Menu Sept 7-21

I am trying to do better about not planning for 14 individual meals. We have leftovers most of the time. Sometimes we just want a salad or a bowl of cereal.. I mean, we are 4 days into our new "plan" and I've only made the southwest pasta dish.  We grilled out chicken, pork, burgers and hot dogs the night of Madison's party so that has lasted us a couple of days. With dance and choir 3 days a week, I need to utilize my crock pot 2 or 3 of those days, or we will eat at church on choir night. Trying to get this schedule all figured out ;) 

I did not include the recipe links but a quick Pinterest search will give you many choices!

crock pot recipes;
taco soup
beef stroganoff
crock pot chicken queso
Lazy crock pot lasagna
chicken ranch tacos

non crock pot recipes;
black beans and rice casserole
mexican zucchini and beef
baked burrito casserole
Mexican Dorito casserole
Southwest pasta

Menu- June 13

Back from the beach(blog coming!) and back on the menu train.. Here's what we will have for the next couple of weeks. Most of these are pretty self explanatory..


Crockpot Mexican Beef Stew with salad
Cod with corn on the cob
Shake N Bake Pork Chops with beans and corn
Crockpot Chicken with salad
Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with yellow spanish rice
Sauteed Sirloin Tips with baked potato
Lemon Garlic Steak
Red Wine Roast Beef
Brisket and Onions
Onion Soup Burgers with home fries
Tacos with black beans
Parmesan pork chops

Menu time!

These next two weeks we will be cleaning out our freezer full of leftovers or frozen foods! Nothing fancy and some repetative meals but our freezer is pretty full so I didn't see the need in menu planning.. This should get us through more than 2 weeks..

One Pot Pasts (2 meals)
Gumbo
Taco Spaghetti
Chicken Tacos
Shrimp (2 meals) - Frozen shrimp.. not sure how I will make just yet.
Lo Mein (3 meals)
Jalapeno Chicken
Chicken Souvlaki - will make fresh
Cod (3 meals) -

Menu plan April 10-21

It's been a while since posting a menu.. Thought I would throw one in here ;) I always leave room for eating out or leftovers.. Here ya go!

Gumbo
Chicken Souvlaki
 pizza x 2
brisket x 2
One Pot Pasta
Jalapeno Chicken
Lo Mein
Taco Spaghetti
Crock Pot Roast

Menu plan Jan 21-Feb 6

Crockpot hashbrown casserole
Pizza (twice)
Chicken alfredo
Lasagna chili
Chicken bacon noodle
Chicken souvlaki
BBQ pork
Bacon, egg, sausage
Cheeseburger soup
Jalapeno chicken
White chicken chili

no recipes this time.. Pinterest is a gold mine for finding them though :)

Menu plan Jan 7-21

So I didn't blog the last 2 weeks. Between holidays, eating out and having leftovers, I only bought ground turkey for nachos and a frozen pizza ;) Menu, with recipes, below

Crockpot Buffalo chicken RECIPE
Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits as a side..  RECIPE
Barefoot Contessa's Chicken Stew with biscuits RECIPE (halved for us)
Crockpot green chile chicken RECIPE
Hoppin John(leftover from new year)
Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole RECIPE
Tortilla Chicken Stew RECIPE
Fried Chicken Salad (frozen chicken nuggets over a salad)
White Chicken Chili RECIPE
Low Carb Jalapeno Chicken RECIPE
Pot Roast
Marlboro Mans favorite Sandwich(minus the bread ;) ) RECIPE
Mexican Zucchini and Beef RECIPE

Menu plan Dec 7-21

We have a few evening events these next couple of weeks, so this will be another short 2 week menu.. Trying to get back to normalcy with regular real food and not frozen junk! As always, our sides consist of some type of bean or salad mostly. Sometimes we have potatoes, pasta, rice or corn but I try to limit those.

Chicken with mushroom cream sauce - RECIPE
Shrimp Skewers with Garlic Lime Marinade - RECIPE 
Creamy honey mustard chicken with bacon - RECIPE 
Pepper Steak - RECIPE
Crockpot roast chicken
Low Carb Philly Cheesesteak Bowl - RECIPE 
Taco Noodle Skillet - RECIPE
Chili
Crockpot Butter Ranch Chicken - RECIPE
Crockpot Chicken Fajitas - RECIPE

Menu Nov 21-Dec 7

So apparently I haven't blogged in almost a month. I have a few in mind.. we've just been SUPER busy between vacation, church events, decorating, Christmas shopping and for the past few days, the girls in the house are sick. We will start with our really simple menu for the past 2 weeks. We were on vacation over Thanksgiving and then some church events this past week so I wanted super simple meals. I have been shopping at ALDI a lot more lately. They just redid ours in town and are also building another one on the West side of town. I got all of my food there and am loving it more and more.

Frozen Lo Mein and frozen eggrolls - this was decent but wasn't much food for just me and Alan.
Pizza
Tortellini with pasta sauce - the girls LOVE this
Turkey tenderloin - I made this in the crockpot with a couple of veggies for sides
Homestyle seasoned Chuck roast- I may add some carrots and potatoes with this in the crockpot
Pork Loin(2) - made in the crock pot with a couple of veggies for sides
Kielbasa and rice
Panko and Parmesan breaded chicken nuggets

A couple of nights we just had salads or leftovers. What did YOU have?

