Menu Plan Dec 2 - 7th

I will admit, baby #3 has thrown a wrench in my day to day life. He is now going into his 11th week of life & I feel I am just now starting to feel like I can manage anything. I have been menu planning but getting on a blog to post that menu? I'm starting to slowly get myself back to normal and figuring out our new schedule with the chaos of our day to day life.

Here is this week's menu, I have no recipes as most of it's simple food. I'll post the beef stew if I'm able to do so while cooking. It has taken me a few years to master that one to our perfection.

Monday:
Crock Pot Beef Stew

Tuesday:
Pork Chops
Sauteed Potatoes & Onions
Salad

Wednesday:
Leftover Beef Stew

Thursday:
Chicken Fajitas

Friday:
Cube Steaks
Mashed Potatoes
Corn

Saturday:
Hamburger Strogonoff

Linking up with OrgJunkie

Menu Plan - Oct 14th

Linking up with OrgJunkie Menu Plan Monday.

Here is this weeks menu. I have fallen off the wagon and started eating horribly since baby came since I no longer am required to maintain a Gestational Diabetes diet. I'm hoping that this week I start doing better and next week I'm diving back in along with adding daily walks into our routine.

Ham Spaghetti

Sausage Stir Fry with Yellow Rice

Pizza

Cube Steaks, Mashed Potatoes & Corn

Spaghetti (regular)

I'm hoping once I get myself  into an eating happy of healthy again that I'll be able to incorporate a breakfast and lunch menu in there too. Happy menu planning!

Menu Plan Sept 30th

So... baby is here! We had a handsome little boy. We have been recovering and trying to get used to being a family of 5. Other than Momma going crazy with cabin fever all is great.

Here is this weeks menu. It's a simple one since it always seems baby wants to nurse 10 minutes before dinner is done and hubby has to finish it and Mommy is stuck warming her food up. The schedule of a newborn...

Stuffed Peppers

Tacos / Taco Salad

Grilled Chicken Legs 
Potato Salad

Turkey Meatloaf
Green Beans
Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Brats
Zucchini

Chicken Fajitas

German Spag
(I've stated before I don't think it's called this but the person who taught it to use is from Germany so...)

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

Linking up with OrgJunkie.

Menu Plan 09/02

Better late then never right? Sorry, I had a few days of contractions....that lead n.o. w.h.e.r.e. The last two weeks is always the hardest.

Here is this weeks menu:

Monday:
Bacon Wrapped Scallops
Ribs
Corn on the Cob
Potato Salad

Tuesday:
Leftovers

Wednesday: 
Turkey Meatloaf
Green Beans

Thursday: 
Crock Pot French Dip
Veggies

Friday:
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Noodles
Broccoli

Saturday:
Baked Pork Loin
Potatoes, Carrots, Celery and Onion

I've been slacking on posting recipes and pictures for items and I'm sorry for that. I'm hoping to snap some pictures and put some post on my list for after baby comes.

Linking up with OrgJunkie

Meal Plan - August 19th

Nothing fancy this week. My oldest is back in school so we are getting back into the swing of school days and I have doctors appointments Monday & Tuesday this week. Not to mention the end of the week I'm hoping to get a spurt of energy and deep clean my house to prepare for baby - 4 weeks left!!

Monday

Grilled Chicken Legs

Potato Salad

Sugar Snap Peas

Tuesday

Hubby's Fish Night

(this pregnant woman has a late doctors appointment and a pedi)

Wednesday

Pork Cutlets

Broccoli

Macaroni

Thursday

Baked Chicken Fajitas

Friday

Hamburgers

Cucumber Salad

Homemade Fries

Linking up with OrgJunkie.

Menu Plan - Aug 12th

Here is this weeks menu, a day late but here!!

Monday - out to dinner

Tuesday - Baked Pork Chops, Pasta & Corn on the Cob

Wednesday - Crock Pot  Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Thursday - Sausage Bake based off this recipe.

