Hey, it's TUESDAY!

Well, Monday came and went and I never posted my menu plans. I have a good reason...

I haven't made one!

Shoot.

Oh well.  I'm going to make one RIGHT NOW!

Monday:  Pot Roast!  Brandons favorite... well tied for favorite with meatloaf!  I plan to post how I make my roast, it's delicious!
Tuesday:  Bow Tie Fiesta Pasta from this blogger.  I will post how that is too! You can find the recipe by searching her site for it.
Wednesday: Turkey Meatloaf, potatoes and a vegetable.
Sunday:  Taco feast with family! The Seahawks are playing the Bears and it's going to be a great game!!!


Ok, well I know that was kinda half-arsed but it's just that kind of week, ok?  Thankfully I haven't needed anything for these meals and shopped for a TON of fresh veggies & fruits last Thursday so I am set to go for the week! YES!

I'll be back later this week with something more exciting. :)

Menu Planning Monday

Hey, it IS still Monday over here in the PNW... :)

Recap of last week:

Sunday: Made the scheduled recipe and it was "ok".  I ate leftovers for lunch at least two days, success!
Monday: Ended up eating out with inlaws. Brandon's grandparents are snowbirds and they were leaving the next day.  We try to squeeze in as much time as possible when they're home for the holidays so I suppose my meal planning would have been a lame excuse! ;)
Tuesday: Unplanned events... I got invited to a movie by my SIL and Brandon decided to play pool with some dudes. :)
Wednesday: YES! We ate at home! Pad Thai and Peanut Sauce, success! My PS needs some work, but it was good.  My Pad Thai was actually pretty good! I ate it as leftovers for lunch, double success!
Thursday:  I worked Brandon's shift so he could watch the Huskies beat the Cornhuskers in the Holiday Bowl! WHOOOP!  ***Chelle... Stinky Cougs!***
Friday:  My fabulous husband made Taco Soup for us to enjoy at work that night.  We were supposed to make Chili but they are more or less the same ingredients. :)  I also ate this as leftovers several times!
Saturday: No meal made. :(

Ok, so this week wasn't stellar.  I still have plenty of groceries left over that I will utilize this week, I hope! I suppose I was a little ambitious.  I'm going to go with three this week because of our schedules and obligations...

Sunday: Family Function... Seahawk game!
Monday: Topopo Salads:  Tortilla chips, refried black beans, romaine, shredded chicken, cheese, avacado, tomato and Italian dressing. YUUUM-O Sounds odd, right? It's really yummy.
Tuesday: Brandon is doing some handy-man work at his mom and dad's and I have a hair appointment! Yippee!
Wednesday: I am helping a friend's daughter with the FAFSA and college apps. JOY! No really, I enjoy helping. She's making me dinner. :)
Thursday: Working... Brandon is going to the Husky basketball game with BIL and his dad.
Friday:  Turkey meatloaf, mashed cauliflower (still haven't made it!) and carrots. YUM!
Saturday: Slow cooker chicken tacos.  Put chicken breasts (we do five or six tenders but it would be about 3 breasts for 2 adults and leftovers) in crock put with half of a jar of salsa. I use PACE! :) Seriously, let it cook for 4+ hours and shred the meat! It's SO delicious! And, can we see it's healthy!? YES!!! Then, I make this yummy corn salad that I need to do a post on. Canned corn, black beans, lime juice, peppers, etc. Delish!

WHEW!!! This week is all jumbled. Too many obligations! Oh well, such is life! I am still glad to have it all planned out.  I also love that Brandon is calling me during the day and asking what we're having that night and what he can bring home or help with. BONUS!!!

Did anyone try any new recipes this week?

Menu Mondays

Among many New Year Resolutions that Brandon and I have been discussing... eating at home has been a main one.  We're not huge NY Resolution people, usually.  But, there are some big habits that we would like to change and I hope we both can commit to them.  With our schedules, we are guaranteed to not be home before midnight two nights a week.  We are also guaranteed to not BOTH be home before 9 or 10pm another two nights a week.  This leads to us eating at the Family Biz or another restaurant TOO much and also eating too late at night.

