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Clearly it is well past Monday this week, very late for a menu post… I could have just waited until tomorrow and started with next week, but I was afraid I might not get to it.  I did start writing my Menu Plan Monday post for this past week, but somehow the draft did not get saved, and while I was waiting for time to look for links, the post got lost.

The second half of March is going to be a busy month with Erik’s birthday, a trip to Ames for a wedding and my quarterly editing deadline.  So, I spent the time to write out the next four weeks of menus all at once.   I also put extra effort into getting deals at the grocery store.  As of today I should have pretty much everything I need for the month (other than produce, milk, eggs and coffee) to last me for the rest of the month.   I will also need some extra food for Erik’s birthday party and I will probably make quick trips to Rainbow to double a few coupons on the next couple Wednesdays…but on the whole I am really happy with the fact I have spent just a bit over half of my grocery budget for the month and have enough food to make dinner through the end of the month and even a few days beyond.

Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

Monday (3/8): We had chicken quarters cooked in the crock pot (marinated in Sun Dried Tomato dressing…yum!), make-ahead mashed potatoes from the freezer and carrots.

Tuesday: We had pulled pork sandwiches (freezer leftovers from Kai’s birthday) with coleslaw and sweet potato fries

Wednesday: We had Enchiladas with chips and salsa — one pan of Seafood enchiladas and one pan of Bean and Corn enchiladas (filling is beans, corn, onions, tomato sauce or enchilada sauce, and green chilies if you want it to be spicy).

Thursday: We had Fish Chowder (recipe from crockpot356.blogspot.com) and fresh homemade bread

Friday: We had Chicken Spaghetti Bake (recipe in this post) and broccoli

Saturday: Grill out burgers and hot dogs…yes, it is optimistic but we are going to “welcome spring” with a few friends on Saturday night.

Sunday: It’s Pi(e) day! Get it…3/14…uh, huh.  So, we will have Taco Pie for our main course and some kind of sweet pie for dessert.  Madeline requests Raspberry pie, but I don’t know how that will turn out with frozen raspberries.

Future weeks:

Monday (3/15): Pork loin, baked potatoes, salad or veggie

Tuesday: Chili Bake (from the freezer) and a salad or veggie

Wednesday: It’s St. Patrick’s Day! I’m trying a Corned beef brisket for the first time, served with potatoes and cabbage (maybe served as Colcannon).  And maybe some Irish Soda Bread?

Thursday: Chicken, bean and rice burritos

Friday: A pasta casserole with the Sun Dried Tomato Albacore I got free at Rainbow last week.  No exact recipe…I’ll be making it up as I go along.  Serve with a veggie or salad.

Saturday: Meatloaf and a potato or rice side dish from the freezer w/veggies or salad

Sunday: Erik’s birthday party at lunch (menu TBA), and either leftovers for dinner or maybe Broccoli Cheese Soup.

Monday (3/22): Pork chops and a potato or rice side dish and a veggie or salad

Tuesday: Spaghetti or an Italian Pasta Bake

Wednesday: Curried Chickpeas with rice and maybe Naan.

Thursday: Erik’s birthday…maybe Pizza? Or something else of his choosing.

Friday-Sunday: Trip to Iowa

Monday (3/28): Tacos with ground beef

Tuesday: Chicken Tettrazini (recipe in this post) and a veggie or salad

Wednesday: Pork Roast and a potato or rice side dish with a veggie or salad  (notice all the pork in the menu? Can you tell I used 10 pork coupons recently to stock up when it was on sale a couple times?). 

Thursday: Tator tot casserole

Friday: Chicken Tortilla Soup (recipe from crockpot365.blogspot.com)

By Saturday, April 3rd I am hoping my editing will be finished and I can do Saturday double coupons to start stocking up for April. 

For lots more menu inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday every week at orgjunkie.com!

I guess it is “better late than never” this week.    At least it is still Monday for a little bit longer.  I am really getting in the groove of planning my menu based mostly on what I have already in the house, and putting any meals that need extra ingredients I don’t have on hand into the second half of the week, after I have had a chance to do some grocery shopping.

