Menu Plan Monday ~ Aug 23rd

Hey ladies, how are you?  We meet again!  I’m finally settling into my home here and feeling somewhat organized.  I say somewhat because the kids start school in a week and I still haven’t created a backpack station…talk about living on the edge..lol.

So ever since I won my Kitchenaid Mixer from Pioneer Woman last year I’ve been wanting to make bread with it.  But I haven’t because I’m completely intimidated by the thought of it all.  I’ve never ever made homemade bread any other way than with the help of a bread machine (please tell me I’m not the only one) and as those of you who have been around here for awhile know, I don’t exactly have the best track record in the kitchen.  If you are new to my site, let me introduce you to one of my cooking nightmares, so painful.   Anyway all that to say I need counseling help.   If you happen to have a tutorial on your site about making bread can you leave a link for me in the comments.  Or, you know, if you’d like to come on over and just walk me through the steps in person that would be even better :)  Okay that one might be logistically challenging so how about a video guide?  I’m a visual girl that needs more help than you could ever imagine a teeny tiny bit of hand holding.  Anyone?  Anyone?

All the recipes I tried last week were absolutely delicious.  Oh my goodness, yum!  We really enjoyed the Pizza Roll Up Burritos, such a fun change to traditional pizza.   The Minestrone Soup was also yummy and pretty easy to throw together and my daughter was nice enough to whip up some yummy baking powder biscuits to go with it.

I’ve heard from many people how organizing coupons can be quite the challenge.  Well this week I’m going to send you over to visit From the Same Nest to read their most excellent tutorial on creating a coupon binder.  Love it!

So here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Monday: Quick Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Tuesday: Italian Breaded Baked Parmesan Pork Chops (found at Lamp Unto My Feet)

Wednesday: Sherri’s Aussie Chicken (missed from last week)

Thursday: Leftover buffet

Friday: Hawaiian Meatloaf

Saturday: Breakfast for dinner ~ Applesauce Pancakes

Sunday: Pizza Quesadillas

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?

Everyone is welcome to participate!  Menu planning has been such a lifesaver for me and I hope it is/will be for you as well.  Give it a try!

Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Aug 16th

Hey there!  I had so much fun spending a couple of hours this past weekend going through last week’s MPM links while watching Glee on my computer at the same time (I’m working my way through the first season of the show and I like it only I can’t figure out why LOL).   Anyway I found some delicious recipes that I can’t wait to try.  Thanks ladies!

The sad part for me though about going through the list was the number of entries NOT linking to any kind of menu plan (just looking for free advertising I guess).  That is not nice and it really makes me loopy.  Please don’t waste anyone’s time doing that.  Your links will be deleted if I catch it and if someone else catches it please let me know if you don’t mind so I can take care of it.  It’s just not fair to everyone else that is playing nicely.

Last week’s recipe highlight definitely goes to the Skillet Tacos and not just because Lynn posted the recipe on my blog :)  Really this recipe was delicious and easy and even my picky eater ate it right up which never happens!  You’ve got to try it!

Two menu planning resources for ya this week:

Top 10 Grocery Store Savings Tips ~ @ The Creative Mama

Wipe Off Weekly Menu Board ~ @ Makes and Takes

Here’s what we’ll be eating around here this week:

Monday: Strawberry Salad with Mozzarella Pesto Grilled Cheese (found through Frugal Granola)

Tuesday: Pizza Roll Up Burritos (found through Starting Over At 40)

Wednesday: Dinner out (yay!)

Thursday: Leftover buffet

Friday: Inside-Out Lasagna (found through Following in my Shoes)

Saturday: Minestrone Soup with Bread Machine Garlic Bread

Sunday: Sherry’s Aussie Chicken (found through Homemaking Joyfully)

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?

Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.

Menu Plan Monday ~ August 9th

Hello beautiful people!  I hope you all had a nice calming stress free week :)  I’m living in absolute chaos still and while I may be an organizing junkie, I don’t do chaos well.  So I’m trying to take my own advice and not look up.  Kitchen is done though so yay for that and hopefully getting some yummy meals on the table this week.  5 new recipes, yipee!!  How about you?

