Menu Plan Monday - Week of 10/13

Well, I am still working on finishing up the last half bushel of apples. We are going to be having lots of apple stuff this week, that's for sure. I'd like to make some more stuff for the freezer but it's just about full for this month. I guess it's a good thing that we all love eating apples.

The only things I have left to make for the freezer are some extra breakfast items. Other than that, I'm hoping to take a bit of a break from spending so much time in the kitchen. Last week really wore me out. And now I have lots of catch up to do this week with everything else that got put on hold.

Breakfast

• M - Sausage and biscuit sandwiches
• T - Cream cheese apple muffins & smoothies
• W - French toast
• Th - Chocolate chip muffins (or apple coffee cake) & smoothies
• F - Blueberry pancakes
• S - Oatmeal & smoothies
• Su - Breakfast cookies

Lunch

• M - Peanut butter & honey sandwiches, apple slices
• T - Chicken salad pitas, peaches
• W - Macaroni & cheese, grapes
• Th - Pita pizzas, apple slices
• F - Cream cheese wontons (we didn't get to these last week), carrots & celery sticks
• S - Baked potato soup
• Su - Lunch out with my in-laws

Dinner

• M - Polish sausage & cabbage soup, leftover biscuits
• T - Black bean & rice burritos, skillet corn
  
• W - Chicken & gravy w/ homemade egg noodles, maple-glazed carrots
• Th - Chickpea curry
• F - Spaghetti & tossed salad
• S - Family Movie Night! Homemade restaurant-style "Samplin' Platter" (pretzel chicken fingers, mozzarella wedges, onion straws, breaded zucchini & mushrooms) & root beer
• Su -Bacon & cheese quiche, cinnamon apples (recipe below)

Cinnamon Apples

• 1/2 stick butter
• 4 apples, wedged or cubed
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 T. cinnamon

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the cut apples and cook for about 3 minutes.
2. Add the brown sugar, honey, and cinnamon to the pan. Bring to a slow boil and cook until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. You can leave this on low heat for a while to let the flavors blend even further. If you do, it may be necessary to bring the syrup back to a boil before serving so that it thickens up again.

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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.

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Menu Plan Monday - Week of 9/29

I can't believe it's already the end of the month...again! It seems like the days have just been flying by lately.

This week we will be using up what we have around the house. Saturday will be our monthly shopping trip. I've been procrastinating a little the past few days and haven't started to work on my menu plan for next month yet. So needless to say, I do not know what we will be eating on Saturday or Sunday yet. I am pretty sure that we'll have cheese ravioli on Saturday night though. That is our usual grocery shopping day dinner.

Here's the plan for the rest of the week.

Breakfasts

• M - Oatmeal w/ dried cranberries
• T - Biscuits w/ jam & smoothies
• W - Chocolate chip muffins
• Th - Banana bread & smoothies
• F - Blueberry Pancakes

Lunch

• M - Tuna melts & peaches
• T - Quesadillas & orange wedges
• W - Tuna pasta salad, applesauce
• Th - Macaroni & cheese, pears
• F - Egg salad wonton cups, pineapple

Dinner

• M - Cheesy ham & potato soup (recipe below), biscuits
• T - Spaghetti (with sauce from the freezer), green beans
• W - Dirty rice w/Polish sausage, corn muffins
• Th - Sloppy Joe shepherd's pie (from the freezer), breadsticks (from the 3 Moms recipes ebook)
  
• F - Bean & rice wet burritos, skillet corn

Cheddar Potato & Ham Soup

• 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1/2 lb. ham slices, cubed
• 4 potatoes, cubed
• salt, pepper & dill
  
• 4 c. chicken stock
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 c. milk
• 1/2 lb. extra-sharp cheddar, cubed or shredded
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
  
• 1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onions, celery and carrots. Cook until onions and celery are translucent. Add ham and potatoes. Season with salt, pepper & some dill. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a boil and cook until thickened. Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add seasonings.
3. When potatoes are tender, whisk the cheese sauce into the soup pot. Continue boiling slowly until soup is desired thickness, stirring frequently.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of 10/12

We finally made it to the apple orchard and brought home a bushel of apples. I'm excited to get started on those. I'm planning to make some applesauce, apple leather, apple butter (using Phoebe's recipe), cinnamon apples and some baked goods. Hopefully we'll have enough apples! I guess I can always run to the store and pick some up off the shelf if I need to.