In general my pantry/freezer are looking more full than they have in a while.  I am trying to get better about applying the “stocking up” principle of buying enough of an item when it is at a rock-bottom sale price to get me through until the next rock-bottom sale price.  My general tendency has been to only buy one or two of something when it is on sale.  But with a family of five eager eaters, “one or two” of almost anything does not last for very long (well, at least four of the five are eager.  Calling Erik “eager” to eat would be a bit of an exaggeration these days as he sometimes seems to be eating less than Kai!).

So, instead of buying the 4 frozen containers of juice with one coupon this past week (enough juice to last two weeks, max), I bought 12 containers of juice and used three coupons.  Maybe that will get us through the next 4-6 weeks until I can make another sale/coupon pairing.  A few weeks ago I bought 9 bags of frozen veggies for a total of $3.   There are still a few left, and it has been so great to not worry about running out of peas, corn or green beans.  And you can bet that the next time I see ground beef “reduced for quick sale” at $1.49/lb I won’t just buy one 5 lb package like I did last time (and now I am dying for a sale on ground beef!) but I will buy two or three if the budget will allow.

I also need to take better advantage of the rock bottom produce sale prices on veggies when Aldi offers them.   I got a 5lb bag of potatoes on sale pretty inexpensively this past week at Rainbow, so today I made a batch of Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes.  The next time sweet potatoes are on sale I will buy multiple packages and freeze some mashed sweet potatoes.  If onions and peppers go on sale, I will make Fajita kits to put in the freezer.   Ditto for fruit when it gets to be the time of year where fruit that’s worth freezing (like berries) are on sale.

Here’s what I have planned for this week:

Monday: Tonight we had beef roast (on sale + coupon last week at Super Target), mashed potatoes, and asparagus

Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti (and maybe some non-spicy Spaghetti for the kids if I take pity on their lack of liking to eat spicy food!) and salad or frozen veggies

Wednesday: Pork chops (sale + coupon last week at SuperTarget — still waiting for an awesome sale to use the rest of my stash of pork coupons!) and a rice/veggie side dish from the freezer

Thursday: Creamy Beef and Noodles (similar to Beef Stroganoff, and based on the recipe from crockpot365.blogspot.com). I’ll be trying out using leftover beef from dinner tonight, plus some other leftover cooked beef roast from the freezer…plus a veggie or salad

Friday: Chicken Tortilla Soup and quesidillas

Saturday: Chinese beef and broccoli (recipe held over from last week — we at pizza with friends instead) and cream cheese wontons

Sunday: Either Fajitas or Enchiladas…depending on what deals come my way this week.

For lots more menu inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

It’s already time for the last Menu Plan Monday for February.   February always goes by quickly since it is the shortest month, but with Kai’s birthday and Valentines Day to celebrate and the Olympics to watch, it feels even shorter than usual.  Here’s what I have on the menu this week.  I am once again able to make most of my meals from what’s in my fridge/freezer/pantry.  I am really enjoying having most of what I need already on hand when the week begins, then looking forward to the next week as I do my grocery shopping mid-week.

Monday: Chicken and dumplings (recipe from crockpot365.blogspot.com)

Tuesday: Italian Pasta Bake with ground turkey (essentially pasta tomato or spaghetti sauce, ground turkey, cheese and seasonings)

Wednesday: Homemade Pizza

Thursday: ground beef Tacos

Friday: Broccoli Cheese soup and homemade bread

Saturday: Date Night!

Sunday: Chinese beef and broccoli and maybe homemade cream cheese wontons or another Chinese appetizer.

For more great menu ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

It’s time for another Menu Plan Monday! Here’s what I have planned this week.  I’m again trying to work mostly off of what I have purchased on sale previous weeks, then adding a few things here and there to complete each meal (plus buying new sale items to use in future weeks).  I am hoping this will lead to lower overall costs:

Monday: Shrimp & pork stir fry and egg rolls (pork leftover from last week’s tenderloin; shrimp on sale at cub this week)

Tuesday: baked Chicken (leg quarters bought on sale last week for 39 cents/lb!), mashed potatoes, and a veggie or salad.

