Meal Plan September 26

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Monday: Zesty Ginger-Tomato Chicken

This recipe came from this book:

I actually liked this and the kids ate most of it without too much fuss.

Tuesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This doesn't look all that appetizing but it was actually pretty good. Okay, to be honest, it was good once I got it cooked all the way through. I wasn't thinking and just pulled it out of the oven and served it up without checking it. Luckily, Paul caught it before the kids ate any.

Wednesday: Sessler's Salads

(I'll try to remember to get the description the next time.)
I love it when Julie has her salads for sale. This time I also got one for the kids (since they liked the salad I fixed last week), but they didn't like this "fancy" lettuce.

Thursday: Fend For Yourself

I ended up running a bunch of errands and didn't get to fix dinner, so we ate leftovers.

Friday: Kung Pau Chicken

Dinner was supposed to be Crockpot Chipotle Lime Black Bean Soup, but since I had chicken thawed from last night, I switched it up. This recipe came from our cooking class book, but didn't call for the veggies. I added those (and left out the chili's, since Paul wasn't going to be home to eat it anyway). My kids loved the chicken and Logan's all about the rice.

Saturday: Dinner Out

I was going to make Seriously Simple Beef Stew, but then our plans changed so I didn't have to make dinner at all. Score! The kids went to Parents Night Out. Paul went to a wedding (with a sit-down dinner reception) and my sister and I went to The Melting Pot.

Sunday: Sister's Salmon Patties

I love my sister's salmon patties, so I ask her to make them whenever we are together. She made them for lunch before she went home. We had leftovers and sandwiches for dinner. Worked out good since Sophie has had a bug all day and wasn't hungry, and Paul was gone most of the day anyway.

Here's this week's menu:

Monday: Crockpot Chipotle Black Bean Soup

Tuesday: Seriously Simple Beef Stew

Wednesday: Box Dinner

Thursday: Lemon Chicken

Friday: Taco Chili

Saturday: Kung Pao Chicken

Sunday: CORN

Taekwondo

My nephew started taekwondo recently and had his first tournament near us. We took the kids to go see him. He was one of the first groups to "perform" or whatever the correct terminology would be. He did great and even received a medal for his "black belt attitude". He was very nervous going in, but I think he had a great time.

Watching the kids do the forms and spar made both Paul and I really want to get Logan in kung fu. Paul used to take kung fu and I know he can't wait to start again, this time with his son (and maybe daughter).

Meal Plan September 19

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I was terrible about taking pictures this week again. I guess with work/preschool starting back, I am doing good to stick to the plan.

Monday: Enchilada Casserole
This is my Aunt Doris recipe and I also split it so that I can freeze half. Which is where tonight's dinner came from...the freezer. All I had to do was pull it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge until ready to cook for dinner.




Tuesday: Baked Chicken, Rice, and Veggies

Once again this was supposed to be Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, but I bought 3 big packages of frozen chicken breasts that were already seasoned with garlic herbs. I didn't think they would taste good for this recipes, but I had already thawed the chicken.




Wednesday: Easy Slow Cooker A1 Swiss Steak

I was able to prep this the night before and let the beef marinate in the sauce overnight. I served this with egg noodles and some of the veggies from last night. It was pretty good.



Thursday: Chicken Alfredo

Tonight's dinner was supposed to be Kung Pau Chicken, but remember I didn't have any plain chicken, so instead I threw this together...chicken Alfredo, salad, and carrots. I was so surprised that both kids ate the salad (Logan had about 3 helpings).



Friday: Slow-Cooker Sloppy Joes
I had chosen this recipe, Zesty Ginger-Tomato Chicken, for tonight but decided to use some ground beef instead of going to the store for...you guessed it...plain chicken breasts. This was one of those slow cooker recipes that really wasn't much of a convenience. I had to brown the beef before putting it in the crock pot so I did that the night before. Overall, I didn't really like this. It seemed a little over-cooked. Of course, I really like my mom's sloppy joes (which are way easier to make).




Saturday: Picnic in the Park
We had an event with a local adoption group celebrating the Autumn New Moon Festival, so we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, grapes, oranges, and, of course, moon cakes, for dinner.





Sunday: Burgers and "CORN"

We had another adoption group event today. The served burgers so we ate there then came home and had Cleaned Out the Refrigerator Night.





Here's this week's plan (and yes, I have been to the store and bought plain chicken breasts):


Monday: Zesty Ginger-Tomato Chicken


Tuesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole


Wednesday: Sessler's Salads


Thursday: Kung Pau Chicken


Friday: Crock pot Chipotle Lime Black Bean Soup


Saturday: Seriously Simple Beef Stew


Sunday: Sister's Salmon Patties

Meal Plan September 12

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Monday: Peppery Chicken

Forgot to get a picture tonight. This came from our favorite Chinese cookbook (and Paul actually made it). The kids always love the chicken from this book and of course we had rice so everyone was happy. The bad thing is that there are never any leftovers.

Tuesday: Easy Mexican Meatloaves

These were super easy to make and very tasty. Logan tried to not eat it but ended up having seconds. It makes 2 loaves so I froze one for a later meal.