So, I got an idea.  I know there are a ton of bloggers that do menus and post them and I've always 'ohhh ahhhh'd over them!  Now, I probably have mentioned before that I am an organized brain stuck in an disorganized body.  That means that while disorganized and cluttered stuff drives me batty, I'm not always ambitious enough to tackle the jobs!!! HA!  But, I figure if I can write a rough list of menu items down and hang it in our kitchen it will be easy for both of us to see what to expect that week.  The weeknights that I know we'll be home, we can schedule meals and then I will leave a few floating meals to make whenever we are home and have the time.

So, over here at WWW (ha!) I am going to try to post my menu for the week and I will call it Menu Mondays. I'm not looking for a huge following or anything, it's simply to keep me organized and hopefully will motivate me to plan a menu every Sunday!!!  I found this cool site that has some fancy menu plans... Mine won't be that fancy but maybe I will join her Linky thing on the weeks that she does them!

So, for this week... here goes nothin'!

Sunday - Pan grilled Pork Loins and Macaroni & Cheese with Brussel Sprouts
**Marinade pork in ziplock w/olive oil, salt & pepper, fresh rosemary & thyme for no less than one hour. Grill in grill pan and finish cooking in the oven.  Use PW's basic M&C recipe adding crisp bacon and caramelized onions.  Broil or steam brussel sprouts.
Monday - Chicken Pad Thai and Peanut Sauce with Broccoli
**Pad Thai for Two package (take the help!), bean sprouts and scallions for the Pad Thai, Homemade peanut sauce (curry paste, fish sauce, coconut milk & PB.)  Steamed broccoli. YUM!
Tuesday (float) - Chili & Cornbread
**Classic chili recipe with typical seasonings, mixture of beans and seasonings with ground turkey.  Start in crockpot in mid morning.  Packaged cornbread mix with an added can of corn. Yum and EASY!
Wednesday (float) - Teriyaki Chicken & Grilled Veggies with a side salad
**Marinade chicken tenders in teriyaki sauce and grated ginger root. Use grill pan for chicken and set aside, grill julienned carrots and zucchini and serve with a salad!
Friday - Lemon Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower and Broccoli/Brussel Sprouts
**Stuff a whole chicken with a lemon, rosemary, thyme and sage (whatever fresh herbs you have) and maybe an apple (I promise, it's good!) Make two or three balls of tin foil and put them in the bottom of your crock pot. Put the stuffed bird in the crock pot on top of the foil balls and lather the outside with olive oil and salt & pepper.  Cook on low all day. This chicken is SO good! The skin doesn't get brown, but we don't eat chicken skin anyway so it doesn't bother us. Plus, the cleanup is SO easy with this dish. You could roast it in a pan also but for a weekday meal I prefer the crockpot.  It literally falls off the bone and is SO good! I will be using a new recipe for the mashed cauliflower! I've had it before but never have made it myself. I'm excited to try! They're a great substitute for mashed potatoes.  We'll have steamed broccoli or brussel sprouts depending on what is left over.

Saturday & Thursday - Feed yourself days! There are likely to be left overs even after lunches are packed... and there are just some days that you want a sandwich or cereal for dinner, right?! :)

Whew! Now, that may not look so organized but I hope to get better as the weeks go on! I was really good today about going through our freezers and pantry to locate ingredients for all of these items.  I then only went to the store for the items that we needed for this week.  Thankfully, we mostly just needed fresh veggies and fruits as well as some dairy items.  The checker at Safeway said "You're making me look bad! You have so many fruits and veggies!" HA! That's a good thing, right? ;)

If you made it through this post, comment and let me know how you do your menu planning.  Do you follow a blog that does it? If you do, let me know so I can check it out!  Have a great Monday!!!