I got this question recently from a reader and thought I’d answer it here:

I recently started doing a leftover buffet thing (which is a great idea btw).  But I’m always so scared of things still being okay to eat.  Do you follow any sort of guidelines?  For instance, how long you keep it in the fridge depending on ingredients?  I appreciate your help!  Jen

Thanks for your question Jen.    For us, having a leftover day scheduled right in the middle of the week allows me to break up my leftovers so I don’t have too much hanging around at any given time.  So Mon/Tues/Wed’s leftovers are eaten on Thursday.  Whatever doesn’t get eaten that day is tossed and then typically we do a simple supper on Sunday where leftovers from Friday and Saturday are eaten.  If we don’t have leftovers for Sunday I will make something easy like grilled cheese and soup or breakfast for dinner.  I usually have a pretty good idea now how many leftovers will be involved based on what recipe I’m cooking so I take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to go ahead and pre-plan Sunday’s menu.  I always start with a clean slate every Monday.  For more information visit Use Leftovers Safely:  Control Food Wasting.  Hope that helps!

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Monday: Skillet Tacos

Tuesday: Pasta Carbonara

Wednesday: Honey & Soy Baked Chicken Thighs

Thursday: Leftover buffet

Friday: Pizza Margherita

Saturday: Black Bean and Rice Tostada

Simple Supper Sunday

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?

Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Aug 2nd

Hello!  We made it safe and sound and my family is together again!  It feels amazing even if I’m exhausted and just want to sleep for days :)   Our stuff doesn’t come until later this week but soon the chaos will be over and the organizing fun can really begin.  Super yay!   First though I need to submit the last draft of my book to my editor tomorrow.  Yikes, no pressure there :)

Goodbye mountains, I’ll miss you!

I had a couple of requests last week to remind everyone to not forget to include a description of your menu if you plan a specific menu type (ie: gluten free, vegetarian, etc.).  I have upped the number of characters allowed in the name/description field so you should have no problem doing so if you want to.

A couple of resources for you this week:

Menu Planning Made Easy ~ @ Stone Soup

Couponing for People Who Hate Couponing ~ @ Healthy Foods, Healthy Diet

And if you haven’t already be sure to read last week’s guest post on 5 Apps to Keep You Organized in the Kitchen AND enter the great giveaway!

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week…I’m so excited to plan my menu once again for my family and not just myself even if we don’t have anywhere to sit or certain ingredients or cooking utensils in the house LOL!  Simple it is!

Monday: Cheesy Apple-Cinnamon Raisin Grill

Tuesday: Chicken Caesar Wraps

Wednesday: Penne Pasta Skillet

Thursday: Leftover buffet

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Buttermilk Pancakes

Sunday: Ravioli with Spinach and Bacon

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?

Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.

Menu Plan Monday ~ July 26th

Hello!  So I heard really positive feedback from many of you on the thumbnail linky list last week.  A few of you mentioned that it was easier to read through the links this way and keep track of where you left off.  I really liked it as well because it brought some great visual interest to each of the links and made it way more personal.  Loved seeing your pretty faces and of course who doesn’t love beautiful food pictures too :)  So I’ll be using it again today.  If you have any problems with it please let me know in the comments and I’ll see what I can do to help you out.

So the slew of boxes just continues to grow and grow.  Look at what got packed today:

My containers!  Hold tight sweet friends…I’ll free you from confinement soon!

So this week for me is going to be crazy and all over the place.  I’m not even going to bother planning a menu.  I think it will be just grab and go eating for the next couple of days.   I’d feel bad if I didn’t leave you any links though so I’ve got a couple of great resources for you instead:

Refrigerator Magnet Menu Planner (fun free printable) ~ @ Heart of Wisdom Blog

Still struggling with menu planning?  Read all about the Hidden Benefits of Meal Planning over @ Life Nickel

And if you’d like some recipe ideas, be sure to check out my Family Favorites Recipe Index and all these other really fabulous recipes indexes.

Have a great week everyone!!

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?

(Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here)