This week I also need to force myself to finish the clothing swap for the kids. It's been put off long enough and they are all in dire need of sweaters and other warm stuff. So I'm going to try to keep things easy other than all the apple work.

We also have conferences for Isabelle and Alex on Thursday afternoon. Wednesday we're planning to do some shopping to snag some end-of-season deals on summer clothes for the kids to take to Walt Disney World. Add in a meeting on Tuesday and Thursday morning and things are beyond busy around here. That vacation can't come soon enough!

Breakfast

• M - Sausage and biscuit sandwiches (from the freezer)
  
• T - Cream cheese apple muffins & smoothies
• W - French toast
• Th - Caramel Apple Coffee Cake
  
• F - Banana Oatmeal
  
• S - Blueberry Pancakes
  
• Su - Breakfast cookies

Lunch

• M - Peanut butter & honey sandwiches, apple slices
• T - Chicken salad pitas, peaches
• W - Macaroni & cheese, grapes
• Th - Pita pizzas, apple slices
• F - Cream cheese wontons, carrots & celery sticks
• S - Loaded Baked potato soup
• Su - TBD

Dinner

• M - Polish sausage & cabbage soup, leftover biscuits
• T - Black bean & rice burritos, skillet corn
  
• W - Something with chicken. I have a few new ideas I'm considering.
  
• Th - TBD
• F - Spaghetti & tossed salad
• S - Family Movie Night! Homemade restaurant-style "Samplin' Platter" (pretzel chicken fingers, mozzarella wedges, onion straws, breaded zucchini & mushrooms) & root beer
• Su -Bacon & cheese quiche, cinnamon apples

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of 9/14

Well, this will be our first full week of school for Isabelle because of the holiday last week. I thought I'd dread getting up earlier to get her out the door, but it's really made a huge difference in my daily productivity.

I'm slowly getting adjusted to the new way of things around here, but breakfasts and lunches are throwing me off a little. I know once we get more used to the new schedule, everything will fall into place. But until then, I feel like things are still a bit up in the air. So I'm not even going to plan for lunches this week until I figure what works best for us. Isabelle is enjoying brown bagging lunch, so that hasn't been much of an issue. It's figuring out what to feed the rest of us that is stumping me for some reason.

Breakfasts

• M - Breakfast cookies, smoothies
• T - Blueberry pancakes
• W - Banana muffins, smoothies
• Th - French toast
• F - Oatmeal, smoothies
• S - Bananas foster crepes
• Su - Sunshine toast

Dinner

• M - Creamy cheese & chicken enchilads, black bean salad
• T - Beef stew & biscuits
• W - Curry chicken & broccoli casserole, tossed salad
• Th - Ham & cheese strata, maple-glazed carrots
  
• F - Taco lentils over rice, cantaloupe
• S - Chicken & dumplings or chicken pot pie
• Su - Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, garlic zucchini & mushroom saute

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Five Days For The Freezer

Last Wednesday was our monthly trip to the grocery store. As a result, I have spent the past 5 days tackling cooking for my freezer.

The cooking began on Thursday. I made 2 dozen chocolate chip muffins. We ate 9 for breakfast and the rest went in the freezer. Then I had 10 pounds of ground beef to get to.
I made 2 meals worth of meatballs, Salisbury steak with onion and mushroom gravy, 3 packages of browned meat with onions, 2 batches of sloppy joe meat, and 1 meatloaf. The meatloaf we had for dinner.I also made a triple batch of mashed potatoes. We ate one with the meatloaf for dinner, the second batch was frozen on its own in a plastic bag, and the third batch topped one of the batches sloppy joe meat for a "Sloppy Joe Shepherd's Pie" for the freezer.

As a tip, I've found my mashed potatoes freeze and reheat best when I bulk them up with a little sour cream and cream cheese. They also taste delicious this way!
On Friday, I wanted to get some of our produce taken care of before it had a chance to even think about going bad. The first thing I did was cut up all of the veggies I'd be using: 3 zucchinis, 1 green pepper, 1 onion, 1 pound mushrooms, and 1 whole head of garlic.