Wednesday: Beef roast (bought on sale + coupon at Target a week or so ago) with Broccoli Rice casserole

Thursday: Chicken Tetrazzini  and a veggie or salad (menu item held over from last week — we had pizza at the Children’s museum one night last week instead of eating dinner at home). I’ve posted my Tetrazzini recipe in a previous MPM entry.

Friday: Date night! Yeah for another date! Kids will eat pizza or mac and cheese.

Saturday: Black Bean soup and quesidillas

Sunday: Meatloaf (I make mine approximately like this) and baked potatoes and a veggie or salad

For lots more great menu ideas, visit this week’s Menu Plan Monday link-up at orgjunkie.com!

I never got around to posting a Menu Plan last week…partly due to busyness and partly due to feeling uncertain about how some of my menu choices were going to work out.  And sure enough, I did make more last minute changes in my menu last week than normal.

This past week we ended up having Creamy Beef and Noodles, Leftover soup, Chicken Fajitas, Spaghetti (well, the kids had this while we ate at a church meeting), homemade pizza, Curried Chickpeas & Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes w/rice…and then today we had slow cooker pulled pork for lunch (family lunch to celebrate Kai’s birthday) and the traditional Superbowl meal of Chili for dinner.

Here’s what I have on the schedule for this week.  I am mainly planning to use ingredients I have gotten on sale previous weeks (like ground beef and potatoes), as well as taking advantage of the sale on chicken at Cub Foods and the sale on Pork Loins at Rainbow.  At least I hope I can make it out to both those stores this week!

Monday: Shepherd’s Pie

Tuesday: Chicken, Bean and Rice tacos/burritos with guacamole! (using up cheap avacados from my trip to Aldi last week)

Wednesday: Chili Bake using leftover Superbowl Chili

Thursday: Chicken Tettrazini

Friday: Pork loin, with (I think) some kind of a rice side dish (details are still fuzzy on this meal and exactly how I am going to prepare these two items…I’ll be looking at recipes and perhaps deciding based on what kind of deals I find this week!).

Saturday: Baked Potato Soup and bread

Sunday: Something that doesn’t involve me cooking.    Hopefully a date night!

For lots more great menu ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

It’s time for another Menu Plan Monday! Here’s what we have on the menu this week:

Monday: Meatloaf, sweet potatoes and salad

Tuesday: Fish Tacos (haven’t decided on which recipe to use — suggestions are welcome!)

Wendesday: Buffalo chicken spaghetti and a veggie or salad

Thursday: Tamale Casserole.  This is a bit of a freezer/pantry experiment. I have tamale filling that has been in the freezer a long time that I want to use up.  I still have corn masa left from the last time I made “real” tamales.  But I have no corn husks, and I don’t even have a lot of extra paper coffee filters I want to spare to do it the “cheater” way.  So, I think I will try and invent something where they don’t need to be individually wrapped.  We’ll see how that goes…or maybe I will just break down and buy something to wrap them in individually.

Friday: Egg, Shrimp and Rice casserole and a veggie or salad (search for this recipe in a previous blog post)

Saturday: Beef roast and either a pasta side dish or mashed potatoes, with a veggie or salad

Sunday: We have potlucks at both lunch and dinner! I think for the one at dinner time I will be making some Cheeseburger Soup ((I make it similar to this recipe, except without the spicy ingredients).

For hundreds of other menu ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

I’m finally ready to get back on the “Menu Plan Monday” bandwagon, having finally made it through both the holidays and my quarterly editing deadline.  Here’s what we’re having this week:

Monday: Lasagna Roll-ups with salad and bread

Tuesday: Whole chicken in the crock pot, mashed potatoes and a veggie du jour

Wednesday: Hearty Bean and Rice casserole (recipe in this post) and a salad or veggie

Thursday: Chicken Tortilla soup…probably with quesidillas on the side

Friday: Heavenly Ham and Potatoes with a veggie du jour

Saturday: Cabbage Augratin Casserole (recipe in this post) and honey glazed carrots.