Friday - leftover soup

Saturday - fend for yourselves. I'm taking my oldest out school shopping so we won't be home until later in the day.

Sunday - Grilled Chicken, Sugar Snap Peas & a lightened version of Potato Salad.

These last two weeks I've been getting yelled at by my doctor as I keep loosing weight with this pregnancy (due to the low carb diet I'm on) so I have been trying to slowly put more carbs in my diet (pasta, potatoes, etc.) and monitor very closely those serving sizes. Although this seems simple it's not because one night one cup of pasta is fine but the next night one cup puts my blood sugar over it's limit which I then get yelled at for that!

Only 5 more weeks, only 5 more weeks... just keep saying that.

As always linking up with OrgJunkie.

Menu Plan Monday - July 29 - August 2

Long time no... well nothing.

A lot has happened here. Life has been busy with lots of family in & out of town constantly, preparing for baby, my already in this world boys, work, summer and well this pregnancy.

I found out a few weeks back that I have Gestational Diabetes. What? How? I'm not overweight and I don't eat bad? Apparently enough people in my family do because it was in my genes.

The hardest part has been finding dinner ideas that can serve our whole house. My husband is a meat and potato guy and my kids LOVE their bread, pasta & potatoes. Yes they still get it but even my husband agrees its not fair for me to have to cook that every night for them and not be able to eat it myself. So the whole house has taken on a new and healthy version of eating.

The Internet is not my friend here. Pretty much when you search for food ideas for gestational diabetes you find the same 4-5 meals over and over. With that I decided it was a good time to get back into sharing my menus with OrgJunkie to help others out.

As always I will try to update the post throughout the week with recipes as created.

   

Crock Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

1 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
1 bottle of BBQ sauce of choice (Sweet Baby Rays)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup Italian dressing
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion chopped



DIRECTIONS:

1. Place frozen chicken breast in crock pot.

2. Cover with chopped onion.

3. Mix together BBQ sauce, brown sugar, Italian dressing and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over chicken and onions.

4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (or high for 4 hours).

5. About 30 minutes before time to eat shred chicken in crock pot so all those shredded pieces can absorb some flavor.

**I add about 1 tbsp. of corn starch after shredding if the sauce is water thin as we like thicker sauce for the sandwiches. This is optional.

Menu Plan - May 20th

Hello fellow menu planners! It has been a while hasn't it?

With being pregnant for the 3rd time, with a boy, I can officially say to you without a drought that every pregnancy is different and no signs point to boy or girl. My first two were so easy and nice; this one has been crazy from the start, which only lead to person after person insisting it was a girl. Liars.

In about the last 2 weeks I have became a semi-normal personal again. I'm cooking, cleaning, etc. I have in no way started nesting (at 5 months now) and am slowly becoming paranoid about that since I am OCD about planning everything. The other day a dear friend of mine told me with her last child she never hit the nesting phase, ever. Lord, please.

So on with that, we have a menu plan this week. Money needs to save and I need to get back on track.

1. Eggs with sausage and potato hash

2. Shake & Bake Chicken Parmesan with noodles


Yes, normally I make this homemade but I'm slowly
trying to clean out the processed stuff from my pantry.

3. Tacos and rice

4. Pork Chops with mashed potatoes and corn

5. Crock Pot Vegetable Soup
Recipe to come!

6. Pizza

Linking up with Org Junkie Menu Plan Monday.

Pork Chops with White Wine Mushroom Sauce

Pork Chops with White Wine Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
4 pork chops (bone in is best for this one)
1 lb sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion sliced
3 minced garlic cloves
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
1/4 cup beef broth
1 tbsp butter
season blend (made with pepper, salt, onion powder & garlic powder)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Wash & dry pork chops. Season with season blend to your taste.

3. Heat up olive oil to a medium-high temp. Add pork chops and cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side for a nice browning (my pork chops were about 1/2-1 inch thick).

