Toni’s Week

I am thrilled because I cleaned out my freezer last week and found a ton of food that I can prepare for meals this week. Hopefully it will keep my grocery bill to a minimum, since I did go over budget by about $20 last month.

Monday

• Breakfast- Bagels
• Lunch - Grill out with friends; hot dogs, burgers, fruit and veggies
• Dinner- Hopefully (and I am crossing my fingers on this one) Texas Steakhouse

Tuesday

• Breakfast- Oatmeal/ Muffins (from freezer)
• Lunch- Sandwiches, fruit
• Dinner- Tacos (meat already in the freezer)

Wednesday

• Breakfast- Pancakes
• Lunch- Smoothies, cheese, crackers
• Dinner- Chicken pot pie (chicken and frozen veggies in freezer)

Thursday

• Breakfast- French Toast
• Lunch- Sandwiches, fruit
• Dinner- Soup and grilled cheese (soup ingredients in the freezer and pantry)

Friday

• Breakfast- Oatmeal
• Lunch- mac and cheese, veggies
• Dinner- Hamburgers (burgers and buns in freezer) fruit and veggies. I realize this is a repeat from Monday, but we will be eating at a friend’s house on Monday. Friday’s dinner will use up things I have in our freezer already.

Kate’s Week

I have been looking forward to this week for a long time. I am finally going to get back into my regular kitchen routine this month, including once-a-month grocery shopping and freezer cooking. Our big shopping trip is scheduled for Wednesday.

Breakfasts

• M - Oatmeal & smoothies
• T - Banana splits (I got this fantastic idea from Amy), toast
• W - Strawberry-cheesecake muffins & smoothies
• Th - Cheesy scrambled eggs, English muffin bread (recipe below)
• F - PB & strawberry cream cheese french toast sandwiches
• S - Blueberry pancakes (triple batch for freezer) & sausage
• Su - Banana bread (double loaf for freezer) & smoothies

Lunch

• M - Hot dogs, cantaloupe
• T - Quesadillas, applesauce
• W - Sandwiches, carrot sticks
• Th - Pizza pockets (triple batch for freezer) & cucumber salad
• F - Chicken salad pitas (triple pitas for freezer), apple slices
• S - Tuna pasta salad, grapes
• Su - Hummus, homemade pita chips, kiwi quarters - For the pita chips, I use pitas made from this recipe. I cut each pita into sixths. I drizzle olive oil on a cookie sheet and then warm the cookie sheet and oven to 375 degrees. Then I add the pitas, drizzle with some more olive oil over the top and a sprinkle of salt, and bake for 10-15. Stir at least once during bake time. When crisp, remove from oven and sprinkle with some more salt, if desired. Also good with garlic salt in place of plain salt.

Dinner

• M - Cap’n crunch chicken fingers, rosemary roasted potatoes, green beans
• T - Dirty rice w/ smoked sausage, black beans & garbanzo beans, corn muffins
• W - Ravioli, spinach (Frozen ravioli with bottled sauce is our standard grocery day dinner. It frees me up from having to worry about dinner and focus on all the things grocey day entails.)
• Th - Meatloaf (make extra meatloaf cups and meatballs for freezer), mashed potatoes (double for freezer), steamed broccoli
• F - Parmesan chicken over garlic spaghetti (double chicken for freezer), zucchini & mushroom saute with garlic (quadruple for freezer)
• S - Black bean and corn nachos
• Su - Meat lasagna (make an extra red veggie lasagna for freezer, and triple tomato sauce for freezer), breadsticks (Joy’s recipe from the 3 Moms ebook.)

English Muffin Bread

• 5-6 c. unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 T. yeast
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. water
• cornmeal

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix 4 c. flour, yeast sugar, salt and baking soda for about 1 minute. (I use my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer at speed 3.)

2. Combine milk and water in a small sauce pan. Heat over low heat until warm. Add to flour mixture. Mix for one minute or until fully incorporated. Keep adding remaining flour, 1/2 c. at a time. Knead on speed 2 for 3-5 minutes. The dough will be very sticky. (The dough stays really sticky and that is why I use my mixer. If you don’t have a mixer, use a wooden spoon to “knead” the dough. Don’t try to knead with your hands.) Grease 2 loaf pans and sprinkle cornmeal over the bottom of each pan. Pour dough into pans. Cover and let rise for 45-60 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

(Makes 2 Loaves)

Joy’s Week

Since we started school last week, the kids and I will be “doing school” from 8:30 to 3 each day this week. And since public school is back in session, I’ve been able to add more piano students to my afternoon schedule. I do like having money coming in again after having so little income over the summer; but I don’t like that I’ll be busy from 3-6 p.m. every day. Dinner is so difficult to prepare when I’m busy from 8:30 in morning till 6 in the evening!

So I have a disclaimer about this week’s schedule: Any or all of the scheduled meals can, and probably will be, changed to meet the need of the moment. The menu plan you see below is my ideal. The reality is that most days will likely end up being yo-yo this week since we’re still getting used to our back-to-homeschool schedule.

• Monday: Red Pepper Pesto Spaghetti, Homemade Breadsticks, and Corn
• Tuesday: Baked Beans and Creamed Corn Cornbread
• Wednesday: Yo-Yo (you’re on your own)
• Thursday: Wet Burritos (but with chicken this time!)
• Friday: Homemade pizza (with whole wheat crust)
• Saturday: BFD (Breakfast for Dinner)
• Sunday: Stir Fry Veggies and Rice (this is quickly becoming a family favorite!)

For more Menu Plan Monday, visit Org Junkie.

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