Menu Plan: Week of 8/4

This week is a little different around our house since our oldest daughter is visiting my family in Chicago for the week. I tried to plan this menu so that I'd be making things I specifically knew that she wouldn't like to eat. But then I realized that she'll eat pretty much anything, so it's just a usual menu. If our son were not here, we'd be eating potatoes every night. For some reason he does not like potatoes unless I make french fries. It seems to be a texture issue, not a taste issue.

We are going to one of our all-time favorite summer activities on Friday this week - our town's art festival. We look forward to this all year and everyone loves to walk around the art booths and the Civil War Encampment that is set up in the park. We'll probably take a picnic lunch with us. It's going to be a great day.

Here is what's on our menu plan for the week:

Breakfasts

• M - Open-faced egg & cheese bagel sandwiches
• T - Oatmeal & smoothies
• W - Blueberry Pancakes
• Th - Zucchini bread and smoothies
• F - Bacon & Cheese biscuits
• S - Bagels & smoothies
• Su - Breakfast cookies

Lunches

• M - Tuna spread & crackers, strawberries
• T - Quesadillas & watermelon
• W - Hummus, pita bread, plums
• Th - Pizza grilled cheese, watermelon
• F - Sandwiches at our local town festival
• S - Pepperoni pasta salad (from the new 3 Moms recipe ebook)
• Su - Leftovers

Dinners

• M - Pesto and toasted walnuts over angel hair, garlic bread
• T - Pretzel chicken (recipe below), oven-baked Parmesan fries, fresh green beans
• W - Taco salad
• Th - Honey-baked lentils (Thanks Michele!) with brown rice, mixed greens salad
• F - Ham, red beans and rice, cornbread
• S - Chicken wontons, cream cheese puffs
  
• Su - Turkey meatball subs, corn on the cob, cantaloupe

*Pretzel Chicken

• 1 lb. chicken breasts, pounded flat and cut into fingers
• 2 eggs
• 1 T. water
• 2 t. hot sauce
  
• 2 1/2 c. finely crushed pretzel crumbs
• 1 t. dried thyme
• 1 t. pepper
• Canola oil for frying

1. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, water and hot sauce.

2. In a second shallow bowl, mix pretzel crumbs, thyme and pepper.

3. Dip chicken fingers in pretzels, then in eggs, then in pretzels again. For best results, coat the chicken early in the day and let sit in the refrigerator all day. This really helps the breading stay on when frying.

4. Fry chicken in 1 1/2" of hot oil in a medium-sized skillet. Cook 5 minutes on the first side, 3-4 minutes on the second side.

5. Serve the chicken with any dipping sauces that you like. We really like ranch dressing or a cheese sauce.

Head on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie for more menu plans!