4. Once browned put in baking dish and place in oven for about 8 minutes.

5. Add chopped onions, mushrooms and garlic to olive oil & caramelize.

6. Add flour and stir together.

7. Pour in wine. Make sure your pan is a nice medium-hot, if it is not hot enough it will not cook the wine down correctly. Let simmer for about 1-2 minutes stirring frequently.

8. Add 1/4 cup beef broth. Mix thoroughly together and add butter. Simmer for about 5 minutes stirring frequently.

9. Pour over pork chops and place back in oven for about 3-4 minutes to warm all together.

Now enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday April 7th

I'm finally starting to slowly feel like myself again. I haven't meal planned, clean house, etc. in weeks - until this weekend. This pregnancy has been nothing like my others and I've been so tired, cranky, etc.

With that I'm making an effort to eat a little better. We eat horrible! I always blame it on the fact that where we live there are no Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Coscos, etc. There isn't even any within like 3-4 hr radius unless we try another state!! We have simple things like Walmart, Publix, WinnDixie. Not to mention the whole organic trend hasn't really blown up here yet. Some of these stores carry a few things and that's about it. Still, more fruits, more veggies, more health.

So here is our menu for this week, as always I will update with photos as the week goes on:

Sunday

Taco Salad

(totally unplanned but hubby wanted iceberg for his sandwich so I didn't want it going to waste)
The kids had hamburger, lettuce (well R did), chips and Sweet Red Peppers! It took some convincing but both of them finally ate those red peppers and enjoyed it!! Although it's a fight they are getting better.

Monday

Pork Chops with White Wine Mushroom Sauce

Steamed Fresh Green Beans

Steamed Fresh Baby Carrots

Tuesday
Baked Chicken Fajitas
I neglected to set meat out this day so it was sandwiches for dinner.

Wednesday

Turkey Meatballs in the Crock Pot

This was probably the BEST meatballs and sauce I've ever made!

Ground turkey may sneak it's way into our dinners more often.

The hubs even loved it!

Thursday

Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
Hubby went fishing Wed afternoon so he cooked his catch for him and the boys.
I had chicken quesidillas as I do not eat fish.

Friday

Baked Pork Loin

with Red Potatoes

Carrots & Celery
out to dinner. Here is what I had:

Saturday
Baked Chicken Fajitas

I forgot to take the picture until after we had dug in.

We love this. 

Next week I'm hoping to clean out the pantry a little. In order to eat better I have to get rid of the not so good stuff and I'm not throwing it out so I'm hoping my menu will be based solely off the pantry except adding some fresh veggies here and there. Stay tuned to see...
Linking up with OrgJunkie.

A look at some baking that was prepared this week:

Blueberry & Blackberry Cake


Brown Sugar Banana Spice Bread

Corn Flake Broccoli Casserole

One of my favorite things to make for any type of bring a dish event is Broccoli Casserole.

What you need:

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups of frozen broccoli

2 cups of shredded cheese

1 - 1 1/2 cups milk

4 tbsp butter

1 medium chopped onion

1/2 - 1 red pepper (I usually use about 3/4)

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp flour *not pictured

bacon (5-7 slices chopped) *opps, not pictured either

1 cup of corn flakes crushed

Step 1:

Cook frozen broccoli in microwave for about 8-10 minutes. Just enough where it's becoming cooked but not done.

*Important* When the broccoli is done cooking make sure to drain it well.

Step 2:

It's a good idea to start cooking that bacon now. I like to make mine crispy in a casserole because it softens up while baking with all the yummy cheese.

Step 3:

Melt 2 tbsp of your butter in a small saucepan.

Step 4:

Once the butter is melted add 2 tbsp flour and brown together.

Step 5:

Now add the milk and bring to a boil.

Step 6:

Remember those chopped veggies? Throw those in with the bacon and cook for just a few minutes (like 2 or 3).

Step 7:

Add 3 tbsp of Dijon mustard

and then

Add 2 cups of shredded cheese and stir until melted and well blended.

Step 8:

Mix the broccoli and veggie bacon mix together.

Once mixed well add the cheese.