I made garlic chicken & spinach spaghetti, which we ate that night.
Then I made garlic zucchini & mushroom saute. I packaged that into 3 side-dish sized freezer bags and put them in the freezer.
Then I made a veggie-heavy tomato sauce. I put one bag of just sauce in the freezer.
On Saturday, I used the remaining sauce, and the rest of the spinach, to make Florentine stuffed shells, meat lasagna, and vegetarian lasagna. We ate the vegetarian lasagna on Saturday night and the other two dishes went into the freezer.

Sunday morning began with blueberry pancakes. I made a triple batch and froze all of the leftovers.Then I decided to make lots of pizza pockets for quick lunches from the freezer. This is one of favorite things to have in the freezer. Even though it takes a few hours to make 4 batches, it is well worth it through out the rest of the month.
I ended up with 24 pepperoni and mozzarella pizza pockets. I decided to try something new this month and also made 8 ham & cheese pockets. While those were baking, I made 45 Parmesan chicken fingers. We ate half for dinner on Sunday and the other half went in the freezer.

On Monday I made 2 dozen tortillas. My hope was to have some extra tortillas to freeze for quick quesadilla lunches throughout the month. But, after 4 kids snacking on them, and 2 dinners, they are all gone. Oh well, maybe next time.
To go along with the tortillas I made a chicken & black bean taco filling, which we ate Monday night. I also made some creamy chicken and cheese enchiladas for the freezer. When I pull them out to eat, I will add some enchilada verde sauce over the top before I bake them.Here is the current state of my freezer. I think I'll have to halt the freezer cooking for now until we clear out a bit more room, or until I rearrange everything to see if I can create some more room.


Update: I have linked and written out recipes in this post.

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Menu Plan Monday - Week of 9/15

This week is our first full week of school with a full work load. We are also instituting a new schedule this week. So, in an effort to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible, we'll be relying on some of our freezer meals and some quick to prepare meals.

We had been hoping to go apple picking this Sunday, but those plans got rained out. So I guess all of the apple plans I had for this week will have to wait. We'll aim to go this coming weekend again, if the weather cooperates.

Breakfasts

• M - Breakfast cookies, smoothies
• T - Blueberry pancakes
• W - Banana muffins, smoothies
• Th - French toast
• F - Oatmeal, smoothies
• S - Bananas foster crepes
• Su - Sunshine toast

Lunch

• M - Tuna pasta salad, applesauce
• T - Polish sausage & cabbage soup leftovers, crackers
• W - Quesadillas, pears
• Th - PB & honey sandwiches, yogurt
• F - Pizza pockets, pears
  
• S - Hummus & pitas, carrots & celery sticks
• Su - To be determined

Dinner

• M - Creamy cheese & chicken enchilads (recipe below), black bean salad
• T - Beef stew & biscuits
• W - Curry chicken & broccoli casserole, tossed salad
• Th - Ham & cheese strata (recipe below), maple-glazed carrots
  
• F - Taco lentils over rice, cantaloupe
• S - Chicken & dumplings or chicken pot pie
• Su - Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, garlic zucchini & mushroom saute

Creamy Cheese & Chicken Enchiladas

• 1/2 lb. chicken, fully cooked and shredded
• 6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 small can diced green chiles
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. cumin
• 1/2 t. chili powder
• 8 - 10 tortillas
• Enchilada sauce of choice (green or red, homemade or canned)

1. Mix the first 7 ingredients together.

2. Place around 1/4 c. filling down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place in a casserole dish. Repeat until filling is gone.

3. Cover with enchilada sauce and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ham & Cheese Strata

• 8 slices bread, white or whole wheat
• 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 c. ham, chopped
• 2 1/4 c. milk
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. dry mustard
• 1/4 t. paprika
• 1/4 t. pepper

1. Cut the crusts off 5 slices of bread and set aside. Place remaining 3 slices of bread and the removed crusts into the bottom of a greased 13x9 casserole dish.

2. Layer the ham and cheese on top of the bread. Cut the remaining 5 slices of bread in 1/2 and layer on top in two rows.

3. Combine the milk, eggs and seasonings in a small bowl. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of 8/31

As much as I love summer and summery foods, I'm always so happy when September rolls back around and I can get back on track in the kitchen. It definitely feels like there's a change in the air around here too. Our weather for the week will be be in the mid-60s to the low-70s. Sweater weather isn't too far off...

The family birthday party for Isabelle got moved to this coming weekend. We'll be spending the day at my in-laws lake house, so having the party there will be perfect. I haven't decided on what we'll take. Isabelle really wants to do a taco bar. I guess that wouldn't be too hard to transport.