Sunday: Tony thinks we should have a “hot dish vs. cajun” potuluck (casserole vs. cajun for the alliteration?) in honor of the Vikings vs. Saints game.  We’ll see if we pull that off!

For many more great menu ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s a short week menu-wise for us since we are traveling out of town for the three days after Thanksgiving.

Monday: Tonight we’re having Cranberry Pork roast, mashed potatoes and a veggie from the freezer.  I can’t wait…the meat cooking in the crock pot smells so good!

Tuesday: Salmon Patties (held over from last Sunday; I made Creamy Corn and Spinach enchiladas instead!), a veggie, and maybe a pasta side dish of some sort.

Wednesday: Beef Stew from the freezer (a meal my mom gave us).  We’ll be busily getting ready for hosting my family on Thanksgiving day.

Thursday: Thanksgiving Day! We’ll have a traditional meal at lunch time.  I’m making the turkey, mashed and sweet potatoes, dinner rolls and a pumpkin pie.  We’ll most likely have leftovers or turkey sandwiches for dinner.

Friday-Sunday: Out of town!

For more great menu ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

Here’s what we have on the menu this week:

Monday: Creamy Beef and Noodles (this was on my menu a couple weeks ago, but got bumped to later in the month…), salad or veggie

Tuesday: Whole chicken in the crock pot, sweet potatoes, salad or veggie

Wednesday: Curried Chickpeas with rice…and homemade Naan if I have time

Thursday: Shepherd’s Pie (I don’t really use a recipe for my shepherd’s pie.  I start by making a roux using flour and butter, and then add beef broth.  I season this (pepper, garlic, etc) and add to the ground beef.  I then mix in whatever frozen veggie I feel like adding, and put this in the bottom of a baking dish. I then add a layer of (usually homemade) mashed potatoes, and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until it looks bubbly!

Friday: Chicken Tortilla Soup (like this one, only with black beans too!)

Saturday: Date Night! (Kids will have something easy like spaghetti or frozen pizza)

Sunday: Salmon Patties and a salad or veggie

For lots more great menu ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

Last week I created a new “menu template” of sorts to help me with menu planning.  I’ll use the form I created (which also has a master list of recipes I like to cook during the current season) to make a list of all the recipes I plan to make during the month, then on a weekly basis I’ll decide which day I will cook what and transfer it to our menu calendar on the fridge.

A bit over a week in, I still think I am liking the system. Not having the whole month written out on the calendar meant less re-arranging when some of our plans changed for last week and this week.  But I have already purchased many items I need for the whole month, and it only took me about five minutes to think through our schedule and then choose meals appropriately.

Here’s what we’re having this week:

Monday: Meatloaf, sweet potatoes, green salad

Tuesday: Date night! (Two weeks in a row of having a date…I don’t think that has happened since we only had one child!)

Wednesday: Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti and salad or veggies

Thursday: Chili Bake and salad or veggies (see recipe below)

Friday: Black Bean soup and quesidillas

Saturday: Stew from the freezer for lunch, Stir Fry for dinner

Sunday: Ground beef Tacos for lunch, Homemade pizza for dinner

Sour Cream Chili Bake

(From “Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Casserole Recipes,” c. 1977 – my comments/changes are in italic.)

1 lb Ground Beef
1 15-ounce can Mexican Chili Beans (original recipe called for Pinto beans)
1 10-ounce can Enchilada sauce
1 8-ounce can Tomato Sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (original recipe called for American cheese)
1/4 cup chopped onion (use more or less to taste)
6 ounces corn chips
1 cup sour cream
Addt’l 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Brown ground beef and drain. Stir in beans, enchilada sauce, tomato sauce, 1 cup shredded cheese, and onions. Set aside 1 cup of corn chips. Crush remaining corn chips and add to meat mixture (If you are starting with a bag bigger than 6oz, I think it’s about 2-3 cups of chips you want to crush). Put mixture in greased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, covered. Spoon sour cream atop casserole and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Sprinkle reserved chips around the edge of the casserole.   Bake another 2-3 minutes, uncovered. (Or just serve the extra cheese, sour cream and chips on the table!).

For lots more great menu ideas, Visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!