Thank you so much for all the uplifting and encouraging comments so many of you left for me on this post. I have read them over and over and am so thankful to have so many supportive friends in real life and in blogland. We are hanging in there, taking one day at a time. I’m so sorry that so many of you are also experiencing something similar. It’s so sad and I pray things turn around soon.
Now more than ever we will need to get tight with our grocery budget so I’ll be actively looking for ways to do just that. First and foremost I’ll be trying to use up stock from the pantry and freezer because you never know if moving is right around the corner for us. So this week’s menu is designed around what we have in the house to use up.
The Apple Cinnamon Pork Tenderloin didn’t really work out for me last week. I had no idea what cooking apples were so just used some Gala apples that we had in the house. They didn’t create any juice at all. Once I added some apple juice though it turned out okay but I’m not sure I’d make it again.
I’m very excited to use some recipes from my new Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking cookbook by Stephanie O’Dea, which Stephanie herself sent me to try out.
For those that don’t know who Stephanie is, she is the one who runs the fabulous A Year of Slow Cooking blog. Last year she committed to using her slow cooker every day for the entire year. Some of her recipes we’ve tried and enjoyed from her site in the past are Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup and Brown Sugar Chicken, both of which are also in the cookbook. So many great slow cooker recipes all in one place, super easy too and as a side note Stephanie’s recipes are also gluten free for those following a gluten free diet as I do with my son.
The only downfall of the book is that there are no pictures included but Stephanie’s reasoning behind that was to keep the cost of the book down. It retails for only $14.99 and includes over 300 recipes! Stephanie has pictures on her website though of many of the dishes if you like to see a picture of the finished product. I definitely think this book would make a terrific Christmas gift!
Okay, on my menu this week:
Monday: Oven Chicken Fingers served with french fries and veggies (missed from last week)
Tuesday: Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Tri-Tip served with rice and broccoli
Wednesday: Makeover Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta
Thursday: Leftover buffet
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: Rotisserie-Style Chicken served with mashed potatoes and veggies
Simple Supper Sunday
WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?
Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.
Rita says
I love slow cookers. Hope you have a wonderful week!
GettingFreedom says
With our busy schedule during soccer season, we relied heavily on our crock pot–I love that thing!
Liz@HoosierHomemade says
Looks like another great plan! Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
Ginger says
I’m new here at MPM! I linked back to your blog. I’m excited to start menu planning! It’s so funny that you talked about Stephanie’s book~Make it fast, cook it slow in this weeks MPM. About 5 minutes ago I was just looking at her blog! Thanks so much for putting this together for all of us.
Lora says
Laura~
I somehow missed your post the other day about your husband’s job loss. I am so sorry. My husband lost his job, almost a year and a half ago now. We like to say we’re self-employed now:) And we are! But it has been such a tough season for us and yet we have learned amazing lessons through it all. While we did not have any kind of a huge salary before our job loss, we have learned how much it really was and how much we can actually live on. I am ashamed at the money we wasted before and when/if we ever do have a regular paycheck again I know we will be so much wiser with our spending. I have to say that menu planning has been on of our greatest blessings through this time. It keeps me focused and not wasteful and we still have delicious meals w/out spending near what we used to spend in groceries. Thank you for introducing me to menu planning~I LOVE it! I pray that during this next season of your lives that your family will be drawn closer and that you will grow from it all and be blessed in ways that you cannot imagine now.
Kara says
Oh, I’m so excited to hear you like this book. I JUST won it in a drawing and am anxiously awaiting it’s arrival! I love Stephanie’s blog too and look forward to having all those recipes in book form.
purple moose says
Laura, I’m so sorry to hear about your hubby’s job! That doesn’t make for a very comfortable holiday season. I am glad you have a little notice. Perhaps he will be able to bounce quickly into another job.
Jennifer says
Laura, I’m sorry to hear about your situation. I’m sure it will be tough, but you’ll figure something out I’m sure.
I wanted to give you this link for a recipe I’ve tried and loved… cheesy pork chops with spicy apples.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheesy-Pork-Chops-with-Spicy-Apples/Detail.aspx
Good luck! I’ll say a prayer for you and your family.
Jennifer
Teri Thompson says
Thanks so much for hosting…so fun to go through everyone’s meal plans!
Diann says
Hi Laura!
I just went back and read your post about the notice of your husband’s job ending. I am so sorry to hear that. I know how you feel. We live in Michigan and so many of the auto plants have shut down and thousands are without jobs here. So, thirfty cooking has become a major lifestyle with me. I’m going to have to check out that cookbook. I love to use the crockpot especially now that cooler weather is here!
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Lisa says
I’m sorry about your husband’s job.
Take care!
Blessings,
Lisa
Susie's Homemade says
Sounds like a GREAT cookbook:-)
Connie says
Laura,
You are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope a new job comes along really soon!
Many blessings! Thanks for hosting!
Nancy says
Oh, that looks like a great book. It would be a good companion to my mennonite cookbook, I think!
Melissa Multitasking Mama says
Continuing to pray for you!
BTW- I don’t know how you cooked the apples but microwaving often helps get juices out and you can add water if you don’t have apple juice available.
Happy Monday =)
Dawn says
Best wishes to you and your family. I have been out of work for over a year now and in January we are going to have to make some changes as my severance money is getting slimmer and slimmer.
It looks like a lot of us have pantry menus lately – I do as well. There is at least some comfort to me in sharing with others in the same situation.
I love Stephanie’s crockpot blog and your makeover creamy sausage sounds yummy – I have something similar this week.
Hang in there….
Melanie says
I had no idea Stephanie had a cookbook out! (shows how much blog-reading I’ve been doing lately…) I LOVED following her crock pot adventures last year!