Here's what we'll be eating the rest of the week:

Breakfasts

• M - Oatmeal & smoothies
• T - Banana splits. toast
• W - Strawberry-cheesecake muffins
  
• Th - Cheesy scrambled eggs, English muffin bread
  
• F - French toast sandwiches (I'm still debating on what filling I'll use though.)
  
• S - Blueberry pancakes & sausage (If there's time before we head out.)
  
• Su - Bagels with peanut butter and honey
  

Lunch

• M - Pepperoni pasta salad
  
• T - Quesadillas, applesauce
• W - Sandwiches, carrot sticks, grapes
  
• Th - Pizza pockets (triple batch for freezer) & cucumber salad
• F - Chicken salad pitas (triple pitas for freezer), apple slices
• S - At the lake house
  
• Su - Hummus, homemade pita chips, kiwi quarters
  

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 - Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups (we didn't get to this last week.)
  
• Th - Something with ground beef...
  
• F - Parmesan chicken over garlic spaghetti, zucchini & mushroom saute with garlic
  
• S - At the lake house... taco bar, etc.
  
• Su - Fajita stuffed shells, Garlic bread tortillas

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Menu Plan Monday - Week Of 9/8

I'll still be doing lots of freezer cooking throughout this week. By next week, most of our breakfasts and dinners should be ready and waiting for us in the freezer. However, I did notice today that our freezer is getting pretty full so I might have to rethink certain things if I can't get all the food rearranged to make enough more room. We do not have a separate freezer. Usually this doesn't cause a problem, even with all the freezer cooking. I think the problem this month is that I'm freezing a lot more breakfasts also. We'll see how it goes.

We're also starting back up with school this week on Wednesday, although the first 3 days are going to be more of an introduction to the new materials and getting into the new routine. This has really helped me focus on the freezer cooking. The more I get done now, before we start school, the less I'll have to do once we are schooling every day. That will really help me out this year until I get into a good groove with Alex, Olivia, and Gracie. Isabelle will probably be spending more time on school this year, but that will require less of my daily time (although more time in the preparation for each week).

Breakfasts

• M - Banana muffins, smoothies
• T - French toast
• W - Peach oatmeal muffins, smoothies
• Th - Bananas foster crepes
• F - Blueberry pancakes
• S - Oatmeal & smoothies
• Su - Cinnamon rolls, strawberries

Lunch

• M - Sandwiches, grapes
• T - Cream cheese wontons, peaches
• W - Out to lunch for first day of school celebration
• Th - Quesadillas, yogurt
• F - Cheese & crackers, cottage cheese, carrot & celery sticks
• S - Hummus, pitas, strawberries
• Su - Pizza pockets, applesauce

Dinner

• M - Chicken & black bean tacos, Spanish rice
• T - Swedish meatballs, homemade noodles, peas
• W - Cider vinegar chicken over mashed potatoes, garlic zucchini & mushroom saute
• Th - Ranch ham casserole, batter rolls
• F - Vegetarian stuffed cabbage, cantaloupe
• S - Sloppy joes, cheesy potatoes, green beans
• Su - Cabbage soup with Polish sausage & barley, maple oat bread

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of 10/4

Our apple picking trip was rained out this weekend. So we crossed another item off our list and spent the day in Frankenmuth, MI instead. It was a great day! And don't get me started on the awesome chicken dinner we had. That meal alone is worth the 90 minute drive for sure!

Unfortunately, all of my apple plans are on hold for this week though. I think I'll try and get some baking done for the freezer. I really like having baked goods in the freezer for breakfasts and after school snacks. I got a head start on a few things today and plan to finish up tomorrow hopefully.

