Back on the Menu Planning Train

 

Meatless Monday: Tilapia Baked in Couscous served with brocolli 

Tuesday: Beef Stir Fry with onions and string beans
The beef was already cooked and frozen in some kind of sauce (I forget what kind), so I'll just be cooking up the veggies and adding the defrosted beef.  I'll be sure to set some of the beef (with the mystery sauce washed off) and string beans aside for Twin A, who does not like sauces or food that is mixed up.

Wednesday: Tuna Noodle Casserole
Easy Peasy!  Make boxed mac and cheese, stir in tuna and peas. 

Thursday: London Broil served with rice and sugar snap pea

Friday:  Shabbat dinner at my parents

Saturday: Mish Mash Leftoverpalooza

Sunday: Dinner at my in-laws'
 

DH is NOT 40. Yet.

Milestone birthdays and me do not seem to mix very well.  When I turned 30, my twin boys had both recently come home from the NICU.  We had the extended family come over, as is traditional in my family, and a cake (I think), but most of the evening was spent passing my beautiful boys around and ooing and aaahing over them.  Sleep deprivation and new mom hormones combined, and the evening was a blur.

Earlier this month I turned 40.  Not only was it the second night of Passover (which normally would have been spent participating in the Second Night Seder at my synagogue) but I was sick.  Apparently now that I had pneumonia in October, every head cold has the potential of settling in my lungs and becoming pneumonia all over again.  I worked hard (a lot of rest, liquids, decongestants, antibiotics, and two different inhalers) and I did NOT end up in the hospital again, but it still took me a good two weeks to get over.  I didn't even get a cake this year, and only my mom (who stopped by on the day of my birthday to bring me a present from both my parents but stayed well at the other end of the couch to avoid getting what I had) sang me "Happy Birthday."

Around that time, DH (who is a full year younger than me) started talking about inviting a few friends over to celebrate his birthday which is at the end of this month.  He assured me that he would take care of everything.  He also told me that this was going to be a "I'm not yet 40" party (nice, isn't he.)  Fast forward to this weekend.  I asked him to make me a list of everyone he had invited and show me who has said they are coming.  The list of RSVPs is already well over twenty!  When I asked him if he was planning to barbecue, he infomred me that he thought "we" would just do a whole bunch of appetizers like "we" do for New Year's Eve.  Of course, that is the royal we.

So this week, in addition to everything else I need to do, I will be compiling a list of appetizers, shopping for the ingrediants, and then making anything I can make ahead of time.  I will post recipes after I have finished compiling them.

And after his "I'm not 40!" party is over, I am going to start planning my do-over 40th birthday party.  Because I so have it coming to me!

Menu Planning

In an attempt to once again organize my life, I am putting together a basic menu plan that (in theory) is good for the next month and a half.  This time around I am taking no chances; I got input from Twin A, my pickiest eater, to determine meals that he really likes.  I decided to simply pick a food category for each day of the week and go from there.  Normally I get caught up in making fun titles for each day using alliteration, but I'm too tired, so instead we have chicken on Mondays, make your own pizza on Tuesdays, beef on Wednesdays, vegetarian or breakfast on Thursdays, Shabbat dinner at my parents' or once a month at my synagogue on Fridays, "mish mash" (a.k.a. leftovers) on Saturdays, and Sunday dinners are usually at my in-laws'.  I am going to list a bunch of choices for each category and just pick and choose each week.  Here's the plan:

Mondays -

• Baked Slow Cooker Chicken - So simple, yet it gives us chicken for that night and then lots of leftovers that I can freeze for the next week.
• Chicken Pot Pies - I love this recipe. It makes individual pot pies, one for everyone. Of course, for Twin A, I will simply give him the cooked chicken and the vegetables; there's no point in even giving him the pot pie.
• Orange Chicken - For those rare times I have chicken breasts (like when DH goes grocery shopping and buys them because I said "buy some chicken" - not thinking I needed to specify "make sure it is less that $2 a pound")
• Busy Day Chicken - The recipe says to do this with a whole chicken, which I've never tried, however I can vouch for how well it works with chicken legs and/or thighs.
• Chicken and Apples - Love my slow cooker!

Tuesdays -
Make-Your-Own Pizza
In an effort to be healthy and frugal, I plan on making my own crust using this recipe.  I am going to put out lots of cut up veggies which will hopefully encourage the kids to add them to their pizzas.

Wednesdays -

• Meatloaf
• Make-Your-Own Tacos - Cooked ground beef, chopped tomatoes and lettuce, grated cheese, and taco shells, with sauce on the side so Twin A will eat it.
• Pot Roast - Again, gotta say it, I love my slow cooker!
• Cranberry Roast
• Beef Stew - I love stew.  Twin A can't stand foods that are all mixed together, so when I make stew, I scoop some up in a big pasta spoon, rinse it off in hot water, and then separate the foods on his plate so he doesn't get too overwhelmed.

Thursdays -

• Pancakes
• French Toast Sticks - I cut hot dog roll halves into thirds, dip them in the egg mix, and then fry it just like normal.  I give the kids a little bowl with some syrup in it for dipping.
• Apple-Raisin French Toast Casserole - Twin B's favorite!
• Egg sandwiches - DH has introduced the kids to bacon and the boys LOVE it.  I grew up keeping Kosher, so I still can't quite get myself to buy real bacon, but I have gotten quite good at cooking them turkey bacon.  The boys love these sandwiches with bacon and cheese, and the Princess is thrilled with it as long as it is on a biscuit or english muffin.
• Ravioli - no sauce for Twin A, sauce on the side for the Princess, and lots of sauce all over it for Twin B
• Grilled cheese

Menu Planning

Monday - The Princess was home sick today, so I'm going to use one of the meals from the freezer I bought on sale last week - Tostino's Pizza Rolls! 

 

Tuesday - All three kids will be home from school due to Election Day.  I never got to do this last week, so this will be the day for Cheesy Tuna Melts.




Wednesday - These look really interesting - wonder if the kids will like it.

Thursday - Rotiserie chicken (been in the freezer from someone nicely bringing me dinner when I was in the hospital) with Mashed Mock Potatoes.

Friday - Potluck Shabbat Dinner at our synagogue
I am going to bring Yummy Couscous Salad.







Saturday - Mish Mash (Pick your own meal from the leftovers in the fridge)

Sunday - Dinner at the In-Laws'

For more ideas, check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/!

Menu Planning

I haven't done this in a while, so I think it's about time to get back on track.

Monday, in honor of Halloween:  Crescent Mummy Dogs 

Tuesday:  Chicken in Every Pot Pie using some of the baked chicken that someone brought to us while I was still recovering from Pneumonia

Wednesday:  Trying to make do with what is currently in the house, so tonight it will be Cheesy Tuna Melts

Thursday:  I was thrilled to discover last week that the kids ALL ate and enjoyed eggs, so I am going to try Eggs in a Boat

Friday: Shabbat Dinner at my parents'

Saturday:  I have some leftover frozen meatballs, so I'm going to make this great Cocktail Meatball sauce to go along with them.

Sunday:  Dinner at my In-Laws'

For more menus, go check out I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Take It or Leave It

The Princess came home from school yesterday in a bad mood.

"I didn't like anything in my lunch box so I didn't eat anything and now I'm STARVING!" she wailed sweetly stated to all who would listen.

Lately the whining has been getting louder, the tantrums have been increasing, and nothing I offer her for lunch is right.  Forget the fact that she liked all these things early this year.  Forget the fact that she may have even eaten whatever I am offering the day (or week) before and loved it, if I'm suggesting it, she all of a sudden "hates" it.

With the Princess clearly weakened from starvation, I opened her lunchbox and took out what I had packed.  It was a homemade Lunchable: a divided container that held crackers in one compartment, shredded cheese in another compartment, and cherry tomatoes in a third.  On New Year's she pronounced that cherry tomatoes were her absolute favorite vegetable, but apperently now they are so awful she couldn't even eat one in an effort to hold off the hunger.

In as matter of fact tone of voice as I could manage I said, "Hmmm.  That's a shame that you didn't try it.  It looks pretty good to me."  With that I sprinkled cheese on one of the crackers and ate it, declaring its deliciousness as I did.  Yes, I am the master manipulator and proud of it. 

Within seconds she said, "Let me try that," and began making her own cheese and cracker creations which she gobbled down as quickly as she could make them.

Mommy 1; The Princess 0.

Or so I thought.

This morning I packed the same thing for her, figuring now she clearly knows that she likes this lunch and she never ate it at school yesterday, so it would be a welcome treat today.  Ha.

"I don't like this lunch!" the Princess wailed three minutes before she had to walk out the door.  "I told you that yesterday!"

The Princess will now be making her own lunches to bring to school.

Meal Planning

My attempt to organize the total chaos of the meal also known as dinner:  creating five weeks worth of meals.  I designated each day as a different food type: Meatless Mondays, Chicken Tuesdays, Meat Wednesdays, Fish Thursdays.  On Fridays we go to my parents' for Shabbat dinner along with my sister and her kids, and on Sundays we go to my ILs for dinner.  Saturdays are "mish mash" (a.k.a. leftovers from the week). 

My go-to site for new recipes - if the recipe has received four or more stars, I'm all over it!

Week One
Monday Quesadillas (folded tortilla shells with cheese and veggies baked)
Tuesday Teriyaki Chicken (Put any cut of chicken that was on sale in the slow cooker and pour teriyaki sauce over it, then put on low all day)
Wednesday Pot Roast
Thursday Fish Sticks

Week Two
Monday French Toast Sticks
Tuesday Honey Garlic Chicken
Wednesday Make Your Own Tacos (Boil a large quantity of ground beef along with chopped onions and peppers to use for this week and Week Four; serve ground beef mixture along with taco shells, cut up veggies, and shredded cheese)
Thursday Tuna Melts

Week Three
Monday Ravioli
Tuesday Chicken and Dumplings
Wednesday Meatloaf
Thursday Soy Ginger Salmon

Week Four
Monday Grilled Cheese/Pizza Bagels
Tuesday Apple Chicken Stew
Wednesday Cranberry Roast
Thursday Crab Casserole (using imitation crab meat)

Week Five
Monday Pizza
Tuesday Zesty Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken
Wednesday Beef Stew
Thursday Grilled Salmon (on our George Forman grille)

And this is the plan.  Most of the recipes are tried and true, but many are newer, so they still have to pass the Twin A taste test for them to remain in the rotation.  He does not like sauce of almost any kind, but is generallly appeased when I put his food in a large slotted pasta spoon and rinse any trace of sauce off.  However, it looks okay, so I think it will work.  Crossing my fingers that this helps!