Feb 15, 2010

Menu Plan Monday 02/15/10

Another Monday...another menu plan!

This week's menu looks like:

Monday - Teriyaki Chicken (from freezer - chicken marinated in teriyaki sauce), Ranch Beans, Salad

Tuesday - Pork Chops - Pork chops smothered with cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions, Rice, Green Beans

Wednesday - Korean Tri Tip (from freezer to crockpot), Noodles, Broccoli

Thursday - Chicken w/Salsa & Cheese - super easy - top chicken breasts w/a few tablespoons of salsa and a bit of cheese and bake, Corn Medley, Rolls

Friday – BB game – eat out

Saturday – Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Refried Beans

SundayChili w/bread bowls or French bread (I will double this so we have some leftovers - hopefully)

A pretty simple week!

Feb 9, 2010

Menu Plan Monday 02/08/10

Our menu plan for this week:

MondayMeatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies (I threw this in the crockpot yesterday morning before work - it was okay, but is better oven-baked.)
TuesdayMexican Stuffed Shells, Spanish rice, salad
Wednesday - Black Bean Salsa Chicken, salad
Thursday – Polish Sausage Sandwiches
Friday – Basketballgame – eat out
Saturday – Almost a Meal Casserole - This recipe seems to keep getting passed over...hopefully I'll get to it this week.
SundayRotisserie Chicken, roasted asparagus, rolls

I mixed things up a bit from my original plan for this week due to some travel plans. The boys will be on their own Thursday night and I have some Polish Sausages that need to be used up, so sandwiches will work fine for that night.

Last weeks CP Teriyaki Chicken was a bit of a disappointment. I think it cooked too long. I might try it again on a day when I can shorten the cooking time. The Broccoli 'n Beef was quite good and was pretty easy to make.

Feb 6, 2010

Reviewing last week's menu plan

I am thrilled with how the first week of my 4-month freezer plan turned out!

Dinner time was stress-free and it was nice to have well-thought-out meals that took little or no time to prep! Don't you just love it when a plan works like you want?

We did change up Friday night's meal plan as our son had his first basketball game and since they won, the team and parents went to pizza. So Almost-a-Meal Casserole has been shifted to next week's menu plan. I've also decided to leave Fridays off during basketball season as we are at the gym until late. We'll have to sacrifice by having pizza or fast food....it'll be hard but I'm sure we will survive. :)

I'll be posting next week's menu plan shortly!

Feb 1, 2010

Blog Appearance

Just so everyone knows....I do know my blog looks funky!

The header is off center and the background is not tiling seamlessly.

I was trying to fix it, but then decided to (maybe) go a new route and go with wordpress. But I know nothing about wordpress...so that may or may not happen.

I'm frustrated that I cannot find the fix to this easily, so if someone happens to stumble across my blog and knows how to fix this, would you have compassion on this newcomer to blogging and pass along the info?

Recipe Review - Crockpot Potato Soup

Two weeks ago, I tried a new recipe for the CrockPot. I had a craving for something warm as it had been raining for 2,387 days straight and Crockpot Potato Soup seemed like the perfect thing to fight the chilly weather.

I found the orginal recipe on a blog I follow named Saving and Giving.

Let me say that I could not stop eating this soup! I absolutely loved it and want to make it again real soon...like tomorrow! My family didn't rave about it as much as I did, mostly because my son thought it would be potato 'n cheese soup....no cheese in this soup. My husband is always concerned about calories, so he was trying to figure out just what was in it before giving an opinion. And maybe they figured I was raving enough for everyone as I did comment on how much I liked it once. Or twice. Or maybe a few more times than that.

So here's how I made it (I usually change a recipe a bit for some reason)

Crock Pot Potato Soup

6 cups water
1 cups diced ham
5 cups potatoes - diced - We leave the skins on.
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
A handful of minced onion - I didn't measure it.
1 tsp. garlic
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dill**
2 tsp. chicken bouillon**

**here's my biggest change. I used 1/2 tablespoon of dill and 2 tablespoons of chicken bouillon. Not because I like dill so much but because I wasn't paying attention and grabbed the wrong measuring spoon....oops!

I cooked it all day and when dinner time was approaching; after looking in the crockpot, I was frantically thinking of an alternative for dinner as it didn't look like it was going to turn out. The cream cheese was clumped up at the top of the 'soup' and it looked downright watery.

So I pulled out a box of instant mashed potatoes and started adding a few spoonfuls at a time. This thickened up the soup nicely and soon we had the most wonderful soup in the world!

So try it....you'll not be disappointed!

Menu Plan Monday 02/01/10

Wow, the week is finally here where I get to start reaping the benefits of my Freezer Cooking Adventure!

The first four nights are pre-planned and are prepped and ready to go. How cool is that?

Here's what we will be eating this week:

Monday - Asian Pork Tenderloin (CP) We had this for dinner tonight with rice and broccoli. It was still partially frozen this morning, but I popped it into the crockpot and let it cook all day...wonderful!

Tuesday - Enchilada Casserole - The meat mixture is already prepped and I'll just have to layer it in a casserole dish and pop it into the oven! So easy! I'll serve it with a salad and maybe some beans.

Wednesday - Meatball Sandwiches - Will be made from frozen meatballs, topped with cheese and marinara sauce. An easy dinner as we have Awana's on Wednesday nights and very little time to think about dinner.

Thursday - Italian Chicken - This is a 'dump recipe', just dump chicken breasts and Italian dressing in freezer bag and freeze; the chicken will marinate as it thaws. I just realized I planned on making roasted asparagus to go with this and didn't buy any asparagus at the grocery store!! I think I'll wait and see if it will be going on sale Wednesday...and either way pick it up on my way home Thursday. Let's just hope I don't forget!

Friday - Almost A Meal Casserole - This is a new recipe for our family. I am planning on making it up earlier in the day Friday and was planning on serving it with Corn on the Cob. But in trying to find the link (which I still cannot find) I realized that it has corn in the casserole, so I will have to figure out a different side to go with it. Sides are always difficult for me. If I cannot find the link, I will try to post the recipe later this week.

Saturday - Beef 'n Broccoli - I will serve this over brown rice.

Sunday - CP Teriyaki Chicken - I'll serve this with noodles and veggies. Sunday is another busy day so I love using my crockpot and not worrying about dinner.

I never did get around to posting last week's menu, but it was pretty basic. I did try my hand at making stromboli and was happy with how it turned out. I will make it again. I used the Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough and filled it with pizza sauce, salami, pepperoni, sliced mushrooms and lots of mozzarella cheese. Next time, I'll make two!

Coming up next is a review of the Potato Soup I made the week before. I still can taste it!