Breakfasts

• M - Breakfast cookies, smoothies
• T - Blueberry pancakes
• W - Banana muffins, smoothies
• Th - French toast
• F - Oatmeal, smoothies
• S - Bananas foster crepes
• Su - Sunshine toast

Lunch

• M - Tuna pasta salad, applesauce
• T - 15-Bean soup leftovers, crackers
• W - Quesadillas, pears
• Th - PB & honey sandwiches, yogurt
• F - Pizza pockets, pears
  
• S - Hummus & pitas, carrots & celery sticks
• Su - To be determined

Dinner

• M - Creamy cheese & chicken enchilads, black bean salad
• T - Beef stew & biscuits
• W - Curry chicken & broccoli casserole, tossed salad
• Th - Ham & cheese strata, maple-glazed carrots
  
• F - Taco lentils over rice, cantaloupe
• S - Chicken & dumplings or chicken pot pie
• Su - Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, garlic zucchini & mushroom saute

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Recipes and Links From My Freezer Cooking Post & WFMW

Thanks to everyone who left comments on my freezer cooking post. I received many requests for the recipes that I posted. I had meant to link all of the recipes, but obviously I forgot to do that. So, in an effort to redeem myself, I am posting them all here.

• Chocolate chip muffins
• Sloppy Joes
• Garlic chicken & spinach spaghetti
• Vegetable lasagna
• Pizza pockets
• Tortillas

Salisbury Steak w/Onion & Mushroom Gravy
(* This is not necessarily authentic Salisbury steak. Actually, when I was growing up my mom called it chopped steak.)

• About 1 1/4 pound ground beef
• 1/2 shredded onion
• 1 T. garlic salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1 onion, sliced
  
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
• 3 T. flour
• 2 c. beef stock
• 1 t. Italian seasoning

1. Add the shredded onion, garlic salt and pepper to the ground beef in a large bowl. Incorporate all the ingredients. Shape the beef mixture into hamburger-sized patties. (I usually give mine more of an oval shape for this recipe.) I make 6 - 7 patties.

2. Place the patties in a large saute pan. Flip when browned, about 5-8 minutes. Brown on the other side for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pan, and continue cooking until meat is fully cooked. Remove patties to a plate.

3. In the pan drippings, cook onions and mushrooms until onions are translucent and mushrooms are browned. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Whisk in beef stock, bring to a boil and cook until desired consistency. Stir in Italian seasoning. Add patties back to the pan just to warm.

Florentine stuffed shells

• 1 box large shell pasta
  
• 32 oz. container Ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 lb. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/2 t. Italian seasoning
• 1/8 t. nutmeg
• 2 c. marinara/spaghetti sauce, homemade or purchased
  
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook shells according to directions on box. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. Mix together ricotta, egg, Parmesan, spinach, and seasonings. Stuff each shell with filling, about 3 heaping tablespoons per shell.

3. Pour 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 13"x9" casserole dish. Add the stuffed shells. Top with remaining sauce and shredded mozzarella.

4. Cook, covered with foil, in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes,. Remove the foil during the last 5 minutes of cook time. If cooking from, do not thaw first. Place in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of cook time.

Blueberry Pancakes

• 2 c. flour
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 3 T. sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 c. buttermilk
• 4 T. melted butter
• 1 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen (If using frozen, do not thaw first.)
  

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar together in a medium bowl. Stir in eggs, buttermilk and butter. Do not over stir the batter, small to medium lumps are fine.

2. Pour about 1/3 c. batter onto a hot, greased skillet or griddle. Add blueberries immediately. Cook until edges are dry and center is bubbly. Flip and cook for one more minute. Repeat as needed.

If there are any other recipes you'd be interested in, please feel free to let me know.

Now, to answer a few questions.

1. When I freeze homemade tortillas, I've found that they reheat best if I roll them up as tightly as possible, wrap individually in tin foil, and store them all in a plastic bag. To reuse them, keep them wrapped in foil, put on a cookie sheet, and warm in a 325 degree oven for about 5 minutes.
2. We do not have a deep freezer. Everything goes on top of our refrigerator.

Doing all this extra work in the beginning of the month makes the rest of my month so much easier. I have yet to undertake a full OAMC program. I like to scatter my freezer cooking over the course of a week. Once I find my groove and get in a cooking mindset, one week of extra work is worth the 3 weeks of less work.

There are still some days when I will cook a meal from scratch for that evening. Our family still likes that option and variety. I just find that having at least 10 meals or so in the freezer reduces my stress, still allows for flexibility, and saves money and hassle on busy days when I do not have the time or desire to cook. And that definitely works for me.

You can find more WFMW posts at Rocks In My Dryer.

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Menu Plan Monday - Week of 9/1

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. I'm going to start freezer cooking again on Thursday. Hopefully by the end of next week, I'll be done for the month.