Wednesday: Pizza for the kids and Sessler's Salads for the adults
There is a lady from church who sales homemade gourmet and makes salads for the school and church. I love her salads, so I get 2 for Paul and I and extra chicken for the kids. Of course, I had a meeting tonight so the babysitter fixed the kids pizza and I gave them the chicken for lunch the next day. I had also made these fruit salads on Tuesday. There were so good.

Thursday: Shrimp Carbonara

This is the second recipe where I used the new Philadelphia Brand Cooking Creme that I didn't like. They are definitely convenient but I don't like the taste. The kids loved the noodles and Logan even ate some shrimp.

Friday: Leftovers (unless I get my act together and put something better together)

I didn't get my act together and I forgot my sister, her kids, and her friend would be here so we went out to eat instead. I love this place. They are never busy, have great food, and an atmosphere that I'm not bothered to take the kids to.

Saturday: Paul's Choice/Pizza Delivery (I'm gone all day.)

Paul ordered pizza for him and the kids (including my niece and nephew). My sister, her friend and I went to Chili's. Overall, we ate terribly today but sometimes that's okay.


Sunday: Sausage and Eggs

I was supposed to make Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole but realized too late that we didn't have any chicken. I try to keep sauage on hand for just such an occasion. I realize the picture doesn't show the sausage but the plate is cute anyway.

Here's this week's plan:

Monday: Enchilada Casserole

Tuesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Wednesday: Easy Slow Cooker A1 Swiss Steak

Thursday: Kung Pau Chicken

Friday: Zesty Ginger-Tomato Chicken

Saturday and Sunday: we are out at different events

Laundry

This is why I try to do a load of laundry a day...



I had let the laundry slide but it had to be done today. Paul was out of t-shirts to wear under his button-downs, Logan was out of underwear, and I didn't have any white socks. But here's the problem. After spending all day sorting, loading, switching and folding clothes, I know have that (see picture above) to put away before bed. And you can't even see the basket of Logan's clothes on the far end, or the baskets of socks and undergarments on the side. And, there is still a load in the dryer and one in the washer. Now to be honest, I want put the stuff in the baskets up tonight. I'll just leave those on the dryer until tomorrow since the kids are asleep. I did put the towels up already, taking a stack whenever I went that direction. But seriously, this is just ridiculous and I won't let it get this bad EVER again!

Meal Plan Monday September 5

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This week was very busy with teacher inservice at preschool, parent orientation, and going to visit my sister. I tried to be realistic when making the plan. I am also going to try to double at least one of the meals so that I can use it in later weeks on workdays.

Monday: Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

This was on last week's plan, but we ended up going to the in-laws for dinner one night so I bumped it to this week. The recipe called for using a pre-made bag of slaw mix. I had a half head of cabbage from another meal so Paul chopped it up for me. It also called for a store-bought rotisserie chicken but I just baked up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and chopped them up. I was able to have most of the prep done for this Sunday night which was great since Monday was the first "real" day back to work.

I really didn't think this would go over with the kids, but I wasn't too worried. Paul had to work and so the kids and I ate before he got home. When this happens they end up eating again when he comes in. So I figured if they didn't like the salad that was fine they could eat chili leftovers later with Daddy. Logan ate 3 servings and Sophie had two (although she didn't eat the cabbage just the chicken and noodles). I had also given them cottage cheese and applesauce.) Sophie loves cottage cheese, but I don't like to give it in her school lunch because she's so messy. Tonight, I mixed a little applesauce into the cottage cheese for Logan hoping maybe he'd eat some. He actually liked it that way and finished a whole serving.


Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pork Cacciatore

Normally I'd save crock pot meals for work days but I figure this week was going to be stressful so the more convenience I can give myself the better. This was one of those meals that still required a little effort before serving. We all liked the dinner.

Wednesday: dinner out

We had parent orientation tonight so I fed the kids a corndog before we went to work (just to tide them over). Paul got us Pei Wei afterwards for dinner.

Thursday: Baked Pesto Chicken

This recipe came from OAMM Cooking. I doubled the recipe so that we have another meal later in the month. I fixed some broccoli we had in the fridge and also had fresh strawberries that came in the co-op basket today. Logan has started eating broccoli and Sophie tried it but just spit it out. We all liked the chicken.

Friday: Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

We had a potluck at preschool today and I had planned to take a frozen meal I had made a couple of weeks ago, but the Asian salad from Monday was so good and I still had some cabbage left so I decided to take it instead. I was able to put this casserole together on Thursday evening so it was really easy. (I forgot to take a picture.)

Saturday and Sunday: out-of-town

We are going to my sister's for Labor Day. She's fixing pulled pork sandwiches so I decided to take sweet potatoes from the co-op to make fries. Her sandwiches were really good. My fries weren't crispy enough for me, I'll have to try a different recipe next time.

Next week's plan:

Monday: Peppery Chicken

Tuesday: Easy Mexican Meatloaves

Wednesday: Sessler's Homemade Gourmet Salad

Thursday: Shrimp Carbonara

Friday: Leftovers (unless I get my act together and put something better together)

Saturday: Paul's Choice/Pizza Delivery (I'm gone all day.)

Sunday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole