. I will post the recipe if it is a success.

• Dinner: Poppy Seed Chicken

Poppy Seed Chicken is a regular on our dinner menus at our house. It is so yummy and super easy. You couldn't ask for more.

Friday

• Breakfast: Blueberry Muffins and bacon (and orange juice)

It's my birthday and I like to have the same thing for breakfast every year. This year is no exception, YUM! Now if I could just narrow it down to a new recipe to try. Here are my top four contenders. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Aagh! Somebody help me.

• Dinner: No "in the kitchen" dinner plans for me this day.

Saturday

• Breakfast:

The girl and I are going to be away at Disney on Ice, so husband is most likely going to make fried eggs and sausage for breakfast for the boys. It's their favorite and husband is kind of an expert at it.

• Dinner:

Husband is on his own again... I'm picking up hot dog fixins for him.

Sunday

• Breakfast: Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

• Dinner: This is going to be my birthday dinner day.

Big yummy plans. I will be making our favorite ham (this one), mashed potatoes and gravy, the most delicious spinach salad with poppy seed dressing (I'll try and post this recipe later this week) and then, naturally some dessert. My pregnant belly is currently wrestling with strawberry shortcake (always a birthday favorite) and creme brule... decisions.

Menu Monday: Week of 2/28/2011

This week's menu is going to be a little bit different. We will only be home for dinner 2 nights this week. So, you see, a two day menu wouldn't exactly suffice now would it.
I decided, in lieu, to post my "method" for menu making.
I have a system that makes sure we get a "well balanced week", but mainly it just makes it easier when trying to come up with what to make for dinner every night.
In short, I assign topics for each meal of the day and each day of the week. Here is how it breaks down for us:

And if you are in the mood to be reading for the next day or so, here is the "holy cow, will she ever stop talking?" version:

Mondays:

• Breakfast: Hot Cereal whether that be Malt O'Meal, Cracked Wheat, or Oatmeal
• Lunch: Sandwiches I'm not a sandwich fan generally... but they are cheaper and quicker than the alternative. So I pretend to force myself to make sandwiches a couple lunches a week. I usually end up making something a little more elaborate though. Aagh! lunch is the worst meal of the day.
• Dinnner: Crockpot I teach piano lessons until late on Mondays. So, I like to plan crockpot meals because it is something I can do earlier in the day and then not have to worry about at 6:00 at night when my last piano lesson gets over.

Tuesdays:

• Breakfast: Eggs Any kind of eggs; scrambled, poached, fried, etc. Things like breakfast burritos, egg mcmuffins, baked eggs, and so on all fall into the egg category for us.
• Lunch: Leftovers Ha! I'm not a leftover girl. I always make way more food then necessary to feed our family, I just generally don't eat leftovers. (Which is why I like to make friends with the teenage boys in the neighborhood so I can make them eat my leftovers.) Once again, this is a ploy to try to get me to do something manageable for lunch...
• Dinner: Casserole This is another late piano lesson night for me so I try to keep it manageable. In our house, anything that can essentially be put in one dish, assembled ahead of time or with very little prep is considered a "casserole"

Wednesdays:

• Breakfast: Pancakes Oh man, I love pancakes! Especially in my pregnant state. In the off chance I'm not in a pancake mood, waffles and french toast also qualify in the pancake genre
• Lunch: Sandwiches
• Dinner: Soup!!! Yay! Wednesday is my favorite food day. Soup has got to be one of my all time favorite food genres. It's also quick and easy. With Wednesday being my last piano lesson day of the week it is also just another little trick I use to keep things under control. In the spring/summer months, which, let's face it, in Idaho don't usually happen until mid June, we swap out the soup genre for something more season friendly like grilling

Thursdays:

• Breakfast: Muffins Coffee cakes as well. And sometimes I even consider biscuits and gravy as a muffin. It's a "baked good" for breakfast
• Lunch: Salads Okay, now I would have this everyday for lunch. My husband, however, would not. So it gets Thursdays... which happen to be the day of the week that my husband has his work meetings. Win win for all.
• Dinner: Ethnic Another favorite genre of mine. So in this bundle we have Italian, Chinese, Mexican, etc. Yum

Fridays:

• Breakfast: Eggs Once again. With so many options it is always easy to come up with two egg dishes a week. Plus, if my kids had their way, they would eat eggs for every meal every day
• Lunch: Lunch misc. In this category we put things like chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, quesadillas, hot dogs... none of which are things I like. Which is why I don't like lunch.
• Dinner: Quick and Easy/Date Night Friday nights are hard dinner nights. If Husband and I are on a date I like to plan food that is quick and easy to prepare for my kids. If we are home, I like to plan date night food, like restaurant copy cats and such. (When you live in the middle of nowhere, or are on a budget, or pregnant, you get really good at mimicking your favorite restaurant dishes.)

Saturdays:

• Breakfast: Chef's choice Saturday mornings are our big breakfast days. I usually let myself pick whatever suits my fancy. I make things like quiche, eggs benedict, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns eggs and bacon, breakfast burritos, etc. You name it. If I crave it on Saturday morning, or Monday morning when I make my menus, then I make it on Saturday. Yay for breakfast food!
• Lunch: Sandwiches it's a crock
• Dinner: pasta/rice We have a lot of pasta dishes and rice dishes in our repetoire and in general my children just love pasta. So, we couldn't just contain it to ethnic night. Although, I do try to mix it up. If we had a pasta dish ethnic night we have a rice dish Saturday night and so on.

Sundays:

• Breakfast: Cold Cereal We used to have early morning church and I would have to have all the kids and myself out the door by 8:15. Now, church is two hours later, but I still just think Sunday mornings have enough going on without worrying about a big breakfast.
• Lunch: Quick Fix If on the off chance we don't have dinner ready as soon as we walk in the door from church, we eat things like nachos...
• Dinner: Sunday Dinner Roasts, potatoes, rolls, salads, etc. Lunch and dinner are pretty much interchangeable on Sundays.

And, in case you were curious, on this weeks dinner "menu" is:
Navajo Tacos,
Cream Cheese Chicken,
and the possibility of some beef stew in the crock pot, using the leftover brisket from yesterday.

Happy menus!

Menu Monday: Week of 2/21/11

I've been meaning to post menus for a while. So here is the first installment. This is what we are eating this week. The majority of the recipes this time are ones we haven't tried but I will try to rate them after we eat them... try being the operative word. ;)

Oh, and one more explanation: I don't like lunch... so no lunch plans.

Monday

• Breakfast: Fried eggs, sausage patties and hash browns with country gravy
• Dinner: Carne asada tacos.

Loved them!!! I've now posted the recipe on the blog here.

Tuesday

• Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal.

Also on our blog now, here

• Dinner: Roast Chicken with a Broccoli and Rice Casserole.

Double thumbs up. This was definitely yummy. Now you can find the recipe on our blog here. Also, my very favorite tutorial for how to cook chicken is found here at Our Best Bites.

Wednesday

• Breakfast: Pancakes our favorite recipe found here.
• Dinner: Tortellini Soup and French Bread

This was good... but not "oh my gosh this is so good!" My youngest had almost 3 helpings, so it is definitely child friendly. It was also VERY simple to make. However, I was just expecting more. So, I'll keep looking for a tortellini soup recipe because this isn't it for me. (If you have one you love, please share)

Thursday

• Breakfast: Apple Strudel Muffins

originally I was thinking this wasn't my favorite... until my kids loved them and kept eating them all day long... and then, of course, I ate my fair share before bed. So, I've posted the recipe here on our blog.

• Dinner: Ginger Lime Stir Fry

Okay WOW!! I'm not sure but it kind of seemed like every other recipe this week was a little disappointing. Not this one though. I loved it! I mean LOVED it! I've now posted it here on our blog for all to use. Fantastic. (Much thanks to my cousin Jandee who originally posted this on her blog so I could find it and love it)

Friday

• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and sausage and cream cheese roll ups

Little lack of planning on my part this morning. I guess my sausage wasn't still good... whoops. So, we didn't exactly make these for breakfast. Instead we made this and I loved it again. I did take a few liberties however, like just spreading the filling and jam on the crescent and then rolling it up normal crescent roll style. It worked great and was a lot less work.

• Dinner: Sticky Finger Salad. Take our favorite sticky finger recipe, put it on top of some lettuce with shredded cheddar cheese, craisins, and ranch dressing. TaDa: Healthy!

Saturday

• Breakfast: Fluffy French Toast
• Dinner: Steak bites and baked potatoes. Our kids just love steak bites. So do Brandon and I. I might even throw some popcorn shrimp in the oven as well.

Sunday

• Breakfast: Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
• Dinner: Braised Beef Brisket with Onions, Mushrooms, and Balsamic. (I'm so excited to try this recipe)

Also, for a special treat, we are going to try this recipe for Coconut Custard

So, wish us luck. Feel free to join the menu band wagon. I would love to see what's on your list for your bellies this week.