Tag Archives: menu plans

menu plan Monday, National Blog Posting Month

Why I’ve been posting our weekly menu for almost a decade

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Welcome to the first Menu Plan Monday of NaBloPoMo 2016! I’ve been planning our menu a week at a time for almost 15 years, and I’ve posted 89 pages of Menu Plan Monday posts here since 2007, which may lead you to wonder why I sometimes struggle to figure out what to put on said menu plan when I sit down to put it together. That struggle to remember what meals we’ve enjoyed is one of the reasons I keep writing these posts. It’s great to have them to reference when I’m stuck for ideas.

Planning our meals 7 days at a time also helps with our budget, because having a grocery list keeps us from making too many impulse buys. I used to pore over local grocery store sales ads when I made the menu plan, which really maximized the budget. I haven’t taken the time to do that lately, but I do occasionally swap things out on the fly if there’s a good sale going on. I also try to take advantage of things such as the Buy Two, Get Three Free sales that Harris Teeter frequently offers (see: ““How Far Will $64 Go at Harris Teeter”) to stash meats and veggies away in the freezer for leaner days.

Our family is in a very busy season right now, so our meals are mostly things that are very simple and quick to put together these days. Here’s what we’re having this week:

Monday: Tacos
Pete wanted to go to his favorite taco spot for dinner tonight, and it’s his birthday so that’s what we’re gonna do.

Tuesday: Thai Chicken Curry Soup
This is the first dish that caught my eye from Freddie Prinze Jr.’s “Back to the Kitchen.” It was too hot here to make it last week, but it should be cool enough for soup this week. I love Thai curries, so I’m pretty excited about this one.

Wednesday: ???
Rockford and I are going out for the evening. My in-laws and He Who Would Be The Brother-in-Law will be at home dining with the children.

Thursday: Quesadillas
Like tacos, but flat.

Friday: Probably cheeseburgers

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

menu plan Monday

Another busy week, another menu plan

We had a beautifully busy Labor Day weekend filled with friends, family and tons of cake. Pete kicked things off with a birthday sleepover at a friend’s house on Friday night, then we went to my brother’s house to celebrate his son’s third birthday. We spent Saturday night there, and we ate delicious pastries and played a lot of “Super Mario World.” We came home on Sunday in time to have dinner with Rockford’s parents, and on Monday we went to their house for my sister-in-law’s birthday dinner. We also went for a hike on a new-to-us trail that we had literally all to ourselves.

It was a lovely weekend.

We won’t be doing as much driving this week as we did over the weekend, but it’s going to be busy-busy nonetheless. Here are the easy-peasy meals we’ll be having this week:

Monday: Shepherds pie
We went to my in-laws’ house to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday. She’d requested shepherds pie, which I’d never had before. It was a hearty meal.

Tuesday: Fish sticks and macaroni & cheese
My original plan called for “Frozens.” Then I checked the freezer and discovered a big bag of fish sticks, so that’s what’ll be on the table this evening. I may have a veggie burger.

Wednesday: Spaghetti
Our soccer carpool plan for tomorrow is a little up in the air right now, so this might turn into Pick Something Up On The Way Home from Soccer Practice if I end up driving.

Thursday: Tacos
This is the only meal I need to go to the grocery store to make this week!

Friday: ???
If we go to the fair we’ll probably have corn dogs and deep-fried Oreos for dinner. If we don’t go, we’ll have pizza. (We aren’t actually going to have deep-fried Oreos. Probably.)

Still hungry? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie for more menu plans.

menu plan Monday

The last busy weekend. (For now.)

It is possible that we have reached the end of our Season of Very Busy Weekends. Hallelujah, so say we all.

We were a house divided on Saturday, with Rockford and Pete journeying over hill and dale to attend a high school graduation and Poppy and I at the soccer fields for her marathon games. Rockford and Pete had a lovely time celebrating the Eldest Nephew; Poppy won three games and lost two and played more ferociously than I’ve seen her play all season; and I alternated between dodging raindrops and applying sunscreen for five hours of very odd weather.

Yesterday we were together again, and it was a rather nice day. We started off the day with another wild-goose chase to look at real estate for my dad — the road this house was on ended in someone else’s driveway, and when I emailed the realtor to ask for directions he said “Oh, you don’t want that house.” Later I followed Tyler Florence’s instructions for BBQ chicken, and Rockford and The Brother-in-Law Who Was Promised (aka my sister-in-law’s fiancé) pulled all the weeds out of our jungle-like flowerbeds and then we ended the weekend watching Bran ruin everything (Beware: The night is dark and full of spoilers).

Tonight is the first of four more evenings of soccer for Poppy, who is trying out for the top-of-the-heap team in her age group. Cross your fingers for her.

Monday: Hot ham-and-cheese sandwiches
It was going to be grilled-cheese night, but Pete, as Pete is wont to do, requested more protein.
Tuesday: Fish sticks and mac & cheese
My mom and the kids discovered their mutual love of fish sticks not terribly long ago, and now they want fish sticks and mac every time she visits.

Wednesday: Sausage alfredo
The sausage alfredo recipe popped up on either Facebook or Pinterest as an ad, and I thought it sounded pretty good. We’re going to give it a shot.

Thursday: Cheeseburgers
If we’re having cheeseburgers, chances are good that it’s Pete’s Choice night.

Friday: Pizza

Hungry for more? Check out a whole bunch of menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.