Step 9:

Place in backing dish and cook on 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Okay, this is where I claim pregnancy. I completely forgot to take pictures of the corn flake topping process.

Step 10: While baking the casserole melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter. Once melted pour it in with the corn flakes and mix it all up.

When you have about 5 minutes left of baking sprinkle corn flake mixture all over the top then brown it all up in that oven.

The final product?

Well... I forgot to take a picture so here is a picture of the leftovers:



Menu Plan Monday - Feb 25th

This weeks menu doesn't get too fancy but it is different for us. I rarely, rarely, ever make Alfredo of any sort. We are extremely busy this week and will be for the next two weeks as we have a lot of projects going on. Not to mention this pregnancy has got me much more tired then I've ever been so I'm keeping it a little simple.

Monday:
Breakfast for Dinner (Egg & Sausage Burritos)

Tuesday (Ball Practice):
Brats & Fries

Wednesday:
Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

Thursday:
Spaghetti Carbonara
Until recently I've always called this German Spaghetti but learned it is nothing like it! My father in law is from Germany and he makes this a lot so we labeled it German. It's simply some butter, ham, noodles, onion, garlic, and lots of Parmesan cheese. SO good.

Friday:
Hamburgers & Macarroni

Menu Plan Monday - February 18th

Happy Thursday? Opps, sorry for the delay.

Last weeks menu went pretty well... we ended up sticking to most of it, refer here to check it out and see any changes that were made.

Here is what is/was on the menu for this week:
Monday:
Hamburgers & French Fries

Tuesday Ball Practice:
Baked Pork Loin with veggies & potatoes

Wednesday: 
Out to Dinner with my Mom

Thursday Ball Practice:
Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Take Out
Because this pregant woman had a craving.

Friday:
Crock Pot Chicken & Rice
I've always made this exact recipe from my mom but never added corn and when I found this recipe decided to try it, oh my I was doing it all wrong in the past!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
  
Linking up with Menu Plan Monday

Crock Post Roast Beef

*Please be advised that I took these photos as I was going along in the process... I have made a few notes here and there of things I have changed and will make sure to take updated pictures the next time I make this.

Crock Pot Roast Beef

Here is what you will need:

1 package of onion soup

1 package of brown gravy

1 medium onion

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

**I did not like the carrots in the sauce, it gave it too much of a carrot taste and I pulled them half way through cooking so please disregard those.





Oh yeah, you'll need one of these too - a 2-3 lb chuck roast.

I rubbed pepper, salt, garlic powder & paprika all over mine.

Now on to the cooking...

Brown the chuck up in a pan for just a minute or so on each side.



Chop your onion and place in the bottom of the crock pot.

Mix together 1 cup of water with the onion mix, gravy mix, and Worcestershire sauce.

These mixes can be strong so I generally only use about 2/3 of the packages.

(I know the picture doesn't show the right amount of water, I took the pic too soon)

Add the meat and poor the mixture all over

Remember I took out the carrots so ignore those orange things.

Cook on low for 7-8 hours depending on how "done" you like yours. If you cook it longer that's fine, mine actually cooks about 10 hours because it cooks while we are working.

Then enjoy!



Menu Plan Monday - Feb 11

With me not always feeling up to par these  last few weeks, it kicking right into the busy season at the office, R starting baseball, Menu Planning is a must!

Monday:
Crock Pot Beef Roast, Mashed Potatoes Egg Noddles & Carrots

Tuesday:
Corn Dogs & Fries
(Ball Practice)

Wednesday:
Homemade Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni & Broccoli

Thursday:
Biscuit Pizza - All heart shaped Delievery Pizza in Heart Shape
(Ball Practice)

 Friday:
Crock Pot Pork Loin Out to dinner

 We are still adjusting to having practice as this is the first year we've done it before. Although last week I cooked full prepared meals on those nights this week we are taking it easy and giving the kids things they love. Yes, I could have done Crock Pot on those nights but it's always a process to get the kids to eat those meals so why fight with it on ball nights?

What's on your menu tonight?