Menu plan November 7-21

We are going on vacation soon, so some of these are meals we will make while on vacation (yes I cook when we are on vacation and have a cabin) The other meals are frozen that I already had. Frozen meal and pantry challenge for the next couple of weeks :)  I left out a few days since we will eat out a few times while on vacation.


Grilled burgers w/ fries & tater tots
beer boiled shrimp/
Panko and Parmesan crusted chicken nuggets
Crockpot chili
Kielbasa/onions/potatoes
Taco salad
Buffalo soup
Chicken fajita soup
Pizza
Chicken stir fry
Souvlaki
Chicken bogg
Sausage, eggs, toast
Hamburger steak
Kielbasa
Baked chicken with various spices
Chicken tacos
Mexican chicken stir fry

Menu plan - October 20

I realize I just posted a plan a week ago. But I just made another store run for the next couple of weeks, so I needed to revamp our menu. It does include a couple of recipes from the last post(found HERE) since my days are overlapped.

Buffalo Chicken Soup - RECIPE

pizza(twice) - frozen, from Costco

Eggroll in a bowl (low carb) - RECIPE - I made this last night and it was way too salty. I like the idea but next time will use Italian sausage and way less soy sauce.

Souvlaki - RECIPE - this is leftovers in the freezer

Crockpot Chicken Ranch Tacos - RECIPE

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Brisket - RECIPE

Chicken Fajita Soup - RECIPE - frozen leftovers

Mexican Chicken Stir Fry - RECIPE

Sausage, eggs, grits and toast

Hamburger steaks - grilled frozen leftovers

Seasoned chicken over a garden salad

Our sides this menu vary from black beans, pinto beans, Doritos, tortilla chips, salads, edamame. I bought cauliflower rice to try too.

Menu plan Tuesday!

I always love knowing what others cook and seeing new recipes. I also love trying new recipes! I always menu plan and grocery shop for 2 weeks at a time, with a few stops for produce/milk in between. So here's what I'm making for the next 2 weeks. I don't do a full 14 meals because sometimes we eat salads, quick soups, go out etc. I also try to cook mostly lower carb foods. Almost every meal includes a salad or I will warm up frozen or canned veggies. I use my crock pot 2-3 times a week, also. I also never set what is to be cooked that day. I have tried writing it on a calendar but then I always switch days. So I just make a list and mark it off when I've made it. If it makes leftovers, that gets frozen and added to the list as another meal.

-Mexican Beef & Zucchini Skillet - Recipe HERE

-Chicken Fajita Soup (twice) - recipe HERE

-Buffalo Chicken Soup- recipe HERE

-Beef Stroganoff - recipe HERE
 - with brussel sprouts

-Taco Soup- recipe HERE

-Souvlaki- recipe HERE - I've never made the sauce.

-Black bean fajitas- recipe HERE

-pizza (twice)- frozen, bought from Costco :)

-hamburger steak (twice)- Frozen leftovers from grilling out last weekend. I may add some brown gravy over them once and then sprinkle Ranch seasoning over them the other time to vary it up.

 Leave me your best recipes! Always looking for something new to try! 

 

Menu/grocery list prep

While chatting with a group of friends last week, a couple of us talked about how we plan a menu and do a weekly or biweekly shopping trip. I thought this would be a good blog to write about to share how I do mine!

First thing I do every 2 weeks is clean out the fridge, freezer and pantry. While cleaning out, keep a tally of leftovers and meat count. I now shop 95% of my list from Aldi. I also like keeping bacon and kielbasa in the freezer. I bag up any leftovers from the fridge and put them in the freezer. I get a sheet of paper and  write down any leftovers. Any that are large enough for everyone to eat goes on the menu. Any small portions goes under the "lunch" section. You will see this below.. I usually write "freezer" beside it so I know it's a quick meal I don't have to cook.

While you are cleaning out, keep a list of any items that can be used as sides and make a "side" list. Your canned veggies, rice, pasta, etc. That way you aren't using any items that are planned for a meal. I used to be the worst at using my canned beans/corn and then going to make a recipe and my ingredients are gone! Also, write down any ingredients/spices you are low on. This is a good time to check your sugar, rice, and any other staples you like to keep.

Once I've cleaned out everything and wrote down my staples on my grocery list, I start making my menu. I go through my cookbooks and see what recipes I want and start writing them down. I have typed up and printed out recipes and put them in binders (one for regular recipes and one for crock pot) I pull out the recipes as I write them down on my menu. Any ingredients I need go on my grocery list. I only needed about 7 ingredients for these 21 meals. 

After I'm done with my menu and list, I put my menu, along with some pens and my recipes in a drawer in the kitchen. As I make the meal or use a side, I mark it off. As I have leftovers, I add them to the menu as a meal.

All of this took me about an hour without interruptions. Easy to do once you get in the groove!