I still have to finish adjusting my Master Menu Plan. It is taking longer than I anticipated because I keep making changes to it. After that, I'll go through my Master Grocery List and make whatever adjustments are needed there. Eric and I will also go over it at some point before Wednesday to finalize our new increased budget. The next few days will be busy, but my hope is to get it all right now so that it works for us until spring.

Anyhow, here's what's on my menu plan for this week:

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 brocoli
• 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

(Makes 2 Loaves)

• 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.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of 9/21

I am so excited to start this week and get into our new routine. I think we've gotten all the big changes out of our system for now. So we'll use these next few days to transition from newness to normal. I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Last week I mentioned how breakfast and lunch were a big adjustment around here with one child in school. And then the very next day we decided to send another one. I still haven't figured out the breakfast or lunch routine. I think until we get used to everything, and until my body gets used to going to bed before 1 or 2 am and waking up before 7, I'm going to cut us all some slack with breakfast. I'm afraid the big breakfasts I usually love to make might be a thing of the past during the week. I guess that will make our big weekend breakfasts even more special though. And one of these days I'll get the lunch thing figured out and start planning for those again too.

Breakfasts

• M- Mini-wheats and bananas (I found a great sale on these and it's one cold cereal I don't feel too guilty about letting the kids have.)
• T - Scrambled eggs and toast
• W - Lemon-blueberry muffins
  
• Th - Apple spiced oatmeal
• F - Lemon-blueberry muffins
• S - Crepes with mixed berry sauce
• Su - Waffles or pancakes and bacon (saving half the bacon for dinner)
  

Dinners

• M - Beef burritos, corn and black bean salad
• T - Beef pot roast with maple sweet potatoes (for the NCBA's It's What For Dinner Wednesday's)
• W - 3-Bean chili, corn bread
• Th - TBD - We're going to an open house at school from 7-8, so we'll need something quick before we go. I'm leaning towards soup of some kind and sandwiches, but if it's a warm day I'd like to get in one more cold chicken pasta salad
• F - Homemade Southwestern egg rolls, broccoli salad
• S - Date night for Eric and I, hopefully (we've been planning one for a while and it keeps getting pushed back), Tuna noodle casserole for the kids
• Su - Bacon cheeseburger pizza, cantaloupe

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Menu Plan Monday 5/25

This is going to be an exciting week around our house. It will be a little busy, but a good busy. My husband has Monday off and a lighter workload on Tuesday, so it feels like we are just entering our weekend around here.

Friday is our anniversary. We'll be celebrating that on Saturday night when Eric and I go out for dinner alone. My in-laws will be watching the kids for us. During the day we'll probably take the kids to the park where we were married. That's becoming a fun tradition we all enjoy.

Throughout the week, I'll be packing clothes for the kids and myself. Next Sunday (or maybe Monday, we're still not 100% sure), I'll be packing the kids in the car for the drive to my parents' house. We'll be there all the following week, doing lots of fun things with my family. The kids have been counting down the days until they see their grandparents and cousins.

I'm also going to try making a few extra meals for Eric to have while we are gone. He is going to join us at the end of week so that we can have a birthday party for Olivia. Then, we'll all drive home together on Sunday.

Now, onto the menu plan for this week.

Breakfast

• M - Waffles, smoothies
• T - Blueberry scones w/ lemon curd
• W - Banana oatmeal
• Th - Chocolate chip pancakes
• F - Breakfast tacos
• S - French toast and sausage
• Su - Morning glory muffins

Lunch

• M - Picnic lunch at the park, after enjoying our local parade
• T - Hummus, pita chips, carrots & celery
• W - Tuna pasta salad, strawberries
• Th - PB&J, yogurt, bananas
• F - Cheese slices, crackers, apple slices, orange wedges
• S - Roll-up sandwiches, blueberries, cottage cheese
• Su - TBD - probably something big before we hit the road

Dinner

• M - Turkey dogs, cantaloupe, watermelon, corn on the cob
• T - Stuffed chicken breasts, pesto potato salad, green beans
• W - Ground beef chalupas (with homemade chalupa shells - a new experiment!), refried black beans
• Th - Bangers & mash, creamed spinach
• F -Toasted sesame & garlic chicken stir fry with soba noodles and veggies
• S - Anniversary dinner out; tuna casserole for the kids
• Su - TBD, depends on if we're home or at my parents. I'll probably have a ranch chicken & bacon pasta salad in the fridge for Eric to eat

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