Amy says
I can’t wait to get the cookbook. I love that blog! Menu looks great. I’m going back to my Jamie Oliver pizza dough after trying another that was a mess. Ugh.
Roasted pork sometimes turns out blah for me. When I do BBQ it’s fine but I haven’t found that many roast pork loin or tenderloin recipes that end up wowing me. I have a lot of it in my freezer so I hope I can think of something. I love pork tenderloin on the grill.
Char says
Our crock pot will get used this week too. It seems that using what you have is a common theme this week – it was my primary focus too.
Have a good one!
Multi-Tasking Mommy says
My mom tried to make applesauce last week with Gala apples and it didn’t work out so well either. I used to think that you could cook/bake with any kind of apple, apparently not!
WendyGK says
Laura
Sorry to hear your news. It’s been a tough year for a lot of folks and your menus and organizing ideas are a big help. I just got Stephanie’s book on Saturday and will treat myself today with a cup of tea and a good look through. Hope to incorporate some recipes next week.
Stephanie O'Dea says
Laura,
I’m so sorry to hear about the job loss. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. You are all in my thoughts.
oxxo steph
Anna says
I don’t usually comment, but I love your blog. You have an insightfulness that I’m sure will help you manage through this difficult situation. I hope you have a better week this week than last week. =)
Praying for you,
Anna
jsprik@blog-diggidy says
great menu, as usual!! have a great week!! 🙂
Betsy says
Last year, my husband’s small company, which he runs, went from about 9 full-time employees to himself and two others, getting paid whenever they had work come in. God has been so good to us, as the work came in right when it was needed. Without the support of our dear family and our church, we would have not made it. We’ve learned to live by only buying things we needed, not things we wanted, as well, we took a class at our church from Dave Ramsey, and learned how to pay off our bills, live on a budget, etc. I would encourage anyone to take his class or a similar one. At the time this happened to us, with the down-turn in the economy, I told friends I was afraid we were the tip of the iceberg in our country, and we have seen that to be true. God bless you all. Praying for you as I read your blog each day.
Megan says
Your mad organization skills are going to help get you through this valley, like you wouldn’t believe! Sending good wishes your way!!!
Kathie says
Love the idea of using a slow cooker more often–not sure I could do it for a whole year though!
Nora says
This is my first MPM posting! And I picked a bad week to get started: we’re moving on Friday 🙂 Let’s see how it turns out…
Nora says
This is my first MPM posting! And I picked a bad week to get started: we’re moving on Friday 🙂 Let’s see how it turns out…
Greta says
Your sun-dried tomato recipe looks amazing! I bookmarked it and will add it to the menu very soon. Thanks!
Rebecca says
Good luck with your husband’s job situation. My husband has been out of work for about 9 months (although he had some temporary work in there, thank God). He just got an official part-time job that pays better than unemployment (the hourly rate is much better than the last job he had), so we count ourselves blessed for that.
I think Stephanie’s book would be a great Christmas gift based on the recipes she posted over the last year.
Michelle says
I’m new to MPM. This is a great idea and I’m hoping that it will keep me on track with my menu planning.
Jena OrganizingMommy says
Glad things are stable.
I can’t help but laugh at the title of the book:
Make it fast (adverb)
Cook it slow (adjective)
Should be cook it slowly..
Oh, there I go again.
Micki says
I’m so sorry about your husband’s job situation. My husband is a paint contractor who has been in business for himself for the past 2 1/2 years. The economic downturn has been extremely difficult on us, as he has been without work much more than he has painted for over a year now.
Keep your chins up… you will come through on the other side. I hope to be there with you!
Keely (Mama Bru) says
This is my first time!
Becky L says
So far I’m having baked pork loin chops and veggies for Monday. Chicken tortilla casserole with black beans on Tues. I’ll try to blog this one cuz it’s a favorite of mine that I made up after coming up with the idea after making tortillas with hamburger. Sometimes I’m in the kitchen thinking of doing something different with the food and my adult daughter says…oh no, just feed me. Don’t go messing with the food.. It’s a joke since I’ve been more creative lately. “-)
Wow…must be the season for beans and tomatoes cuz there’s been sales on canned beans, like black, kidney, pinto beans and tomato sauce and tomatoes, like sliced or diced or Italian. Good time to stock up. I’ve got a good stock of it now.
http://grandmabeckyl.blogspot.com
Gudrun says
we are having our rotisserie chicken today! I wanted to try out the new CostCo and see how their chickens are….
Have a good week!
Lisa O says
I just linked for the first time in over a year! Wow! Thanks for all the great ideas.
I know your organization and budgeting skills will help greatly during this challenging time for your family. I hope things get sunnier very soon!
Blessings~
Lisa
Colleen says
This is my first post to the Menu Plan! I’m hoping it will help me stay on track! 🙂
Stacie says
Your menu sounds awesome. One of these nights I have to try homemade pizza. Where I make the crust from scratch. I have always wanted to do that.
Bibiana Bailey says
This is a great idea. I enjoyed reading all of the meal ideas.
Sherri S says
I love GOOD crock pot recipes. I love using mine! As long as there is not a TON of pre-prep work; because I’m usually tossing it in and dashing out the door to work. Easy peasy is my favorite type recipes to go in the all day cooker.
Laura says
Thanks for hosting the menu plan Monday. You have inspired me to finally start blogging. I love your site! I must apologize. I’ve made my first error already. My link goes to my homepage – sorry about that.
Tamara says
My thoughts are with you during this time. I hope things work out well for you.
I love your Monday menu. Mine is posted. It is a really easy week this weekend. I have a new job and need to work cope with ease.
Autumn says
Thanks for the great posts! I love Meal Plan Mondays, it helps keep me motivated to plan out my weeks!